Consultancy - Gender and Disability Assessment

NRC is looking for a consultant to conduct a Gender and Disability assessment.

1. Background
1.1 NRC in Syria

In the middle East NRC has over 3000 staff dedicated to assisting people affected by conflict in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine. Its humanitarian interventions are based upon its programming expertise in the Core Competencies of Shelter, Education, Water and Sanitation Hygiene, Food security along with information Counselling and legal Assistance (ICLA) to forcibly displaced people.

The NRC Syria Response is operating since 2013 and currently employs 49 international and 335 national staff. With regard to education, we ensure education for children and youth is prioritised, even in the most difficult circumstances. We work alongside communities to:

• create opportunities for children to reconnect with learning through formal education pathways and self- learning initiatives
• offer emergency education recreation and psycho- social activities
• support the professional development of teachers

• provide skills training for Syrian youth

1.2 The Syrian crisis – impact on education

Around 2.45 million children (aged five to 17 years) are out of school and 1.3 million are at risk of dropping out.1 More than one in three schools are damaged or destroyed, while others are used for purposes not related to education such as shelter for displaced persons. Schools in IDP/returnee receiving communities have limited absorption capacity for newly arriving students, causing overcrowding, while costs, psychological stress and shortage of personnel are further drivers of out of school rates. Early marriage, particularly of adolescent girls, frequently leads to withdrawal from education and increased isolation. Boys often drop out of school to become breadwinners and face exploitative child labour, as well as recruitment into parties to the conflict.

Teaching capacity remains overstretched. Over 140,000 teachers and education personnel are no longer in their teaching posts. The remaining are overwhelmed, resulting in an overall poor quality of education. Quality of teaching is key to students’ performance, and teachers’ capacity is fundamental to children’s experience of a quality education. Reliance on unskilled and unspecialized teachers with limited financial remuneration is impeding learning outcomes of students in public schools, with important disparities among regions and between IDPs and host communities.

Distances travelled to access learning are increasing. Many communities do not have functioning transportation services and most families do not have the resources to access the services that are available. Children face multiple risks whilst walking to school, including gender-based violence and recruitment. Barriers to accessing quality education have led young Syrians to lack foundational learning and vocational, life and employability skills required for transition to livelihoods. The learning gap of children and youth, if not addressed, is expected to have a long- term impact on their income potential, exacerbating a cycle of poverty for households and communities. Protection risks faced by children and youth in Syria include family-based violence, conscription and recruitment into armed groups, early marriage, abuse and neglect. Disruption of social networks, combined with lack of dedicated youth services, has left young people without opportunities to build relations with their peers, express themselves, or access psychosocial support services. In a system that is stretched and under resourced, the most vulnerable children are those with disabilities. Previously available specialised education opportunities and personnel have dramatically or even disappeared in some areas, resulting in increased isolation and discrimination.