Constancy – Training on Facilitation Skills for Facilitator and Project Staff

Background

Oxfam is an international confederation counting 17 organizations working together with partners and local communities in more than 90 countries.

Oxfam has been working in Iraq since the 1990s with both an expanding and contracting presence. In 2014, Oxfam established its first office in Mosul when the conflict with ISIS began and the country was thrown into a new humanitarian crisis, in an already fragile context. In 2021, Oxfam is amongst the largest NGOs operating in the country. With nine offices and almost 200 employees.

Oxfam in Iraq’s strategy is shaped around 3 key pillars 1) Humanitarian response 2) Governance and 3) Equality. Within each of these pillars, intervention covers the following sectors: Emergency Food Security and Vulnerable Livelihoods, Water and Sanitation and Hygiene, Gender and Protection, Emergency lifesaving support, and Local Humanitarian Leadership.

In this framework, Oxfam in Iraq has launched the Masarouna project aiming at supporting young people’s advocacy to achieve their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).

Masarouna program

In a context where securing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) is challenging, the Masarouna “Our Pathway” program mobilizes the power of young people (YP), for collective action to support their fight for greater freedom of choice and respect for their SRHR.

The program is implemented in six countries/territories of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Masarouna identifies two main interlinked pathways to achieve the desired change. Pathway 1 is focused on the direct influencing of decision-makers and society to address inadequate legislation and harmful traditional social and cultural norms through strengthened youth engagement. Pathway 2 is focused on strengthening civil society, reclaiming civic space, and formation of new partnerships and alliances.

In the specific context of Iraq, young people face a series of challenges that limit their full enjoyment of SRHR: lack of evidence-based information about SRHR, limited access to information, and lack of YP-friendly SRHR services among the main ones. In this context, the Masarouna project in Iraq supports YP in accessing comprehensive information about SRHR, with a specific geographical focus on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Through increased knowledge and the building of alliances and solidarity, Masarouna in Iraq will equip YP individuals to demand their SRHR and create a supportive environment to enjoy them.

Objectives of the consultancy

The consultant, or team of consultants, will be in charge of designing and conducting 2 different trainings on facilitation skills for two different groups:

• Group 1: approximately 45 facilitators from Sulaymaniah, Erbil and Halabja who have some experience and basic knowledge of facilitation skills who need capacity strengthening to facilitate SRHR sessions for YP. Two sessions will be conducted with approximately 15 participants each in Erbil, one session will be conducted with 15 participants in Sulaymaniah.
• Group 2: approximately 10 NGO staff (project officers and project managers) from Oxfam, REACH, Together, and Emma who have very limited to zero experience in facilitation and need basic capacity strengthening to facilitate workshops and technical capacity strengthening sessions. This group is trained separately from the facilitators, and the session will be held in Erbil.

It is expected that by the end of the training participants: have improved their facilitation skills such as definition of purposes and expected outcomes of an event or process to be facilitated, organization and planning, active listening, participants’ active engagement with different techniques / for different purposes (e.g. from brainstorming to problem-solving, consensus building…), self-awareness, flexibility, time management, communication techniques, body language, conflict prevention, and mitigation….

Methodology

Preliminary requirement: The consultant will adopt a gender-sensitive approach, inclusive of all participants, culturally sensitive, and participatory, they will ensure the application of the “do no harm” principle and abide by Oxfam’s Safeguarding policy and in view of Oxfam’s Feminist Principles to enable everyone to participate fairly and safely.

The consultant will have an inception meeting with Oxfam and one with representatives of facilitators to understand their current level of experience and training needs, based on that they will propose the contents of the sessions and submit them to Oxfam for revision and validation.

During the training, the consultant should alternate frontal sessions with scenarios, practical exercises, and group activities, where each participant is engaged and gets the chance to interact and showcase their skills and knowledge.

A final evaluation and feedback form should be designed by the consultant and filled out by participants at the end of the training.

A final report should be submitted by the consultant, summarizing the outcomes of the sessions, the feedback from the participants, and recommendations to Oxfam for future capacity strengthening offers.

Deliverables and timeframe

N.

Deliverable

1

Conduct one inception session with the Oxfam team

2

Conduct one inception session with the representatives of facilitators

3

The training outline for the two groups is submitted to Oxfam for revision and validation

4

The training package including the training approach approach, tools, materials and feedback forms is submitted to Oxfam

5

1 training in Kurdish language is delivered for 15 participants in Erbil

6

1 training in Arabic language is delivered for 15 participants in Erbil

7

1 training in Kurdish language is delivered for 15 participants in Sulaymaniah

8

1 training in English language is delivered for 10 participants in Erbil

9

The final report is submitted along with the key findings from the feedback forms and recommendations to Oxfam on future planning and capacity strengthening for facilitators, including feedbacks on their performance

Please note, that there will be multiple rounds of feedback on content and language. The service provider is expected to have the flexibility for amendments and adjustments after the delivery of the first draft of the outline, training materials, and PowerPoint presentation.

Supervision and management

The Masarouna Project Manager and the Oxfam Gender Justice Program manager will provide technical and practical supervision to the consultant, in coordination with project partners.

Logistics

Oxfam will organize the day-to-day logistics related to the arrangement of venues and distribution of materials during the training. The consultant is in charge for purchasing training materials. All fees related to the training (transportation and accommodation of participants, venue rental, lunches, and coffee break) will be covered by Oxfam.

Competences and qualifications

Skills and experiences:

• Demonstrated competences and experience in facilitation of various events/processes/for various purposes, including various techniques of participant engagement
• Proved experience in design and conduction of training packages
• Solid expertise in gender and human rights-based approaches is a plus; sensitisation to these topics is a minimum, to be detailed in technical offer/CV
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English, Iraqi Kurdish and Arabic are mandatory