Terms of Reference

Services for Development of Curriculum and Training for Youth on Preventing Violent Extremism and Climate Change Adaptation

About CPDI

Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) is an independent, non-partisan and a not-for-profit civil society organization, which has been working on the issues of peace and development since 2005. It is registered under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984 (XLVII of 1984), which was later substituted by the Companies Act 2017. CPDI seeks to inform and influence public policies and civil society initiatives through research-based advocacy and capacity building to promote active citizenship, build peace and achieve inclusive and sustainable development. Areas of special sectoral focus include promotion of peace and tolerance; rule of law; local governance; transparency and access to information; budget watch; media development; electoral reforms; legislative strengthening, democratic development, climate change mitigation and adaptation; and public health.

About the Assignment

1.          Background

Youth in Pakistan face multifaceted challenges, including limited opportunities for meaningful engagement in decision-making processes and exposure to risks such as violent extremism and the adverse impacts of climate change. These issues disproportionately affect vulnerable regions, particularly Northern Sindh and Southern Punjab, where social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities exacerbate existing inequalities.

Preventing violent extremism (PVE) requires empowering youth to become advocates of peace, tolerance, and coexistence. Similarly, climate change adaptation demands equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to build resilient communities and mitigate the impacts of environmental disasters. Both challenges are interconnected, as marginalized communities facing environmental degradation are more prone to social unrest and radicalization.

Recognizing the pivotal role of youth as agents of change, CPDI has been working to create platforms that foster leadership, capacity building, and collaborative action. This assignment aims to further strengthen these efforts by developing a tailored curriculum and comprehensive training program to prepare youth for leadership roles in addressing these critical issues. The program will integrate knowledge on PVE and climate change adaptation, coupled with practical skills in community mapping, project management, and fundraising, enabling youth to design and implement impactful social action projects in their communities.

Through this initiative, CPDI seeks to nurture a generation of informed and empowered youth, capable of fostering peace, tolerance, and resilience in their communities, and contributing to sustainable development in Pakistan.

2.          Purpose and Scope of the Assignment:

CPDI is seeking a qualified consultant to develop and deliver the following:

-       Training Curriculum

• A detailed curriculum to be used for both youth as well as any master trainers

-       Training Plan

• A training plan outlining a day-to-day agenda and plan for the training itself

-       Participant’s Guide

• A brief document that serves as a guidebook for youth, and focuses on key aspects and highlights of the curriculum

-       Delivery of two, Four-day Trainings for Youth

The consultant will develop these plans and deliver these trainings for youth, focus on the broader thematic themes of preventing violent extremism, and climate change adaptation (including disaster response, management, mitigation) as the key thematic areas. Additionally, the training and curriculum will focus on community mapping, project design and management, and fundraising, to support the youth in their development and implementation of social action projects. It will also focus on capacity development of youth, particularly with relation to leadership, management, and confidence-building. As the curriculum will be delivered to participants in Northern Sindh and Southern Punjab, the consultant shall endeavor to include relevant local examples within the curriculum and the training plan. This training and curriculum will be for youth aged 19-30, who have previously participated in HumAhang activities and resultantly the curriculum will have a more in-depth, action-oriented focus on PVE/DRR and aspects of social action project design, implementation, and management. 

The consultant will review existing literature and any existing manuals (some of which may be provided by CPDI) and adapt accordingly.

The manual should look to include the following broad themes:

-       An explainer on violent extremism, and current global and local best practices on preventing violent extremism and

• This will include policies from the Government of Pakistan (e.g. NACTA’s National Action Plan and National Prevention of Violent Extremism Policy)

-       An explainer on climate change adaptation, and current global and local best practices on climate change

• This will include federal and provincial level policies and laws implemented by the Government and systems in place for disaster management and mitigation

-       Understanding peacebuilding narratives – the ability to highlight existing alternative narratives and promotion/creation of alternative peaceful narratives

-       Strategic communications – tools and methodologies to craft campaigns on social media, and other medias regarding peacebuilding and climate change adaptation

-       Understanding inequalities and inclusivity – highlight how extremism, radicalization, and climate change affect women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and creates additional inequalities

-       Leadership, Management, Confidence-building, and Proposal Writing Skills – highlight capacity building of youth (leadership, confidence-building, management) as well as the development of proposal writing skills for the development and design of social action projects

-       Social Action Project Development – this component will train youth on how to develop, design, implement, and evaluate social action projects. It will include:

• Problem-identification methodologies, such as community mapping
• Design and development of social action projects – including aspects of ‘Theory of Change’ implementation
• Elements of how best to implement and execute social action projects
• Highlight how youth can monitor and evaluate the successes or challenges of their designed social action projects

-       Fundraising – this component will train and guide youth on how to fundraise for their social actions. This includes:

• Training on how to ‘pitch’ their social action ideas to communities for fundraising, and how to secure cash or in-kind contributions
• Preparation on how to develop messaging and communications to pitch to larger organizations such as corporations and corporate social responsibility departments

Based on the manual, the consultant will additionally be responsible for designing a four-day training workshop for CPDI that incorporates key aspects of the manual, and focuses on interactive activities for training participants.

Key tasks/Deliverables under this consultancy are as follows:

-       Development of curriculum for youth

-       Development of training plan (broken down into session plans, and inclusive of interactive activities, scenario based exercises)

-       Development of a Participant’s Guide (a brief, concise, well-actualized document that takes key highlights and aspects of the curriculum)

-       Delivery of training itself (this does not include logistical preparation; the consultant will be hired as a trainer to deliver the training)

Methodology: The consultant may source material from existing training manuals and plans that are available to the public. However, all material used from existing sources will need to be referenced throughout the curriculum.

3.          Deliverables and Payments: 

The required deliverables and payment schedule are outlined below

Duration: The consultant will be engaged for a total of 40 chargeable working days under this consultancy, with 30 days for development and finalization (approvals included) of the training manual, and ten days (total) for delivery of the training itself.