Vulnerability & Resilience Assessment in Kabul, Nangahar and Herat – Afghanistan (JPF-AF-24-001)

1. Background:

The JPF is an international humanitarian aid organization which offers the most effective and prompt emergency aid in response to humanitarian needs, focusing on issues of refugees and natural disasters. JPF conducts such aid through a tripartite cooperation system where NGOs, business communities, and the government of Japan work in close cooperation, based on equal partnership, and making the most of the respective sectors’ characteristics and resources.

JPF serves as an intermediary support organization providing various types of assistance to member NGOs in Japan to deliver quick and comprehensive aid on their own. JPF has supported aid activities of 46 member NGOs, each with its own set of diverse strengths. It has delivered humanitarian assistance to 50 nations and regions about 1,800 projects, with a total financial contribution of 72 billion yen. JPF has built a strong reputation based on trust by promoting cooperation among private sectors and NGOs and by accurately reporting all its activities.

Please find attached JPF Information Leaflet as Annex 1. More information on JPF can be found at https://www.japanplatform.org/index.html .

Japan Platform (JPF) has been supporting Afghanistan intermittently since 2001 and has been renewing funding commitments annually since 2017. In 2023, JPF funded a humanitarian response program in Afghanistan at JPY 289,931,280 in total composed of 8 projects, which was later supplemented by a returnee assistance program of JPY 190,604,709, delivered via 5 projects and an earthquake response program in Herat Province of JPY200,000,000, delivered via 4 projects. These projects were delivered by 9 Japanese NGOs, operating remotely via local partners or offices in various Provinces.

The question of target and focus, and the challenge in drawing distinction between acute humanitarian needs and basic human needs, as elucidated in the Afghanistan HNRP, are mirrored in the ongoing debate within JPF. Hard choices must be made when ever-rising humanitarian needs across the globe are to be met with limited funding available. JPF intends to gather lessons from various programs, including but not limited to Afghanistan, to inform discussion as to the rational for JPF’s engagement in protracted crises, and criteria for setting target and focus to maximize impact of its limited resources.

2. Purpose of the Request for Proposals:

The purpose of this request for proposals (RFP) is to solicit competitive offers for the provision of services for the Assessment of Vulnerability & Resilience in the JPF-funded Project Locations in Kabul, Nangahar & Herat, Afghanistan. This is the first phase of the three-stage evaluation process for 5 JPF-funded projects delivered in FY2023.

JPF seeks to contract a professional research & evaluation entity to;

1. establish locally defined indicators of vulnerability via participatory, qualitative methods,
2. identify the most vulnerable population based on such indicators, and
3. accurately assess and analyze data on how they experienced humanitarian crises and respective JPF-funded projects.

In particular, the entity must be able to independently undertake in areas where JPF has no access to for various reasons. A detailed Terms of Reference for the evaluation, of which this assessment is a part, can be found as an Annex 2.

3. Methodology:

The evaluation is composed of three phases:

1. Third Party Assessment of Vulnerability and Resilience in project target areas, particularly focusing on the most vulnerable segments of the population,
2. Participatory After-Action Review by Japanese NGOs and local partners in each project,
3. A Sense-Making Workshop among the implementing agencies and JPF at the Afghanistan Working Group to collectively reflect on the learning questions on the basis of 1) and 2).

4. Scope of the evaluation

A total of 5 projects are subject to the evaluation, out of 17 projects under the three JPF-funded programs in Afghanistan in FY2023: the humanitarian response program (2 out of 8 projects), the returnee assistance program (2 of 5 projects) and the earthquake response program in Herat Province (1 of 4 projects). Of these, 3 NGOs continue to implement successive projects in Nangahar, Kabul and Herat in FY 2024. The Third-Party Assessment of Vulnerability and Resilience specifically focuses on these three provinces. While the Participatory After-Action Review will involve only those 5 NGOs and their local partners, the Sense-Making Workshop is open to all the members of the Afghanistan Working Group.

5. Roles

JPF’s evaluation department provides oversight over the 2023 evaluation of the Afghanistan programs. An external research and evaluation consultant will be commissioned to undertake the Third-Party Assessment of Vulnerability and Resilience, producing a report that will respond to the key questions under the section 3. Methodology. An external research and evaluation consultant is expected to deliver: 1) an inception report, clearly justifying and specifying the methodology and tools for the Assessment of Vulnerability and Resilience, and 2) an assessment report, articulating the findings in response to the questions outlined in the ToR. The consultant may be asked to assist in facilitation and documentation of the Participatory After-Action Review and the Sense-Making Workshop to be designed and delivered by JPF, in which case a contract extension will be negotiated separately.

JPF will closely coordinate with the JPF Member NGOs who implemented the 5 sampled projects throughout the evaluation, and keep the JPF Afghanistan Working Group informed on the progress as needed.