Knowledge management consultancy for BORESHA III Project

1) Assignment Facts

Project Title: Building Opportunities for Resilience in the Horn of Africa II (BORESHA II)

Background and Introduction

Funded by the European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), Building Opportunities for Resilience in the Horn of Africa (BORESHA) project is a 3-year cross-border project (December 2017- November 2020) whose overall objective is to promote economic development and greater resilience, particularly among vulnerable groups in the Mandera Triangle (area between Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia). In BORESHA II, DRC, World Vision and CARE international are continuing with the resilience work building on the first phase of the project. BORESHA II was implemented from 1^st March to 31^st December 2021 building on BORESHA I work. BORESHA III builds on the work done by BORESHA I and BORESHA II and is being implemented from 1^st January 2022 to 31^st December 2022.

The project adopts a community-driven approach to address the shared nature of the risks and opportunities on in this border area. It is part of the EU’s programme for Collaboration in the Cross-Border areas of the Horn of Africa, providing over 60 million euros of investment to prevent and mitigate the impact of local conflict and to promote economic development and greater resilience in four different cross-border regions. The consortium was led by DRC and implemented in partnership with WYG/Tetratech, World Vision and CARE International in BORESHA I. BORESHA II and BORESHA III has 3 partners namely DRC (lead), CARE international and World vision.

Expected results of the project: 1. Communities in Mandera Triangle are more resilient and better prepared for shocks, and response is more effective; 2. Individuals and communities are more self-reliant through increased skills and opportunities for cross-border employment, diversified enterprise and livelihoods; 3. Cross-border rangeland and other shared natural resources are more equitably and sustainably managed.

Overall objective of the project

The overall goal of the project is to promote economic development and greater resilience, particularly among vulnerable groups, including youth, women, displaced persons and persons living with disabilities

Target Beneficiaries

Overall project targeted 350, 000 individual beneficiaries. The programme sought to work with local and national government authorities, community leaders, young people, women, youth groups, women’s associations, local communities, private sector and local business leadership in Mandera, Gedo and Dolo Ado. Specifically, the project targeted vulnerable communities and individuals or those at risk of migration or displacement

The project has been implemented in the target areas (Mandera county in Kenya, Dollow and Beled Hawa district in Somalia and Dolo Ado and Dolo Bay in Ethiopia) since November 2017 with BORESHA II implemented between March and December 2021. BORESHA III implementation is ongoing. The consortium is seeking a knowledge management partner to be engaged in the project between March and December 2022. The partner will help consolidate knowledge form the three phases of the project and document key achievements, gaps, challenges, lessons, and recommendations for future programming in resilience in volatile context in specific selected project components.

Read more on BORESHA here https://boreshahoa.org/about-boresha/

Timing of Assignment: 1^st May 2022 to 31^st December 2022.

Consultancy Owner: Nicoletta Buono; Consultancy Managers: BORESHA partners

Consultancy management Team: Nicoletta Buono, Peterson Mucheke, PMU, Partner leads (CARE, WV, DRC) DRC RO and HQ advisors.

Type of engagement: Knowledge management consultancy

Consultancy Trigger: This consultancy is triggered by: 1) commitment in the BORESHA III project proposal (output area 1.4.2) to produce strategic knowledge management products that contribute to the evidence base and scientific arguments for future cross border programming and policy dialogue. 2) DRC Project commitment to ongoing learning agenda to improve programming approaches.

2) Objectives of the Assignment

· The objective of this evaluation is to conduct evidence based, scientific studies on key components of the project to contribute to the understanding of the complex dynamics of the area and possibly to future cross border programming. Researches will tentatively focus on IBLI (product sustainability considering the current level of subsidy, the gender socio economic dimension of the product uptake, and other aspects); on the livestock and livestock products (market barriers for output and inputs, environmental impact of a more commercial oriented livestock system, etc) and potentially contribute to the World Bank Horn of Africa Initiative.

· Share/Disseminate and present learning from the project both at regional and local level audiences to enhance understanding of the cross border complex dimensions and programming. This will be through the project website, in learning and reflection meetings as well as in meetings with target stakeholders.

3) Intended use of the Assignment products

The consultancy products intended users include EUTF, DRC programmes, BORESHA III partners and other partners interested in resilience work in the cross-border areas.

· The products will inform future programming in resilience in cross-border settings specifically in the Horn of Africa.

4) Context and background to the project

Description of the programme or project:

BORESHA (Building Opportunities for Resilience in the Horn of Africa) was a 3 year, 14 million Euros project funded by the European Union Trust Fund for Africa. The project’s overall objective is to promote economic development and greater resilience, particularly among vulnerable groups in the Cross-Border area between Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia and is planned to run from December 2017- November 2020. BORESHA II is a 3 million Euro project implemented for 10 months by DRC, World Vision and Care international till end of December 2021. BORESHA III is a 5.02 million project that has been launched and continues to December 2022 implemented by DRC, CARE and World Vision. The project adopts a community-driven approach to address the shared nature of the risks and opportunities in this border area. The consortium is led by Danish Refugee Council.

This consultancy will draw lessons from BORESHA I and BORESHA II and remain engaged for practical learning during BORESHA III that is being implemented in line with the project theory of change outlined below:

Project Theory of Change

“If we strengthen cross-border communities’ capacities to identify their own priorities, plan and advocate for measures to help them withstand shocks; Promote the development of inclusive cross-border environment for livestock and non-livestock trade and business; foster private sector opportunities for women and young people; If we support the equitable and conflict sensitive management of natural resources in the cross-border area; then communities will become more resilient and self-reliant; individuals, including women and young men, will have the skills and opportunity take up a more diverse range of employment and livelihoods options; natural resources will be used more rationally, and with less conflict; local governments will be more accountable to their constituencies; and fewer people will be displaced within, or migrate out from, the cross-border region”.

Project Expected Results

350,000 individual beneficiaries across 3 countries. Specially expected results included: 1. Communities in the Cross-Border Area between Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are more resilient and better prepared for shocks, and response is more effective.2. Individuals and communities are collectively more self-reliant through increased skills and opportunities for cross-border employment, diversified enterprise and livelihoods. 3. Cross-border rangeland and other shared natural resources more equitably and sustainably managed.

Target Beneficiaries

The programme has been working with local and national government authorities, community leaders, young people, women, youth groups, women’s associations, local communities, the private sector and local business leadership in Mandera, Gedo and Dolo Ado/Dolo Bay. The programme targets communities and individuals identified as vulnerable or at risk of migration or displacement

Overall objective of the project

The overall goal of the project is to promote economic development and greater resilience, particularly among vulnerable groups, including youth, women, displaced persons and persons living with disabilities

5) Scope of the Assignment

What will and what will not be covered by the assignment?

· Time frame: 1st May to 31^st December 2022. Will focus on interventions implemented within the BORESHA project life time from November 2017 to 30^th December 2022 building on lessons from studies and evaluations and ROM missions whose reports are available for review. The consultant will also engage with BORESHA and other relevant partners to deepen this learning in the life of BORESHA III. The knowledge management process will be iterative in methodology and may include series of meetings with strategic partners involved in the focus areas. Some field missions for data collection/observation maybe involved. The study will also refer to other non-BORESHA interventions implemented within the project location for comparison.

· Thematic areas: Resilience, Disaster risk reduction (DRR), Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI), Livelihoods, private sector, Impacts, challenges lessons learnt, sustainability, replication opportunities, scaling up, etc including technical approaches used, expected results, to what extent did the approaches work, gaps, lessons learning and opportunities for the future?)

· Geographical areas: Dollow Somalia, Mandera Kenya and Dolo Ado and Dolo Bay in Ethiopia, Nairobi for coordination activities.

6) Key Focus areas

· IBLI (product sustainability considering the current level of subsidy, the gender socio economic dimension of the product uptake, and other aspects);

· Livestock and livestock products (market barriers for output and inputs, environmental impact of a more commercial oriented livestock system, etc)

7) Assignment deliverables

Bellow are the assignment deliverables**

· Inception Report / Response to ToR presenting the consultant’s understanding of the TOR, detailing methodologies to be used and representative sample size calculations, a detailed execution plan, data-collection tools, clearly defined research/assessment questions and corresponding or feeding sub-questions (incorporating the summary of the introductory meetings).

· Research study publication on IBLI including:

o Policy review

o analysis of internal and external barriers to upscale of this product in the region

o review of documentation in comparable contexts

o Analysis of the perspective of:

o Government, Private sector

o Farmers, Gender

o Development partners

· Research study publication on sustainable approaches for Livestock rearing and livestock products production and trade in borderland areas including:

o Policy review

o Analysis of the internal and external barrier

o Gendered Market analysis

o Production system Environmental assessment

o Review of documentation in comparable contexts

o Analysis of the perspective of:

o Government, Private sector

· Participation and presentation of progress in project reflection meetings and coordination forums for updates on progress

· Assignment Report: Draft summary of findings and recommendations by partners

· A presentation of the key findings in a validation workshop/webinar

All will be deliverables plus a 2-pager stand-alone summary brief on for each of the studies that is sharable on the project website for dissemination. The final report and research products will be due on or before 15^th of December 2022. The findings, recommendations and conclusions should go beyond the project level and provide higher level learning for BORESHA beyond the project.

8) Methodology

The methodology will be further developed by the consultants and be well articulated in the response to the ToR. The methodology should demonstrate robustness and rigour in addressing the objectives of this partnership. Interested institutions will be expected to propose the design and methodology to be used in this assignment as part of their proposals/bids. The methodology proposed by the successful institution shall be discussed, finalized and approved by the partnership team before commencing data collection as part of the quality assurance process. It is however expected that the methodology will use a mixed-methods approach including both qualitative and quantitative components and will continuously be adapted within the engagement. The consultant should demonstrate how they will conduct the assignment and aim to provide an expanded analytical framework as part of the desk review and iterative engagement.

9) Recommended documentation

As a minimum the knowledge management partner will be made aware of and have access to the following documentation;

· Project proposals, project documents, logical frameworks and/or theory of change, publications and relevant monitoring and donor reports and data

· Reports from evaluations and studies conducted on similar or related projects **

· Relevant key informants and beneficiaries as well as partners.

10) Practical Implementation of the consultancy

The research institution will be:

· Engaged in an iterative collaboration with Consortium partners DRC, WV and CARE

· conduct structured analysis of the main topics of the research in consultation with BORESHA team

· The Knowledge consultant shall update regularly (monthly) the BORESHA team on the progress of the research

11) Expected profile of Evaluation consultant

The knowledge management consultant shall be an institution which meets the following

· Research institution with demonstrated experience in similar engagements

· Proven research expertise on both research topics

· High standing reputation and strategic positioning in the 2 areas of focus

· Commitment to deliver on time

· Commitment to engage as described in the roles section above

· Duly registered as a research entity with full capacity to operate and relate with diverse partners/stakeholders in the areas mentioned

· High level understanding of the cross border areas where BORESHA III is implemented.

· Established network with the major actors in the areas of focus of the assignment

12) Data Protection and Confidentiality

While executing this assignment, the consultant and all the parties involved shall ensure effective protection of confidential and sensitive data and information in conformity with the humanitarian and protection principles and to applicable legal data protection standards[1]. All data collection and processing activities shall be executed in accordance with the following principles that is;

• Safeguarding individuals’ Personal Data is a crucial part of humanitarian mission to protect the lives, integrity and dignity of beneficiaries and participants and is fundamental in the provision of protection response and humanitarian aid.

• People-centered and inclusive. Evaluation activities will respect the interests and well-being

of the population, in all relevant phases of the evaluation and which activities must be sensitive to age, gender, and other issues of diversity.

• Do No Harm – evaluation activities must include a risk assessment and take steps, if necessary, to mitigate identified risks. The risk assessment must look at negative consequences that may result from data collection and subsequent actions or service delivery.

• Defined purpose and proportionality. The purpose must be clearly defined and explained to the participants in the data collection process

• Informed consent and confidentiality. Personal information may be collected only after

informed consent has been provided by the individual in question and that individual must

be aware of the purpose of the collection. Further, confidentiality must be clearly explained

to the individual before the information may be collected. Consent must be genuine, based on the data subject’s free and informed decision.

• Data protection and security. The evaluation process must adhere to international standards of data protection and data security.

• Competency and capacity. Actors engaging in this evaluation activities are accountable for ensuring that evaluation activities are carried out by competent team who have been trained appropriately.

• Impartiality – all steps of the evaluation cycle must be undertaken in an objective, impartial, and transparent manner while identifying and minimizing bias.

13) Contact information for manager commissioning the evaluation [email protected]**

[1] ICRC Handbook for Data Protection in Humanitarian Action, UNHCR’s Policy on the Protection of

Personal Data of Persons of Concern, DRC’s Operational Handbook regarding data security and

management of hardware and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).