Consultancy to undertake mapping of Civil Society Organizations working on children, risk and resilience in urban centres

Terms of Reference For consultancy to undertake mapping of Civil Society Organizations working on children, risk and resilience in urban centres

 Background & Research Gap:
Over half of the world’s population now lives in urban centres, with more than 60% of the increase in the world’s urban population between 2000 and 2030 expected to occur in Asia, particularly in China and India, but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Vietnam.[1]  Within these urban centres it is common for up to 50% of the population to live in informal settlements: these are often located on land that is exposed to hazards, with poor quality provision for water, sanitation, drainage, infrastructure, health care and emergency services. Rapid urbanization poses many challenges to disaster management with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) specifying that increasing vulnerabilities related to unplanned urbanization compounds future disaster risk in urban areas (DFID, 2012)[2].

In Asia, few Plan country offices include urban areas for programming and even fewer have established DRR programmes in urban areas. In urban areas the most vulnerable children are often much harder to reach, government administration and NGO networks are normally organized differently, and the risk patterns to children differ. Plan notices that, to date, there has been dearth of research on how rapid and large scale urbanization is affecting children’s vulnerability towards disasters in cities and what opportunities and challenges it brings to strengthen children’s resilience and their rights. Conducting research on urban DRR in Kathmandu, Dhaka, Jakarta and Manila will allow Plan Asia Region to identify the gaps in Plan’s existing DRR approach.
Plan’s DRR programmes are normally implemented in partnership with local NGOs. From experience, Plan’s partner NGOs in Asia tend to have a   restricted set of priorities, limited technical capacity in DRR and limited ability to engage with local government. It is therefore necessary to better understand their perspectives, to investigate their current role in urban DRR programming, and to develop models (based on the findings from this project) for how they can adapt their DRR activities to urban contexts.
The proposed mapping of civil society organizations (CSOs) working on issues related to children, risk and resilience in these 4 cities will allow Plan to enrich its own understanding of other actors engaged in similar work, forge partnerships and facilitate sharing of knowledge and experiences for its bigger research on children, risk and resilience in urban centres.
 Research Objectives:
1.    To identify key civil society organizations with a strong focus on issues related to children, risk and resilience in urban centres.
1. To capture programming trends of these organizations; approach, target groups, locations, etc.
2. To review and assess overlaps between their work and Plan’s proposed research on children, risk and resilience in the urban context. (TOR attached).
3. To identify potential organizations that Plan may partner with for research and programming on urban DRR based on the ToR.





 Timeline
*  19th July 2013 : Latest Proposal Submission
* 26th July 2013 : Hiring the consultant
 Management:
The consultant will be managed by Plan’s MER/DRM Manager. Outputs will be reviewed by a small group comprising Plan staff and IIED.
Level of Contact with Children: Mid contact:     Occasional interaction with children


Consultant specifications

·         At least three years experience in social research relating to international development
·         Masters degree and/or proven expertise in a related area such as international development planning, disaster management, child rights, social movements and civil society organizations.
·         Strong qualitative research skills
·         Experience in the collection and analysis of qualitative in-country primary research


Appointment process

 Interested consultant should submit an Expression of Interest to
Hery Nahampun – PME Department Plan Indonesia at: hery.nahampun@plan-international.org and wahyu.kuncoro@plan-international.org by the latest 19th July 2013.

1.    A cover letter outlining how you meet the consultant specification, including relevant previous experience
2.    A full technical and financial proposal (4-5 pages) to include:

·         an explanation on how you would conduct the process as outlined above with an indicative research methodology including quantitative and qualitative data gathering mechanisms, sample of inquiry tools and priority areas to focus on.
·         a detailed timeline as per the expected outcomes and deadline mentioned above. Plan will pay consultants on per day basis and may provide allowance towards local transport within the city.
3.    CVs of the consultant(s) who will carry out the work
4.    Two references from previous clients

Only shortlisted consultant will be contacted for recruitment.