Religious Counseling for Disengagement and Deradicalization in Prisons – Somalia

 

JAMHUURIYADDA FEDERAALKA SOOMAALIYA WASAARADDA AWQAAFTA IYO ARR. DIINTA

 

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF SOMALIA

 

Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs

 

Consultant on

Religious Counseling for Disengagement and Deradicalization in Prisons

 

Terms of Reference

1) Background

In Somalia’s struggle with violent extremism root causes for the phenomenon are manifold, ranging from peer pressure over the revenge of grievances, a sense of belonging and employment opportunities to belief in misleading religious ideas. It is the mandate of the Somali Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs to address the latter.

Extremism is additionally triggered by individual experiences. As such, prisons can constitute breeding grounds for radicalization. Charismatic leaders amongst prisoners may use the confined prison environment to reach and radicalize other prisoners. If regular prisoners and those who committed crimes on the basis of violent extremist views engage in the prison setup, the latter may take advantage to share and spread their radical views. A particular risk stems from prison mosques as shared spaces used to radicalize and recruit other prisoners. Prison conditions and management can additionally increase the vulnerability of prisoners to anti-state propaganda and extremist views.

The Somali Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs is developing and implementing measures to identify and heal extremist religious ideologies in Somali prisons through tailored religious counseling to correct prisoners’ distorted views of Islam. In close collaboration with dedicated and trained ulema, the Ministry is determined to promoting Islam as religion of peace and tolerance, correcting wrong interpretations.

2) Objective of the Assignment

The consultant will develop a manual for religious counseling tailored to challenge and heal violent extremist religious views of prisoners towards disengagement and deradicalization. The manual will guide the work of the Ministry and selected ulema in the provision of religious counseling for prisoners aimed at healing violent extremist views.

3) Expected Deliverables

	Deliverable/output	Timeline
1	Desk review and report with background documents	15 days
	– Review existing religious counseling curricula
	– Review academic literature
	– Review global best practices
	– Conduct interviews with key stakeholders
2	Drafting of manual and training calendar	35 days

– Prepare first draft of the manual

– Consult draft with Ministry of Justice and Prison Management

– Consult draft with ulema

– Present revised manual to MoERA for feedback

– Finalize manual

3   Training of selected ulema

15 days

– Prepare training intervention on the manual

– Conduct training for selected ulema

4.   Final report with observations and final manual

7 days

4) Required Skills and Qualifications

Education

• University degree in Islamic theology, Islamic philosophy, or Islamic jurisprudence

• Or Equivalent Seven years of learning and teaching experience in Islamic Creed, Islamic theology, Islamic philosophy and/or Islamic jurisprudence.

Experience

• Prior work experience in the area of preventing and countering violent extremism

• Deep understanding of Somalia’s history, culture, religious and clan dynamics

• Strong writing skills

• Prior experience in participating sectarian debates and engagement of radical religious leaders.

• Proven expertise in developing training manuals and curricula

• Prior experience as a teacher or trainer

• Experience working with government institutions a distinct advantage Core Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;

• Good team player who has ability to build and maintain relationships;

• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;

• Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration,

Language

• Fluency in Somali, Arabic and English required

• Duration and expected places of travel

The period of the assignment is estimated to be from 1 December 2021 – 31 March 2022, depending on meeting deliverables. The consultant is expected to be based in Mogadishu for this period of time. This assignment is on a full-time basis with possible travel required to Federal Member States.

6) Provision of Monitoring and Progress Controls

The consultant will work under the guidance of the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs’ PCVE Director and staff. For the effective delivery of the above deliverables, the consultant will liaise with the Ministry’s PCVE Focal Point and will regularly present updates on milestones (1)-(4) to the Ministry’s leadership.

7) Payment Terms

In accordance with the requirements above, the consultant will be paid against milestones (1)-(4) with payment upon ministerial approval of the satisfactory delivery of the respective milestones.

8) Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

The contract shall be awarded to made to the individual consultant whose application will be determined as compliant to the above criteria and having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria assessed during 1) a review of motivational letter and CV submitted and 2) performance in a competitive interview process.

 

9) How to apply

Interested candidates are expected to submit their CV and letter of motivation to the Ministry of

Endowments and Religious Affairs (Email: recruitment.pcve@gmail.com CC: alasow07@gmail.com) a with a submission deadline of December 10, 2021, 11:59 PM EAT. The consultant will start on December 15, 2021.

 

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