IHL violations and Community Resilience Building in NW Syria: Research and Advocacy Consultancy

Duty Station of the consultancy: Remote, with one potential visit to Gaziantep / Turkey
Job Classification: Research and Advocacy Consultancy
Closing Date: 26 May 2024 at 12:00 AM Midnight Turkey time (UTC/GMT +3 hours).
Duration of Consultancy: To start as soon as possible. Submission of progress report by end of June 2024 and completion by the end of July 2024.
Nature of the consultancy:
Since October 2023, there has been a marked increase in active hostilities in Syria related to the ongoing multiple, overlapping, and parallel international and non-international armed conflicts in the country. The country also continues to be affected by regional instability and conflict dynamics putting civilians in all parts of the country at risk.
In Northwest Syria over 500 civilians have been reported killed and injured since October 2023, while the overall numbers are likely to be higher. Civilian objects and infrastructure have also been damaged or destroyed and over 120,000 people have been forcibly displaced. Attacks on schools, hospitals, markets, camps for internally displaced persons and densely populated residential areas has also reduced access to essential services and critically affected civilian infrastructure, including at least 43 health facilities and hospitals, seven schools and over 20 water systems. Parties to the conflict also variously directly perpetrated, tolerated or were unable to prevent criminal activities such as trafficking, corruption, and extortion backed by violence.
Ground operations, airstrikes and general insecurity are all contributing to an environment where compliance with international humanitarian law is being undermined with failures by all parties to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians and objects indispensable to the survival of civilians.
In response, communities in NW Syria have built their own early warning systems, response, and contingencies for coping with hostilities and the aftermath. Humanitarian actors are supporting through emergency health, education, WASH and Shelter interventions, but these interventions are short-term and not significant to mitigate against the worst impacts of war. There is also a gap in information, data and analysis as to how wide-reaching infrastructure damage is and the impact this is having on individual and community coping and resilience strategies.
To better support communities the NW Syria, the NGO Forum is seeking an expert consultant to undertake research on the level and impact of hostilities on civilians in NW Syria. In particular, the consultant will research and document incidents of civilian and aid infrastructure damage, the impact this has had on communities, how it has undermined the efficacy of the aid response, and what coping mechanisms could be supported to reduce future shocks. The consultant will look at the effectiveness of the Humanitarian Notification System and any Disaster Preparedness and/or Early Warning Systems in place.
The NW Syria NGO Forum was established to coordinate, represent and advocate on behalf of its 96 member organisations: Syrian and international NGOs delivering humanitarian assistance to affected communities cross-border to northwest Syria. One of its core functions is to coordinate and facilitate joint membership advocacy on members’ key thematic priorities related to the NW Syria humanitarian response and issues affecting communities there. Part of this function is research, information collection and analysis related to advocacy priorities, to build an evidence base for persuasive and credible advocacy. This consultancy will support the Forum’s advocacy on protection of civilians and IHL compliance, as well as inform what early recovery programming and resilience building initiatives could be supported and strengthened for communities in NW Syria.
Overall Objective
This consultancy is intended to provide support to the humanitarian community aiding people in NW Syria. It will research IHL and IHRL violations in relation to attacks on civilian and aid infrastructure, civilian impact, and current and potential future community coping strategies. It will use the findings to identify what early recovery programming approaches would best strengthen community resilience to deal with conflict-related shocks, and where donor investment would reduce and mitigate harm in the long-term.
The consultant will be expected to work collaboratively with all Forum Members where relevant, particularly members with a specific IHL focus, or those working in HEALTH, WASH, EDUCATION, FOOD, ERL, and SHELTER.
Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing Data & Analytics
Specific objectives
The following key aspects will be considered as part of the consultancy:
Thematic areas:
1. IHL and IHRL Violations with a particular focus on civilian and aid infrastructure damage, or restrictions on access to services.
2. Impact of violations on Communities.
3. Individual and Community Responses to violations – particularly where they seek to reduce or mitigate harm.
Cross-cutting areas:
1. Localization: How to integrate a localisation approach to funding and programming
2. How would an early recovery programming and funding strategy support resilience building in relation to IHL and IHRL violations;
Methodology & Timeline
This consultancy is intended to work collaboratively with humanitarian NGOs – both Syrian and international – and other stakeholders across the NW Syria response. An anticipated methodology would include:
Review of key documentation: A review of current written documentation, including legal frameworks, reports and statements from human rights council and special procedures, IIIM documents, Humanitarian agencies, de facto authorities, and existing monitoring mechanisms. A review of current funding architecture for NW Syria, with identification of funding available for early recovery programming.
Consultations with key actors: Consultation meetings with humanitarian, human rights, Syrian and International NGOs, the UN system, humanitarian donors, relevant global organisations.
Consultations with affected communities: Research interviews with affected communities or community leaders to assess the impact of IHL violations on their access to a range of humanitarian assistance and services. Review their experience and recommendations on how to reduce or mitigate the impact of violations in relation to access to assistance and services.
Report Drafting
Review and Feedback
Report Finalisation.
Deliverables
• Inception Report detailing approach, methodology and research tools.
• Full final report following input and consultation (including two review rounds)
• The report should have a minimum number of 20 pages, include a 2 page executive summary and comprehensive citations and references.
• The working language of the final report is English.
Consultant profile
It is anticipated that a senior level IHL research consultant would be contracted/assigned by the contracted company, with significant experience in qualitative research, including community engagement. Experience with the Syria context would be highly desirable.

A complete set of tender documents may be obtained by interested candidates from the link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BA8e2ZILF7pXfGzZVk5rRyas00ddWt3q/view?usp=sharing