SOCIAL SAFETY NET (SSN) PROJECT

Organization     Save the Children
Short Assignment    Leading  survey enumerators
Project    Social Safety Net for Poor and Vulnerable Households in Karkar Region of Puntland
Position Location    Gardo, but working across Karkar region (with travel to Somaliland for data collection)
Duration of the assignment    30 days
Start date    Immediate
Application deadline    12th June 2010
Vacancy contact    Please send applications to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

 



ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

Save the Children has a long history of engagement in Somalia and in Somaliland stretching as far back as 1954. In more recent times (since 1992) Save the Children UK has maintained an operational office in Hiran Region in what is now called the Central South Zone of Somalia (CSS). Since 2000, both Save the Children Denmark and Save the Children UK have been working in Somaliland. In 2004, Save the Children UK established an office in Puntland State in response to the Tsunamis and continues to undertake programmes from this office while Save the Children Denmark in Puntland works through partners. In the past two years Save the Children Finland has been financially supporting the work of both Save the Children Denmark and Save the Children UK in Somalia/Somaliland.
As part of the Global Save the Children Alliance ‘Unified Presence’ initiative, Save the Children Denmark, Save the Children Finland and Save the Children UK programmes in Somalia/Somaliland had unified on January 2010. By unification the three organizations had created one single Save the Children organization in Somalia/Somaliland which has a substantial and effective portfolio of programmes that will promote the rights of children to health, nutrition, livelihoods, protection and education.


ASSIGNMENT SUMMARY
Save the Children is seeking a qualified consultant specialized in researches / surveys on food security and livelihoods, to lead three teams of survey enumerators undertaking baseline survey for the above mentioned project. The assignment period is 30 days and will include attending five days training and field works across Karkar districts.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Many communities in Somalia continue to be affected by repeated disaster including drought, increasing food prices, and conflict leading to vulnerability and food insecurity. Some of the key food security and livelihood issues faced by households in the pastoral areas of Somalia include poor access to water and rangelands, low education levels and a lack of alternative livelihood opportunities.  This results in the inability of many households to earn sufficient income to meet basic household needs. 

This proposed project intends to provide a number of livelihood opportunities to households within the project area, and allow them to participate in one or more aspects of the project depending on their choice and their situation.  By providing an income stream (cash relief) to households who are unable to work, and providing local livelihood opportunities in the form of livelihood support grants, it is hoped that targeted households will be in a better position by the end of the project, to not only address their immediate food security needs but have a stronger, more viable livelihood base.

Disaster risk reduction will also be an underlying theme of this project as well as a major component of this project.  Given the high risk of disaster in the project area, awareness sessions will be provided to the whole community on ways to mitigate the potential effects of drought and other livelihood-related disasters. Given the described situation, this project aims to strengthen the livelihood capacity of affected communities and support increase in household income levels as a means of addressing food insecurity in arkaar region.

The overall objective of this intervention is to reduce community vulnerability to chronic food insecurity in the operational areas of Save the Children.
 
  
OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The overall objective of this assignment is to carry out a comprehensive baseline survey in the project areas, Karkaar districts of Puntland. The baseline will serve as a bench mark to measure progress, as well as provide information to a wider stake holder group, on understanding the livelihood dynamics and groupings in the region.

DELIVERABLES
•    Supervising and coaching enumerators on data collection tools and data entry procedures
•    Field data analysis
•    Baseline survey report



SCOPE OF WORK

•    Responsible overall supervision and coordination of the survey enumerators
•    Check all completed interview forms for errors, omissions, and discrepancies as soon as possible after interviewing as possible.     
•    Ensure clarity and correctness of all questionnaires at the end of each working day
•    Responsible collection of general information, triangulation of information and reporting of the survey findings.
•    Coordinate and liaise between the other survey teams and agencies to harmonize the survey process.


QUALIFICATION PROFILE

•    Secondary education certificate and University Degree in the relevant Food Security and Livelihoods sector like agriculture, nutrition or a related field.
•    At least three years of hands on experience in conducting baseline surveys and livelihood and cash intervention programming.
•    Highly skilled and experienced interviewer
•    Have ability to use a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to obtain the most accurate and realistic picture of a given problem situation. 
•    Have practical field experience in range of methods such as structured/ unstructured interviews, focus group discussions, and direct observation to obtain sufficient data/information.
•    Familiar with the livelihood context in Somalia
•    Ability to analyze complex livelihood systems.
•    Good knowledge and experience in survey design, implementation of surveys and statistical data analysis. 
•    Knowledge of Somali people, culture and the Somali political dynamics an advantage. 
•    Knowledge in spreadsheet data entry and manipulation

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS:
All documentation related to the assignment shall remain the sole and exclusive property of Save the Children


APPLICATION PROCESS
Applications should be submitted no later than 12 June 2010. Save the Children will conduct interviews on an on-going basis. The selection committee will review all applications as they arrive. All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described above. Only short listed candidates will be contacted. Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer.