Terms of Reference(ToR) – Capacity and Training Needs Assessment – El-Afweyn District in Somaliland, Ten Villages

Terms of Reference(ToR) – Capacity and Training Needs Assessment – El-Afweyn District in Somaliland, Ten Villages

      I.    Background Information

Recurring droughts and resource-based conflict such as water and pasture have a major impact on the democratic process and the stability of the community. Especially in the eastern regions of Somaliland, they are vulnerable to drought and conflict as government services are very limited compared to other parts of the country. Droughts and conflict have severely undermined the social order and peaceful co-existence of the community. The administrative capacity of El-Afweyn and the villages under the district is very low in terms of their ability to serve the community.

As a result, Oxfam as part of the SomRep project has succeeded in setting up community committees such as the village development committees, the natural resource management committee and early warning committee, and the village saving loan associations. These organizations are all existing, but there is a capacity gap to deliver highly needed services due to their limited capacity.

The project has a 3 year time frame and aims at increasing the resilience of chronically vulnerable Somali people, households, communities and systems to climatic shocks and other related risks in targeted pastoral, agro-pastoral, coastal, and peri-urban livelihood zones by 2023.

     II.    Purpose

The objective of this consultancy is two-fold. Firstly, to undertake a capacity and training needs assessment for existing community committees including community based early warning committees, rangeland management, natural resource management, social inclusion and conflict resolution, three government offices at El-Afweyn and Erigavo districts to improve linkage at local and regional levels. These community institutions were established by previous projects and the potential consultant is expected to identify capacity gaps for those institutions to lead expected tasks as part of building community-based resilience. The consultancy is required to develop training curriculum for relevant committees for successful implementation of the planned actions at village level. These will form the basis of a fully-fledging community based institutions in action and aim at increasing their capacities to effectively implement district and village development plans. The consultant will identify ways of linking CBDRM committees to district and regional/national level for better coordination mechanisms and create space for quicker and well-informed engagement which is not the case at the moment. Provide feasible potential ways of working to strengthen and consolidate networking and coordination between village and regional levels

   III.    Scope

The assessment will be conducted with target project communities in Eil-Afweyn district. The consultant will ensure a participatory process to obtain information on needs and gaps in terms of capacity and training of project beneficiaries. While data gathered during the assessment will be gender-sensitive with disaggregated views of women and men fully considered. The assessment will focus on the existing community based institutions established in El-Afweyn and examine structure, ways of working in light with effectiveness of those community actors ability to prepare and respond to shocks and stress.

Methodology

Qualitative methods through participatory approach will be employed, including:

• Desk review of key project documents those include: proposal, progress reports, ITT, training reports, etc.
• Focus group discussion (FGDs) with project beneficiaries including women, men, young men, and women.
• Key Informant interviews (KIIs) with project stakeholders including project staff, village committees, and community structures, regional and national level focal persons responsible on early warning, disaster preparedness, environment, water, agriculture and livestock sectors .
• Validation workshop with project stakeholders including Oxfam staff to validate the initial assessment findings and recommendations to ensure that the feedback is given due considerations in the final report.

   IV.    Expected outputs

• Identify capacity gaps on community in the implementation of community action and adaptation plans. What are the underlying causes hindering CMDRM to proactively engage and lead effective preparedness plans. Detailed capacity needs assessment report highlighting capacity gaps and recommendations for what worked well and improvement required.
• Produce training manual in light with identified capacity gaps for Oxfam staff and its partners
• Examine current ways of working between CBDRM committee and corresponding regional/national level institutions and provide appropriate and feasible coordination mechanisms for effective engagement and linkage.
• Present key findings through 1 day validation workshop with project stakeholders
• Comprehensive training manual on increasing the capacities of community institutions to effectively implement district and village development plans.

    V.    Assignment Timelines

The proposed assignment is expected to be completed within 25 days by interviewing 10 village management committees plus 3 government offices at district (El-Afweyn) and regional (Erigavo) levels as mentioned in #II( purpose).

1. Required qualifications

• Minimum 7 years demonstrated experience of relevant capacity assessment in similar programmes; proven record in translation of assessment findings into concrete recommendations and conclusions.
• Solid experience in curriculum development for community committees training
• Post-graduate degree in natural resource management, development studies or any other relevant social science.
• Thorough understanding and knowledge of the humanitarian and resilient programming in Somaliland context.
• Excellent drafting/writing ability with profound objective and analytical skills.
• Fluent written and spoken English. Somali speakers are highly preferred.
• Proven track record of completing assignment on time.
• Strong facilitation and presentation skills.

2. Application procedure

Applicants should submit detailed technical proposal to SOM-Consultancies@oxfam.org by 11^th January 2021 with the following;

• Brief CV (for lead consultant) along with a succinct rationale of how the consultant meet the requirements above (max. 2 pages) or Company/consultancy profile.
• Proposed brief work plan for how the work will be undertaken and a proposed schedule (max. 6 pages)
• Indicative budget including daily rates in USD for each team member, as well as estimated costs for transport, accommodation, including 6% government tax.
• Contact details for three referees for similar type of work.
• Confirmation of availability to undertake this work, including field visits in the project sites under Eil-Afweyn district

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview