Country: occupied Palestinian territory
Closing date: 24 Aug 2016
Consultancy: Household Economic Assessment (HEA)
Occupied Palestinian Territory- West Bank
Looking for a great way to contribute to Oxfam EFSVL program? Then help our Humanitarian –Resilience Programme Team to update the household economy baseline assessment conducted in Area C in 2011ز
Terms of Reference
1. General Context
Since 1994, the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has increased from roughly 262,000 to over 520,000 today. Since the most recent round of negotiations broke down (April 2014), Israel has announced 3,860 new settlement units, the largest announcement of settlement construction in 30 years. Israeli settlement construction is a direct violation of international humanitarian law (IHL) as recognized by the EU and EU member states, and results in further breaches of IHL, including the demolition of Palestinian homes and property, leading to increased numbers of Palestinians forcibly displaced from their homes. In 2014, Israel demolished 493 Palestinian structures in Area C, 115 of which were provided through funding of international donors. In 25 percent of all the cases involving the destruction of donor funded aid in Area C in 2014, Israel additionally limited humanitarian access by seizing aid items or otherwise preventing assistance from reaching people in need.
The Israeli permit and planning system has been identified by the humanitarian community as a root cause of humanitarian needs in Area C, preventing Palestinians from accessing adequate shelter, water, education, from developing health services, and stifling their ability to earn an income from their land.
Much land that had, before 1967, been used for farming and grazing is now inaccessible to Palestinians. Most of the herders in the West Bank are concentrated in the southern parts of Hebron Governorate and in the north Jordan Valley (eastern part of Nablus Governorate). In these areas the land is suitable for grazing with available water but with the Israeli policies of land confiscations and the destruction of infrastructure, the land has been alarmingly reduced and can’t cover the needs of the increasing number of livestock and herder families.
Data regarding law enforcement on criminal offenses committed by Israeli civilians (‘settler violence’) as well as Israeli security forces personnel (ISFP) against Palestinian residents shows a strong connection between the failure of law enforcement and the dispossession of Palestinians from their land. The inability of Palestinian landowners and farming communities to access their land and live off its fruit leads to extended domination of unauthorized outposts or settlement points beyond their built-up areas into large swaths of Palestinian agricultural land in Area C and B.
Beyond the issue of construction on privately-owned land in the West Bank, Palestinians are barred access to use of their land in a variety of ways, including the erection of illegal fences around settlements, annexing more land, agricultural trespassing (by which settlers take over and begin to cultivate Palestinian-owned land), pollution hazards and violence and other intimidation tactics by Israeli civilians in the area as well as a lack of ISFP intervention in relation to such incidents. These tactics have been used to exploit the archaic land laws governing the West Bank, according to which private lands can over time become eligible for declaration as 'state land', or claimed by settlements, if left untended.
The majority of families in Area C are dependent on livestock as their main source of income; however access to grazing land and water is shrinking due to rapid advance of settlements, the barrier and Israeli military zones which herders cannot access. Unfavourable conditions due to various restrictions imposed by the controlling authority have contributed to the fragility of local production systems for herders in the West Bank. A small deterioration in trade can have a devastating impact on those who derive their livelihood from herding in Area C, and the challenging situation leaves little margin for herding households to cope with such shocks. The recurrent economic, climatic and man-made shocks (i.e. demolitions of livelihood structures) have increased the vulnerability of herding communities and seriously reduced their ability to recover.
2. Rationale for this study
The Household Economy Approach/Assestment (HEA) was developed in the 1990s by Save the Children in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a method of famine prediction, in order to improve the ability to predict short-term changes in access to food. The data set describes the economy of a defined population/area (a ‘livelihood zone’) in terms of the income obtained from different sources (as food and money) by ‘typical households’. The HEA analytical framework presents a picture of the normal household economy, the strategies employed to derive food and income and the relationships between households and the wider economy. The framework takes into account household capacity to adapt to the economic stress caused by potential hazards. The final result is an indication of the extent to which household will be able to meet their food and non-food needs without assistance.
Emergency Food Security and Vulnerable Livelihood (EFSVL) is one of the Oxfam’s core Humanitarian competencies, together with WASH, being the HEA approach one of the tools used to define EFSVL interventions.
In 2011, Oxfam conducted a HEA study covering herder communities in the southern and northern parts of Area C and using data from November 2009 to November 2010. The assessment was funded by DG ECHO. The HEA study resulted in a quantified account of people's essential livelihood strategies (rather than simply a descriptive one).This account was disaggregated and linked to two specific geographic areas (North and South of WB) and three particular wealth groups ( poor, middle, better off). Among the main conclusions, the assessment offers predictive capacity, allowing for significant lead times for response. It has widely been used by local and international organizations working in Area C.
Oxfam is currently implementing in Area C two projects funded by the Belgium Directorate of Cooperation and Development (DGD) which main objective is to prevent and mitigate the impact of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, in particular against the risk of forcible transfer, through an increased resilience of target communities in Area C. The projects include livelihood as an entry point. In particular, one of the projects “Integrated Protection in Area C: Enhancing the Resilience of Communities to Violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law” has envisioned the update of Oxfam’s 2012 HEA study utilizing actualized data.
3. Purpose/ Objective and expected Results of the study
3.1 Purpose
To ensure an effective and efficient support to herder´s resilience of the communities in Area C (West Bank).
3.2 Objectives.
To update the HEA study covering herder communities in the southern and northern parts of Area C conducted in 2011 (data Nov2009-Nov2010).
Elaborate a methodology to ensure a continuous monitoring of herders households situation in relation to the Survival Threshold and the Livelihood threshold ( in both zones and by wealthy group)
3.3. Expected results/outcomes.
Update of the detailed household economy baseline assessment defining the livelihoods of the three socio-economic groups by livelihood zone
Copying mechanism used by different herders groups used to adapt to the changes in relation with the year of reference of the HEA 2012.
Main recommendations to the FSS to develop interventions that enhance positive copying mechanisms and mitigate the impact of negative ones.
Methodology for optimizing the regular update and use of the HEA 2016.
4. Methodology.
Involvement of key FSS stakeholders (MoA, ECHO, FAO, WFP, NGOs) in the different phases of the study.
Use as baseline the data from HEA 2012 ( provided by Oxfam);
Consultation with key informants (both communities and other actors).
5. Deliverables:
Updated HEA report, including program recommendations
Updated database (2016)
Stakeholder analysis.
6. Timeframe
The research should be conducted over a period of maximum 35 days since the signature of the agreement (agreement expected to be signed at the End of August).
How to apply:
8. Application process
Interested consultants should submit: letter of interest, technical proposal, and financial offer no later than 24th of August 2016 to the attention of Lidia Hernandez (lidia.hernandez@oxfam.it). The proposal should have detailed methodology including following:
a. Objectives -understanding of the scope of the research.
b. Composition of the team including CVs
c. Tools that the consultant will use in English.
d. Plan of data collection and analysis.
e. Timeframe.
f. Detailed budget on a separate sheet, including the Income Tax percentage required to the corresponding government.
g. Examples of other similar studies covered.
Important to note that:
Only short listed applicants will be contacted. Applicants after deadline will be excluded. Applications not conforming to the conditions will not be taken into account.
Closing date: August 24rd 2016