Vulnerability Assessment and Resilience (Internationnal Consultancy)

Programmatically, the assessment will cover the vulnerabilities related to the areas of: - Health/HIV/AIDS: access and quality of child and maternal care including availability of PTME services ; - Nutrition: Nutritional status and access to CMAM - WASH: Access to drinking water; Availability of WASH infrastructure in schools and health centers; - Education: Access and quality of basic education; - Protection: Birth registration, child labor or exploitation, GBV, The evaluation, which will cover a period of 15 weeks from 15 August to 20 December 2017, will concern the following municipalities: East: Batouri, Kette, Ndélélé and Kentzou in Kadey department; Betaré Oya, Garoua Boulai, Mandjou and Ngoura in Lom & Djerem department Adamawa: Meiganga, Djohong and Ngaoui in Mbere department North: Bibemi, Dembo, Lagdo and Touroua in Benoue Department; Guider and Mayo Oulo in Mayo Louti Department; Touboro and Rey Bouba in Mayo Rey Department; Beka and Poli in Faro Department Far-North: Fotokol, Kousseri, Makari, Logone Birni, Blangoua, Waza, Zina and Goulfey in Logone & Chari Department; Kolofata and Mora in Mayo Sava Department; Koza, Mozogo and Mokolo in Mayo Tsanaga Department. It will remain limited to the geographical areas mentioned above. Since resilience strategies have already been developed for the North and Far North regions, a resilience strategy will only be developed for the East and Adamawa regions through this consultancy.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Vulnerability Assessment and Resilience Consultancy

PURPOSE OF THE International CONSULTANCY

The regions of the Far North, North, Adamawa and East are facing major humanitarian crises related to conflicts in the Lake Chad Basin with Boko Haram and the civil war in the CAR. These conflicts have led to large inflows of refugees and returnees into Cameroon aggravating the vulnerability of populations (host and refugees) and overloading already weak basic social services. Under the guidance and supervision of the Field Operations and Emergency Coordinator, the consultant will establish and implement Cameroon’s vulnerability assessment map through an integrated analysis of the four regions. The Consultant will produce a strategic document to outline and assess vulnerabilities related to Child Protection, Health & HIV/AIDS, Nutrition, Education, WASH and other socio-economic problems, and propose corrective measures to respond rapidly and efficiently to them through the UNICEF mandate and section priorities.　　

This consultancy targets host communities and out-of-camp refugees living in the most affected areas mentioned below. The results of this consultancy will allow the Government and humanitarian actors including UNICEF, as main users, to better adapt and direct humanitarian interventions.

BACKGROUND

Boko Haram’s escalating violence is causing widespread suffering in the Lake Chad Basin particularly in the Far North of Cameroon. Despite international mobilization aimed at stopping the expansion and impact of Boko Haram, the group continues to attack innocent people and create suffering in the entire region. In Cameroon, Boko Haram’s incursions have resulted in the influx of thousands of refugees, the destruction and pillaging of Cameroonian villages and the displacement of thousands of Cameroonian citizens. The Round 7 for IOM DTM estimates that there are 223,642 IDPs and more than 30,593 non registered refugees particularly in the areas close to the Nigerian border where there is a lack of humanitarian access and high security risks and instability. The majority of this population is located in the Logone and Chari department (Fotokol, Makary, Blangoua, Hile Halifa, Kousseri etc.).

　The East and Adamawa regions continue to face the demographic and social pressures of the CAR refugee crisis along with a drastic reduction of aid. At the end of April, 247,000 Central African refugees were disseminated among the East (180,000) and Adamawa (67,000), with a majority presence in the host communities (178,000 refugees, 72%). In terms of migration dynamics, the influx of refugees to Cameroon has dropped considerably this year with about 500 refugees registered since January 2017 (Including 80 in Touboro and the rest in Betaré Oya). Return is not expected due to the prevailing conflict in the CAR. In fact, the flaring up of the CAR crisis over the last few weeks could significantly increase the influx.

　OBJECTIVE / OBJECTIF

General objectives:

　The Consultant will develop a strategic document assessing the vulnerability of populations living in vulnerable locations and facing major humanitarian crises in the Far North, East, North, and Adamawa. In addition, they will facilitate the development of a strategy for strengthening resilience for the Eastern and Adamawa regions

　Specific Objectives:

 

• Identify, quantify, prioritize and map the vulnerabilities that host communities and refugees are facing in the Far North, North, East, and Adamawa with an emphasis on Health, Nutrition, WASH, Education, Child Protection.

 

 

 

• Draw up recommendations to prepare for and respond to the identified vulnerabilities and propose a strategic framework and action plan for the implementation of recommendations for each regions.

 

 

 

• Identify and analyze local adaptation strategies developed by communities and social services to face the CAR Crisis the regions of East and Adamawa;　

 

 

 

• Define strategic lines for the strengthening of the resilience in the East and Adamawa regions taking into account:

 

 

• 1.  

  2. sustainable strategies to reduce risks and vulnerabilities;

  3.  

      

  4. needs of local capacity building for communities and local structures;

  5.  

      

  6. mobilization of endogenous resources;

  7.  

      

  8. local partnership opportunities;

  9.  

      

  10. Existing/ongoing interventions.

  11.  

 

 

• Make recommendations for a risk-informed program resilience based on the analysis of vulnerabilities and risks to the UNICEF Office.

 

 

　ACTIVITIES, DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINES, PLUS BUDGET PER DELIVERABLE

EVALUATION SCOPE

　Programmatically, the assessment will cover the vulnerabilities related to the areas of:

•  

• Health/HIV/AIDS: access and quality of child and maternal care including availability of PTME services ;

•  

   

• Nutrition: Nutritional status and access to CMAM

•  

   

• WASH: Access to drinking water; Availability of WASH infrastructure in schools and health centers;

•  

   

• Education: Access and quality of basic education;

•  

   

• Protection: Birth registration, child labor or exploitation, GBV,

•  

The evaluation, which will cover a period of 15 weeks from 15 August to 20 December 2017, will concern the following municipalities:

East: Batouri, Kette, Ndélélé and Kentzou in Kadey department; Betaré Oya, Garoua Boulai, Mandjou and Ngoura in Lom & Djerem department

Adamawa: Meiganga, Djohong and Ngaoui in Mbere department

North: Bibemi, Dembo, Lagdo and Touroua in Benoue Department; Guider and Mayo Oulo in Mayo Louti Department; Touboro and Rey Bouba in Mayo Rey Department; Beka and Poli in Faro Department

Far-North: Fotokol, Kousseri, Makari, Logone Birni, Blangoua, Waza, Zina and Goulfey in Logone & Chari Department; Kolofata and Mora in Mayo Sava Department; Koza, Mozogo and Mokolo in Mayo Tsanaga Department.

It will remain limited to the geographical areas mentioned above.

Since resilience strategies have already been developed for the North and Far North regions, a resilience strategy will only be developed for the East and Adamawa regions through this consultancy.

EVALUATION FRAMEWORK

Questions and Assessment Criteria

i. What are the social vulnerability factors that most critically affect host communities and out-of-camp refugees?

In other words, what are the most critical deprivations in the areas of education, health, child and women's protection, WASH and Nutrition, which communities affected by humanitarian crises face? What is the extent of each identified vulnerability or deprivation? Which categories of populations are most affected, i.e. are there more deprivations specific to women or children (boys and girls)?

ii. What are the sustainable and efficient measures recommended to reduce or eliminate these vulnerabilities?

Following your analysis to point (i) above, what specific, sustainable and efficient measures do you recommend to reduce or eliminate the most critical deprivations in the areas of education, health, child and women's protection, WASH and Nutrition, which communities affected by humanitarian crises face? What key measures do you recommend for the most affected categories of populations? How will you prioritize the recommendations in the short, medium and long term?

iii. What are the main strategic axes and approaches to consider for the reinforcement of community resilience in the regions of the East and Adamawa facing the influx of Central African Refugees?

What are the strategies to use to mitigate and reduce risks and vulnerabilities? What are the sustainable strategies that humanitarian actors should prioritize to enable communities to better adapt to the refugee crisis?

METHODOLOGY

The methodology would include the following steps:

 

• Documentary review: the Consultant will have to use the key documents relevant to the realization of the strategic document to be proposed at the end of the Consultancy taking into account all risks and vulnerability and proposed corrective measures to mitigate them.

 

 

 

• Consults with the UNICEF Management on guidance including on the methodological approaches.

 

 

 

• Holds discussions with the UNICEF Regional Office (WCARO) through conference-call, including the discussion of experiences from other countries, the outputs, the objectives, targeting populations etc.

 

 

 

• Discusses with the Chief of Field Operations and Emergencies, Head of Field Offices, the Program Managers in Yaoundé and the field on the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the interventions / strategies to be proposed.

 

 

 

• Visits affected communities in the Far North, North, East and Adamawa to discuss/collect the relevant information for the risks and vulnerability assessment.

 

 

 

• Meets with host communities and refugees living in communities: holds focus groups with community leaders, with women, and children;

 

 

 

• Meets with social service providers or managers (health agents, teachers, …)

 

 

 

• Discusses with other stakeholders involved in humanitarian activities: publics services, NGOs, civil society. The consultant should particularly focus on working with UNHCR and other UN agencies such as WFP, WHO, …;

 

 

 

• Finalizes and shares the first draft with Chief of Field Operations and Emergencies, as well as Sub-Offices before presentation of the final document.

 

 

In other words, the consultant should involve communities, local authorities, humanitarian and development organizations at all levels of the assessment process. To this end, the consultant will elaborate a participative questionnaire for the assessment data collection with the communities, local partners and Government entities.　

In terms of statistical methods, the consultant should use mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative analysis. The choice of statistical techniques to be used is left to the discretion of the consultant in close consultation with the Chief Field Operations and Emergencies.

WORKPLAN AND EVALUATION MANAGEMENT

Proposed Schedule of Deliverables:

Inception Report : By end of　 1^st week, 2017

Draft questionnaire document for data collection and 1^st strategy document for UNICEF review : By end of　 2^nd week　 2017

Data gathering : By end of 14^th week 2017

Finalized the Consultancy document taking into account all vulnerabilities and proposed mitigation measures :　 By end of 16^th week 2017

The consultant report should not go over 40 to 60 pages.

UNICEF will facilitate the consultant's work by supporting the organization of inception meetings, consultations, focus groups, and internal and external feedback meetings.

The preliminary results of the evaluation will be shared with the country office for review and then presented at a workshop with key stakeholders for review and finalization before being submitted for validation and dissemination. The final report will be posted on the SharePoint and shared with all stakeholders and the regional office.

Applicants are invited to consider all ethical aspects of this consultancy. To do so, it is encouraged to consult the guidelines provided for this purpose by following the following link: http://www.uneval.org/document/detail/102

Payment terms

The remuneration of the consultant will be based on the principles in the UN system applied in Cameroon.

Thus, the consultant will benefit from a 10% advance in the beginning, 30% at the end of information gathering activities, 40% on delivery of the preliminary report, accompanied by the strategic plan to implement the recommendations, and finally 20% when the final report is filed.

KEY SKILLS, TECHNICAL BACKROUND AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

The consultant must have the following qualifications:

 

• Have a minimum university degree of Master 2, Bac + 5, in the social sciences or other recognized equivalent courses;

 

 

 

• At least 8 years' professional experience in the performance of evaluation missions with proven cases of humanitarian assessments and at least one vulnerability assessment case;

 

 

 

• Have proven experience in qualitative and quantitative analysis of data;

 

 

 

• Have significant experience in strategic planning, design and management of humanitarian or development projects;

 

 

 

• A solid knowledge of humanitarian response, particularly the management of refugee crises;

 

 

 

• A diploma or certificate in assessment would be an asset;

 

 

 

• Fluent French and English;

 

 

 

• Excellent writing skills;

 

 

 

• Have experience working with UNICEF or other agencies in the UN system.

 

 

DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

Candidates for this consultancy should submit:

- A detailed CV that includes the duration of assignments and details on their skills,

- A technical offer: consisting of a document of 5 to 7 pages maximum where the consultants explain

(i) The interpretation of the Terms of Reference;

(Ii) The methodology envisaged to answer the evaluation questions and criteria;

(Iii) A work plan and deliverables as well as detailed deadlines.

- An estimated budget of all costs related to the consultancy.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications should be done online.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted by the competent services of the UNICEF Cameroon office.

QUALIFIED FEMALE NOMINATIONS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED.

　CRITERES D’EVALUATION

L’UNICEF retiendra l’offre du candidat ayant obtenu la meilleure note globale (note technique + note financière), une note supérieure ou égale à 75/100. Ces offres seront notées selon les critères ci-dessous :

1 / EVALUATION TECHNQUE (75/100 points)

Qualifications/ Expériences - 15 Points

– Qualifications académiques (1)

– Qualifications et les connaissances dans le domaine (2)

– Expériences des projets similaires (2)

– Avantage comparative avec les autres candidats (2)

– Expériences passes avec UN/UNICEF et durée de l’expérience (2)

– Langage: Maitrise du Français (2)

– Maitrise de l’Anglais (2)

– Accepter de faire des missions terrain (2)

Réponses - 5 points

– Complétude de la réponse (2)

– Concordance entre les TDR, la proposition et l’offre technique (3)

Méthodologie et approche proposes - 50 points

– Approche/ Techniques proposes pour la réalisation du travail (méthodologie, chronogramme, résultats par étapes) (30)

–　 Méthodologie pour la phase d’induction (15)

– Innovations (5)

2/ EVALUATION FINANCIERE (25/100 points)

Description - 20 points

– Pertinence en fonction de la proposition faite par la section (4)

– Pertinence des différentes étapes budgétisées par rapport aux livrables attendus (6)

– Réalisme dans l’évaluation des couts (5)

– Toutes les étapes budgétisées (5)

Réponses - 5 points

– Complétude des réponses (2)

– Concordance entre les TDR, les livrables et l’offre technique (3)

　NB: l'offre financière doit être envoyée uniquement à l'adresse à　yaoundesupply@unicef.org.