Combined baseline evaluation: Tanzania

Combined baseline evaluation: Katika Usalama Tunategemeana: A Community-Owned Approach to Promoting Moderate Voices and Preventing Violent Extremism in Tanga (CTU)

AND
Pamoja! Strengthening Community Resilience to Violent Extremism (DRL) },

1. Context

About Search for Common Ground

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international conflict transformation NGO that aims to transform the way individuals, groups, governments and companies deal with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative solutions. Headquartered in Washington DC, USA, and Brussels, Belgium, with field offices in 35 countries, SFCG designs and implements multifaceted, culturally appropriate and conflict-sensitive programs using a diverse range of tools, including media and training, to promote dialogue, increase knowledge and determine a positive shift in behaviors.

The Projects

SFCG seeks an external consultant to conduct a combined baseline for the following two projects: 1) Katika Usalama Tunategemeana: A Community-Owned Approach to Promoting Moderate Voices and Preventing Violent Extremism in Tanga (CTU) and 2) Pamoja! Strengthening Community Resilience to Violent Extremism (DRL).

Project 1: Katika Usalama Tunategemeana: A Community-Owned Approach to Promoting Moderate Voices and Preventing Violent Extremism in Tanga (CTU)

While the issue of violent extremism (VE) is relatively nascent in Tanzania, over the past three years, Tanga has gradually become a hotbed for radicalism in the country. Due to this geographical proximity with Islamist logistical hubs of the Arab gulf, there has been a growing influence of conservative strands of Islam in the area. In addition, Kenyan Police and army’s raids on radical mosques in Mombasa have forced some Islamists to settle in bordering Tanzania. In this context, Tanga is experiencing an increase in active recruitment, terrorist transit and violent activity. The government has responded to these risks through a counterterrorism approach articulated by the National Counterterrorism Center, which has spearheaded initiatives such as community policing efforts to encourage community resilience to VE. However, these initiatives have been undertaken with mixed results, lacking inputs from civil society and affected communities.

To respond to this situation, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) and the Tanga Youth Development Association (TAYODEA), with funding from U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism (CTU), will implement a 24 month project based on the theory of change that if space to constructively dialogue and engage on issues of VE is opened, if community stakeholders are better equipped to recognize and understand the risks of VE and have the opportunities to collaboratively address these risks, and if credible and constructive narratives are amplified, especially among youth, then marginalization of vulnerable populations will be reduced, inclusive participation and self-agency will be increased and alternatives to violent action and division will be promoted, reducing the risk of radicalization, recruitment and violent action and preventing the threat of VE in Tanga.[1]

The overall project goal is to empower communities to prevent VE in Tanga. This goal is supported by three specific objectives:

· Obj. 1: To increase the space for engagement of diverse community stakeholders in community-level dialogue around issues of VE.

· Obj. 2: To share strategies and skills for community residents to counter recruitment narratives and other pull factors.

· Obj. 3: To promote community-owned and -led initiatives to prevent VE.

Project 2: Pamoja! Strengthening Community Resilience to Violent Extremism (DRL)

Tanzania holds a reputation for peace and stability. However, the country has experienced an increase in violent Islamist-related activity and religious intolerance in the past few years, putting it at risk of becoming a new center for violent extremism in the region. Recognizing this risk, and also the opportunity to empower youth and local leaders to address key drivers of violent extremism, SFCG, with funding from the US Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), will implement a 21-month project with community empowerment and interfaith dialogue at its core.

The project is based on the theory of change that if populations vulnerable to extremism in at-risk areas, especially young men and women, have the skills and opportunities to participate and constructively engage within their communities, if local leaders, including religious leaders, are better equipped to recognize the risk of violent extremism and include marginalized groups, and if credible and constructive narratives are amplified, then marginalization of vulnerable populations will be reduced, inclusive participation and self-agency will be increased and alternatives to violent action and division will be promoted, reducing the risk of radicalization, recruitment and violent action and preventing the threat of violent extremism.

The overall goal of the project is **to strengthen community resilience to key drivers of violent extremism in at-risk areas***.* It pursues two objectives and four results.

· O1: To promote participation and inclusion of populations vulnerable to extremism, especially young men and women.

· O2: To foster interfaith collaboration and social cohesion.

2. Objectives of Study

SFCG seeks a consultant to conduct a baseline study for this project. The objectives of the study are as follows:

1. Further analyze the current context, especially with regards to drivers and risk factors of VE in the target areas;
2. Assess the project Objectives, Indicators and Theory of Change (TOC);
3. Conduct a risk assessment in order to ensure “Do No Harm” and conflict sensitivity are respected in the project.

3. Geographic Locations

Katika Usalama Tunategemeana: A Community-Owned Approach to Promoting Moderate Voices and Preventing Violent Extremism in Tanga (CTU): Tanga, Tanzania.

Pamoja! Strengthening Community Resilience to Violent Extremism (DRL): Zanzibar, Tanga, Arusha, and Dar es Salaam.

4. Baseline Questions

The external consultant will be asked to finalize study questions, specifically seeking to identify the following in target communities:

Contextual assessment

· What long-term and recent developments have affected conflict dynamics and VE?

· What is the state of CVE/PVE work regionally and nationally? What are the current approaches being taken? What are the gaps and opportunities? (This should build on the current literature review that SFCG has developed.)

· What are the key drivers and triggers of extremism and recruitment? What unifiers and dividers shape VE dynamics in communities?

· How do these existing dynamics and conflicts affect VE?

Processes Supporting and Protecting Against Radicalization

· How is VE/radicalization understood in the communities of intervention?

· Do people talk about VE? Who, and where do they talk about it?

· Who influences/plays a role in VE? Who influences/plays a role in CVE?

· Who is most vulnerable to VE?

· What are the key narratives driving VE/radicalization?

· What are the key positive narratives (CVE) that resonate with communities?

Community assessment

· What are the capacities of local leaders and organizations currently to work with communities to counter violent extremism and radicalization?

Theory of Change and program design

· Considering the current status of project indicators, objectives and theory of change, are there recommendations for adaptations to improve the potential impact of the projects?

Risk Assessment

· What are the contextual and project-related risks that require monitoring?

· What can the project do to assure it is conflict sensitive and respects “Do No Harm” principles?

5. Methodology

The baseline will apply a mixed methods approach consisting of a literature and document review, quantitative survey, as well as qualitative methods (Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)). The consultant will be responsible for conducting the literature review, designing the final methodology, developing tools, training of enumerators, data analysis, and drafting of the report. SFCG’s ILT will review methodology and all tools as well as provide feedback on the report. To ensure future understanding of the impact of the project on marginalized populations, data will be disaggregated.

Deliverables

SFCG expects the following deliverables from the external consultant:

• A baseline plan (inception report) detailing a proposed methodology, tools, calendar and written evaluation tools for a baseline study;
• Training of enumerators;
• Supervision and participation in data collection;
• Oversight of the data coding process;
• Submission of all databases to SFCG
• Analysis of the data collected and production of a draft evaluation report in English, for review by SFCG staff and partners;
• A Final Report in English (40 pages max in length, excluding appendices) consisting of:
• Table of contents
• Abbreviations
• Executive summary of methodology, limitations, key findings and recommendations
• Background information (project specifics)
• Methodology: Objectives, data collection and analysis and limitations of the study
• Research findings, analysis, with associated data presented (should be structured around the main objectives/evaluation criteria and should cover all indicators)
• Indicator table showing all baseline indicators
• Appendices, which include detailed research instruments, list of interviewees, terms of references and evaluator(s) brief biography

Logistical Support

SFCG Tanzania will provide logistical support for the organization of data collection (vehicles, fuel, and drivers), but this needs to be budgeted into the study. In addition, SFCG and partners will share the following elements with the external consultant: Background materials including the project proposal and logframe, M&E plan, etc.

6. Timeline

Activities

Deadline/

Estimated Time

Consultant contract signed

Jan 13

Finalize Inception Report including literature review and tools

Jan 23

Field work (training, data collection, data entry, etc.)

Jan 23 – Feb 1

First draft of baseline report (combined CTU/DRL)

Feb 8

Final draft of baseline report submitted

Feb 22

TOTAL TIME ESTIMATED

40 days

7. Budget

The budget will not exceed 16,000 USD.

8. Requirements of consultant

The following skills and experience are expected by SFCG for our evaluator(s) for this project:

· Proficiency in English and Swahili (written and spoken);

· More than 5 years of experience in project evaluation or the equivalent in DM&E expertise, including collecting data in interviews, surveys and focus groups;

· Experience working with international organizations;

· Experience conducting quantitative surveys and analysis;

· Evaluation methods and data collection skills;

· Considerable experience and expertise in evaluating CVE programming;

· Contextual knowledge of and experience working in Tanzania, ideally the research locations (especially Tanga).

In addition, the consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles[2]:

• Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: Consultant should make the most of the existing information and full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Consultant should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique his or her work. He or she should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.
• Competence: Consultant should possess the abilities and skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
• Honesty and integrity: Consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about: any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.
• Respect for people: Consultant respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, program participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.

In addition, the consultant will respect SFCG’s evaluations standards, to be found in SFCG’s evaluation guidelines:http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/ilt/dme_guidelines.html

HOW TO APPLY:

Applications

To apply, interested candidates (individuals or teams) are requested to submit the following two documents:

· Curriculum vitae;

· A technical proposal proposing a methodology for the baseline together with a financial proposal for the completion of the aforementioned deliverables and a short cover letter.

Note: Only two documents can be submitted, so the technical and financial proposals must be combined, along with the short cover letter.

Applications must be submitted to our application website before 3 Jan. 2017. For questions or clarifications, please contact alemon@sfcg.org.

[1] This approach guides SFCG’s efforts to prevent VE in Tanzania, one of the organization’s strategic priorities. SFCG is aiming at increasing its current portfolio of programming on this theme, and if SFCG receives additional funding to implement similar projects with a larger scope, SFCG will ensure synergies and avoid duplication. Additional funding will enable SFCG to expand its engagement and magnify efforts proposed in the Tanga region, building on what works and can be replicated and deepened.

[2]Adapted from the American Evaluation Association Guiding Principles for Evaluators, July 2004