Organizational and Technical Capacity Assessment and Capacity Building for Non-state Actors in Northern Syria

1. Introduction

Expertise France (EF) is a public agency created on 1st January 2015 and merging 6 French public agencies under the supervision of the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy and Finance with a strong inter-ministerial vocation. EF offers project engineering and technical assistance by developing and implementing international cooperation actions worldwide. EF operates in various fields of development and institutional cooperation including safety and security reform, post-crisis/ stability, public health, human rights, strengthening of institutions and NGOs and governance.

2. Context: The Syrian Conflict

The Syrian conflict keeps on imposing a devastating and lasting impact on Syria and across the region. With the conflict in its twelfth year, the needs of the affected populations for assistance continue to be overwhelming. With at least 15.3 million affected people in the country, the areas of northern Syria, both NES and NWS have been the most severely affected. Basic services such as health, education, water and electricity continue to be disrupted and fragmented, especially for the most vulnerable population groups including women and children. The influx of IDPs and returnees results in additional pressure on essential service providers.

The decade long conflict has transformed power dynamics in Syria. The country is politically and economically fragmented, and is controlled by rival regimes and de facto authorities, severely affecting the Syrian civil society landscape inside and outside Syria. Today, four major areas of influence coexist in Syria, with no major changes since October 2019: The western part of the country, under the control of the regime and its allies; as well as three areas outside of the regime control.

3. EXPERTISE FRANCE IN SYRIA:

Since 2013, Expertise France has been implementing direct non-humanitarian assistance programmes in non-regime-held areas across Syria.

EF developed and implemented several stabilization projects targeting conflict-affected communities in Syria through local Syrian NGOs and CSOs with whom EF built strong partnerships. Expertise France’s fields of intervention cover the following sectors: health, livelihoods, early recovery, civil society and capacity development.

4. Programme background

The general objective of the project is to empower Syrian Civil Society actors to become actors of change able to actively engage in policy shaping and dialogue and echo the aspiration of Syrian communities’ vis-à-vis local and national-level decision-makers.

This project proposal intends to design a holistic and gradual methodology to strengthen non-state actors and accompany them to become key stakeholders of the Syrian Civic Space. The proposed intervention is a pilot project positioned at the very beginning of a potential long-term support to Non-State Actors. The proposed methodology will reach out and support Non-state actors at three different levels by 1) supporting the capacity of the non-state actors and strengthen their institutional capacities in order to build relevant and identifiable actors; 2) Support small scale dialogue initiatives implemented by the beneficiary organisations of the Capacity Building programme and 3) addressing the fragmentation and divisions by strengthening sectoral coordination at the local level and supporting cross-geographies networking and collaborations.

The specific objective of the proposed intervention is therefore to enhance the ability of Civil Society Actors to contribute constructively to decision-making processes and shape policies at the local level that address the needs and aspirations of Syrian communities

These objectives will be reached through achieving two connected outputs that will be implemented in parallel:

• Output 1: Non-state actors are strengthened and able to engage in local-level policy dialogue on technical/sectorial issues.
• Output 2: Dialogue, coordination and sector-based initiatives are established, experimenting sectorial dialogue and geographical coordination

Based on the mapping study outcomes, a list of Non-State Actors that could be involved in the project’s activities will be submitted to the donors and used as a basis to launch the selection process. The selection process will allow Expertise France to identify the NSA partners of the project, which will be part of the capacity building scheme and will be eligible for applying to the three project’s grant mechanisms, aiming to support the implementation of concrete initiatives.

5. SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

5.1 Purpose of the assignment:

Non-state actors (NSAs) play a critical role in the humanitarian and development landscape of Northern Syria. To enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of their interventions and initiatives, it is essential to understand their existing organizational and technical capacities, main needs, development priorities and strategic orientations. The assessment will provide a comprehensive analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by these actors, enabling tailored capacity-building initiatives.

Expertise France is seeking a qualified firm to conduct organizational and technical capacities assessment and building of non-state actors (NSAs) operating in the northern Syria (North-East/NES and North-West/NWS).

5.2 Assignments and tasks:

• Conduct a comprehensive desk review of existing documents, reports, and data of the selected NSAs.
• Assess the organizational capacities of the selected NSAs, including, for example but not limited to:
• Governance and leadership structures
• Advocacy strategies and communication skills,
• partnerships, and networking capabilities.
• Decision-making processes, strategic planning and policy analysis
• Financial management systems
• Risk management procedures
• Monitoring and evaluation tools and techniques
• Assess the technical capacities of the selected NSAs, including, for example but not limited to:
• Sector-specific expertise, like: Gender equality – women empowerment – climate change and environment – Freedom of expression, and other technical expertise
• Project and initiatives design and implementation methodologies
• Project and initiatives management skills
• Ability to deliver initiatives/projects effectively and efficiently
• Identify critical capacity gaps and specific needs that hinder the effectiveness and sustainability of NSAs in Syria.
• Develop a detailed Capacity Building Plan for each NSA, addressing both organizational and technical capacities and outlining specific interventions, timelines, and expected outcomes.
• Provide actionable recommendations to enhance the overall effectiveness and sustainability of NSAs and their dialogue and sector-based initiatives. The recommended actions can be implemented through various actions, such as trainings, coaching, equipment purchase, financial support, developing policies and procedures, enhancing structures and governance etc.
• Utilize interactive and participatory training methods to enhance learning and capacities.
• Provide ongoing mentorship and coaching to NSA staff, focusing on leadership development, strategic planning, and operational efficiency.
• Establish peer-to-peer learning networks to facilitate knowledge sharing and support among NSAs.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of capacity building activities using pre-defined metrics and indicators.
• Document lessons learned and best practices from the capacity building process.
• Prepare regular progress reports detailing activities conducted, achievements, challenges, and recommendations.
• Conduct regular follow-up visits and assessments to track the implementation of capacity building plans.
• Cooperation and coordination regarding technical capacity building with experts contracted with the Expertise France.

6. Methodology

• The Assessment methodology should identify strengths and weaknesses of the targeted organisations and take into account the specific context of each NSA.
• The capacity assessment methodology and tools should be participatory and take into account the targeted NSAs at all stage. The NSA will be consulted from the beginning of the assessment and will be fully involved to elaborate and issue the Capacity Building Plan.
• The firm in charge of conducting the capacity assessment will make sure that the assessment methodology reaches out all units, members and staff of the NSA and is not limited to the executive management, including female and disabled individuals.
• Capacity building must be diverse in terms of the tools and methodologies used so that they meet all the needs that were derived from the evaluation and contribute effectively to filling the gaps that were identified. These mechanisms may be such as: improving governance and policies, customized training, guidance, coaching and mentoring, etc.