Description

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Over the past 10 years, Mercy Corps has embarked on a journey to challenge and address gender inequality and social exclusion in our organization, our programs, and our sector.

Across Mercy Corps’ global adolescent and youth programming¹, wellbeing emerges as a critical component for enabling young people to learn, build skills, pursue economic opportunities, and fully participate in their communities. However, the concept of wellbeing remains an amorphous and inconsistently defined concept across programs, which constrains coherent program design, implementation, and the reliable measurement of wellbeing outcomes. 

Adolescent and youth wellbeing is one of the three primary elements of Mercy Corps’ Resilient Youth through Systems Engagement (RYSE) approach (in addition to youth participation and systems engagement), which guides how young people gain capacities and opportunities, particularly in relation to economic opportunities, food security and nutrition, and peace and good governance). While RYSE emphasizes the importance of wellbeing, it does not provide a specific definition of the concept, which could be applied in program design and measurement. 

These interrelated concepts of wellbeing correspond to the diverse existing approaches that Mercy Corps pursues to develop adolescent and youth wellbeing, which range from psychosocial support (PSS/MHPSS) to broader social and economic outcomes, as well as the developing supportive enabling environments such as family, peers, and community supports. Importantly, an intersectional understanding of wellbeing is required to reflect the diverse experiences, needs, and strengths across groups that engage in Mercy Corps adolescent and youth programming, such as girls, refugees, rural youth, and other marginalized populations.

Objectives

Mercy Corps aims to establish an evidence-based, youth-informed definition of wellbeing and a wellbeing framework to guide program design, implementation and measurement. 

Given the variability in wellbeing concepts and the need for strong anchoring in humanitarian settings, this process will produce a unified conceptualization, results framework, measurement guidance, and implementation recommendations grounded in literature, internal evidence, and participatory input from young people. The wellbeing framework will include, among others, outcome indicators, types of program activities supported by evidence achieving wellbeing outcomes across individual, household, and community levels of the socio-ecological model.

The objectives will be achieved through the following elements:

•  Synthesize internal and external evidence on wellbeing programming and measurement., including internal documents and datasets (e.g., outcome monitoring indicator data, program evaluations) as well as relevant external research and impact evaluations.
•  Conduct participatory consultations with young people to co-define wellbeing and framework components, following a Level 6 participation approach (adult-initiated, shared decisions with youth) on the Ladder of Participation.
•  Develop a Mercy Corps Wellbeing Framework for adolescent and youth programs that defines wellbeing, program activities, and measurement options.

The Consultant will:

Literature Review and Evidence Synthesis

Conduct a structured literature review and evidence synthesis of:

•  Mercy Corps youth programs relevant to wellbeing (approximately 6 programs expected), including outcome indicators, sex- and age- disaggregated data (SADD), program implementation documentation and evaluations.
•  External academic and programmatic literature on adolescent and youth wellbeing, including in humanitarian contexts and multi-dimensional wellbeing models.
•  Existing indicators and measurement tools from Mercy Corps and other organizations to assess their relevance, feasibility, and evidence strength, as well as gaps in measurement of wellbeing.

Youth Participation

•  Implement youth participation processes to define youth wellbeing. The participation activities engage diverse adolescents and youth from selected programs. As young people in multiple countries will participate in separate sessions, these activities will be conducted online.
•  The online participatory activities with young people will explore how they define wellbeing in their context, factors that contribute to or detract from wellbeing, and how program activities support or hinder wellbeing. The young people will be current or former Mercy Corps program participants, facilitating identification, communication and informed consent.
•  Participatory activities will involve focus group discussions with creative methodologies, such as story or photobased methods).
•  Mercy Corps will provide logistical support to the organization of these online activities, such as identification of participants, scheduling of sessions etc.

Draft the Wellbeing Definition and Framework

•  Develop a definition of wellbeing based on the review of literature and evidence products, and insights from the adolescent and youth participation. The concept of wellbeing is expected to reflect the interplay of dimensions identified by young people (e.g. physical, emotional), and articulate factors that positively or negatively shape a person’s wellbeing. The concept should be context-responsive and incorporate an intersectional lens, accounting for e.g. gender, age, disability status, socioeconomic status, and crisis context.
•  Building on this conceptual foundation, create a wellbeing framework to illustrate how program components, such as safe spaces for adolescents and youth, market systems development (MSD), parental engagement interventions, contribute to wellbeing outcomes, with guidance on activity selection based on program type, age group, gender, and humanitarian or development setting
•  Develop a table mapping program activities to wellbeing dimensions, evidence strength, and measurement tools, alongside a clear identification of measurement gaps and priority areas for future research or investment.
•  To accompany the Framework, review existing measurement tools and develop a menu of wellbeing indicators with measurement guidance notes (Performance Indicator Reference Sheets) and tools. 

Finalizing the Wellbeing Framework

•  Present the draft wellbeing definition, framework and associated materials in validation sessions with Mercy Corps staff, including global and regional Technical Support, Evidence and Program Quality (TEQ) teams and country program teams. 
•  Incorporate feedback from these sessions to finalize the framework and deliverables.

Deliverables

The following deliverables will be developed:

•  Literature and evidence review summary report (up to 10 pages): Synthesizes key conceptual, programmatic, and measurement insights on adolescent and youth wellbeing from Mercy Corps, external organizations, and academic sources.
•  Youth participation workshop materials: Workshop materials, including facilitator guides, activities, discussion prompts, and visual aids, designed to explore youth-defined wellbeing and adaptable for diverse contexts and participants.
•  Youth participation report outlining the methods, findings and implications (up to 12 pages): Report summarizing methods, participant insights on wellbeing, key needs and barriers, and implications for program design and measurement.
•  Wellbeing definition and results framework (visual framework with written narrative), comprising: 
•  Definition of multi-dimensional adolescent and youth wellbeing from an intersectional perspective
•  Program activities supported by evidence of wellbeing outcomes
•  Mapping of measurement tools and indicators to assess domains of wellbeing outcomes, with a menu of proposed wellbeing indicators with measurement guidance notes (Performance Indicator Reference Sheets) and tools.

The consultant will report to: Senior Advisor Adolescent and Youth Development with oversight by Senior Director Social Integration and Development.

The consultant will work closely with:

•  Social Integration and Development unit of the global TEQ team
•  Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation unit of the global TEQ team
•  Regional Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Advisors
•  Country staff of programs selected for participants for participatory activities

Level of Effort, Timeframe and Budget

The estimated LoE is total 25 days, allocated as follows:

   Activity                                         # Working Days          Timeframe 

Required Experience and Skills

The successful consultant/s should have the following characteristics: 

•  Strong technical knowledge and practical experience of adolescent and youth development programmes in humanitarian and development contexts.
•  Qualifications and professional background in fields related to adolescent and youth development (e.g. education, international development, human rights, gender studies or similar).
•  Expertise in monitoring, evaluation and learning, including measurement, results frameworks and indicators.
•  Experience of similar assignments in the past five years.
•  Proven experience in conducting participatory research activities with young people.
•  Excellent writing, editing and communication skills, and experience in developing programming and measurement tools and guidance.
•  Experience working in low and lower-middle income contexts, and in development, humanitarian and nexus contexts. 
•  Fluency in English; working proficiency in French, Spanish and/or Arabic is desirable

How to Apply

To apply, please submit a brief proposal outlining your approach to the consultancy, including methodology, timeline, and any innovative ideas for achieving the deliverables. You may use the provided template to ensure consistency, which should include:

•  Methodology: Describe the methodology you will use to address each deliverable.
•  Work Plan and Timeline: Outline how you will allocate the 25 working days across all deliverables, including review and revision periods.
•  Consultant/s Profile: Provide the CV for the consultant/s.
•  Budget/Fees: Provide your daily rate or, if proposing a team, the total budget with a breakdown of fees by consultant or role.

Engagement and Effectiveness  

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work.

We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times.

Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.