Organizational Background:
War Child, the charity for children affected by war. We are the only specialist charity for children in conflict. War Child has been operating in Iraq since 2004 providing programming in the sectors of child protection, education, and livelihoods. War Child in Iraq has been implementing in consortium with Restless Development the Development Alternative which seeks to empower local youth civil society to engage with the development community to make it more accountable to youth and allow youth’s skills, priorities, passions, and ambitions to affect change in their communities.
Scope of Work:
As part of the Development Alternative project, a State of Youth Civil Society Report will be produced that looks back over the past year and forward into the next to explore the new realities youth civil society and social movements find themselves in after the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the adaptations these actors have developed in the quest toward shifting power. The State of Youth Civil Society 2021 report specifically will showcase the different ways youth civil society and social movements have stepped up around the world to respond, recover and rebuild in their communities. It is the ambition that governments and donors recognize the power and leadership of youth civil society and social movements and how young people have been mobilizing at the national level to coordinate response, recovery, and rebuilding actions. In addition, it aims to advocate to international and national CSOs to better recognize how youth action and campaigning has shifted during the pandemic and to better understand the kind of support young people now want from international and national organizations to scale up or amplify their efforts. War Child will produce the Iraq Chapter of the report. Each chapter of the report will focus on different evidence, experiences and themes, but all will focus around the central theme of the power and resilience of youth civil society and social movements during the pandemic. Each country spotlight should be reflective over the past year while also looking ahead into the future.
The key research questions that will guide the content development of the report, including the spotlights, are as follows:
● How has youth civil society and social movement organizing changed or adapted as a result of the COVID19 pandemic?
● In what ways are youth civil society and social movements leading the recovery and rebuilding of fairer, sustainable, and more inclusive communities?
● What support do youth civil society and social movements need (e.g., from development actors, governments, donors, and/or others) to amplify their impact?
The content of the chapter should be youth led and/or youth inclusive and inclusive substantial input from youth civil society and/or other social movements.
Key Deliverables:
Produce a full report on State Youth Civil Society in Iraq including:
- Develop a data collection plan for final report
- Identify and interview key stakeholders
- Complete a mapping of key youth led or youth serving civil society organizations in Duhok, Ninewa, Baghdad, Anbar, and Basra
- Identify priority issues raised by youth civil society o Identify key stake holding departments and individuals within government and other power brokers which would need to be included in solutions addressing these priority decisions and a mapping of their positions on these issues o Identify key ways in which donors and the international humanitarian and development sectors can better engage, support, and utilize the skills, ambitions, and agency of youth civil society in Iraq.
Based on the research for the State of Youth Civil Society Report.
Qualifications:
- 10 years of experience in contextual analysis within conflict and complex contexts
- Master’s degree in anthropology, international relations, peacebuilding, or other related fields
- Understanding of and familiarity working with Youth Civil Society
- Previous experience conducting stakeholder mappings
- Previous experience with strategy design desirable
- Experience of undertaking desk-based research. Experience of gathering qualitative data via participatory approaches.
- Previous experience in the Middle East desirable, particularly in Iraq
- Arabic language skill are an asset
Duration:
Start Date: 1/9/21 or based on appointment. Consultancy would be until the end of December with time in country dependent on research plan.
Provisions:
Provided By War Child To Be Provided by Consultant:
- Flight to Iraq including internal flights and transportation
- Accommodation in War Child Guesthouse
- Translation during interviews if needed
- Iraqi Sim Card and Credit while deployed
- Office Space
- Costs related to FGDs / interviews
To Be Provided by Consultant:
- Time and experience to complete deliverables as outlined above
- Per diem
- Laptop
- Costs related to virtual data gathering
How to apply:
Interested applicants are requested to submit a brief proposal (max 4 pages) including:
- A cover letter clearly stating how you meet the person specifications, work-plan with lines of inquiry and availability.
- Proposed approach and methodology for meeting the objectives for the work
- CV and with full contact details
- Two references familiar with your work
- Copies of or links to recent work on reports/research pieces
- Indication of fees and/or topline budget.
The selected candidate will be contracted for the consultancy and will commence work shortly after selection and successful references. A consultancy contract will be signed between consultant and WCUK with the TOR attached.
Applications should be sent to: Sara Abdalqadir at hr-iraq@warchild.org.uk by 23:59 August 31, 2021 Please note that submissions which do not meet all the above requirements will not be reviewed