Consultancy - Development of Guideline for Safe programming in Partnerships

Mercy Corps is committed to promoting safety, diversity, and inclusion across its programs and operations. The role involves developing guidelines for safe programming in partnerships, particularly focusing on Market Systems Development in fragile contexts, ensuring that these guidelines are relevant and feasible for implementation by partners.

Responsibilities:

• Assessing current definitions, team and partners’ understanding about safe programming broadly, and safe programming practice in partnerships
• Conduct and internal and external literature review of existing safe programming guidance (GESI, Safeguarding, Protection, CARM) related to partnership management from similar organizations, private-sector actors, including recruitment, contracting, due diligence, and capacity-strengthening processes
• Facilitate consultations with implementing partners to explore how they integrate safe programming in partnerships, including how they identify and analyze protection and safeguarding risks through a GESI lens and how this analysis informs their safe programming practices
• Facilitate a session to share the lesson and learning and usage of the guideline. This mainly aims to explore opportunities for integration with the New Program Management Policy and its guidance on partnership management
• Inception: Conduct an initial literature review of key documents (e.g. policies, partnership contracts, due diligence reports, recruitment templates…)
• Tool Development: Design and finalize data collection tools (e.g. desk review checklist, session plan and agenda for consultation workshops with IPs, Key Informant Interview guides)
• Data Collection: Conduct the agreed upon number of KIIs with regional, global and country leadership and technical teams and conduct consultation workshops with selected IPs
• Data Analysis & Reporting: Analyze collected data and draft a comprehensive Safe Programming in partnership Report
• Validation Workshop: facilitate a virtual sense-making workshop with relevant units in MC, as well as leadership at country, regional, and global levels
• Guideline Drafting: Develop a draft 'Regional Safe Programming in partnership’ guideline document
• Guidance Development: Outline clear guiding principles and a plan for socializing the framework across country offices
• Technical and leadership team review: obtain and consolidate technical and leadership feedback on draft guideline
• Launch Support: Develop presentation materials and co lead-the facilitation on a launching webinar for the final Guideline

Requirements:

• Advanced degree in International Development, Social Sciences, Human Rights, Law, or related field
• Proven expertise and a minimum of 7-10 years of experience in Safe Programming, Safeguarding, Protection, CARM, and GESI in humanitarian and development contexts
• Demonstrated experience in conducting similar assessments, evaluations, and developing strategic frameworks for international NGOs
• Strong qualitative data collection and analysis skills, particularly in conducting Key Informants Interviews (KIIs) and facilitating in-person and online workshops
• Excellent report writing, communication, and presentation skills
• Fluency in English is required
• Tracked record of working experience with the ESA context and Mercy Corps' operating model is desirable