Consultant Team Terms of Reference Multisector Needs Assessment and Market Assessment in Cox’s Bazar JOB

1. Context

Bangladesh is located in South Asia with a population 157 million. It is considered as one of the most densely populated (1,203 per km2) countries today with approximately 65% of its population being rural. The country is prone to floods, cyclones, extreme temperatures and earthquakes. The GDP per capita is 957 USD and it is estimated that 43% of its population is living with less than 1,25 USD per day. 41% of children under 5 are stunted, while the acute malnutrition rate was 16% according to a demographic survey conducted in 2011. Bangladesh had been hosting over 300,000 Rohingya refugees before August 2017 when a wave of new violence in Myanmar resulted in the forced movement of over 600,000 Rohingya’s to Bangladesh (est. 919,000 total refugee population, according to latest situation reports).

The Government of Bangladesh has kept its borders open to the Rohingya refugees and leads the humanitarian response efforts. The people of Bangladesh continue to show tremendous generosity and hospitality in the face of this massive influx. In keeping with its policies, the Government of Bangladesh refers to the Rohingya as “Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals”, in the present context. The UN system refers to this population as refugees, in line with the applicable international framework for protection and solutions, and the resulting accountabilities for the country of origin and asylum. Over a two-month period, the refugee population in Cox’s Bazar more than quadrupled. The influx has continued steadily in subsequent months, with people arriving by foot and by boat.

Resources of Government of Bangladesh are under massive pressure within these circumstances. The environment, especially fragile forest and land resources, are being massively degraded as the refugee settlements are built in forest areas. Wildlife, including many endangered species are suffering from the effects of the growing settlements. Pre-existing settlements and camps have expanded with the new influx, while new spontaneous settlements have also formed.

The refugees are concentrated within congested sites in Ukhia and Teknaf Upazila of Cox’s Bazar district putting immense pressure on Bangladeshi host community, which was vulnerable even before the latest influx. The settlements are extremely densely populated and vulnerable to floods, fire, cyclone and landslides. Latest situation report states that over 25,000 individuals were relocated due to landslides alone, occurring in the monsoon season.

According to the Rohingya Emergency Vulnerability Analysis (Nov 17) report of WFP 80% of the refugee communities and 38% of host communities are vulnerable to food insecurity. 58% of the refugees and 13% of the host community are highly vulnerable. This is despite 97.5% of refugees receiving food assistance. The same report suggests that those in coastal settlements show better food security status perhaps due to practicing fishing; 21% of refugees in coastal Teknaf practice fishing and 82% of these have acceptable Food Consumption Score. On the other hand, individual dietary diversity seems more of a concern; the average minimum dietary diversity for women score is 3.28 for refugee women and 3.6 for host women. Refugees are heavily dependent on assistance as indicated in a recent WFP assessment, where only 33% of respondents reported their primary source of income was skilled or unskilled work. According to a recent SMART survey conducted by Action Against Hunger, the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) prevalence is 24.3% and Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) prevalence is determined to be 7.5%. In Kutupalong area only 9% of children between 6-23 months are reported to reach Minimum Acceptable Diet. Stunting is highly prevalent amongst the refugee population, reaching 43.4%. The same report suggested diarrhea rates to be 40.4%. An assessment with the Department of Public Health and Environment suggested that 86% of water samples collected from water sources in the camps reported positive for E. Coli, 36% highly contaminated (Oct-Nov 17). The Minimum Expenditure Basket is calculated as 7,113 BDT for the refugee population.

2. Alliance15 in Cox’s Bazar

ACTED, Concern, Helvetas, PIN and Welthungerhilfe are Alliance15 members operating in Cox’s Bazar in response to the refugee crisis. Their works include programs in site management, WASH, food security & livelihoods and nutrition. These works target both the refugee and host communities while coverage includes both Teknaf and Ukhiya Upazilas (a local administrative division). The organization are interested in designing multi-sectoral programs targeting the needs of both communities to the possible extent.

3. Scope of Work

Purpose of the assessment:

The purpose of the assessment is to assess the needs of the populations, the functionality of the local market, identify cross-sectoral issues and develop an understanding of the labour market with the prospect of developing multi-sectoral livelihood programs. . The suggested sectors (food security and livelihoods, WASH, protection and nutrition) are sectors of interest for the Alliance15 members in the country. There have been several assessments identifying needs on each individual sector however, there has been very few or none providing a cross-sectoral analysis. Poverty has been a chronic issue for the host population in the area while, according to reports, most vulnerable households relying on casual labour as main source of livelihoods. This is the same for refugee households. As a result, it is deemed important to conduct a labour market assessment, considering both in-camp and host community labour market conditions and potential opportunities for income generation through both waged and self-employment. The market assessment will be crucial to inform Alliance15 response options.

The most detailed needs assessment conducted in the area was in November 2017 by WFP and their partners. As nearly a year has passed since this assessment there are a few organizations planning new assessments in the area. However, these generally focus on the larger areas where refugees are settled and host communities located (both Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas). Whereas this assessment will focus on a smaller administrative area, (yet to be agreed amongst Alliance15 members), to give more a robust analysis of the situation and population needs. That said, the assessment will complement what other organizations are planning and the technical committee of Alliance15 in Bangladesh is already starting coordination with these other assessments.

Evaluation methodology:

The methodology will be discussed and finalized with the team of consultants and will require approval by the Technical Committee in advance of the assessment commencing however, it is expected that the methodology will be multi–faceted and include:

Desk based research/preparation: A complete review of secondary materials including previous assessments, relevant reports and other supporting documentation available. This desk study should inform the finalization of the primary research methodology. The Alliance15 Technical Committee will provide support to access and compile resources, where feasible.

In the field: The consultants will finalize the assessment methodology design with the Alliance15 Technical Committee, formed by focal points from each partner organization. We would expect however, that the consultants will combine quantitative and qualitative research methods in their design and include key informant interviews, household surveys and focus group discussions. Whilst the approach taken for the market assessment should be based on known market assessment methods. The Technical Committee can arrange key informant interviews upon the request of the consultants and these interviews can include stakeholders from other humanitarian organizations, local authorities, camp managers and key community members. Household surveys can be organized based on the agreed methodology. The Technical Committee lead will help in any administrative issues regarding household visits, as well as focus groups and any other activities in camps and host communities.

We would expect teams conducting the needs assessment and market assessment to work closely together during the fieldwork and analysis due to the relevance of findings to one another.

The Alliance15 Technical Committee was recently established to support the technical aspects of the assessment and is available to support the consultants in methodology design, tool design, data collection, enumerator training and analysis. The consultants are encouraged to approach the Technical Committee for requesting technical support. The technical committee will also have final approval on data collection tools and the analysis.

Analysis and report writing: We have allocated two weeks following the fieldwork for analysis and report writing. During this time, we would expect consultants to review and analyse the data collected and prepare a draft report for consultation by the Technical Committee and other peer reviewers. We have then allocated an additional 2/3 days for finalising the draft reports based on this feedback.

Activities

The team of consultants will be fully responsible, in consultation with the Technical Committee, for:

• A thorough review of relevant reports on the refugee population, host population and related markets
• Developing the primary assessment methodology including quantitative and qualitative methods
• Research tool development
• Training and management of enumerators
• Developing data analysis sheet
• Tabulating, analyzing and interpreting data collected
• Coordinating with WFP, REACH and other organizations that are conducting or have conducted similar assessments
• Comparing findings with other available assessment reports (REVA, Self-Reliance assessment and others)
• Provide recommendations for follow-up assessments or areas for more in-depth research

Outputs/deliverables:

The consultant(s) should provide a two documents (needs assessment report and market assessment report) in English (minimum of 15 and maximum of 25 pages for each, excluding the annexes) with a 6-page summary that brings together the pertinent points from both assessments to inform response options. The documents must cover (as a minimum) the following points:

• The WASH, food security, livelihoods, nutrition and protection needs of the refugee population in the target area in consideration of SPHERE standards where possible
• The WASH, food security, livelihoods, nutrition and protection needs of the host population in the target area in consideration of SPHERE standards where possible
• The analysis of correlations between WASH, food security, livelihoods, nutrition and protection needs of the refugee population in the target area
• The analysis of correlations between WASH, food security, livelihoods, nutrition and protection needs of the host population
• Analysis of the labour market in the refugee camps in the target area
• Analysis of the labour market out of the camps, in local settlements
• Analysis of the potential economic opportunities for the target populations in consideration of the profile of the host and refugee populations and, the market conditions and the general context
• Analysis of the potential opportunities for unconditional and conditional multipurpose cash grants in response to the needs of the refugee population
• Recommendations for response options which link the needs of the refugee and host populations and, potential opportunities for income generation through both waged and self-employment in view of market opportunities.

We would also expect the consultants to provide a list of organisations, people or groups interviewed, list of sites visited, abbreviations, maps, charts or graphs used the evaluation. In addition to providing original data sets.

The final package should include the above-mentioned assessment report, data visuals created not prioritise for the main body of reports, tools developed for data collection, any databases created for the facilitation of assessments, list of enumerators and list of key informants with their contact information.

4. Lines of Communication

The Consultant will report to the lead of the Alliance15Technical Committee in Cox’s Bazar and consult the Technical Committee for technical discussions. In the event that the lead is not available, the consultant will report to the co-lead.

5. Provisional Timeframe

A maximum of 5 weeks between October – November 2018 (including preparation and travel). The deadline for the final report(s) is 20 November 2018. A provisional timetable for the assignment is provided below. An exact timetable will be redrafted with the selected team of consultants.

Day 1-4: Preparation and desk study

Day 4-5: Travel to Cox’s Bazar

Day 5-9: Methodology finalization

Day 10-19: Data collection for market assessments

Day 10-23: Data collection for needs assessment

Day 20-24: Data analysis and reporting for marketing assessment

Day 24-33: Data analysis and reporting for needs assessment

Day 33-35: Final documentation

Day 35-36: Return travel to home base

6. Profile

We are looking for a team of consultants with the following profile:

• Relevant academic background in international development/humanitarian studies, statistics, economy
• Strong skills in data analysis, qualitative and quantitative research methodologies
• Solid experience in coordinating, managing needs assessments and market assessment in humanitarian contexts.
• Excellent communication and report-writing skills in English.
• Willingness and ability to work long hours in a difficult environment.

Desirable

• Experience in Bangladesh.
• Basic knowledge in food security and livelihoods, nutrition, WASH and protection. This position is subject to the approval of funding.