1. Context
About Search for Common Ground
Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international conflict transformation NGO that aims to transform the way individuals, groups, governments and companies deal with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative solutions. Headquartered in Washington DC, USA, and Brussels, Belgium, with field offices in 35 countries, SFCG designs and implements multifaceted, culturally appropriate and conflict-sensitive programs using a diverse range of tools, including media and training, to promote dialogue, increase knowledge and determine a positive shift in behaviors.

The Project
Since Kenyan forces intervened militarily in Somalia in October 2011, a toxic combination of push and pull factors has led to the emergence of a home-grown, Kenyan Al-Shabaab insurgency that is feeding on historical religious and regional divides across the country. Violent attacks have occurred across Kenya but have been carried out with greater frequency in the primarily-Muslim coastal region, a part of Kenya that has experienced long-standing exclusion and marginalization as well as active separatist movements. These attacks have devastated the local economy by causing the collapse of the tourism industry in the coastal counties, leaving a large population of idle and unemployed youth with little hope for a positive future. These youth are then vulnerable to radicalization from clerics who have been influenced by extremist groups in Somalia and through the coastal region’s geographic connection to the Middle East. Heavy-handed security responses involving human rights abuses and the “guilty-by-association” criminalization of the entire Muslim community have led to a lack of trust, communication, and coordination amongst key community, government, and security stakeholders around preventing and countering violent extremism (VE) that have left communities and families helpless in the face of radicalization.
SFCG will be implementing a 24-month project together with three local civil society partners, the Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance (KMYA), the Kiunga Youth Bunge Initiative (KYBI), and Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI), employing an innovative “grassroots” approach. It seeks to address the issue of violent extremism by developing platforms for effective and meaningful collaboration and engagement between communities, mothers and wives, male and female youth, local, regional and national leadership, and security forces, building a unified and localized community security framework to halt the cycle of radicalization and violence that has affected the coastal region, Kenya more broadly, and the greater East African community.
The project will utilize the following theory of change (ToC), based on SFCG’s “Healthy Relationships and Connections” ToC: If key community actors, including civil society leaders, youth, women (wives and mothers), community leaders, religious leaders, government and security forces, have increased capacity and access to platforms to promote mutual engagement around critical security issues, then communities will be able to provide more effective responses to prevent and counter VE because this engagement will cultivate meaningful collaboration and working partnerships based on mutual trust.
The overall goal of the proposed project is to build increased trust and collaboration between key community stakeholders[1] to prevent radicalization and violent extremism in coastal Kenya.
This goal pursues three complementary objectives and seven results:
Objective 1: To strengthen the capacity and leadership skills of civil society and community leaders to meaningfully engage government and security actors to address security challenges in their communities.
Obj. 2: To cultivate working partnerships between communities and security forces across ethnic and social divides.
Obj. 3: To develop collaborative responses to shared community security challenges at the local, county, and national levels.

2. Objectives of Study
SFCG seeks a consultant to conduct a baseline study for this project. The objectives of the study are as follows:
1. Further analyze the current context, especially with regards to drivers and risk factors of VE in the target areas, and regional and national CVE approaches, assessing the challenges and opportunities for constructive engagement around countering and preventing VE;
2. Assess the project Objectives, Indicators and Theory of Change (TOC); and
3. Conduct a risk assessment in order to ensure “Do No Harm” and conflict sensitivity are respected in the project.
[1] Key community stakeholders are defined as local authorities, community leaders, religious leaders, youth leaders, women (wives and mothers) affected by VE, and security actors (police and military).
3. Geographic Locations
The project will target eight selected communities in the four principal coastal counties of Kenya, including Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, and Mombasa. The project’s activities will be carried out in two communities in each target county, which will be identified during the initial strategic partner meeting, and validated by the baseline study.
Through the regional-level outreach activities, including the regional forum and the ICT and social media platforms, as well as through the extensive networks of selected CSO partners, the project will have an impact across the coastal region that will reach beyond target communities. Key stakeholders from Taita-Taveta and Tana River counties will be identified and engaged to participate in these regional activities.
The baseline evaluation will cover all four counties of intervention.

4. Baseline Questions
The evaluation questions will be developed by the consultant on the basis of the questions below, specifically seeking to identify the following in target communities:
Contextual assessment
• What long-term and recent developments have affected conflict dynamics and VE?
• What is the state of CVE work regionally and nationally? What are the current approaches being taken? What are the gaps and opportunities? (This should build on the current literature review that SFCG has developed.)
• What are the key drivers and triggers of extremism and recruitment? What unifiers and dividers shape VE dynamics in communities?
• How do these existing dynamics and conflicts affect VE?
Processes Supporting and Protecting Against Radicalization
• How is VE/radicalization understood in the communities of intervention?
• Do people talk about VE? Who, and where do they talk about it?
• Who influences/plays a role in VE? Who influences/plays a role in CVE?
• Who is most vulnerable to VE?
• What are the key narratives driving VE/radicalization?
• What are the key positive narratives (CVE) that resonate with communities?
Theory of Change, project design, and project indicators
• Considering the current status of project indicators, objectives and theory of change, are there recommendations for adaptations to improve the potential impact of the project?
• What are the baseline figures for the project indicators as outlined in the project documents?
Risk Assessment
• What are the contextual and project-related risks that require monitoring throughout the project?
• What can the project do to assure it is conflict sensitive and respects “Do No Harm” principles?

5. Methodology
The baseline will apply a mixed methods approach consisting of a literature and document review, quantitative survey, as well as qualitative methods (Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews). The consultant will be responsible for conducting the literature review (building on SFCG’s existing review as appropriate), designing the final methodology, developing tools, training of enumerators, data analysis, and drafting of the report. SFCG’s ILT will review methodology and all tools as well as provide feedback on the report. To ensure future understanding of the impact of the project on marginalized populations, data will be disaggregated by gender, age, and other relevant factors.
Deliverables
SFCG expects the following deliverables from the external consultant:
• A baseline plan (inception report) detailing a proposed methodology, tools, calendar and written evaluation tools for a baseline study;
• Training of enumerators;
• Supervision and participation in data collection;
• Oversight of the data coding process;
• Submission of all databases to SFCG
• Analysis of the data collected and production of a draft evaluation report in English, for review by SFCG staff and partners;
• A Final Report in English (40 pages max in length, excluding appendices) consisting of:
• Table of contents
• Abbreviations
• Executive summary of methodology, limitations, key findings and recommendations
• Background information (project specifics)
• Methodology: Objectives, data collection and analysis and limitations of the study
• Research findings, analysis, with associated data presented (should be structured around the main objectives/evaluation criteria and should cover all indicators)
• Indicator table showing all baseline indicators
• Appendices, which include detailed research instruments, list of interviewees, terms of references and evaluator(s) brief biography

Logistical Support
The consultant should budget for their logistical needs for the research (vehicles, fuel, and drivers. SFCG and partners will share the following elements with the external consultant: Background materials including the project proposal and logframe, M&E plan, etc.

6. Timeline
Activities Deadline/Estimated Time
Consultant contract signed Dec 21
Finalize Inception Report including literature review and tools Jan 6
Field work (training, data collection, etc) Jan 11-Feb 10
First draft of baseline report Feb 22
Final draft of baseline report submitted Mar 10
TOTAL TIME ESTIMATED 79 days

7. Budget
The budget will not exceed 10,000 USD.
8. Requirements of consultant
The following skills and experience are expected by SFCG for our evaluator for this project:
• Proficiency in English and Swahili (written and spoken);
• More than 5 years of experience in project evaluation or the equivalent in DM&E expertise, including collecting data in interviews, surveys and focus groups;
• Experience working with international organizations;
• Experience conducting quantitative surveys and analysis;
• Evaluation methods and data collection skills;
• Experience and expertise in evaluating CVE programming;
• Contextual knowledge of and experience working in Kenya.
In addition, the consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles:[2]
• Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: Consultant should make the most of the existing information and full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Consultant should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique his or her work. He or she should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.
• Competence: Consultant should possess the abilities and skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
• Honesty and integrity: Consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about: any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.
• Respect for people: Consultant respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, program participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.
[2]Adapted from the American Evaluation Association Guiding Principles for Evaluators, July 2004
In addition, the consultant will respect SFCG’s evaluations standards, to be found in SFCG’s evaluation guidelines: http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/ilt/dme_guidelines.html

HOW TO APPLY:
Applications
To apply, interested candidates (individuals or teams) are requested to submit the following two documents:
• Curriculum vitae;
• A technical proposal proposing a methodology for the baseline together with a financial proposal for the completion of the aforementioned deliverables and a short cover letter.
Note: Only two documents can be submitted, so the technical and financial proposals must be combined, along with the short cover letter.
Applications must be submitted through our application system here before 11 Dec. 2016. For questions or clarifications, please contact alemon@sfcg.org.