The Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA) regional platform (RP) office with its head office in Nairobi was established in 2016 to lead technical guidance and coordination of development assistance in the region on behalf of Oxfam International.
The HECA RP is planning to undertake an impact evaluation of its regional influencing work in the Horn of East and Central Africa. Though the RP has been engaging in influencing work on multiple fronts, the impact evaluation will focus on influencing work on Rights in Crisis (RIC) and extractive industries (EI). These are two important areas of focus for the RP as well as for several countries in the region. The impact evaluation will therefore consider the interconnectedness of influencing work from local to national, regional, and global levels. Oxfam will use the results of the evaluation to inform future influencing strategies and programs in the HECA region as well as within Africa more broadly. This evaluation is a collaboration between Oxfam GB (OGB) and the HECA Regional Platform. As such, it will also inform the development of OGB Learning and Accountability Framework, aligned with its new strategy.
Oxfam is recruiting a consultant or consultancy firm to lead the impact evaluation design, data gathering, sensemaking and report writing. The evaluation will be carried out under the oversight of an Oxfam Impact Evaluation working group and will engage a wider group of internal and external stakeholders, to ensure the evaluation meets the needs of the end-users.
We are looking for a consultant / consultancy firm to carry out the following scope of work:
Harvest outcomes of the influencing initiatives primarily led by the HECA platform.
Test for the RP’s contribution to this change, and the specific role of building alliances/networks to bring about change
Engage key regional and relevant country stakeholders throughout.
We expect the consultant to use qualitative methodologies that put emphasis on attribution (process tracing)[1] and/or contribution (contribution tracing)[2], that enable to test for the role of alternative factors in the change that is observed. We would be open to other methodologies as long as the proposal articulates how the demonstration of attribution and/or contribution will be addressed.
[1] Oxfam can share its updated process tracing protocol with interested consultants. An initial and draft version can be found here: https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/resources/guide/process-tracing_draft_protocol The protocol has since been updated following its use by several evaluators, but the updated protocol is not yet published
[2] See for example this report with an overview on page 23: https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/620941/er-bangladesh-resilience-sustainable-building-310120-en.pdf;jsessionid=3D19E617DA5A8E9830B050CFCF7090D8?sequence=2
Overview of Rights in Crisis influencing work
The RiC network works to support people affected by crises to have their voices heard, access the services and assistance they need, stand up for their rights and rebuild their lives. We advocate for a humanitarian system that is more effective, accountable, inclusive and gender transformative at the local, national, regional and global levels and that recognises that the root causes as well as the consequences of crisis.
RIC encompasses humanitarian advocacy from across Oxfam. We have a RIC staff in nearly 20 country programs, as well as in Oxfam’s regional offices, and advocacy offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York. Together, we can empower women and men to develop a safer future for themselves by overcoming the poverty and inequality at the heart of humanitarian crises.
In HECA, RiC influencing has focused on the following specific themes:
Conflict transformation and inclusive peace: We have worked to address the root causes of crises and support peace building, particularly through advocating for and supporting the meaningful participation of women, youth and refugees in peace and security mechanisms and discussions.
Local humanitarian leadership: We have advocated for increased local humanitarian leadership as well as the leadership and participation of refugees in addressing the challenges that affect their lives. We have also worked to support national and refugee-led organizations to be their own advocates, and increase their participation and influence in policy spaces and discussions.
Overview of Extractive Industries influencing work
The Extractive Industries (EI) Program works to promote Natural Resource Justice, by ensuring that countries receive a fair share of revenues from their resources and these are managed in a transparent and accountable manner, and that investment of these revenue prioritises area that have the greatest potential to overcome poverty & inequality such as health and education. Additionally, we work to ensure protection of the rights of affected communities, to ensure their participation in decision making. A key focus of our work is also ensuring that governments in the region adopt strengthened legislative frameworks for transparent and accountable governance of the industry, and that private sector and government agencies are held accountable.
For extractive industries work, the impact evaluation will focus on the regional institutions including the East Africa Community where effort was invested to ensure that they have improved transparent and accountable extractives and public financial revenue frameworks. Specifically, will be on CSOs working on tax, illicit financial flows, and transparent and accountable revenue flows. These will share lessons, knowledge, and experiences on influencing reform in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. The evaluation will also delve into establishing whether CSOs meaningfully engage with reforms on petroleum costs audits and double taxation agreements in the region. Besides regional institutions, the target countries for these initiatives included Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya.
1. Purpose and objectives of Impact Evaluation
Overview of Rights in Crisis influencing work
The RiC network works to support people affected by crises to have their voices heard, access the services and assistance they need, stand up for their rights and rebuild their lives. We advocate for a humanitarian system that is more effective, accountable, inclusive and gender transformative at the local, national, regional and global levels and that recognises that the root causes as well as the consequences of crisis.
RIC encompasses humanitarian advocacy from across Oxfam. We have a RIC staff in nearly 20 country programs, as well as in Oxfam’s regional offices, and advocacy offices in Geneva, Brussels and New York. Together, we can empower women and men to develop a safer future for themselves by overcoming the poverty and inequality at the heart of humanitarian crises.
In HECA, RiC influencing has focused on the following specific themes:
Conflict transformation and inclusive peace: We have worked to address the root causes of crises and support peace building, particularly through advocating for and supporting the meaningful participation of women, youth and refugees in peace and security mechanisms and discussions.
Local humanitarian leadership: We have advocated for increased local humanitarian leadership as well as the leadership and participation of refugees in addressing the challenges that affect their lives. We have also worked to support national and refugee-led organizations to be their own advocates, and increase their participation and influence in policy spaces and discussions.
Overview of Extractive Industries influencing work
The Extractive Industries (EI) Program works to promote Natural Resource Justice, by ensuring that countries receive a fair share of revenues from their resources and these are managed in a transparent and accountable manner, and that investment of these revenue prioritises area that have the greatest potential to overcome poverty & inequality such as health and education. Additionally, we work to ensure protection of the rights of affected communities, to ensure their participation in decision making. A key focus of our work is also ensuring that governments in the region adopt strengthened legislative frameworks for transparent and accountable governance of the industry, and that private sector and government agencies are held accountable.
For extractive industries work, the impact evaluation will focus on the regional institutions including the East Africa Community where effort was invested to ensure that they have improved transparent and accountable extractives and public financial revenue frameworks. Specifically, will be on CSOs working on tax, illicit financial flows, and transparent and accountable revenue flows. These will share lessons, knowledge, and experiences on influencing reform in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. The evaluation will also delve into establishing whether CSOs meaningfully engage with reforms on petroleum costs audits and double taxation agreements in the region. Besides regional institutions, the target countries for these initiatives included Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya.
See TOR for full details
How to apply:
The consultancy will take place between December 2021 and mid-March 2022. Consultants are invited to apply sending a technical and financial proposal (through e-mail) to the logistics team of HECA RP on the following e-mail address: ssc.consultancy@oxfam.org CVs of key staff (lead consultant and associate consultants, if applicable) should be included in the technical proposal not later than 21 November, 2021.