Conflict and Resilience Consultancy

Sep 10, 2018 | Concern Worldwide
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Concern Worldwide is the largest humanitarian and development agency in Ireland. With vast experience of working in the poorest and most vulnerable parts of the world, Concern has an international reputation for our work in disaster risk reduction, rapid emergency response, innovative livelihoods, resilience, food security and nutrition programming. Concern’s efforts to ‘leave no one behind’ and reach the furthest behind first have increasingly taken us to fragile contexts, where we have seen first-hand the devastating consequences of conflict and how levels of human suffering as a result of conflict have soared in recent years. Therefore, we are seeking to explore ways in which the cycle of conflict, hunger and human suffering can be broken.

To support this, Concern is commissioning an evidence review on conflict’s medium- to longer-term impacts on household livelihood and food security resilience. This will provide background analysis, an assessment of evidence, and a series of recommendations that will feed into future programming and research in conflict-affected contexts to break the cycle of conflict, hunger and human suffering at organisational, sectoral, and international levels.

Overall objective of the consultancy:

Concern defines community resilience as the ability of all vulnerable households or individuals that make up a community, to anticipate, respond to, cope with, and recover from the effects of shocks, and to adapt to stresses in a timely and effective manner without compromising their long-term prospects of moving out of poverty (Concern, 2015).

Strengthening resilience can reduce the impact of violent conflict on individuals’, households’ and communities’ livelihoods and economic assets, and improve their ability to recover from violent conflict. Research attests to the many ways in which people adapt their livelihood activities in the face of violent conflict to reduce risk (see Rockmore, 2012). For example, many households reduce production during violent conflict to reduce their risk of being targeted by armed groups. While this reflects the complex navigation of risk, it can also mean overall stocks of food can suffer (UNDP, 2012, p. 43).

Concern research also demonstrates how resilience can be undermined by successive shocks or protracted stresses, eroding coping strategies and reducing alternative livelihood and food security options for households under stress. In the course of Concern’s recent research on violent conflict and displacement in Central African Republic, communities reported that households that had been displaced as a result of conflict were less likely to re-invest in household assets or plant the full amount of seed to which they had access, due to fear of a future cycle of conflict and the potential for further displacement (Concern, 2018).

This points to several important avenues for further research with implications for future programming. To date, most research estimating the economic costs of conflict has focused on national-level impacts (see Gates et al., 2014). We have only limited empirical evidence on how the experience of conflict specifically impacts on households’ economic decision-making and livelihood strategies (see discussion in Justino, 2012). We also have very limited evidence on how this impacts on longer-term resilience to future stresses and shocks, or varies by individual, household or community characteristics (for example, gendered, age-related, economic or environmental).

The objective of the consultancy is to produce a review of available evidence on conflict’s medium- to longer-term impacts on livelihood and food security resilience at the household level. This will be used to provide a better understanding of the impacts of conflict on households, adapt programming where appropriate, shape future research, and ultimately contribute to Concern’s efforts to break the cycle of conflict, hunger and human suffering.

Specific objectives of the consultancy

The specific objectives of the consultancy are to collect, synthesise, and critically assess relevant academic, policy and practitioner research, evidence and programme evaluations on the following questions:

a)     What is the empirical evidence of the medium- to longer-term impact of violent conflict on household livelihoods and food security?

b)     What is the empirical evidence of the impact of violent conflict on livelihood and food security resilience to future stresses and shocks at the household level?

c)     What is the empirical evidence of the differential impact of violent conflict on livelihoods, food security, and resilience to future stresses and shocks by individual, household or community characteristics (for example, gendered, age-related, economic or environmental)?

Methodology

The consultant will undertake an evidence review to collect, synthesise, and critically evaluate relevant empirical evidence in academic, policy, and practitioner literature. Particular attention should be paid to i) synthesising findings from existing meta-evaluations or evidence reviews; ii) analysing and summarising new evidence to have emerged since the most recent meta-evaluations or evidence reviews; and iii) assessing the quality, rigour and robustness of the available evidence.

Deliverables

  • Inception Report: Detailing the review strategy, an indicative source list, and a proposed table of contents / report structure;
  • First Draft: Incorporating feedback on the Inception Report; synthesising evidence and presenting preliminary analysis (maximum 25 pages without annexes);
  • Second Draft: Incorporating feedback on the First Draft; synthesising evidence, analysis and conclusions (maximum 25 pages without annexes);
  • Final Report: Incorporating feedback on the Second Draft; synthesising all evidence, analysis and conclusions (maximum 25 pages without annexes), and including an executive summary (maximum 3 pages).

 Profile of the Consultant

  • At least 5 years of professional experience in high-quality research;
  • Proven experience in performing similar analyses;
  • Expertise on conflict and livelihoods, food security, resilience, and/or microeconomics;
  • Excellent writing, synthesis, and analytical skills.

Timeline

  • Inception Report: 19 October;
  • First Draft: 16 November;
  • Second Draft: 7 December;
  • Final Report: 21 December.

Reporting

The consultant will report directly to the Humanitarian Policy Advisor.

Application Procedure

Applications must be entitled Conflict and Resilience Consultancy and be submitted to Caitriona Dowd, Humanitarian Policy Advisor, Concern Worldwide, by Friday the 21st of September to caitriona.dowd@concern.net.

Applications must include the following:

  • A clear and relevant proposal in line with the Terms of Reference;
  • A proposed budget that is as detailed as possible;
  • The CV and references of the (lead) consultant;
  • A detailed work plan conforming to the duration and timeline of the programme of work;
  • Two unedited samples of the (lead) consultant’s previous written work, including an evidence review if available.