Somalia: Accountability Assessment for CMAM programs in South Central Somalia

Terms of Reference to conduct an Accountability Assessment for CMAM programs in South Central Somalia

Strengthening Nutrition in South Central Somalia (SNS) is a DFID funded CMAM program aimed at improving access to quality of life-saving and preventative nutrition interventions in Bay, Baidoa, Hiraan and Banadir regions in South Central Somalia. The Consortium is made up of four international NGOs (Oxfam, Save the Children, ACF and Concern) and has been operational since November 2013. Despite the volatile security situation, road blocks and poor road networks that severely limit movement of staff and beneficiaries the Consortium partners recognise the importance of remaining accountable towards stakeholders, particularly communities affected by disasters that the programme is helping.

The Consortium members have own Accountability systems and policies which cut across all their programs. SNS intends to conduct an Accountability Assessment aimed at gathering information to improve Community Complaints Handling and Feedback systems within the Consortium. The assessment will also help inform the Consortium on how to integrate the recently launched Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), an over-arching body of Humanitarian standards that is aiming to bring about more accountability for NGOs and will replace the previous standards developed by HAP International and People in Aid.

Objective of the consultancy

The objective of this assessment is to strengthen the quality and accountability to affected communities though consultations with key stakeholders (primarily children through their care givers and representatives) to identify ways on how to enhance their participation into the program and improve the effectiveness of existing Complaints and feedback mechanisms.

Rationale

Indeed principles of accountable programming are not new; they are part of the basics of good-quality programming practice, and are being implemented by the Consortium members to varying degrees. According to the assessments carried by the HAP all the four Consortium members ascribe to International Standards and have policies derived from the legal rights of and obligations to, those affected by crisis. All adhere to the principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality, but small differences exist in the way these are implemented which is partly shaped by the context in the programmes are being implemented as well as the program itself. Unlike other humanitarian interventions, CMAM programs are also affected by the fact that there is a continuous change of beneficiaries as a child can only remain in a program for a maximum period of 4 months thereby limiting the contact period between staff and beneficiaries. In addition, beneficiaries of CMAM programs tend be spread geographically and only meet at nutrition centres for treatment and other services. Factors that hinder the implementation and active beneficiary participation in accountability systems for CMAM or similar programs need to be investigated in order to develop mechanisms that are tailored to program. This assessment will focus on gathering information that would assist CMAM manager’s to implement effective accountability systems within their programs. It will document the views of the target groups with regard to their participation in CMAM programs, paying particular attention to any significant location and social based differences in those views.

Scope of Work and Methodology

This assessment will take place in Hiraan, Banadir and Bay regions in places where SNS partners are implementing CMAM programs.

The assessment will gather qualitative data through field visits, meetings with stakeholders, focus groups with beneficiaries, and discussions with project staff. Data that will be collected will be analysed to generate recommendations on how accountability to beneficiaries in CMAM programs can be improved. A final report will be the main deliverable of this activity. After its approval by Consortium Members the report will be shared with other Nutrition members and Government of Somalia. The findings will also be used to inform the accountability training for consortium staff.

.

Key tasks and specific objectives

The assessment will perform the following activities:

· Prepare an inventory of existing Accountability initiatives (Information Sharing; Complaints handling and feedback mechanisms);

· Identify and document good or emerging practices that can be shared across the consortium and other partners;

· Hold discussions with carer givers, frontline staff including community health workers, mobilisers, volunteers, local leaders and our partner organisations and identify feasible ways of improving feedback and handle complaints mechanisms, information sharing and general participation in SNS programmes.

· Explore and identify appropriate Beneficiary Complaints and Feedback Mechanisms for SNS programs and areas.

· Get views from children, adults, staff and stakeholders on the type of information they would like to know and be updated about the program. Obtain their opinion on the most preferred media and/or channel of communication;

· Identify the most common complaints and compliments that beneficiaries, community leaders and stakeholders hold about the program and get their views on how best these can be solved:

Outputs/Deliverables

Below are the main deliverables of the Accountability Assessment process:

· Presentation of preliminary findings after completing field-work

· The consultant will present to the Mogadishu based staff initial findings for discussion and feedback prior to development of the draft report.

· The final report will have the following components:

o Cover Page

o Table of Contents

o List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

o Executive Summary including major recommendations

o Introduction

o Background

o Methodology

o Findings

o Conclusions / Recommendations

o Annexes

o Bibliography

The assessment team

The team will be composed of two principal researchers, one male and one female. As women are the principal care givers to children it is very important for this assessment to get feedback from women group interviews facilitated by female researchers. General supervision and quality assurance will be provided by SCI and SNS MEAL team. The team will be composed of:

1) A team leader with extensive experience in qualitative data collection coupled with good knowledge of development/humanitarian programs. S/he, in coordination will be responsible for planning and organizing the overall assessment.

2) A second researcher of different gender who will work under the direction of the Lead Researcher.

3) Two note takers (male and female Enumerators) who will collect the quantitative data.

Desired profile of the lead consultant:

• Three years’ experience in development/humanitarian programming in Somalia/Somaliland;
• Academic background in Development or other related field at Post Graduate level;
• Background knowledge of accountability to beneficiaries particularly the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) benchmarks;
• Excellent verbal and written communication in Somali and English required;
• Strong critical analysis and report-writing skills required (Kindly submit 2 reports from the last 2 consultancies);
• Ability to provide technical leadership, working with teams and meeting deadlines;
• Demonstrated experience and capacity to design and implement qualitative research methods for the purpose of project evaluation;
• Significant experience with the development of data collection methods and tools;
• Previous work experience in Somalia
• Strong organizational and reporting skills, presentation skills, attention to detail, ability to meet deadlines, and proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Qualified candidates are requested to apply through a short proposal detailing past experience and the budget to somalia.procurement@savethechildren.org:

Applications close 22^nd February 2016

Disclaimer - Save the Children is under no obligation to award to the lowest or highest or any bidder at all and may cancel the whole/part process when deems fit without giving further justification. Bids shall not be returned beyond the stipulated time.

For more information please visit www.somaliangoconsortium.org

We work with children, communities and governments all over the world and we believe in the right person for the job regardless of where you come from and how you identify yourself. We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to ensuring that only those who are suitable to work with children are considered for these posts. All successful applicants will therefore be required to sign onto our Child Protection Policy and organizational Code of Conduct.