Consultancy Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference (TOR)

Consultancy for Independent Third-Party Monitoring of Joint drought response in Burhakaba and Bardale districts of Bay region-Somalia

Save the children is implementing emergency drought response project in Burhakaba and Bardale districts through GREDO. The project is integrated water tracking and multipurpose cash grants to vulnerable households to meet their basic food and non-food needs.

The project targets Agro-pastoralist and displaced Households in hard-to-reach areas in Burhakaba and Berdale districts of Southwest state of Somalia. Lifesaving water trucking for the largest number of HH was prioritized due to lack of drought response by other actors.

600 (most vulnerable) HHs were provided with MPC (85 USD per round for 3 months, per Somalia CWG December 2021 MEB guidelines). Markets in Bay are functioning with availability of diversified food and non-food supplies. MPC enables HHs to decide what to prioritize to meet their needs.

The core indicators of the project are:

• Number of people enabled to meet their basic food needs
• Number of people having access to sufficient and safe water for domestic use

To improve the accountability of the project, a third-party monitor will be contracted to monitor the project progress and also to verify whether the project implementation is in line with SCI accountability strategy.

1. Consultancy Objectives

• To complete independent monitoring of Save the Children’s Drought Acute Joint Response 2022 project in Burhakaba and Bardale districts.
• To enhance programme quality and improve accountability system that is currently in place.

1. Scope of work

the third-party monitoring will specifically provide feedback on the following areas of implementation:

1. Beneficiary selection and identification:

• Hold interviews with beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries and other stakeholders to document the beneficiary selection and identification process, specifically community participation, including both women and men, marginalized groups and persons and children with disabilities (women, men, girls, boys) disaggregating data by sex and by persons/children with disabilities in the selection and verification of beneficiaries.
• Document the process of identifying and selecting beneficiaries and committees and the role of the committee members (disaggregating data by sex and by persons with disabilities) and SCI and GREDO staff in the selection and verification of project beneficiaries.
• Assess the appropriateness of the targeting criteria, the extent to which it was followed and overall fairness of the process.
• Identify if there were any shortcomings in the process, e.g. payment or diversion of assistance. Diversion of cash through voluntary or involuntary taxation or forced contribution should be properly scrutinised and reported.
• Determine how the targeted communities, i.e. boys, girls, women, men, marginalized groups, persons with disabilities have benefited from the unconditional cash transfers and WASH interventions in their respective communities (focus on beneficiary selection and if it has been inclusive and transparent).
• Determine how collaboration between the FSL and water trucking teams has been implemented in selection of beneficiaries (e.g. has there been any referrals to water trucking services?)

Consultancy Terms of Reference

1. Mobile cash transfer system:

• Determine how targeted project beneficiaries have benefited from the mobile cash transfer system in which they’ve received their unconditional cash transfer.
• Gather general feedback from project beneficiaries between the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile cash transfer delivery system.

1. Information sharing:

• Assess the extent in which the beneficiaries, including girls and boys, women, men, persons with disabilities, children with disabilities and other marginalized groups, are informed and aware of key project information, such as project objectives, activities, timelines, entitlement, number of cash payments, water trucking distribution, expected results and targeted beneficiaries and criteria for selecting beneficiaries.
• Establish whether beneficiaries, including girls and boys and persons and children with disabilities, have been informed and are aware about opportunities/activities in which they can participate.
• Establish whether there is information that beneficiaries, including girls and boys and persons and children with disabilities, would like to receive about the project and its implementation but which has not been shared.

1. Feedback and response mechanisms:

• Establish beneficiaries’, including girls and boys and persons and children with disabilities, awareness of mechanisms through which they can give feedback or make complaints to SCI (how to give feedback or raise concerns about activities, what they can complain about, who they can complain to, how and where they can complain, and issues of confidentiality).
• Assess the acceptance and level of confidence that beneficiaries have in the existing SCI feedback and response mechanisms.
• Generate ideas for improving the existing feedback handling mechanism.
• Assess how SCI and GREDO has succeeded in responding to the feedback and complaints received.

1. Participation:

• Generate information about how beneficiaries, including girls and boys and persons and children with disabilities, would like to / are participating in the project implementation.
• Collect feedback on how parents / caregivers have been selected to be part of the positive parenting group sessions and children group sessions in the Parenting without Violence programme, i.e. if the selection was inclusive and transparent., satisfaction on cash beneficiary selection and identification process.

1. Project results in regard to integration:

• Identify and document evidence of project integration between the cash programming and child protection.

1. Deliverables:

The following outputs are expected from the consultant:

• An inception report, which will include detailed methodology (including sampling method and size), proposed detailed action plan with timeline and data collection tools.

Consultancy Terms of Reference

All surveys need to include the Short Set of Washington Group Questions on Disability.1

• Inception report has to be approved by SCI before field data collection can start.
• Girls and boys need to be consulted by using child friendly and gender sensitive methodologies; special attention needs to be put in ensuring that women and girls and people and children with disabilities will be able to participate. Everybody’s participation has to be voluntary, meaningful, safe and inclusive.
• The field monitoring reports of no more than 15 pages summarizing findings of the field monitoring and recommendations.
• A set of pictures with GPS coordinates taken during the monitoring exercise shall be appended separately. Pictures must show supported facilities, beneficiaries receiving services, SCI branding and all other information that depicts the quality of services being offered. SC’s guidelines in regard to consent need to be strictly followed.
• Two to three case studies that demonstrate change in the lives of children. SC’s guidelines on case studies need to be followed. Case studies should include beneficiaries who have benefitted both from cash support and water trucking. At least one case study should include as a beneficiary (child) with a disability.
• All presented data and findings need to be gender disaggregated and also age and disability disaggregated when possible.

1. Management and logistics

• The consultant will be supervised by the Area MEAL Manager with support of the of country REALM team.
• The consultant will be responsible for organizing logistical issues with limited facilitation from SCI and as per the consultancy agreement.

1. Duration of Assignment

This assignment will take 20 working days in Bay region inclusive of travels.

1. Profile Required
2. Experience in food security and livelihoods and social protection programming, especially cash transfer programmes in humanitarian contexts, and water in emergencies. Experience and knowledge in mainstreaming gender equality. Experience in Somalia context is desirable. Experience in working with persons and/or children with disabilities is an added value.
3. Prior experience in conducting similar assignement/evaluations in cash-based programming and water trucking. Experience and knowledge in using participatory and child-friendly methodologies. Solid analytical, result based planning, report writing, communication and diplomacy skills with ability to correlate different data sets to actionable conclusions.
4. strong communication skills (report should be written in English). Ability to make clear presentations and ability to use different tools with both technical and non-technical audience and girls and boys.
5. Consultancy team need to be gender balanced to ensure that women and girls will be free to participate in data collection.

• https://www.washingtongroup-disability.com/