Terms of Reference Shifting the Power Project Learning Review 1.2: How has the Shifting the Power Project influenced local and national partner s responses to emergencies? 1. Overview and background The current international humanitarian system, dominated by large international organizations, is being stretched to its limit. Dealing with growing frequency, unpredictability and complexity of emergencies, it appears increasingly unfit to deal with these challenges, let alone address future ones. One opportunity to address these is getting the balance right between international and local response. Local actors are the first and main responders after a disaster strikes: they know the context and speak the language; they are there, and will stay there long after international actors have left. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that partnerships with national and local organizations enhance the relevance, appropriateness, accountability and connectedness of humanitarian responses, and ensure better linking up of relief, rehabilitation and development. Despite this, the current system favors working with large international actors, who frequently ignore local and national actors. In response to this need six international organizations ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Tearfund, Concern and Oxfam are working together in the Shifting the Power (STP) project, which runs from January 2015 to December 2017. The project is supported by the United Kingdom s Department for International Development (DFID) through the visionary Disasters Emergency Preparedness Programme (DEPP), an ambitious suite of projects launched by the START Network to develop decentralized approaches to capacity building and to improve the quality and speed of humanitarian response. The STP project is supporting 55 local and national NGO partners in Bangladesh, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya and Pakistan who share the vision and ambition of playing a leading role in decision making and responding to crises in their countries and regions. This project aims to contribute to the development of a more balanced humanitarian system where local actors take their place alongside international actors. Creating this shift of power towards locally owned and led responses should increase the effectiveness and accountability of humanitarian assistance to disaster affected communities. To achieve this, shifting the Power is strengthening local and national organizational capacity for decision making and leadership in humanitarian response, supporting local organizations to have greater representation, voice and recognition in relevant networks and platforms, and at the same time influencing international organizations to promote the role of local and national actors. Specifically, the project is seeking to ensure that by December 2017:
1. 55 Local and national partners in Bangladesh, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya and Pakistan have the knowledge, skills, processes, and policies to prepare for and respond effectively to emergencies; 2. Local and national NGOs are better represented and have a stronger voice in relevant humanitarian platforms and networks; 3. The consortium member INGOs recognize and respond to local and national NGO capacity, leadership and voice; and 4. The project provides evidence of good practice in strengthening local and national NGO humanitarian preparedness and response work, and their role/ influence in humanitarian action. Capacity Strengthening of National and Local Organisations The STP project provides all partners with in-depth capacity strengthening support to strengthen their capacity to determine and deliver humanitarian preparedness and response. The project views capacity strengthening as a complex, evolving journey of internal change characterised by trust, collaboration and self-reflection. Although there are common steps in the process the journey is unique to each local organisation. All partner organisations started by conducting a 3-day capacity self-assessment workshop using the Strategic Humanitarian Assessment and Participatory Empowerment Framework (SHAPE). The SHAPE framework is a capacity assessment tool to analyse an organisation s strengths and gaps in relation to the organisation, their humanitarian capabilities and their voice and influence within the humanitarian system. The partners used the findings of the self-assessment workshop to develop their personalised capacity strengthening plan. Within each country the STP project analysed the organisations common needs and diverse capacities to develop a strategy to support partners. To date all 55 partner organisations have completed their planned capacity strengthening activities for the first year. The organisations have reported the following changes: - Humanitarian strategies, organisational systems and staff competencies to support humanitarian work were developed and strengthened. - Closer engagement and collaboration with coordination mechanisms and keys stakeholders. - Policy and advocacy engagements were initiated. - Organisational emergency preparedness plans were developed with some partners also contributing to local government-led contingency and response planning. - Partner organisations engaged in emergency responses participated in multi-agency and multi-sector needs assessments. - Developed successful emergency response proposals with some securing funding from country pooled funds and institutional donors for the first time. An earlier Learning Review was conducted to look at the first phase of the project and critically assessed the development, content and use of the SHAPE framework in terms of capacity assessments and prioritisation and capacity strengthening plans. Findings from this review will serve as the starting point for this learning review. 2. Objectives of the Review This review will focus on STP partners who have been involved in an emergency response during the project period. To date 25 partner organisations have responded and or are currently responding to emergencies including displacement due to conflict in DRC, flooding in Pakistan and Bangladesh and
drought in Kenya and Ethiopia. This review will explore how being part of the STP project has contributed to local organisations response to an emergency. As emergencies are unpredictable and there is no baseline evidence of partner s emergency responses at the start of the project, therefore this review will be based on the perceptions of the organisations themselves, disaster affected communities, STP agencies and key local humanitarian actors. It will look in depth at the value of the support partners have received through the capacity strengthening component. It will also identify other ways in which partners engagement in the STP project has influenced their emergency response, such as through participation in humanitarian coordination bodies or changes in their relationships with international members of the STP project. The review will be used to: Understand the effects of the STP project on partners emergency response work. Provide evidence to advocate for investment in local humanitarian capacity strengthening. Share learning and good practice in strengthening humanitarian capacity within the STP project, its international and local member organisations, START and the wider sector. Provide recommendations on the design of a potential future phase of the STP project. Identify any critical adjustments required for the final months of the programme. The review has 4 key objectives: 1. To assess the extent to which local organisations in the 5 STP countries have improved their knowledge, skills, policies and processes to respond effectively to emergencies. 2. To capture evidence of good practice in strengthening local organisations capacity to respond to emergencies. 3. To identify opportunities and innovations (at the partner, country and global levels) which could strengthen the STP project s approach in relation to emergency response. As response to these objectives the following questions will be answered (along with other research questions identified by the Consultant in the Inception Plan): How has the STP project s approach and methodology supported or challenged partners emergency response work? Are there specific capacity strengthening activities which have contributed most to improving partners emergency response work? How do partners and other stakeholders perceive the STP project s impact on partner s emergency response work in comparison with other capacity strengthening initiatives? How could the capacity strengthening support be improved to ensure it is more relevant to emergency response? This review only includes partners who have been involved in emergency responses. It is not a review of their emergency response work or a review of individual partner organisations capacity. Information on individual partners will be analysed to build a picture of the overall project. However, any partner specific recommendations will be captured in a separate supplementary note. 3. Stakeholders The primary stakeholders for the evaluation are the START Shifting the Power project and the DEPP. The evaluation findings and recommendations will be shared with the START Network and member agencies for wider circulation. We will also share the report with other organisations with a special interest in capacity development and partnerships with local organisations in emergencies. The final report and the management response will be published on the DEPP website and any interested
consortium member agency and partner s websites subject to sensitive information. The evaluation report will also be available on the ALNAP website. 4. Expected approach to the review We are seeking a consultant(s) to lead us through a process that can address the above questions and provide an analysis as well as examples of good practice and learning that can be shared more widely. To do this, we are anticipating that the review would include: Desk-based research: reviewing existing documentation, including SHAPE framework review, partner capacity assessments and capacity strengthening plans, reports and case studies; consultations/workshops/advocacy events proceedings; relevant Shifting the Power project and DEPP studies. Consultation, focus group discussions and interviews with project staff and partners and discussions with key stakeholders and non-depp stakeholders, including field visits and remote engagement with partners. Workshop to present initial findings, identify lessons learned and draw up recommendations. This review will happen during the same timeframe as a STP project review on improving representation, voice and influence of local NGOS. The Consultants for these reviews will be expected to collaborate closely to ensure that the reviews are complementary (the timeline, and geographical coverage will be coordinated among others). A detailed methodology and a work plan will be agreed by the consultant and the Review Steering Committee during the inception phase. 5. Timeline and deliverables We are planning to begin this review by the end of June and it should be completed by 1 September 2017. The methodology and process for the review will be agreed with the STP team, and should include the following deliverables: The dates for each output will be confirmed by the Review Steering Committee and the Consultant during the inception phase. There is a small degree of flexibility within these deadlines. The outputs will be in English. The outputs are: An Inception Plan following meeting with project staff and other key stakeholders (max 8 pages) by 30 June 2017 (this should include review questions, stakeholders, proposed methodology and timeline) Workshops to share initial findings from country visits with partners and staff A draft report of findings and recommendations by 1 August 2017. A consultation workshop to present initial findings and provide feedback on learnings and recommendations with the project team and other key stakeholders A UK consultation workshop to gather feedback 1 on the draft by 18 August: A final report (maximum 30 pages) by 1 September 2017 comprising: - Table of contents - Executive summary including highest priority recommendations (max 4 pages) - Evaluation methodology - Findings - Conclusions 1 This workshop will seek to include feedback from partners and staff who participated in the evaluation and for them to participate remotely as possible.
- Prioritised recommendations (max 4 pages) - Annexes (including partner feedback, bibliography and list of people interviewed). - Any partner specific issues will be included in a separate supplementary note which will not be published. - High quality case studies for external communications and learning, these should include photographs and stories from key stakeholders 6. Management Arrangements The Consultant will report to the Review Steering Group, this will include the STP Project Manager (ActionAid International London), Capacity Strengthening Advisor (Tearfund, Pakistan) and Humanitarian Capacity Development Manager (CAFOD, London). The CAFOD HCD Manager will be their main point of contact. The Shifting the Power Project Team based in ActionAid International will provide relevant documentation, contact information and support the logistical arrangements. The STP project team, with the support from the Review Steering Group, will coordinate feedback on the draft version of the report, seek approval for the final report, coordinate the management response and pay the consultant. For the field visits the Consultant will have direct contact with the STP project teams in that country. The country STP project team will liaise with the other member organisations, partner organisations and staff to organise workshops, interviews, field visits, in-country logistics, security and feedback at country level. 7. Expected background and experience We are looking for a consultant(s) with extensive knowledge of and experience in developing and or reviewing advocacy and influencing projects or organisational capacity development, particularly in the humanitarian sector. More specifically, applicants should have: At least 5 years experience in the humanitarian sector, ideally on monitoring and evaluation, research and/or participatory reviews A strong understanding of organisational capacity strengthening strategies and approaches Experience or familiarity with the concepts and thinking around the localisation of aid, particularly organisational power, influence and voice Ability to facilitate a learning workshop/event and to think strategically and provide clear and practical recommendations Experience with multi-country reviews and stakeholder engagement Fluency in French is desirable Applications from individuals in countries where the project is being implemented are welcome. 8. Budget The total budget available for this review is 10,000 (excluding workshop costs). 9. Application process If you are interested to apply, please submit an Expression of Interest (EoI), which should include: Your CV Short proposal (3-5 pages) including a brief description of anticipated activities, indicative timeline and budget
Three references Examples of similar work, including research or evaluation reports Please send the EoI package by e-mail to Nikita Samaratunga (nikita.samaratunga@actionaid.org) All submissions must be received on or before 12 June. Successful applicants will be contacted for an interview which will be held on 15 June. Thank you.