Terms of Reference (ToR) for consultant to conduct a Rapid Assessment on Youth Roles and Capacities in Peace Building

Background

The Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD) is a board-led, not-for-profit organization registered in Ethiopia under the Civil Societies Proclamation No. 1113/2019 with registry number 4307. CARD envisions an Ethiopia where democratic culture flourishes on the basis of human rights values. Its mission is to empower citizens and civic groups to promote and defend human rights and build democratic governance.

In the context of rising regional tensions and conflict dynamics, CARD is commissioning a comprehensive rapid assessment to better understand the roles, capacities, and challenges that youth face in peace building efforts in three targeted regions. To this end, CARD is recruiting a qualified institution/individual consultant to design data collection tools, gather both qualitative and quantitative data, analyze the findings, and produce a rapid assessment report with gender-sensitive recommendations.

Objectives of the Assignment

The objectives of this assessment are to:

• Identify key stakeholders including youth-led organizations, civil society groups, and local authorities involved in peace building in Amhara, Oromia and Tigray regions.
• Analyze the current roles, skills, and understanding of youth in relation to peace building and human rights dialogue.
• Assess existing resources and institutional support available to youth in the three regions.
• Examine the conflict dynamics and regional-specific challenges that influence youth participation.
• Provide actionable, gender-sensitive recommendations to enhance youth engagement and capacity in peace building.

Scope of Work

The consultant will:

• Develop an inception report including assessment framework, methodology, and tools.
• Conduct a stakeholder mapping and desk review of existing reports and data.
• Facilitate key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and surveys in the three regions.
• Collect and analyze data to assess youth’s roles, capacities, challenges, and conflict-specific dynamics.
• Produce a comprehensive report with disaggregated findings and recommendations.
• Present key findings to CARD and partners on the three region.

Deliverables

• Inception report with methodology and tools
• Stakeholder mapping matrix
• Field data collection completed across selected project areas.
• Draft rapid assessment report submitted for feedback.
• Final rapid assessment report incorporating CARD’s feedback.
• PowerPoint presentation on the validation workshop summarizing key findings and gender-sensitive recommendations.

Timeline

• The assessment is expected to be completed within One month.

Required Qualifications

The ideal consultant must have:

• A Master’s degree in Peace building, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or related fields
• At least 5 years of experience conducting assessments or evaluations focused on youth, peace building, or civic engagement.
• Proven experience in qualitative and quantitative assessments, especially with youth and conflict-related themes
• Demonstrated understanding of Ethiopian regional contexts and conflict dynamics
• Excellent analytical and writing skills
• Fluency in English and at least one local language from the target regions is preferred