Terms of Reference for the Design of the NEXUS ANTICIPATORY AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND

Contents

1. Background

1.1. NEXUS Platform

1.2. NEXUS Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund

1. Objectives
2. Deliverables

3.1. Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund Guide

3.2. Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund Process Manual

3.3. Launch Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund

1. Desired qualifications and experience
2. Budget and Planning
3. The award procedure

1. Background

1.1. NEXUS Platform

NEXUS is a platform for change in response to the contemporary challenges to Somalia and Somaliland (http://nexusom.org/). The main goal of NEXUS Consortium is to transform humanitarian, development and peace ecosystem. The consortium, led by nine pioneering Somali NGOs, aspires to advance a locally driven agenda for change by building partnerships between communities, civil society and the public and private sectors as well as through the implementation of integrated and sustainable interventions across the triple nexus of humanitarian, peace and development.

Founded in 2019, Nexus is a paradigm-shifting platform comprised of nine core members:

· African Development Solutions (Adeso)

· Centre for Peace and Democracy (CPD)

· Gargaar Relief and Development Organization (GREDO)

· Horn of Africa Voluntary Youth Committee (HAVOYOCCO)

· KAALO Aid and Development

· Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC)

· Social-Life and Agriculture Development Organization (SADO)

· Taakulo Somaliland Community (TASCO)

· Wajir South Development Association (WASDA)

Nexus core members possess wide-ranging technical capacities and represent communities across all Federal Member States of Somalia and Somaliland. Nexus has two international partners who are committed to the localization agenda – Oxfam and Save the Children – and who will support Nexus during its first three years.

Nexus embodies the next evolutionary step of the Somali aid system, pioneering a locally led approach to delivering integrated peacebuilding, humanitarian and development interventions.

By breaking the silos of humanitarian aid, development and peacebuilding and by creating much-needed spaces for local organizations to lead the way in seeking, scaling and integrating solutions across these sectors, Nexus proposes local leadership as more than a means of realizing localization commitments – but as a revolutionary reform to the international systems at play in Somalia.

As a leader for public-private partnerships, Nexus will leverage multidimensional engagements between local communities, civil society and the public and private sectors to advance a new framework for interventions in the Somali context that includes an integrated, early action emergency response infrastructure and community-based development initiatives that will serve as an entry point for peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Nexus’ approach is ambitious but is grounded in the widely recognized need for more dynamic interventions to the chronic challenges faced by Somalia and Somaliland.

1.2. NEXUS Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund

A key element of Nexus’ different ways of working in Somalia/Somaliland is the fully locally-led and managed Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund. It adopts a forecast-based financing approach, with anticipatory and emergency response characteristics to address the vulnerability of Somalia’s

predominantly rural population to recurring climatic shocks through a collaborative and community-informed approach to gathering, sharing and acting on early warning data. The fund is designed to

address needs in a pre-emptive manner, and effectively respond to local emergencies, thereby supporting the community to mitigate losses and building resilience to future shocks.

The Nexus fund learns from elements of successful anticipatory and reactive funds piloted by START, Forewarn, REAP, NEAR and the SOMJR, contextualising and localising them to meet the needs of the Somali context. A strong emphasis is placed on collaboration with government actors and communities on early warning systems and forecasting, as well as linking any response to the triple nexus and longer-term resilience building outcomes.

In communities where Nexus members are working, Nexus will actively engage in community disaster risk reduction and preparedness consultation exercises, to harness local knowledge in early warning, prioritization and response planning. Nexus’ activities will directly support the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management’s recently initiated Multi- Hazard Early Warning Center in Mogadishu as well as early warning initiatives by the Somaliland Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Agency (NADFOR) and the Puntland Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Agency (HADMA) by feeding into data collection, research, monitoring and overall information-sharing.

By focusing on collaborative anticipatory action, NEXUS invests in:

• Addressing gaps in national-level preparedness and forecasting in a localised community-based approach, by linking duty-bearers to affected communities who are the source of primary information on traditional early warning – which will be complementary to scientific early warning systems
• Shared risk analyses and deci­sion-making: strengthening joint mon­itoring of risks in Somalia/Somaliland and promoting evidence-based decision-making and resource allocation
• Providing community-driven infor­mation to complement ongoing initi­atives on early warning systems piloted by Oxfam, multi-agency resilience pro­grammes such as SomRep or BRiCS, FSNAU and government authorities
• Promotion of adaptive programming with local partners in Somalia/Somaliland: provide evidence for adaptive and flexible programming and funding to local organisations in Somalia, for more effective programmes grounded in local realities and knowledge

The total secured budget for the NEXUS Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund in 2021 is €250,000. The current criteria for the fund are:

• Scale: (impeding) crises Nexus members will respond to are small to medium shocks which are ‘under the radar’ and attract less attention and often do not mobilize international response; at least 100 people need to be affected. Small and medium scale crises are for example spikes in chronic humanitarian crises or cyclical hazards representing unusually high risks to communities, as defined by the START Fund.
• Presence: responding members have to be present throughout the response and have access in the locations they plan to respond in, highlighting an understanding of local dynamics and existing relationships.
• Community-driven: Nexus members are guided by the request for assistance from communities who are engaged and lead key activities
• Triple Nexus: every activation has to clearly link response activities to the triple Nexus and long-term development outcomes – ‘one-off’ responses should be avoided.
• Coordination and complementarity: identifying gaps in ongoing responses/ preparedness and working in coordination and complementarity with other stakeholders
• Duration: implementing members have a response window of max. 60 days
• Amount per activation: between €50,000 and €80,000.

2. Objectives

The purpose of this consultancy is to develop the mechanism for the launch of the NEXUS Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund, that will be piloted in 2021 and then scaled up. WASDA, as the NEXUS lead of the Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund, coordinates the overall process.

The objectives of this consultancy are two-fold:

Objective 1: Review and refine the criteria and triggers for the NEXUS Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund;

Objective 2: Develop a process from activation of the fund to the start of an intervention within 72 hours, with clear guidelines and templates that are specific to the context in Somalia/land.

The first objective on the criteria and triggers for the NEXUS Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund aims to review and refine the criteria that have already been developed (see above), and develop a clarity on the triggers for the launch the Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund.

The second objective relates to the process from activation of the fund to the start of the intervention. While an outline of the process exists, this requires further detail and clarity in terms of guidelines and templates. Core to this objective is ensuring the process is adapted to the context in Somalia/land, and especially the areas of work of NEXUS members.

3. Deliverables

The Consultant will deliver:

1. Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund Guide with criteria and triggers
2. Process manual including templates for the activation of the NEXUS Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund
3. The launch of the Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund for NEXUS members.

3.1. Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund Guide

In a collaborative process with NEXUS members, the consultant will develop an Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund Guide. The guide should be adapted to the context in Somalia/land and clarify criteria and triggers for the Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund.

3.2. Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund Process Manual

In a collaborative process with NEXUS members and building on already existing resources, including from NEXUS, the consultant will develop an Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund Process Manual that provides details of all the steps between the trigger and activation of the Fund to the start of an intervention.

WASDA and the NEXUS Steering Committee need to be consulted before the product is finalized.

3.3. Launch Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund

In collaboration with WASDA, lead of the Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund, and the Oxfam NEXUS Fund Manager, organize a learning session and launch event for NEXUS members.

This session is aimed at clarifying the criteria, triggers and process as developed and will be the start of the pilot phase.

4. Desired qualifications and experience

The design of the Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund will be carried out by at least one consultant. In case of unexpected delays or issues during the consultancy, the consultant should immediately contact WASDA and seek advice on any modifications of the work plan and/or approach, if necessary.

Qualifications:

a) (At least one) academic masters’ degree in International Development Studies, Humanitarian Action, Disaster Risk Management or a related field;

b) At least seven years of experience in development work and/or humanitarian response;

c) Good knowledge of Anticipatory and Early Action;

d) Experience in designing a fund for anticipatory and early action;

e) Excellent communication, listening and interpersonal skills, including experience with diverse cultures and ethnicities and the ability to function in virtual environments (if remote);

f) Interviewing skills and ability to facilitate group discussions;

g) Strong writing and presentation skills;

h) Fluent in English; speaking and written;

i) Experience in Somalia (preferred);

j) Experience in working with consortia of local/national organizations (preferred).

5. Budget and Planning

The consultancy is expected to start as soon as possible. The consultancy can be done remotely.

Remuneration is based on submission of deliverables provided that the report meets the specified requirements as stated in this ToR. No payment will be made in advance. Consulting fee rates should be in accordance with a comparable NGO environment.

The application should include a proposed budget and timeline. The proposed budget should include all evaluation expenses and applicable taxes.

The contractor will have to make provisions for covering all costs associated with the assignment. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Research, instrument development, data collection and analysis, report writing and editing costs.
• Secretarial/office-related costs which may include communications (phone, telecommunications, mail, photocopying, courier etc) and report production. Secretarial services both in the Contractor’s Headquarters and/or consultant’s home office are considered to be included within the fee rate of the consultant. No costs of this nature may be charged in addition. No office, secretarial or communication facilities will be provided by NEXUS members
• All costs related to the learning event and launch event, including training of NEXUS members.

The consultancy is estimated to take a maximum of 16 days:

Task Estimated number of days

Desk review 3

Research 7

Research feedback from members 3

Final report and publishing 2

Members training 1

6. The award procedure

This procurement procedure is organized to contract a consultant for the design of the NEXUS Anticipatory and Emergency Response Fund either through a consultant agency or an individual lead consultant.

Selection and assessment

The assessment of the quotations will start with an assessment of the administrative criteria. These criteria are all Knock-out criteria. That means that if these criteria are not met in the quotation, this quotation will be put aside and the award criteria of this quotation will not be assessed. The quotations that meet the administrative criteria will be assessed against the award criteria. The award criteria are assessed according to the following distribution of points.

Criteria Knock out (KO) / Max. Point

Administrative criteria

Quotation received within deadline KO

At least two relevant reference assignments previously performed by the

consultant agency/ lead consultant that are comparable in content, time and money. KO

An outline of the work plan, including a time planning based on this ToR KO

CVs of the consultant and team members (if applicable) proving relevant experience

and/or qualifications KO

Within budget KO

Award criteria

Price 15 out of 100

Work plan, including approach and time planning 10 out of 100

Qualifications of consultants

Required experience in humanitarian response 10 out of 100

Required skills and competencies, including English and writing skills 25 out of 100

Experience with Anticipatory and Early Action 15 out of 100

Experience with designing a fund for Anticipatory and Early Action 15 out of 100

Experience in Somalia 10 out of 100

Assessment of the CV’s

The assessment of the CV’s will be based on appropriateness of the proposed consultants based on the criteria listed in section 4. The best fitting CV for the assignment will be given the most points according to the table above.

Assessment of the work plan

The assessment of the work plan will be based on the following criteria. The best fitting approach paper for the assignment will be given the most points.

• Understanding of the assignment;

• Realistic time planning, given the assignment; and

• Use of methodology.