Founded in 1979, Action Against Hunger is an international network that helps the most vulnerable populations prevent, detect, and treat malnutrition. Its mandate is to save lives by fighting hunger and diseases that threaten the lives of vulnerable children, women, and men. To achieve this, ACF focuses its interventions on an integrated approach aimed at addressing all aspects of undernutrition, including:
- Nutrition and Health,
- Food Security and Livelihoods,
- Water, Hygiene and Sanitation
- Mental Health, Care Practices, Gender and Protection,
- Advocacy,
- Risk and disaster management,
- Research.
Action Against Hunger’s overall objective in risk and disaster management is to reduce the vulnerability of populations exposed to hazards (whether natural or human-induced) and to strengthen their resilience. This is achieved through:
- Anticipation and Prevention : Identify hazards and analyze risks in order to implement appropriate preventive measures that limit the impact of shocks on nutritional security and livelihoods.
- Preparedness : Strengthen the capacities of local communities and partners to effectively prepare and respond quickly to emergencies, including awareness-raising and local planning.
- Intervention and Response : Ensure a coordinated and rapid response to mitigate the immediate consequences of shocks on vulnerable populations.
- Recovery and Reduction of Future Risks : Supporting communities in their post-crisis recovery and integrating risk reduction strategies to prevent future vulnerabilities.
EPVC in ACF programs
The EPVC is an investigative method that uses a large number of qualitative participatory tools to involve communities in determining their own diagnosis of shock risk, vulnerability, and capacity. It combines local knowledge, through the collection of primary data (local experience, feelings, indigenous and local knowledge) with secondary information (scientific, political, practical, etc.) to improve understanding of the context in which ACF wants to intervene. It includes a very in-depth analysis of the following elements:
- The likelihood and severity of a shock or ongoing stress, such as conflict, abnormal weather conditions, crop failures, etc., and their impacts on the population and their assets.
- Changes in external factors (transformation factors, structures and processes or vulnerability context), those which are likely to influence the context, such as fluctuations in food prices on the market.
- The coping mechanisms or strategies that households and communities are likely to adopt in the face of a crisis, as well as their effectiveness and sustainability.
To develop effective and sustainable projects aimed at reducing the risks and impact of shocks and improving the resilience of populations within the framework of this ECHO-funded project, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of local dynamics. This can only be achieved through participatory studies that allow community actions to be based on these analyses.
The involvement and strengthening of the skills of local partners (national NGOs, technical services, civil society organizations, etc.) and especially of the beneficiary communities is at the heart of each of the interventions.
ACF recognizes that the link between Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and the development process contributes to the overall improvement of the quality of life and environment of a target population. ACF interventions aim to combine acute humanitarian and structural needs, and vulnerability reduction aims to restore household and community capacities and livelihoods after a shock based on existing traditional practices. On the other hand, resilience building aims to improve the status of the community after a disaster by strengthening existing virtuous practices, encouraging the change of traditional practices when necessary and introducing new activities when relevant. Communities are less impacted and able to recover after each shock while developing new methods to maintain a balance depending on the nature of the disasters.
The overall objective of this consultancy is to solicit competitive bids in order to select a consultant or consulting firm to conduct a participatory vulnerability and capacity study in the Nana-Mambéré prefecture in the Central African Republic. This consultancy will also identify and understand the natural and human hazards to which communities in the project intervention area are exposed, and analyze the resources, endogenous capacities and strategies available to communities to address or mitigate these risks. More specifically, this consultancy will:
- Strengthen the capacities of local actors (state technical services, local elected officials, community leaders and national NGOs) in Bouar and Bossangoa, by training them on the methodology for analyzing risks and vulnerabilities linked to shocks, and by equipping them to develop a shock preparedness and response plan;
- Support the communities of the communes of Bouar, Baboua and Baoro, in the prefecture of Nana-Mambéré, for an in-depth understanding of their environment through the identification and analysis of the natural and human risks to which they are exposed;
- Assess vulnerabilities by examining the socio-economic, environmental and institutional determinants that reinforce the fragility of local communities;
- Identify adaptation capacities by identifying and analyzing all available resources, local practices and mechanisms mobilized by communities to mitigate the effects of shocks;
- Develop community disaster preparedness and management plans for the project’s target municipalities: Nana-Mambéré Prefecture (Bouar, Baoro, and Baboua municipalities), and Ouham Prefecture (Bossangoa center, Ndoro Mboli, Soumbe, Koro Mpoko, Ouham-Bac and Nana-Bakassa center).
- Support communities and local leaders (prefectural and municipal leaders) (technical services, administrative authorities) to agree on the measures to be taken to deal with or reduce the effects of shocks.
The complete tender documents can be requested from the following addresses:
llapotre@actioncontrelafaim.org;
ceciliablaustein@actioncontrelafaim.org;
logco@cf-actioncontrelafaim.org;
fsco@cf-actioncontrelafaim.org
How to apply
The tender file must consist of a detailed technical and financial offer.
The technical offer will present in a succinct manner:
- Understanding of the terms of reference according to the consultant;
- The methodologies and approaches proposed with regard to the objectives;
- A work plan including a provisional timetable;
- A brief presentation of the consultant and his/her colleagues where applicable with his/her professional experience (CV(s) attached).The financial offer will present:
- Details of the consultant’s fees costs in relation to the different phases of the mission;
- Details of consultants’ per diem costs and travel costs;
- The various costs of producing working documents and reports as well as communication needs;The offers will be sent, in electronic version, no later than Monday 07/07/2025 with the ref: CF_BGI_CONSULT_001 _ AV1 _ SAME simultaneously to the email addresses cited for the withdrawal of the Call for Tenders File.