Consultant - EU Support to Response, Recovery and Resilience in Borno State at Action Against Hunger | ACF-International

Project Background and Description
The past nine years of violence between the Nigerian armed forces and non-state armed groups in North East Nigeria have caused mass displacement and drained state and community resources. At its peak (October 2015), 2.2 million individuals were displaced by the conflict. Following a steady decline during 2016-2017, the total number has risen again to >2 million in October 2018.1 Borno State hosts the vast majority of both internally displaced persons (1,475,605) and returnees (683,012). Furthermore, the conflict has overburdened services in areas that were under-performing prior to the crisis, and the damaged infrastructure and depleted services in newly accessible areas cause further challenges in delivering support to those in need.

This EU-funded project responds to the need of building resilience and sustainability in Borno State and of enhancing the capacity of public institutions and affected communities to anticipate and react to the challenges of poverty, social cohesion, climate change, and crisis/security. Responding to the needs of the conflict-affected populations in Borno State requires a comprehensive and integrated intervention across multiple platforms of service delivery and system strengthening. The project therefore covers multiple sectors at once in the targeted areas: the health and nutrition sector, WASH and renewable energy systems, and the social protection, livelihood and income generating sector. Based on the level of needs and gaps in operational response presence, the project intervenes in Northeastern Borno, and more specifically Kukawa, Nganzai, Monguno and Damboa Local Government Areas (LGAs).

The project focuses on transitioning between ‘emergency’ and ‘development’ in a sustained manner. Since this transition is rarely a linear chronological process, a flexible and phased approach is followed to support immediate needs while at the same time implementing recovery and longer-term interventions. To this end, AAH works alongside authorities to ensure they are strengthened to be able to deliver the basic services to their population.

The participation of LGA officials and public institutions is required in the planning, design, implementation and assessment of the services or infrastructure to be strengthened through this intervention as well as their management upon the intervention’s conclusion. While the ultimate expected level of sustainability will be dependent on factors such as resources and security, the project plans to work closely with institutional and community structures to ensure that they have the technical capacity to deliver an effective response with minimal external support.

Beyond authorities, the project will seek to empower conflict-affected populations, in particular women, to make them more resilient. This will be done through empowerment of affected populations on their health, nutrition and sanitation practices, support to sustainable livelihood and income generation, and support to community cohesion and gender equity.

Project Objectives
Overall Objective:

• Contribution to long-term resilience among populations and public institutions in North East Nigeria.

Specific Objective:

• Improved nutrition security of conflict-affected populations through uptake of critical household health and hygiene behaviors and through improved government’s capacity to provide primary health care, water, sanitation and hygiene services, support safety nets and livelihoods sources.

Rationale for the WASH Governance Analysis
Due to the conflict, Borno State and its LGAs have limited resources (human, technical and financial) and capacities to deliver their local development mission. It is therefore necessary to support redeployment and strengthen these actors in their capacities and to mobilize them on their mandate of planning (including early warning and contingency planning), and building resilience of their population

This project component will result in a re-appropriation by the local authorities and public institutions of their domain of competences in the areas where the crisis has weakened their capacities for surveillance and action. The diagnosis produced will inform the most appropriate ways to strengthen their capacities.

Based on the WASH governance study, a plan will be prepared with LGAs, the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) and the Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA) to address the identified gaps and challenges. The plan will include capacity building and supportive supervision, including but not limited to water quality monitoring, mapping and surveying water points, establishing and supporting water user committees (WUC), and aiding in the operation and maintenance of community infrastructure.

Scope of the Study
Overall Objective:

• The WASH governance study will contribute to AAH’s understanding of the environment it operates in. The study shall broadly look at the efficiency, effectiveness and engagement of all relevant stakeholders, thereby building on the OECD principles on water governance, and particularly on those principles that are essential in emergency situations.
• The study will conduct an analysis of the institutional and regulatory framework (particularly on State level); map the interests, coordination mechanisms and influence that stakeholders may have over AAH’s WASH program in Borno; assess the capacity of existing institutional actors to ensure longer-term sustainability of the WASH interventions and describe existing community and locally-based resource management structures.

Specific Objectives:
Based on the above mentioned mapping exercise, the study will:

• Identify the gaps, grey areas and overlaps in the WASH institutional environment linking the State to LGA level, and the LGA to ward/community level;
• Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the WASH committees (WASHCOM) as predominant water management model in the intervention areas, and the extent to which they can meet the life cycle costs of different infrastructures (notably solar-powered, hybrid and generator-powered systems, thereby differentiating between CapEx, OpEx and CapManEx);
• Develop, in consultation with key institutional stakeholders, a (financially) sustainable governance model for rural and peri-urban water supply systems in line with the legal and institutional framework;
• Develop a capacity-building strategy (eg competency-based trainings, water point information system) for water resource management at State and LGA levels;
• Identify opportunities for advocacy by AAH to influence the sustainability of WASH interventions in Borno state.

Users of the Study:

• Direct users: Action Against Hunger Nigeria Mission
• Indirect users: Action Against Hunger International Network, WASH Sector Working Groups, EU and other donors, federal, states and local governments and public institutions, UN agencies, INGOs and NGO Consortiums as well as humanitarian learning platforms (such as ALNAP).

Use of the Study:

• The study will inform Action Against Hunger design of WASH Governance strategies to increase stakeholder engagement and sustainability of its WASH interventions implemented under this EU grant and beyond.

Methodology:

• Based on the above objectives (see point IV), the Consultant will define a detailed methodology and work plan (inception report) to be shared with the project lead for approval.
• The Consultant will undertake both a desk-based review of existing studies, policies and project documents, and conduct fieldwork.

The field work will include:
Interviews:

• As part of the assessment, the consultant will interview Action Against Hunger staff, to agree on expectations and define a road map on how the study will be conducted
• The interviews will look at project design, data collection, management reporting procedures, analyzing how the mission implements its project management cycle and how the government policies affect our activities including stakeholders’ involvement during each step of implementation
• The Consultant will develop data collection tools with the guidance of the project and M&E team, and conduct interviews with the State Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), RUWASSA, BOSEPA, the Borno State Agricultural Development Program (BOSTADP), Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA), LGA Chairmen and/or relevant officials, WASHCOMs, community leaders/traditional leaders, and other INGOs and UN organizations.

Field Visits:

• The Consultant will develop a methodology to assess household affordability of water, and visit a sample of existing water points in the relevant LGAs.

Stakeholders Workshop:

• The Consultant shall facilitate a learning workshop in country to generate consensus on a sustainable governance model for water points, present the capacity-building strategy to key stakeholders, and gather feedback on the findings and recommendations.

Key Deliverables
The following are study outputs:

• Submission of inception report and work plan within 3 weeks after commencement – the report should include a comprehensive literature review of WASH governance in the region, methodology of the study, main report outlines, planned questions and stakeholders to engage.
• A draft governance report for review by AAH WASH team in Borno, Abuja and HQ.
• A final report with recommendations.
• A presentation of the study key findings and recommendations for stakeholders
• A brief list of key issues/questions that may require further analysis/investigation or that merit continued future tracking

Timeline

• This study will be for a period of two months.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates are invited to submit their CV with the following below to: supply.ng@acf-international.org

• Narrative proposal including work plan with timeline
• Financial Proposal.

Note

• The offer must bear the reference: NG WASH GOV
• Request for clarifications to be sent to: tender-enquiry.ng@acf-international.org