CHARITY JOBS IN AFRICA

Organization: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Country: Djibouti
Closing date: 18 Oct 2014

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EDUCATION PROJECT INTENDED TO REFUGEES OF ALI ADDEH AND HOLL HOLL CAMPS AND DJIBOUTI URBAN REFUGEES

Notre Réf : 001/HCR/PRG/06/2014 - Djibouti, 21 September 2014

The Representation of the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees in Djibouti launches a call for expression of interest for the implementation of the education project intended to refugees based in camps in Ali Addeh and Holl Holl and urban refugees in Djibouti during the year 2015.

The purpose of the Call for Expression of Interest is to solicit interest from existing or prospective partners that wish to participate in the Djibouti UNHCR operation and contribute complementary resources (human resources, knowledge, funds, in-kind contributions, supplies and/or equipment) to achieving common objectives.

Title and project identification: Care and maintenance intended to Somali and Eritreans refugees and asylum seekers of Djibouti

Operational Context

Djibouti is a small country located in the East/Horn of Africa region, at the entry point to the Red Sea. It is strategically located on one of the busiest international maritime routes and plays a pivotal role in the international community’s efforts to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The country is also actively engaged, both politically and militarily, in the search for peace and security in Somalia.

The country maintained cordial relationships with its neighboring countries. However, the standstill in the border dispute with Eritrea also remained. Although the situation remained calm at the border between the two countries, the dispute has not found a decisive settlement yet. At the same time, Djibouti, like other countries in the region, has been faced with repeated threats of terrorist attacks which pushed the authorities to tighten security measures in the country. Movements of refugees across the country were subjected to tighter controls and police round-ups conducted in Djibouti town in order to curb illegal migration. Based on the precariousness of the stability in the region and especially in Somalia, this situation will continue to adversely affect refugee protection and will remain an operational challenge.

Brief presentation of the sectorial needs, objectives, intended results and main activities

The refugee education does not follow a validated curriculum by the Djiboutian Ministry of Education. Lobby and advocacy is ongoing to further ensure the active participation of the Ministry of Education in refugee education.

Over the years, only a limited number of refugee parents could afford sending their children to private schools or across the border to Ethiopia for further studies. A lack of continuity of education programs, low motivation due to a lack of future education prospects, a lack of successful role models to motivate the youth to remain in school has led a number of them moving to the cities in search of livelihoods, or joining clandestine migration to Yemen and beyond, while others, particularly girls, have been forced to work as domestic workers or even into prostitution. In addition, support to children with disability has been very limited. Schools offering education for those with speech, hearing or vision impairment are in Djibouti town and have a limited capacity. Most children continue to remain home, in particular those with multiple disabilities, mental disorders and hearing impairments.

Access to secondary education for refugee children in Djibouti remains a major problem for education in the camps. The few children who have completed primary school are not accepted in public secondary schools either because their refugee documents are not recognized or because they lack a sufficient knowledge of the French language. Among the Ethiopians and Eritreans who arrived in Djibouti, several have completed primary and secondary education but they lack further training on skills and knowledge of the French language which can enable them to integrate within the host community and participate and contribute to the social and economic aspects of their life. Furthermore, around 50% of children attending school are in classes that are not within their age group. The age ranges from 6 to 27 years in primary school, while in the secondary school program out of the 24 enrolled children, only five are between 14 and 17 years old. A number of new arrivals, particularly among the Somali refugees, have not been able to attend school in their country of origin. In addition, the UNHCR database in Djibouti contains erroneous data on age as many refugees don’t know their date of birth. Other factors that hinder the access, retention, quality and protection of children in education, include low community participation and motivation of parents in seeing the value of education for their children’s future, particularly for girls; inadequate school materials and learning space; parents who don’t have the means to support their children; inadequate clothing and means of existence -in particular among girls- thus forcing them to drop out of school and search for work; lack of a school canteen to complement the food ration provided to those in camps which only lasts for 20 days while in urban areas there is no food provision at all; poorly qualified teachers and an underrepresentation of female teachers; a lack of documentation for those in town; and a lack of recognition of the camp education program by the authorities.

To improve the education the following actions needs to be implemented:

• Initiating a post primary Education program (secondary education and scholarships for tertiary studies) to benefit the population in refugee camps and in urban areas,
• Enhance retention of children at the primary level as well as those to be enrolled at secondary level and motivate parents to enroll and support their children. This is also part of the durable solutions strategy,
• Provision of support to children with disabilities to access education by providing the necessary assisting materials and installing appropriate infrastructures to enable those who can attend school to access, while those who may not be able to be supported with life skills education,
• Reinforce the capacity building of the teachers, the parents and the community to enable them to manage children with disabilities,
• Provision of adequate learning and teaching materials in the refugee camps and in urban areas,
• Initiation of school feeding programs in primary schools in the camps, and support to children who attend schools in urban areas, i.e. provision of oil or food ration to support enrolment and retention of students,
• Improvement and increasing of learning spaces to also consider the needs for individuals with disabilities,
• Provision of clothes and other materials, i.e. sandals, to extremely vulnerable children

Impact Indicators: % of primary school-aged children enrolled in primary education (GSP)

% of secondary school-aged young people enrolled in secondary education

Output:Educational infrastructure constructed, improved or maintained

Performance Indicator:# of educational facilities constructed or improved

Output:Lifelong learning opportunities provided or supported

Performance Indicator:# of education programmes with life skills initiatives

Output:Primary education provided or supported

Performance Indicator:# of PoC enrolled in accelerated learning programmes

Output:Secondary education provided or supported

Performance Indicator:# of students enrolled in lower secondary education

Targeted population: As of 31 July 2014, Djibouti hosts 20,687 refugees and 3,814 asylum seekers (total population of concern is 24,501). The refugee population is 95.64% Somalis, 2.59% Ethiopians, 1.66% Eritreans and 0.11% nationals from other countries (Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, Bangladesh, Burundi, RDC…etc.). 82.9% of the population is living in the camps (18,134 in Ali-Addeh and 2,202 in Holl Holl) where a multi-sectorial assistance is delivered by UNHCR and its partners. The remaining 4,165 is urban caseload. The past few weeks were marked by a reduced registration of new arrivals

Period covered: 1 January 2015 until 31 December 2015.

Main country work languages: French and Somali. At the camp, Somali and English are the common languages.

How to apply:

To apply, you can use the Concept Note Response (DOC-file) attached on this page.

The submission can be presented either in French or English and should include below information considered as selection criteria:

Sector expertise and experience: the required specific skills, sector specialists, knowledge and human resources.35pts

Project management: ability to deliver project objectives, accountability mechanisms and sound financial management, taking into account the audit results of the previous UNHCR-funded projects, past performance and the external audit of partners’ financial statements, where applicable. 15pts

Local experience and presence: ongoing programme in health, nutrition and reproductive/HIV programs; local knowledge; engaging refugees and other persons of concern; trust from local communities; local presence; partner policy on community relations; complaint mechanisms for persons of concern; self-organized groups of persons of concern; and other factors that would facilitate access to and better understanding of the persons of concern and that would reduce administrative difficulties. 5pts

Contribution of resources: evidenced and documented contribution of resources to the Project in cash or in-kind (e.g. human resources, supplies and/or equipment) by the partner that are presently available (or potentially mobilized by the partner) in order to supplement UNHCR resources. 35pts

Cost effectiveness: level of direct costs and administrative costs imposed on the Project in relation to project deliverables. 5pts

Experience working with UNHCR: global and/or local partnerships including knowledge of UNHCR policies, practices and programmes, including an understanding of and ability to work within UNHCR’s funding limitations and associated inherent risks. Partners that have three consecutive qualified audit opinions for UNHCR-funded projects may not be considered. 5pts

NB:

1. You will find attached a format of the concept note with key required information of the submission.
2. Interested organizations can receive more details if requested and are invited to send the concept.
3. Please write in the subject: “Call for expression of interest for the implementation of the education project in Djibouti”
4. UNHCR reserves the right to reject any bid that does not meet the submission requirements listed above.
5. Deadline : 18 October 2014
6. Communication of decision to applicant organizations: 15 November 2014.
7. Applicant organizations are invited to send the concept note at:

UNHCR Representative Office of Djibouti

24 Route de l’IGAD, Héron

B.P 1885 Djibouti Republic

Email : djbdj@unhcr.org, Tel : (253) 35 22 00, Fax : (253) 35 86 23