2023-08-22

Consultancy for Durable Solutions Evaluation in Somalia

Mogadishu, Somalia
Posted on August 22, 2023

NRC

Consultancy for Durable Solutions Evaluation in Somalia

Closing date: 26 Aug 2023

ITB reference: 8304115/1303896

Consultancy for Durable Solutions Evaluation in Somalia

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in creating a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. The NRC defends the rights of displaced populations and provides assistance in the following areas: shelter, education, food security and livelihoods, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Somalia wishes to invite qualified firms to submit bids (Administrative, Technical and Financial proposals) – consultancy for durable solutions evaluations in Somalia.

Background

Since the collapse of Somalia’s government in the early 1990s, the country has witnessed increased population displacement due to insecurity and natural disasters such as drought and floods that worsened the already precarious humanitarian situation. The south-central Somalia region is the most affected due to the presence of the Al-Shabab militia group that still controls swathes of land and the impact of government military campaigns against the group. The punitive conditions in Al-Shabab-controlled areas and the military campaigns against them have led to massive population displacement into the major cities of Baidoa and Mogadishu. Moreover, in the last two years, the country experienced drought conditions due to five failed rains that further accelerated the displacement of the population. According to UNHCR, as of March 2023, there were 3.71 million people of concern, consisting of 2.97 million internally displaced persons and 35,381 registered refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Ethiopia and Yemen. Some 696,703 Somali refugees and asylum seekers are also hosted in neighbouring countries, and a further 2.97 million people are internally displaced inside Somalia. In addition, over 7,300 Somali refugees have returned to Somalia since January 2020 from different countries of asylum, including Kenya, Yemen, Libya, and Eritrea.

It is against this backdrop that humanitarian and development actors started searching for durable solutions to address the displacement-specific needs of displacement-affected persons in Somalia. NRC was one of the pioneer organisations that implemented a REINTEG durable solutions consortium project from 2015 to 2017, funded by the European Union (EU). This was followed by the Danwadaag Project, which was funded by FCDO, led by IOM, and included Concern Worldwide, Juba Foundation, GREDO, and SHACDO as the local partners. This was a multi-sectoral, sectoral area-based project that was implemented in Southwest and Jubbaland states. The Danwadaag consortium has emerged as one of the key actors in the durable solutions space in the country. Currently, NRC’s durable solutions thematic area has expanded considerably with five projects with a budget of about USD 14 million, three of which are under the Danwadaag consortium. NRC remains a key actor in durable solutions and a valuable member of the Danwadaag consortium, mainly through its housing, land, and property (HLP) intervention. Apart from the direct implementation of the HLP activities, NRC continues to provide support to other partners on HLP and strengthen the capacity of local authorities, actors, and community groups.

Durable Solutions Evaluation Objectives

Overall objectives

To improve accountability to the project participants and stakeholders and provide concrete recommendations aimed at enhancing durable solutions for the displacement-affected communities (DACs) in Somalia .

Specific objectives.

Assess the extent to which the collective government policies and strategies support and enable DS,
To identify policy gaps within the context of durable solutions.
To assess the overall contribution and value-add of implemented projects towards the durable solutions efforts in Somalia.
To document best practices and learning from the previous durable solutions approaches in Somalia.
To assess the capacity needs of local actors, institutions, and community groups within the context of durable solutions
To enhance linkages between DS programming and localization.
To make recommendations the key strategic programme focus and direction for the country’s Durable Solutions Programme
To identify donor priorities and map donors funding durable solutions with a focus on Somali
Provide recommendations for future programming and policy work .

Rationale

Over the last five years, addressing specific needs of the displacement affected communities (DACs) in Somalia through durable solutions has gained momentum. Donors such as the EU, and FCDO among others have allocated a significant amount of their funding to durable solutions. Additionally, Durable Solutions programming in the country has also expanded in both geographical and funding scope. NRC has been implementing Durable Solutions programmes for the last six years and the current funding portfolio for Durable solutions is expected to be about USD 20 million by the end of this year. Given that Durable Solutions interventions cut across several sectoral bringing together many actors, most of the projects are implemented in consortia with different agencies providing complementary and integrated interventions. Despite the expanded durable solutions programming scope and the significant increase in funding, evaluation has not been done to identify key lessons that would inform future programming. This evaluation is therefore intended to assess NRC’s durable solutions programming in Somalia, especially focusing on the projects that have been implemented over the last six years to inform strategy and share the lessons learned.

Regional evaluation to inform this section, i.e., gaps, areas that need further analysis. Hence the intent of the evaluation is to measure effectiveness and the evaluation shall add value component to future DS programming and policy work in Somalia.

Scope of the Evaluation

The Final Evaluation should include but not limited to ratings on the following criteria:

1. Project effectiveness, (Outcomes/Achievements of objectives, or the extent to which the project’s environmental and development objectives were achieved);
2. Implementation Approach.
3. Stakeholder Participation/Public Involvement.
4. Cost-effectiveness.
5. Sustainability; and
6. Monitoring & Evaluation.

This assignment will involve assessing durable solutions projects implemented between 2012 to 2022 and reviewing current durable solutions projects, and geographically, it will cover the four following federal member states: Jubbaland, Southwest, Puntland, and Benadir Regional Administration (BRA). For these four locations, the evaluation will address the following questions and sub questions (the questions need to be aligned to the objectives):

How are durable solutions currently being provided for IDPs and returnees?
1. To what extent do the IDP populations have access to durable solutions (security, access to social basic services, livelihoods, land, shelter, etc.)?
2. What are the existing access constraints? (for populations’ access to social basic services)
3. What are the IDP populations’ needs, intentions, and aspirations?
4. Which factors were instrumental in contributing to progress towards durable solutions?
What actions are needed to ensure more effective and consistent durable solutions processes in these locations? Which practices can enable effective pathways towards durable solutions in targeted locations?

Key evaluation questions.

Assess how the collective government policies and strategies support and enable DS, identify any policy gaps that may exist, and recommend policy and advocacy issues around durable solutions.

Are the existing policies adequate for durable solutions in Somalia?

Are there gaps in policies and strategies that hinder progress towards durable solutions?

What structures exist to support DS both at the federal and federal member state levels?

Do the existing policies inform the programme design?

What are the key advocacy issues at different levels that are needed, and that the CO can focus on?

Assess the overall contribution and value-add of the previous durable solutions projects to the durable solutions efforts in Somalia.

What has been the most significant change in past durable solutions projects?

What value-add does the NRC bring to the durable solutions efforts in Somalia?

Highlight the best practises and key lessons learned from the previous durable solutions approaches in Somalia.

What have been the major lessons learned from the past durable solutions project?

What has worked best in the past, and why?

Are the approaches used in the durable solutions project appropriate to specific contexts within the country?

Assess the contribution to strengthening the capacity of local actors, institutions, and community groups in durable solution programming and localization.

How does the NRC do capacity development for the different actors?

How effective has the capacity development been in enabling the different actors to do DS work?

Recommend the key strategic programme focus and direction for the country’s Durable Solutions Programme.

In the DS space, what should be the strategic focus going forward?

Identify the major donor partners’ key durable solutions priorities and focus for Somalia and recommend how the NRC can align its interventions with them.

Who are the key donors to DS programming in Somalia, and what is their main area of focus?

How has the NRC aligned its programming with the donor’s priorities?

Provide recommendations for future programming based on the findings of the evaluation.

What are some of the key lessons that can inform future durable solutions programmes?

How can learning be integrated into durable solutions?

Key activities

The evaluation will target a wide array of audiences to ensure that as many diverse views as possible are collated and analyzed.

The evaluation will help ensure a broad discussion to maximize learning. The outputs of the review will include:

An assessment of the relevance of the present projects against the needs of the target communities
Assessment of whether the past or present projects fit in and contribute to both the country office and the global strategy.
Review different donor strategic priorities for durable solutions for Somalia.
Assess the NRC’s strategic placement within the existing durable solutions consortiums.
Assess how the Durable Solutions interventions are aligned with and contribute to government strategies and policies, especially the NDSS.
Identification and documentation of best practices related to the design and implementation of the reviewed projects.
Analysis and related recommendations on delivering an integrated (multi-core competency) project and how to enhance integration to provide a comprehensive response.

Methodology

The design and implementation of the evaluation will be overseen by a committee comprising:

Head of Programme, Chair
M&E Manager, Evaluation Manager
Durable Solutions Manager, Member
ICLA programme development manager, Member
Protection Coordinator, Member
Regional Head of core competencies, EAY and Regional Durable Solutions focal person

The key roles of the committee will include, but are not limited to:

Design the evaluation and supervise its implementation, including approving the TOR.
Support the logistical team with the technical assessment of the capacity of the consultants during the procurement.
Provide support to the consultant during the evaluation, such as organizing meetings with the key stakeholders.
Review findings and the draft report
Dissemination to the relevant stakeholders
Follow-up on the adoption of the evaluation recommendations

Below are the steps that the evaluation committee will take to operationalize the exercise.

Evaluation operationalisation process

Evaluation Planning: Setting up an evaluation committee and appointing key roles to selected staff, orienting them on their roles and responsibilities.
Evaluation design: the evaluation committee will develop the TOR for the evaluation.
Appointment of an evaluation manager
Desktop review of relevant material to support evaluation discussions
An inception meeting with the consultant
Review of inception report
Concise data collection as needed (such as key informant interviews) and desk review of the relevant documents.
Evaluation Workshop: Conduct a facilitated workshop with internal key stakeholders and project actors from all NRC area offices to share information and analysis, as well as produce recommendations and lessons learned.
Output and evaluation use: produce a draft report for review by the evaluation committee and final report with recommendations that will generate action points.

The evaluation will use the following methods of data collection:

Secondary data or desk review of the existing literature and data related to durable solutions in Somalia.
Primary data or qualitative work: focus group discussions, key informant interviews, case studies, semi-structured interviews, etc.

Expected outputs/key deliverables.

An inception report

Within the first week after the start of the contract, the consultant(s) is expected to submit a high-quality and detailed inception report that will include:

Work plan, which includes the various activities foreseen, a detailed timeline for the deliverables, and the person in charge of each activity.
Methodology, which will include a detailed method of research, types and locations of interviews, methods of data analysis, etc.
Analyzed data.
A draft of the report

Once the data is collected (interviews, focus groups, etc.) and integrated, the consultant(s) has to organize a presentation of the initial findings. Upon this presentation and the collection of the NRC’s feedback, the consultant will have to deliver a comprehensive first draught report.

A final version of the report

The consultant(s) will have to produce a final version of the report within the timeline of the project, integrating NRC’s feedback. The final report will include an executive summary. The consultant(s) will also be asked to present the findings of the study.

The final report of the outcomes of the evaluation should be presented in the following format:
The facilitation of the evaluation, detailing the process and the lessons learned.
Provide recommendations to improve future similar programmes in Somalia.
After finalization, the report will be shared with country, regional, and head offices.

Time frames

**Timeline Sept – Jan -**The indicative timeline for the consultancy is provided in the TOR but the actual dates will be finalised and agreed upon by the consultant when the contract has been signed.

Required skills and experience.

Advanced university degree in social studies, political science, international relations, or a relevant field of study
minimum of 10 years’ proven experience in conducting similar assignments, including in Somalia, the Horn, and the East African region.
Extensive knowledge of the context and displacement trends across the Horn and East African regions.
A proven track record of research conducted with and for international organizations, including in the humanitarian and development sectors.
Strong analytical and writing skills with proven experience in producing high-quality research and the ability to present complex information in a simple and accessible manner.
Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to work independently to meet deadlines.
Ability to travel across Somalia to collect data.

Application and Required documents.:

This is an international bid open to qualified applicants. Requirements for application are:

1. Narrative proposal

A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consulting experience and explaining your suitability for the work, including previous pertinent projects and how they are linked to this project.
An in-depth methodology on how you will undertake work and achieve outputs set out in the terms of reference.
Proposed timeline and expected delivery for each deliverable.
Team composition and quality assurance approach.

2. Financial Proposal

A detailed cost breakdown is to be included in the financial proposal.

3. Previous work examples

The applicant should share three previous examples of final work products from recently completed consultancies.

4. Resume

The resumes of key staff members must be annexed to the application documents in English.

5. Reference letters and the contact of at least three referees (email and telephone).

6. Proof of registration from the country of origin as a limited liability company or as a sole trader/self-employed.

7. Submission of BID documents and deadline for submission

Documents must be submitted by the deadline set on the bid advertisement.

This tender is valid from 12th August to 26th August 2023 at 23:59 EAT.

How to apply

Bidders/firms interested in submitting a proposal must express their interest by filling out the form in the link provided below, including the Bidder’s full contact information. The tender documents will be automatically sent to the email address they provided in the form, where they can be downloaded.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=tNGGP2ssGkuyrm9elQvKHvRL5NuAGEZEl-XhALpD9ENUN0w2TFJCSkE0STEyN09ZOFY0OVdWRk5HWi4u

Deadline: All bids should be addressed to so.procurement@nrc.no no later than 26th August 2023 at 23:59 p.m. (East African time) referencing ‘Durable Solutions Evaluation in Somalia’ in the subject line of the email.

Late bids will be automatically rejected.

Apply Here

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