Knowledge & Learning Mobilisation Consultant – Power to Girls, LEAP

Knowledge and Learning Mobilisation Consultant – Power to Girls

Terms of Reference

Learning through Education and Access to Skills for Employment (LEAP)

Kalobeyei Settlement, Kakuma Refugee Camp and surrounding host communities

Position Title: Knowledge Mobilisation Consultant – Power to Girls

Position Location: Remote (with domestic travel for Kenya-based applicants)

Reports to: LEAP Project Manager

Contract term: June 2024-September 2024

Budget: CAD 14k

1. Introduction

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of students, volunteers, schools, government, and businesses who share this vision. Together, we foster youth-centered solutions for improved education, economic, and empowerment opportunities to overcome inequality and exclusion in over 25 countries around the world.

WUSC believes that if youth have access to and benefit from inclusive, quality education opportunities from primary to post-secondary, then they will develop the knowledge, skills, and capacities they need to secure a better quality of life. WUSC has been active in the education sector for several decades, with a strong focus on improving education access and quality in conflict-affected and fragile contexts to ensure that even the most marginalized youth can change their lives through education.

In Kenya, WUSC is implementing the Learning through Education and Access to Skills for Employment Project (LEAP) with a grant of $13.1 million (CAD) from Global Affairs Canada (GAC). Launched in 2019, LEAP is enhancing education opportunities for adolescent girls and provides access to gender-responsive and market-based skills training for young women with the ultimate goal of increasing the empowerment of female youth in Kalobeyei Settlement, Kakuma Refugee Camp, and the surrounding host communities in Turkana County in northern Kenya.

WUSC is seeking a Knowledge Mobilisation Consultant to support the generation and documentation of key evidence and learning from the project in order to make a strengthened contribution to the broader evidence base on education and empowerment programming within refugee and refugee-hosting contexts.

2. Background of the LEAP Project

LEAP is designed to address gender, social, cultural, and economic barriers that affect adolescent girls’ and young women’s ability to access education and employment opportunities and make critical decisions about things that affect their lives. The project specifically targets two of the most critical moments in a girls’ educational journey: 1) upper primary grades and the transition to secondary school, when girls are most at risk of dropping out of the education system; and, 2) the transition from basic education to post-secondary education or employment.

LEAP was launched in 2019, and will run until 2025, and aims to reach a total of 40,000 adolescent girls and young women. To give a brief overview of the scope of the activities under LEAP, the project components can be broadly categorized into activities to support education, employment opportunities, and community behavior change:

Education

LEAP supports a total of 15 schools (11 primary schools and 4 secondary schools) located within Kalobeyei Settlement (5 primary schools and 2 secondary schools) and the surrounding host communities (6 primary schools and 2 secondary schools). Conditional cash transfers support vulnerable girls and their families to overcome the economic barriers to accessing education, and a combination of teacher training, life skills education, strengthening school policy, and psychosocial support are designed to help improve the overall quality the education girls receive.

Employment Opportunities

LEAP aims to increase equitable participation in gender-responsive, market-based skills training to equip adolescent girls and young women with critical skills to improve their future life options and livelihoods. The project supports 21 young women to access diploma level technical and vocational courses at a number of Kenya National Technical Vocational Education Institutions through providing TVET scholarships; 814 young women supported to access certificate level vocational technical skills training within Kalobeyei camp, and digital skills training courses delivered to 930 young women leading to online freelance working opportunities.

Community Behaviour Change

LEAP works to generate community support for girls’ empowerment, recognising that a supportive and enabling environment is a critical component for girls to exercise their voice, choice and agency. LEAP is implementing several methodologies to achieve sustainable community-wide shifts in gender-related norms and behaviors. First is direct community mobilization led by a network of passionate community-based leaders to promote shifts in power dynamics and reduce violence against women and girls. Second is the use of mass media, specifically radio programming to promote women’s economic empowerment. And third is male engagement in which male partners and family members of skills training participants are engaged in a several-weeks course to promote positive masculinity.

3. Assignment Scope and Methodology

As part of the project, WUSC would like to embed a strengthened and more robust learning agenda that goes beyond project-level performance measurement to drive evidence generation and the documentation of key learning. Through this work, our goal is to strengthen WUSC’s contribution to the broader evidence base on education and empowerment programming within refugee and refugee-hosting contexts. To do this, WUSC is seeking to engage a consultant to support knowledge mobilisation in relation to the Power to Girls component of the project; a holistic approach to social behaviour change to promote gender equality and inclusion with interventions through Girls Clubs (building girls’ voice, choice and agency), with teachers and school leaders (enhancing the school environment), and within the community (creating an enabling community environment).

Through an analysis of secondary data sources, including project monitoring and evaluation reports, partner implementation reports, etc., and a select number of key informant interviews with relevant project staff, participants and other stakeholders, the Consultant will collate knowledge, learning, and evidence that relates to the following questions:

1. What are the key components of the Power to Girls approach? How was the approach adapted to the LEAP context and why?
2. What impact/change is evident as a result of the Power to Girls work led by LEAP:
   1. At the level of girls themselves?
   2. In schools?
   3. In the community?
3. What is the effect of girl-centered empowerment programming and holistic community engagement, either in combination or individually?
4. Have there been any unintended outcomes as a result of the Power to Girls interventions, both positive and negative?
5. What are the key drivers of success in relation to:
   1. Increased voice, choice, and agency amongst girls themselves?
   2. Changes in attitudes and behaviours within school environments?
   3. Changes in attitudes and behaviours within communities?
6. What challenges/barriers were encountered that affected the effectiveness of the model, and how were they overcome?
7. How do girl-centred empowerment programming and holistic community engagement, either together or separately, impact the social acceptance of gender inequality and violence against women and girls?
8. What, if any, indications of sustaining the impact of this work beyond the length of the project are evident? How could this be strengthened?

NB: Please note that this is an initial list of questions for this assignment and may be adjusted through co-creation in the inception of the consultancy.

4. Key Deliverables

1. Kick-off meeting with WUSC team
2. An inception report including work plan, methodology, and necessary research tools;
3. Desk review of existing documentation and qualitative and quantitative data;
4. Key informant interviews with project staff, participants, and other relevant stakeholders;
5. Knowledge mobilisation strategy (co-designed with the LEAP team; see Annex A for a preliminary strategy);
6. Draft knowledge products for review;
7. Final designed knowledge products that are appropriate and align to the strategy (e.g. learning briefs, blogs, slide decks, etc.)

5. Required Experience and Competencies

• Bachelor’s degree in social science, monitoring and evaluation, communication for impact, or related qualification from a recognized institution;
• Minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience;
• Strong knowledge and experience in relation to learning and evaluation, preferably within education and, economic opportunities and empowerment programming;
• Strong analytical skills and an ability to synthesize data from a range of sources;
• Knowledge of the refugee context in Kenya, as well as girl’s education interventions;
• Excellent qualitative research and writing skills;
• Written and oral fluency in English;
• Experience in photography and/or graphic design is an asset.
• Kenya-based applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

6. Guidelines for the Submission of the Proposal

WUSC’s activities seek to balance inequities and create sustainable development around the globe; the work ethic of our staff, volunteers, consultants, representatives and partners shall correspond to the values and mission of the organization. WUSC adheres to strict safeguarding principles and promotes responsibility, respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we will not tolerate harassment, coercion and sexual exploitation and abuse of any form. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract with WUSC will not be considered “staff members” and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements, medical insurance coverage and or advance payments). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

7. Submission of Proposals

Qualified and interested applicants are requested to submit the following:

• Technical proposal (3-6 pages) demonstrating their understanding of the ToR, relevant experience and proposed approach and methodology for the assignment;
• Financial proposal (in CAD) including level of effort and daily rate for each proposed team member;
• Curriculum Vitae for all proposed team members outlining relevant experience;
• Writing and product sample(s) of previous relevant work.

Annex A: Preliminary Knowledge Mobilisation Strategy/Plan LEAP Power to Girls

What LEAP has done: Community engagement is a major component of LEAP, with the goal of creating an enabling and supportive environment for girls and young women to thrive. LEAP has piloted a holistic approach to gender equality and violence prevention, shifting from more traditional community engagement approaches to a phased approach that includes activities for girls (life skills education through girls’ clubs in schools), schools (through teacher training and school policy development), and communities (through community training, dialogue, and advocacy).

POWER TO GIRLS KNOWLEDGE & LEARNING MOBILISATION STRATEGY

WHAT: What knowledge/learning do we want to mobilise?

1. What are the key components of the Power to Girls approach? How was the approach adapted to the LEAP context and why?
2. What impact/change is evident as a result of the Power to Girls work led by LEAP:
   1. At the level of girls themselves?
   2. In schools?
   3. In the community?
3. Have there been any unintended outcomes as a result of the Power to Girls interventions, both positive and negative?
4. What are the key drivers of success in relation to:
   1. Increased voice, choice, and agency amongst girls themselves?
   2. Changes in attitudes and behaviours within school environments?
   3. Changes in attitudes and behaviours within communities?
5. How do girl-centred empowerment programming and holistic community engagement, either together or separately, impact the social acceptance of gender inequality and violence against women and girls?
6. What, if any, indications of sustaining the impact of this work beyond the length of the project are evident? How could this be strengthened?

WHY: Why are we interested in mobilising this knowledge?

• To raise WUSC’s profile as a thought leader in social norms change related to gender equality / girls’ education
• To share learning and approaches with peer organisations for potential replication
• To contribute to the broader evidence base on girls’ education / gender equality / social norms change / violence prevention

WHO: Who holds key knowledge and learning in this area? Who do we want to share the knowledge and learning with?

Knowledge holders:

• WUSC LEAP team
• PtG Consultant
• Implementing partner team
• School focal points
• Community leaders
• Girls involved in the program

Audience to share knowledge with:

• Peer organisations (in Kakuma and more broadly)
• Internally within WUSC
• Donors
• Others (TBD)

HOW: How will we deliver our message to our audience? (TBD)

WHEN: When do we anticipate mobilising this knowledge and learning? Are there other activities/key events that might influence the uptake of this information? (TBD)