Consultant - Participatory Needs Assessment at Plan International

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Type of Role: Short term consultancy
Contract Duration: Indicatively 20 days - from 1st October to 21st October 2016
Reports to: Humanitarian Project Manager

Purpose
How does this post support Plan’s strategy and mission?

• Plan International Nigeria is seeking an experienced Participatory Assessment Consultant for the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) and Plan International Germany – and Irish Aid and Plan International Ireland - projects responding to the Boko Haram crisis in Northeast Nigeria. The Consultant will be responsible for designing and implementing a Community Level Needs Assessment in the project areas.

Background
In 2009, the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram became active in the Lake Chad Basin. Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon’s Far North Region, Niger’s Diffa Region, and in Western Chad have killed over 20,000 people. The insurgency scaled up in 2010 when the group started suicide attacks as well as attacks on so-called soft targets in the North-East Region of Nigeria. Since then, more than 230,000 Nigerians have fled to neighboring countries and 2.2 million were internally displaced - around 1.2 million children in Nigeria were forced to leave their homes1 , 50% of these children under the age of 5. The far-reaching nature of violence and unrest caused by Boko Haram has led Plan Cameroon and Niger to launch a response in highly vulnerable regions of the country. Plan International Nigeria will respond in three programming areas (in line with the Regional Lake Chad Strategy): 1) Education in Emergencies, 2) Child Protection in Emergencies, and 3) Youth Economic Empowerment.

Plan International Nigeria wishes to initiate a rapid needs assessment to analyze the situation at the community level, identify the most urgent needs of the affected population and Plan’s capacity to respond (depending on our resources and capacities). It should also determine the type of immediate relief response needed.

Objective
The Participatory Assessment Consultant is expected to provide essential information to inform the design of key components of the CPiE and SGBV response program via the following Objectives in Adamawa (Michika, Madagali) and Borno (Askira/Uba, Maiduguri surrounds). The assessment consultant should:

• Provide a quick picture of the scope of the emergency in the above communities and capture the life- threatening problems (in the sectors of protection, water, food, sanitation, shelter and health).
• Identify the most vulnerable groups of the population that need to be targeted (ex: persons with disabilities, pregnant and breast-feeding women, children under 5, separated and unaccompanied children, children with disabilities, street children, elderly persons and ethnic minorities).
• Understand the level of response by local and national governments, international NGOs, and community organizations/local capacities to respond.
• Identify the level of continuing or emerging threats and provide key recommendations for Plan moving forward.

Methodology/Approach

• Selection of Assessment Team: The assessment team will play a crucial role in the whole assessment process. It is important to assign clear responsibilities and tasks to each team member to carry out a detailed review of secondary data. The consultant should provide details on the number of staff on the team, including enumerators.
• Secondary data review and analysis: The secondary data is the collected information that already exists and has undergone at least one analysis prior to its inclusion in the needs assessment. It can comprise published research, internet materials, media reports etc. The secondary data enables an assessment team to gain an overall picture of the general context and helps to identify information gaps.
• Terms of Reference (ToR): The ToR specifies the information that should be gathered and details the available and needed resources for the assessment, especially during the field visit, the justification of conducting the field visit and the overall purpose and objectives of the assessment. Additionally, it contains the methodology (including tools and sampling techniques) which should be applied during the field visit. The TOR should include a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice Survey specific to access to education and barriers children face in accessing school.
• Field visit to collect primary data and verification of secondary data: Primary data are defined as data that have been gathered directly from the information source without having undergone an analysis before being included in the needs assessment. Primary data is collected directly from the affected population and communities by the assessment team through field work.
• Primary and secondary data analysis and report: This is the stage at which data become information which is meaningful, relevant and understandable. The analysis should describe the situation of a particular group of people at particular times and places. Secondary data enables the assessment team to have an overview of the specific context. The collection of primary data allows the team to verify the secondary data, to fill in information gaps and to triangulate the assessment data according to the specific needs of the affected communities. The data has to be evaluated in terms of its reliability, accuracy, completeness, consistency, plausibility and cross-correlation with data from other sources.

Deliverables:

• Terms of Reference (including budget)
• Data Collection Tools (Key Informant Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, Observation Checklist, Participatory consultations with young people, Stakeholder Mapping, etc.) adapted from Plan’s Needs Assessment Guide
• Final Report and Analysis (executive summary, background information, context/current situation, needs assessment findings, general response capacity, proposed action, conclusion, appendices)

The Person

• The ideal candidate will have performed similar field researches, will have experience in field participatory assessments and humanitarian programming.
• Excellent writing skills, ability to collect and analyze data, able to work independently and to deliver high quality reports.