Consultancy to conduct Safety Audits

The recent flooding in Kenya between April and early May 2024 has had a devastating impact on several regions, particularly in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) counties. The heavy rains resulted in flash floods that severely affected local livelihoods and critical infrastructure. According to the National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC) an estimated 291 people have been killed, 188 injured, 75 missing, while 281,835 people (56,367 families) have been displaced and almost 380,573 (76,114 families) have been affected by persistent heavy rains and flooding as of 17 May in Kenya.

According to the Kenya Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC), the floods led to significant disruption and loss including:

• Loss of lives, livestock, and property:Over 100 lives were lost, and thousands of livestock perished, impacting the primary livelihood of many communities.
• Damage to school infrastructure and the closure of some schools: More than 50 schools were damaged, disrupting the education of over 20,000 students.
• Displacement of persons, including women and girls, increases their risk of gender-based violence: Approximately 50,000 people were displaced, increasing their risk of gender-based violence (GBV).
• Heightened protection needs, risks and threats especially for the most vulnerable groups such as PWDs, the elderly, children, chronically ill and other marginalized groups.
• Barriers in access to services and life-saving interventions due to the impassable roads with possible risks to disease outbreaks.
• Negative effect on the mental Health and Psychological well-being of the community.

According to the Kenya Meteorological Department, the flooding in these counties resulted in the following specific impacts:

Nairobi: Significant urban flooding led to the displacement of thousands, with major disruptions to transportation networks and damage to homes and businesses. Data from NOC showed over 146,000 people were affected in Nairobi and 21,678 people were displaced. Mandera: Around 8,000 people were displaced, with severe damage reported to both residential and public infrastructure, including health facilities. According to OCHA flash updates on heavy rains and flooding, about 5,196 families were affected and 1,136 families were displaced because of the flash flood as of 12 May The situation worsened significantly by the end of May because of the rise in the water level of the river Daua due to heavy rains experienced in southern Ethiopia

Tana River: At least 6,840 families (34,205 individuals) and were hosted in 46 displacement camps. Additionally, according to the National Disaster Operations Center, over 69,965 were affected by the floods leading to extensive damage to agricultural land and the displacement of families. School-going children in some parts of Tana River County did not report back to school on 13 May as 48 schools were not able to open due to the flooding. On 11 May, the heavy downpours upstream caused the Tana River to overflow, resulting in the flooding of fields, the Garsen-Witu-Lamu Road being overtopped, and submerging parts of Hola town.

Given these recent events, the need for comprehensive safety audits in Nairobi, Tana River, and Mandera has become even more urgent. The consultancy will focus on assessing the safety of critical infrastructure, evaluating the effectiveness of current disaster response mechanisms, and recommending improvements to mitigate future risks.

Vulnerable persons – As per the ToR- This is a group comprising of individuals at increased risk of marginalization and violation of human rights- It includes Gender Based Violence survivors, Women and girls, elderly persons (60 years and above); children (under 18years); persons with disability; those considered as an ethnic minority amongst others.

2.0 IRC Presence and Programmes

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a non-governmental organization that provides emergency aid and ongoing support to refugees and people who have been displaced due to conflict, persecution, or natural disasters. The IRC supports the local host communities and refugees in becoming self-sufficient and recovering from crises. It focuses mainly on protection, health, education, economic well-being, power, and safety.

The IRC implements Health, Nutrition, Protection, GBV, Education and Livelihood programs in Garissa and Turkana Counties. SRH services are integrated into the wider health services. These services have also been extended to the host community. The organization also has a presence in other parts of the country implementing directly or with partners, e.g. Nairobi, West Pokot, Samburu, Tana River and Kajiado. The IRC has an established tradition of evidence-based programming through a robust monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) system. The IRC receives funding and technical support from UNFPA to implement SRHR, GBV, targeted individual protection assistance such as MHPSS and non-food items to the most vulnerable populations like the elderly and PWDs in its field sites.

3.0 Rationale

The flooding between March, April and May 2024 in Kenya, particularly affecting the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) counties, has highlighted significant vulnerabilities in the affected communities, especially among women, girls, the elderly, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and other marginalized groups. These extreme weather events have not only caused substantial loss of lives, livestock, and property but have also exacerbated risks related to gender-based violence (GBV) and other human rights violations.

In this context, GBV safety audits are crucial to identify and address the specific protection needs and vulnerabilities of these affected populations. These audits serve to examine the hazards of GBV as a human rights violation, including barriers to accessing humanitarian aid and services; risks of GBV, including sexual exploitation and abuse; and risk mitigation strategies. The primary goal of conducting safety audits is to enhance the safety and security of the most vulnerable groups in line with the Minimal Standards for the prevention of and response to GBV in Emergencies.

The IRC and its partners need current, pertinent information about the social and gendered impact of climate change, floods, protection needs, threats/risks, prevalent types of GBV, the needs of GBV survivors and other vulnerable persons, the gaps in responding to these needs, and the factors influencing the vulnerable persons including girls’ and women’s vulnerability and resilience against GBV to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in emergencies (GBViE) and other protection concerns. The findings and analysis of safety audits then inform the design of interventions that include risk mitigation strategies and/or advocacy goals to mitigate the risks of GBV and improve safety and security for women and girls.

The findings also aim to better comprehend the support-seeking preferences of GBV survivors and other vulnerable groups/individuals, the obstacles to obtaining GBV and other lifesaving services, and the most effective methods of communicating the services that are accessible.

4.0 Safety Audit Assessment

4.1 Overview

In response to the recent flooding between April and early May 2024, the IRC has recognized the urgent need to address safety and security concerns exacerbated by these extreme weather events. The floods have particularly affected vulnerable groups, including women and girls, heightening their risk of gender-based violence (GBV) and harmful practices. The IRC aims to assess these risks and gather critical information to enhance its protection response in Nairobi, Tana River and Mandera counties. This assessment will focus on understanding the GBV risks as a result of flooding, to meet the needs of survivors and reduce the vulnerability of women and girls to GBV.

4.2 Survey Objectives

The overall objective of this assignment is to assess the gender-specific impacts of the recent flooding on the safety and security of vulnerable groups, particularly women and girls, the elderly, children and PWDs in Nairobi, Tana River and Mandera counties, to inform and enhance protection response and reduce the risk of gender-based violence using the Human Rights Based Approach. The specific objectives of the consultancy are:

Objective 1: Assess the effectiveness of existing safety and risk mitigation measures in place to protect vulnerable persons, especially women and girls, the elderly, children and PWDs from GBV and harmful practice in affected areas, identifying strengths, gaps, and weaknesses in current protection mechanisms and community support structures.

Objective 2: Assess the prevalence and types of GBV incidents that have occurred as a result of the flooding by specific locations and contexts, and survivor profile (age, sex, ability).

Objective 3: Assess the protection needs and risks besides GBV that have occurred because of the flooding by specific locations, contexts and vulnerable groups (age, sex, location and diversity) especially among the elderly, PWDs, children and other marginalized groups/individuals.

Objective 4: Utilize the protection service mapping tool to evaluate the availability, accessibility, and quality of aftercare services, including GBV support, in flood-affected areas, identify barriers to adequate support, and assess community awareness and attitudes towards protection issues such as GBV, the needs of the elderly, PWDs, and children, and examine the impact of these factors on reporting and help-seeking behaviors.

Objective 5: To recommend an action plan with short, medium, and long-term interventions and recommendations for local authorities, humanitarian organizations, and other stakeholders to improve the safety of vulnerable individuals and groups i.e girls, women, PWDs, children, elderly and ethnic minority or other marginalized group’s safety during climate change induced disasters such as floods.

4.3 Scope of Work

In liaison with the Women Protection and Empowerment (WPE) Program Team, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) team, Protection and rule of Law team, guidance from UNFPA and input from partners, the consultant will be required to:

• Undertake a desk review related to county safety audits on gender-based violence and general protection situation in Nairobi, Tana River and Mandera counties.
• Conduct consultations with relevant stakeholders and use the recommendations to enrich the safety audits.
• Collect qualitative data from the community with inclusion of the vulnerable persons more so women and girls to assess their safety and security concerns, safe access to services and other concerns that put them at risk of GBV, exclusion and rights violations in the four counties.
• Develop, in consultation with IRC, a detailed data management plan, including: adoption of tools; recruitment and training of research assistants; pre-testing and review of tools; sampling methodology; implementation of data collection in the field; quality assurance; ethical considerations; data analysis, and reporting.
• Lead data collection in the counties including designing and leading key informant interviews and focus group discussions.
• Analyze data rigorously and robustly using appropriate qualitative analysis techniques.
• Conduct a validation exercise with stakeholders, including IRC.
• Submit the approved safety audits reports per county to IRC

Using a feminist and diversity inclusion approach, the safety audit assessment will gather information on the various needs, abilities, and coping mechanisms of men, women, boys, and girls.

4.4 Deliverables / Outputs

• An inception report defining the audit study approach, methodology, sampling criteria, and tools used for qualitative data collection. The sampling plan should be inclusive of all demographic groups and take age, sex, location and disability inclusion into account.
• A thorough and well-structured safety audit report not longer than 15 pages per county.
• Supplementary files, including photographs, original and cleaned datasets, and statistical output files.
• Presentations using PowerPoint and a fact sheet, abstract, or both will be utilized to share results with stakeholders.
• Present the report to relevant parties, such as the protection, GBV and SRH working groups, who will be asked to validate the findings and contribute.
• An executive copy with a summarized summary of findings in words of no longer than 15 pages, and in a PowerPoint presentation.

.5.0 Date and Duration of Consultancy

The consultancy period shall be for 20 days. The Executive and county-specific audit reports must be submitted to IRC within 5 days after the validation exercise.

Minimum Qualifications:

The ideal consultant should have: –

• A post-graduate degree in Gender and Development, social sciences or another relevant field.
• Over 5 years of experience conducting gender studies, protection monitoring, vulnerability assessments and or safety audits with evidence of publications or field reports on gender and gender-based violence, general protection, child protection issues with experience in women, children, and adolescents programming.
• The consultant must be able to demonstrate experience in conducting safety audits of a similar or related assignment.
• Experience in working collaboratively with government and other development partners.
• Experience working with marginalized and special groups.
• The ability to communicate in English, Kiswahili, and local languages as spoken in Tana River, or Mandera is an added advantage.

The successful candidate will be required to:

• Follow protection guidelines when engaging with all participants in the safety audit process.
• Adhere to the organization policy of different partners involved in the safety audit assessment.
• Adhere to human rights, Protection Principles, socio-ecological, systems strengthening and MHPSS approaches.
• Be guided by the spirit of collaboration, cooperation, partnerships, balance of power, and meaningful engagement of marginalized voices and women, girls, young people, and vulnerable, persons living with disability among others.

Consultants who meet the qualification above must submit the following documents:

• Statement including a CV with experience details.
• Technical proposal summarizing understanding of ToR, methodology and tools to be used.
• Workplan
• Financial proposal providing cost estimates.
• Contact details of three organizations/ previous clients.
• All the required legal documents including VAT registration certificate.