Introduction and Project Background:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) established in 1933, works in 42 countries, responding to the world’s worst humanitarian situations. In Pakistan, IRC has been offering comprehensive emergency rehabilitation services such as supporting health systems, environmental health, education, child and women services, and livelihoods. Since 1980, IRC Pakistan has effectively responded to all major humanitarian situations emanating from earthquakes, catastrophic floods, and temporary displacements. Currently, IRC Pakistan has an average annual portfolio of around $40 million implementing projects in all the four provinces of Pakistan. With the support of the federal and provincial governments, and generous donors like DFID, ECHO, USAID, and Australian Aid Agencies, IRC has reached 1.8 million people in Pakistan in the year 2018-19.

USAID’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Project (WEE) aims to promote women’s economic empowerment through safe and dignified access to livelihood opportunities, information, resources, and services in the province. The targeted districts of the WEE project include: three Newly Merged Districts (NMDs): South Waziristan, North Waziristan, and Kurram, and one settled district and Bannu[1].

The project focuses on multipronged extensive interventions to attain increased incomes for women-owned micro-businesses and women workers. These interventions will stimulate women’s economic and social empowerment in the community and prepare a solid foundation for integrating further interventions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV).

Rationale and objectives of the Assignment:

To improve the economic conditions of the women, WEE Project intends to support and facilitate women in NMDs (EX-FATA) and KP to establish new enterprises and support existing enterprises. WEE project will establish the VSLAto provide simple savings and loan facilities, in a community that does not have access to formal financial services. Loans can also provide a form of self-insurance to members, supplemented by a social fund that provides small but important grants to members in distress. VSLAs play an important role in meeting the needs of women and men whose principal purpose for accessing finance is to help them manage household cash flow, respond to life-cycle events, or invest in small income-generating activities. Moreover, VSLAs provide people, no matter how remote or poor, with access to small amounts of local capital on flexible terms and to transact such loans frequently at very low risk and negligible cost.

In order to build the capacities of VSLA, project has planned various capacity-building sessions through a comprehensive package/tool kit of VSLA, which is already designed and developed by IRC. However, the tool kit needs to be adapted, contextualized considering the KP, especially in NMD’s context, and will be translated into the national language.

Working Scope and Methodology of the Assignment:

IRC is looking for applications from an individual or team of consultants, or a company to review, revise and translate in the Urdu language of already developed IRC’s VSLA curricula in the local context of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Particularly Newly Merged areas (NMDs). This also includes developing both resource persons’ guide and participants handbook along with Training need assessment formats, Training Design, all relevant teaching aids, and curriculum including training delivery and post-training assessment in the Urdu language. The toolkit is expected to include all modules so that the materials can be used by the project’s trained facilitators for training delivery purposes.

The consultancy should include the following:

-Contextualized the VSLA guidelines developed by IRC.

-Review the other organizations' manual/guidelines, identify and recommend the good practices on VSLA in Pakistan especially in NMD’s context.

-Translate the VSLA guidelines in the Urdu language after contextualization.

-Test the complete package of VSLA curricula in one of the project areas[2] with both men and women for its contextualization and adaptation.

-Revise the text and images/sketches in the identified material based on the tested trial along with discussions with the team and redevelop (design and print) the selected material in the English version.

-Design and print the document ensuring the same quality of existing VSLA curricula.

Specific tasks of the assignment:

The following tasks are outlined for adaptation, contextualization, and translation of VSLA.

Deskwork (First stage):

This stage has the following substages;

1.Review the IRC’s developed VSLA curricula, available in the English language.

2.Identify the important elements that are missing in the existing VSLA materials/package

3.Based on the review, Identify the changes that need to have occurred and modified in the context of NMDs

4.Identify other organizations that are working in the areas and based on the study of their VSLA curricula, suggest recommendations for improvement in the existing curricula

5.Recommend the comprehensive package (complete tool kit) that need to be contextualized, adapted, and translated as a result of the above- mentioned sub-stages of desk review.

Second Stage (Development of Contextualized and Adapted Curricula and its modules)

The second stage comprised of the following sub-stages;

1.Field testing and validation

As a result of desk review, the consultant/consulting firm should propose an appropriate and complete toolkit to be tested in one of the project locations by conducting a well-planned FGD’s session in the field with both men and women. Testing of VSLA curricula in the project area will enable the consulting firm to incorporate participant’s feedback. This may include the development of resource materials, teaching aids, curriculum, interactive learning materials, digital resources, and other relevant materials covering up to different modules of VSLA curricula. All the materials should be appropriate for both literate and illiterate clients of the project areas

2.Incorporation of changes, and suggest recommendations as a result of field testing:

In this stage, the consulting firm is expected to incorporate changes as a result of field testing and provide recommendations for the first draft of contextualized and adapted curricula.

3.Submission of contextualized and adapted curricula to IRC in English

The first draft will be submitted to IRC for their feedback and Incorporate their feedback/comments by submitting the 2nd draft and final draft of the curricula. In addition to this, the consulting firm will design/develop activity plans along with handouts for trainers as well as for trainees.

4.Translation in the Urdu language:

The consulting firm is required to fulfil the following five sub-stages for completing the task of translation of contextualized and adapted curricula into the Urdu language. These sub-stages are;

i.Submission of 1^st draft in the Urdu language

ii.incorporation of IRC comments and feedback

iii.Submission of 2^nd draft

iv.Reviewed by IRC

v.Submission of final translated curricula in hard and soft versions

Deliverables:

The following deliverables are expected as the outcomes of the assignment.

1.Based on the desk review, collate (in hard as well as in soft versions) recommended toolkit of VSLA curricula in the English language that will be tested and adjusted based on user feedback.

2.Submission of field-tested materials (contextualized and adapted)

3.Reports of field testing of the toolkit and their outcomes.

4.Final set (in hard and soft versions) of VSLA curricula in English as well as in Urdu languages after contextualization, adaptation

5.Handover the complete package (in hard and soft versions) of training Manuals /Training Modules/Participants' handbooks based on the testing trials and modules and other relevant material in English and Urdu languages including activity plans.