SEE Change Practice Based and Action Research Consultancy Tender, Lebanon - 76980516

Procurement Summary

Country : Lebanon

Summary : SEE Change Practice Based and Action Research Consultancy

Deadline : 15 Jan 2023

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 76980516

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Financier : Self Financed

Purchaser Ownership : Public

Tender Value : Refer Document

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Tender Details

Tenders are invited for SEE Change Practice Based and Action Research Consultancy

Closing Date: Sunday, 15. Jan 2023

Intervention Sector(s): Research & Studies

Remuneration range: 6000 (USD)

Duration of Contract: Detailed timeline per deliverable to be agreed upon with the consultant.

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATIONS

Lebanon continues to witness multifaceted and intertwined crises that further aggravate a vulnerable socio-economic situation pushing a substantial percentage of Lebanon-s residents under the poverty line. The severe economic crisis was compounded with COVID-19 pandemic and a devastating blast in Beirut port that destroyed large neighbourhoods in the capital, and led, in August 2020, to the resignation of the government. In the absence of a functioning government, the socio-economic and Covid-19 situations have continued to deteriorate.



Social Entrepreneurship (SE) is increasingly regarded as a tool capable of easing communal tensions and contributing to communities- socio-economic development. SEs can “contribute to the economic security of all segments of the population and contribute to economic diver­sity as it invests in territorial development and proximity, promoting community participation, prioritizing local impacts and modelling participatory values”[1].



In Lebanon, a 2019 mapping showed that SE has recently gained more national visibility among urban communities in big cities[2]. This can be explained by the fact that SE responds to the national priorities and is aligned with Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP) goal, and the strategy of both the Livelihood and Social Stability Sector. During the past few years, several projects started promoting SE as a tool to strengthen social stability and support local economic development for Lebanese, Palestinian, and Syrian refugees. Some of the projects invested in building the knowledge and awareness of community members on social entrepreneurship, others supported the identification of social ventures and their evolvement into SE through the provision of ad hoc technical and financial support, while others focused on developing a legal framework for social entrepreneurship[3].

Brief presentation of projects

SEE Change: Oxfam in partnership with Beyond group and COSV is implementing an EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian crisis (EUTF) Funded project entitled “Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Change” (SEE Change). As of September 2020, and over the course of three years, the project will be implemented in five different areas in Beqaa, North, South and Mount Lebanon.



The project aims at increasing the impact of social entrepreneurial activities in Lebanon, creating employment and social stability opportunities, and supporting the local economy.

The action aims to have an impact on 4 levels:



Technical level: Developing the capacity of around 7000 community members through the provision of trainings on SE, social economy, social impact measurement, and community outreach.
Social level: Engaging at least 200 community members in: 1) identifying local assets that hold the potential of being transformed into social justice incubation programs, 2) monitoring and measuring the social impact of SEs that will be supported by the program.
Economic level: Providing technical and financial resources to support the scale-up, social and economic impact of around 60 existing SEs. Additional support will be provided for the Social Entrepreneurship Support Organisations (SESOs) to ensure that they provide improved and tailored support to the SEs.
Policy level: Sustaining the advocacy work initiated through previous projects, namely BADAEL[4], FURSA[5], and MedUp![6], aimed at creating a conducive ecosystem for SEs, civic engagement, and inclusive economic development.


2. PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH/ RATIONALE



SEE Change (Oxfam) aims to increase the impact of social entrepreneurial activities in Lebanon, creating employment and social stability opportunities, and supporting the local economy. By strengthening the Social Enterprises (SEs) and the Social Entrepreneurship support organizations (SESOs) to respond to the social and economic situation in Lebanon.

For this purpose, actions are taken on different levels to achieve the overall goal “to contribute to social stability and local economy of the targeted areas”



SEE Change (Oxfam) launched a national sub granting Call for Support and awarded 60 social ventures all over Lebanon with financial and business development (technical) support. The competition targeted new and existing SEs, from start-ups to maturity level. The type of activities that were supported include, but are not limited to, equipment linked to the core activities of the SE, small infrastructure intervention, cash, marketing & communication related activities, capacity building costs, etc.



Additional support will be provided for the Social Entrepreneurship Support Organisations (SESOs) to ensure that they provide improved and tailored support to the SEs. SEE Change will develop a capacity development plan to improve the of 120 members of SESOs on technical, financial, legal, operational, and organisational capacities of the SESOs.



In the past year two reports were generated that described in detail all the activities implemented by the different partners in the consortium.



Oxfam is looking for a consultant over a period of 7 months (expected to start Feb 1, 2023 and Ends August 31st 2023 with expected total number of 60 days) to:



Conduct an Action learning research in order to track the implementation of the technical support program implemented across all Lebanon, identify key challenges that require prompt solution, classify specific trends (sector, area, value chain…) highlight success stories and mainly track the multiply and direct effect of the technical and financial support of the SE in the 1. Community level 2. Growth 3. Social impact


Therefore, the research will be guided by the following research questions:

How are communities involved in social entrepreneurship activities? How can they play a role in oversight and monitoring of social impact?
What were the needs of the local communities to take on their role? Did the Project provide them with those requirements?
Was the support provided to SEs relevant to their context and operations? Did the support provided benefit the SEs and helped in scaling-up their operations?
Did the advocacy plan target the right audience? Were the approaches and tools used coherent with the set objectives?
What other activities were recommended to pursue the objectives of the Project?
What are the main lessons learned from the project?


Conduct a practice-based research in addition to his/her role on the action learning reach the consultant is required toensure that the lessons learned from the implementation of the capacity building of SESOs is documented and shared with other members of the SE ecosystem and to support Beyond Group to develop a 5-modules learning toolkit/manual that documents the processes and outlines those main issues to take into consideration.


Therefore, the research will be guided by the following research questions:



Was the support provided to SESOs relevant to their context and operations? Did the support provided benefit the SESOs and helped in scaling-up their operations?
Was the support provided to SESOs scaling up in their impact? What tools are used to monitor this impact?
any specific trends that has been captured ?
How are communities involved in social entrepreneurship activities? How can they play a role in oversight and monitoring of social impact?
What other activities were recommended to pursue the objectives of the Project?


The findings and recommendations will be generated periodically throughout the implementation of the project in Year 3, to allow the team to incorporate the recommendations during implementation.

3. SUGGESTED METHODOLOGY



For the action learning research, the suggested methodology as follow:



The research consultant is expected to develop the methodology for the research, manage the research using qualitative and quantitative tools, and produce research pieces of the process and the learnings. To meet this expectation, the research consultant is expected to monitor, take part, and follow-up on technical support activities that are being implemented all over the country.



For the practice-based research, the suggested methodology as follow:



Prepare an interactive methodology to describe the research that looks at identifying gaps, the tools that will be used to reach the needed outcomes by documenting the processes, challenges, and learnings. Track the capacity building improvement of the SESOs/SE in order to detect the gaps, understand the challenges faced, highlights the process of development, learnings and success stories.



4. ExPECTED DELIVERABLES

By the end of the project, the consultant should present to the project team two reports one for each component:

For Action learning research:
Type of deliverable
Deadline

A. Methodology and workplan

3 days

B. Development of the quantitative & qualitative tools to collect data prior to each phase (e.g. observation checklist, semi-structured interviews, Key Informant Interviews (KII), online surveys, etc…

5 days

C. Feedback on each observed project activity (visits, meetings, calls, short report, etc…)

10 days

D. Progress report on the implementation

7 days

E. Final report

5 days (on or before August 31st)



For Practice-based research:
Type of deliverable

Deadline

A. Methodology and workplan

3 days

B. Development of the quantitative & qualitative tools to collect data prior to each phase (e.g. observation checklist, semi

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