Background

The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition is seeking to hire a technical writer to develop a Training Manual on Participatory Action Research (PAR) that will be used in the series of workshops with CVC affiliate organizations, CVC members, and other civil society organisations. The training workshops aim to build the capacity of the participants to conduct and analyse Participatory Action Research and is aimed at Community Based Personnel interested in the areas of strategic information, monitoring and evaluation, research, information, education, and documentation. The manual will cover the principles, concepts and methods Participatory Action Research as well as the wealth of experience accumulated by CVC in conducting PAR over the last 10 years. As such, this manual would be instrumental in providing a practical step-by-step guide to Community-Based Organisations in the PAR paradigm for knowledge-building, information dissemination, information and education, and advocacy on emergent issues relevant to Key Populations in the Caribbean.

General Objective

The purpose of the consultancy is to develop a Training Manual on Participatory Action Research to be used to provide a series of capacity building programmes for different Civil Society groups partnering with CVC in research projects as well as to enable them to undertake PAR on their own.

Scope of Work

The consultant is expected to develop the training manual. The course should be designed as a modular online course to be delivered over CVC E-learning platform. Specifically, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Consult with the CVC team to clarify objectives, process and expected outcomes of the assignment;

• Undertake desk review of documents provided by CVC relevant to this consultancy as well as other existing training manuals/relevant documents to inform the consultancy process;

• Propose outline of the contents/curriculum of the training manual with different modules targeting different groups of key populations;

• Design the draft and final version of training manual which includes training objectives, content, methodologies, timing, guides, tools, exercises and case studies to be used per module, in accordance with the standard acceptable to CVC;

More importantly, the final training manual shall:

• Describe the usefulness and benefit of the various modules for the capacity development of different key population groups;

• Define and explain key concepts relating to various modules in a simple and practical manner;

• Give practical examples, cases, and stories to illustrate the various concepts of the manual;

• Reflect cultural sensitivity and local context in the design of various modules;

• Provide relevant tools and instruments to be used for various activities under each module, and

• Use interactive and inspiring manner to encourage reflection, learning and inclusion.

Deliverables

The key deliverables for this consultancy include:

• Submission of work plan of the assignment including detailed outline of content of the manual and accompanying tools;

• Submission of the draft training manual for feedback and comments;

• Submission of final version of training manual, with integrated feedback and comments from CVC and changes following outcomes of a pilot training.

Institutional Arrangements

The consultant should report directly to CVC’s Research and M&E Officer.

Remuneration and Terms of Payment

The cost of contract shall be paid in the following manner:

Deliverables Percentage (%)  Amount (in US$)

• 40% upon signing the contract and submission of workplan

• 30% Upon submitting the first draft of Manual

• 30% Upon approval of the manual incorporating input by CVC

Qualifications

The consultant (or lead member of the bidding firm) is expected to possess the following qualifications:

• At least a Masters degree in Social Science, with a minimum of 5 years of experience in the area of Participatory Action Research with Community Based Organisations.

• 5-7 years of work experience in the field of training and manual development, including proven track record of successful development of training materials and training programmes for Key Populations in the Caribbean;

• Good training and facilitation skills;

• Excellent communication skills;

• Excellent written and spoken English;

• Ability to work independently and produce high-quality outputs; and

• Ability to work under tight timeframes.

Application Instruction

• Send proposal including CV showing educational background and experience, and a list of similar assignments;

• Submit financial proposal with a clear indication of daily consultancy fee and number of days to complete the task.

• Applications must be sent to cvcdroffice@cvccoalition.org by Tuesday, 30 January 2020 at midnight AST time.