CONSULTANCY: BRCiS Accelerator Fund – Based in Nairobi with travel to Somalia 74 views0 applications

Terms of Reference: Consultant for the Development and Delivery of an «Accelerator Fund» Strategy

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

The humanitarian situation in Somalia is complex, longstanding and dynamic with development indicators being among the worst in the world. In 2011-2012, Somalia experienced severe food insecurity and famine with at its peak more than 4 million people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and where more than 258,000 people died. Again in 2017, after multiple below average rainy seasons, Somalia was at credible risk of famine, which was averted through quick decision making and early action by humanitarian actors, including resilience programmes such as BRCiS. In 2019, a total of 5.4 million people across Somalia again face acute food insecurity. Crop harvests have been poor, livestock losses are substantial, conflict continues on many levels and over two million people have been forced to move from rural to urban areas in search of support. After over 25 years of fragility, and despite the arrival of stronger government and progress in sectors such as digital money and communications, many of Somalia’s critical humanitarian problems remain. At the same time donor fatigue in this and other contexts combined with increasing costs and risks of traditional delivery mechanisms, dictate that humanitarian actors must change the way they operate to deliver twice the impact for every unit of investment.

The Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS) is a 5-year old consortium which takes a bottom-up approach to supporting Somali communities to develop their capacity to resist and absorb minor shocks without undermining their ability to move out of poverty. Cutting across the ‘Humanitarian – Development’ spectrum, the BRCiS programme balances its response to short-term humanitarian needs with the longer-term aim of building community and household capacities to deal with the shocks that drive the humanitarian needs in the first place. Its primary mandate is to help marginalized and vulnerable communities to build their own resilience. The BRCiS Consortium was created at the end of 2013 and has received funding from DFID, EU and the Ministry of Finance of Somalia. It grew to include 8 NGOs: Action Against Hunger (AAH), Candlelight, Cesvi, Concern Worldwide (CWW), Kaalo, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), and Save the Children International (SCI). The Consortium is led by NRC. The Consortium currently manages a portfolio of 6 grants implemented in all Federal Member States of Somalia. The BRCiS is governed by a Strategic Advisory Group, a Programme Steering Committee and working groups.

In its next 4-year strategy, BRCiS has a strong localization agenda in alignment with the Grand Bargain initiative, aimed at improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian aid. The Consortium is committed to demonstrating that communities, institutions, businesses and humanitarian organizations can work together to build the foundations of a better future for the vulnerable populations of Somalia.

The consortium has also committed to challenge itself to deliver differently. As such it will set up a mechanism called the “Accelerator Fund” to help identify and tackle the critical barriers to achieving greater impact at wider scale. This mechanism will be owned by the consortium members but will operate in parallel to the existing BRCiS programme in order to retain an objective and critical view. It is suggested that the process of activating and deploying the Accelerator Fund will be based on a thorough problem identification process, a search for possible solutions and provision of seed money from the Fund to pilot the ideas thought to be most likely to bring greater, more sustainable impact than current implementation approaches.

DELIVERABLES AND SCOPE OF WORK

The BRCiS Consortium Management Unit (CMU) proposes to hire a consultant for a tentative period of 40-50 working days to provide the necessary support to the CMU to define the final objectives of the “Accelerator Fund”. The consultant will report to the Chief of Party of the consortium. The following scope of work is intended:

1. “Big Problems workshop”: the experiential learning partner will provide support to the CMU to lead a workshop on the big problems that are identified in the BRCiS consortium. The consultant is expected to provide her inputs during the design stage of the workshop to ensure that the findings of the workshop will guide the overall objective of the AF with a strong emphasis on defining the scope of problems to be addressed. (3 days).
2. Map out existing funds-arrangements in the Somalia context through discussions with key informants and private enterprises established in Somalia (complementarity of approaches to avoid duplication) (7 days)
3. Map existing challenge funds in the region, their objectives and processes to incubate disruptive initiatives (3 days)
4. Define the overall objective of the “Accelerator Fund”: present the full problem and solutions analysis on the AF to the BRCiS Strategic Advisory Group and together agree upon a well-defined and specific objective for this AF. Together with the SAG, potential expertise can be requested from members or other relevant stakeholders. To be able to show impact of the AF, a narrow focus on a specific problem is recommended (5 days).
5. Develop the implementation or project plan of the Accelerator Fund in close collaboration with the CMU and the consortium governance structures 27 days). The strategy will include:
6. Details of the problem identification process., in line with established good practice from other challenge funds
7. Details on how the AF should be advertised to ensure broad inclusion
8. Details on the application processes (single tiered versus multi-tiered) and details on the structure of the fund (duration, progressive, different windows for different challenges,…)
9. Details on the eligibility criteria of applicants (private sector, INGO, LNGO, academic, Somali only?, public-private partnerships, localization agenda,…)
10. Details on the review processes of the applicants (including capacity assessment of the applicant and criteria for selecting/scoring applications)
11. Details of pilot funding contractual arrangements and expectations
12. Proposals on how the fund might manage Intellectual Copyright
13. Details on the fianancing modality for the selected initiatives
14. Details on Monitoring and Evaluation framework to be put in place
15. Details of the governance structure and role mandates as well as the roles of the partners

Further guiding questions should be embedded in the overall strategy

1. Is it possible to establish localised challenge funds for local problems and prioritise local organisations?
2. How can the design of the fund be influenced by Somali expertise?
3. What are the pros and cons of more participatory approaches compared to a top-down approach
4. How do we ensure that the solutions/innovations presented are not already part of an existing program and/or could be funded through conventional grants?

QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Experience of designing a similar challenge or innovation fund, complete from problem identification to pilot funding. Or extensive experience of facilitating design processes that focus on problem identification and creative solutions
• A demonstrated understanding of the humanitarian, development or non-profit sectors
• Significant work or engagement with the private sector
• Experience of consultation and convening of diverse stakeholders
• Experience in East Africa and the Somalia setting is desirable
• Excellent analytical, detail-oriented, and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communications skills, including interpersonal, presentation and writing skills

APPLICATION AND TIMELINE

The contract will take 40-50 working days and should be completed by the 31^st of July 2019. We welcomes both International and local based applicants to apply for the position. All applicants should provide the following documents:

• Concept note and adapted work-plan (including final number of days needed)
• An updated CV including proposed daily fee (in USD) and information on availability
• Samples as proof of similar work undertaken – shared as attachment or hyperlinked in CV
• A statement of existing personal or professional relationships with NRC or its staff that could represent a real or perceived conflict of interest.

The Consultant will be contracted through NRC – BRCiS Consortium lead agency & will be based in Nairobi with travel to field locations in Somalia. BRCiS welcomes both international and national applicants to apply for the position. Only selected candidates will be contacted.

NRC may be required to verify the identity of the selected consultant and to check that the selected consultant has not been involved in illegal activities. NRC reserves the right to use electronic screening tools for this purpose.

DELIVERABLES

• Report (internal and publishable on findings regarding existing funds-arrangements and private sector engagement in Somalia.
• Present to BRCIS consortium governance bodies on the overall objective of the Accelerator Fund, with inputs from the big-problems workshop.
• Strategy document of the Accelerator Fund with all annexes including:
  • 6-pager dissemination report for external stakeholders
  • presentations to PSC, donors and external stakeholders
  • a 36 month budget
  • a risk analysis
  • clarity on how the fund will be managed, governed, implemented and staffed.

• An infographic of the problem and solution analysis – for external dissemination