RFP 2401734 – Multi-Sector Needs assessment North-East Syria

Link for the TOR : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eOpdxc_Zz_SsOL8yRkDCjo3gUxGB5upq?usp=sharing

Terms of Reference

Multi-Sector Needs assessment North-East Syria

1. Background and Rationale

Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, more than 227,400 civilians – including 29,520 children- have died due to the conflict. 6.7 million people are internally displaced in Syria, and 5.6 million are registered refugees in neighbouring countries. Turkey hosts the most significant Syrian refugees, followed by Lebanon and Jordan. An estimated 13.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. The humanitarian needs in Syria are severe across all sectors, with significant health, education, WASH, shelter, protection, and food needs. Years of conflict have left healthcare centres, hospitals, schools, and water and sanitation systems damaged or destroyed.

The economy has experienced irreparable harm since the crisis began. The gross domestic product has declined by 60 per cent, and the government is increasingly unable to raise sufficient revenue to subsidize essential commodities such as fuel and bread on which the most vulnerable families rely. The Syrian pound is in virtual freefall, having lost 78 per cent of its value since October 2019, while price increases for staple goods are at an all-time high. Due to global and regional economic contraction, remittances on which millions of Syrians, particularly IDPs rely. are understood to have halved, from US$1.6 billion in 2019 to US$800 million in 2020. More than 90 per cent of the population is now estimated to live below the poverty line. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this economic downturn by further reducing already sparse income-generating opportunities in a context where 50 per cent of the workforce is now estimated unemployed and curtailing women and children’s access to critical services such as reproductive health and malnutrition screening. COVID-19 has also impacted an already debilitated health system in which half of the health facilities are partially or non-functional.

In March,2022 HSOS findings suggest that the economic crisis, coupled with the triple water crisis, compounded humanitarian needs for populations across northeast Syria (NES). Households particularly struggled with the high cost of food, leading them to incur more debt. The rise in the prices of most commodities led both residents and IDPs to adopt negative coping strategies. Furthermore, reliable access to sufficient water remained challenging. Finally, the impact of feed/fodder shortage escalated with a high number of reported sudden livestock deaths.

The 2022 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) puts the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria at 14.6 million, including 6.7 million internally displaced Syrians. Despite a general decline in conflict intensity, access to safe and sufficient services has become more challenging than ever. With the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, and ongoing hostilities, the number of people relying on humanitarian aid to address survival and basic needs is increasing. Inside Syria, the humanitarian situation is aggravated by the collapse of the Syrian Pound and the unfolding economic crisis, leading to the sharp increase in prices of essential food, medicine, and basic commodities. Essential services like water, sanitation, electricity, and healthcare are on the brink of collapse after more than 11 years of warfare, without an accurate perspective of improvement on the horizon.

The situation in Northeast Syria (NES) remains very fragile. There is still a potential for significant security risks, with a high level of human casualties, as evidenced by recent clashes in Hassakeh city involving SDF security forces and ISIL fighters in January 2022. Simultaneously, sporadic security incidents continue resulting in large-scale displacement of local communities, adding uncertainties to ongoing humanitarian efforts. As per 2021 estimates, more than 1.9 million people in three governorates of NES required humanitarian assistance, including approximately 655,400 internally displaced persons (IDP).

Due to the climate change crisis and after more than a decade of war, northeast Syria is now facing the worst drought in 70 years due to record low rainfall and higher-than-average temperatures.The gender imbalances in the northeast are deeply long-standing and only getting worse due to the drought. Alarmingly, women are now bearing the brunt of this climate crisis, both at work and at home.

In order to support World Vision’s decision, the need for independent data on humanitarian needs in the NES zone is essential. World Vision is seeking the support of a monitoring and evaluation partner who can support a multi-sectoral needs assessment in this area.

The following Terms of Reference outline the objectives and scope of this assessment

World Vision Syria Response is planning to conduct a Multi-sectoral needs assessment in North-East Syria (NES) to provide solid evidence and respond to humanitarian needs. The following Terms of Reference outline the objectives and scope of this assessment.

Description of task

Conduct a multi-sectoral assessment of key humanitarian needs in Northeast Syria, including Protection, Education, Livelihoods, WASH and Health, from the design, data collection, data analysis and writing of the report.

Assessment Purpose & Scope

Purpose

The needs assessment’s primary purpose will be to identify critical humanitarian needs (absolute) and the priority sectors for intervention (relative needs). Findings from the needs assessment will inform operational decisions on expansion and, if approved, design appropriate and relevant needs-based project interventions and inform other key stakeholders (cluster partners and government line ministries) with complementary programming.

Specifically, the objectives of the needs assessment are:

1. To identify geographical areas of high vulnerability.
2. To build the data/info from previous MSNA conducted (either by WV or partners), highlighting how the situation has evolved and the new/emerging issues/trends if possible.
3. To identify and prioritize key humanitarian needs in the following sectors: health, WASH, protection, education, shelter, food security and livelihood through primary data collection and secondary data review. While it is not anticipated that WVSR will be intervening in long-term livelihood activities, information on the economic conditions of the population (such as the main source of income and poverty data) will be useful.
4. To identify the presence of other humanitarian actors in the assessed location to identify gaps and reduce duplication.
5. To support tracking specific WVSR strategic indicators related to World Vision’s strategy measurements.
6. To understand the specific humanitarian needs of men and women and to look at how women can be affected differently by the crisis, specifically in the areas of WASH, protection and shelter.
7. Analyze the specific groups of individuals who are more at risk/face additional barriers to avoid generalization of boys, girls, women and men as homogenous groups).

Geographical Scope

The assessment should cover as broad a geographical area within the NES as possible, mainly focusing on densely populated areas, including major towns within the zone. The initial targeted areads are, Hajin,Thiban, Ar-raqqa ,Tbaqa/ Thawara, Al Hasakeh Amuda and sub distrcits .

WV is aware that some areas may not be accessible due to security or administrative restrictions. Thus the geographical scope of the assignment is open to discussion during the inception phase, the main objective being as broad a geographical scope as is practical. Applicants are encouraged to propose what they believe would be feasible in their technical proposal. A different modality,” phone interviews and KII”, can be an alternative in inaccessible areas.