1. BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Trócaire is an Irish development agency that was established in 1973 by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland. Trócaire’s work is inspired by Catholic Social teachings, with an overarching commitment to social justice. Trócaire works in 17 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, working through local partner organizations and communities to deliver programmes relating to: Accountable Governance and Human Rights; Natural Resource Use and Resource Rights; Women’s Empowerment and Humanitarian Preparedness and Response

Trócaire has been working in Somalia for 30 years and established offices in the districts in Gedo in 1991. In Somalia, we implement projects directly and collaborate with local communities to deliver Humanitarian programs in the following sectors.

• Health
• Nutrition
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion
• Education in Emergencies
• Protection
• Food security and Livelihood

1.2 Context and Problems Addressed

Somalia has been one of the countries affected by conflict and drought with widespread humanitarian needs. The conflict has continued unabated throughout the country. The changing dynamic of the armed conflict and violence throughout the country has challenged the delivery of humanitarian and development programmes at the community level by national and international organisations. Among these challenges are, the increased demand for humanitarian assistance, due to the internal displacement of a large numbers of population and reduced access to communities in need of critical humanitarian services. As a humanitarian and development organization, Trócaire is operating in Gedo, Somalia, mainly targeting women, children, and other vulnerable populations.

The current situation creates challenges for Trócaire to deliver services at the community level, which requires an extra effort to adopt alternative approaches to minimize the effect of communal conflict and ensure quality of the program delivery to achieve the desired outcome.

In addition to that, Trócaire is connecting communities to various government institutions and various groups in a complex web of relationships, such as civil society organizations, local government institutions, security organs, community structures, and other groups. In such a complex and unstable environment, understanding the shifting social, political and economic factors behind the conflict/s, particularly at the local level, negotiating between the various actors and forces involved, as well as keeping abreast of changing power relations, is becoming increasingly difficult. Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution Prospective in areas where violent conflict is likely, ongoing, or recently concluded, will have both positive and negative impact. Through funding from Irish Aid, Trócaire intends to support conflict sensitive interventions, based on the organization’s global Peacebuilding Framework. In this regard, to the country programme intends to obtain consultancy services to conduct a conflict analysis in the three target districts, i.e., Beled Hawa, Dollow, and Luuq.

The consultant is expected to identify potential entry points, key mechanisms, actors, the role of men and women in peacebuilding and conflict resolution at the community level and recommend ways of conducting conflict-sensitive programming in Somalia, particularly the areas where the intervention is implemented. Having operated in a conflict and fragile environment for 30 years, Trócaire has embarked on adopting conflict-sensitivity approach in its programmes in conflict-affected context and it will be important for this analysis to come up with data-founded recommendations that will improve on this approach.

The analysis will also identify capacity gaps both in terms of organisation peacebuilding approach and the required competencies of the Trócaire’s staff and partners for conflict-sensitive program planning and management, based on the ‘Do No Harm’ principle. The analysis will also facilitate identification of relevant actors, which responds to the changes in context identified through regular monitoring, both at the local and national levels, and how it affects women, men, girls and boys.

2. ASSIGNMENT

2.1 Conflict Analysis Purpose and Objectives

The key purpose of this assignment is to refresh Trócaire managements’ understanding of the causes and dynamics of conflict(s) in areas where Trócaire and partners work and remain as one of the documents for ICSP peacebuilding programme design and implementation. The analysis is also expected to provide new insights that will inform the intervention design. In this regard, the analysis will provide quality inputs and strategic road map for Trócaire to effectively engage or mainstream peacebuilding and conflict resolutions at the community level. In addition to that the analysis will identify the required capacity gap and training needs within Trócaire for delivering effective peacebuilding and conflict sensitive programmes in the targeted communities, to maximise its positive impact on the conflict and promote peace and stability for effective delivery of humanitarian and development assistance.

Objectives

• To analyse the potential effect of the conflict on Trócaire programme delivery and its consequences on its target group specially, women, men, girls, and boys.
• To provide Trócaire with detailed assessment report on the external conflict-related factors, which have the potential impact on Trócaire operation and its target group, with key recommendations on minimising the effect of those factors and ways forward on how Trócaire’s ICSP project can be further improved to better respond to the emerging needs of the external context.
• Map out existing conflicts dynamics, tensions, drivers of social exclusion and existing peace building or conflict resolution capacities within the Trocaire supported partners/communities
• To deepen Trócaire’s understanding on the effectiveness of its conflict sensitivity approach and to ensure that its programmes do not exacerbate the current conflicts in any way; through the analysis of current approach and recommendations for addressing the gaps including identification of the entry points.
• To identify potential synergies and opportunities for mainstreaming peace building and conflict resolution within the scope of current programmes and approaches.
• To map the current capacity and assess the training needs of the Trócaire staff on peacebuilding conflict-sensitive programme delivery based on the Do NO Harm principle, that can impact positively on the current conflict.
• Identify the best practices and tools for making conflict analysis an on-going process within reasonable frequency as per-the needs and requirements of the organisation.
• To generate a comprehensive conflict analysis report that contains in-depth examination of conflict, its actors, causes, dynamics and consequences for women, men, girls, and boys. The following aspects should be included: Conflict scenarios affecting Trócaire programme delivery and its target groups including key recommendation on mitigation and adaptation measures; Assessment of potential synergies and opportunities for mainstreaming peacebuilding and conflict transformation in Trócaire programmes and recommendations/roadmap for Trócaire’s engagement; Capacity needs assessment of Trócaire staff and partners with recommendation on the need for specific peacebuilding training and other action required for conflict-sensitive programme delivery to maximize the impact of Trócaire’s work on improving peace and mitigating conflict in targeted communities

2.2 Scope of the Analysis

The consultancy work will focus on; in-depth examination of the conflict, its actors, causes and dynamics, its impact on Trócaire programmes and its target groups, identify potential opportunities for peacebuilding initiatives within the current programs. Including the organization capacity assessment and the training needs analysis for design and delivery of a conflict-sensitive programming, with comprehensive conflict analysis report with all the annexes indicated under the output/deliverable. The analysis will be carried out in Luuq, Dollow, and Beled Hawa districts.

2.3 Methodology and Approach

A mixed methods approach, comprising (a) Desk research, (b) Key Informant Interviews, and (e) Focus Group Discussions will be adopted in this analysis. This notwithstanding, the consultant will design a detailed methodology, including developing of data-collection tools. In addition the consultant is expected to conduct a Do No Harm Training for stakeholders in the target areas and later conduct a Conflict sensitivity/Do No Harm analysis. During the assignment, the consultant will meet with community members, government officials, religious leaders, clan elders, and other relevant stakeholders and also ensures that the data collection techniques are participative and promote equality and inclusion.

3. OUTPUTS/DELIVERABLES

• Inception report containing a detailed conflict analysis methodology with accompanying analysis workplan and tools.
• Do No Harm and conflict sensivity analysis report covering.
• Conflicts trends
• Drivers of social exclusion
• Potential tension or areas of harm that the project could exacerbate.
• Recommendation for project implementation
• Recommendations for potential approach to peacebuilding and tools to make conflict analysis/accessibility and assessment as on-going process of the organisation and to support management decision on security measures.
• Presentation of analysis results and recommendations at a validations workshop.
• Raw and cleaned datasets and/or transcripts.

3.1 Trócaire Responsibilities

• Provision of Trócaire specific organisational and programme documents – including policies, strategies, project plans, situational analyses, and evaluations. Note: this is not exhaustive; it will need to be supplemented with information from credible external sources.
• Provide accommodation to key specialists (max 2 pax) during fieldwork. Notably, accommodation does not include any per diem or allowance inform of cash.
• Provide training facility for the data collection team.
• Provide transportation during fieldwork.

3.2 Consultant Responsibilities

• Prepare and submit inception report, data collection tools, and report.
• Train the data collection team.
• Collect data from both primary and secondary sources.
• Incorporate the comments and suggestions from Trócaire into the tools and reports.
• Advise on the robustness and feasibility of the methodology and make proposals, where necessary.

4. DURATION AND WORKING SCHEDULE

The conflict analysis is anticipated to take at most 21 days, with the final deliverable (validation workshop) being conducted by latest 5th of August 2023.

5. BUDGET AND PAYMENT

The Consultant shall specify their proposed fee for conducting the assignment, including professional fee, reimbursables, and statutory taxes.

5.1 Invoicing and Payment Procedures

An advance payment of 30% of the total costs will be settled as soon as Trócaire has approved the workplan and inception report. A second instalment of 30% will be settled after completion of the field works as indicated in the schedule. The final 40% will only be paid once Trócaire has approved the final report. A final invoice will be submitted upon the completion of the assignment.

6. CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS

The conflict analysis consultancy assignment is open to individual National/ International or a team of National and International expert consultants, with

• Master’s degree or equivalent in international affairs, conflict analysis and management, political science, sociology, peace building, or a field related to international/human development, with a strong emphasis on quantitative and qualitative research
• Significant experience of not less than 8 years conducting conflict analysis and/or research on conflict and its causes, actors or approaches to conflict transformation;
• Sound theoretical knowledge of development theory and/or experience of project management for an NGO or UN agency in delivering development projects;
• Previous experiences of practising participatory methods for conducting research and planning;
• Considerable professional experience of working in Somalia at the community, village, and district levels, with a clear understanding of traditional forms of social organisation and systems of local governance, as well as official systems of local administration.
• High level of competence in the English language, particularly in writing and be fluent in both local Somalis language in region where this assessment will take place;
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to communicate detailed concepts clearly and concisely both in writing and verbally.