Oxfam Resilience Research and Development of Resilience Advocacy Strategy Consultancy in Nairobi, Kenya

Terms of Reference for Resilience Research and Development of Resilience Advocacy Strategy for Oxfam in the Horn East and Central Africa (HECA) – based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Location: Nairobi

Region: HECA
 

Division: International

Job Type: Consultancy
 

Time Frame: 2 months (March to April  2015 )

Oxfam in HECA has an exciting opportunity for a qualified consultant. Oxfam operates in 10 countries in Horn East and Central Africa region. Oxfam works to overcome poverty and suffering. 

Oxfam’s main change goals between 2013 and 2019 are around the following areas;
 

1. The Right to be Heard: More women, young people and other poor and marginalised people will exercise their civil and political rights to influence decision-making by engaging with governments and by holding governments and businesses accountable to respect their rights
 

2. Gender Justice: More poor and marginalised women will claim and advance their rights through the engagement and leadership of women and their organisations and violence against women is significantly less socially acceptable and prevalent
 

3. Saving Lives, Now and in the Future: Fewer men, women and children will die or suffer illness, insecurity and deprivation by reducing the impact of natural disasters and conflict. Those most at risk will have exercised their right to have their fundamental needs met and to be free from violence and coercion and to take control of their own lives in dignity
 

4. Sustainable Food: More people who live in rural poverty will enjoy greater food security, income, prosperity and resilience through significantly more equitable sustainable food systems
 

5. Fair Sharing of Natural Resources: The world’s most marginalised people will be significantly more prosperous and resilient, despite rising competition for land, water, food and energy sources and stress on climate
 

6. Finance for Development and Universal Essential Services: There will be higher quality and quantity of financial flows that target poverty and inequality and empower citizens, especially women, to hold governments, donors and private sector to account for how revenue is raised and spent. 

More women and men, girls and boys will exercise their right to universal quality health and education services, making them full participants in their communities and strengthening the economic, social and democratic fabric of their societies
 

Oxfam in this region works on the above aims through responding to humanitarian crises, undertaking longer term development work and making this work more effective through campaigning and policy influence. 

The Campaigns and Policy team is inter alia responsible for advocacy and policy work around the main change goals being implemented in the region through regional engagement, linkages and collaboration with regional institutions and actors such as IGAD among others as well as plays a pivotal role in being a link between Oxford and country programmes.
 

The region has experienced cyclical droughts and food insecurity over the years and as a result regional governments have formed a platform within the Intergovernmental Authority on development (IGAD) called IGAD Drought and Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) which basically seeks to support countries in the horn to become resilient towards crisises especially those related to drought. 

The IDDRSI platform has since developed regional and country programme plans (RPP and CPPs respectively) which are to be the avenues through which governments will implement strategies to combat drought and become resilient to shocks.

Oxfam has through various ways been part of the process of the development of the RPP and CPPs and is considered as a member of the IGAD Steering Committee that guides IGAD on this platform. However, this involvement has been on an adhoc basis and not well coordinated at all levels.

Oxfam would like to do an assessment of what progress has been done by the IDDRSI platform, as well as the Steering Committee, especially in areas identified by CSOs in the CPPs and RPP as being weak and also put forward recommendations how CSOs and Oxfam in particular could add more value towards more effective implementation of the initiative as well as recommendations to other players within IDDRSI.
 

At the same time Oxfam in the region has developed a resilience plan/strategy through which we would like to implement our resilience work to contribute to resilience building in the region.

In this respect, Oxfam would like to develop an advocacy strategy that helps the organisation to do effective advocacy for the next one year – three years while at the same time we would like the consultant to make some suggestions towards updating the current HECA resilience plan/strategy.

Oxfam would also like to get a sense of other existing regional and national policy initiatives on resilience since the 2011-2012 and what they are focusing on and what progress they have made so far in the region.

Objectives of the Consultancy

• The following are the main objectives of the research work to be undertaken


• Undertake a deep analysis of the IDDRSI platform and its implementating structures and assess ;

1. Progress to date in terms of implementation of RPP and CPPs by various actors especially the member states, CSOs and others as appropriate


2. Progress of the Steering Committee in relation to their terms of reference


3. Progress on areas recommended by CSOs and others especially in relation to embedding community participation in the IDDRSI plans implementation mechanisms and on actual delivery, harnessing effective partnerships in resilience building, strengthening coordination and alignment at all layers of the process especially the national and local governments levels, and consensus on robust indicators for measures of success


4. Embedding of the recommendations from Oxfam’s dangerous delay report of 2012


5. Funding and how this has been accessed (from who and in what form (loan, grants etc) and how it’s being used and any challenges thereof

• Undertake a lighter assessment of all other existing resilience policy initiatives that have unfolded in the Horn and East Africa since 2011- 2012 with the same parameters as IDDRSI objective above


• Review and make suggestions for an updated HECA resilience strategy/plan and


• Develop clear regional resilience advocacy strategy together with Oxfam teams – immediate and midterm – 1-2 years looking at all areas of work including, pastoralism, food security and its links to conflict, Early Warning, Early Action (EWEA), and mainly targeting IGAD, EAC, the African Development Bank, and other relevant regional initiatives and private sector.

Methodology: This will involve desk top study of the information already existing, some of which will be provided by Oxfam – internal – and others will be sourced through the internet e.g. on IGAD IDDRSI, interviews and meetings (mostly virtual)by consultant through known contacts in IGAD and other institutions by the consultant. 

The documents to be assessed include but not limited to;

1. RPP


2. CPPs


3. Various official reports from IDDRSI since launch in 2013


4. Official reports from IGAD IDDRSI steering Committee


5. Other relevant government reports on resilience since 2013


6. Relevant reports by CSOs on resilience since 2013


7. Oxfam’s regional resilience plan


8. Oxfam’s regional draft pastoralism strategy


9. Other Oxfam’s resilience reports since 2013


10. Relevant donor reports since 2013


11. AEWA Publication


12. Oxfam Strategic plan 2013- 2019


13. Oxfam’s HECA Vision


14. Oxfam’s Inequality of Risk Publication


15. Dangerous Delay Report


16. Oxfam Inequality Report

There will also be some face to face meetings both within Oxfam and with various stakeholders such as IGAD secretariat, IGAD member states reps, CSOs reps, communities’ reps, donors, academia, research institutions, other resilience policy initiatives and other relevant stakeholders and all these contacts will be listed for authenticity of the report.

Key outputs and Outcomes 

• Several meetings organised to gather information from various stakeholders (Oxfam and external) and to validate report 


• An Executive Summary Report (5-6 pages) and a Main Report – not exceeding 30 pages with a format to be agreed prior to the commencement of the study with key recommendations as key part of both reports


• A detailed short term advocacy strategy – six months to an year and a more broader midterm advocacy strategy for use by Oxfam and its partners to influence IGAD and its partners for effective implementation of IDDRSI initiative plans. 


• Key suggestions for updating the Oxfam’s regional Resilience strategy/plan 

Essentials 

• Excellent understanding of resilience building in the drylands especially the Horn and east Africa in general 


• Understanding of the policy context in member states in the IGAD region as well as understanding of programming on the issue in the region 


• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement an advocacy strategy effectively 


• Considerable experience of working at field level in development work in a number of different and challenging contexts including sustainable development, community managed disaster risk reduction (CMDRR), climate change adaptation, drought disaster preparedness and resilience, and policy and advocacy work. 


• Ability to work with partner organisations in resilience policy work good analytical, written and communication skills. 


• Ability to confidently analyse and to articulate resilience policy work to a number of audiences including Oxfam and its partners 


• Interact with a wide cross section of people including drought disaster-affected individuals at local level and senior government officials at all levels in HECA region drawing experiences from previous work in community level policy and resilience work. 


• An understanding of donors, how they work and the donor landscape in the region

Desirable 

• Strategic planning background and experience with undertaking studies, baselines or evaluation of projects for reputable organizations 


• Excellent understanding of resilience building in the drylands 


• Experience in cross border programming and multi-country analysis

Competencies and Skills 

• Critical information gathering and analytical thinking 


• Initiative and drive to achieve results


• Supporting others, interpersonal awareness and good communication skills 


• Self awareness, adaptable and flexible 


• Thorough understanding of region and political landscape 


• Diplomacy, tact, good representational and negotiation skills 


• A thorough understanding of drylands issues, emergency response and policy arena 


• Ability to analyse, interpret and act on complex information from varied and diverse sources 


• Resource mobilization and management skills 


• Development of advocacy strategies, briefs and messages skills

Qualifications

• Post graduate qualifications and over 10 years demonstrated relevant experience in development related work in the Horn and East Africa region

How to Apply

Application Deadline: 27th February, 2015