Tufts University – USAID East Africa Resilience Learning Project (RLP) invites suitably qualified and experienced consultants to carry out a regional review of El Nino preparedness and response measures and the resilience of communities with regard to this shock, and gather lessons learned for handling similar future events.
This study will target areas in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Somalia affected by El Nino, and will investigate how El Nino affected communities in areas where considerable resilience work has been done over the past few years, and compare these with areas lacking resilience preparation.

Scope of the Assignment
1. Review and document the progression and impact of 2015 El Nino events in the Horn of Africa
2. Review and document the planning and response of various regional actors to the El Nino including the mitigation and response actions that were employed for specific events
3. Describe the experiences of government, donor, UN and NGO actors in responding to El Nino, including views and case studies of where these actions worked well or not
4. Based on one to three above, identify good practice and lessons learned for future El Nino scenarios and make recommendations on improving El Nino response
5. Select 2 communities in four countries. Should include those target communities where resilience efforts are well underway and compare with those communities where little resilience-building has happened. Establish if there is a marked difference in the ability of the communities to cope and what resilience strategies helped them to better withstand the El Nino effects?
6. Given the El Nino drought especially in Ethiopia, establish;
1. If there is evidence that the resilience-building activities of multiple actors over the past few years have made a difference
2. The advantages of resilience in coping with El Nino?
3. Whether the need for food aid and emergency assistance has been great if communities had not actively been building resilience?
7. Establish what difference the IGAD Drought Disaster and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) made by asking the following question;
1. Was the region better prepared?
2. Were regional actors more cohesive?
3. Was the need for humanitarian assistance reduced?

Desired qualifications/Experience
1. Master’s degree in development or humanitarian studies, social sciences or other relevant discipline
2. Specific development sector work or research experience in the Horn of Africa
3. Preference will be given to qualified candidates from the East Africa/Horn of Africa region
4. Interested consultants should provide the following;
1. Curriculum vitae
2. References
3. Details of their availability
4. A summary of their recent salary history (e.g. annual salary for the past 3 years or most recent daily consultancy fees in $US)

HOW TO APPLY:
All interested and eligible candidates should send their Expression of interest to Rlp@tufts.edu not later than 5pm Monday February 1, 2016. Applications will be reviewed as they come and only short listed candidates will be contacted.