Country: Niger
Closing date: 04 Sep 2017
USAID/OTI’s Niger Community Cohesion Initiative (NCCI) implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is looking to receive expressions of interest from individuals to engage in a social network analysis project both in country and remotely. Applicants ideally will have 1) 5-10 years of experience in social science research and network analysis projects 2) Previous experience in Niger or West/Northern Africa 3) Fluency in English and French
BACKGROUND
Niger’s Diffa region (in the country’s southeast) has been badly impacted by the spillover of Boko Haram, the violent extremist group based in northeastern Nigeria. Thousands have been displaced by resulting violence, the economy has been greatly affected due to restrictions on movement, and many youth are vulnerable to recruitment by extremist organizations. In June 2016, the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) faction of Boko Haram attacked the community of Bosso, Niger. This significant and deadly attack led the USAID/OTI Niger program to mobilize local leaders to robustly respond to the attack in an immediate, visible way.
In an effort to strengthen the ability of communities to resist Boko Harm, OTI’s Niger Community Cohesion Initiative (NCCI) brought together twelve community leaders from all walks of life - radio announcers, imams, village chiefs and youth representatives - to discuss the challenges facing Diffa. These leaders began meeting regularly to plan community meetings, share security information and develop their capacity to combat violent extremism. Recognizing their unique ability to create positive change in the region, they formed a formal committee, “Nalewa Mada”, a Kanouri phrase meaning ‘we search for peace.’
Nalewa Mada now acts as the NCCI program’s leading body for a network of more than 300 community leaders with their own committees based in 30 conflict-affected villages in the region. The committee identified where it would work based on a mixed criteria consisting of political significance of villages within the region, number of security incidents, and the level of influence of the committee leaders within the area. To date Nalewa Mada has engaged in anti-VE and security related messaging campaigns in villages throughout the region, introduced community-led cash for work projects to engage communities and tackle the issue of youth employment, and have been engaged in capacity building trainings and workshops.
OBJECTIVES
A key assumption behind NCCI programming is that the effectiveness of regional networks will depend on strengthening their ties, creating internal coordination and communication mechanisms, as well as external coordination with authorities. Strengthening these interactions allows them to learn from each other and gives them the unity and strength in numbers to speak out in the face of dangerous extremist threats.
To test this theory, NCCI conducted four rounds of surveys among member organizations of Nalewa Mada and Agadez Eveil, measuring frequency and type of interaction including face-to-face meetings, joint projects/fundraising, technical assistance and remote communication (telephone, email, sms). We are also conducting more in-depth discussions with a smaller set of participants about the political context and their evolving work in countering violent extremism (CVE).
As part of our evaluation, NCCI would like to acquire the services of a specialist in social networks for the implementation of a social network analysis (SNA) of Nalewa Mada in addition to recommendations for its work with future community-based networks.
TASKS & SCOPE
● Based on initial, previously-collected data, design a methodology for analysis of network formation over the past year and evaluate the performance of the NCCI program with respect to goals and strategy for the Nalewa Mada network.
● Conduct reporting on 4 rounds social network analysis data collection conducted from November 2016-August 2017
● Review past and current data collection methods in terms of relevance to overall program goals and evaluation questions.
● Summarize the key findings of the analysis including recommendations to NCCI for improving data collection processes for future SNA.
EVALUATION QUESTIONS
The goal of the SNA is to understand:
● The nature of the participation by committee members in their local networks
● The type and strength of relationships between network member organizations
● How these relationships have changed over time
● How do networks form and do the right’ networks form? Are any key connections missing?
● How the growth and evolution of the network has affected the effectiveness of individuals, communities and the overall network in fighting violent extremism
● How has the network shifted the engagement between members and influential stakeholders and organizations in the region?
● How has the network shifted the reputation and actions of individual members working at the community level?
QUALIFICATIONS
Master’s Degree in Social Science or Computational Field and two years of relevant professional or academic experience.
Experience in social science research methods and approaches
Knowledge of basic research and/or program evaluation methods
Knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods.
Experience leading and managing data analysis and visualization for SNA
TIMETABLE & DELIVERABLES
Deliverable 1: Detailed Methodology and Work Plan
The subcontractor shall deliver a detailed methodology and work plan (with timeline) for review and approval by NCCI prior to the start of the work. The work plan shall include a schedule of implementation for all phases and the project methodology and tools to be followed / used; which shall be finalized in close collaboration with NCCI. Please include a sample of a past product related to social network analysis.
Deliverable 2:
A report will be prepared based on analysis of past surveys including four rounds of data collection. This initial report will provide a summary of the key findings, an outline of the methods and data analysis, a presentation of the key metrics and indicators, lessons-learned, challenges encountered and the methods used to overcome them and recommendations for the next phase of the study.
The subcontractor will submit for approval one (1) soft copy of each deliverable in preliminary version for comments. Soft copies of deliverables must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx) and portable document format (.pdf) for text. Raw data and calculations must also be submitted in tabular format.
How to apply:
APPLICATIONS
Please send CV and a cover letter detailing your relevant experience to Jcook@iom.int by 4 September, 2017. Please indicate your availability and potential starting dates. Note that this position will require travel to Niamey and potentially Diffa region.