ToR for Individual Consultancy Service to Conduct Barrier Analysis for L4R project in Sidama, Ethiopia

Light for the World -International is an international not-for-profit organization legally registered and operating in Ethiopia with registration No. 1706. We enable crucial eye health services and help empower people with disabilities in some of the poorest regions of the world. In Ethiopia, Light for the world established its country office in 2010. In Ethiopia, LFTW focuses on Mass drug administration for NTDs, Eye health, access to education for people with disabilities, capacity building and strengthening employment and entrepreneurship barriers faced by people with disabilities in Addis Ababa, Tigray region, and Oromia. Our programs include:

• Eye Health – preventing blindness and promoting eye health for all.
• Education – ensuring children with disabilities receive quality, inclusive education.
• Work – enhancing access for persons with disabilities to opportunities for employment and self-employment.
• Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) – elimination and control of neglected tropical diseases.

Project Description

The Livelihoods for Resilience in Sidama (L4R Sidama) Project aims to improve food security, strengthen livelihood resilience, and enhance the adaptive capacity of vulnerable households in Hawassa Zuria and Bilate Zuria Woredas of Sidama Regional State. It promotes climate-smart agriculture, diversified livelihoods, improved natural resource management, and inclusive local systems to reduce vulnerability to climate and socio-economic shocks.

The project places strong emphasis on gender equality, youth empowerment, and disability inclusion, ensuring active participation and equitable benefits for women, youth, and persons with disabilities. It seeks to achieve sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development outcomes aligned with national priorities and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) results-based programming principles.

• As part of this effort, Light for the World (LFTW) will conduct a barrier analysis to identify challenges faced by vulnerable groups in accessing project services. The analysis will cover:
• Physical barriers (infrastructure and mobility)
• Communication barriers (information access, language, comprehension)
• Social barriers (cultural norms, discrimination, exclusion)
• Institutional barriers (policies and systems)
• Environmental barriers (climate and terrain)
• Attitudinal barriers (perceptions and stigma)
• The findings will inform more inclusive project design and implementation, strengthen accountability, and improve equitable access and adaptive management.

Scope of the Consultancy Work

LFTW is interested in hiring an individual consultant to support this barrier analysis with responsibility for the following tasks:

• Accurately transcribe interviews, focus group discussions, and community consultations conducted in Hawassa Zuria and Bilate Zuria Woredas.
• Ensure transcripts are complete, well‑organized, and accessible, including translation from local languages where necessary.
• Conduct thematic analysis of qualitative data to identify barriers across the six dimensions: physical, communication, social, institutional, environmental, and attitudinal.
• Highlight intersectional challenges affecting women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
• Generate clear insights that inform inclusive project design and adaptive management.
• Document illustrative case stories that capture the lived experiences of vulnerable households and individuals.
• Ensure stories reflect diversity in gender, age, and disability status, and are suitable for advocacy, donor reporting, and community learning.
• Draft a comprehensive barrier analysis report synthesizing findings, case stories, and actionable recommendations.
• Align the report with ADA’s results‑based programming principles, ensuring clarity, evidence‑based conclusions, and practical guidance.
• Provide specific recommendations for strengthening inclusive climate‑smart agriculture, livelihood diversification, natural resource management, and inclusive local systems.

The individual Consultant shall have the following qualifications and experience:

1. An advanced degree in social sciences related to the topic.
2. 10 years of practical research and project baseline/evaluation and assessment work experience in development, with a sound understanding of development issues, as they relate to emergency programs.
3. Experience in the inclusion/mainstreaming of people with disabilities and her/his familiarity with UNCRPD is a requirement.
4. Practical Experience in conducting emergency projects assessment, research, KAP study, project evaluations, and baseline studies, and capacity development of emergency programs will be mandatory.
5. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in the English language.
6. Ability to analyze and translate findings into practical guidance and present them in an appropriate format.
7. Knowledge of Livelihoods, food security, livelihood resilience, natural resource management, and inclusive local governance, with a strong emphasis on gender equality, youth inclusion, and disability inclusion.
8. Should have a renewed license for consultancy services.
9. Members of the consultant team should have at least five years of proven experience in leading and conducting surveys, baseline studies, and evaluation studies on emergency/development programs.