Multisectoral Humanitarian Needs Assessment in North East Nigeria

Terms of Reference

Multisectoral Humanitarian Needs Assessment in North East Nigeria

1. Introduction and Background – About Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian non-profit organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood, and enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We believe in the power and potential of every child, but know this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination. Working together with children, young people, supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges girls and vulnerable children face. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years and are now active in more than 75 countries, driving changes in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels using our reach, experience, and knowledge.

Plan International Nigeria is part of the global federation of Plan International and was registered in Nigeria in 2014. Our interventions are currently focused on nutrition, protection, basic education, improving community health services, youth and citizens’ participation in governance and creating economic opportunities and livelihoods for the neediest people, building resilient communities. We implement development, emergency and humanitarian response programmes. Plan International Nigeria works with communities, civil society organizations, development partners, government at all levels and the private sector.

The key areas of our work are:

• Meaningfully engage youths, especially girls and young women, in planning and decision-making.
• Strengthen grassroots leadership of youths, especially girls and young women.
• Empower and engage youths, especially girls and young women, as active drivers of change.
• Promote and facilitate inclusive and quality education, skills and opportunities for youth employment and entrepreneurship.
• Promote and facilitate SRHR, including MNCH.
• Strengthen the protective environment of children, caregivers and communities so they recognise risks including child marriage and prevent and respond to them.
• Promote and support improved nutrition and ECD and ensure safety for girls and child protection.

Plan International Nigeria’s education programs primarily target children, especially girls aged 0 to 9 years, adolescent girls/boys aged 10 to 19 years, and young women/men aged 20 to 24 years. Our approach is integrated education programming, which involves a comprehensive framework centred on the needs of affected populations, prioritizing children and young people, including those with special needs. We aim to deliver quality, context-sensitive, inclusive education access through formal and non-formal interventions in North-East Nigeria. Key approaches revolve around these areas: Advocacy; Formal and non-formal education; Integrated school WASH through the provision of safe and clean drinking water, improving hygiene and provision of WASH facilities including disaggregated latrines; inclusion (CWD); Cash Voucher in Education (CVA); Integrated Economic empowerment.

1. Emergency Context

For over a decade and half now, the conflict in Nigeria’s north-east states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY states) continues unabated. The impact of the conflict in the BAY states, home to some 16 million people, has created a protracted humanitarian and protection crisis affecting millions of people. The protection of civilians remains a major concern. A fundamental resolution to the conflict is not expected in the foreseeable future. Already vulnerable people are facing additional risks due to climate change impacts on food security and other needs, as well as disease outbreaks. The crisis has devastated civilian infrastructure and livelihoods, leaving many dependent on humanitarian assistance and in urgent need of access to basic services. The coordinated international humanitarian operation in the BAY states started in 2014, at the behest of the Government of Nigeria in response to a non-international armed conflict.

According to the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP, 2023)[1], there are about 8.3 million People in Need, with 59% being children, 22% women, and 8% PWDs. Out of this, the plan targets to reach 6.0 million people in severe levels of needs. 1.4 million people need education services, and 1.1 million are being targeted with different kinds of education services. There are significant and severe humanitarian needs across North East Nigeria, caused by poverty – further deepened by high rates of inflation – lack of access to basic services, widespread insecurity and criminality, and the impact of climate change. Some of these needs were further compounded by flooding, food insecurity and malnutrition, as well as refugee returnees from Cameroon and Niger.

Data analysis of the MSNA for 2023 (applying the JIAF), in addition to complementary surveys, generated both an intersectoral severity rating for each LGA in the BAY states and a rating for each of the three concerned groups (IDPs, returnees, host communities) in each LGA. The survey data also yielded sector-specific severity ratings for each LGA and target group therein. A risk analysis was factored into each LGA’s rating.

The MSNA for 2023 indicates that all LGAs have some level of humanitarian need. A significant change from 2022 are the 250,000 people considered to have catastrophic needs in Bama and Guzamala LGAs, who will urgently require assistance. This was not the case last year, indicating a sharp deterioration in affected people’s conditions in these areas. The MSNA for 2023 indicates that there has been some improvement for approximately 1.3 million, with a shift from extreme need (2.1 million) to severe need (6.0 million). This said, there are also indications that many of those in the category of having severe needs, now have a broader range of needs, putting them further at risk. The HRP 2023 targets the 6.0 million people with severe needs.

1. Rationale and Objectives of the Assessment

Plan International has made strides in delivering much-needed support to affected populations in the BAY States since 2016 when the humanitarian intervention was started in North-eastern Nigeria. During these periods, we have implemented directly or as a consortium with National and International Partners on a number of Education, Protection, Livelihood, Nutrition and Food Security projects. However, as highlighted by the HNO 2023 & the HRP 2023, there are still huge needs in all the above sectors, which calls for in-depth needs assessment to determine the kinds of interventions to meet the needs. Thus, there is a need for strategic evidence-gathering of the most efficient and effective ways to engage in interventions that further strengthen the provision of essential services that promote well-being and save the lives of affected populations in the northeast of Nigeria. For Plan International to provide these interventions there is a need for an assessment to understand the prevailing needs and any existing gaps in systems and structures responsible for delivering support in meeting those needs. This understanding will help identify opportunities for action in target sectors and locations in preparation for upcoming engagements with donors. Information gathered by this assessment will provide data and evidence that will inform proposals to potential donors and partners.

The needs assessment aligns with Plan Nigeria’s new Country Strategy (2024-2028) (Girls are empowered to take action and drive change) commitment to generate and use quality evidence to improve programmes, influencing and resource mobilisation to meet the needs of the affected community. It also aligns with the HRP 2023, strategic objective two (SO2): “Crisis-affected people enjoy a safer and healthier environment for living, with adequate access to essential services”. The results of this need assessment will enable Plan International Nigeria to design evidence–based integrated multi-sector programmes based on informed decisions, stemming from the findings. Findings from the assessment are expected to contribute to advocacy initiatives with stakeholders and establish priority areas for programming, proposal development. Also, the assessment results will be shared with the larger humanitarian partners in the BAY states to enable complementarity of actions and reduce redundancies. The report will also leverage on other relevant assessments and reports that might have been or are being conducted by other partners.

Furthermore, while numerous sector-specific rapid needs assessments are being done, they are largely not coordinated leading to: uneven coverage across the different populations and settings for example IDPs, host communities, certain villages and vulnerable populations in the camps, gaps in information in some areas; and ‘over-assessment’ in others.

Therefore, the objectives of the assessment include:

1. To gather strong, evidence-based information on the multi-dimensional needs of affected populations, especially girls, women, and children living with disability, residing in formal or informal camp settings or within host communities of Borno, State of North East Nigeria.
2. To map out the available education , facilities, WASH system, IGA resources, stakeholders and capacities in the assessed LGAs, and prioritize geographic areas of intervention areas and the needs and risks.
3. To determine the characteristics and vulnerabilities of households and communities, and their capacity to address the multi – dimensional needs and the unitary dimensions to ensure that program coverage will be holistic.
4. Assessment Scope and Location

The Needs assessment will be conducted in Borno state of North East Nigeria, focusing on key sectoral vulnerabilities, needs and gaps within the community especially in education, protection, WASH, livelihoods, health and nutrition sectors. The assessment will target both in-camp and out-of-camp IDPs, returnees, and host communities. Respondents will be systematically drawn from children, adolescents and youth groups aged 6 – 29 years (male and female), households (heads/caregivers), and stakeholders at all levels, including government, community, and religious stakeholders. In addition, the assessment will also complete a desk review of humanitarian and developmental records of select locations within the regions based on needs and intelligence gathering; to reach a comprehensive report that represents the closest to the ideal outlook of living conditions in those areas assessed.

Location: The assessment will be conducted in 5 LGAs of Damboa, Kala Balge, Bama, Mobbar and Dikwa in Borno state, North East Nigeria

Figure 1: Map of BAY Sates of Nigeria showing Assessment locations

5. Assessment questions

The assessment is expected to address the following questions:

Education and Child Protection in Emergency

• What are the demographic characteristics/typology of school-aged children, including girls, CwDs, IDPs, returnees and host population in the targeted locations?
• What are the key factors that can increase vulnerability or risks for host and IDP men, women, girls, and boys? How do these key factors increase the vulnerability or risks for men, women, girls, and boys and what are the factors that intersect with the gender roles and disabilities?

What are the education challenges experienced by children, especially girls?

• What are the issues related to access to education for children within households? What other opportunities are there to address access to education of children, especially girls? What are the key risks and challenges for girls and boys in the communities? What is the child-led, adolescent-led and community-led strategies that Plan International can take to prevent these risks from occurring and respond to these risks? What are the available community structures that addresses protection and education concerns?
• How are the affected communities – parents, children, youth, and others from IDP and host families – engaged in supporting schools/learning spaces?
• What percentage of school aged children (host and IDP) are accessing education, disaggregated by sex, disability and level of schooling?
• What is the total number of student’s school attendance, repetitions, and dropouts in targeted locations prior to displacement and currently, disaggregated by sex, disability and level of schooling?
• How can community structures be strengthened to address the identified concerns? What are the challenges related to accessing services and infrastructures in the communities? Are there existing peacebuilding initiatives/structures available within the communities and how well were youths involved in peacebuilding initiatives of the community?

Food security and Nutrition

• Assess dietary diversity among women 15 to 49 years of age (Women Nutrition)
• Assess breastfeeding and complementary feeding (IYCF) practices among children 0 to 23 months of age;
• Estimate household access to safe water and sanitation facilities.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

• Which particular natural disasters are faced by the school and host community locations?
• Which human made hazards and risks are faced by children in their school and community settings, and whether they have basic safety and security awareness.
• If any primary and secondary schools have Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) plans and DRR clubs and committees.
• If there are/have been community-level hazard sensitization and engagement initiatives with DRR plans and DRR clubs and committees. Assessment Methodology

To answer the assessment questions and criteria, the consultant will develop and administered a to aid the collation and analysis of data and produce informed and evidence-based narratives by the consultant with reviews from Plan International MERL lead and team.

It is therefore expected that the consultant develops a detailed overall methodology, appropriate methods and the set of tools to respond to the key assessment questions. The consultant shall outline the reasons for selecting the methods proposed and depict the skills/ experience he/ she has in applying them. It is recommended to apply a mixed method approach using both quantitative and qualitative methods to meet study objectives, it will carry out a detailed and rigorous collection of primary data using focal group discussions, Key informer interviews, and surveys among key target groups, while it is expected to conduct reviews on secondary sources using reviews of relevant documents and reports to triangulate information that will inform the final report the consultant will also triangulate with several actions and stakeholders in the Northeast to gather evidence-based findings.

The consultant will also be responsible for piloting the tools, ensuring that they are gender-sensitive. The proposal must contain a description of the envisaged data validation, quality assurance and data analysis techniques. Plan International will make available to the consultant all project documents upon request.

6. Methodology

The consultant is expected to present an evaluation design, along with a rationale for its selection. They should outline a comprehensive method for implementing the chosen design and demonstrate their proficiency and experience in its application. The recommendation is to incorporate a mixed-method approach. The consultant is also tasked with piloting the tools, ensuring their sensitivity to gender-related factors.

Furthermore, the consultant(s) are required to formulate a thorough methodology for data collection, management, and analysis within their proposal. This methodology should align directly with the sector indicators and assessment questions.

The proposal must also encompass a description of the envisioned techniques for data validation, quality assurance, and data analysis.

7. Sampling

6.1 Sample

The consultant shall propose a sampling strategy either simple random probability or cluster sampling for the primary data collection to answer the assessment questions as part of the final assessment, including how they will identify respondents. More specifically, the intended sample strategy shall include a description of the:

• Sample size
• Target group and necessary respondent disaggregation (this will be provided to the consultant)
• Number and type of locations
• Sampling approach (stating the reasons for the approach selected)

6.2 Participant selection and recruitment

As a minimum requirement, representatives from key stakeholders (government, LGA structures, state structures, other potential experts operating within the context environment, e.g. public authorities, community leaders) and target groups should be given the opportunity to provide feedback on the assessment. Other potential stakeholders that should be involved include:

• Key informants drawn from targeted structures
• Plan Management
• Plan International staff- COs and NOs
• Government line ministries and implementing Agencies
• Implementing partners
• Other NGOs
• Girls, Boys, Youths, CWD, Men, Women (household units)
• Internally displaced persons
• Children from separated families
• Refugees
• Returnees
• Community leaders

8. Quality assurance

The Consultant is responsible for data quality, validity, consistency & accuracy and is to submit a well-structured report written in English language with complete adherence to Plan International data sharing protocol guidelines. If these standards are not met, the consultant will, at his/her own expense, make the necessary amendments to bring the reports to the required standards. The Consultant is expected to maintain the confidentiality of the data collected through the study.

9. Intended Users of the Assessment Report

The intended users of the final report of the assessment are:

• Plan International
• Different donors on proposal development
• Education partners

It is expected that the final needs assessment report will contribute to provide an in-depth insight into different needs girls, women, boys and men faced using evidence-based findings to guide our proposal development and future implementation of future projects.

10. Ethics, Child rights, gender and inclusion

Plan International is committed to ensuring that the rights of those participating in data collection or analysis are respected and protected, in accordance with our Ethical MERL Framework (Annex 4), our detailed guidance on Safeguarding in MER (Annex 5), and our Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy (Annex 3). All applicants should include details in their proposal on how they will ensure ethics and child protection in the data collection process. Specifically, the consultant(s) shall explain how appropriate, safe, non-discriminatory participation of all stakeholders will be ensured and how special attention will be paid to the needs of children and other vulnerable groups. The consultant(s) shall also explain how confidentiality and anonymity of participants will be guaranteed.

In line with Plan International’s values and organisational ambition, the assessment should seek to prioritise a focus on child rights, gender and inclusion. As a minimum, this requires:

• the disaggregation of all data points from the survey by age and sex,

• the development of an ethics protocol that safeguards children, youth and vulnerable adults.

  11. Key Deliverables

The following are the deliverables that are expected to be fulfilled by the successful consultant:

• Inception report including:
  • an updated timeline
  • a detailed methodology including draft sampling methodology and size
  • draft data collection tools
  • ethical and safeguarding considerations and risk assessment
  • consent forms for any primary data collection
  • draft methods for data analysis and quality control
  • brief justification of the methods and techniques envisaged (including relevant underlying values and assumptions/ theories) with a justification of the selection made.
• Final data collection tools
  • Final Sampling methodology (including unit of sampling and sampling frame) and size
• Draft assessment report, including cleaned data files (e.g. Excel, SPSS), transcripts of qualitative data syntax/ code books etc. and completed consent forms (including for children and their caregivers and adults
• Final assessment report including Executive Summary

The consultant is expected to lead, accomplish and submit the following deliverables within the agreed timeframe and budget:

Activity

Time

Days of Work

Responsible

Submission of Inception Report with assessment tools

4days after signing contract

4 days

Consultant

Review of the tools by NO, PIN colleagues

24th to 26th Nov 2023

3

SNO, FLNO, PIN colleagues

Uploading of tools to data collection devices and testing

26th to 28th Nov 2023

2 days

Ossai and Abdulmalik

Enumerator training and pre-test

29th to 30th Nov 2023

2 day

Consultant, Ossai, Abdul malik

Data Collection

1st to 8th Dec 2023

8 days

Consultant, Ossai, Abdul malik

Data Entry, Cleaning, Analysis and reporting

8th to 15th Dec. 2023

3 days

Consultant, Ossai, Abdul malik

Validation of findings with key stakeholders and respondents & feedback incorporation

17th and 19Th Dec 2023

3 days

Consultant, PIN, NO

Submission of Draft Assessment Report

20th Dec 2023

1 day

Consultant

Please note that recruitment and training of the enumerator team is the responsibility of the consultant(s). Enumerator costs should be included in the financial proposal.

1. Budget

Consultant(s) should submit a competitive itemised budget. Payment will be made as indicated in the table below.

The evaluator’s proposal should include a detailed budget breakdown including fees, number of working days, social and medical insurance, translation and interpretation, software licenses, electronic devices, travel and VISA cost (if applicable), cost for the development of data collection tools, and all other output-related costs.

The payment is in instalments and subject to the delivery of outputs and their formal approval by Plan International Nigeria as follows:

Milestone

Detail

Amount to be Paid (%)

Expected Timeframe

Approval of the inception report

Provision of inception report including feedback from Plan International

25%

25/11/2023

Finalization of tools

Finalization of tools development including feedback from Plan International

25%

25/11/2023

Validation

Validation of findings with key stakeholders

25%

17/12/2023

Final report

Approval of the final report by Plan International

25%

23/12/2023

1. Expected qualifications

The lead consultant is expected to have at least master’s degree in Social work, Public Health, International Development, or other related field with the following additional requirements:

• Over 10 years working experience in Social work, Public health, Livelihood, Education in Emergency, Food Security and Household vulnerability matrix, and cash transfer programming (Experience in North east Nigeria context is desirable).
• Strong experience in carrying out complex assessment/evaluations in the region or in other areas with similar context. The sample assessment(s) must be attached
• Strong analytical skills and research experience, with solid knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
• Advanced experience in child protection and GBV. This includes previous experience conducting Focus Group Discussions and Interviews.
• Ability to conduct meetings with senior persons at government, Bi-lateral and NGO level
• Ability to work on own initiative and to meet deadlines
• Attention to produce and present high-quality accurate presentations/reports
• Ability and willingness to travel to very remote areas
• Excellent command of written and spoken English and at least one local language of Borno state
• Good skills in documentation and reporting
• Experience/understanding of Child Rights Programming and development
• Strong analytical skills and research skills, with solid knowledge of quantitative research sampling methodologies,
• Proven leadership and coordination skills with the ability to manage an enumerator team.

Applications

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects:

1. Detailed response to the TOR
2. Provide curriculum vitae detailing knowledge/experience in the above areas.
3. Proposed methodology
4. Provide a report showing work on similar previous assignments.
5. Detailed budget, including daily fee rates, expenses, taxes etc.
6. Possible dates he/she will be available to commence the consultancy.
7. Provide name of two references that can attest to the consultant capability to conduct the consultancy.

A team from Plan International Nigeria will score the documentations provided by the potential consultant based on their technical “know how” and expected fee on the bases of 75% and 25% respectively.

Please send your application to Nigeria.consultant@plan-international.org by referencing “Rapid Needs Assessment of Humanitarian Situation in North East Nigeria”

Annexes

Annex 3: Global Policy: Safeguarding Children and Young People

Annex 4: Ethical MERL Framework

Annex 5: Guidance on Safeguarding in MER

Annex 6: Full Report Structure

[1] https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-humanitarian-response-plan-2023-february-2023