Request for Proposal (RFP) for the provision of Consultancy Services re. “DSP Research in Syria.”

1. Purpose of the consultancy

The Danish Refugee Council based in Middle East Regional Office seeks proposals from a consultant to support DSP’s policy work by doing a study on the link between early recovery and durable solutions in Syria.

2. Objective of the consultancy

The objective of this consultancy is to produce a report (not for publication) and policy brief (for publication) that gauges how early recovery programming links or can be linked to durable solutions across Syria, including by looking at the degree in which displacement-related needs, intentions and perceptions are taken into consideration in current early recovery programming.

The main duties and responsibilities of the Consultant are listed under Section 6, but the lines of inquiry for the study are listed below.

It is a positive development that donors, NGOs and the UN agree on the need for increased early recovery programming. Given that the different areas of control in Syria each have their own conflict histories and political, humanitarian and economic landscapes:

• In how far does early recovery programming respond to the internal displacement dynamics across Syria?
• In how far are displacement-related needs and vulnerabilities taken into consideration in early recovery programs throughout the project cycle?

Given that effective early recovery programming takes the needs of all stakeholders into consideration, which includes the displaced:

• In how far are return intentions of Syria’s displaced included in early recovery programming?
• In how far are demographic information and the expressed needs of the displaced taken into consideration by relevant actors?

3. Scope of work and Methodology

Scope:

The study should cover early recovery and durable solutions in the Whole of Syria.

Methodology:

The Consultant shall employ multiple methods for this study, i.e. a desk review on early recovery and durable solutions in Syria and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). To ensure that the overall direction of the study and the findings of the desk review and KIIs are triangulated with the DSP and its members, they will be discussed with the Research Reference Group during the inception workshop, which is also when potential interviewees and tools for the interviews will be discussed. The Consultant will use the conclusions of the inception workshop to draft the plan and tools for the KIIs, and will triangulate the findings of the KIIs with the DSP. Once the final draft of the report, and associated policy brief, have been written, they will be discussed during a validation workshop before the report and policy brief are finalized.

The research will include multi-stakeholder engagement throughout the project cycle. A selected 6 to 10 RRG members will provide technical support at specific moments in the research, including for instance at the inception phase, support at the implementation phase and feedback on the findings and report at the validation phase. The RRG will be managed by DSP.

4. Deliverables

The duties and responsibilities of the Consultant are:

• To put together a plan with a timeline for the finalization of the below list of deliverables;
• To do a desk review and write up analysis on early recovery and durable solutions in Syria for use in the report and to guide the development of the questionnaire for the Key Informant Interviews;
• To make a plan for conducting Key Informant Interviews, i.e. suggesting interviewees and drafting the necessary tools (questionnaire, email introducing the study) for sharing with and validation by the RRG;
• To prepare for and deliver the inception workshop where the plan for finalization, desk review and Key Informant Interviews can be discussed;
• To draft the final report and, and associated policy brief, for sharing with the RRG;
• To prepare for and deliver the validation workshop where the final report and policy brief are presented and where the messaging on key findings and conclusions are discussed.

The Consultant will submit the following deliverables:

• Main findings of the desk review;
• Research tools (questionnaire for Key Informant Interviews);
• The inception workshop;
• Transcripts of Key Informant Interviews;
• Draft report;
• The validation workshop;
• Final report and policy brief.

Report: maximum 30 pages, not for publication.

Policy brief: two-pager, for publication.

The Consultant will provide the documentationin MS Word, PowerPoint, PDF or other formats as relevant.

5. Proposed Composition of Team

For the purpose of this consultancy and the nature of this work, DSP prefers a team of minimum 2-3 individuals with a history of doing research on Syria.

6. Eligibility, qualification, and experience required

Due to the scope of this research and the available timeframe, consultant teams (of minimum 2-3 individuals) are preferred, but individual consultants can apply.

The lead consultant should have the following qualifications, and team members are expected to have solid research/ thematic/ regional expertise:

• Master degree in international relations, development, political science and/or similar
• Minimum 6 years’ proven experience in conducting similar assignments
• Demonstrable experience related to forced migration and durable solutions in Syria
• Strong knowledge of the region and the socio-economic and political dynamics affecting it, more specifically on displacement trends and early recovery programming in Syria
• Strong analytical and writing skills with proven experience in producing high quality research with ability to present complex information in a simple and accessible manner
• Fluency in written and spoken English

Documents to be submitted:

• A technical proposal outlining the consultant’s own understanding of the required scope of work
• Updated CV/s of the consultant/s that clearly spells out his/her qualifications and experience
• A financial proposal showing the daily rate and breakdown
• 2 examples of similar work completed in past
• 2 reference contacts

7. Technical supervision

The selected consultant will work under the supervision of DSP’s Regional Policy Specialist, Amy Rodgers: [email protected].

8. Location and support

This consultancy is expected to be carried out remotely.