RFP_00343062 - Kenya Refugee Solutions Landscape Assessment

Job Description

Who is the Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat?

ReDSS is a secretariat working on behalf of 14 international and national NGOs working on forced displacement in East Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. We were established in 2015 in response to a desire by the NGO community to be more proactive in shaping durable solutions policy and programming in the region. Our team works both at regional and country level and focusses on the translation of evidence and research into policies and programmes that can better deliver for displacement-affected communities. We do this through a range of activities, including: convening key stakeholders at multiple levels to produce consensus around collective actions that can be taken; supporting new evidence generation through commissioning and undertaking research and analysis; and building the capacity of key actors through delivering training and developing tools and guidance. We do not implement programmes directly, and by maintaining this distance are better able to play a neutral role across the system.

Purpose of the consultancy

While Kenya has demonstrated a sustained commitment to finding lasting solutions for refugees through various regional and national frameworks, including notable recent policy reforms such as the Refugee Act 2021 and the Refugee (General) Regulations 2024, alongside ambitious local integration initiatives like the Kalobeyei Integrated Socio-Economic Development Plan ( KISEDP Phases I and II) and the Garissa Integrated Socio-Economic Development Plan (GISEDP), the tangible achievement of durable solutions for refugees remains considerably limited. The recently launched and widely praised Shirika Plan, intended to shift from traditional refugee encampments towards integrated settlements, represents another significant step in this direction. However, as with previous policies and plans, the fundamental obstacles hindering progress appear to stem not primarily from a lack of progressive policy frameworks, but rather from persistent practical implementation challenges, intricate political complexities, deficiencies in inter-institutional coordination, and the persistent issue of inadequate resource allocation. This consultancy seeks to critically analyse these multifaceted challenges through a political economy lens, with the goal of generating actionable and contextually relevant recommendations that effectively bridge the persistent gap between policy formulation and on-the-ground practice in Kenya's refugee response.

Background

With the launch of the Shirika Plan, there is a window of opportunity in the current context to rethink and explore viable alternatives to encampment that bring more favourable outcomes for both refugees and host communities. Kenya’s experience highlights the profound difficulty of transitioning from an encampment policy once this has been established as the preferred option, particularly in a country receiving continuous refugee arrivals. Indeed, new camps were gazetted in December 2022 in response to increased refugee movements from Somalia. Some success in convincing local, rather than central government to soften the encampment approach and enable greater refugee self-reliance has been observed in Kakuma/Kalobeyei since 2018.

The government appears to be willing to expand the transition from encampment to settlements by working with local governments to promote a more development-led, integrated approach to responding to refugees. However, the practice remains unclear, with inconsistent political will and clear sensitivities, evidenced by unpredictable issuing of directives that restrict refugee rights. Some of these directives have, in turn, been met with a series of strategic public litigation initiatives, challenging the legal basis to fortify the encampment policy while simultaneously promoting local integration and self-sufficiency.

A gradual phasing out of encampment in both Dadaab and Kakuma will be key to more equitable economic empowerment of both refugees and host communities. It is critical to engage with county authorities to find alternative solutions that would benefit hosts and refugees, while supporting host community and local authorities on the impacts that changes to the encampment model including the economic, financing, environmental and institutional impacts, the transfer of camp infrastructure ensuring that these occur with benefits for both communities. There will also need to be management of those actors who gain most from the current approach. For these solutions to be durable, they must be both locally owned and locally driven. This means that the process itself is a critical success factor. It is critical to balance short-term objectives/imperatives with medium to long-term strategies and inclusive engagement through linking with County Integrated Development Plans.

The need to place collective accountability to displaced populations at the centre of any action cannot be over-emphasized. As numerous research outputs have shown, the delivery of long-term solutions depends largely on the degree of participation accorded to displaced populations and host communities, which involve extensive periods of consultation, sensitisation, negotiation and conflict resolution tailored to gender, age, clan and other demographic features. Moreover, a much deeper understanding of marginalization and inclusion, as well as conflict dynamics around land, social capital, rights and demography are needed. This implies the need for more meaningful granular assessments to inform better targeting of assistance.

These requirements also speak to the need for more power and influence to be handed to local actors, on all sides. Too much of refugee policy is driven by outsiders to the areas in question, including from the aid sector. If genuinely feasible approaches are to be identified, then they will need to be embedded within the context in a way that is only possible if genuinely local actors can drive them.

All of this is complex and involves multiple actors operating in different spaces and at different levels. It also needs to cut across the silos of the international aid system, particularly the humanitarian, development and peace sectors. Despite a lot of discussion on the need to do this, the international system still struggles to put it into practice, not least as aid coordination around refugee-hosting areas in Kenya has been a perennial challenge. Coordination structures are piecemeal: the Government chairs the Refugee Advisory Committee (RAC), an inter-ministerial body; the UN coordinates itself through the Kenya Humanitarian Partnership; the donors through the Donor Refugee Working Group; and the NGOs through the NGO Refugee Group. While the Inter-Agency Working Group, chaired by UNHCR, provides a forum for information exchange between the UN and NGOs, this is far short of full coordination. At local levels, bringing in local government has been a challenge as they lack a formal mandate around the centralised refugee operation, but has begun to happen through the newer initiatives such as KISEDP and GISEDP.

The refugee sector in Kenya struggles with this complexity and tends towards overly simplistic framings of different approaches that can be pursued – perhaps most often the aspiration to move from a “humanitarian” approach to a “developmental” one. But in practice we have seen that this kind of binary framing is not helpful for enabling key actors to work out how to move forwards and hold themselves to account. The challenge of displacement, particularly protracted displacement, is never purely technical, with a range of underlying political, social and economic dynamics that place barriers in the way of displaced people achieving solutions. While identifying these barriers may be straightforward, working out contextually relevant approaches to overcoming them requires in-depth work with a wide range of partners. And displacement-affected communities themselves need to be front and centre of shaping this agenda in line with their own aspirations and needs.

The purpose of this assignment, therefore, will be to provide key insights into these dynamics to inform the development of practical strategies for solutions work in Kenya. The findings will support ReDSS and other partners in refining their programming approaches and advocacy strategies, fostering more effective engagement at both the national and county levels.

Objective of the consultancy

More specifically, the Refugee Solutions Landscape Assessment will:

• Evaluate key institutions and governance systems shaping refugee inclusion decisions.
• Map key stakeholders at national and subnational levels and analyse their power, incentives, and interests regarding the implementation of refugee policies.
• Assess coordination mechanisms, cooperation gaps, and opportunities to enhance the inclusivity of governance systems.
• Identify opportunities for coalition building and entry points for strategic engagement.
• Analyse public narratives and their influence on refugee-related policymaking.
• Investigate why implementation of key policies has been uneven across different counties and governance levels.
• Explore context-sensitive, politically feasible pathways for change.

The findings will inform ReDSS and its partners on:

• Adaptive programming and how to navigate political constraints.
• Strategic engagement approaches with different actors.
• Development of practical advocacy and coalition-building strategies.

Scope of work and Methodology

The specific scope of work will be established between ReDSS and the Consultant(s) during the inception phase. An advisory group made up of representatives from the Kenya Refugee Donor Group, the NGO Refugee Group, Refugee Representatives and UN will guide the overall strategic direction of the assessment.

The consultant(s) will be responsible for developing a detailed methodology as part of the inception report. The methodology should align with the objectives of the assessment and outline the research questions, data sources and approach to data collection and analysis. While there is some flexibility in the proposed approach, it is expected to include a strong desk review and qualitative component (particularly key informant interviews) and be designed in a way to capture the nuanced political, social and economic factors shaping the refugee response in Kenya.

The consultant(s) should also ensure the meaningful inclusion of diverse perspectives, including those of refugee, host community and government representatives (at all levels)– as well as other operation and political actors. A gender-sensitive approach is encouraged to better understand how gender norms impact refugee policies and practices.

The final methodology will be agreed with ReDSS and should balance breadth of perspectives and the need for practical recommendations with time and resource considerations.

Deliverables

The Consultant will be requested to submit the following deliverables:

• Inception report

A short inception report, outlining proposed analytical framework, agreement on the methodological approach, including research questions and a clear plan for how data will be collected and analysed.

• Summary note from Key informant interviews

Conduct Key informant interviews and consultations with a wide range of stakeholders at the national and local levels in research locations.

• Presentation of preliminary findings

A presentation of draft findings to be presented to ReDSS and other key stakeholders for feedback to inform the final report

• Final report

Final report summarizing SLA findings, including an executive summary, analysis of key stakeholders, and recommendations for a comprehensive engagement/advocacy strategy.

• Uptake and dissemination plan

Uptake and dissemination of the report and Learning events with key stakeholders to discuss findings and promote uptake

The Consultant will provide the documentation by email in both word and pdf format. The Consultant will be expected to integrate comments from ReDSS and other key stakeholders in each phase.

Duration, timeline, and payment

The total expected duration to complete the assignment will be no more than 50 consultancy days within a span of no more than 3 months. Starting date will be jointly discussed with the selected consultant(s).

Payment of 30% of the agreed fee shall be provided upon submission of an inception report with the remaining 70% provided upon successful completion of the deliverables

Proposed Composition of Team

This consultancy is open to submissions by consultancy firms. Individuals are not eligible to bid. We expect the proposal to prominently feature locally led analysis, particularly emphasizing the lived experiences of refugee communities. This can be achieved either through the expertise of the consultant or team, targeted partnership or collaboration, or other specific design approaches to effectively integrate these perspectives in the process and conclusions.

Eligibility, qualification, and experience required

The consultant(s) should possess the following qualifications:

• Advanced degree in Social Sciences, Political Affairs, International Relations, Development Studies or a related field
• Proven experience (at least 8 years) in conducting political economy analyses, particularly to inform responses to displacement, migration or refugee issues
• Strong understanding of political dynamics in the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region and experience engaging political actors
• Demonstrated ability to engage with governmental and civil society actors in the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region, including on sensitive topics
• Knowledge of displacement and migration dynamics in the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region is a strong added advantage
• Excellent analytical, writing and communication skills
• Fluency in English and/or Swahili (spoken and written).

Location and support

Submissions for this consultancy are open to bids for remote work or work with team members based in the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes Member States. Ideally the (lead) consultant will be based in Kenya.

The Consultant(s) will provide her/his/their own computer and mobile telephone.

Travel

This consultancy is not expected to include travel.

Evaluation of bids

Only those shortlisted will be contacted for an interview with the panel to ensure their understanding of the consultancy services.

• Administration Evaluation

A bid shall pass the administrative evaluation stage before being considered for technical and financial evaluation. Bids that are deemed administratively non-compliant may be rejected. Documents listed below must be submitted with your bid.

• Technical qualification

For the award of this project, the evaluation criteria below will govern the selection of offers received. The evaluation is made on a technical and financial basis.

Bid by the consultant(s) should include the following information:

• Methodology outline
• Detailed workplan
• Budget
• Two to three samples of reports from previous studies relevant to this study

All bids that pass the Technical Evaluation will proceed to the Financial Evaluation. Bids that are deemed technically non-compliant will not be financially evaluated

Financial Evaluation

The financial offer will then be weighed against the technical offer. The total cost of the financial offer including tax should be mentioned in the DRC Bid Form Annex A.2, within the budget breakdown.

Note: DRC is a VAT Withholding agent appointed by KRA

Proposals failing to meet the above minimum requirements will not be considered further.

DRC will conduct reference checks from at least 1 previous work as an additional mandatory requirement.

Data protection and confidentiality

While executing this assignment, the consultant and all the parties involved shall ensure effective protection of confidential and sensitive data and information in conformity with the humanitarian and protection principles and to applicable legal data protection standards[1]. All data collection and processing activities shall be executed in accordance with the following principles:

• Safeguarding individuals’ personal data is a crucial part of humanitarian mission to protect the lives, integrity and dignity of beneficiaries and participants and is fundamental in the provision of protection response and humanitarian aid.
• People-centred and inclusive: Evaluation activities will respect the interests and well-being of the population and stakeholders, in all relevant phases of the evaluation and which activities must be sensitive to age, gender, and other issues of diversity.
• Do No Harm: Evaluation activities must include a risk assessment and take steps, if necessary, to mitigate identified risks. The risk assessment must look at negative consequences that may result from data collection and subsequent actions.
• Defined purpose and proportionality: The purpose must be clearly defined and explained to the participants in the data collection process.
• Informed consent and confidentiality: Personal information may be collected only after informed consent has been provided by the individual in question and that individual must be aware of the purpose of the collection. Further, confidentiality must be clearly explained to the individual before the information may be collected. Consent must be genuine, based on the data subject’s voluntary and informed decision.
• Data protection and security: The evaluation process must adhere to international standards of data protection and data security.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

DRC will evaluate proposals and award the assignment based on technical and financial feasibility in line with DRC Procurement guidelines. DRC reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal received without disclosing reasons to applicants and is not bound to accept the lowest bidder.

CONFIDENTIALITY

All information presented, obtained, and produced is to be treated as DRC’s property and is considered confidential for all other purposes than what is outlined in these terms of reference.

Additional information

For additional information regarding these terms of reference, please send your questions to the Regional Supply Chain Manager quoting the RFP title in the subject of your email: procurement.RO01@drc.ngo

Please find the complete bidding documents in the following link: RFP_00343062 Kenya Refugee Solutions Landscape Assessment