Global Community Engagement And Resilience Fund (GCERF)- Request For Proposal For Nigeria Country Ex-Post Evaluation

DEADLINE: 12TH DECEMBER, 2022
GLOBAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND RESILIENCE FUND (GCERF)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR NIGERIA COUNTRY EX-POST EVALUATION

About GCERF
The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) is a global fund based in Geneva providing grants for national organisations to prevent violent extremism. It signed a Headquarters Agreement with the Swiss government in May 2015, providing it with privileges and immunities in Switzerland.

GCERF is the first global effort to support local, community-level initiatives to strengthen resilience against violent extremist agendas. As a public-private partnership operating at the nexus of security and development, GCERF works in partnership and consultation with governments, civil society, and the private sector in beneficiary countries to support national strategies to address the local drivers of violent extremism.

GCERF provides support to community-level initiatives that: seek to address locally specific drivers of radicalisation; provide tangible, positive alternatives to what violent extremist groups may offer; counter violent extremist narratives and messaging and build the capacity of governments and civil society to counter violent extremism.

Background
GCERF focuses on local communities as they suffer the most from violent extremism (VE) and because they are optimally placed to understand and act upon the drivers of VE. GCERF’s work is anchored in the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 16, “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.” GCERF is also committed to the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (2006) and the UN Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism (2016).

GCERF commenced its second round of investment in Nigeria in 2019 with three Principal Recipients:

These programs aimed at providing inoculation in north central states through building tolerance, increasing community agency; providing social and economic alternatives; and developing critical thinking and life skills. The geographical regions covered include Benue, Kogi, Plateau, and Nasarawa.

Objective
To commission a service provider (hereafter evaluation team) who will conduct an ex-post evaluation to assess GCERF investment during Round 2 in Nigeria by focusing on the three grants.

The evaluation team will be responsible for elaborating the research design, collecting the necessary data, analysing the data collected and producing a good-quality report for publication. A detailed explanation of the need for this research, including location, scope, and relevant research questions to be answered, can be found below.

The ex-post Evaluation is expected to focus on the sustainability and impact of GCERF funded- projects in the four States: Kogi, Nasarawa, Benue and Plateau. Stage 1 is a brief overall review of the projects through the lens of three OECD criteria: Relevance, Impact, and Sustainability. It is followed by more in-depth research on specific aspects of the program: The Community Action Response Teams (CARTs) initiative (grant 1), livelihood program (grant 2), peace ambassadors and youth camps programs (grant 3), and Youth Commission Bills (grant 1 and 2).

Case study/ln-depth assessment 1: CARTs (Grantee 1) – The Community Action Response Teams (CARTs), made up of youth leaders, women leaders, and community leaders, is a community conflict prevention and resolution system aimed at neutralising tendencies of self-help in the time of crises. The CARTs are made up of 9-12 people, and the members include different community leaders, including women and young people. The members are trained in hazard mapping, conflict analysis, conflict resolution and advocacy for local governments.

During the first round, four CARTs were established in Kogi State. After the program ended, an evaluation showed that CARTS continued to operate, was still instrumental in keeping the peace between herders and farmers and has started to work on correlated areas such as the Prevention of Electoral Violence. The four CARTs were also rated highly by the Community.

During the second round of funding, the CART model was disseminated to other communities in Kogi State and the Nasawara States by the same grantee. The second wave of CARTs is the object of this Evaluation.  

Case study/ln-depth assessment 2: The livelihood component of the program (Grant 2) aims to enhance livelihood opportunities to reduce individual vulnerability and increase self-confidence and worth among vulnerable youth in the communities. Through a corporative society approach, the youth utilised vocational and entrepreneurial skills they were trained with and set up businesses. They also began training their peers not part of the GCERF-funded programme. It continues to receive the commitment of stakeholders to keep supporting and encouraging the youth to excel in their businesses.

Case study/In-depth assessment 3: Youth Peace Ambassadors and their Network (Grant 3) – an initiative created to train youth to play a role in PVE as agents of change. 9 Youth Peace Camps were organised for 2,386 youth from the five local government areas of project implementation. The peace camp focused on reorientating youth to value religious and ethnic diversity, develop teamwork, and enhance their mutual respect and understanding capabilities. After the camp, participants were inducted into the Youth Peace Ambassadors Network, where they became change agents in their communities.

Case study/In-depth assessment 4: Youth Development Commission Bills (Grantee 1 and 2) –
Initially in Kogi State, grantee 1 built a youth coalition which was able to pass a law creating a Youth Development Commission at the local parliament. The Commission would count on representatives from diverse sectors and groups – including youth. The Commission’s objectives were to increase social-economic opportunities for youth, reduce anti-social behaviour and empower youth. In terms of tasks, the Commission was tasked with establishing/supporting the establishment of several programs such as a micro-credit scheme for entrepreneurs, an incubator hub, a transition to work program for youth, skill training, a support program for youth cooperatives, public awareness campaigns in partnership with media, sports and recreational activities. A similar initiative was attempted by grantee 1 in Nasarawa State and grantee 2 in Benue State.

Expected Deliverables
After the entire evaluation process, the following deliverables are expected to be achieved:

(1) An inception report detailing the methodology, including data collection strategy, workplan and a tentative list of participants to be contacted.

(2) Tools for data collection

(3) Raw data collected (both quantitative and qualitative)

(4) Draft and final reports in English, covering OECD evaluation and case study exercises mentioned above.

(5) A two-page summary of the evaluation designing key findings

(6) One-day dissemination session for GCERF and partners on evaluation findings

It is expected that the achievement of deliverables follows the timelines below:

Submission of proposals
Proposals should follow the template provided below. Failure to follow the proposal structure or to comply with the instructions in this Request for Proposal will be at the bidder’s risk and may affect the Evaluation of the proposal.

Proposals should be sent latest by 12 December, 2022 by email in the form of “pdf files” clearly marked “Bid reference: 2022-20”. The email should be addressed to bids@gcerf.org.

Click to Download Document