The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Bangladesh

	TERMS OF REFERENCE Consultant Analysis of Poverty and Food Insecurity Dynamics in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, and their Implications for Women & Adolescent Girls

1. INTRODUCTION

WFP is seeking proposals from consultant teams, of which at least one member should be a woman and at least one member should be fluent in Bengali. The consultant team will be expected to produce a piece of analytical work that will enable it to design a well-targeted and contextually appropriate programme to empower women and adolescent girls from the poorest and most food insecure households in local communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The analysis will also be disseminated among the broader humanitarian/development community in Bangladesh, with a view towards deepening its understanding of the dynamic of poverty and food insecurity in Cox’s Bazar in general and how this affects women and adolescent girls from the poorest and most food insecure households.

Interested parties should send a cover letter, technical proposal, budget and a sample of previous work to the WFP Bangladesh Representative/Country Director (Ms) christa.rader@wfp.org with copy to WFP Bangladesh Head of Programme (Mr) Jimi.Richardson@wfp.org no later than August 31st 2014.

2. REQUIREMENTS

The purpose of the analysis is to provide a robust evidence base that can be used by WFP to design a welltargeted and contextually appropriate intervention that will empower women and adolescent girls1 from the poorest and most food insecure households in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The findings of the analysis will also be disseminated among the humanitarian/development community in Bangladesh in order to improve their understanding of the experience of deprivation and the aspirations of women and adolescent girls living in Cox’s Bazar. The geographical focus of the analysis will be limited to local communities2 in five sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar, notably: 1) Ukhiya; 2) Teknaf; 3) Kutubdia; 4) Maheshkali and; 5) Pekua.

The analysis should:

a) Explain who the poorest and most food insecure households in these local communities are, and the means by which women and adolescent girls from these households might be identified through targeting;

b) Describe the effects of poverty and food insecurity in these households in general, and on woman and adolescent girl household members in particular;
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1 Of particular interest are adolescent girls who are no longer in school.
2 For the purposes of this exercise, the term “local communities” excludes those households which are residing in the two official refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar: Kutupalong (in Ukhiya) and; Nayapara (in Teknaf). There is a comparatively better understanding of the situation of these households, and their needs are being provided for through other channels.

c) Describe the immediate and underlying determinants of poverty and food insecurity on these households;

d) Describe the livelihood practices and other coping strategies that are currently practiced by these households in general, and by woman and adolescent girl household members in particular;

e) Suggest the type(s) of intervention that might be used to address these determinants and empower woman and adolescent girl household members within the household and broader community;

f) Define realistic goals that might be achieved by the proposed interventions in terms of the economic and social empowerment of woman and adolescent girl household members, as well as the indicators and means by which these can be measured;

g) Identify any potential constraints or risks that might affect the attainment of these goals despite the provision of assistance, as well as - where they exist – any specific measures that might be factored into programme design in order to mitigate their impact.

The analysis should take into consideration relevant secondary data3. However, it also should include a very strong qualitative dimension that is based on primary data. As far as the qualitative dimension is concerned, the analysis should be based on a nuanced understanding of the socio-cultural context in Cox’s Bazar. It should ‘give voice’ to women and adolescent girls from the poorest and most food insecure households, describing their experience of deprivation and their aspirations from their own perspective.

The analysis also have a robust protection lens and should take into account, in a systematic manner, issues related to gender, disability, age and place of origin/legal status4.

Any suggestions made as to how women and adolescent girls might be supported, what might be achieved with this support in terms of economic and social empowerment and how these achievements might be measured should consider – where relevant – models that have already been tested in Bangladesh such as: the Food Security for the Ultra Poor (FSUP) programme; the Targeting the Ultra Poor (TUP) programme; the Chars Livelihoods Programme (CLP) and; the SHOUHARDO II programme.

The expected deliverables of this exercise are:

a) Public dissemination (at sub-national/national level)
The preliminary findings and recommendations of this analysis will be presented to agencies from the humanitarian/development community in Bangladesh at both the sub-national level (Cox’s Bazar) and national level (i.e. Dhaka), for the purposes of validation and also dissemination5.
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3 In particular, the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey (2010) and the Bangladesh Population and Housing Census (2011)
4 Local communities in the five upazilas host a large number of undocumented Rohingya from Myanmar. Undocumented Rohingya face a number of constraints linked to their legal status, which is believed to make them especially vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity.
5 WFP will handle all logistical matters related to organizing the sub-national and national dissemination events and will cover any costs incurred.

b) Written report
A draft report will be handed to WFP, which describes the methodology followed and summarizes the key findings and recommendations of the analysis. WFP will be invited to comment upon the initial draft and – based on written feedback provided by WFP – a subsequent draft will be produced.

3. SELECTION CRITERIA

Applications are welcome from consultant teams, of which at least one member should be a woman and at least one member should be fluent in Bengali. The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate the following:

a) A proven track record of working on behalf of humanitarian/development agencies, including on issues related to poverty and food insecurity;

b) Experience of conducting qualitative research in grassroots communities, including within the South Asian context;

c) Familiarity with methodologies for integrating protection, gender, disability and age issues into research work;

d) Experience in determining the value for money of proposed interventions;

e) Demonstrated ability to carry out research very discretely in a sensitive environment;

f) Availability at relatively short notice.

4. HOW TO APPLY

Interested parties should submit the following to WFP:

a) Cover letter
A cover letter (of maximum 2 pages), which explains how the profile of the consultant team matches the selection criteria and indicates when the applicant would be available to conduct the exercise.

b) Technical proposal
A technical proposal (of maximum 3 pages), which summarizes the strategy, methodology and tools the applicant would use in order to deliver the requirements of the exercise, provides a clear time-frame and also clearly indicates any expectations the applicant would have of WFP in terms of support.

c) Budget
A budget, which provides an itemized breakdown of the costs the applicant would need to incur in order to carry out the exercise and for which it would expect to be reimbursed by WFP.

d) Sample previous of work
(If available) A sample of the applicant’s previous work.

Applications should be addressed to the WFP Bangladesh Representative/Country Director (Ms) christa.rader@wfp.org (with copy to Jimi.Richardson@wfp.org ) no later than August 31st 2014.