TERMS OF REFERENCES FOR THE MAAMUL WADAAG PROJECT
BASELINE – “Inclusive Good Governance and Development through strengthening of Civil Society Organisations in Somalia “
Somalia – Puntland and South – West States and Banadir Regional Administration
March 2023
1.1. About CARE International
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and providing lifesaving assistance in emergencies. Its programs go beyond meeting basic needs at the onset of an emergency to helping affected communities recover and rebuild their lives long after the crisis ends. CARE has been assisting communities in Somalia since 1981. CARE works in partnership with the government, international NGOs, civil society, leaders and local authorities to bring effective and lasting change to the most vulnerable communities. CARE currently works through three main programs: firstly, the Rural Women program which supports poor, rural women and girls in addressing long term underlying causes of poverty and vulnerability as well as social, cultural, political and economic obstacles towards positive change. We help women and girls improve their economic status, access education and support them to play a greater role in local leadership and conflict resolution. Secondly, the Urban Youth program focuses on job creation and livelihood opportunities for poor youth through interventions such as secondary education, vocational training, small business development and microfinance. Thirdly, the Emergency program provides direct humanitarian relief to victims of drought and conflict in Puntland, Mogadishu, Lower Juba and Galmudug state. CARE Somalia has three programmes namely Rural Women, Urban Youth and emergency. This project falls under Urban Youth.
1.2. About Maamul Wadaag Project
The Maamul-Wadaag consortium brings together CARE Nederland, CARE International Somalia, the Somali Youth Development Network (SOYDEN), and the Puntland Youth Associations Network (PYAN). With support from the EU, the project will be implemented in Somalia (Puntland, South-West States and Banadir Regional Administration) for a duration of 36 months (Dec 2022-Dec 2025).The project aims to aims to strengthen the capacity of local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on accountable leadership, while elevating their voices and facilitating effective participation to cultivate their ability to support inclusive governance and influence key policy processes to improve service delivery in Somalia. As non-government and non-market actors, CSOs are in a unique position to foster collaboration among relevant stakeholders, influence agenda-setting and hold the government and private sector accountable for their promises and actions.
Overall Objective: to strengthen local CSOs in Somalia as independent actors of good governance and development in their own right. This is envisaged to be accomplished through two specific objectives:
Target groups: The project will target 114 Community Based Organisations (CBOs), including: Southwest State: 20 Village Loans and Savings Associations (VSLAs), 4 Peace Committees and 2 Youth Networks; Banadir Regional Administration: 55 VSLAs, 11 Peace Committees and 2 Youth Networks; Puntland State: 15 VSLAs, 3 Peace Committees and 2 Youth Networks; 36 District,12 State NGOs (2 and 4 per region respectively); Six PLWD organisations/networks; and, Six State level umbrellas/CSO networks/social movements (two per state).
CARE Somalia is seeking to procure the services of a consultant to conduct a baseline study and situation assessment of Maamul Wadaag project in the target locations (Puntland, South-West States and Banadir Regional Administration) including determining indicator values for project outcomes and outputs. This is aimed at generating comprehensive information and data that would be used as benchmarks for monitoring and evaluation. The baseline will be participatory in nature with all project stakeholders i.e (the communities, CSOs, and Public Authorities, and some components seek support from the consortium partners). The baseline and situational assessment will be implemented by an external consultant identified in close coordination with the CARE. It is considered to be external to ensure objectivity and impartiality, but this does not exclude the technical support from CARE Somalia, the Consortium and CARE Netherland.
2.1 Overall Objective
The main objective of this baseline and situation assessment is to provide information that will be useful in understanding the current context of key stakeholder capacities and relationships, as well as the baseline assessment for indicators in the results framework. However, some indicators may not have an in-depth assessment at this stage and baseline values may remain zero, but still, the exercise will yield important qualitative information about the indicators. It will also provide information to guide partners on where to focus their approach with stakeholders and inform the updated Theory of Change and MEL plan.
2.2 Specific Objective
The baseline and situation assessment will look into the current context of key stakeholder capacities and relationships, as well as the baseline assessment for indicators in the results framework. The consultant will be expected to travel to all the target regions dependent on the security situation. The Maamul Wadaag project will be implemented in Puntland, South-West states and Banadir Regional Administration. The assignment will involve a visit to the target districts based on samples derived through consultations with CARE and other consortium partners. The consultancy will involve desk review, field data collection, data analysis and report writing and presentation of findings.
The evaluation will use a mixed-methods, complexity-aware and inclusive approach. combining qualitative and quantitative techniques. Quantitative data will be triangulated with qualitative data obtained from a variety of stakeholder groups through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. It is expected that the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative data will allow the project to better understand unexpected patterns in quantitative results, as well as to explore the motivations/interests of stakeholders and the challenges and opportunities for the design and implementation of activities.
Additionally, the consultant will be required to take into account all ethical protocols at all stages of the exercise, have a risk and risk mitigating plan in place, quality assurance plan that sets out the systems and processes for quality assuring the research process and deliverables from start to finish.
The consultant will be responsible for defining and carrying out the baseline and situation assessment tasks. This will include the design of the methodology (specification of the techniques for data collection and analysis), development of data collection tools, structured field visits and interactions with project participants. Specifically, the consultant shall carry out the following activities:
CARE will have the following functions: provide oversight, supervision and coordination of the assignment; coordinate document reviews and approval of all deliverables as per the terms of reference; and arrange for logistics for field visits. The consultant will report to the project manager and dedicated project staff will be assigned to support the assessment team in coordinating the collection of data and to provide necessary information for planning purposes. Logistical and administrative support will be provided for example, office working space, transportation or associated expenses during the field data collection.
The report should have the following section: introduction, methodology and limitations, stakeholder mapping, policy and governance context analysis, Gender analysis, baseline indicators, conclusions and recommendations. The report should not be more than 30 pages, excluding the preliminary pages and annexes.
Bidders are required to include in their detailed work plan, the number of days for each milestone set out below, and the deadline.
S/n
Milestones
Days
Deadline dates
1
Inception and briefing meetings
⁴
Desk review of project documents and reports
3
Development and submission of the inception report and data collection tools
4
Present the baseline design, inception report and data collection tools
5
Training of research assistants
6
Fieldwork (pre-test of tools, data collection and debriefing)
7
Data analysis, report writing and submission of the first draft report
9
Incorporation of comments into the baseline study report
10
Revision, finalization of the report, submission, and approval
The potential consultant/expertise required to meet the following minimum requirements to qualify for the submission of his/her proposal.
All applications should be sent to somconsultant@care.org latest 15th March 2023 in one email, with separate attachments for the technical and financial proposals in pdf and a Subject line ‘Technical and Financial Proposal’ for baseline– “Maamul Wadaag Project”
only national consultants are encouraged to apply.
All applications should be sent to somconsultant@care.org latest 15th March 2023 in one email, with separate attachments for the technical and financial proposals in pdf and a Subject line ‘Technical and Financial Proposal’ for baseline– “Maamul Wadaag Project”
only national consultants are encouraged to apply.