Plan International strives to advance children's rights and equality for girls all over the world. As an independent development and humanitarian organization, we work alongside children, young people, our supporters and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We support children's rights from birth until they reach adulthood and enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels using our reach, experience, and knowledge. For over 80 years, we have been building powerful partnerships for children, and we are active in over 75 countries.
The Lake Chad region faces a complex crisis due to armed conflict, displacement, food insecurity, climate change, and gender inequalities. This has led to devastated livelihoods, limited access to services, and high risks for children, women, and girls. The region has a high prevalence of gender inequalities and issues like forced marriage and female genital mutilation. The number of affected individuals, including IDPs, returnees, and refugees, is significant. The situation requires urgent attention and support.
Adolescent girls in the Lake Chad region face many challenges in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. These barriers include lack of information, limited availability of services, financial constraints, and stigma. Due to the food security crisis, SRHR services are deprioritized, leading to unintended pregnancies and poor menstrual health. Gender and social norms also contribute to limited access to family planning and high rates of risky adolescent pregnancy. The region has low contraceptive prevalence and high adolescent fertility rates. Barriers such as lack of medications, distance to facilities, cost, and limited trust in the health system further hinder access. SRHR is often seen as a women's issue, with limited male engagement and knowledge. Services are restricted to married women, requiring approval from husbands and sometimes in-laws. Unmarried girls and single women face even greater challenges.
In general, Livelihood activities in the North-East Nigeria are hampered by five critical structural barriers as a result of the insecurity: a) restricted movement of goods and people; b) restrictions on marketplaces and economic activity; c) limited access to financial services; d) limited access to inputs and extension-related services; and e) the effect of aid on markets [1]
Lack of employment and livelihood opportunities, particularly for youth, is a significant cause of hopelessness and frustration with the State, and has been identified as a potential "push factor" for radicalization and violence. With a high proportion of IDPs currently separated from their families, there is increasing pressure on children especially women as on average 30% of households (up to 54% in some areas) are now female-headed. In North-East Nigeria there are entrenched gender biases when it comes to engagement in certain livelihood activities - cultural and religious context of a significant population of the proposed areas of intervention is not favorable to children and caregivers working outside the home. Types of work are gendered as well; for example, 60% of farmers reportedly prefer hiring young men as casual laborers and men are also preferred for on-farm irrigation work, while women are considered for small-scale processing such as grinding and simple tasks such as weeding, picking, collection and harvesting. While such biases present a challenge, it also provides the opportunity to educate communities on this topic and train vulnerable adolescent children and caregiver's in those sectors which have not yet been dominated by entrenched gender norms.
Plan International Nigeria seeks an external consultant to develop and conduct a 3-day trauma healing training for 41 Early Warning structures and 30 youth/women-led platforms. The training aims to equip participants with the skills necessary to provide counseling to trauma victims, particularly those affected by gender-based violence.
The approach for this consultancy will be structured to ensure a comprehensive and effective training experience for participants. This section outlines the key steps and methodologies involved in the consultancy process.
Familiarity with the local context and cultural sensitivities.
The consultant(s) activities, outputs and working conditions are outlined below.
Presentation of findings and recommendations to Plan International: The consultant is expected to lead, accomplish and submit the following deliverables within the agreed timeframe:
Plan International's Responsibilities
Provide logistical support for the training, including venue, and participant coordination.
All data collected for this remain the property of Plan International Nigeria. Any work product resulting from this must cite Plan International Nigeria and BMZ as a primary or contributing author.
"This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the BMZ. The views expressed herein should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of the funders."
Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy represents a serious commitment by the organization to hold ourselves accountable to children and young people, ensuring that they feel safe and protected with us and those who represent Plan International at all times. Everyone working with and associated with Plan is expected to adhere to the provisions of the policy. This means always acting appropriately with children and young people, assessing and reducing risks to children and young people in all our operations and activities including research and studies, and taking appropriate action in line with global and local procedures to report and respond to concerns about a child or young person's welfare. Plan International takes stringent measures against any Plan staff, associate, or visitor who breaches this policy. The consultant(s) and all members of his or her team are expected to sign and adhere to Plan's policy and Code of Conduct.
Consultants are required to provide a statement within their proposal on how they will ensure appropriate, safe, and non-discriminatory participation, informed consent, and confidentiality and anonymity of participants. Environments and working methods should be adapted to the capacities of participants. Time and resources should be made available to ensure that participants, particularly women and girls, are adequately prepared and have the confidence and opportunity to contribute their views. This must also include any safeguarding risks related to the study and how these will be mitigated.
Evaluation Criteria
The Consultant selected for this trauma healing training will be either a firm, a group of consultants, or an individual. The following criteria apply to ensure the selection of a qualified and capable consultant.
The selection process will be conducted in two phases:
Scoring System
The Consultant's proposal should include a detailed budget breakdown including fees, number of working days, social and medical insurance, translation and interpretation, software licenses, electronic devices, travel and VISA cost (if applicable), cost for the development of data collection tools and all other output-related costs.
Be informed that all consultancy contracts is subject to 10% WHT.
Applications for the consultancy will be accepted until 2nd January 2025. The application must include the following components, to a total of not more than 10 pages (not including appendices, CVs for all consultants, etc.).