Terms of Reference – Research Coordinator
Community Resilience Assessment Framework
1. Background & Rational
Twenty-eight years after the genocide committed against Tutsi, significant progress has been made in healing the psychological, social, and economic wounds left by the genocide. Multidimensional initiatives, from the local to the national level, across the domains of mental health, peacebuilding, inclusive governance and economic recovery have brought Rwanda to a point where it can begin to look toward the future with confidence and optimism. Rwanda’s economy has been growing steadily, and the country aspires to achieve a Middle-Income status by 2035, and High-Income Country status by 2050. Significant progress toward recovery and resilience has also been evidenced across multiple domains, including transformative governance, social cohesion and inclusion, justice, environment and climate change, regional integration, and international positioning, gender and family promotion, disaster management, among others.
However, to maintain Rwanda on this new trajectory, it is important to address several interlinked challenges. A significant mental health burden remains, especially among genocide survivors, as evidenced by epidemiological surveys that show 35% of genocide survivors and 12% of the general population to be meeting criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (Rwanda Biomedical Centre, 2018). Furthermore, epidemiological surveys show that children of survivors are significantly more likely to display symptoms of trauma than children from the general population, suggesting that trauma is being transmitted inter-generationally, to children that had not yet been born when the genocide occurred (Rutembesa, Ndimukaga, Lordos, et al., 2021). Inter-generational trauma is also linked with family-level challenges, such as family conflicts, gender stereotypes and gender-based violence. Additional challenges are posed by the reintegration of former genocide perpetrators in the community, after completing their prison sentences, especially in those cases where genocide denial, genocide ideology, ethnic-based stereotyping, hate speech and social mistrust remain significant issues in some of the countries near Rwanda and beyond. Finally, the context of poverty can be conceptualized as an additional burden, especially when it becomes a part of a mutually reinforcing cycle that also includes poor mental health. Thus, there is need to protect the path of Rwanda toward more towards strengthening community resilience against these multiple challenges, as one of the key pillars to sustainable peace.
Against this backdrop, the government of Rwanda established, in 2021, the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement (MINUBUMWE). The mission of the new ministry revolves around preserving historical memory, reinforcing national unity, and promoting citizenship education. One of the responsibilities of MINUBUMWE is to contribute to the strengthening of community resilience. This is to be accomplished through a dedicated Community Resilience Directorate, which coordinates and monitors social healing interventions within the Rwandan community; monitors and coordinates rehabilitation and re-integration interventions within the Rwandan community; and provides multidimensional support to genocide survivors, including through income-generating activities. To fulfill its mandate of strengthening community resilience, MINUBUMWE requires a baseline understanding of the current state of resilience across all districts of Rwanda, as well as a framework for assessing community resilience on an ongoing basis. Without such evidence, it would be very challenging to design, prioritize, and deploy effective resilience-strengthening programmes.
In this regard, MINUBUMWE has recently partnered with Interpeace, an International Organisation that has been engaged in peace-building and societal healing programmes in Rwanda for several years. One of the key strategic objectives of the partnership is to collaborate in developing indicators to measure societal healing and community resilience; as well as conduct research to establish a baseline for community resilience that can inform related programming and policies. In accordance with the objectives of this partnership, an inception process was initiated, which included literature reviews, multi-stakeholder dialogue, and the design of a participatory methodology to assess community resilience.
2. Objectives & Methodology
In accordance with the above background and rationale the objectives of the study are defined as follows:
- To conduct a community resilience baseline across all districts of Rwanda by utilizing the resilience assessment methodology already developed by MINUBUMWE in partnership with Interpeace. Three (3) sectors per district will be the subject of this survey.
- Validate and test pre-defined resilience indicators, as these derive from the existing literature and the multi-stakeholder dialogue process. These can be used to structure future research activities, policies, and programmes for community resilience in Rwanda.
- Through multi-stakeholder deliberation and dialogue, at the sector, district, and national level, generate policy and programmatic recommendations for greater resilience across Rwanda.
Regarding the scope of the study, this will include the assessment of specific pre-defined resilience indicators at the community level, with supporting insights at the household, individual, and institutional levels, where these are relevant for understanding community resilience. The scope of the study will not be restricted to establishing baseline scores on the various indicators but will also include stakeholder dialogue processes to match these assessed needs with available policy and programmatic toolkits for greater resilience, at the sector, district, and national levels. In the context of this study, data collection will take place in selected sectors per district, in all districts (3 Sectors per district) in Rwanda.
The methodology of this study has been developed by a combined team of experts from MINUBUMWE and Interpeace. The participatory resilience assessment process will be structured and made efficient using the already developed Resilience Indicators that have been designed in accordance with the insights from the inception research. These tools will allow data collectors to gain a holistic understanding of resilience from the village level all the way up to the national level. This survey will cover the whole country, and the data collection process should be completed by 31st March 2023, at the latest. The final report must be submitted by 30th June 2023.
3. Scope of work
In this regard, Interpeace is seeking to secure the services of an expert research coordinator to not only facilitate the implementation process of this study but also fulfill a senior researcher position role to respond to Interpeace’s goal of contributing to knowledge development, innovation and policy influence. The research coordinator must be well versed in data collection, analysis, and report writing; and with proven expertise in applying Participatory Action Research Approaches (PAR). The applicant must demonstrate capacity and flexibility to use the tools, methodologies, and inception report already developed by MINUBUMWE and Interpeace; and ensuring ethical, expeditious data collection process in all 30 districts in Rwanda; and thereafter, report writing. The research coordinator will work closely with a joint technical team of MINUBUMWE and Interpeace throughout the process.
The anticipated start date for the data collection is the end of January 2023, with the submission of the final draft expected at the end of June 2023. Within these six months, the research coordinator has the following responsibilities:
- Coordinate Interpeace and partner program research activities (ongoing or upcoming research)
- Serve as a focal person on as regards to knowledge development(develop and review of proposal, concepts and policy papers)
- Contribute to the development of periodical reports in close collaboration with DMEL and program team
Specifically, research coordinator will:
- Be available to attend a 5-day training course on the data collection tools developed by MINUBUMWE and Interpeace; at a date to be agreed upon securing the contract for this assignment.
- Coordinate a one-day pilot study to validate research tools
- Ensure that relevant data has been collected in all selected sectors across all 30 districts of Rwanda
- Take part in feedback meetings involving all stakeholders to discuss the data collected.
- Work collaboratively with Interpeace to implement the methodology and tools of the study
- Traveling with some of the data collectors in the districts to perform quality assurance tasks
- Coordinate with Interpeace National and International experts to analyze the data collected, both qualitatively and quantitatively
- Ensure accurate reporting of analysis made through writing, visualizing, and interpretating the data through contextual analysis
- Ensure that Data analysis is done by end of April 2023
- Take lead on the report writing of the study, and submitting several drafts to Interpeace staff for feedback
- Collaborate with Interpeace staff to coordinate feedback meetings for all stakeholders involved to discuss the process of the study
- Submit a draft report by end of May 2023
- Submit a final report by Mid – June 2023
- Assist in the planning of the Community Resilience Assessment Framework Validation Conference at the end of June 2023
4. Qualifications
Interpeace is looking for a research coordinator with experience in conducting research in societal healing, mental health, social cohesion, governance, and other related subjects. It must demonstrate strong knowledge of Rwandan context and history; and how the past affects the Rwandan society today.
The Research coordinator profile:
- A Master’s degree or PhD with a research concentration in social sciences, anthropology, psychology, or related fields.
- Proven experience in coordinating participatory action research processes, specifically in the fields of societal healing, mental health, social cohesion, governance, and other relevant fields, with a proven excellent understanding of the national historical context.
- Ability to deliver on this assignment within the indicated deadlines, including incorporating peer-review/feedbacks from MINUBUMWE and Interpeace.
- Strong analytical skills, proficiency in statistical analysis software is a plus
- Ability to contextualize gendered perspectives to data analysis
- Strong knowledge in research and research processes with at least 5- 8 years of experience
- Ability to work independently and within a team
- Ability to work within tight deadlines, and adapting to feedback
- Excellent communication, writing, and organizational skills
- Excellent reporting skills
- Up to 3 references required
5. How to Apply
Please submit your CV, and letter expressing your interest, a writing sample in the English language, as well as references by January 23rd 2023 via email to: recruitment@interpeace.org with cc to akaliza@interpeace.org Please include “Research Coordinator” in the subject line of your email.
Given the urgency to commence this study, applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until a suitable candidate is identified. So interested candidates are encouraged to make their submissions as soon as possible.
