Somalia Irish Aid ICSP Baseline Study

1. Summary of Baseline Study

Trócaire will be receiving funding from Irish Aid under the five-year Ireland’s Civil Society Partnership (2023-2027) funding scheme. Trócaire’s proposed programme will contribute to a Better World by implementing interlinked Long-Term Development, Chronic Humanitarian Crises and Acute Humanitarian Crises programmes in 15 poor, climate-affected and fragile countries across the world. Trócaire’s Strategic Plan – Local Power Global Justice (2021-2025) forms the core framework that underpins the programme proposal.

Trócaire’s work in Somalia will be delivered in partnership with stakeholders and local organisations to tackle the root causes of poverty, injustice and violence, supporting people to use their power to create positive and lasting change, focusing on three goals:

• Goal 2: Achieve climate and environmental justice. Trócaire supports poor and marginalised rural communities to sustain their livelihoods and to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.
• Goal 3: Ensure women and girls’ protection, voice and leadership. Trócaire helps women and girls increase their safety, psychosocial wellbeing, meaningful participation and leadership.
• Goal 4: Save lives and protect human dignity. Trócaire supports a locally led response to save lives, reduce suffering and ensure human dignity is protected.

Trocaire Somalia intends to carry out a baseline for this grant. The baseline will focus on two of the ICSP fundings streams: Long-Term Development and Chronic Humanitarian Crises. Trócaire’s ICSP programme has 5 long term outcomes, each with intermediate outcomes, and one intermediate outcome on partnership. Trocaire Somalia will focus on the following outcomes:

Long Term Outcome 2.1 Poor and marginalised people, especially women and youth, have sustainable lives including diverse food sources and economic well-being

Long Term Outcome 3.1 Women and older adolescent girls experience increased safety, psychosocial wellbeing, and meaningful participation and leadership

Long Term Outcome 4.1 The most vulnerable/marginalised women, men, girls and boys in the communities affected by crisis can meet their basic needs

Long Term Outcome 4.2 Women and men in communities affected by crisis transition from reliance on relief assistance towards meeting and/or protecting their food and livelihoods needs independently.

Intermediate Outcome 5.1.1 Partners actively implement approaches to strengthen their capacity over time, with Trócaire support**.**

The new Irish Aid grant will start on 01 January 2023 and full baselines must be established within the first six months after funding has been allocated. Somalia will complete the baseline and have a revised Grant Management Framework by the 31st March 2023.

The expected scope, approach and process for the baseline are outlined in this document. They are based on (a) Irish Aid baseline requirements and (b) Trócaire PIL guidance on baselines.

2. Purpose and Scope of the Baseline

The overall purpose of the Irish Aid ICSP baseline process is to establish the pre-grant conditions of ICSP funded country grants against which future changes can be measured.

The baseline will collect information on the established indicators in country ICSP grant results frameworks, with target groups and other identified key stakeholders of the programme.

3. Objectives of the Baseline

The objectives of the Irish Aid ICSP baseline process are:

• To measure the ICSP grant indicators at the start of the grant.
• To provide consistent, clear and credible information on grant indicators that will enable Trócaire to set realistic targets to work towards achieving during the ICSP (2023-2027).
• To identify any required changes that need to be made to our indicators and measurement approaches to inform ongoing MEAL on the grant.
• To identify the information needs of individuals and communities as well as their preferred channels for receiving information and providing feedback/complaints.
• To develop data collection tools for long-term, intermediate and immediate outcome indicators.

4. Methodology

In the ICSP grant, indicators for the long-term and intermediate outcomes have been decided at global grant level and Somalia will use the relevant indicators and the data collection methods and tools that are associated with the outcomes selected.

Information on the data collection methods and tools that will be used to measure the long-term, intermediate (decided at global level) and immediate (decided at country level) outcome indicators will be detailed in a data collection and analysis plan.

A mixed methodology will be adopted consisting of quantitative and qualitative methodology.

The baseline study sample will be taken from beneficiaries benefitting from grant including nutrition service and IYCF beneficiaries, households involved in agroecological activities, members of the communities benefiting from peacebuilding activities. The sample will be taken within targeted communities in Dollow, Luuq and Belet Hawa Districts in Gedo region.

For the quantitative methodology, a reliable sample size will be calculated for each of the 3 targeted districts.

The baseline survey will entail qualitative methodology in every district to produce reliable information on key trends and themes to accompany quantitative information on indicators.

The baseline results for relevant indicators must be disaggregated by age, gender and disability. The ICSP Grant Management Framework (GMF) identifies the required disaggregation for each of the ICSP grant indicators.

5. Roles and Responsibilities

The country team will be responsible for the delivery of the baseline in line with this ToR. An external consultant is being sought to support the baseline survey process under the direction of the country team. HQ advisors will provide support and guidance during the design and implementation of their baselines.

The Trocaire Somalia programme team, partner staff and selected external consultant will form the core baseline team.

Communities and people supported by the ICSP grant will be meaningfully and appropriately supported to participate in the baseline process, from baseline design to data collection and analysis to communicating and using the results of the baseline. Trócaire and the partners will ensure this happens through community forums to discuss the ICSP baseline and the discussions shall ensure the participation of vulnerable and marginalized groups such as women, children, minority clans, people living with disability.

6. Baseline Process

The consultant will be required to develop a process map that will entail the different phases of the baseline process and describe what will be done during each phase.

7. Expected Outputs

The following outputs are compulsory from the baseline process:

• An expression of interest with a well-documented proposal by the consultant in response to the TOR describing their understanding of the TOR and describing how they intend to carry out this assignment.
• Baseline Inception report including data collection tools for all long-term, intermediate and immediate outcome indicators
• Baseline Report – using the Irish Aid ICSP Baseline Report Template
• Updated Grant Management Framework, incorporating the Logic Model including assumptions, Results Framework including baseline data, end of programme targets and intermediate milestones for each indicator
• These outputs must be in English and must be at a standard that can be submitted directly to a donor.

8. Risk Analysis

The consultant will be required to identify the key risks and mitigation measures associated with the baseline study, with consideration of risks to Trócaire, Partners and communities and present this in a risk register.

9. Timeframe

Somalia programme will undertake the ICSP baseline and have a revised Grant Management Framework from January to March 2023.

Somalia ICSP baseline shall follow the timeline below for the baseline process:

• The Inception Report shall be finalised by mid-January 2023 and submitted to the Trocaire team for approval
• Data collection and analysis shall be completed by February 2023
• Results will be disseminated and validated in a workshop by 22nd March 2023
• Draft baseline report and updated GMF must be finalized by 31st March 2023

10. Quality and Ethical Standards

Trócaire has a set of minimum standards for data collection which will be followed during the design and implementation of the baseline study:

• Ethics (informed consent, confidentiality and GDPR)
• Do No Harm and Protection
• Dignity and Respect
• Gender Inclusive

Guidance on these minimum standards will be provided to the consultant.

11. Budgeting

The consultant is required to provide a budget for all costs to be incurred during the undertaking of the ICSP baseline.

12. Audience for the Baseline

The primary audience for the baseline results is Irish Aid, beneficiaries, stakeholders, partners and the Trocaire Somalia programme team. Programme Impact and Learning, the global Programmes and Humanitarian teams and Trócaire Senior Management are significant secondary stakeholders. There is an expectation that the baseline results will be shared and discussed with communities, in an appropriate format.

Whilst Irish Aid requires the submission by Trócaire of the updated Grants Management Frameworks (with baseline data, end of grant targets, intermediary milestones, data methods and data sources), the baseline reports may also be reviewed by Irish Aid Civil Society personnel (upon request) or during a subsequent Irish Aid monitoring visit to the country.

13. Required competencies for the Consultancy

Trócaire Somalia seeks to engage the services of qualified and experienced consultants with the following qualifications and experience to deliver on this task:

1. Over 5 years expertise in (i) food security/ agroecology/ resilience, (ii) women’s empowerment and protection programming and (iii) nutrition programming, preferably in a humanitarian context
2. Minimum 5 years’ experience in evaluations/ assessments/ research
3. Demonstrated experience in conducting assessments of humanitarian programmes
4. Proven strong skills and experience in quantitative and qualitative methodology with participatory approaches
5. Solid analytical skills with ability to correlate different data sets to actionable conclusions
6. Experience in result-based planning, report writing, communication and diplomacy skills
7. A strong team leadership and management track record, as well as interpersonal and communication skills to help ensure that the evaluation is understood and used.
8. English language skills (report should be written in English).
9. Ability to make clear presentations and disseminate findings to both technical and non-technical audience
10. Experience in Somalia context is desirable. Experience of a similar assignment in Somalia will be an advantage