TERMS OF REFERENCE
UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5.3 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. UNRWA is the largest UN operation in the Middle East with more than 30,000 staff.
Needs Assessment Consultant, Amman, Jordan
UNRWA’s is seeking a person to conduct a rapid multi-sectoral assessment of the needs of Palestinian Refugees from Syria (PRS) in Jordan focusing on its core programming areas of relief, health and education. The assessment will be used to inform UNRWA’s Syria crisis response plan, ongoing advocacy on PRS issues and programming decisions.
BACKGROUND
Palestinian refugees from Syria in Jordan
UNRWA provides humanitarian assistance and protection services to 10,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS) in Jordan. These individuals are mostly self-identifying and approach UNRWA for services. At current rates, the number of PRS recorded with JFO may reach approximately 18,000 by December 2014.
Interviews with PRS indicate that they fled Syria for the same reasons as their Syrian counterparts, including the destruction of their home, conflict-related violence and overall insecurity, persecution of family members, targeted killings, torture and lack of food and services.
The vast majority of PRS recorded with UNRWA reside in communities with host families or in rental premises, mainly in Irbid, Zarqa and Amman. 52 percent of PRS are female and 49 percent are under 18 years. 30 percent of households are headed by women; a large proportion compared to Syrian refugees (JFO Syria Response MIS).
The vast majority of PRS have been assessed as living in poverty. A socio-economic survey with 950 PRS families conducted in January-September 2013 using the same ‘proxy-means test’ as that for UNRWA’s core social safety net programme found 95 percent to qualify for UNRWA’s poverty support programme, with 63 percent living in abject poverty. The most critical self-declared needs of PRS are shelter, food and health services.
PRS who have crossed into Jordan are a particularly vulnerable group. The Government of Jordan (GoJ) publicly announced in January 2013 a policy of non-admittance of Palestinians fleeing the conflict in Syria. The precarious legal status of PRS compounds their poverty and means they endure a considerable degree of insecurity: they face difficulties in relation to civil processes such as registration of births and in access to services; many are unable to work and left extremely vulnerable to high-risk survival strategies; and, they are at constant risk of refoulement. In contrast to their Syrian counterparts, Palestinian refugees have fewer opportunities to regain a sense of ‘normalcy’ and community life.
UNRWA assistance to PRS
UNRWA is providing education and health services that are normally provided to Palestine refugees registered with its Jordan Field Office (JFO) by integrating the new PRS caseload into existing programmes with donor funding specifically earmarked for the emergency response. JFO also provides cash and food assistance to PRS.
Despite the limited number of PRS in Jordan, UNRWA faces a number of challenges in managing increasing demands and operational complexity of the response, including: increasing economic, legal and social vulnerability as the emergency deepens; a shortfall of emergency response funding for both UNRWA and the government of Jordan; strain caused by increasing numbers on UNRWA’s existing capacity and programs; political sensitivity to the possibility of a potential large influx of Palestinians whose stay is perceived to be of a non-temporary nature; and, increasing concerns about the ability of the international community to provide this highly vulnerable group with adequate protection and assistance. PRS are also widespread, sheltering over all nine governorates in Jordan. This restricts UNRWA’s ability to respond to their needs in a location-specific manner.
Profiling and needs assessment methods
JFO has used a number of methods to profile the PRS caseload and assess their needs:
· Detailed bio-data is collected at intake by registration clerks for all newcomers using an intake form. This form also allows refugees to register their most urgent needs in the categories of protection, health, relief, education and other. This information is compiled weekly into JFO’s Syria response MIS – and provides a basis for internal/external reporting. The data collected at intake is periodically verified/updated through family visits conducted by UNRWA social workers. These visits provide a wealth of qualitative information on PRS situation, which is relayed through hierarchical channels but not systematized.
· In January-September 2013, UNRWA’s Social Safety Net Application was applied to 950 PRS families to gather more information regarding the socio-economic status of the population. The SSN application is a proxy-means test that gathers information about income and expenditures to determine poverty levels. The results of this survey determine the number of individuals and families in each area who are in different categories of poverty: abject poor, churning poor, and not poor. Because the application uses a proxy-means test to determine poverty levels, some information can be used to determine needs—for example, information on individuals in the family with disabilities or chronic illnesses, amount of education completed, and housing conditions can indicate families’ needs for health, education and relief services. However, using responses from this application for targeting needs would not allow refugees to directly state their needs or prioritize those needs.
A wealth of secondary data on PRS issues and needs is therefore available. The quality of the quantitative data on PRS demographics is uneven, however, and the information on PRS needs collected at intake is partial, outdated and somewhat biased by a focus on UNRWA’s current programming areas.
Moving forward JFO is planning to:
· Fast-track the intake process by only collecting critically needed data on the entire caseload to assess their eligibility for services. JFO is phasing out the abovementioned intake form in favor of an online emergency module for its refugee registration information system (RRIS) to support the recording of newcomers, facilitate the planning of distributions (cash, NFIs, food) and specialized interventions (including targeted cash grants).
· Develop a targeting strategy and related tool/mechanism to assess the eligibility of poorest/most vulnerable households for special benefits.
· Implement periodic needs assessments/poverty surveys with a representative sample of PRS to allow for time-series analyses and support advocacy and programming decisions.
· Strengthen its case management/tracking system, starting with the implementation standard case tracking form and related database, to support referrals and interventions (including the granting of emergency cash grants to families facing specific shocks) and produce statistics on casework.
OBJECTIVES
The needs assessment will inform UNRWA’s 2014 Syria crisis response plan for Jordan, ongoing advocacy on PRS issues and programming decisions. The goals of the assessment are the following:
· To provide an overview of the situation of Palestinian refugees from Syria in Jordan.
· To understand their coping mechanisms and how these evolve over time.
· To identify and prioritize their humanitarian needs and how these evolve over time.
· To identify gaps in services provided by UNRWA and other agencies.
· To identify vulnerability criteria and develop a targeting strategy for UNRWA’s relief program.
In-depth qualitative research on protection issues is currently being carried-out, and will serve as a companion piece to this assessment.
Specific to this assessment, the expert should use methods and tools that allow for some comparability/compatibility with joint needs assessments involving UNRWA in Lebanon (with WFP) and Syria (with OCHA) and with the planned common refugee vulnerability assessment in Jordan (led by the troika UNHCR/WFP/UNICEF).
Description of Duties and Responsibilities
The proposed assignment will involve the following activities:
· Complete a desk review of available secondary data on PRS and PRS issues and methods/tools used by UNRWA and its partners for assessments in Lebanon and Syria and by other humanitarian agencies in Jordan.
· Develop standards and thresholds based on industry-accepted criteria and UNRWA strategic plan, taking into consideration that not all industry-accepted criteria will apply to the PRS population in Jordan, which is not clustered in a specific part of Jordan and thus do not have homogenous situation of housing, finances, access to survival necessities.
· Develop a sampling strategy. The household survey should be implemented nationwide with a representative sample of men, women, boys and girls. Anecdotal evidence suggests that refugees who arrived in Jordan more than six months ago appear to have quite different circumstances, and therefore have different needs, than those refugees who have recently arrived to Jordan. The option of using a stratified sample – according to date of arrival - should therefore be considered to give a more nuanced understanding of how PRS needs evolve over time and inform targeting.
· Create a multi-faceted needs assessment, which allows for comparison across fields. Mixed methodologies should include questionnaires for staff and potential beneficiaries individually as well as focus groups on the following topics:
a. Coping strategies, income and expenditure,
b. Needs in all areas in which UNRWA could provide services or referrals (relief, health, education – protection being covered by a companion piece),
c. Barriers to services,
d. Gaps in services,
e. Risk assessment, particularly for vulnerable groups such as female head of households,
f. Beneficiary priorities.
g. Available resources and services from other organizations
· Implement assessment in all areas, among a representative population including men, women, children, and any other vulnerable groups (female head of households, populations at risk of deportation).
· Work in partnership with other organizations serving PRS, such as the Red Cross and non-governmental organizations.
· Develop a targeting strategy from this information. Use a matrix which employs a weighted calculation of factors contributing to need/vulnerability to calculate a priority level “score” for the beneficiary family or group. Factors can include:
a. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics,
b. Risk factors and special vulnerabilities
c. Prioritized needs as determined by JFO
d. Coping strategies
· This matrix should be harmonized to the extent possible with UNRWA’s Poverty Means Testing Formula which is used by all UNRWA fields to target poverty support.
· Enter, clean and analyse data to prepare a draft final report.
· Present the draft report to key stakeholders, incorporate feedback and finalize the needs assessment report.
DELIVERABLES
· Power point presentation on findings and recommendations
· Draft final report including all relevant annexes
· Vulnerability framework/targeting matrix
· Final report incorporating feedback from the advisory committee
TIMELINE, ASSUMPTIONS AND SUPPORT FROM FIELD STAFF
· The rapid assessment should start no later than 12 January 2014 and the final report handed over no later than 28 February 2014.
· UNRWA estimates a level of effort of 40-50 working days.
· UNRWA will put at the expert’s disposal:
a. 12 enumerators and 4 data clerks (from four area offices) to implement the survey and enter data [nb for a period not exceeding 10 work days]
b. An advisory committee comprising the Senior Emergency Coordinator, Deputy Emergency Coordinator, Senior Protection Officer, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, and research focal point for JFO and potentially external stakeholders to advise the process and review tools, findings and report outputs.
c. Translation services will also be provided.
· Additional support needs could potentially be negotiated.
· The expert will report to the Senior Emergency Coordinator.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
· 10 years of relevant experience in complex humanitarian emergencies;
· Master in a relevant discipline. A PhD in social sciences and specialized studies in humanitarian affairs would be a plus;
· Proven mastery of both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods;
· Proven experience leading rapid multi-sectoral assessments;
· Proven experience developing targeting strategies, particularly for cash programming;
· Full proficiency in statistical analysis software packages;
· Full proficiency in English and excellent writing skills (as demonstrated by a writing sample);
· Good knowledge of Palestinian refugee issues and of the Syria crisis;
· Prior experience in Jordan or the Middle East desirable.
· Prior experience with UNRWA a plus.
· Proficiency in Arabic a plus.
Essential Qualifications and Experience
· An advanced degree from a an accredited educational institution in a relevant discipline;
· Ten years of relevant experience in complex humanitarian emergencies;
· Proven mastery of both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods;
· Proven experience leading rapid multi-sectoral assessments;
· Proven experience developing targeting strategies, particularly for cash programming;
· Full proficiency in statistical analysis software packages;
· Full proficiency in English and excellent writing skills (as demonstrated by a writing sample);
· Good knowledge of Palestinian refugee issues and of the Syria crisis.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
· Prior experience in Jordan or the Middle East;
· Prior experience with UNRWA;
· Proficiency in Arabic;
· PhD in social sciences and specialized studies in humanitarian affairs.
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
· The rapid assessment should start no later than 12 January 2014 and the final report handed over no later than 28 February 2014.
· UNRWA estimates a level of effort of 40-50 working days.
· UNRWA will put at the expert’s disposal:
a) 12 numerators and 4 data clerks (from four area offices) to implement the survey and enter data [nb. for a period not exceeding 10 work days]
b) An advisory committee comprising the Senior Emergency Coordinator, Deputy Emergency Coordinator, Senior Protection Officer, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, and research focal point for JFO and potentially external stakeholders to advise the process and review tools, findings and report outputs.