Foundation for Community Initiatives - FCI

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Liberia Women Empowerment Project (LWEP)

Terms of Reference: Enumerators for Data Collection

Position: Enumerators
Location of Assignment: River Cess and Grand Gedeh Counties
Report to: LWEP Technical Supervisor
Duration: 15 days
Start Date: January 2026 (to be arranged)
End Date: January 2026 (to be arranged)

Background
The Liberia Women Empowerment Project (LWEP) is a three-year project implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) through Plan International Liberia (the lead Service Provider), six association members: Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Actionaid Liberia (AAL), Medica Liberia, Defence for Children International (Liberia), Foundation of
Community Initiatives (FCI), and Kids Engagement Education Project (KEEP), and two professional service providers (Viamo and Raising Voices). LWEP is being implemented in 498 Communities across six counties: Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Gedeh, Rural Montserrado, and River Cess. LWEP is a multi-sectoral initiative aimed at addressing key barriers to gender equality in Liberia. It aligns with the Liberian government's priorities on women’s empowerment and GBV prevention
and responses. LWEP is funded by the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA). The project runs for three years, from 2024 to September 2027.
The project objective is to improve social and livelihood services for women and girls in targeted communities, foster positive social norms, and strengthen the government’s capacity to advance
women and girls’ empowerment through a ‘whole community’ approach targeting multiple actors and levels.
Specifically, Component Three of LWEP seeks to enhance the capacity of livelihood groups, with a particular focus on female farmer groups and organizations, with the necessary skills and resources to improve their agricultural practices, business management, and financial literacy.

With an allocation of $18.0 million, the Economic Support and Livelihood Grants (ESLG) under
the LWEP Component Three seeks to support the following categories of beneficiaries:
1. Villages Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs): a group of 10 - 25 people who save small amounts regularly and extend small loans to each other.
2. Individual Enterprise: small business with less than ten employees at a village level.
3. Farmer-Based Organization (FBO)/Producer Groups (PGs): A legal entity formed by farmers, pastoralists, etc., or a cooperative society, or any other legal form that provides for the sharing of profits/benefits among members.
4. Livelihood Group (LGs): a group of households within a community that share similar assets and capacities
Ultimately, 36,000 persons are targeted to benefit from the livelihood grants through the above-mentioned women-led enterprises.

Overview of the assignment

The Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI) is collaborating with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to implement Subcomponent 3A: Capacity Building of Resilient Livelihood Groups under the Liberia Women Empowerment Project (LWEP). FCI operates in two of the six project counties,
River Cess and Grand Gedeh. As part of its deliverables, FCI and other association members has commenced community outreach and sensitization in River Cess and Grand Gedeh counties, and further commenced beneficiary profiling, development of micro-investment plans, and grant co-creation support to women-led enterprises, targeting Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and Individual Enterprises (IEs).

FCI is currently recruiting enumerators that will support the collection of data under the LWEP Component 3. Working under the close supervision of LWEP MIS/M&E and Program staff, the Enumerators will participate in community outreach and sensitization meetings in targeted project
communities across River Cess and Grand Gedeh counties. Through the use of Tablet-based Kobo data collection software, the enumerators will engage community members to administer various data collection forms (beneficiary profiling form, grant co-creation form, business plan
development, micro-investment plan, etc.) using Kobo Collect data collection software. The data collection will specifically target women-led enterprises: Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs), Individual Enterprises (IEs), Farmer-Based organizations (FBO) or Producer Groups
(PGs), and Livelihood Group (LGs). Prior to deployment in the field, successful candidates (enumerators) will participate in practical training sessions on the data collection protocols, as well as the administration of the various forms.

Main responsibilities:
Working under the close supervision of LWEP MIS/M&E and Program staff, the Enumerators
will perform the following core functions:
▪ Participate in community outreach and sensitization meetings with local authorities (town chiefs, district commissioners, etc.) and community members in targeted project communities across River Cess and Grand Gedeh counties.
▪ Administer various data collection forms (i.e., beneficiary profiling form, grant co-creation form, business plan development, micro-investment plan, etc.) using the Tablet-based KoboCollect data collection software.
▪ Identify and profile women-led enterprises encompassing Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs), Individual Enterprises (IEs), Farmer-Based Organizations (FBOs) or Producer Groups (PGs), and Livelihood Groups (LGs).
▪ Assist and provide guidance to potential women-led enterprises to complete grant co-creation forms, business plan development, micro-investment plan, etc., using KoboCollect data collection software.
▪ Participate in practical training sessions on the data collection protocols, as well as the administration of the various forms. ▪ Clearly explain the objectives of the data collection and the scope of LWEP to community
members and local authorities.
▪ Ensure that all data collection tools, including Tablets, power banks, and other materials used for the data collection, are accounted for.
▪ Perform other duties as may be directed by the technical supervisor.

Deliverables

1. Participation in practical training sessions for data collectors (enumerators)
2. Evidence of community outreach and sensitization meetings held with local authorities (town chiefs, district commissioners, etc.) and community members.
3. Timely submission of all required data (i.e., beneficiary profile data, grant co-creation data, business plan, micro-investment plan, etc.) into the LWEP Management Information System
(MIS)
4. Filling out the enumerators’ daily attendance / timesheet provided by each team lead.
5. Submission of recommendations or observation (if any) through compiled field notes

Required Knowledge, Technical Skills, and Experience
The incumbent should possess the following qualifications and experience:
o Knowledge of agriculture and rural livelihood sectors, with a specific focus on climate-resilient practices.
o Demonstrated skills and knowledge in community engagement and participatory research methods.
o Ability to work independently as well as an effective team player.
o Willing to travel, work, and overnight in remote communities, and to communicate with rural inhabitants.
o Ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner.
o Experience using the Tablet-based Kobo data collection software will be an added
advantage.
o Knowledge/conversational skills in the local languages of River Cess and Grand Gedeh are helpful, but not required.

Minimum Requirements
• Possess a bachelor's degree in sociology, business management, agriculture, natural resource management, rural development, development economics, data science or related fields or must be a university student.
• Demonstrated skills in using the Tablet-based Kobo data collection software
• Background in gender equality and social inclusion is an added advantage
• Prior professional experience in field data collection, preferably in remote communities
• Computer literate, knowledge of MS Word, Excel, internet.
• Qualified candidates may submit CVs by January 4, 2026, to the FCI Admin. Department @
[email protected], with a copy to: LWEP Technical Focal Point: [email protected]

🇱🇷🇪🇺The Liberian Voluntary Partnership Agreement has improved transparency and enforcement to tackle illegal logging. As stated by Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, this has been crucial to Liberian forests and communities.

Despite this, the European Commission put forward the proposal for termination of the VPA last month.

Liberian colleagues, backed by Fern, strongly oppose the Commission’s proposed unilateral termination which would reverse critical gains achieved over the past decade.

The and Partnership must be complimentary, as is already the case in the Republic of Congo 🇨🇬. The Forest Partnership should be developed through VPA multistakeholder forums.

To design a strong Forest Partnership, the NGO Coalition of Liberia, National Urban Cooperative Finance & Development Corporation (NUCFDC) and NUCFMB have conducted consultations with close to 100 Liberian civil society and community representatives.

This has resulted in agreement on the six prerequisites which are fundamental for a successful EU-Liberia Forest Partnership:
1️⃣ Maintain and build on the VPA’s inclusive and accountable governance structures.
2️⃣ Continue to support legal coherence and enforcement for the whole forest sector.
3️⃣ Guarantee continued long-term and inclusive financing.
4️⃣ Maintain a strong monitoring and accountability framework, including through independent forest monitoring (IFM).
5️⃣Provide tailored capacity-building to all actors.
6️⃣ Ensure cross-sector policy coherence and full government participation.

The Commission must provide clear guarantees that the Forest Partnership will meet these prerequisites.

Read the 6 Prerequisites for a successful EU-Liberia Forest Partnership here 👉 https://sdiliberia.org/node/407

Sustainable Development Institute SDI - Friends of the Earth Liberia Foundation for Community Initiatives - FCI The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Liberia Ministry of Justice - Liberia

Grand Bassa County, Liberia - FCI draws down on Residential Area Issuance pilot project activities in Doe Clan, Grand Bassa County.

The project team of FCI "Keeping the Promise" project draws down on its activities in Gowein Town, Doe Clan after 20 days of engagement with the community on the pilot of Residential Area Issuance in customary land.

In keeping with Article 39 of the Land Rights Act of 2018, land owning communities are to set aside portion of their customary land for residential purpose, and every community member is entitled to a portion of that residential area as private land.

With funding from The Tenure Facility through Landesa, the pilot was successfully completed with the following outcomes:

1. Community by-laws were strengthened to include criteria for community membership and issuance for residential area.

2. Household mapping was conducted to gather eligible members for the issuance of existing residential area as prescribed by Article 49 of the Land Rights Act of 2018

3. A protocol on the issuance of existing residential area and proposed residential area was adopted by the Community Land Development and Management Committee (CLDMC)

4. Mapping of residential area of each community member for the preparation of a certificate of ownership of residential area in customary land.

All of these activities are geared to support a policy formulation being developed by Heritage Partners and Associates (HPA) to inform the Liberia Land Authority decision on approval of a Residential Area Protocol or Regulation.

Thanks to the CLDMC of Doe Clan who led the initiatives to a successful completion.