Consultant, Civil Society Organization Mapping at Mercy Corps Nigeria

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we collaborate to put bold solutions into action - helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within, now and for the future. In Nigeria, Mercy Corps operates in over 13 states focusing on key thematic areas of humanitarian response, conflict mitigation and adolescent girls’ empowerment.

We recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant for Civil Society Organization Mapping

Location: Maiduguri, Borno

Program / Department Summary

• For years, the Northeast of Nigeria has been plagued by insurgency and a dire humanitarian crisis. The intense focus on humanitarian and counter-violence activities, coupled with increasingly complex conflict dynamics in the region, has exposed gaps in the international community’s response to new and emerging sources of violence. Tensions between IDPs and host communities, resistance of communities to accept former fighters and their victims, fear of IDPs to return home and face tensions with those who stayed behind - these are just several evolving sources of conflict. If these issues are not addressed in a timely manner through locally- owned solutions, they have the potential to intensify and worsen the on-going crisis in the NE.
• Therefore, a pool of strong local partners capable of addressing existing and newly emerging tensions and conflicts is essential to prevent NE from falling further into a vicious cycle of conflict and poverty.

General Position Summary/ Objective

• The objective of this consultancy is to perform a mapping exercise to identifying 10-12 local CSOs in the Northeast which are already influential or have the potential to become influential peacebuilding organizations.
• These NE-based CSOs will then be engaged in a comprehensive technical and organizational capacity building program so that they eventually apply for grants from international donors and implement high-quality peacebuilding programs that meet USAID and other international development partners’ expectations.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Draw up a plan of action and timetable to achieve all the goals of this assignment.
• Design the research protocol to be shared and approved by Mercy Corps.
• Desk research of existing CSOs mapping reports in the NE.
• Develop questionnaires and other research tools.
• Visit and collect relevant information from the CSOs and respective communities.
• Provide short profile of each identified CSOs with details as to their geographic operation, previously and currently implemented projects, sources of funding.
• Based on the data collected, identify 10-12 local CSOs working on peacebuilding, reconciliation and related issues in NE Nigeria that are considered to be influential or have a high potential to become such.
• Make recommendation on coordination and networking mechanisms between the 10-12 local CSOs that will bring together diverse actors working on conflict mitigation and management, especially women and youth-led organizations or organizations working on behalf of/with vulnerable groups.
• Prepare and ensure timely delivery of the final report. Ensure consultations with Mercy Corps on each phase of the assignment.
• Produce a report on findings from the mapping for dissemination and presentation to stakeholders including international organizations, donors, government ministries and members of the Peace and Security Network to better engage local organizations in their activities. Make presentations on findings of the research if requested.

Knowledge and Experience

• Preference will be given to consultants with good understanding of the Northeast context, peacebuilding and CVE technical areas.
• Having relevant skills, expertise and past experience gained from working with communities and organizations on various research assignments will be an advantage.
• Due consideration will also be given to consultants having the academic qualification of Master's Degree with background in Social Sciences and relevant professional experience.
• The consultant should have a high standard of professionalism, able to work independently with a variety of stakeholders and should be proficient in both English and Hausa.

Application Closing Date
31st July, 2017.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their CV's and Cover Letter in one document, addressing the position requirements to: [email protected] All applications must include the position title in the subject line, be not more than four pages.

Note: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview and we are an equal opportunity organization so women are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.