1: ABOUT MALTESER INTERNATIONAL
Malteser International (MI) is the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta that has provided relief and recovery during and following conflicts and disasters for over 60 years. MI also works alongside vulnerable communities on long-term programs to deliver lasting change. Christian values and humanitarian principles form the foundations of our work: Bringing aid to people regardless of their religion, background, or political convictions with over 140 projects in more than 35 countries globally. MI’s vision is a life in health and dignity for all; its mission is to provide emergency relief in crises such as natural disasters, epidemics, or armed conflicts and carry out programs that enable people transform their lives for the better. The approach is to protect health by ensuring people have access to functioning medical structures, adequate nutrition, clean water, sanitation, and hygiene as well as strengthen the resilience of people in especially vulnerable regions against future crises.
Malteser International and Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA) are currently implementing a resilience project titled: “Using a One Health approach to strengthen the resilience of the semi-nomadic population in the border region of Kenya and Ethiopia.”
The project has three objectives namely:
- Strengthened and established One Health systems and structures that can respond to zoonoses and epidemics in a coordinated and appropriate manner.
- Improved human, livestock, and environmental health, through control and prevention of zoonotic diseases, increased food security and applied WASH practices.
- Integration of One Health research components and establishment of two sustainable model farms for training, research, and best practices in the regions.
2: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
Southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya are essentially arid and semi-arid zones affected by the increasing intensity of climate change, including droughts and floods. The growing human & livestock populations increase the pressure on the already stressed ecosystems. Due to these circumstances, the areas suffer from water shortages and lack of grazing land. This leads to unusual migratory movements of the pastoralist herds and thus to potential conflicts. The spread of infectious diseases and the transmission of zoonoses are also favoured by the larger movements of the herds. The health stations for humans and livestock are missing important medicines and the capacity of the personnel for humans and livestock are limited. The planned project aims to address this multidimensional crisis. The sectors, which have so far been treated separately, will now be linked, and considered holistically. This approach aims to improve the resilience of the target groups and strengthen the local pastoralist communities so that they can better adapt to the changed conditions caused by climate change. Sustainable livelihoods and the healthy coexistence of people and animals in an intact ecosystem are to be promoted. The target areas Maikona Ward (North Horr Sub-County, Marsabit County, Kenya) and Dire Woreda (Borena Zone in Oromiya Region, Ethiopia) are primarily *Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (*ASAL) inhabited by the Gabbra andBorena ethnic groups respectively. Both groups are semi-nomadic pastoralists who face similar problems: Water scarcity, long distances to central markets, lack of transport and lack of information leading to low selling prices for their livestock. Additionally, there are recurring zoonotic disease outbreaks in human & animals, such as rift valley fever, brucellosis & rabies. The local health stations for animals and people are undersupplied in terms of material and personnel, lacking equipment, important vaccines and medicines, among other things. Agriculture, which depends on the regular rainy seasons, has become almost impossible, as the lack of rainy periods means that the soil is sometimes dry all year round and only sparsely covered with vegetation. The negative impacts of climate change have led to persistent droughts in the project area and, on the other hand, to occasional flooding. These shocks further threaten the lives and livelihoods of the inhabitants. Guidelines on the One Health approach already exist at national level, but concrete knowledge transfer and the sustainable development of structures in the regions are not yet very well developed. In addition, there is no coordination and linkage of the relevant One Health sectors to effectively manage or improve the situation. At the moment, each authority focuses only on its own thematic area. There is a lack of a holistic approach that takes into account the pathophysiological, social and environmental aspects in a well coordinated and interlinked manner.
The cross-border project targets the Gabbra and Borana people living in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. It involves about 61,000 people, 51% of whom live in Dire Woreda on the Ethiopian side and 49% in Maikona Ward on the Kenyan side.
3: PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY
The objective of the short-term consultancy is to conduct a mid-term evaluation of an ongoing project, aiming to inform future implementation and planning by identifying current lessons learned, ensuring the intended results are achieved, and maximizing community impact. The consultant, through the review process, will document and propose suitable approaches to achieve the project’s goal. The resulting mid-term evaluation report will not only guide timely adaptations for future phases but also inform stakeholders, including donors, about gaps for future considerations and interventions, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of progress towards project objectives. The assessment is to be structured against the standard OECD-DAC evaluation criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability), with the evaluation of impact converted into progress to impact, given that this is a formative, midterm assessment.
Specific objectives of the Consultancy
- Assess progress of One Health Project implementation the in view of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, factors of sustainability and of impact.
RELEVANCE – is the intervention doing the right things?
COHERENCE – how well does the intervention fit in the context?
EFFECTIVENESS – is the intervention achieving its objectives?
EFFICIENCY – how well are resources being used?
IMPACT – what difference does the intervention make?
SUSTAINABILITY – will the benefits last?
- Assess progress towards achievement of the One Health objectives and the contribution MI and PACIDA could make towards the next phases.
- Assess if interventions are sufficient to reach desired project outcomes, and whether all planned components are valuable or planned components could be cut or amended, to achieve greater impact by focusing on existing project components.
- Identify opportunities to integrate the most impactful One Health approach supported interventions into existing county programming and to use these identified opportunities to advocate for a sustainable One Health strategy that will increase commitments to One Health programming in Marsabit and Dire Woreda.
4: TIME FRAME AND DELIVERABLES
The consultant should describe the assessment’s overall schedule that should end on or before the 30th of April 2024. The assessment deliverables to be met include chronologically:
- Develop a detailed work-plan that clearly outlines key steps and timelines for completion of deliverables as outlined in the Terms of Reference and engagement with relevant stakeholders in the process, including framework for desk review, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), field observation, Household (HH) survey and Key informant interviews (KII) questionnaires.
- Conduct a desk review of existing mechanisms of coordination among the several sectors of interest within the one health framework in Marsabit County and Dire Woreda (Health, Agriculture, Environment, livestock, etc.)
- Develop a draft report with findings from the assessments conducted above. The report should include recommendations for improving implementation and scale up the project interventions.
- Collaborate with MI’s Program officer and PACIDA to organize a one-day workshop to present findings and key recommendations to key stakeholders from county government departments (Health, Agriculture, Livestock and Environment) and COHU members in both Marsabit and Dire Woreda areas.
- Update the draft report incorporating feedback from the stakeholder consultation workshop and share the final survey report with MI.
5: DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND ABILITIES
- At-least a master’s degree in public health, livestock health or other social sciences.
- A solid and diversified experience within livelihoods, One Health programming, food security/agriculture, Environment and Animal health sectors.
- General familiarity with the political, humanitarian and development context in Kenya and Ethiopia particularly over the past 3 years
- Must have led at least two to three similar/assignments in the past 4 years and especially in the ASAL regions of Kenya and/or Ethiopia for a major donor, international NGO, or international organization.
- Strong analytical skills with proven experience in collecting and analyzing data, by using qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
- Excellent conflict sensitive approaches and able to work in highly sensitive environments.
How to apply
6. APPLICATION PROCEDURE
The consultant/firm must submit the following documents along with technical & financial proposal (including VAT and TAX) separately:
For consultancy Firm:
- Maximum 2-page firm profile highlighting related assignment completed with client name, contact person and contact number.
- Lead Consultant (who will lead the assignment) must provide maximum 2-page CV highlighting related assignment completed, role in the completed assignment.
- Team members (who will be involved in the assignment) must provide one paragraph short CV highlighting related assignment completed and role.
- Firm’s Certificate, PIN and VAT registration
For individual consultant:
- Maximum 2-page profile highlighting related assignment completed with client name, contract person and contact number along with detailed CV.
- Team members (who will be involved in the assignment) must provide one paragraph of short CV highlighting related assignment completed and their roles.
- PIN certificate and any other relevant document (if necessary)
Interested parties (consultant/firm) are requested to submit their technical and financial proposals separately and a intended timeframe of their proposed consultancy. Additionally, details of organizational profiles including reference of relevant work experience (applicable for consulting firm), relevant experience especially methodology including activities and milestones, budget details, time frame and CVs of experts and contact details should be submitted.
7.SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION
The EOI must reach Malteser International office on or before 20th of March 2024 through email referenced under title: Terms of Reference to conduct midterm evaluation of the one health project in Marsabit County of Kenya and Dire woreda Borana zone of southern Ethiopia to nairobi@malteser-international.org.