Consultancy – Proposal for mapping of donor priorities

1. About Oxfam:

Oxfam has been working in Iraq since the 1990s with both an expanding and contracting presence. In 2014, Oxfam established its first office in Kalar when the conflict with ISIS began and the country was thrown into a new humanitarian crisis, in an already fragile context. In 2021, Oxfam is amongst the largest NGOs operating in the country, with nine offices and almost 200 employees and an annual budget of 25 million USD.

Following the rise of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) in 2014, the Iraq programme introduced humanitarian programming and since then has remained agile to the evolving contextual needs, which are increasingly fragile in an environment of chronic underdevelopment and protracted crises.

In 2020, with the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic, the program expanded to lead a large COVID-19 emergency response alongside standard programming. Currently, Oxfam in Iraq has seven programming offices – in Anbar, Salah al-Dhin, Mosul, Kirkuk, Diyala, Sulaymaniyah and Missan, with a country office in Erbil and a support office in Baghdad. Oxfam is working across the key sectors of Protection, Gender, Emergency Food Security and Vulnerable Livelihoods, Water and Sanitation and Advocacy.

1. Background of the assignment:

The concept of localisation of aid has been present in the humanitarian sector for decades in the form of ‘building on local capacities.’ According to Oxfam’s strategy, local humanitarian leadership has been described as “local humanitarian actors (whether civil society, government or both) leading humanitarian response and ensuring it is fast and appropriate and meeting the needs of the affected population” (Kergoat, et al., 2020).

Critiques of international humanitarian aid have long suggested that it needs to be more inclusive of actors from crisis-affected countries. Years after the Grand Bargain, launched during the WHS in Istanbul in May 2016, a range of actors, particularly local actors, have questioned the progress and impact of “localization” of humanitarian assistance, “local humanitarian leadership” (LHL), and “local humanitarian action” (LHA). As the entire international humanitarian community reflects on that progress, an Oxfam research[1] suggests that more conversations with local actors in a variety of contexts can better inform and shape discussions and decisions going forward.

There are many barriers that complicate local and national actors’ access to international funds. In a 2013 survey, more than 90 percent of local organizations reported a lack of awareness of international funding opportunities, and nearly a quarter cited language barriers (Poole 2014). More than three-quarters cited the challenges in complying with the priorities of the funders (Poole 2014), which recalls earlier critiques about the top-down nature of humanitarian funding as a whole. Between 25 percent and 40 percent cited administrative, audit, and reporting requirements as major barriers (Poole 2014), which resonates with recent studies demonstrating that smaller NGOs bear the greatest administrative burden for the least reward because of high administrative and transaction costs (Stoddard et al. 2017).[2] There are additional issues that limit local NGO access to external funding including external accountability, nepotism, politicization, ongoing professionalization, non-agreement with international norms and definitions, etc. These issues also need to be addressed as we plan to support local actors in better access for funding.

Oxfam in Iraq is committed for transformative partnerships and facilitating local leadership of NGOs in Iraq. Oxfam is investing in their institutional and technical capacity strengthening as well as working with them as partners in various projects. They are involved from the project design and conceptualization phase, so they have opportunity to contribute in the project design and to know what the quality of proposals and the key requirements. We also create opportunities for local NGOs to interact with donors directly and build relationships without any intermediary. We also share various funding opportunities that are aimed for local NGOs so they can apply and win the grants.

Most organizations experience difficulty in understanding the templates, proposal formats, language and requirements in the proposals, donor’s compliance requirements, and the decision-making processes of the donors, Iraqi Humanitarian Fund (IHF), UNs and INGOs. Because of this lack of better understanding, they are unable to prepare and submit good quality proposals and meet the donor requirements, and thus struggle to have sufficient funding available to run their activities to support vulnerable communities.

1. Purpose of the assignment:

Oxfam is looking for a consultant to undertake the assignment of mapping donor priorities who have interest for supporting CSOs in Iraq on the areas of humanitarian, development, peacebuilding, durable solutions, climate action, DRR, resilience building, women’s issue etc. in current and near future.

The study will help the local NGOs of Iraq to understand which donors have interest in Iraq and how to approach them for funding. This will also provide the templates and tools for proposal writing and concept notes etc. for each specific donor and provide a training to the local NGOs on the same.

1. Objectives of the assignment:
2. To map the interests of donors in Iraq in various thematic areas of humanitarian, development, peacebuilding, durable solutions, climate action, DRR, resilience building, women’s issue etc. in current and near future.
3. To provide guidance and tools for use of local NGOs in their efforts to secure donor funding in different thematic areas in Iraq.
4. To provide a training to local NGOs on donor engagement, and their proposals, templates, tools, best practices etc.

Payment schedule:

The consultant/agency will be paid agreed rate, upon satisfactory completion of the assignment including submission of deliverables and reports as per below schedule:

• 25% will be paid upon approval of the inception report
• 25% will be paid upon submission of draft report of mapping exercise alongwith the guidance/booklet for local NGOs regarding templates, tools, websites, links, sample proposal formats etc. for each identified donor, and the donor engagement plan for local NGOs.
• 25% will be paid after submission and approval of the final report and guidance/booklet for local NGOs regarding templates, tools, websites, links, sample proposal formats etc. for each identified donor, and the donor engagement plan for local NGOs.
• 25% will be paid after completion of the 2-day training on donor engagement, and their proposals, templates, tools, best practices etc. for local NGOs.

1. Eligibility and Qualification Requirements

The major criteria to evaluate the service provider/consultant competing for the assignment will include the following:

• Strong knowledge and understanding of donor priorities, templates and proposal formats, and key requirements
• Experience of writing proposals and concept notes for different donors
• Proven experience in conducting research, assessments and evaluations
• Ready to travel in Iraq and between the governorates for the purpose of research if needed
• Fluency in Arabic and English languages