BOG3497_Consultancy: Learning agenda for economic inclusion project At Norwegian Refugee Council

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consulting: Learning agenda economic inclusion project

Location: Bogota

BACKGROUND

Context

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an international, independent, humanitarian non-governmental organisation established in 1946, based in Oslo, and currently operating in over 33 countries worldwide. NRC’s mission is to promote and protect the rights of all people who have been forced to flee their countries or their homes within their own countries, regardless of race, religion, nationality or political beliefs.

NRC has been present in Colombia since 1991, where it began with activities in response to the effects resulting from the Colombian armed conflict. A few years later, offices were established in Ecuador and Panama as part of the same operation to assist Colombian and other nationality refugees and migrants. Since 2017, NRC has also responded in these three countries to the migratory flow resulting from the crisis in Venezuela, to which in recent years mixed migratory flows have been added that cross the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama towards North America. NRC’s operation in Colombia, Ecuador and Panama implements programs in Information, Orientation and Legal Assistance (ICLA), Education, Shelter and Infrastructure (AeI), protection, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and livelihoods and food security. NRC responds to sudden emergencies in the countries where it operates, including through the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) with national deployment capacity, and also implements early recovery activities that seek to achieve durable solutions for people who are forced to move.

The Social Cohesion and Youth Empowerment Project is implemented by NRC in Colombia and Ecuador together with its allies Minuto de Dios, Tiempo de Juego and FUNDER. Its objective is to improve economic inclusion opportunities for young refugees and migrants, affected by displacement from Venezuela and belonging to vulnerable host communities. Its design was based on the theoretical framework of economic inclusion (EI) developed by NRC at a global level, which conceives EI as a path to self-sufficiency that allows displaced people to address the systematic and practical barriers they face to participate in sustainable economic activities. The framework defines a series of components that must be addressed holistically to achieve self-sufficiency and some preconditions that must be met. In particular, participants must have their basic needs covered, even if they are not yet completely self-sufficient.

Taking into account the above, NRC proposed:

To increase the productive potential of 1,500 young refugees and migrants, as well as vulnerable households in host communities, by facilitating their access to employment or entrepreneurial opportunities. The young people receive training in 21st century skills, support in the development of productive or business initiatives, and training and support according to their interests, to enhance their career paths.

Empowering 1,100 young people to contribute to social cohesion and integration activities in their communities. This involves improving their capacities to manage and promote their participation and social cohesion, strengthening their leadership and seeking to reduce the barriers that prevent young people from accessing opportunities.

The project is currently being implemented in Colombia, in the municipalities of Mosquera, Soacha and three towns in Bogotá, and in Ecuador, in the provinces of Manabí and El Oro, areas with significant flows of Venezuelan migration. The project participants are young people between 16 and 29 years old, of whom 70% are from Venezuela and 30% belong to host communities. Priority has been given to women and parents or caregivers of children and adolescents, who represent 70% of the participants. In addition, they must have been in Colombia or Ecuador for a minimum of 12 months and have the intention of staying, lacking access to stable livelihoods, but with basic needs covered in terms of housing and food. To ensure compliance with these criteria, a targeting tool was designed and implemented.

After more than two years of implementation, and given that the NRC project has functioned as a pilot project in Colombia and Ecuador, it is essential for NRC to identify the lessons learned, as well as the challenges faced and the strategies used to overcome them. Thus, NRC launches this call with the objective of improving its economic inclusion (EI) programming and building a learning agenda that collects the lessons learned during the design and implementation of the project, based on a participatory methodology that reflects, in a quantitative and qualitative manner, recommendations for future similar programs. It is expected that from this agenda an optimal model of an EI project will be consolidated, based on the implementation of the NRC project.

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF WORK

General Objective:

Identify and systematize key learnings derived from the design and implementation of the project in Colombia and Ecuador, in order to optimize the design and scope of the results of future economic inclusion projects.

For each specific objective, some guiding questions are suggested that can be supplemented by the consultancy.

Specific Objectives:

1. To analyze the design and implementation of the NRC project in light of the NRC economic inclusion framework to understand how and how effectively the framework has been developed in the context of Colombia and Ecuador and what lessons can be learned from it for optimal contextualization in the future.

Guiding Questions

• To what extent is what has been implemented through the project in line with NRC’s economic inclusion framework?
• Which adaptations made to the context should be replicated and which should not, or which additional ones should be made?
• Which elements/activities/approaches of the project do young people consider most effective or have the greatest impact on their personal development and economic inclusion? Are these preferences aligned with the results shown in the project’s logical framework?
• What were the most effective strategies to adapt the project to the real needs of young people?
• Would greater direct participation of young people be required in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of a project like this to optimize its results? At what specific times or in what specific aspects?
• Has any approach been made to integrated programming? How could this integration be deepened in the future, taking into account NRC policies and operations?

1. To evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of the targeting strategies implemented by NRC to identify youth who meet the required profile, as well as the routing tools (360° profile) and youth well-being measurement (Youth Tracer Study toolbox), which seek to optimize the success of youth in the project.

Guiding Questions

• What general lessons learned from the application of the different targeting tools and strategies used by NRC during project implementation are key to achieving the most effective and efficient targeting possible in the future?
• What would be the ideal routing strategies? This would take into account the different adaptations that were made to the process as the project progressed (baseline, targeting sheet(s), Youth Tracer Study, 360° Profile; application times for each tool, sampling, etc.).
• Does the 360° Profile tool designed by NRC for career guidance increase participants’ chances of success compared to the alternative of choosing a path without prior guidance? Are participants who followed the 360° Profile recommendation more successful than those who did not?
• What aspects are important to consider in order to effectively use the Youth Tracer Study toolbox?

1. Propose measures to improve participant retention by identifying the causes and moments of desertion, as well as proposals to reduce it.

Guiding Questions

• At what specific moments does attrition occur during the project, why, and what are the best strategies to manage attrition and improve participant retention in a project like this, based on the solutions found by the teams and the feedback from participants?

1. Evaluate the selection, coordination and collaboration mechanisms established with implementing partners , identifying best practices to enhance project implementation .

Guiding Questions

• What strategies developed during this project to work with partners have been effective and should be replicated, and what improvements could be made in coordination and working with multiple partners in a project of this nature?
• Based on learnings from the project, what is the best way to ensure an efficient and seamless path for participants when different activities are implemented by different partners with different capacities and resources (including NRC)?

1. Develop a set of practical recommendations to improve the design, implementation and monitoring of future economic inclusion projects, based on the lessons learned.

Guiding Questions

• What are the main differences in the results, experiences, models or approaches used between Colombia and Ecuador, what are the reasons for them and what experiences in particular should we learn from for future occasions?
• Based on the most important lessons learned from the implementation of the project, and with particular focus on the application of the economic inclusion model, targeting, prevention of dropouts and working with partners (specific objectives above), what would be the ideal model to follow to implement a project like this?
• What considerations and strategies should be prioritized to improve the scalability and replicability of a program like this in other contexts, for example, with populations affected by conflict in rural areas that are more difficult to access?

Methodology and scope

Different data collection strategies will be used, both quantitative and qualitative. It will also be a participatory process that will gather the voices, opinions and points of view of the participants, of the NRC staff involved in different processes of the project and some staff of the implementing partners. The following steps will be followed to meet the objectives of the consultancy:

1. Planning and design: Based on a thorough review of the project documentation available to date, key interviews with project staff and, if deemed appropriate, one or more collaborative workshop sessions (depending on staff availability), the consultancy will design the final questions to be answered by the learning agenda, the specific methodologies and measurement tools for each question, as well as the action plan with its different steps and schedule.
2. Data collection : The consulting team will implement the defined and approved work plan, conduct semi-structured interviews, surveys, focus groups and, if appropriate, group workshops with a representative sample of participants, NRC staff and implementing partners. Planning and data collection will be carried out with the advice of the NRC team and with the support of field staff for logistical and access aspects.
3. Data analysis and preparation of inputs: the consulting team will systematize and analyze the information collected. Once it has been verified that all the necessary information is available, partial and final reports will be prepared, as well as a presentation of the results, highlighting the recommendations for designing and implementing economic inclusion projects such as this one. Based on this analysis, the final products to be delivered will be developed.

General considerations

Relevant NRC Programs, Operations, and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) staff will need to be involved in developing the consultancy objectives. While the consulting team must lead and carry out the work, ongoing guidance and feedback from key NRC staff will be essential. In addition, NRC will allocate resources so that staff from both MEL and programs in the territories where the project is implemented can accompany the consultancy to collect information, access key informants, and travel within the territory.

In total, the activities to meet these objectives are expected to be implemented over 5 months, in-person for Colombia and hybrid for Ecuador, with at least three in-person visits to Ecuador. Field trips will be required for data collection, which must be included in the budget proposal. Likewise, several of the activities to be carried out with the NRC program and MEL team will ideally be carried out in-person in Bogotá. Interviews and the initial document review to develop the framework, methodology, and tools of the learning agenda can be done remotely, although it is recommended that they be done in person.

Deliverables

1. Presentation and delivery of the work plan (using the Word template with the NRC identity) that includes the specific questions to be answered along with the methodology to be used, the tools designed (focus group design, interviews, observation sheets, workshops, surveys, etc.) and the schedule, this based on the collaborative work carried out with NRC staff.
2. Preliminary report (using the Word template with NRC identity) with the activities carried out, the methodology implemented, the analysis and preliminary findings after applying the information collection instruments.
3. Annexes of the documents with all the raw data collected and systematized in a database.
4. Final report (using the NRC-branded Word template) of high quality, with both qualitative and quantitative data, the results and analysis carried out, and the lessons learned identified within the framework of the NRC economic inclusion project.
5. Interactive infographic that summarizes the optimal model for a project, the findings identified in the consultancy and the recommendations to optimize the scope of the results and impact in this type of projects. The infographic must be delivered in the following formats:

• Infographic in PDF format in Spanish and English with a maximum of two easy-to-read pages. Vector graphics and design. It must be delivered in high quality for printing in letter size.
• Interactive infographic in Spanish and English for web and mobile reading that can be published on the nrc.org.co website. The consulting team must provide all the inputs, structure and texts in Word, photos in .PNG, graphics in .PNG and other multimedia elements to be published by NRC on the Shorthand platform ). Reference of what is expected: 1) https://www.nrc.no/feature/2024/the-worlds-most-neglected-displacement-crises-2023/
• The supplier must deliver the packaged infographic in its editable versions, preferably in Adobe Illustrator (vectors).

1. Socialization workshop with the NRC team in person to share the main findings of the consultancy and present the optimal model of the NRC economic inclusion project, emphasizing the conclusions and recommendations identified.
2. Presentation (using the PowerPoint template with NRC’s identity) that will be used in the dissemination workshop and that clearly and concisely collects the main findings of the consultancy.

INSTITUTIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PROVISIONS

NRC will own the intellectual property and proprietary rights to all materials submitted by the consulting team under the contract. Therefore, the consulting team must ensure that it owns any materials provided to NRC as part of the deliverable. Reproduction rights for the reports will be granted to NRC and its contracted agents. NRC will be free to reproduce the materials at will and to grant reproduction rights. The reliability of the information collected is essential and dissemination of the material without authorization from the organization could put the safety of participants at risk. Any dissemination or reproduction of the collected material must be authorized by the organization.

Duties of consulting

The final report, the dissemination presentation and the interactive infographic must be submitted in both English and Spanish. Texts must be unformatted. Charts or other graphic elements must be editable (i.e. not images). All references must be cited according to convention and listed in a bibliography, using the Harvard system as set out in the UNESCO Style Manual . All direct quotes must be enclosed in quotation marks and must not be excessively long. All data collected within the framework of the consultancy must be submitted together with the deliverables, in a widely recognised format, e.g. Microsoft Excel.

Any submission to NRC must be the original work of the consulting team. Any plagiarism in any form, or any other violation of intellectual property rights, will automatically disqualify the consulting team from receiving any further payment under the contract entered into by NRC, and NRC will seek to recover any payments already made.

The consulting team will follow the Ethical Research Involving Children guidance regarding the ethical participation of children. In addition, all study participants or other interaction will be fully informed about the nature and purpose of the interaction and their requested participation. Informed consent must be obtained for any photography, audio or video recording, etc., in accordance with the NRC consent policy.

It will be the responsibility of the consulting team to manage and pay appropriately qualified and experienced support staff, provide insurance, etc.

The selected provider must subscribe to the following policies:

COMPLIANCE: For an insured value equal to thirty percent (30%) of the value of the contract, with a validity equal to that stipulated in this document and two (2) more months.

SALARIES AND SOCIAL BENEFITS: For an insured value of ten percent (10%) of the value of the contract, with a validity equal to that stipulated in this document and three (3) more years.

NRC Duties

NRC will ensure the availability of key MEL and program staff necessary to properly guide and support the work of the consultancy. In particular, a monitoring committee will be created, composed of management-level MEL and program staff, which will advise and accompany the consultancy and will be responsible for reviewing and providing feedback on its work when appropriate. Likewise, the consulting team will be provided with all necessary documents, tools and information in NRC’s possession to carry out its activities. In addition, as mentioned above, NRC will allocate resources for support in the field, particularly with regard to the collection of primary data, as well as access to the target population and NRC partners and allies (institutions, implementing partners, etc.) and mobility within the territory. Expenses related to travel, accommodation and per diem of the consulting team must be covered by the budget developed for the consultancy, together with the rest of the expenses.

EXECUTION CALENDAR AND ESTIMATION OF INPUTS

We appreciate you sharing your implementation schedule for a period of 20 weeks which should include the following activities:

Main activities and deliverables

1 Induction and readiness

2 Document review of the economic inclusion project in coordination with the NRC team

3 Design and delivery of the work plan

4 Planning and data collection

5 Systematization and analysis of information

6. Submit preliminary report and feedback

7 Final report and interactive infographic delivered

8 Feedback and validation of inputs

9 Socialization and presentation workshop

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE PERSON / CONSULTING COMPANY

The services of a highly qualified specialist legal entity are requested to carry out this consultancy with the following minimum requirements:

1. Minimum 6 years of experience in the humanitarian sector, robust and demonstrable previous experience in collecting, analyzing and evaluating quantitative and qualitative data, particularly learning-oriented, and in migration and refugee contexts in Latin America, ideally Colombia and/or Ecuador.
2. High knowledge of the Colombian and Ecuadorian context
3. Advanced level of Spanish, verbal and written
4. Experience in analysing programmes related to livelihoods, education, social cohesion and/or the promotion of durable solutions for migrant and refugee populations and their host communities. Experience with programmes targeting young people in particular will be valued.
5. Experience with learning processes will be valued
6. Excellent ability to write clear, timely and high-quality reports and to lead focus groups and workshops
7. Flexibility, previous experience in fragile and changing contexts
8. Human and technical capacity to deliver high quality product

DURATION

The contract will have a duration of five (05) months from the start date of the contract, which is expected to be signed in November 2024.

METHOD OF PAYMENT

Payment will be made on a consultancy services basis, payable upon delivery of the agreed products. The amount will be negotiated based on the proposals received and the availability of NRC resources, within the range of 100,000,000 to 110,000,000 Colombian pesos.