Consultancy for the Review of the Earthquakes Response – Türkiye 2023

Background Information

On February 6th, 2023, two devastating earthquakes occurred in Türkiye. In Türkiye alone, the number of people affected by the earthquakes is estimated to be between 13 and 20 million: more than 50,000 people lost their lives, more than two million people were evacuated from the earthquake area; and 1.5 million of them live in tents and 300,000 in containers.

Since the first moments following the earthquakes, Fondation Caritas Luxembourg (FCL) has supported financially its Turkish partner to the EarthQuake Response (EQR). Caritas’ Partner has deployed search and rescue teams during the first initial phase and quickly deployed field teams and carried out needs assessments, and delivered assistance and relief to affected survivors.

Purpose and objective of the mission

The purpose of this consultancy is to review Caritas’ Partner Earthquake Response (EQR) and intervention.

The review will encompass the pre-earthquake preparedness up to the two months following 06th February and its first earthquake.

An analytical review of the quality of the response, measured in terms of timeliness and appropriateness of the emergency responses with identification of good practices and critical gaps coupled with recommendations for improving emergency preparedness and response in the future.

Assignment tasks

Outcome: Report and recommendations to FCL and Caritas’ Partner on relevant actions to be taken in terms of improving preparedness and response to any similar events.

Evaluators may review and answer key questions:

• Were resources used efficiently and rationally?
• Was assistance adapted to the needs and provided in a timely manner?
• Did planning of activities match planning of resources and needs?
• Were assessments and monitoring tools appropriate for identifying needs and adapting the response?
• To what extent was Caritas’ Partner’s intervention aligned with similar interventions by others and executed in a coordinated approach?
• What should have been managed differently?
• What were the organisational strengths and weaknesses?
• What capacities need reinforcement? What additional protocols are needed?
• Any other relevant questions to be proposed by the consultant.

The review is not an audit or a verification of activities. Information on Caritas’ Partner EQR staff, costs and procurement is needed in order to analyse the response’s cost efficiency and the mobilization of resources, but detailed analysis of accounts falls outside the scope of this review.

Profile of the Consultant or team of Consultants:

In order to undertake this study, we are looking for a consultant or a team of consultants that has:

• Demonstrable experience of conducting evaluations of humanitarian programmes and in particular of experience of leading or working on the evaluation of recent major disasters in Pakistan, Haiti, Italy, etc.;
• Good knowledge of strategic and operational management of humanitarian operations and an ability to provide strategic and operational recommendations;
• One person in the team with a good knowledge of Türkiye;
• One person in the team with knowledge of support services systems and logistics (procurement, emergency relief items and costing, relief storages dispatching etc.);
• Strong analytical skills and ability to clearly synthesize and present findings, draw practical conclusions, make recommendations and to prepare well-written reports in a timely manner;
• Excellent writing and presentation skills in English.

Review and deliverables

The review team will deliver the following:

Inception Report – The inception report should be a scoping exercise for the review and will include the proposed methodologies, data collection and reporting plans with draft data collection tools such as interview guides, the allocation of roles and responsibilities within the team, a timeframe with firm dates for deliverables, and the travel and logistical arrangements for the team.

Debriefings / feedback to management – The team will report its preliminary findings to Caritas’ Partner’s management team before leaving the region and will take on board any pertinent comments or corrections.

The team leader will present the full report to FCL and Caritas’ Partner’s management within two weeks of the return from the field.

Draft report – A draft report, identifying key findings, recommendations and lessons for the current and future operations, will be submitted within two weeks of the consultants’ return from the field. FCL and Caritas’s Partner’s management will have two weeks to comment.

Final report – The final report will contain a short executive summary with a table listing key recommendations and a main body of the report covering the background of the intervention reviewed, a description of the review methods and limitations, findings, conclusions, lessons learned, clearly detailed and actionable recommendations.

It would contain appropriate appendices, including a copy of the ToR, cited resources or bibliography, a list of those interviewed, and any other relevant materials.

The final report will be submitted two weeks after receipt of the consolidated FCL and Caritas’ Partner’s management feedback.

All products arising from this review will be owned by FCL and Caritas’ Partner. The consultants will not be allowed, without prior authorization in writing, to present any of the analytical results as their own work or to make use of the evaluation results for private publication purposes.