Somalia: Consultancy - Documentation of lessons Learnt from the CARSP Project in Somalia

Background:

The Cash Assistance and Recovery Support Project (CARSP) implemented by ACTED and Adeso aims to reduce community vulnerability to chronic food insecurity in Lower juba, Mudug, Sanaag and Bari regions of Somalia The project successfully targeted an estimated 11,600 households distributed by region as follows; Lower Juba - 3,600, Sanaag - 2,500, Mudug - 2,000 and Bay - 3,600. The project was funded by USAID/Food for Peace Program.

To address the community livelihood recovery situation and efforts in in Lower juba, Mudug, Sanaag and Bay regions of Somalia, humanitarian assistance was needed. The Cash Assistance and Recovery Support Project (CARSP) was implemented by ACTED and Adeso as a lifesaving response through unconditional cash transfers, livelihood skills training and provision of livelihood inputs to vulnerable community households to support increased access to food and non‐food items in the context of recovery from famine and drought in the north east and South Central Somalia.

The project reached the most vulnerable community members with unconditional cash transfers. In addition, the farmers and agro-pastoralists were supported with farm tools, storage equipment and seeds suitable for use in their respective agro-ecological zones while the pastoralists were supported with milking equipment, special feed for their livestock, mineral supplements and forage.

The vulnerability criteria used to select the target beneficiaries included households identified as having a ‘poor’ average food consumption score Index (CSI) and households identified as having employed negative coping mechanisms in the last 7 days. The project deliberately targeted women headed households, elderly, disabled or child headed (structurally vulnerable) households and emphasized interventions specific to women as an integral part of the project strategy since previous experience had proven that targeting women assisted the entire household and particularly children more than targeting men.

The project intervention strategy was three pronged. First, it employed the Inclusive Community Based Targeting (ICBT) methodology which engages the targeted community to ensure fair representation and public auditing of the beneficiary selection process. ICBT has been used by Adeso and ACTED including other humanitarian agencies in the Somalia context extensively and successfully in previous interventions. The ICBT process includes community mobilization, community-based selection of beneficiaries, public verification and validation of the beneficiary list and establishing a Village Relief Committee (VRC) to ensure full community participation.

Second, the project design and delivery process was sensitive to the needs of the most vulnerable groups in terms of access, gender inclusion and safety and security thus ensured the VRC is created through open nomination and selection by community members, ensuring representation of all sectors and interest groups.

Third, Adeso and ACTED have an established beneficiary response mechanism to get feedback from the disadvantaged groups, such as children, women, people with disabilities, and the elderly. The monthly monitoring process included collection and disaggregation of beneficiary numbers by age, sex and disability, to monitor whether the expected proportion of each target group was included among those accessing support.

Adeso has a strong internal M&E approach with involvement of external experts undertaking various assessments and capacity building initiatives. Adeso uses updated part of the Somalia Cash and Voucher Monitoring Group (CVMG) monitoring tools developed during the 2011 emergency in which other agencies were also involved; using common M&E tools to document evidence of the processes and impact of cash programming, skills training and livelihood inputs provision.

Key study questions:

Some of the questions the study will answer are:-

1. Were the approach and processes used by Adeso effective in addressing and responding to the south central and north Somalia communities recoverable efforts?
2. Were the project implementers able to achieve the objectives as set form the beginning?
3. What impacts or outcomes clearly comes out as a result of the approaches and processes used?
4. What could have been done better that was never taken into consideration?
5. What areas in the utilized approach could be strengthened or made better?
6. What should not have been done for the project partners to fully achieve effective impacts and outcomes?
7. Were the project accountability systems as felt by the beneficiaries and the stakeholders adequate, and how best would be improved in future intervention

Objective and scope of the assignment:

The objective of this consultancy is to review Adeso-wide processes and approaches in order to gather lessons learnt and best practices for the future intervention in Somalia, as well as similar consortia in other emergency contexts. The scope of the consultancy is to facilitate the process of reflective learning, best practices, to document lessons learnt and make recommendations for improvement. It is important that the lessons learnt during different stages of the response are documented in a structured manner. This review will help in building the strategic direction of the Adeso in post 2015 and define its strategy in the continued aid response in Somalia.

Various institutional structures and mechanisms have helped the Adeso members to achieve their shared goals and these should be reviewed within the scope of this consultancy: common programmatic approaches and standards, Adeso-wide coordination structures (with steering group and technical working group), common M&E framework and joint reporting systems as well as collective coordination with donors and stakeholders.

This is a field based assignment with a portion of the time split for Nairobi based meetings and documentation review.

Key areas of lessons learnt in CARSP:

Following are the key areas identified for reflective review. These will be finalized with the consultant at the outset of the assignment:

· *Setting up of partnerships:*Review the process of establishing partnership in response to the humanitarian recovery efforts in Somalia, looking at leadership and consensus building between Adeso and its partners.

· *Operational management structure and coordination systems:*Analyze the systems for information-sharing that lead to decision-making. How consensus is built and how are differences in approach resolved?

· *Developing common programmatic approaches:*Assess the extent to which needs assessment, response analysis and intervention strategies in and out of Adeso and how common approaches are agreed upon. This should also include an analysis of discussions concerning exit strategies or transitional approaches to phase out the existing (CARSP) programme.

· *M&E framework, reporting systems and organizational-learning:*assess the systems in place for sharing, cumulating and analyzing monitoring and evaluation data, including how this data is reported internally (between partners or members) and externally (to other organizations and donors). Look at systems for identifying good practice and promoting learning within members and with the wider community of humanitarian practice. How the beneficiaries accountability and feedback mechanism and how would be improved in future

· *Next steps after the CARSP project:*examine the appropriateness of possible operational and management structures for the project management in the future, enabling the possibility of scaling-up or scaling-down the response depending on continuing humanitarian needs in North and South Central Somalia.

Methodology and process:

Prospective consultants are encouraged to submit bids outlining their proposed methodology. Adeso will expect the use of various methods of organizational (Adeso-wide) introspective processes to learn from the experience during the programming phase. The consultant should use a range of data collection and analysis techniques, including:

· Review of existing materials and reports: This will include review of existing secondary reports and documentation available at Adeso level, Adeso documents like project proposals, M&E reports, external evaluation reports and related reference materials.

· Interviews with key Adeso members: The consultant is expected to develop a structured approach to collecting information through interviews and discussions with key Adeso members.

· Interaction with stakeholders, the third party monitors and if possible donors: The consultant will have meetings and discussions with key stakeholders who include the donor contracted third party monitors to draw external views and opinions on Adeso-wide approaches.

· Lessons learnt workshops: A minimum of two workshops will be conducted, facilitated by the consultant and based on a pre-agreed ‘lessons learnt framework’. The first workshop (one full day) will focus on identifying lessons learnt, leading to an interim report. The second workshop will (half-day) focus on specifics as follow-up of the first workshop; the consultant will facilitate discussion on key lessons learnt and develop consensus for recommendations on how to improve processes. The workshops are to be spaced systematically to allow the consultant the necessary preparation time within the consultancy period.

· Meeting for dissemination of results: At the end of the consultancy, a half-day meeting will be organized whereby consultants will disseminate the key results to all Adeso members (and possibly will involve other stakeholders). The final report will be shared at the end of the consultancy assignment.

Consultancy Period:

This consultancy assignment is expected to last not more than 30 working days, i.e. a period of 4 weeks. Ideally a reputable consulting firm is sought, however a team of maximum 3 consultants based on the project thematic areas, can apply (provided the number of working days for both consultants together does not exceed 30).

Work plan and time schedule:

Adeso is looking to undertake this consultancy in the month of September 2015. Below is a tentative work schedule for the assignment, which provides a brief outline of likely tasks. This can be further reviewed and modified depending on the consultant’s proposal.

PeriodKey tasks Week 1 · Review of reference materials and reports

· Interaction with key the project partners

· Possible participation in close out meeting Week 2 · Interaction and meetings with key stakeholders

· One day workshop on lesson learnt at organizational level

· Possible participation in Adeso and other meetings Week 3 · Working on compilation of interim report

· Preparations for second workshop (half-day) to share findings and gather consensus on lessons learnt

· Follow up on pending tasks Week 4 · Development of the final report

· Final dissemination meeting (2 hours session)

· Sharing of final report and follow up, if any

Remuneration:

Constancy rate per day will be decided based on the proposals received. Payment is subject to taxation as per the laws of Kenya 5% for nationals and 20% for foreigners.

Any other costs incurred, such as international travel and accommodation, should be mentioned in the proposal and the submitted budget. Adeso will decide to cover such costs either directly or through the contract agreement.

Adeso will organize the logistics of local travel and other related costs of meetings and workshops.

Key deliverables:

The consultant will be responsible for conducting all required initial preparations pertaining to the assignment. Following are the key deliverables in accordance to the scope and contractual requirements of the assignment:

· A work plan for the entire period of consultancy, to be finalized in consultation with the project management teams.

· Frameworks for the lesson learnt workshops, with workshop schedules and methodology.

· Power point presentation on lessons learnt and key recommendations as part of dissemination workshop/meeting.

· Final report on lessons learnt in Adeso with incorporation of comments and feedback included.

Management and Coordination:

The consultant will report to the Deputy Country director in charge of project implementation on all aspects of consultancy deliverables and day-to-day work schedules. The technical contractual coordination of the assignment will be undertaken by the M&E focal point of Adeso. The CARSP project team will work closely with all aspects of coordination and logistics pertaining to this assignment.

Qualifications of the consultant:

· Master degree in planning, monitoring and evaluation, economics or social sciences and other areas relevant for the assignment.

· At least five years of relevant professional work in social research or related studies.

· Thorough knowledge and understanding of cash transfer programming, livelihood skills training approaches and their linkages.

· Extensive experience in working with INGOs and local NGOs, local authorities and beneficiaries.

· Demonstrated analytical and writing skills.

· Excellent knowledge of English.

Applications should be submitted by 3^rd September 2015. All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described above. Each application package should include the following:

· Cover letter with the applicant’s current contact information

· Proposal for the consultancy assignment with methodology and budget

· Company or the bidding firms profile for review.

· CVs of consultants (including detailed work experience, education/degrees, and details of similar assignments)

· Professional References (minimum of three, with complete contact information)

All applications should be sent to Adeso at consultancy@adesoafrica.orgwith the subject line:

Consultancyfor documentation of lessons learnt