Support to Improving Social Cohesion through Community Development Planning in 3 LGAs in North-East Nigeria
Terms of Reference for Skills Acquisition Consultancy
Background:
CRUDAN, Oxfam, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), are implementing an eight (24)- month project aimed at improving social cohesion through participatory and inclusive community development planning.
Since its inception, the project has used local, comprehensive, integrative approaches, such as community town hall meetings, community dialogue meetings, workshops, training, and other relevant activities. This was done to improve social cohesion and bring all members of target communities on the path of sustainable development, with the citizens being in the driver’s seat, leveraging relevant government and non-governmental structures in Guyuk LGA.
Key achievements of the project since its inception include:
- Engagement and Sensitization of over 100 stakeholders on key social cohesion and community development principles. Through these engagements, the capacities of the stakeholders in good and inclusive governance, participatory bottom-up development planning, community development, and leadership levels at the LGA. Complementary roles of traditional rulers and local government officials in community development, differences between personal interest and public or common interest, barriers to development, and Conflict Resolution at the LGA level, amongst other issues of community development, were strengthened.
- Mobilization, engagement, and sensitization of over 1200 community members across 10 wards of Guyuk on the project goals, inclusive and participatory development planning, as well as the role of community members in community development planning and execution of community development initiatives.
- Organizing and facilitating Community Development Planning (CDP) Sessions through which 1,150 community stakeholders across the 10 wards of Guyuk LGA participated in the identification and prioritization of community development challenges.
- Compilation of the identified challenges into a single document called the Community Development Plan.
- Harmonization, review, and validation of development priorities across 10 sectors to form the Guyuk LGA Development Plan.
- All of these translated into a 5-year Community Development Plan as the major outcome of the activities enumerated above.
Through the participatory and inclusive CDP sessions organized by the project, a total of 149 priority development challenges across 10 sectors (including Agriculture and food security, Physical Infrastructure, Economy and Livelihood, Water and Sanitation, Climate Change and Green Economy, Conflict and Security, Health, Education, Gender and Social Protection Sectors) in all 10 wards of the LGA were identified and solutions and activities for addressing the identified challenges developed. The project has since formed Ward Development Support Committees (WDSCs) across the 10 wards of the LGA to serve as the community mobilization and accountability structures and to lead the implementation of the LGA Plan in their respective Wards.
Two hundred and fifty (250) members of the WDSCs have also been mobilized and trained on different modules to strengthen their capacity to perform the critical functions of lobbying for the implementation of the LGA plan in their respective wards. The LGA Community Development Plan is a strategic document that compiles the aspirations and development priorities of the people of Guyuk LGA. This document contains details of challenges faced across the 10 wards of the LGA across priority sectors, with proposed solutions and activities to be led by the communities towards the realization of community development objectives of the people of Guyuk LGA. It is a document that provides the basis for community members to hold their duty bearers accountable, building trust between citizens and the government, establishing community-led accountability structures, mobilizing citizens across the LGA, and developing the LGA through enhancing active participation of the citizens in governance, as well as strengthening the capacity of communities to participate in the development of their respective communities.
Justification:
The project has successfully developed a Local Government Development Plan through inclusive and participatory approaches implemented during the CDP Sessions, as well as deliberate and strategic capacity building activities, particularly the Ward development Support Committee (WDSCs) within the 10 wards of Guyuk LGA. The 10 Ward Development Support Committee (WDSCs) have been trained on creating linkages, project monitoring and evaluation, roles and responsibilities, leadership, how to run a successful community-based organization, reporting, advocacy, and lobbying.
This capacity building has been able to strengthen their leadership and membership commitment towards the growth and development of their wards, thereby fostering and building cohesion among the different socio-economic strata and emigration status (Host community, IDPs, Returnees) within Guyuk LGA. Over the last three months, the committees across the 10 wards of Guyuk LGA have been able to implement numerous projects within their wards, driven by the Guyuk LGA community development plan.
With all this effort being put in place by the Ward Development Support Committee (WDSCs) across the 10 wards of Guyuk LGA to ensure the growth and development of their wards, there is an inherent gap among committee members in having and owning an income-generating activity that can assist them in sustaining and supporting the committee. To this end, the project is engaging the services of a consultant to conduct selection, planning, and management of income-generating activities across the 10 wards of Guyuk LGA. This consultancy will form a part of the project sustainability Strategy for the project, as it ensures the continued generation of income within the Ward Development Support Committees.
Objectives of the consultancy:
The Consultancy will seek to achieve the following objectives:
• Train selected members of the Ward Development Support Committee (WDSCs) as trainers on the selection, planning, and management of identified IGA, which they will, in turn, train other members.
• Support members to develop selected businesses adopting the SPM-IGA approach from the skill set acquired.
• Transition identified small business owners within WDSCs into big-time/part-time business owners.
• Develop entrepreneurial skills on IGA for individuals within the committee.
• Build resilience and sustainability of the platforms through income.
Scope of the Training Consultant:
An inception report: The consultant will prepare an inception report detailing the training plan, including training methodology, teaching aids, and expected outcome for each training module.
Conduct Needs Assessment: The consultant will conduct a thorough needs assessment with the participants to be trained.
Conducting training: The consultant will conduct a 2-day training for the selected participants on the skill set identified by the needs assessment conducted. The training will cover the selection, planning, and management of income-generating activities. The needs assessment will provide a background on some of the micro businesses, for example, petty trading, processing of maize grits, charging of phones, food vending, etc.
With the training of the trainers, the trained participants will, through the course, teach WDSC members to:
1. Select an IGA that is appropriate for their household, after assessing the skills and financial capacity of WDSC members.
2. Plan the startup of the IGA or strengthen existing ones.
3. Manage the IGA's risks and cash flow.
There will be practical sessions to demonstrate the step-by-step processing of acquiring skills like soap making, air freshener, snacks like chinchin, kulikuli, and other local snacks, and vegetable oil processing, etc.
Deliverables:
• Report of needs assessment.
• Development of tailor-made and context-appropriate training materials/ modules based on the results of the needs assessment.
• Train 40 members of the WDSCs in Guyuk on selection, management, and planning of micro-business.
• Training Report: A comprehensive training report is to be prepared detailing the training sessions carried out.
• Pictures.
Activity Timeline:
The consultancy is expected to start from May 11th, 2026 through May 21st, 2026 as detailed below:
See more on the website => www.crudan.org
See more on the website => www.crudan.org