Consultancy services for Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment for population at risk of climate related hazards in Beledweyne, Burao and Bendar beyla

INTRODUCTION:

Save the Children has worked in Somalia for over 70 years and is a national and international leader in humanitarian and development programming. Our long operational history and broad geographical coverage, has afforded us positive working relationships with key stakeholders, including the federal government, state and local authorities, donors, international and local NGOs, as well as the trust and acceptance of the communities themselves. Save the Children has operational presence in 17 regions in the country, with over 640 national and international staff across 14 field offices.

Save the Children implements a wide range of multi-sectoral humanitarian and development projects in Somalia. Our programming is guided by our Country Strategic Plan 2022-24 which follows a child life cycle model to make sure our programs consider a child and their needs holistically and respond with thematically integrated and age-appropriate interventions. Our active portfolio in 2023 covers programs in Food Security and Livelihoods, Social Protection, Youth Economic Empowerment, Education, Health, Nutrition, WASH, Child Protection, Child Rights Governance and Advocacy while mainstreaming climate change adaptation across our portfolio. In addition, gender equality and disability inclusion are mainstreamed in all our programs.

BACKGROUND:

Somalia is at the frontline of the climate crisis. Lives and livelihoods in the country are already being disrupted by climatic shocks and stressors. Over the past two decades, climate-related disasters have impacted more than 5 million people across the country. Droughts have affected more people in recent years, while floods are proving more deadly – nearly 50% of the people in Somalia rely on the land to grow their food and generate an income. Although communities feel the full force of the changing climate, they have been under-represented (if not invisible) in discussions of the unfolding global disaster. This is the reality of climate injustice. Climate impacts are also hampering Somalia’s development, including through water shortages, reduced food production, and low economic growth. Climate change is a global issue that affects all sectors of society and requires collective action to address.

The project will be implemented by Somali staff from SCI in collaboration with government authorities, there are number of the vulnerable groups such as women, children, youths people living with disabilities and the marginalized who are at a greater risk of experiencing negative impacts and face greater barriers to adapting to climate change by accessing timely information and using EWEA system. The risk of exclusion is particularly different for different genders in the local context. This project seeks to map these vulnerable groups and understand specific vulnerability context within the EWEA under the DRR framework for AA.

It is considered that without timely EWEA information, the marginalized and highly vulnerable groups in Banderbayla, Burao and Beledweyne who cannot access timely EW information to make lifesaving decisions, are at-risk. Evidence has suggested that community-based early warning structures, whether formal and informal, have provided necessary tools and information for DRR and Climate Changes Early warning (CCEW) systems, protection of community assets, building socio-economic resilience and providing effective community coping mechanism to climate change but not closely linked with the national and regional Climate information service providers to co-create effective early warning information that can be relayed to the intended beneficiaries in a timely, easy to understand and user friendly manner.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

The project targets the vulnerable groups in the project target locations. The target groups have been selected based on the intersectionality of vulnerabilities such as sex, age, disability, group, pregnancy and breast feeding, displacement/migration, livelihood strategy which affects their coping capacity and makes them very sensitive when exposed to risks of impacts of hazards such as droughts and floods. Due to their status and the general conditions of the protracted crisis in Somalia and Somaliland these groups of people are all at risk of food insecurity and lack access to basic infrastructure such as WASH services, health systems and education and hence lack of knowledge on EWEA reduces their adoption of AA therefore exposing them to vulnerabilities. The project is therefore conducting vulnerability and gender assessments to identify linkage between inequality and exclusion risks to understand conditions and numbers that will be validated using the Vulnerability and Mapping outcome from this exercise. The objective of this assessment is to map and understand the number of vulnerable groups whose lack of knowledge on EWEA put them at a greater risk of Climate Risks.

Specific Objectives of this Assignment:

The specific objective of this assignment is to:

• Conduct a comprehensive assessment of vulnerabilities faced by target communities, including but not limited to climate hazards, including impacts of extreme weather events (including flood, drought, heatwave, dry spell) and longer-term risks driven by climate change (including longer-term trends in increasing temperatures, increasing frequency of extreme weather events and changes in health risks related to climate change), socio-economic challenges, and environmental degradation. Vulnerabilities of specifc groups should be assessed including criteria such as sex, age (adults, children, youth), disability, ethnicity? , pregnancy and breast feeding, displacement/migration, livelihood strategy and others as necessary.
• Develop detailed maps illustrating the spatial distribution and severity of vulnerabilities within the target area.
• Identify key factors contributing to vulnerability, including demographic characteristics, infrastructure vulnerabilities, livelihood patterns, and access to essential services. This will include mapping of local EWS and preferred channels of communication accessible to specific vulnerable groups, and consider constraints to inclusivity of planning for at risk communities during natural disasters
• Assess the capacity of communities to cope with and adapt to identified climate-related shocks and stresses. This will include an assessment of local knowledge of the impacts of climate-related risks and how this is currently used to inform to inform local preparedness for climate-related risks, and the extent to which these meet the needs of specific vulnerable groups.
• The firm/individual will engage with a complementary, simultaneous mapping of formal EWS systems, channels and capacities, to: share findings from how specific vulnerable groups are already, and likely to be further impacted by current and future climate-related shocks and stresses.
• support cross-comparison of findings to together identify key gaps in the linkages between formal and informal EWS, how address of these gaps might better support the climate-related risks that specific vulnerable groups face and sustainable channels, systems and approaches for enabling inclusive and sustainable address of these gaps.
• -specific consideration of the feasibility for bringing together local knowledge of the impacts of climate-related risks and ‘scientific’ forecasts to support localized monitoring and impact based forecasting;
• The firm/individual will provide a detailed report of assessment findings, a detailed mapping of local EWS and preferred channels and networks for ensuring reach to specific vulnerable groups, and series of actionable recommendations to stakeholders for enhancing resilience and mitigating vulnerabilities to climate-related risks.
• The firm/individual will also take part in a restitution and planning meeting, proposed for late July. Here findings from both this assignment and the complementary assessment of formal EWS systems, channels and capacities will be shared, reviewed and verified with key stakeholders, to form the foundational underpinning for project activities. The workshop will support consensus on which of the priority challenges identified the ongoing project can best support to strengthen the preparedness and anticipatory action of specific vulnerable groups to address both near and longer term climate-related risks.

SCOPE OF WORK:

The assignment shall:

• Review existing literature, data, and reports related to vulnerabilities and risk factors within the target areas.
• Conduct field assessments and community consultations to gather primary data on vulnerabilities considering different community members (gender, disability, children, and youth (age groups) etc, including participatory mapping exercises where appropriate.
• Utilize relevant tools to analyze,visualize and where feasible digitalise spatial data.
• Engage with local stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, community leaders, and residents, to ensure a participatory and inclusive approach.
• Assess the adaptive capacity of communities by considering social, economic, institutional, and environmental factors, and preferred channels and formats for receiving information information.
• Identify hotspots of vulnerability and prioritize areas for intervention based on the severity and urgency of risks.
• Develop vulnerability maps and analytical reports summarizing the findings and recommendations.
• Provide visual and digital mapping of local EWS and communication channels preferred by and accessible to specific vulnerable groups.

METHODOLOGY:

While the consultant is free to propose the best method that suit and brings out the best outcome for the assignment, SCI will expect the process to integrate mixed method research design, making use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Adaptative methodologies for primary engagement of the targeted community, validation of the proposed community-based activities and development of a practical action plans will form part of the assignment.

The consultant will be expected to work closely with the local community, within the targeted areas, who are the most vulnerable to climate change and disaster risk, the local authority as well as other stakeholders hosting formal weather forecasting and predication systems.

A technical team, drawn from across SC, project partners and key stakeholders will accompany and oversee the assessment to ensure that it can provide the data and analysis required to underpin the ongoing project. In particular, the technical team will seek to ensure coherence in methodologies and outputs between this assessment and a complementary, simultaneous assessment of formal EWS, capacities and channels.

Specifically, individual consultant/firm will undertake the following key tasks:

• Conduct both generic and adaptable literature review. The literature review should also provide information on vulnerability and risks.
• Deciding on the appropriate data collection method, the consultant/consultancy firm will conduct community-based data collection, engaging the community within Bander bayla, Burao and Beledweyne and drawing and capturing the right population in need.
• Utilize a multi-disciplinary approach, incorporating quantitative and qualitative methods to capture the complexity of vulnerabilities.
• Employ participatory techniques to engage community members and stakeholders in the assessment process.
• Tools (child friendly) must be participatory and accommodate children’s views by adding children as part of the target respondents
• Combine household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and other data collection methods as appropriate.
• Apply standardized vulnerability assessment frameworks and indicators, adapting them to the local context as necessary.
• Ensure ethical considerations, including informed consent and confidentiality, in all data collection activities.
• Commitment to close communication with a complemetnary, simultaneous assessment, to ensure comparability of findings and outputs.

DELIVERABLES:

• Inception report detailing workplan, data collection tools, proposed approach and methodologies.
• Interim Progress Reports providing updates on data collection, analysis, and stakeholder engagement.
• Vulnerability Maps illustrating spatial distribution and severity of vulnerabilities, and, if feasible, digitalized.
• Comprehensive Vulnerability Assessment Mapping Report presenting findings, analysis, and recommendations.
• Mapping of local EWS and channels of communication preferred by specific vulnerable groups.
• Presentation of findings to stakeholders and communities, including opportunities for feedback and discussion. This will include participation and active engagement in a joint workshop where findings from across a number of assessments are shared, reviewed, as foundations for detailed project planning.
• Final report with appropriate recommendations

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

The following attributes are requirements for the selection of the consultant/consultancy firm:

• Proven experience in writing necessary tools and information for inclusive DRR, Vulnerability Assessments and Climate Information and Early warning (CIEW) systems (submit at least three work samples from previous similar work)
• Copy of registration certificate from the government
• Submit a Technical Proposal that clearly explains the proposed methodology/ approach, and timeframe for this assignment.
• Submit a financial proposal with cost break down
• The lead consultant proposed for the evaluation must have degree in Environmental Science, Natural Resources Management, DRR, Development Studies or related field and should have at least 5 years working experience with similar assignments.
• Consultancy firm lead and associated personnel CVs including a minimum of 3 references.
• At least three samples/copies of relevant completed deliverables for similar work undertaken in the last five years