Consultant Country Analyst on the localization of humanitarian aid Democratic Republic of Congo At International Council of Voluntary Agencies

Objective : Analysis of data relating to the barometer of location of humanitarian aid in the DRC.

Areas of expertise : Data analysis and strategic analysis.

Localisation : Goma, RDC

Contract : Consultancy

Consultation period : December 2024 – February 2025

Number of consultation days : 20 days

About ICVA

Founded in 1962, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) is a global network of more than 160 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in 160 countries. Its mission is to make humanitarian action more effective and principled by working collectively and independently to influence policy and practice. ICVA promotes and facilitates effective NGO engagement in the humanitarian sector, focusing on the issues of forced migration, humanitarian coordination, humanitarian financing and systems strengthening.

About the CONAFOHD

Founded in 2021, the National Council of Humanitarian and Development NGO Forums of the DRC (CONAFOHD) is a national network of more than 500 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), united within 5 regional platforms that constitute it, operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its vision is: to see the materialization in the DRC of the localization of humanitarian aid, allowing local actors to play the leading role in the humanitarian response, participate in the leadership of humanitarian coordination and become fully involved in the transition to development. CONAFOHD promotes the promotion of local humanitarian leadership.

Context of the consultation:

Localization has become a key issue in humanitarian aid in recent years. Since the Grand Bargain commitments, particularly in West and Central Africa over the last two years, several initiatives have been undertaken to improve the role of national actors in humanitarian responses, including:

• Permanent seats in the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and key coordination forums.
• More partnerships and capacity building initiatives.
• Improved direct access to financing.
• Localization forums and working groups.

However, without clearly established targets and measurable benchmarks, it remains difficult to assess progress on localization and identify remaining challenges. ICVA and its partners have developed a regional methodology to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the degree of localization of humanitarian responses, monitor progress, and identify successes and challenges in West and Central African countries. This methodology aims to:

• Ensure a system of best practices and lessons learned.
• Advocating for evidence-based policies.
• Improving the localization agenda in countries with concrete proposals.

The project is regional to ensure harmonization, benchmarking and constructive exchanges of good practices between countries. However, it relies heavily on national leadership (via the National Project Steering Committee) to ensure alignment with the needs and expectations of national stakeholders, full ownership of the project and long-term sustainability.

Given recent advances in localization, CONAFOHD will lead the project in the DRC in collaboration with ICVA.

Scope of work

The analyst consultant will be responsible for implementing the methodology and tools developed at the regional level in the country. He will be supported by a country consultant in information management (IM). A regional consultant (Regional Information Management Advisor) will provide support and advice on the technical aspects of the project (tools, methodology, etc.).

Each country will have to appropriate the methodology and tools developed to adapt them and ensure the best possible ownership of the project. Under the direction of CONAFOHD, the consultant analyst will therefore have to liaise with the regional consultant and the GI country consultant to ensure (i) that the project fits into the regional framework and (ii) that as many people as possible take ownership of the project at the country level.

Methodology and deliverables

The steps below follow the complete methodology, but only some of them will be performed by the analyst consultant.

Step 1 : Indicator Library and Scoring Methodology (0 days)

This step will be carried out by the regional consultant. No days are planned for the analyst consultant. However, it is important to be aware of this for the smooth running of the project.

Building on the indicators developed by NEAR and HAG and included in the IASC localization policies, the regional consultant, with the help of ICVA and CONAFOHD, will develop a library of indicators based on the 6 components of localization: 1) Partnerships, 2) Financing, 3) Capacities, 4) Coordination and complementarity, 5) Policy, influence and visibility and 6) Participation.

To this end, it will develop framework tools to facilitate country ownership. This will consist of an exhaustive matrix of existing and available indicators, accompanied by their collection methods and questionnaires. These elements will serve as essential supports during methodological definition workshops in the countries.

A scoring methodology will be developed to ensure that spatial and/or temporal comparisons can be made within each component.

Step 2: Definition of indicators and methodology at the national level (4 days) The consultant analyst will participate in the initial workshop organized by CONAFOHD based on the library of indicators developed in step 1 to:

• Determine the components to be assessed and the ambitions (“what success looks like”).
• Select and contextualize the most relevant indicators.
• Define, for each indicator, the target audience and the evaluation measure.

During this stage, the country consultant-analyst will have to integrate the definition of the location (dimensions and issues in particular), and the questions of interest which will be retained in order to begin to structure his analysis approach.

An analytical synthesis of the discussions is expected.

Step 3 – Primary and secondary data collection (0 days)

This step will be carried out by the GI country consultant. No days have been scheduled for the analyst consultant. However, it is important to be aware of the overall progress of the project.

• Primary Data Collection: The template forms will be revised and adapted by the regional consultant, with the assistance of the GI country consultant, for the online surveys. These online surveys will be targeted to a wide audience, including national and international NGOs, the United Nations, donors, etc. In order to maximize the number of respondents, they will be sent by email to the mailing lists of CONAFOHD, OCHA and other international and national NGO forums presented and conducted in real time during a plenary meeting of each forum.
• The collection of secondary data (retrieval of minutes, attendance lists, financial data, etc.) will be carried out by the GI country consultant.

The GI Country Consultant will be responsible for monitoring and supervising the primary and secondary data collection process at the national level (emails/reminders/response rates, direct data collection, etc.) in direct liaison with CONAFOHD, and with the technical support of the regional consultant.

Step 4: Data processing and analysis (16 days)

The GI country consultant is responsible for supporting the country analyst consultant through:

• Data processing and provision of data.
• Help manipulate data to facilitate analysis.
• Produce interest graphs at the request of the country analyst consultant.

The responsibilities of the analyst consultant include:

• Processing and analysis of primary and secondary data, with technical support from the regional consultant and the GI country consultant to ensure a harmonized approach.
• Primary and secondary data sets will be comprehensively analyzed by issues and dimensions and hypotheses will be formulated, which will constitute preliminary conclusions that will be tested in interviews and focus groups.
• A report presenting the results of this analysis will be written by the analyst consultant (first version) in accordance with the project methodology.
• The interview and focus group discussion outlines/frameworks will be developed by the analyst consultant based on the quantitative data collected.
• Additional interviews will be conducted by the analyst consultant with a sample of contacts. These KIIs will allow for a more in-depth exploration of certain key aspects emerging from the qualitative study and to explore the obstacles or feelings identified.
• Focus groups will be organized by the analyst consultant to present the survey results and discuss/examine certain aspects.
• Qualitative interviews and focus groups will feed into the narrative part of the final report and will also help identify good/bad practices and examples and collect quotes. Recommendations will also be presented to participants for further refinement.
• The analyst consultant will finalize the report by integrating the results of these interviews and focus groups.

Expected deliverables

• Analytical summary of the initial workshop.
• Analysis report of collected results (version 1).
• Interview and focus group guides.
• Final analysis report integrating qualitative data.
• PowerPoint presentation summarizing the main findings.

Required skills and qualifications

Mandatory skills

• Proven experience in data analysis and strategic analysis, data collection and KII.
• Experience in the humanitarian sector.
• Strong skills in document analysis and documentation of results.
• Proven writing skills in French or English.
• Understanding localization issues.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written command of French.

Additional skills

• Expertise in humanitarian coordination.