Multi-Sector Needs Assessment in Dadaab, Kakuma and Kalobeyei Refugee Camps at HIAS Refugee Trust of Kenya

ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES

• The primary objective of this assessment exercise is to identify, map and analyze the overall humanitarian needs in Kenya’s refugee camps. Secondly, it is intended to provide an analytical insight into where different needs lie and to what extent, so that relevant program areas of CARE and HIAS Kenya can add value, prioritize, plan and respond.

The Specific Objectives Are

• To provide an empirical overview of the status and developments of humanitarian needs across Kenya’s refugee camps, especially regarding the accessibility to basic services.
• To enable evidence-based engagement with the donors and partners in the humanitarian sector.
• To feed and strengthen advocacy efforts.
• To support better planning and implementation of emergency and longer-term programs by allocating scarce resources based on needs and community capacity.
• To establish the suitable mechanisms for Accountability to Affected Populations including Feedback, Complaints and Response Mechanisms for vulnerable refugees, including LGBTQ+ persons, and the host community in Kakuma and Dadaab and Kalobeyei.
• To screen the environmental risks linked to intended project and to assess the environmental impact of humanitarian operations planned.

METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLING

• The methodology used to carry the needs assessment will be rooted in a mixed methodology, combining the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data through a cross-sectional study design. The study aims to target 200 respondents (140 HH & 40 FGDS and 10 KII) on household quantitative surveys, Key Informant Interviews targeting local humanitarian Aid organizations operating in Dadaab and Kakuma and Kalobeyei, government departments and UNHCR and Focus Group Discussions on camps targeted for the exercises. The sampling frame will be made up of ‘People affected by displacement’ i.e., IDPs, Host Communities, Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Returnees. To assess the environmental risks and impacts, the NEAT+ tool “Rapid and simple project-level environmental screening for humanitarian operations” will be used.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

• All questionnaires and interviews will open with a statement aimed at obtaining the consent of the interviewee(s). Potential respondents will be briefed about the purpose of the survey, confdentiality, and anonymity and that it is 100% voluntary. The interviewer will then expressly seek their consent to participate in the survey. Respondents who decline to participate will respectfully be left out.
• Consent will also be sought to share information gathered from the needs assessment with partners.

KEY PRIORITIES /AREAS OF INTEREST FOR DATA COLLECTION

• The assessment will be centered around the core humanitarian competencies of CARE and HIAS to maintain relevance with CARE’s and HIAS’ overall program policies. Below are key priorities for each of the competencies based on which data is to be collected.

The Multisectoral Needs Assessment (MSA) Should Include Data On

• the context of intervention and priority needs, preferences and capacities of people affected by the crisis.
• the risks and vulnerabilities to which the population is exposed, with a particular attention given to the environmental ones; and
• analysis of responses.

Overall, All Data Collected, And The Needs Identified Should Be Analyzed According To Gender, Age, Disability, And Household Status (returnees, Displaced Persons, Returnees, Hosts, Etc.) And Should Include Data On The Following Elements

• Assess the humanitarian situation in the targeted localities, confirm the presence of displaced persons (Refugees, Asylum seekers, IDPs/returnees, returnees), the situation of host families, and identify the different vulnerabilities suffered by the different categories of targeted populations, with their impacts on the different groups disaggregated by sex, gender, age and disability;
• Assess the security situation (forced displacement, inter-communal conflicts, attacks by armed groups) as well as accessibility to areas of displacement and return, with the impact on different groups disaggregated by gender, age and disability.
• Assess potential and observed protection problems in the targeted health areas, disaggregating the impact on different gender and age groups (identification of problems and victims), with a particular focus on the specific situation/vulnerability of women and girls.
• Assess the environmental risks and the potential impact that humanitarian operations could have on the target areas, with a specific focus on WASH activities. and
• The sectors to be assessed under this MSA are as follows:
• Food security: main food crops, proportion of food produced and obtained on local markets, proportion of food obtained through humanitarian distributions, size of cultivated plots, estimation of harvested quantities (no. of months of reserve) and of food stocks, mitigation measures and survival strategies adopted by the most vulnerable groups.
• Nutrition: access to health and nutrition services for vulnerable groups (children under five, pregnant/lactating women, elderly, people with disabilities and/or special needs).
• Livelihoods: access to land and water for agricultural production, ownership of productive assets (means of production for agriculture (tools and seeds), livestock, processing, transport, etc.), main sources of income (in normal times) and alternative sources of income (other than agriculture), access to employment (most frequent activities, evolution of supply/demand on the labor market, evolution of the price of daily work), evolution of labor migration, evolution of the level of indebtedness;
• WASH: access to safe water in quantity and quality (sources of supply, drawing, transport, storage, use/consumption, food preparation, food and water conservation, hygiene, etc.)
• Protection and gender (especially Child Protection and SGBV): main threats and violations of fundamental rights, access to essential protection services, endogenous measures to prevent conflicts and violence against people, existing community services and possible referrals; people most affected by the crisis, specific needs of each category of people (women, men, girls, boys, etc.), socio-economic interaction between different categories of people within the household and in the community, rates and instances of SGBV and existing care services; and
• Health including Mental Health and Psychosocial Support: access to essential and emergency health services, capacity of health care providers, status and gaps in health care facilities, response to community and infectious diseases/epidemics, status and services for child and maternal health, and sexual and reproductive health.

HIAS’ and CARE’s Responsibilities

• Adherence to the contract terms and conditions
• Oversight of the exercise
• Develop jointly with the service provider assessment questions and refine indicators.
• Work with the service provider on the preparation of tools, selection of sampling and data gathering methodologies.
• Sign-off technical plan/proposal
• Sign-off tools before deployed for fieldwork.
• Participate in validation workshop to give feedback and endorse assessment findings.
• Assign a focal point that regularly liaises with the service provider.

QUALIFICATIONS

• The consultancy firm/individual must be registered with all relevant authorities and specializes in conducting qualitative and quantitative research.
• The consultancy firm/individual must have more than 7 years’ experience of conducting a variety of surveys in Kenya.
• A track record conducting needs assessment within the displacement context is highly desirable.
• The consultancy firm/individual must demonstrate ability to lead experienced teams to conduct face-to-face interviews in Kenya.
• The consultancy firm/individual has impeccable record of confidentiality and sensitivity and is able and willing to handle sensitive information, ensuring anonymity of respondents whilst safeguarding access to the raw data for partners stated in this Terms of Reference.
• The consultancy firm/individual can demonstrate sound financial accountability.
• The consultancy firm/individual can use to a high-level data entry and data analyzing software such as CS Pro and SPSS, and can produce visual graphics from data, such as charts produced in Microsoft Excel. Experience in graphic design will be an advantage but is not required.
• The consultancy firm/individual has a good track record of working with international organizations such as international NGOs or the UN in Kenya.