The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

Background and Context:


Launched in 2021, the Re:BUiLD program has advanced self-reliance for over 21,000 refugees and vulnerable host communities in Kampala and Nairobi while addressing the limitations of traditional livelihoods programming.  Of these clients, 10,950 were reached in Kampala. Over five years, Re:BUiLD has achieved significant policy advancements and rigorously tested financial inclusion, business and employment pathways through randomized evaluations, cost analyses, and continuous learning, generating robust evidence on what works, what does not, and at what cost. Building on this evidence, Re:BUiLD has launched its second phase to scale the most effective and cost-efficient interventions. The evidence generated by Re:BUiLD is shaping programming and business development efforts.


Several elements of the Graduation Approach (GA) and Market System Development (MSD) approach which recognizes that economic vulnerability is multi-dimensional, systemic and that households often require coordinated support over time to overcome constraints that prevent them from progressing towards sustainable livelihoods, align closely with Re:BUiLD interventions, including climate resilience livelihoods initiatives, Urban Savings and Loan Associations (USLAs), the Loan Guarantee Fund (LGF), the Enterprise Growth Fund (EGF), mentorship, business and financial literacy training, vocational training and market linkage support.


Through Re:BUiLD, the IRC in Uganda and partners have gained considerable experience implementing and adapting programming to the needs of urban refugees and vulnerable host communities.  There is an opportunity to consolidate these experiences, document how elements of the Graduation Approach and MSD approach have been operationalized, profile the experiences and trajectories of participating households, assess market shifts, assess emerging outcomes and identify opportunities to strengthen implementation and scaling. This strategic direction is in line with the priorities of donors interested in supporting partners that apply the Graduation model and MSD approach to promote sustainable livelihoods and economic self-reliance and systemic changes for refugees and vulnerable communities.


To this effect IRC Uganda desires the services of a consultant to   generate an accessible and evidence-informed account of the Graduation Approach and MSD approach under Re:BUiLD. The consultant will document the intervention pathway, highlight participant experiences, structural changes and results, assess what is working and what requires improvement, and identify lessons for replication, adaptation and scale-up and prepare a  ready to publish learning brief.


The assignment will also translate the evidence into a compelling donor-ready pitch that communicates the relevance, added value, results, scalability and investment potential of the Graduation Approach and MSD approaches for urban refugees and other vulnerable populations.

Purpose of the Consultancy:


The overall purpose of the consultancy is to document, profile and assess the Graduation Approach, MSD approaches under the Re:BUiLD, with a focus on its design, implementation processes, participant experiences, learnings, emerging outcomes, sequencing, impact, private sector engagement and potential for sustainable impact.


The assignment will strengthen IRC and partner capacity to articulate, implement and improve a Graduation Approach and MSD approach that responds to the realities of urban refugees, improve private sector engagement and generates credible evidence of progress towards sustainable livelihoods, resilience,  self-reliance and systems change.


The assignment will generate practical learning and recommendations to improve the approaches, strengthen the evidence base for programming and inform donor engagement and resource mobilization.


Specifically, the consultancy will:

  • Document the Graduation Approach as implemented under Re:BUiLD in Uganda including its core components, sequencing, bundling of services, delivery mechanisms and adaptations to urban refugee contexts.
  • Document Market Systems Development Approaches as implemented under Re:BUiLD in Uganda including its core components, private sector engagement and adaptive management
  • Profile the experiences and livelihood trajectories of selected project participants, highlighting changes in economic inclusion, resilience, well-being, agency and self-reliance.
  • Assess available evidence of the approach's results, contribution to change, implementation strengths, limitations and sustainability prospects.
  • Identify implementation gaps, contextual barriers, promising practices and opportunities for improving the design and delivery of the approach.
  • Develop a compelling donor-ready pitch that presents the rationale, evidence, lessons, investment proposition and potential scale-up opportunities for the Graduation Approach and MSD approaches.
  • Provide actionable recommendations for IRC and its partners to strengthen implementation, learning, measurement and future resource mobilization.

 

Scope of Work:

The consultant will undertake the following tasks.


1.Inception and Desk Review

The consultant will:

  • Hold an inception meeting with IRC and relevant implementing partners.
  • Review project documents, including the proposal, results framework, theory of change, implementation plans, monitoring reports, assessments, evaluations, partner reports and relevant donor reporting.
  • Review available participant-level or aggregated monitoring data, subject to access permissions and data protection requirements.
  • Review existing studies and evidence on the Graduation Approach, MSD, economic inclusion and livelihoods programming for urban refugees.
  • Identify key evaluation and documentation questions, information gaps and potential sources of evidence.
  • Prepare an inception report outlining the methodology, work plan, sampling approach, interview guides, analytical framework and deliverable schedule.

2. Assess Results, Contribution and Emerging Impact

The consultant will analyze the available evidence to assess results across the Graduation Approach pathway and Market Systems Development approach.


The analysis should consider the following domains, as relevant to the project indicators and available data:

  • Economic inclusion - Employment, enterprise development, diversification of livelihood and access to markets
  • Economic stability - Income patterns, savings, asset accumulation, financial inclusion and capacity to manage shocks
  • Household well-being - Food security, essential needs, housing stability and access to services.
  • Resilience - Ability to cope with economic, social and environmental shocks without resorting to harmful coping strategies
  • Agency and empowerment - Decision-making, confidence, aspirations, control over resources and participation in economic activities
  • Social inclusion - Social networks, community participation, access to institutions and reduction of exclusion barriers
  • Sustainability - Continuation of livelihood activities, retention of gains, post-support resilience and prospects for self-reliance
  • Privates sector engagement - Private sector engagement in various aspects of clients’ enterprises

The consultant will compare findings with baseline, and routine monitoring or other relevant data where available. Disaggregation should be undertaken where data quality, sample sizes and confidentiality permit.

The assessment should distinguish clearly between:

  • Outputs delivered by the project.
  • Outcomes observed among participating households.
  • Participants' perceptions of change.
  • Evidence that the project plausibly contributed to those changes.
  • Longer-term impacts that can be substantiated by the available evidence.

The consultant is not expected to establish causal attribution unless the existing evaluation design and data support such conclusions. Where no suitable counterfactual or longitudinal evidence exists, findings should be framed as emerging outcomes or plausible contributions rather than definitive project-attributable impacts.

The consultant should also examine contextual factors, including inflation, market conditions, legal and policy environments, access to work and financial services, household composition and other influences that may shape results.

 

3. Develop the Donor-Ready Pitch

Based on the documentation and analysis, the consultant will prepare a donor-facing pitch for the Graduation Approach and Market Systems Development approaches under Re:BUiLD.

The pitch should communicate:

  • The challenge: Why urban refugees and other eligible vulnerable populations face systemic barriers to sustainable economic inclusion.
  • The opportunity: Why a sequenced Graduation Approach may address multiple barriers more effectively than isolated interventions. How MSD can unlock systemic barriers to refugee economic inclusion.
  • The model: How the approaches (GA,MSD) works in practice, including the main intervention components, systems thinking and participant pathway.
  • The evidence: Verified results, participant stories, relevant indicators and lessons from Uganda.
  • Added value: The approach's (GA,MSD) distinctive contribution, including any demonstrated advantages over fragmented or short-term support.
  • The investment proposition: What additional funding would support and why it matters.
  • The scale-up pathway: How the models could be adapted, expanded or embedded through partnerships and systems.
  • The measurement framework: A concise set of proposed indicators and milestones for tracking progress.
  • The call to action: A clear invitation for donors and strategic partners to invest, collaborate or support further evidence generation.

The pitch should be compelling without overstating results, claiming unsupported cost-effectiveness or presenting the Graduation Approach or Market Systems Development as universally superior to other interventions.

Where cost data are available, the consultant should analyze indicative costs per participant or household, costs of key intervention components and potential cost drivers. Any cost-effectiveness claims must be supported by appropriate evidence.

Where the available evidence is insufficient to quantify impact or returns on investment, the pitch should clearly identify the evidence gaps and propose how they could be addressed through future programming.

Key Research and Documentation Questions

The assignment should answer the following questions:


1. Design and implementation

  • What does the Graduation Approach and MSD approaches under Re:BUiLD entail, and what are its core components and related costs?
  • How are participants selected, assessed, supported and monitored through the intervention pathway?
  • How are interventions sequenced and adapted to the realities of urban refugees in Uganda?
  • How did structural rules and supporting functions change to achieve scale? 

2. Participant experiences and outcomes

  • What changes have participating households experienced in their livelihoods, economic stability, well-being and resilience?
  • Which support components do participants perceive as most useful, and why?
  • What factors enable or constrain progress towards graduation and self-reliance?
  • How do experiences differ across participant groups and between the two countries?
  • What evidence exists regarding the sustainability of participant gains after support ends?

3. Program effectiveness and learning

  • Which aspects of the model appear to work well, for whom and under what circumstances?
  • Where are the main gaps in design, delivery, market engagement and participant follow-up?
  • What adaptations could improve effectiveness, inclusion and sustainability?
  • What evidence is available on implementation costs, cost drivers and operational efficiency?
  • Has replication occurred in the market?

4. Future investment and scale-up

  • What makes the approaches relevant to the needs of urban refugees?
  • What lessons can inform future Graduation Approach and MSD programming?
  • What would be required to strengthen, replicate or scale the models?
  • What investment priorities and partnership opportunities should be presented to prospective donors?

 

Proposed Methodology:


The consultant will propose a robust, participatory and mixed methods approach appropriate to the purpose and scope of the assignment.


The methodology should combine quantitative evidence where available with qualitative inquiry to explain participant experiences, implementation processes and the factors influencing results.

The following methods are expected:

1. Desk review

Review relevant project documents, monitoring data, assessment reports, research, program guidance and existing evidence on the Graduation Approach and MSD approaches.

2. Key informant interviews

Conduct interviews with relevant stakeholders, which may include:

  • IRC country and programme teams.
  • Implementing partners.
  • Project managers and technical advisers.
  • Frontline staff, coaches and caseworkers.
  • Relevant government or service-provider representatives.
  • Private-sector actors, employers, financial service providers and market stakeholders, where relevant.
  • Donor or strategic stakeholders, where appropriate and approved by IRC.

3. Analysis of existing quantitative data

Analyze relevant monitoring, baseline, endline or other program data, subject to availability and data quality. The consultant should propose appropriate analytical methods and identify limitations.

 

4. Observation and field visits

Conduct field visits to observe relevant livelihood activities, participant enterprises, partner delivery processes or market linkages.

 

5. Case study development

Select participant cases in consultation with IRC and partners, using transparent criteria and informed consent procedures.

 

6. Validation and sense-making

Present preliminary findings to IRC and relevant partners in a validation session to test interpretations, clarify factual issues and prioritize recommendations.

The consultant will remain responsible for independent analysis. Stakeholder validation should not be used to suppress legitimate findings or remove substantiated critical observations.

Expected Deliverables:

The consultant will produce the following deliverables.


Deliverable

  • Inception report - Refined methodology, research questions, sampling, tools, work plan and ethical safeguards.
  • Graduation Approach process map and documentation report - Intervention logic, implementation steps, roles, adaptations and country context.
  • Market Systems Development Approaches write up - Market System Structure  for economic inclusion of urban refugees and vulnerable hosts.
  • Participant profiles and case studies - Anonymized stories reflecting diverse experiences, outcomes and challenges
  • Findings and improvement plan - Results analysis, implementation gaps, comparative learning and prioritized recommendations
  • Final documentation and learning report - Consolidated findings, evidence, lessons, conclusions and recommendations
  • Donor-ready pitch package - Concise pitch document or presentation, investment proposition, key evidence and scale-up priorities
  • Validation presentation and final files - Presentation of findings, feedback integration and editable final products

The final documentation report should be accessible to technical and non-technical audiences. The donor pitch should be suitable for direct use in resource mobilization and donor engagement after IRC's approval.

Suggested specifications for the final products

  • Main report: Approximately 25–35 pages, excluding annexes, subject to agreement at inception.
  • A ready to publish learning brief about MSD and GA in integrated economic inclusion programmes.
  • Process map: One clear visual representation of the Graduation Approach pathway and MSD donut.
  • Participant profiles: Approximately 6–10 case studies across the two countries, with the final number agreed with IRC based on access, consent and available evidence.
  • Donor pitch: A concise 2–3-page investment brief and/or a 10–12-slide presentation.
  • Executive summary: A concise summary of the main findings, recommendations and investment opportunity.
  • Supporting materials: Interview guides, analytical framework, evidence tables and other agreed annexes, with personal information removed as appropriate.

All products should be professionally edited, visually clear and suitable for both internal learning and external communication.

Indicative Work Plan and Timeline:


The consultant will propose a detailed work plan showing the sequencing of activities, country-level engagements, review points and submission dates.

Required Consultant Qualifications and Experience:


The assignment may be undertaken by an individual consultant who should demonstrate:

  • A postgraduate qualification in international development, economics, social sciences, livelihoods, humanitarian studies, monitoring and evaluation or a related field.
  • At least 7 years of relevant experience in programme documentation, qualitative research, evaluation, learning or development programming.
  • Demonstrated understanding of the Graduation Approach, MSD, economic inclusion, livelihoods programming or graduation-oriented interventions.
  • Experience working with refugees, displaced populations or other vulnerable groups, preferably in urban settings.
  • Strong skills in qualitative research, case study development, outcome analysis and synthesis of quantitative and qualitative evidence.
  • Experience translating programme evidence into compelling donor-facing documents, investment cases, concept notes or resource mobilization products.
  • Strong analytical writing, editing, presentation and visualization skills.
  • Knowledge of ethical research, safeguarding, informed consent and data protection.
  • Ability to work independently, engage constructively with diverse stake-holders and deliver quality outputs within agreed timelines.
  • Experience working with international NGOs, foundations or institutional donors will be an advantage.

Application Requirements:


Interested consultants should submit:

  • A technical proposal outlining their understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, sampling approach, analysis plan, ethical safeguards and quality assurance arrangements.
  • A proposed work plan and timeline.
  • A financial proposal with professional fees, fieldwork expenses, travel, accommodation, applicable taxes and other anticipated costs clearly itemized.
  • A current CV demonstrating relevant qualifications and experience.
  • At least two examples of comparable assignments, preferably involving programme documentation, the Graduation Approach, MSD refugee livelihoods or donor-facing products.
  • Two professional references from relevant assignments.
  • A brief writing or portfolio sample demonstrating the ability to produce high-quality analytical and donor-facing outputs.

Ownership, Confidentiality and Use of Materials:


All reports, analytical products, process maps, photographs commissioned for the assignment, presentation materials and other deliverables produced under the consultancy will be subject to the ownership and intellectual property provisions of the consultancy contract.


The consultant must maintain confidentiality regarding project information and participant data and may not share, publish or use such information for other purposes without prior written authorization from IRC.


Any third-party materials used in the deliverables must be appropriately attributed and cleared for the intended use.

 

Quality Assurance and Acceptance Criteria:


All deliverables will be reviewed by IRC against the agreed scope and quality standards.

The final outputs must:

  • Accurately represent the Graduation Approach and MSD as implemented under Re:BUiLD.
  • Draw on credible and appropriately triangulated evidence.
  • Clearly distinguish verified findings, participant perceptions, emerging outcomes and limitations.
  • Include balanced participant profiles that reflect diverse experiences.
  • Provide specific, feasible and prioritized recommendations.
  • Translate findings into a clear and credible donor investment proposition.
  • Use accessible language, professional editing and appropriate visual presentation.
  • Meet agreed ethical, safeguarding, confidentiality and data protection requirements.
  • Incorporate consolidated feedback and be delivered in editable formats agreed with IRC.
  • Final acceptance will be confirmed by the designated IRC focal point.

NB: This advert will close on 6-Nov-26

Professional Standards: All International Rescue Committee workers must adhere to the core values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. Our Standards are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Safeguarding, Conflicts of Interest, Fiscal Integrity, and Reporting Wrongdoing and Protection from Retaliation. IRC is committed to take all necessary preventive measures and create an environment where people feel safe, and to take all necessary actions and corrective measures when harm occurs. IRC builds teams of professionals who promote critical reflection, power sharing, debate, and objectivity to deliver the best possible services to our clients.


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