Background

The Somalia Stability Fund is a multi-donor programme working towards a peaceful, secure, and stable Somalia. It offers Somali stakeholders a source of multi-year funding that can respond to local needs and opportunities.

The Stability Fund aims to contribute to enhancing stability in Somalia through the following programmatic outputs:

1. Fault-lines for political conflict (FGS-FMS, inter & intra state) are identified and appropriately addressed
2. Enhanced popular participation in governance, particularly for women and excluded communities
3. Increased government visibility, community engagement and reduced community vulnerability to conflict
4. Research, communications and knowledge brokering on issues of democratisation, local governance and reconciliation

SSF invites eligible and qualified entities (“Bidders”) to submit proposals in response to this RFP for the Provision of Consultant Services for a Gendered Political Economy Analysis in Baidoa District (SSFSW-020-C01

Introduction

SSF to date has been supporting District Council Formation and the implementation of the Wadajir Framework. In the 2021 period, SSF commissioned a study to identify potential new districts in which SSF can embark upon Wadajir Framework implementation. The study looked at Puntland, South West State, Galmudug and Benadir. Baidoa district in South West State has been identified for future SSF Wadajir Framework implementation, nonetheless, given the complexity of political and economic interests at the state capital, there is a need to ensure that a detailed political economy analysis is performed in this location as a pre-requisite to district council formation and the reconciliation component of the Wadajir Framework.

The district of Baidoa covers approximately 40 Km² and includes the South West State capital, Baidoa, alongside approximately 30 main villages and numerous other smaller villages. Hosting around 1 million inhabitants, inclusive of host and IDP communities. Baidoa town covers eight administrative sub-units: Horseed; Hawl Wadaag; Berdaale; Isha; Darusalam; Towfiq; Waberi and Wadajir. It is widely recognized that Baidoa district is a major centre of economic activity in Somalia. Somalia’s protracted institutional and state weaknesses as a result of years of violent conflict and state collapse, has created a fertile environment in which economic and political interests have been able to converge. Within Baidoa there are an array of economic interests related to the control of land, control and management of major infrastructure, trade facilitation, local service delivery and collection and management of revenue flows.

District Administrations across Somalia exercise significant control over security, revenue and service delivery, and the objective of the Wadajir Framework, is to re-establish district administrations with a district council, in ways that local governance can be more inclusive of all communities in its constituency, as well as inclusive of women and youth, and be strengthened in its ability to provide services that meet their communities’ needs. Inevitably, this will entail changes to the transparency of revenue generation and changes to the way in which local political and resource related decisions are made. Such shifts may conflict with prevailing political and economic interests that have entrenched themselves in the locality.

Prior to embarking on the five stages of Wadajir Framework implementation elsewhere, SSF has instituted a gender and conflict analysis as standard. Such an analysis provides a comprehensive understanding of existing conflict dynamics and ensures gender and social exclusion dynamics are captured from the outset. As a result, SSF is seeking a consultant to deliver a detailed gendered political economy analysis that can detail the key stakeholders, political and economic interests and elaborate on the gendered dimensions of power, political, social and economic inclusion and conflict in the district with a view to making recommendations on how best to navigate these within the pursuit of district council formation.

Research Objective

To conduct a gendered political economy analysis of Baidoa with specific reference to the needs and potential for district council formation.

The gendered political economy analysis of Baidoa will include analysis of the major political interests and stakeholders in the region, economic interests, identify the array of social and political communities and the types of conflict that exist between and across them. It will capture the different stakeholders and how they relate to each other, and in particular which stakeholders may have high value assets and interests that state formation processes and district council formation processes may rub up against and come into conflict. It will also ensure that a gender and social inclusion lens is adopted to ensure the needs and experiences of women, youth and marginal communities are appropriately acknowledged

Approach and Methodology

Research will adopt a gendered context analysis approach which ensures that a gender and social inclusion lens is integrated throughout. The context and conflict analysis will look at the following issues in specific:

Governance profile

Present a map of the governance profile of Baidoa District. Who are the current authorities presiding over the district, what are the sub-districts, who overseas each sub-district. What are the current capabilities of the governing authorities, how do these governing authorities relate to each other and to the FMS.

Communities

Who are the main communities that reside in Baidoa District, what are their interests and concerns as groups and what are the relationships like between them. This should articulate where there are lines of cooperation or conflict and how does this manifest in practice. What are their political, economic and social concerns, what capacities they currently have to influence politics, what constraints they face. Analysis of communities should pay careful attention to women, youth, marginal communities and IDPs, recognising their presence and understanding of their entitlements to political representation in both the theoretical ideal and the practical reality of it within the Somali context

Politics stakeholders and political interests

Who are the main political stakeholders, political leaders and what are the primary political interests by these groups. The political economy analysis should set out not just who has interests, but what those interests are and why they are of importance, what means they have to secure these interests or undermine or challenge local district governance changes that may shift these established political interests or levels of power and influence. Due consideration should be made to how local concerns may link to national ones or wider clan interests.

Economic interests:

What are the main economic interests in Baidoa district. Who has these economic interests, what are they worth and whether these may be impacted by changes to district council governance. To what extent are there linkages between economic interests and political leadership at the district level? How do these economic interests intersect with the rights and residency of communities within target districts?

Challenges in Baidoa

The research should identify what, if any, challenges and obstacles may be encountered through district council formation processes. What does that mean for how district council formation can or should be undertaken. Recommendations should be made to address identified challenges.

Mainstreaming women, youth and marginal communities

Throughout the research, the differential experiences of women, youth and marginal groups and IDPs should be included. Their differential experiences should be acknowledged across all aspects of the research, whether relating to revenue, property, political representation or other aspects of the study.

Key Deliverables

• Research Plan and Research Tools
• Gendered political economy analysis for Baidoa final report with recommendations

Key Personnel

The following personnel and associated skill sets are required for the task

Lead Research Analyst

• Higher level academic qualifications (Masters level of equivalent) in the area of political science, peacebuilding and conflict transformation, international development, international relations, security studies or similar discipline.
• Ten years post qualification experience specialising in political economy analysis, governance, state-building, local governance specialising in fragile and conflict affected states, preferably Somalia.
• Five years’ experience performing gendered analysis of conflict and context settings in fragile and conflict affected states. Clear understanding of gender norms and the differential experiences and roles of men and women within a political and conflict setting.
• Demonstrable understanding of the interests, objectives and concerns of Somali communities, political elites, business leaders and conflict and governance stakeholders, and how this relates to governance and political power at the local and national levels.
• A minimum of five years demonstrable experience of undertaking political economy analysis in Somalia. Preference for strong knowledge and understanding of the Baidoa locality and political interests, communities and economic interests in the region.
• Demonstrable understanding of the Wadajir framework and the model of establishing District Councils, past performance, risks, challenges, opportunities and impact of it to date.

Field Researcher

• At least three years’ experience of qualitative research on issues of social and political conflict, peacebuilding programming, stabilisation or policing and justice in Somalia.
• Detailed knowledge of the Somali and in particular Baidoa political, economic and social interests and how these intersect.
• Experience collecting data through a variety of methods inclusive of key informant interviews, focus group discussions and through different contexts, such as community level data collection or multi-stakeholder forums.
• Experience transcribing data from the field.
• Experience of, and ability to, conduct research with a wide cross-section of research participants.

Location and Duration of Assignment

The assignment is expected to take approximately five (5) weeks, taking into consideration SSF feedback and review timelines. The work should be fully completed no later than the 30th September 2021. As the final research materials will be SSF branded (with full citation/recognition of the authors/research supplier), this timeline should include sufficient time for review, copy-editing, design, typesetting and printing. SSF will reserve the right to request the authors to undertake any necessary revisions.