Expert Education in Emergencies, MHPSS and Child Protection

Finn Church Aid (FCA) is Finland’s largest international aid organisation with more than 70 years of experience. We specialize in the world’s most fragile contexts and work with the most vulnerable people, regardless of their religious beliefs, ethnic background or political convictions.

Finn Church Aid (FCA) is a leading Finnish non-governmental organization (NGO) specializing in Education in Emergencies (EiE) across various countries and contexts. FCA ensures that every child’s right to safe and inclusive education is upheld, even in times of crisis and conflict. With extensive experience in humanitarian and development programming, FCA has a long-standing commitment to supporting education in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). While historically focused on development efforts, FCA is now expanding its work to provide emergency education responses in both the West Bank and Gaza.

1. Background info on FCA CO requesting the services
   FCA’s Country Office in the OPTs is actively engaged in supporting schools affected by Israeli military operations and access restrictions in the West Bank. The office aims to enhance schools’ capacity to deliver inclusive online and hybrid education, ensuring that students who cannot physically reach schools continue their learning. Alongside this, FCA provides a comprehensive package of support, including strengthening EiE capacities, promoting child protection, and delivering Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for both children and teachers.
   In Gaza, FCA collaborates with partners to provide informal educational opportunities for children in Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS) located in both North and South Gaza. Through these efforts, FCA seeks to mitigate the impact of the crisis on children’s education and well-being, ensuring that learning continues despite the challenging circumstances.
2. Objective
   The objective of this consultancy is to enhance the education, well-being, and protection of crisis-affected children in the West Bank and Gaza by strengthening the capacity of teachers, educators, school staff, and TLS facilitators in EiE, MHPSS, and child protection. This will include:
   1. Reviewing FCA’s existing policies and best practices, alongside international perspectives and global standards on EiE, MHPSS integration in education, and child protection. This will involve a desk review and coordination with FCA’s Education and Protection Advisers and experts from the Teachers Without Borders network.
   2. Contextualizing global best practices to ensure their relevance and applicability in the unique challenges of the OPTs.
   3. Developing training modules and resources (including in Arabic) on EiE, MHPSS, and child protection to be implemented in targeted schools in the West Bank and delivered to facilitators in TLSs in Gaza. The materials should provide practical strategies to enhance teaching in emergency settings.
   4. Delivering training sessions to FCA’s partners in Gaza (in person to staff in Ramallah and online to facilitators in Gaza). If additional funding is secured by April 2025, expanding training delivery to 10 schools across the West Bank by March 2026.
   5. Providing follow-up mentoring to schools and educators, ensuring the effective implementation of training learnings.
3. Scope of work

– Material Review and Contextualization of Best Practices

To review FCA’s existing EiE, MHPSS and Child Protection materials and liaise with FCA’s Education and Protection Advisers, as well as educational experts in the Teachers Without Borders network, to understand FCA best practice and the Finnish approach.

To review international best practices and existing training content and global standards on Education in Emergency, including the INEE Minimum Standards.

To understand national referral mechanisms for Child Protection in the West Bank and Gaza.

To extract key insights and perspectives from global and Finnish best practices and to identify gaps and areas for alignment with contextualized best practices.

To tailor and adapt these practices to align with the cultural, social, and educational context of the OPTs.

– Design of resources and training modules

Develop resources and training modules on Education in Emergency, integrating MHPSS into learning and Child Protection for rollout to FCA’s partner schools in the West Bank, partner organisations active in Gaza and local teachers, educators and caregivers.

These should include:

guidance on alternative learning programs and strategies tailored to children who are affected by crisis

safe learning

identifying key protection risks affecting children, including family separation or death, recruitment, and gender-based violence

integrating protection principles into education

guidance on basic MHPSS interventions

integrating MHPSS into education

Ensure that the resources and training content are theoretical, practical, and feasible within the constraints of emergency settings and provide actionable guidance and strategies for improving local capacities.

-Rollout of training

Deliver trainings to partner organisations and educators working in Gaza using the materials and resources developed

With additional funding expected in April 2025, deliver trainings to 10 schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by March 2026.

With additional funding expecting in April 2025, facilitate engagement sessions with caregivers from the 10 schools on supporting children’s MHPSS and child protection.

Provide follow up mentoring to educators to help them apply their learnings.

4. Deliverables
Training resources, materials and modules integrating contextualized international best practices. These should be provided in Arabic and English.

Pilot implementation of training modules to partner organisations working in Gaza.

Delivery of training to 10 schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem using these materials and modules (subject to securing funding in April 2025).

Facilitation of engagement sessions with caregivers at the 10 schools in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (subject to securing funding in April 2025)

Follow up mentoring with educators to equip them with the tools needed to improve teaching practices in emergency contexts.

Monthly progress reports.

Final report with future recommendations.

5. Duration

First phase – material review, design of resources and training modules, initial rollout to partners working in Gaza: to begin immediately and be completed by July 2025.

Second phase, subject to securing funding – training rollout to 10 schools in the West Bank and additional partners in Gaza: to being in August 2025 and completed by April 2026.

6. Reporting and Communication

The expert will report to the Project Coordinator and Humanitarian Adviser in FCA.

Regular updates and feedback sessions will be scheduled to ensure alignment and progress.

7. Transport & Logistics

FCA will NOT reimburse the transportation costs to visited destinations.

8. Duty Station

The duty station for this post is the West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories. The candidate should be able to travel in person to schools across the West Bank and, preferably, to East Jerusalem. Additionally, some training sessions will be conducted online for facilitators in Gaza, and in-person training may be delivered to staff based in Ramallah.

9. Budget

Please provide a detailed budget of the assignment with VAT.

The maximum budget is 17800 EUR.

Bids exceeding this amount will not be eligible for evaluation.

Applicants’ proposals must include a detailed and competitive budget inclusive of all fees, costs
and taxes.

Processing time for financial payments is 10 working days and will be only transferred to consultant’s bank account.

The income tax will be the responsibility of the consultant and must be paid directly to the income tax department. A certification of payment will be required.

10. Validity

Tenders/Offers shall remain valid and open for acceptance for a period of 7 working days after the closing date for the submission.
Prior to the expiry of the original tender/offer validity period, the Contracting Agency may ask tenderers/candidates in writing to extend this period. Tenderers/candidates that agree to do so will not be permitted to modify their tenders/offers. If they refuse, their participation in the tender procedure will be terminated.

11. Timetable & Payment Modalities

Payment will be based on the completion of deliverables and progress milestones :
For Phase 1 – up to 4,000 Euro
For Phase 2 – up to 13,800 Euro, subject to securing additional funding

12. Required Expertise and Qualification

– Education qualification of the consultant:

Advanced degree in Education, Child Protection, Human Science, or related fields.

– Experience & Expertise of the Consultant:

At least 3 years of experience in humanitarian settings, with expertise in Education in Emergencies (EiE), Child Protection (CP), and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS).

Knowledge of global standards, including INEE Minimum Standards and IASC MHPSS Guidelines.

Strong understanding of the educational landscape and challenges in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) or similar contexts .

– Professional Experience

Demonstrated ability to design capacity-building frameworks and training modules.

Proven experience in delivering engaging and interactive training sessions for educators.

Proficiency in Arabic and English, with ability to write materials and delivery trainings in Arabic, as well as excellent comprehension, writing and communication skills in English .

The ability to travel in person to schools across the West Bank, with a preference for candidates who can also travel to East Jerusalem.

13. Eligibility Criteria

The service providers will initially be verified for eligibility according to the criteria below. # Description Means of verification and required documentation
1
Curriculum Vitae/ Portfolio
Curriculum Vitae/ Portfolio
2
Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university
University degree certificate
3
Financial Proposal, and availability.
Budget including VAT
4
Technical Proposal committing to the required deliverables, and time frame.
A brief outline of their approach and methodology for each phase.
A proposed timeline and deliverables.
A breakdown of expected hours and associated costs for each phase

14. Contract Award Criteria

The offers will be evaluated according to the contract award criteria below:
#
Description
Weight
Scoring methodology
1
Skills / expertise of the Consultant to be assessed according to the CV
25%
2
Technical Proposal including the methodology, availability and timeframe.
25%
3
Interview with FCA team
25%
4
Financial proposal / within the budget
25%
Lowest bid receives highest score. Other candidates’ scores are calculated proportionally based on the lowest bid.

15. Evaluation Process
The evaluation process is managed by FCA’s Procurement Committee.

Candidates will be first evaluated according to the requirements in section 12 – Required Expertise and Qualifications. Candidates which are eligible will be allowed to proceed to the evaluation phase and their offers will be evaluated according to the contract award criteria in section 14.

Terms of contract

Confidentiality – Highlight any confidentiality or certain commitment concern

During the assignment, the consultant does not represent FCA and has no mandate to negotiate, make commitments or agree on behalf of FCA.

The consultant is expected to use own computer and other equipment required for the works.

By submitting an offer, the candidate/consultant/service provider confirms to abide by FCA Code of Conduct, Safeguarding policy, Data-Protection Agreement and consent for screening.

The ownership and copyright(s) of the report(s) and any other produced material will remain with FCA.

All information gathered from FCA, partners and beneficiaries must remain confidential and not shared with any party without FCA written consent.

The Consultant is responsible for payment of all social costs, other employment related costs and insurance contributions and for all other liabilities of a statutory nature.