Request for Proposal – Development of Strategic and Developmental Community Engagement Work (Nigeria INGO Forum) At iMMAP

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Contracting authority

iMMAP France, represented in France by Christophe Bois whose office is located at: 10 Rue Stanislas Torrents, 13006, Marseille, France.

Related programmes and other donor activities

The Nigeria INGO Forum

The Nigerian INGO Forum (NIF) was formed on 2014 to facilitate the coordination and cooperation of humanitarian and development INGO’s and between INGO’s and external stakeholders including Government of Nigeria, Nigerian civil society, UN agencies, diplomatic actors, and donors.

In response to the escalation of conflict in the north-east and increase in humanitarian needs, as well as presence of operational actors, the INGO Forum established a sub office in Maiduguri, Borno State to facilitate coordination, advocacy and external stakeholder engagement. With INGOs also decentralising senior decision making to operations in the field, the imperative to facilitate information sharing to address duplications and gaps, strengthen quality of responses, advocate for the rights of affected populations, and ensure INGO leadership in operational level decision-making entities.

NIF exists to facilitate members’ collective action in the principled and effective delivery of much needed assistance to save and improve the lives of poor and vulnerable people. To this end, NIF provides a coordinated approach through which INGOs, the Government of Nigeria (GoN), the UN, donors and other external stakeholders can exchange information, shared expertise, and establish guidelines for a more coordinated, efficient and effective use of aid resources in Nigeria.

NIF is hosted by iMMAP, an international non-governmental organization (INGO) that provides targeted Information Management (IM) support to partners responding to complex humanitarian and development challenges. The contracting party for this work would be iMMAP.

2. OBJECTIVE, EXPECTED RESULTS

Overall objective

At NIF’s Annual General Assembly in January 2019, three thematic areas were selected for increased focus on – access, community engagement and protection. Under community engagement, there was a recognition for the need to 1) Strengthen capacity of member organisations, 2) Engage with a broader representation of community leadership/structures 3) Increase information sharing among members on existing community knowledge. To this end, NIF is selecting a consultant to support in the development of strategic and developmental community engagement work.

Objective 1) Mapping of community engagement structures currently in place, and development of Community Engagement Strategy

· Map the levels and types of community engagement structures in the humanitarian (and development) response in NE Nigeria.

· Engage with UN, INGO, NNGO and CSOs operating in the NE

· Review the efficiency and efficacy of the current engagement landscape and identify best practices or gaps

· Develop a strategy on how to best utilise the community engagement structures for NIF staff and members.

Objective 2) Develop a workshop on humanitarian principles and INGOs, including a ToT session

· Develop a workshop, guide, facilitation materials, presentation

· Develop a guide and training materials for INGO staff (specifically NIF) to conduct and hold the workshop

· Run a training session to train INGO staff to facilitate roll out of the workshop

Results to be achieved by the contractor

Category

Deliverables

Details

Community Engagement

Mapping of community engagement structures currently in place

Map out the general community engagement structures in place across the humanitarian response in the BAY states. The map should outline what structures are in place, how they function with a focus on the practical aspects, and who are the key actors and stakeholders involved in these structures. In addition, include two locations as case studies to outline similarities and differences across geographical areas within the same operational space.

The consultant(s) is expected to map multiple levels of stakeholders, from the federal to LGA level, including humanitarian, development, and government stakeholders. This will include both groups and forums which support in community engagement, but also down to the individual organisation or agency level. This mapping will help identify entry points for (increased) engagement and dialog between humanitarian response actors and target communities across the BAY States.

Development of Community Engagement Strategy

Based on the Community Mapping, above, develop a strategy for engagement by NIF (and its members) with existing community structures at the micro and meso levels. This will include tangible steps and outputs to guide the Community Liaison Officer, and wider NIF staff, in their everyday tasks to enhance engagement and ability to utilise existing structures.

The consultant(s) is expected to create a strategy, with suggested timeline and accountabilities, on methods for engagement, with particular focus on how to increase engagement with more marginalised groups in communities.

Engagement, for the purpose of this consultancy, is a two way flow both from NIF to community members, and from community members to NIF.

INGO Engagement

Develop a workshop on humanitarian principles and INGOs, including a ToT session

Design a workshop that can be run by NIF, as well as its member organisations in the communities in which they work to increase the understanding of the role of INGOs, and their operating principles with a specific focus on humanitarian principles. This should be an interactive workshop, for community leaders and community groups to take part in, to enhance understanding and acceptance of INGOs in the targeted communities. The consultant will also be expected to develop and deliver the ToT workshop package.

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3. ASSUMPTIONS & RISKS

Risks

One of the key risks is the challenges in mapping community structures in the current context, where travel is restricted by COVID-19, as well as the more general travel constraints of travel into, and around north-east Nigeria.

4. SCOPE OF THE WORK

4.1: General

The work is aimed at increased community engagement two directions, how we engage with communities, and how communities understand, and subsequently engage with INGOs. It is vital that there is strong community engagement as the basis for any INGO projects in a community, yet in NE Nigeria, there are external and internals problems hindering this. Externally, there are a lot of negative and misperceptions about INGOs, and how and why they work the way they do. Internally to the humanitarian response, there is often a siloed approach to engagement, resulting in duplication and/or gaps. Working more effectively with communities will mean INGOs overall are more effective.

4.1.1: Project description

The project is funded by ECHO, recognising the unique position NIF is in to have a macro level view of the activities of INGOs in the north-east to avoid duplication of efforts, and identify opportunities to strengthen the efficacy of the response. To this end, the project will improve coordination and collaboration between all humanitarian actors to ensure that adherence to humanitarian principles and a protection focus is maintained first and foremost.

4.2: Specific work

1. Community Engagement Plan

a. Community Mapping

i. Report – mapping of community engagement structures, including two specific location as case studies. Max 30 pages.

b. Community Engagement Strategy

i. Strategy document – based on the output from 1a, develop a strategy to utilise already existing structure to enhance community engagement by NIF staff. Max 10 pages.

1. INGO Engagement Workshop

a. Workshop Facilitation Guide – full narrative, instructions etc

b. Workshop materials including but not limited to presentation, tools, worksheets etc

c. ToT guide and materials for the workshop

d. Run a ToT workshop for NIF and other INGO staff

Milestones

1. Community Engagement

a. Community Mapping

i. Proposed methodology (2 page max.)

ii. Draft report (30 page max.)

iii. Final report (30 page max.)

b. Community Engagement Strategy

i. Proposed strategy

ii. Assigned accountabilities

iii. Expected timeline for strategy roll out

1. INGO Engagement Workshop

a. Facilitation guide and workshop materials draft

b. ToT guide draft

c. Facilitation guide and workshop materials final version

d. ToT guide final version

5. LOGISTICS AND TIMING

Location:

Home based with the possibility of travel for some elements, dependent on COVID-19 and visa restrictions.

Start date & period of implementation

The start date for this work will be early to Mid April, with all the work to be finished by end of June. The development of documents should be in April and May. While for the month of June, the consultant will see the roll out of the training of key NIF staff (plus others) in how to conduct the workshop.

The consultant(s) will have a weekly update call with the focal person at NIF on the progress of the deliverables

The bellow timelines are suggested for each element of work:

1. a. Mapping of community engagement structures currently in place (7 days)

b. Community Engagement Strategy (12 days)

1. Develop workshop on humanitarian principles and INGOs (8 days)

a. Including running a ToT session (3 days)

All work must be completed by end of June 2021.

6.REQUIREMENTS

Facilities to be provided by the contractor:

If training session(s) are to take place in person, rather than virtually, NIF will arrange a suitable space for attendees, as well as the other basic logistical arrangements for the venue and training session.

Given that the majority of this consultancy is expected to be home based, NIF will not be providing desk/office space.

Expenses, including but not limited to accommodation, food, phone credit, local transport, are to be included in the consultant(s) proposed daily rate.

Equipment:

The consultant(s) will be expected to work off their own laptop and/or phone as the majority of the work will be home based.

7.REPORTS

Submission & approval of reports

Report will first be submitted to the technical referent, NIF’s Access Advisor, and the Liaison Focal Point jointly for review. Only once the reports are found to be of sufficient quality will they be approved. NIF maintains the right to make the final decision on approval of products.

It is expected that the consultant(s) will provide drafts in a timely manner to allow for comments and feedback to be incorporated within the project deadlines.

8.MONITORING AND EVALUATION

The consultant(s) will have weekly progress calls with the technical referent and/or the Liaison Focal Point. This is to update on progress, make NIF aware of any challenges that may arise in the undertaking of this work.

Evaluation of the workshops will take place via respondent feedback solicited after each workshop and the ToT session. This will be compiled into a brief report, after the culmination of the project, to be shared with the donor as part of the wider end of project evaluation.

9. Payment

Fees shall be paid upon submission of an invoice after providing/executing each deliverable and a last payment after approval of the final report of activities as set out above.

Fees shall be calculated based on the agreed daily rate and the amount of time proposed as set out in the budget that will integrate the contract between iMMAP and the service provider.

10.Selection Details:

The consultant should have relevant experience in community engagement programming. Ideally with previous experience in Africa and strong interview and written English skills, and capacity to work online, in accordance with Nigerian time zone.

The proposal should include daily rates, amount of time expected for this work, a CV, references, and short summary of relevant experience.