Consultant for Rapid Market Assessment

BACKGROUND

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. CRS has been operating in Vietnam since 1994. In partnership with Government, Civil Society and Communities, CRS implements programs in 9 provinces/cities in Vietnam. The Vietnam Program has a diverse funding base in the sectors of Emergency, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation; Disabilities; Mine Risk Education and Landmine Survivors’ Assistance. In collaboration with local partner, we are implementing the project activities to support vulnerable Vietnamese families affected by recent Molave tropical storm to meet their immediate needs, return home and recover from the floods with safety and dignity. In order to better understand the feasibility of cash programming and the associated risks, CRS would like to recruit a Rapid Market Assessment Consultant, together with CRS staff, to undertake a rapid market assessment in proposed target areas to validate preliminary findings, ensure we do no harm in our programming and meet the requirements of the donor of these funds.

OBJECTIVES

- To better understand risks (eg. covering financial, physical and social aspects as well as gender and protection) for different vulnerable groups in accessing humanitarian assistance, particularly cash support (e.g. men, women, boys and girls, elderly, disabled persons) - To understand if markets in areas of intervention are safely accessible to all people and if markets are functioning as normal. This will include validating the availability of and price data for the food, non food items (NFIs), other household essential components included in the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB), and construction materials and labor at the required quantity and quality levels as well as if prices are affordable - To understand if cash assistance is feasible in particular, understanding household preferences and decision-making, how they will use the money they receive - To determine the modality that considers market functionality, participant mobility, and access restrictions. The range of choices includes conditional cash or direct build, or a mixture of these modalities/ determine whether conditional cash, direct build or a mixture of these two is the best modality of assistance for desired shelter goods and services (labor, building materials, tools, transportation).

METHODOLOGY

The rapid assessment data will be collected through different surveys: Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with communities, local masons; KII with local government, households and traders/suppliers. Each survey will collect information from both male and female respondents. Market Trader Surveys, FGDs and KIIs will be conducted per area. Market surveys will contain questions on prices; availability of items, construction materials as well as labor; access to markets and the capacity of vendors to supply items. FGD and KII will contain questions on risks and challenges for different vulnerable groups to access markets and appropriate modality of assistance, how household decisions are made, how cash received will be spent and how CRS can program in a way which does no harm.

CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS

The consultant should have the following skills set:

Possess documented extensive experience in Value chain and market analysis in related programs
Degree (preferred) in Rural Development, Economics or related field
Minimum 5 years of experience with Value Chains and markets research
Have sound knowledge of cash and market, especially in rapid market assessment, datacollection methods as well as protection
Fluent in Vietnamese and strong aptitude in English, verbal and written
Have process management skills and facilitation skills.

APPLICATION

The application submissions should be sent by 5:00 PM, 23rd December 2020 to Catholic Relief Services via email: recruitment.vietnam@crs.org Applications should include expression of interest:

CVs demonstrating relevant capacity and experience.
Relevant qualifications

Only shortlisted applicants shall be contacted for interview before contracting. ***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer

For more information: TOR.

Job Details

Organisation Name: CRS

Location: Hanoi, Vietnam

Application Deadline: Wed, 2020-12-23