Individual Consultancy for Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the 2nd Phase of the implementation of ‘IGAD’s Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) Strategy

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

Home-based/Remote

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) – INDIVIDUAL Consultancy

For

Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the 2nd Phase of the implementation of ‘IGAD’s Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) Strategy (Sept 2019 to Sept 2024)

Background

1.1 Features of the IGAD Region

The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a regional economic community (REC) that forms one of the building blocks of the African Union. It comprises eight Member States, namely: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, which face interlinked challenges and share the common objective of advancing their development and achieving regional integration.

Located in the Horn of Africa, the IGAD region covers an area of 5.2 million km2, has a population of more than 250 million people and is endowed with a considerable range of natural resources, with a huge potential for wealth and progress. Despite this great potential, IGAD Member States are struggling to cope with the vagaries of harsh and worsening ecological circumstances. About 70% of the IGAD region comprises areas commonly known as arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), which receive less than 600mm in annual rainfall; and are characterised by recurrent droughts. Following four consecutive poor rainy seasons since 2020, October to December (2022) season recorded drier than usual conditions over coastal Sudan, and in the equatorial and southern parts of the region, with enhanced probabilities over eastern Kenya and southern parts Somalia. Even though wetter-than-usual conditions were assessed over central to eastern South Sudan and parts of central, western and north-eastern Ethiopia, the overall rainfall situation in the region was poor. These alarming trends for the fifth season have significantly impacted the livelihoods of the people in the region and the natural resource basis that support their livelihood in the long run.

1.2 Establishment of IDDRSI and its key features

The IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) emerged due to the 2010-2011 drought that prompted a paradigm shift regarding how to respond to disasters. As a result, a historic decision was made by the leaders of the countries in the Horn of Africa region and development partners, in a special summit held in September 2011, in Nairobi, Kenya, which had been convened to discuss the severe drought that was devastating the region at that time. Aware that achieving the objective of ending drought emergencies in the IGAD region would entail strategic and long-term interventions in coordinated actions with enhanced partnerships at national, regional and international levels, the Nairobi Summit assigned the IGAD Secretariat the role of leading and coordinating the implementation of IDDRSI.

Within its assignment to lead and coordinate the implementation of the IDDRSI, the IGAD Secretariat initiated a consultative, participatory process to develop the IDDRSI Strategy to guide the region’s interventions to end drought emergencies, build drought resilience and attain sustainable development. The IDDRSI Strategy, with its identified priority intervention areas, was subsequently translated by IGAD Member States into their respective Country Programming Papers (CPPs) for activities at the national level and the Regional Programming Paper (RPP), for interventions planned at the regional level, including cross-border areas.

Development Partners agreed to re-align their support with the principles of the IDDRSI Strategy and reaffirmed their commitment to support the country and regional efforts based on CPPs and the RPP. The seven IGAD Member States developed their respective CPPs in a coordinated, concerted manner, using a common architecture of identified priorities in areas of intervention, with specific nationally determined variations dependent on local priorities, policy focus, funding environment and institutional arrangements.

The IDDRSI Platform provides the modalities through which the region’s priorities and possibilities for intervention aimed at achieving the objectives of IDDRSI are collectively discussed by affected countries and development partners; and is an effective mechanism by which the implementation of IDDRSI is coordinated. The Platform brings together the partners and stakeholders, including Member States, Development Partners and implementing Partners, UN agencies, Civil Society and specialised research and training institutions, and the IGAD Secretariat and its specialised institutions. The IGAD Secretariat, working with Member States and Development Partners, developed the platform’s institutional arrangements, regulations and management structure. The Regional Platform is made up of the IDDRSI Platform General Assembly, which comprises members at the ministerial level and provides overall strategic guidance and makes decisions on investment plans and proposals; the IDDRSI Platform Steering Committee, whose members comprise senior policy officials and national experts, that guides the Regional Platform on policy issues and oversees the implementation of the drought resilience initiative; and the IDDRSI Platform Coordination Unit (PCU), which is embedded within the Office of the Executive Secretary in the IGAD Secretariat and is charged with the responsibility to lead, promote, manage and coordinate activities in the implementation of IDDRSI. The core mandate of the PCU is to lead and coordinate the implementation of interventions within IDDRSI, namely through capacity building and enhancing coordination & partnerships, regional programming, Knowledge Management (KM) and Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E).

At national and regional levels, coordination mechanisms linking all drought resilience-enhancing sectors and stakeholders, which are required for the effective implementation of IDDRSI, have been established in all the seven IGAD Member States under the general coordination of the IGAD Secretariat through the IDDRSI Platform Coordination Unit. An inter-ministerial – National Experts Panel was established at the national level to serve as a technical advisory unit to the National IDDRSI Steering Committee.  Furthermore, sub-national IDDRSI Coordination Mechanisms were established to coordinate local-level resilience investment by government and non-state actors.

While there is consensus amongst IGAD Member States on the criteria and attributes that characterise an efficient mechanism for coordinating the implementation of IDDRSI, the national coordination arrangements differ in a number of ways, including the hosting ministries, the support the government accords the coordination efforts and the relevance and involvement of the coordination centre in government programmes. The IDDRSI coordination mechanisms currently in use to mobilise, organise and harmonise activities that contribute to the implementation of IDDRSI in the IGAD region are continuously being reviewed and refined to improve efficiency, include all stakeholders and ensure alignment with all sectors, as would be demanded by the holistic nature of IDDRSI. Although individual governments are responsible for implementing drought resilience interventions in their respective countries, ensuring that achieving the impact of enhanced resilience and sustainability is the shared, collective concern of all countries in the region.

1.3 IDDRSI Implementation Plans and Priority Areas

The IDDRSI Strategy was developed as a 15-year proposition for implementation in three 5-year phases, with a design feature of a review at the end of each phase to assess the status, relevance and effectiveness of implementation and inform prescriptions for subsequent phases. The first phase of the IDDRSI Strategy spanned the period 2013 – 2017 (extended to 2018), and its implementation was extensively reviewed, assessed and analysed at regional and national levels in a broadly participatory process that generated recommendations based on which the IDDRSI Strategy for the period 2019 – 2024 was prepared. The Strategy guides the process of implementing the drought resilience initiative at the national, regional and international levels, united and harmonised under the overall coordination and leadership of the IGAD Secretariat. The implementation of IDDRSI in cross-border areas accentuates its appeal as an effective framework for inter-state cooperation to pioneer the concept of ecological zone development and powers regional integration.

The current phase of the IDDRSI Strategy has the following Priority Intervention Areas:

PIA 1: Natural Resources and Environmental Management

PIA 2: Market Access, Trade and Financial Services

PIA 3: Enhanced Production and Livelihoods Diversification

PIA 4: Disaster Risk Management

PIA 5: Research, Knowledge Management and Technology Transfer

PIA 6: Peace Building, Conflict Prevention and Resolution

PIA 7: Coordination, Institutional Strengthening and Partnerships

PIA 8: Human Capital, Gender and Social Development

The IDDRSI Priority Intervention Areas strongly reflect the IGAD strategy, African Union Agenda and SDGs.

The IDDRSI PIAs were implemented through flagship projects financed jointly by the Member States and international financing organisations such as the World Bank (Regional Pastoral Livelihood and Resilience Project) and AfDB (Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihood Project), government-funded, and several country-level projects funded by Development Partners, and which supported the implementation of IDDRSI.

The fifteen years strategy has an in-built and self-correcting mechanism through which improvements in the phased implementation of IDDRSI can be sustained for its continued relevance and efficiency.

Hence, in line with a unified and result-based monitoring and evaluation system of IDDRSI that tracks the performance of resilience investment in the region, IGAD is looking for qualified consultants to undertake a mid-term review of the Second Phase of IDDRSI (Sept 2019 to Sept 2024) on the terms and conditions as specified in this ToR.

The Main Objectives of the Assignment:

The overall objective of the assignment is to conduct the mid-term review (MTR) of the Second Phase of the IDDRSI Strategy 2019-2024. The MTR is expected to assess the progress in implementing IDDRSI as specified in the IDDRSI regional M&E framework harmonised with the CPPs and the Regional Programming Paper. The resulting MTR report will be a learning and accountability document for the IDDRSI initiative. The review will determine why certain results occurred or not to draw lessons and derive good practices and learning by the key stakeholders.

The MTR will address the following specific objectives.

  • Assess the progress of the IDDRSI Platform, focusing on its core regional functions of the strategy (cf. scope of work).
    • Assess the progress of the Country Programming Papers in seven Member States focusing on the Priority Intervention Areas in respective countries through the contribution of resilience projects in the ASALs in reducing food and income insecurity among vulnerable smallholder households in the context of increasing climatic risks and climate variability, COVID-19, Desert Locust migration and other man-made challenges.
  • Review and identify key strategic issues, risks, and assumptions.
  • Assess how efficiently resources have been utilized at regional and national levels.
  • Review the contribution of IDDRSI’s institutional architecture resilience building at regional, national and sub-national levels.
  • Assess the synergy among regional humanitarian, peace and development initiatives.
  • Lay the foundations for the full assessment at the end of 2024, including indicators and evidence upon which the final evaluation of Phase 2 of IDDRSI will be based.
  • Make Recommendations to set the initiative on track to achieve its intended results.

2.2 Scope of Work

The scope of the MTR will focus on the following elements:

  • Assess the progress and performance at the regional level, emphasizing priority intervention areas 5 and 7 (coordination, institutional strengthening, knowledge management, regional programming, monitoring and evaluation, partnership and resource mobilization).
  • Performance of CPPs at the Member States level; alignment of the CPPs with the National Development Plans, the performance of 8 Priority Areas (see section 1.3), including initiatives in the cross-border areas.
  • Assess the performance of flagship resilience projects in seven Member States.
  • Ensure that the views of all stakeholders of the IDDRSI Strategy at regional and national levels are addressed in the assessment.

The Key Deliverables:

The following deliverables are expected from the consultant:

The Consultant will provide the following deliverables:

  1. The Inception Report of the Mid-Term Review. The report must be submitted to IGAD five days after signing the contract.
  2. Draft MTR Report based on the outline approved by IGAD Team.
  3. Presentation (PPT) of the key findings to the stakeholders.
  4. Final report of the MTR.
  5. Raw datasets

The duration of the assignment:

Consultancy will commence in March 2023 with final report completed and submitted on or before Mid-June 2023.

The Required Qualifications:

  • Minimum ten years’ experience in designing, undertaking program review and evaluation, and impact assessment covering multi-disciplinary that address coordination platforms from regional to national and sub-national levels.
  • The consultants should have excellent academic and research backgrounds and have proven records of accomplishment in conducting similar assignments in the IGAD region.
  • Research experience on resilience at community, national, and regional levels; institutional capacity development; gender mainstreaming; food security; partnership; designing M&E system for projects and programs.
  • Experience in mixed methods and interdisciplinary approaches and data collection and analysis techniques for evaluating development programs.
  • Knowledge and experience using research/survey concepts, approaches, tools, techniques, and methodologies.
  • Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection, validation, entry and analysis using statistical software (e.g., SPSS) and drafting skills.

For further information’s see attached the Terms of Reference (TORs).

  • NO TECHNICAL OR FINANCIAL PROPOSALS REQUIRED IN THIS STAGE

How To Apply

The consultants should submit their Expression of Interest (EOI) to: procurement@igad.int not later than Friday 17 March 2023

Please note that only shortlisted consultant will be contacted.

Procurement Unit

Administration and Finance

IGAD Secretariat

Avenue Georges Clemenceau

E-mail: procurement@igad.int

P.O. Box 2653,

Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti

Download attached ToR document in PDF below.

TOR for Mid Term Review


POSITION TYPE

ORGANIZATION TYPE

EXPERIENCE-LEVEL

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