Consultancy For Operational Diagnosis, Review Of Internalization And Contextual Adaptation Of The Cfm Architecture At Norwegian Refugee Council

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1. General Information

Mission title: Operational diagnosis, review of internalization and contextual adaptation of the architecture of the NRC DRC Community Feedback Mechanism (CFM)

Organisation: NRC RDC

Responsible Department: MEAL / Accountability to Affected Populations

Type of consultancy: External consultancy

Maximum duration: 30 working days

Target areas: North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri

Supervision: MEAL Manager – Country Office

Point focal technique: Accountability Coordinator

Contract type: Individual consultancy or team of consultants

2. Context and justification

As part of strengthening accountability to affected populations, NRC DRC is implementing several community feedback and complaints (CFM) mechanisms allowing affected communities to express their feedback (non-sensitive and sensitive).

Over the past few years, NRC DRC has progressively strengthened its CFM architecture through various communication and community feedback collection channels, including the Green Line operated by an external partner (Congo Call Center), suggestion boxes, community focal points, community discussions, referral mechanisms and digital complaint management tools.

However, several operational, structural and contextual challenges persist and affect the overall effectiveness of the system.

These challenges include, in particular:

  • The accessibility of the mechanisms in certain areas;
  • Linguistic and contextual constraints;
  • Processing and referencing times;
  • The limits of coordination between programs, MEAL and operational structures;
  • The risks related to confidentiality and data protection;
  • Adapting the system to security and operational realities;
  • The limitations of internalizing certain processes;
  • The potential gaps between institutional commitments and implementation on the ground.

In addition, NRC DRC is currently conducting several internal document review exercises, SOP improvement exercises and reflections on the internalization of certain complaint management mechanisms, including the Green Line.

In this perspective, NRC DRC wishes to recruit a consultant or a team of consultants to carry out an in-depth operational diagnosis, a review of the internalization of accountability commitments and a contextual adaptation analysis of the CFM architecture.

This mission will identify the strengths, weaknesses, risks and opportunities for improvement of the system in order to propose a priority and contextualized roadmap for strengthening the CFM mechanism of NRC DRC.

3. Mission Objective

The goal of this mission is to achieve:

  • An operational diagnosis of the current CFM system;
  • A review of the level of internalization and implementation of existing CFM commitments and procedures;
  • A contextual adaptation analysis aimed at strengthening the relevance, accessibility, responsiveness and operational efficiency of the NRC DRC CFM architecture across all field operations.

The exercise will also compare operational realities with the results from the ongoing process of document review and institutional document review.

4. Objectives

4.1 Overall objective

Evaluate and strengthen the CFM architecture of NRC DRC through an operational diagnosis and a contextual adaptation review improving accountability, accessibility, responsiveness, data governance and alignment between institutional commitments and implementation realities on the ground.

4.2 Specific Objectives

The consultant or team of consultants will need to:

  • Evaluate the operational functionality and effectiveness of existing CFM channels and structures in selected NRC operational areas;
  • Examine the possible internalization and implementation of accountability, safeguarding, PSEAH and CFM commitments at the field level;
  • Identify operational, structural, technological and contextual gaps affecting the accessibility, responsiveness, confidentiality and quality of returns management processes;
  • Compare the realities of field implementation with existing institutional guidelines, SOPs, policies and results of ongoing document reviews;
  • Evaluate the mechanisms for referring and managing sensitive complaints;
  • Analyze the risks related to data protection and confidentiality;
  • Formulate concrete recommendations and a priority roadmap aimed at strengthening and contextualizing the CFM architecture of NRC DRC.

5. Scope of the mission

The consultant or team of consultants will need to cover the following areas:

A. Documentary Review

Analyze and critically examine:

  • The NRC global guidelines relating to CFM;
  • The CFM SOPs of the DRC mission;
  • Accountability frameworks and CHS standards;
  • PSEAH documents and safeguarding policies;
  • Referral pathways;
  • Protocols related to the Green Line and other feedback channels;
  • Donor commitments (donor compliance and contractual requirements);
  • Databases and feedback sets (Sensitive and non-sensitive)
  • Previous evaluations, audits, TPMs and analyses of the mechanism;
  • Monitoring, performance tracking and reporting tools;
  • Procedures for managing, protecting and securing sensitive data;
  • Value for Money (VfM) analyses to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, economy and impact of different CFM models and channels;
  • Force field analysis aims to identify the driving and restraining forces influencing the performance, accessibility, and use of the feedback mechanism.

B. Operational diagnosis

Conducting field assessments through:

  • Interviews with key informants (KIIs);
  • Community discussion groups (FGDs);
  • Mapping of workflows and complaint management processes;
  • Observation of operational processes;
  • Review of complaints and feedback recorded;
  • Listening to and reviewing hotline processes;
  • Interviews with NRC staff;
  • Consultations with partners and community structures.

C. Comparative analysis of differences

The consultant will need to assess, in particular:

  • The gap between policies and their implementation;
  • Standardization versus operational realities;
  • Accessibility barriers;
  • Discrepancies related to inclusion;
  • The risks related to confidentiality and data protection;
  • Response times;
  • The effectiveness of escalation mechanisms;
  • Coordination between Programmes, MEAL and CFM;
  • The management and monitoring of sensitive cases.

D. Review of contextual adaptation

The consultant will need to assess the suitability of the current architecture, taking into account contextual realities, including:

  • Security and access constraints;
  • The terms of the consortium;
  • Cash and monetary assistance programs;
  • Contexts of displacement and emergency;
  • Language and literacy barriers;
  • The realities of digital and telecom infrastructures;
  • Community preferences and practices;
  • The operational realities of the targeted provinces.

6. Methodology

The consultant will need to propose a participatory and mixed approach combining:

  • Documentary review;
  • Collection of qualitative and quantitative data;
  • Analysis of operational processes and flows;
  • Consultations with internal and external stakeholders;
  • Mapping of referencing systems and mechanisms;
  • Comparative analysis (benchmarking) and triangulation of data;
  • Force Field Analysis;
  • Analyse Value for Money (VfM).

The proposed methodology must guarantee:

  • Confidentiality;
  • The principles of protection and sensitivity;
  • The « Do No Harm » approach;
  • Considerations of gender, age, diversity and inclusion;
  • Ethical and secure management of sensitive data;
  • The significant participation of local communities and structures;
  • Taking into account operational, security and reputational risks.

The consultant will also need to provide details on:

  • The sampling approach and methodological justification;
  • The minimum geographical coverage and the categories of participants targeted;
  • Data collection tools and methods;
  • Analysis and triangulation methods;
  • The mechanisms for quality assurance and data validation;
  • Security, confidentiality and data protection provisions;
  • The expected analytical deliverables include:
  • A CFM performance scorecard;
  • A force field analysis;
  • a risk mapping;
  • a Value for Money analysis;
  • Prioritized strategic and operational recommendations.

7. Geographic Coverage

The mission will primarily cover:

  • North Kivu;
  • South Kivu;
  • The Ituri;
  • The selected operational sites;
  • The partners and consortium structures involved in the CFM mechanisms.

The final selection of sites will be validated jointly with NRC DRC based on operational, security and programmatic priorities.

8. Expected Deliverables

The consultant or team of consultants will need to produce the following deliverables:

8.1 Inception Report

Including:

  • The detailed methodology;
  • The work plan;
  • Data collection tools;
  • The sampling approach;
  • The detailed timeline.

8.2 Summary of the literature review

Analysis of existing institutional documents, SOPs, policies and tools.

8.3 Rapport d’analyse Value for Money (VfM)

Comparative analysis of the different management methods of the CFM and the Green Line.

8.4 Operational Diagnostic Report

Detailed analysis of the operational functioning of CFM mechanisms.

8.5 Comparative Gap Analysis Matrix

Comparison between institutional commitments and realities on the ground.

8.6 Recommendations for contextual adaptation

Technical, structural, technological and operational recommendations.

8.7 Roadmap / Prioritized Action Plan

Planning of short, medium and long-term strengthening priorities.

8.8 Consolidated Final Report

Report incorporating NRC’s comments and validations.

8.9 Validation Workshop

Presentation of results, findings and recommendations to the relevant NRC teams.

9. Mission duration

The mission will be carried out over a maximum period of thirty (30) working days, including:

  • The preparation;
  • The documentary review;
  • Data collection;
  • Field visits;
  • The analysis;
  • The restitution;
  • Finalizing the deliverables.

The detailed schedule will be approved at the kick-off meeting.

10. Required Consultant Profile

The consultant or team of consultants must meet the following criteria:

  • Advanced degree in humanitarian action, governance, MEAL, protection, organizational development or related field;
  • Minimum of 7 to 10 years of experience in:
    • Accountability systems;
    • L’AAP/CFM ;
    • MEAL systems;
    • Protection, safeguarding and PSEAH;
    • Organizational reviews and operational evaluations;
  • Proven experience in complex humanitarian contexts;
  • Excellent analytical, facilitation and report writing skills;
  • Prior experience in the DRC or similar contexts is highly desirable;
  • Proficiency in French is required;
  • Proficiency in English is an asset.

11. Report line and coordination

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of:

  • MEAL Manager – Country Office.

Daily technical coordination will be provided by:

  • Accountability Coordinator.

The consultant will also work in coordination with:

  • The Program Coordinators;
  • Les Project Managers (PMs) ;
  • Les Assistant Project Managers (APMs) ;
  • The MEAL/CFM field teams;
  • The technical structures involved.

Regular check-ins can be arranged with:

  • The SMT;
  • Technical working groups;
  • The program and support teams.

12. Ethical considerations and confidentiality

The consultant must strictly adhere to:

  • Humanitarian principles;
  • NRC policies relating to safeguarding and PSEAH;
  • Confidentiality requirements;
  • Data protection standards;
  • The principles of informed consent;
  • The principles of “Do No Harm”.

No sensitive data may be shared or used outside the framework validated by NRC.

13. Conclusion

This operational diagnostic and contextual adaptation review mission will enable NRC DRC to have an in-depth and contextualized analysis of its CFM architecture in order to sustainably strengthen accountability to the affected populations.

The expected results will contribute to improving the accessibility, quality, confidentiality, effectiveness and operational adaptation of NRC DRC’s community feedback mechanisms in different humanitarian intervention contexts.

How to apply

Withdrawal of the tender documents:

This tender dossier can be viewed or collected from the NRC office located at :

  • NRC Office Goma, 37, Av. du Rond-Point, Rue Lyn Lusi, Quartier Les Volcans – Goma
  • NRC Office Bunia, Avenue des écoles, Quartier Lumumba, Commune de Mbunia, Ville de Bunia, Ituri – DRC
  • NRC Beni Office, 64 Lubero Avenue, Tamende Quarter, Mulekera Commune, Beni City, North Kivu – DRC

Or submit a written request to cd.procurement.bn@nrc.no

For any questions or clarifications regarding this tender, please write to the following email address: cd.procurement.bn@nrc.no

Submission of files:

We strongly encourage consulting teams to submit a proposal.

Bids must include the following:

  • A technical proposal including an overview of the framework and evaluation methods, as well as a note of understanding of the terms of reference, the proposed timetable and the detailed work plan per team member (offers of more than 8 pages will be automatically excluded).
  • A financial proposal including cost estimates (USD) inclusive of tax, for services rendered, including daily consulting fees per team member; accommodation and subsistence costs; transportation costs including airfare if necessary; stationery and supplies necessary for data collection.
  • CV of each team member and presentation of experiences highlighting aspects relevant to the envisaged evaluation attached to the technical proposal.

Bids must be submitted in a sealed and clearly marked envelope; to the NRC offices at the above address or by email to: cd.tender@nrc.no; no later than 15 June 2026 at 4:00 PM (Goma time – DRC)

Including the subject or full reference of the call for tenders

Note : No offers will be accepted after this deadline.