Oxfam
who we are and Background
Masarouna is a youth-centered consortium. We work together with local partners and young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Masarouna is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Masarouna mobilizes the power of young people in the Middle East and North Africa so they can claim their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Young people in MENA are often excluded from power and grow up in a world largely shaped by others. As a result, they face challenges in claiming their SRHR. However, young people in MENA have demonstrated their ability to create change in their societies. Working with a range of stakeholders, the Masarouna 5-year program forges new pathways through influencing and strengthening civil society. That is why meaningful youth engagement and youth-led approaches are essential to Masarouna.
We aim to mobilize the power of young people (YP), aged 18-35, for collective action to support their struggle for greater freedom of choice and respect for their SRHR through new and innovative pathways for change. Masarouna has an ambitious agenda to invest in Meaningful Youth Engagement (MYE) and seeks to be a program that is implemented with youth, instead of for youth. Youth engagement is evolving and set up in different ways in different contexts that we aim to further develop over the course of the program. Current examples of youth engagement include partnering with youth-led organizations, setting up national and a regional Youth Advisory Board, and working with young activists in campaigning activities.
To further invest in Meaningful Youth Engagement in Masarouna, we have identified the opportunity to co-create and implement with young people a cross-country youth- led Peer Learning Trajectory and Youth engagement Strategy for the remaining of the project period.
More info https://www.masarouna.org/ourwork
Purpose and scope of the Assignment
The Peer Learning Trajectory aims to organize and facilitate a cross-country exchange and learning journey that connects young activists to learn from each other, develop their knowledge, skills and strengthen activities to nurture collaboration and movement building amongst young people from different contexts, and sharpen with youth the ways of working of Masarouna with clear strategic vision to ensure meaningful youth engagement.
Specific objectives:
- To develop the capacities of young people on SRHR through peer-learning
- What can young people learn from each other in their work as activists to improve their SRHR in a shrinking civic space?
- Which knowledge, skills or other capacity development needs do they want to invest in to support their work?
- To co-create with youth a strategy on youth-led initiatives and opportunities for joint efforts between movements
- What are their strategic vision and action plan including expected roles and responsibilities during the coming project years?
- Which opportunities and needs do they see themselves to join forces with their peers in existing or new youth-led initiatives and movements?
- What role and concrete actions can Masarouna play to support them in this?
- To engage with the operational model of Masarouna on youth engagement[1]
- How do young people assess and experience the current ways of working towards meaningful youth engagement in Masarouna?
- How can we best connect existing youth engagement initiatives and trainings and ensure they are accessible and of interest to young activists in all their diversity?
- What do young people think we need to invest in more to ensure youth in all their diversity is included and heard in the program and future developments?
Scope and Assignment Details
The trajectory facilitator will work closely with the Masarouna Youth Technical Advisors, the Country Team’s Project Managers/Officers and 42 young people. The assignment will allow for a flexible timeline of the assigned hours and dates, working towards the agreed deliverables.
The Peer Learning Trajectory will work with a range of around 40 to 50 young people involved in Masarouna. The country and regional teams will take lead and are responsible for nominations and inquiring with young people about their interest and participation, aiming for around seven youth per country and 7 young people active at the regional level.
As the ambition is to co-create the trajectory with the young people involved, the exact process and steps are not yet set and should be designed during the inception phase with nominated young participants.
In each country, the work and engagement with young people happens in a different way and is at various stages of development. The participation of young people in the Learning Trajectory will reflect this and can involve:
- Youth part of youth advisory boards and tasks forces
- Members of youth-led partner organisations
- Youth activists involved in campaigning activities or program learning activities such as E-Motive exchanges
- Current or future youth allies working with Masarouna, such as students
The Masarouna Country Teams and Regional / Consortium Team are responsible to select and approach youth activist for their interest to join the Trajectory. The Teams themselves can decide how to go about the process, for example exploring with young people we work with in direct conversations for their interest to join, or create an open selection process in which various young people part of Masarouna can apply.
The following criteria guide in the profile of the young activists to join the initiative:
- A youth activist part of the Masarouna program (for example, part of a Youth Advisory Board, member of a youth-led partner organization, individual activist participating in our campaigns, etc.).
- Interested in- and would benefit from expanding their network, connecting with- and learning from their peers from different countries
- Aged between 18-30 years of age
- Directly engaged in youth-led activities and eager to continue and expand their work in the future
- Able to commit to participate in the Trajectory until May 2023 and eager to continue the collaboration as part of the Masarouna program
- Able to travel abroad for a face-to-face event
- Willing to commit to Oxfam’s Youth Safeguarding Policy
The Country Teams will be supported by Masarouna’s Youth Engagement Advisors in selecting and approaching young activists. In coordination, we will seek diversity in the young activists that are interested to join.
The facilitator / facilitation team will take lead in:
- Facilitating a safe and open environment for the participating young people to connect, share and learn with each other.
- Co-creating with the participating young people and Masarouna colleagues the Peer Learning Trajectory process – including joint revision of the preliminary objectives according to youth’s needs and interests followed by the design of activities.
- Coordinating the preparation, design and realization of the Peer Learning Trajectory activities, ensuring young people can take lead.
- Drafting a detailed plan for the trajectory including for an offline 3-5 days meeting to be held in one of the MENA countries which will be identified by Oxfam.
- Supporting the Masarouna program in the set-up of a Feminist Mentorship process
methodology and timeline
#
Activity
Timeline
key deliverables
1
Selection of young people to be involved and connect in a safe and open environment
- Interested young people involved in Masarouna join the process (country / regional teams to lead)
- The young people connect with each other and the facilitator at the national level (online)
- The facilitator connects all involved youth with each other at a regional level (online)
November – December 2022
(note: in some countries the selection could be delayed until Q1 2023).
Youth participants (40 – 50 participants) are selected
All youth participants understand the main elements of the envisioned trajectory and feel confident to participate and make it their own
2
Co-creation of the Peer Learning Trajectory together with Young People
- The facilitator works with the young people and Masarouna colleagues to co-create key activities (online)
- Meaningful engagement is ensured and there is space for young people to take lead in design and implementation
- The Trajectory responds to the Youth Safeguarding principles and the limitations of existing contextual sensitivities
November – December 2022
An action plan to highlight the peer learning trajectory’s key ambitions, detailed activities and timeline
Young people and Masarouna colleagues feel ownership of the action plan and upcoming trajectory
The young people have identified concrete activities to take lead on in the Learning Trajectory and are supported in design and implementation
3
Implementation of the Peer Learning Trajectory
- The co-created activities are implemented in which young people can take lead and are supported by the facilitator
January – March 2023
Young people take lead and are supported to implement the action plan, including during online sessions and a Face-to-Face event to be held in one of the MENA countries (location will be decided by Oxfam)
The key peer learnings between young people are captured for youth to share further with their peers
The connection between the various youth engagement initiatives is explored and add value to each other (such as connecting to Advisory Board members of youth leading on international influencing)
4
Development of a Youth Engagement Strategy
- Young people are supported to continue their engagement with each other and Masarouna colleagues to co-create a strategy and action plan on youth-led initiatives and meaningful youth engagement
- The participating young people and their peers are connected to maximize their opportunities of Masarouna support offers that add value to their work, such as the Campaigns, Advocacy and Influencing Leadership Programme (CALP) or digital influencing app ‘Game of Change’
March – May 2023
Young people have formulated their envisioned youth-led initiatives and joint collaboration for the coming years
Young people connect meaningfully with Masarouna colleagues (national/regional) on the results of the process and exploration of the uptake in the program
A youth engagement strategy and action plan for 2023-2025 that is owned by young people and Masarouna Country Teams and partners
5
Experiment feminist mentorship
As part of Masarouna’s work we aim to nurture feminist mentorship opportunities. As part of the Learning Trajectory we will seek to recruit 4 young role models from the MENA region based on the experiences from the participating young activists: who has inspired them as a champion active in the causes they care about.
We will explore with the identified role models their interest to become feminist mentors to the young activists part of the Learning Trajectory.
November 2022 – April 2023
The role models are supported to develop their leadership and mentoring skills
The role models engage in a series of 10 (online) sessions with their mentees.
application process and selection criteria
The facilitator should suggest a detailed methodology in the concept note proposal on how they will co-create and implement the Peer Learning Trajectory and ensure space for youth leadership and meaningful engagement with Masarouna colleagues.
Oxfam will take responsibility to nominate candidates, review materials and tools and provide feedback, and share branding and risk guidelines.
Interested applicants are invited to submit an expression of interest letter which includes:
- Concept note/technical offer including how the consultant would tackle the design of the learning journey in terms of understanding of the assignment, proposed approach and methodology, deliverables, realistic workplan including number of days, time frame and action plan, daily rates, team size and expertise (if applicable) and any other logistic or ethical considerations.
- CV(’s) of the proposed consultant(s), proving relevant experience and/or diplomas
- Financial offer in Euro that includes a detailed budget and cost-breakdown, budget should include VAT.
- Two examples of previous similar work.
Interested service providers are expected to have the following profile and competencies:
- Proven and substantial experience in designing and developing tools for learning spaces, preferably with experience in the field of SRHR and/or gender and feminist issues, cultural and artistic exchanges and debates preferred in the MENA region. This can entail collaborating with a youth-led movement/organization or a combination.
- At least six years of experience in facilitating group discussions preferably with youth in the MENA region.
- Excellent Arabic is required, and English is desirable
- Sound knowledge of the MENA context especially on youth and SRHR
- Experience in working with international development organizations and/or government agencies (i.e., government ministries, local governments, etc.).
How to apply
Interested consultants should submit their technical and financial proposal, as explained above before the 3rd of November 2022, and include the following
- Technical Proposal and CV(s)
- Financial proposal (in Euro including VAT). Please provide tax registration number and documents if registered. If the consultant could not provide a formal VAT invoice Oxfam will deduct taxes according to the country laws.
- Contact information
- Names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least 2-3 professional referees.
- Two examples of previous work
- Subject of email should be “peer learning trajectory”.
Evaluation Criteria:
Oxfam’s MENA platform expects to receive clear and solid technical and financial proposals. 70% of the weight will be given to the technical proposal and 30% will be given to the financial proposal as follows:
Criteria
Weight
Understanding and interpretation of the ToR
Detailed description of (envisioned) approach, including when relevant: methodology, tools and analysis
Credible work plan detailing the timing and (when relevant) division of tasks between consultants and their availability to carry out the assignment. Work plan shows ability to meet delivery dates.
Further detailing of the deliverables
30%
Proven and substantial experience in learning designing and developing tools for learning spaces, experience in the field of SRHR and/or gender and feminist issues, cultural and artistic exchanges and debates preferred in the MENA region and strategic planning facilitation.
At least six years of experience in feminist/ art/ education work whether in advocacy or facilitating group discussions preferably with youth in the MENA region.
Experience in working with international development organizations and/or government agencies (i.e. government ministries, local governments, etc.);
25%
Feminist groups, individuals and cultural centers with good connections with young activists and feminists
Sound knowledge of the MENA context especially on youth and SRHR as well as organizing events. Excellent Arabic is required, and English is desirable.
15%
Clarity of the cost breakdown and price proposal of services in accordance with the request (best value for money)
30%
Total
100%
How to apply
Please submit the technical and financial offer with all requested documents by the 3rd of November 2022 to the email address: [email protected]
Period of Validity: the technical and financial offers shall be valid for a period of maximum 60 days, starting from the submission date.