Short-Term consultant/consultants for comprehensive shelter assessment.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

TITLE:                                   Short-Term consultant/consultants for comprehensive shelter assessment.

TYPE OF CONTRACT:  Individual contract (Lao Nationals only)

REPORTS TO:                   Chief of Party

STARTING DATE:           May 2024

EXPECTED DAYS:           Up to 17 days.

1. Background:

USAID Laos Counter-Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) project is firmly committed to reducing the vulnerability of targeted populations to trafficking, particularly disadvantaged individuals and victims of trafficking (VoTs). This commitment is exemplified by Intermediate Result (IR) 3, which specifies “Support government and service providers to improve service quality, standard, and case management for protection of TIP victims”. USAID Laos CTIP has been working collaboratively with the Lao Women’s Union (LWU) and the Counselling and Protection Center for Women and Children (CPCWC). Established in 2006, the CPCWC is the first government-run shelter providing assistance and protection services to women and children who are victims of domestic violence, trafficking in persons, and other forms of abuse and exploitation.

In addition to evolving economic development and population movements, high inflation and kip depreciation after COVID-19 pandemic, have placed trafficking in persons (TIP) at the forefront of the national agenda, particularly in northern Lao PDR. In response, the Government of Laos established a shelter in Luangnamtha province (hereafter Luangnamtha shelter) in late 2023 to provide assistance and services to victims and at-risk populations of TIP and gender-based violence in the six northern provinces: Bokeo, Oudomxay, Phongsaly, Luang Prabang, Houaphanh, Xiengkhouang, and Luangnamtha. While the hard component was completed and the shelter was inaugurated, the project has identified operational and management challenges at this newly established Luangnamtha shelter. At this point, there is no strategic or implementation plan that can navigate the staff of the Luangnamtha shelter which is essential for them to make the shelter operational and case management effective to cater for the needs of the victims. With the intention to support the Luangnamtha Shelter to develop a mid to long-term plan in the near future, the project proposes to carry out an capacity assessment of this shelter with the shelter staff to identify their current status, weaknesses, strengths, needs, and opportunities from different angles. Meanwhile the CPCWC in Vientiane, which was established in 2006, has demonstrably developed expertise in delivering assistance and protection for TIP and GBV victims and at-risk populations for two decades. However,a great opportunity to carry out similar capacity assessment to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, as well as needs and opportunities to enhance their operations and ensure continued leadership for other shelters.

In this regard, the USAID Laos CTIP plans to support Luangnamtha Shelter and CPCWC in Vientiane carrying out a comprehensive capacity assessment. The assessment will investigate the aspects including but not limited to institutional governance; operational, staff, case management, and protection capacity; needs of the shelter; and the financial gaps.  This assessment will further inform the development of the shelter’s plans/strategy for medium to long-term in the future.

2. Objective:

The primary objective of this consultancy is to lead a participatory comprehensive shelter capacity assessment of LWU’s Luangnamtha CPCWC shelters. The consultant will lead all aspects of the assessment in a participatory manner – including both Laos CTIP and shelter staff throughout. To do so, the consultant will engage key staff from both shelters, not only the management level but also those who are involved in day-to-day operations, are expected to join, reflect the current status and brainstorm necessary future interventions.

In this regard, the consultant will develop a shelter organizational capacity assessment tool in close cooperation with Laos CTIP technical and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) staff, design specific tools for shelter assessment and NGO shelter run visit, , lead the shelter assessments, jointly lead the NGO-run shelter visit, facilitate reflections and discussions among shelter staff to draw out key learning, analyze the collected information, and in collaboration with shelter and Laos CTIP staff identify the needs and the roadmap, serving as the foundation  for the  strategic planning.

To facilitate the comparison with an NGO-run shelter, the consultant will develop a standardized questionnaire or checklist for participants from the government-run shelters to utilize during the NGO shelter visit. This tool will enable participants to gain insights into potential improvements in their own shelter management and operations. Thereafter, the consultant will present the analysis and discuss with the same participants to verify the information and ensure accuracy. This follow-up discussion will also be used to prepare for the strategic planning and allow for the exchange of ideas and lessons learned during the participatory shelter capacity assessment and NGO run shelter visit. Before this collaborative session, the consultant is expected to develop an outline of the shelter assessment report and strategic planning. This outline will be shared with the same participants to obtain agreement of outline before initiating the drafting of the first assessment report. Upon completion of the first draft, the report will be submitted to the project for review and feedback before finalization.

The assessment will identify the shelters’ capacity on governance, operation, staff capacity, and other domains as determined relevant, and inform the development of shelter development plan.

3. Scope of work:

• The selected consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Chief of Party (CoP) of the USAID Laos CTIP project and closely with Laos CTIP staff. In close collaboration with the CoP, Laos CTIP staff, and LWU, the consultant will develop the shelter capacity assessment tool and comprehensive shelter development plan based on the finding from field assessments. Specific activities include Develop draft shelter capacity assessment tool making adaptations to standard organizational capacity assessment tool domains as relevant for Laos context and specifically TIP shelter context.
• Facilitate a workshop for all staff from both shelters to review and finalize the draft shelter capacity assessment tool.
• Conduct participatory on-site assessment of shelter operations, helping shelter staff to use developed tool to self-assess. Shelter staff should fill out the tool in groups (either based on job function or just small groups of staff together).
• Facilitate workshop with shelter staff to review assessment findings, prioritize areas for improvement, and draft shelter capacity development plan.
• Using draft from workshop, finalize shelter capacity development plan.
• Jointly with the project to lead shelter visit to SSV’s shelter to facilitate a comparison with the government-run shelters. This will inform  recommendation areas for improvement and conduct consultation workshop after SSV’s shelter visit. Write a comprehensive assessment report that clearly summarizes the assessment findings including each shelter’s strengths and gaps against each domain and information from the workshop.

4. Deliverables:

• Draft a capacity assessment tool and guidelines for the study visit to an NGO-operated shelter.
• Share the draft tools with the project and shelter staff and finalize upon feedback.
• Field assessment at both shelters – Luangnamtha and Vientiane Capital – in coordination with USAID Laos CTIP and LWU.
• Organizing the visit to the NGO-operated shelter linking with the improvement of respective shelter in Luangnamtha and Vientiane. Outline the shelter assessment report and shelter strategic development plan.
• All collected data.
• Facilitation of review and shelter capacity development plan workshop.
• First draft of comprehensive assessment report of both shelters in Lao and English detailing findings and recommendations.
• Final draft of assessment report in Lao and English.

5. Timeframe and activities:

Activities
Number of working days
Timelines

(tentative)

Part I

1
Hold an initial meeting with the USAID Laos CTIP Team and LWU.

0.5 day
1 or 2nd week of June 2024

2

Draft a capacity assessment tool and a guideline for the study visit to an NGO-operated shelter to the project and finalize the shelter capacity assessment tool following feedback from the project.
3 days
2nd week of June 2024

3
Participatory shelter capacity assessment in VTE and LNT provinces.
4 days (2 days each)
3rd week of June 2024

4
NGO-run shelter visits at Sengsavang shelter

1.5 days
4th week of June

5
Outline of the shelter assessment report and shelter strategic development plan
1 day
1st week of July

6
Facilitate review and shelter development plan workshop (CA only)
1 day

1st or 2nd week of July 2024

Part II

7
First draft of shelter capacity assessment report including shelter development plan.
4 days
3rd week of July 2024

8
Final draft of shelter assessment report and shelter development plan incorporating feedback from Laos CTIP and shelter staff
2 days
2nd or 3rd week of August 2024.

Total number of days
Up to 17 days

6. Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in education, psychology, counseling, or related field.
• Proven at least 10 years’ work experience in relevant areas and demonstrated understanding of project field (trafficking in persons, victim assistance and protection).
• Understand TIP issue and used to work with LWU’s shelter, and/or used to conduct shelter assessment. Understand the nature of capacity building for government and able to write and recommend strategy plans for shelters.
• Expertise conducting capacity assessments of the shelters.
• Familiarity with shelter operations and management.
• Possess analytical skills and experience in diagnostic/analytical studies of organizations, benchmarking and comparative analysis.
• Experience designing and using data collection tools and analyzing data to draw meaningful insights.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, effective listening and clearly communicate complex ideas to diverse audiences.
• Ability to write a comprehensive and insightful report summarizing assessment, discussions, outcomes and recommendations aligned to the strategy plan of LWU.

7. Terms of payment – the payment schedule will be as follow:

The payment will be made half (50%) upon successful satisfactory completion of deliverables of part I and remaining half (50%) upon successful satisfactory completion of part II.

HOW TO APPLY:

Qualified candidates should apply via e-mail to: LaosCTIPJobs@winrock.org, by May 24, 2024. The e-mail should contain your technical and financial proposal, resume and cover letter. Please put the position ‘Short-Term consultant/consultants for comprehensive shelter assessment’ in the title of your email. Winrock will only contact candidates qualified for the position.