Technical expert (consultancy)

Background

The Drylands Development Centre (DDC) is one of the three UNDP Thematic Centres around the world. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, DDC provides core support for development and poverty reduction in the drylands to affected countries world-wide through the Integrated Drylands Development Programme (IDDP). The overall goal of the IDDP is to contribute to poverty reduction through the sustainable development of drylands leading to reduced vulnerability and improved livelihoods. The Programme addresses three interlinked issues of importance to poverty alleviation in the drylands, namely:

• Mainstreaming of drylands development issues into national policy, planning and development frameworks;
• Improving local governance of natural resources; and
• Reducing vulnerability of poor populations to climatic shocks especially drought.

After two consecutive seasons of inadequate rainfall since 2010, the impacts of drought have dominated the humanitarian scene across the Horn of Africa (HoA) from mid-2011. The terms such as risk reduction, vulnerability reduction and resilience building are increasingly becoming the new 'hot topic' being highlighted at various drought fora and included in numerous drought-focused project documents. However, in-depth assessment through a series of meetings, consultations and exchange of ideas revealed that both humanitarian and development organizations active in the HoA are still largely limited in their capacity to translate the concepts of drought risk reduction (DRR) into practice on the ground. The fact that the region continues to have repeated drought crisis every few years and that the situation continues to exacerbate proves that a durable solution has not yet been fully put in place.

There have been various efforts to document proven community-based DRR experiences so as to scale up and out the established measures and techniques. On the flip side of these efforts is information overload and fatigue: interested stakeholders are often caught in a deluge of good practices and lessons learned in the absence of a clear definition of "good", "best" and "success" and common indicators/comparable data to measure tangible long-term impacts of these interventions.

Recent efforts to assess the full spectrum of economic costs associated with ongoing and past drought crises in the HoA (e.g., Disaster Loss Database, Post-Disaster Needs Assessment, etc.) are expected to help build strong political will and commitment to meet the growing risk reduction needs. However, socio-economic and environmental losses buffered by islands of innovative DRR practices are insufficiently recognized in these exercises and hence could be overlooked in the Governments' priority areas of action planning processes in the future, leading to duplicate efforts, reinvention of the wheel and knowledge loss in the region.

Pilot attempts are under way at global level to develop standardized criteria for holistically quantifying the impacts of drought investments, throughout the DRR cycle of prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, not only in terms of life saving but also in terms of reducing underlying vulnerability. A quantitative impact analysis of community-based DRR initiatives is expected to help fill in the multiple gaps evident in the ongoing DRR implementation - between government-led/top down processes and community-driven/bottom-up measures, among sectoral approaches and between development and humanitarian partners - shifting their scattered foci strategically and enhancing their coordination towards long-term resilience enhancement and livelihoods improvement.

It is in this context that the UNDP Drylands Development Centre (DDC) developed the Building Drought Resilient Dryland Communities in the Horn of Africa Project, with the financial support from the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department of the European Commission (ECHO). The project intends to build on the going efforts and introduce the robust analytical tools through which to measure the socio-economic and environmental impacts of community-based DRR in short and long terms systematically, particularly focusing on quantifying the results of development and humanitarian interventions, in the HoA region, inter alia Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The overall objective of the project is to reduce drought disaster risks and improve human livelihoods in the drought-prone communities in the HoA by establishing an integrated enabling DRR planning and programming framework at national and regional levels in the region, effectively promoting local resilience building and vulnerability reduction.

The Terms of Reference at hand is for the International Technical Expert, who will support UNDP, in terms of providing consultancy services to the realization of the activities under the three components of the Project:

• Quantitative Impact Assessment Methodology: This component aims at developing a rigorous conceptual framework and standardized methodology for measuring and assessing the impacts of community-based DRR interventions on local/national resilience building. It seeks to introduce broadly applicable and comparable indicators/indexes that evaluate and aggregate short- and long-term changes and trends in drought resilience as a result of various interventions comprehensively in quantitative values. It will also take into consideration the qualitative measures of other less readily quantifiable impacts to allow for the deeper interpretation of results obtained from quantitative assessment by shedding light on the processes and causal relationships.
• Capacity development: This component aims at improving the capacity of local/national/regional disaster management institutions to plan, implement and monitor drought interventions against their contributions to long-term community resilience building, particularly for the most vulnerable populations.
• Policy advocacy: This component aims at raising awareness among decision-makers at local, national and regional levels in the potentials of community-based DRR for drought vulnerability reduction in the HOA and enhancing their capacity to integrate proven practices into policy and planning processes.


Specific tasks of the consultant

Under the direct supervision of the Project Manager and in close collaboration with other partners operating under the ECHO’s 2012 Drought Risk Reduction Action Plan (DRRAP), the International Consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

Development of a rigorous conceptual framework and methodology for measuring and assessing the impacts of community-based DRR on local and national drought resilience enhancement:

• Prepare a draft conceptual framework and standardized methodology in a participatory manner through desk review, analysis of existing data, key informant interviews with the DRRAP partners and other stakeholders in the HoA and elsewhere, online discussion forum, etc., utilizing the knowledge sharing networking modalities of the sister project, Africa-Asia Drought Risk Management Peer Assistance Project. Close consultation should be made with the DRRAP’s Regional Learning Group on Community Approaches.
• Test the prototype conceptual framework and methodology and collect quantitative as well as qualitative DRR impact data in selected DRRAP pilot operation sites in Ethiopia, Kenya and/or Uganda.
• Facilitate the discussion at the 2nd Africa-Asia Drought Adaptation Forum, scheduled for September, 2012, for collective review of the draft framework and methodology.

Improvement of the capacity of local/national/regional disaster management institutions to plan, implement and monitor drought interventions against their contributions to long-term community resilience building, particularly for the most vulnerable populations:

• Prepare a step-by-step, practical and user-friendly training manual for resilience driven community-based DRR and quantitative impact analysis, applicable specifically to the unique national/regional policy, institutional and socio-economic contexts in the Horn of Africa, based on the finalized framework and methodology.
• Lead the training session at the 5th Africa Drought Adaptation Forum, scheduled for the 4th quarter of 2012 -1st quarter of 2013, to build awareness and capacity of selected local, national and regional disaster management institutions in resilience driven drought project planning, implementation, monitoring and communication.

Improvement of the capacity of local/national/regional disaster management institutions to plan, implement and monitor drought interventions against their contributions to long-term community resilience building, particularly for the most vulnerable populations:

• Develop a draft policy brief based on the outputs and findings from the activities under Component 1 of the project in support of the evidence-based advocacy efforts of the DRRAP partners.
• Finalize brief, highlighting practical policy recommendations in regards to how to improve the policy, institutional and planning frameworks in the HoA to spur innovative and entrepreneurial capacities of drought-affected dryland communities, based on the outputs of the multi-stakeholder consultations at the 5th Africa Drought Adaptation Forum.

Deliverables/outputs

The consultant is responsible for the following deliverables and outputs:

Component 1

• Draft conceptual framework and standardized methodology together with the brief summaries of the analytical/consultative exercise (i.e., desk review, interviews, online discussion forum , etc.).
• Field mission reports in selected DRRAP pilot operation sites. Tentatively missions are planned to three operation sites in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda respectively.
• Power Point Presentation, participation and facilitation of joint review and discussion at the 2nd Africa-Asia Drought Adaptation Forum.
• Final conceptual framework and standardized methodology.

Component 2

• Training manual for resilience driven community-based DRR/quantitative impact analysis.
• Facilitation of the training session at the 5th Africa Drought Adaptation Forum.

Component 3:

• Policy brief in support of the evidence-based advocacy for incorporating resilience-driven community-based DRR approach in national/regional DRR policy, strategy and/or planning processes.

Formats of the reports, manual, and policy brief should comply with the UNDP requirements. The detailed outline of these documents shall be agreed upon the commencement of the assignment. All the draft documents shall be submitted in English by the Consultant to the UNDP-DDC for review and feedback.

Duration and Implementation Modalities of the Assignment

This consultancy is envisioned to be completed in 165 (one hundred sixty five) working days, or 7.5 (seven and half) working months, spread over the period of 11 (eleven) months, starting on 01 August 2012. The position is home based. It is expected that the assignment will include three missions to the project intervention country (ies) for:

• Data collection in selected DRRAP pilot operation sites in Ethiopia, Kenya and/or Uganda, tentatively scheduled in August and/or September, 2012.
• 2nd Africa-Asia Drought Adaptation Forum in September, 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya.
• 5th Africa Drought Adaptation forum in 4th quarter of 2012 -1st quarter of 2013 (venue to be announced).

The consultant will work under the supervision of the Project Manager housed by UNDP-DDC. Consultants will be bound by the terms and conditions of UNDP Procurement rules and guidelines. S/He will be briefed at the beginning of the assignment by teleconference.


Competencies

• Prior experience conducting research and analysis in the area of quantitative as well as qualitative impact assessment.
• In depth knowledge and good understanding of DRR concepts and drought issues in general and on the HoA region, specifically.
• Excellent quantitative research and analytical skills and interpersonal skills with strong cultural sensitivity and adaptability.
• Excellent report writing, presentation and communication skills.
• Experiences in presentation at local, national, regional, global or international meetings on results of assessment findings or studies and in managing training sessions targeted to a diverse audience.
• Ability to compile information in coherent and succinct formats.
• High attention to detail and ability to work under tight deadlines.
• IT competencies at least in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and internet.

Required skills and experience

The Consultant should have the following qualifications, skills and knowledge:

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics with strong emphasis on quantitative skills.

Experience:

• Minimum 10 (ten) years of relevant post Master’s working experience.
• A substantial international track record of carrying out high quality economic research using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including statistical analysis of data.
• Previous experience with the United Nations and/or other multilateral, bilateral organizations and international civil society development partners is considered an asset as is previous work on the DRR field.

Language:

• Excellent written, oral, presentation and communications skills in English with the ability to explain complex analysis and data in a clear and simple manner to non-native English speakers.