Consultancy on a Shelter & Settlements Component for the World Vision’s ECHO Sector Strategy

Eight-year old Doruka (yellow t-shirt) and her sister, Sejarina (blue t-shirt), 10 are lively, bright, cheeky, smiling South Sudanese girls who have been living in a refugee settlement in north-west Uganda since September 2017.
Monday, August 8, 2022

Terms of Reference - Consultancy on a Shelter & Settlements Component for the World Vision’s ECHO Sector Strategy

Objective

Develop an analysis and provide some guidance to World Vision regarding prioritisation and optimisation of emergency shelter interventions in ECHO response. The analysis on Emergency and Temporary Shelter programming in ECHO actions should include considerations of types of responses according to crises and profiles of beneficiaries (gender, age, status, disability inclusion)., as well as a clear link to the ECHO Minimum Environmental Requirements.

This analysis will complement the work done in parallel on other sectors (in particular Cash transfers and Education in Emergencies) and on a WV-ECHO emergency response strategy.
 

Deliverables

Based on the extent and potentials of WV’s Shelter programming, develop a position paper on WV’s possible Shelter components in ECHO’s emergency response actions.

  • The position paper should include some recommendations on the feasible scope and sub-type of Shelter interventions for WV, the relevance to invest based on ECHO growth expectation, as well as necessary (but limited) level of investment, taking into consideration relevant ECHO’s policies.

  • Based on the knowledge of the ECHO Emergency and Temporary Shelter “market” among peers, identify potential gaps or added value for WV which could be filled through technical expertise with the available level of resources, both financial and human.

  • Make suggestions on how to implement Emergency and Temporary Shelter in environmentally friendly way, looking at comparative peer agencies best practices, as well as ECHO Minimal Environmental Requirements.

  • Provide WV with a target beneficiaries number it could reach through Shelter according to scale of growth (e.g.: 1 million beneficiaries with 2 million EUR), through a comparative analysis of investments and budgets spent by main stakeholders in the field.

  • Provide WV with best practices of emergency and Temporary Shelter programming – in adherence to Sphere Standards- and suggest adoption of those per type of beneficiary profile; suggest a package of combined Shelter (with special attention to disability) with other type of support (hygiene kits, food, WASH, education etc.).

  • Make suggestions on Geographic Focus, if relevant.
     

Process

  • Initial peers mapping: carry out an initial desk review on INGOs peers’ working in S&S funded by ECHO.

  • During consultancy: 

  • Timeframe of the consultancy: starting in April 2023 (as soon as contract signed)

  • Mapping of emerging donors and “industry” trends and level of funding, how Shelter is addressed in a multi-sector approach, with a focus on ECHO and on main Shelter donors.

  • Online consultations with WV’s Disaster Management team and selected Country Offices; possibility for a field visit.

  • Possible Case Studies (to be discussed) among the following countries: Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti

 

Profile of the Consultant

  • Significant practitioner and/or policy maker experience responding to humanitarian emergencies in Shelter and Settlements.

  • Experience in Cash-based Approach interventions.

  • Familiar with the UNHCR Global Compact on Refugees and in particular Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework.

  • Understanding of the sector: historic knowledge, recent developments, challenges and innovations.

  • Significant experience in writing analysis and research reports, and in conducting consultancies in relevant humanitarian contexts and sectors.

  • Knowledge of ECHO policies (in particular Shelter and Settlements, Minimum Environmental Requirements, Logistics) and work.

  • Familiarity with humanitarian stakeholders, networks and resources and access to and knowledge of references and case studies.

  • Demonstrated capacity to facilitate effectively in a discussion with a diverse constituency with varied interests and perspectives.

  • Knowledge of World Vision is an added value.

Information to be provided by the Consultant

  • Proposed methodology, included relevant comments and/or suggestions to the attached ToRs.

  • Proposed work plan and time frame.

  • Curriculum vitae and cover letter highlighting skills and competencies with concrete examples of previous research and similar longitudinal case studies.

Financial Proposal: consultant’s daily rate in EUR; budget covering all other major anticipated costs; All-inclusive total for the consultancy.

The estimated number of work day for this consultancy is around 10 days.

Deadline for submission: Applications and interviews will be on a rolling basis.

Offer to be submitted to: natalia_krystosiak@wvi.org (World Vision EU Representation)

 

 

Background

World Vision (WV) has embarked on a strategy to enhance its relationship with ECHO, both in terms of level of partnering and funding. This strategy includes a review of core humanitarian sectors where World Vision can enhance alignment with ECHO policies and benchmarks.

  • Shelter is a critical sector of intervention in most emergency response programmes, in particular during rapid-onset crises. Timely provision of Emergency Temporary Shelter to vulnerable communities can save lives - especially for children - in the initial stages of a crisis.

  • Beyond survival, Shelter is necessary to provide security and personal safety, protection from the climate and enhanced resistance to ill health and disease.

  • Within WV, Shelter has never been categorised as a Sector. However, it has been clear that it plays a critical role in assisting affected population achieve some level of dignity.

  • In an effort to focus for greater impact, Shelter was de-prioritised in the WV’s global strategy. As a result, WV does not have the necessary structures at the global level to provide guidelines and technical support to WV’s Field Offices involved in Shelter programming.

  • Nevertheless, over time, it has been observed that Country Offices and Response programmes are engaged in Shelter Programming for various reasons and concentrated in areas where WV is responding to Rapid Onset Crises.

  • WV’s Shelter Programmes are often tied to the delivery of Non-Food Items (NFIs). They provide an opportunity for integration with other sectors – Food Assistance, WASH, Nutrition etc. that are mainly programmed at household level.

  • There is a need to review the issue and provide some global guidance that can be contextualised at Response level and that would be environmentally considerate to our way of responding to humanitarian crisis while providing emergency life-saving temporary shelter.

Why temporary Emergency Shelter

  • In the onset of a crisis, timely provided emergency shelter is a life-saving response. Appropriate shelter is also necessary to promote health, support family and community life, and provide dignity, security, and access to livelihoods.

  • Shelter promotes integration between various sectors within a response. Shelter response has multi-dimensional benefits in humanitarian response as it links or connects the various aspects of humanitarian responses that are designed to address needs during and after crisis. Thus, it is an important link as its role continues in the later phases of the disaster, i.e. in early recovery stage by creating enabling environment and opportunities for interventions such as livelihood, health and others. So it will be the “missing link” if shelter is not part of a humanitarian response.

  • Planning for Shelter and Settlements need to foresee the aftermaths of the emergency and potential prolonged displacement situations, including in some cases, the integration of the displaced people in host communities, with the view that they contribute to the development of the community as much as possible, so they are seen as an asset rather than a liability.

  • Shelter has most direct impact particularly on women and children as they are mostly exposed to sexual harassment, rape, and other forms of abuse when there is no shelter to protect them. They are most vulnerable during conflicts and displacements and if there is no shelter support, they remain to be worst affected.

  • In a rapid on-set emergency, emergency Shelter is often the second most funded programmes. In some cases, it is second only to either WASH or Food Assistance.

  • Shelter can be a very environmentally harmful intervention: It is important to start intervening considering new materials and energies and change the way we work in Supply Chain.

DG ECHO & Shelter Programming

DG ECHO defines Shelter and Shelter and Settlements (S&S) in its 2017 policy guidelines. ECHO has two complementary ways of providing S&S assistance: through the funding of humanitarian partners, and through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism[1].

The main objective of humanitarian S&S assistance funded by DG ECHO is to “preserve life and alleviate suffering, for disaster-affected populations in need of basic shelter in secure and appropriate settlements, where conditions have significantly deteriorated and fallen below commonly-accepted minimum humanitarian standards, or are anticipated imminently to do so”. This objective is to be achieved in the context of anticipated and ongoing humanitarian crises through the following specific objectives:

• Promote access to a safe, secure and dignified environment, with adequate living spaces, and to basic services and socioeconomic opportunities for women and men of all ages affected by humanitarian crises.

• Support access to basic, safe and dignified sheltering, offering integrated protection for safety from the elements and the surrounding environment, to the population affected by humanitarian crises, acknowledging the differentiated vulnerabilities and specific needs of women, girls, boys and men.

Recently, DG ECHO issued some Minimum Environmental Requirements and Recommendations, as well as a Humanitarian Logistics Policy. Operational guidelines for both thematics are being prepared.

 

[1] This Mechanism, made up of 34 States, can provide in-kind assistance, modules, emergency response capacity and expertise to complement humanitarian responses.

Refugees Cash Education