Call for Letter of Interest

Organisational Development: Call for Letter of Interest

We are currently looking for an experienced organisational development consultant or institution with knowledge and a track record in Nepal of organisational development and learning, ideally with experience in the social welfare non - governmental sector.

Esther Benjamin Memorial Foundation (EBMF) is a Nepali non-government organisation registered in 2007.    In line with the nationwide efforts, we are moving away from institutional care in favour of alternative forms of childcare such as family and kinship based care, and   would like to capture the learning as part of the deinstitutionalisation and family reunification process.  This is to in bed it within our own NGO, build the bridge between monitoring and evaluation and effective future NGO and government planning and possibly offer the results to other NGOs.

Work to commence September 2014. This work could be done by a firm, institution or NGO under an experienced lead person. If you have the required qualifications and experience you will have to submit a letter of interest along with your full CV/Detail institutional profile and expected remuneration by Friday 5th September, 2014. Only shortlisted candidates or institutions will be contacted for further discussion.Phone calls prior to the interview will automatically eliminate candidate/institution from consideration.

Application should be forwarded to: info2@ebmf.org.np

For more detail,Please scroll up or please visit our website: www.ebmf.org.np or our partner’s website www.ebtrust.org.uk 

================================================

A Brief for supporting and strengthening organisational learning and planning throughout  deinstitutionalisation process.

Summary description of Esther Benjamin’s Memorial Foundation NGO (EBMF) and Esther Benjamin’s Trust INGO (EBT).

Summary of EBMF

The Esther Benjamin Memorial Foundation (EBMF) is a Nepali non-government organization was founded and registered in 2007. It has been working in partnership of The Esther Benjamin Trust (EBT) which was established in 1999, it is a United Kingdom based non-government organization which was originally set up to help and rescue children who were sold in Indian Circuses. It has expanded its focus and has rescued children who were trafficked and found working in difficult circumstances in various Indian circuses. The organization has rescued and rehabilitated over 600 vulnerable children from Indian circuses, prisons, the streets and poverty. The majorities of these children have been returned with their families or have otherwise been reintegrated into society; however a Child Care Home has been established for the remaining children who have been unable to be reintegrated at this time. There are currently 63 children who reside at the EBMF-Refuge (a residential children care home) whom are being provided shelter, protection, education, food and cloths, medical, emotional support and development opportunities for their wellbeing and development.

EBT (INGO)

In the 12 years since we were founded, The Esther Benjamin’s Trust has worked to rescue Nepali children who have either been trafficked into Indian circuses or displaced into India or abandoned on the streets of Nepal as well as taking steps to tackle trafficking at its core. Our main focus to date has been to provide a safe refuge in Nepal for the children to allow them to continue with their academic and/or vocational training and thus re-establish their lives free from the risk of future trafficking. 

However, in the future we hope to fund work in the community to provide support for such children, primarily through the provision of family based care, whilst continuing our efforts to stop trafficking and to provide refuge care for the small minority of children for whom it is unsafe to return to their local community.

 Aim: To give each forgotten Nepali child a safe childhood and a secure future, especially those who have been trafficked or are at risk of being trafficked.

Mission: To fund work in the Nepali community to provide support for trafficked children, principally to provide family-based care. We will also fund work to prevent trafficking in Nepal.

Current issues:

EBMF is currently undergoing major changes in terms of its services and provision for the children in its care. In 2013 deinstitutionalisation(DI) of its childcare provision was agreed by EBMF staff and stakeholders as the strategic priority. As such three options have been identified for the future care of the children residing at the EBMF refuge in Godavari:

 Reunification with their families and communities where it was safe to do so

or

 Care provided through a small family type home

or

 Independent living through the Youth Programme[1].

The DI process has already started with agreeing clear values and vision supported by new policies and procedures and is now in the implementation phase. 

Purpose of learning capture:

In line with In line with the nationwide efforts to move away from institutional care in favour of alternative forms of childcare such as family and kinship care, EBMF and EBT would like to capture the learning as part of the DI process to build the bridge between monitoring and evaluation and effective future planning which is relevant to the Nepali context.

EBMF like other NGOs are under pressure to demonstrate that funding and resources they are given make a visible and lasting impact.  NGOs need to understand and work within complex systems.  If EBMF is to remain relevant and effective then they need to learn from their own experiences and keep up with new practices.

Development involves change in human systems at individual, family, community and wider societal levels.  In order to measure the impact of DI we need to not only look at the impact on children and their families, but also the impact with systems and decision making structures that affect their lives. For example the success of a child's re integration back home to his family and local community may depend on effective collaborative and partnership work with not only local NGOs and voluntary agencies, but also the devolved government structures, such as the District Children's Welfare Boards, Village Child Protection Committees etc.

The Venn diagram below illustrates the links between Children and their families, local organisations and structures and the state.

A wide range of information and data will be collected including those involved in all three groups      ( in the Venn Diagram) to enable us to better understand the intended and unitended consequences of our actions and to adapt and change the way EBMF work.

As much of the work of NGOs is carried out in the context of partnerships, we hope that by sharing our learning combined with learning from others experiences will help to build strong and balanced partnerships.

We are fortunate to have leadership in EBMF and EBT who can develop and sustain a culture supportive of learning.

EBMF and EBT will ensure that staff have the means to learn and use their learning through:

• Clarity of vision, purpose and goals
• Opportunities  and support for developing the necessary competences to learn
• Providing a range of methods and tools that can be used
• Providing specialist support
• Providing adequate financial resources

Creating the opportunities for learning will need to be further developed so that staff have the space to reflect on their work, get exposure to new ideas and test out new thinking with others. Some of the space for learning will be through the formal HR processes such as induction, supervision and appraisal, as well as individual mentoring arrangements, field visits and exchanges.

Space for collective learning will be provided formally by setting up training courses, workshops, conferences and meetings and will be part of the organisational processes and procedures by building learning objectives into projects, programme plans and organisational strategy, as well as including an explicit 'lessons' learnt section in all regular reporting formats. Collective learning could also be supported by setting up action learning sets[2] and communities of practice[3].

There are many conceptual models for the development of organisational learning and knowledge management. Most of these models based on a Western understanding of individual and collective learning, which is not necessarily relevant to practitioners from other cultures. EBMF will need to develop its own approach to organisational learning which is sensitive to the Nepali cultural context and use innovative approaches to ensure that cultural factors do not become a constraint to individual and collective learning.

The learning from the DI process will not only focus on the impact and outcomes for EBMF beneficiaries to shape future organisational  planning but the lessons learnt will be shared with other NGOs in Nepal who are embarking on the process of DI.  By  ensuring that the learning comes from both internal knowledge sharing, as well as knowledge sharing  from external sources, it is envisaged that not only will we develop more effective development programmes, but we will also establish stronger partnerships with community and government organisations.

Last but not least the emerging culturally relevant and sensitive models for organisational learning developed by EBMF  will be documented and shared both within Nepal and to other countries within South East Asia and wider where appropriate.

Key Aims of EBMF’s learning capture:-

·         To develop effective methods of collecting information about the development, implementation and impact of the EBMF’s DI programme from a wide range of sources (360 degrees) and through a diverse range  of methods.

·         To identify robust methods of recording, collating and storing information data collected.

·         To make sense of the information / data collected – what works what doesn’t and why?

·         Ensure the learning from the DI programme is utilised in the planning of services and support that provide positive impacts and outcomes not only for the beneficiaries, but also wider e.g. local communities, government etc.

·         Identifying organisational learning strategies that are relevant to the Nepali cultural context, and their transferability to other countries and /or contexts.

Deliverables: