Humanitarian Outcomes is recruiting a consultant researcher for Nairobi, Kenya for the research programme "Secure Access in Volatile Environments" (SAVE).
SAVE is a three-year programme of primary and applied research on maintaining humanitarian access in the world’s most challenging operational contexts. The overall goal is to contribute to solutions for providing effective and accountable humanitarian action amid high levels of insecurity.
Secure Access Monitor – Somalia
Terms of reference for a six-month consultancy assignment based in Nairobi, Kenya
Background: Humanitarian Outcomes and partners are undertaking a three-year programme of primary and applied research that seeks to contribute to practical solutions for maintaining effective humanitarian response amid high levels of insecurity.
The research programme, funded by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), consists of three phased components:
1) Access - to produce empirical evidence on how insecurity affects the presence and provision of humanitarian assistance to affected populations;
2) Effectiveness - to comparatively assess the practical modalities by which humanitarian actors seek to safely maintain and increase their ability to effectively serve these populations, while adhering to humanitarian principles; and
3) Monitoring - to design a workable framework for monitoring and evaluation of aid programming in insecure environments to help optimise the quality, quantity, and accountability of aid delivery, with minimal negative externalities.
The four case study countries will be Afghanistan, south central Somalia, South Sudan and Syria.
This Terms of Reference outlines the primary tasks and requirements of the researcher who will work under Component 1 in the role of Secure Access Monitor for South Central Somalia, hosted by the Somalia NGO Consortium and the NGO Safety Programme (NSP).
Position Objectives
The goal of Component 1 is to establish a solid evidence base on humanitarian presence and coverage in insecure environments, and identify patterns of reductions or reconfigurations of aid in response to increasing insecurity.
The Secure Access Monitors will provide eyes on the ground to collect, verify, and monitor real time information on the humanitarian operational presence and its reach to the affected population.
As such, the Secure Access Monitor will serve as an important component in the triangulation of information to determine who is actually “doing what, where,” down to a local level.
The Component 1 Research Coordinator and other members of the SAVE research team will undertake field visits and work with the Secure Access Monitor on a quarterly basis, including to initiate the work.
Scope of Work
Specific tasks will include:
- Working with operational agencies through relevant forums and channels to establish trust and agree protocols for information sharing, including protection and anonymisation of data as necessary.
- Scoping, collecting and compiling existing data of “3/4Ws” information from the broad range of relief actors in Somalia, including UN (OCHA, the cluster leads, and the CHF), the Somalia NGO Consortium, the NGO Safety Programme, ICRC and Somali Red Crescent, the OIC, individual NGOs as necessary, and other sources.
- Cross-checking and updating/expanding this information through key informant interviews and participant observation (e.g. in coordination meetings). Existing data and methodologies will be built upon so as to avoid duplication.
- Travel to Mogadishu, and elsewhere inside south central Somalia as possible for short, visits, including to cross-check and verify 3W information.
- Tracking instances of program contraction, relocation, withdrawal, or expansion, depending on security changes or other external access factors.
- Gathering beneficiary information and perspectives on the aid presence and coverage through in person interviews and telephone surveying
The Secure Access Monitor will be based in Nairobi and will travel to Somalia (as possible and appropriate) for information gathering visits.
Outputs / Deliverables
- A working dataset (in an Excel spreadsheet) quantifying and locating the organisations, projects, personnel (national and international), and commodities comprising the humanitarian response.
- The database will show changes month by month on a 24-month scale, beginning at a baseline year to be determined in consultation with the C1 lead
- Written notes from interviews, conferences, and focus groups conducted or attended during the course of the assignment
- Brief weekly update memos, showing progress against tasks
- Regular remote consultations with the Component 1 research coordinator, and programming of one field visit for the Component 1 research coordinator to undertake jointly with the Secure Access Monitor
- Final report (max. 20 pages) on trends and issues in humanitarian access among the humanitarian responders
Initial outputs (first two weeks)
- Workplan and indicative travel schedule, with target dates against tasks
- Finalized information-sharing protocol, based in input from relevant stakeholders
- Dataset matrix template
Timeframe: The work is expected to take place over six months, beginning in July 2014.
Requirements
- Two to three years or more spent working in Somalia, preferably South Central Somalia.
- Excellent knowledge of and contacts with the major humanitarian actors working in south central Somalia.
- Fluent written and spoken English
- Spoken Somali
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel
- Strong /demonstrated information management skills
- Ability to engage interlocutors from a diverse range of actors, and to build trust and assurance that sensitive data will be carefully protected and anonymized in any public form
How to apply:
Compensation
In addition to a competitive salary Humanitarian Outcomes will provide a full package of medical and security insurance, as well as an accommodation allowance, for the period of the assignment.
Humanitarian Outcomes is currently soliciting interest for this position.Interested applicants should send a CV and cover letter to kate.toth@humanitarianoutcomes.org and abby.stoddard@humanitarianoutcomes.org.
The email subject line should reference: ‘Secure Access Monitor – Somalia’.
All applications should be received by June 30 2014.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.