Act Change Transform (Act!) is a leading Kenyan Non-Governmental Organization implementing a Climate Change Programme in Kenya that is supported by the UK Department of International Development (DFID). Act!’s mission is to facilitate the empowerment of marginalized people and communities to become active participants in their development by enabling them to: stand up for their rights; demand good governance in the management of resources; and participate in decision making processes. Act! Focuses on four thematic platforms: Environment and Natural Resource Management (ENRM), Democracy and Human Rights, Peace Building and Conflict Transformation and Livelihoods.

The DFID funded StARCK+ Climate Change Project is anchored within the Environment and Natural Resource Programme, and is currently in a One year Cost Extension Phase after five years of implementation having been started in 2011. The Facility seeks to complement and support the already on-going cooperation with the Government of Kenya in the Climate Change arena and contribute to the achievement of the objectives in Kenya’s Vision 2030, Kenya’s constitution 2010,the Climate Change Act 2016, the National Climate Change Response Strategy (2010), National Climate Change Framework Policy, National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP 2013-2017), United Kingdom’s development strategy for Kenya and international protocols such as the Paris Agreement. The StARCK+ Climate Change Programme, in the previous phase issued grants to Non-State Actors (NSAs), ranging from community based organizations, self-help groups, women groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private sector organizations, networks and faith based organizations spread in the 42 counties across Kenya.

The full Terms of Reference can be accessed on the Act! website: www.act.or.ke

This consultancy assignment is commissioned by Act Change Transform (Act!), seeking to engage services of Technical support to carry out a study to assess the extent of climate change policy development and implementation by key sectors at the County level.

1.0 Scope of the task
This assignment is commissioned by Act! and seeks to engage a consultant to conduct a baseline study on the progress made on climate change legislation by Northern counties, targeting especially the counties that Act! had worked with earlier on climate change policy and legislations. The assignment will also involve the extent of implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions in the selected counties. The assignment will involve a detailed desk study of key reports on policy legislation and implemented interventions in selected counties. Methodologies will involve national and county government teams, NGOs and CSOs and community players. This will be followed by a stakeholders meeting to be held in one of the Northern counties to validate the findings, where the consultant will be expected to present the findings.

The consultant is expected to consult and liaise with a number of stakeholders among which will include;

The National Government – Relevant ministries and departments in the national government.
The County Governments – Policy development teams, CEC and Chief Officers of key ministries (key actors in the process).
Development actors (funding organizations and international NGOs).
Civil society actors at (County and National level) include FBO, NGOs, and CBOs among others.
Private sector if necessary.
Key community actors especially those who participate in policy processes.
2.0 Purpose of the Task

The purpose of the study is to ascertain the status of climate change and environment in the Northern Counties. This will involve an analysis of climate change policy legislation development and implementation by the Northern Counties, while ascertaining the contributions made by projects and programs in supporting climate change response in the selected counties. This will entail working with Act! through her field level partners to identify counties working on climate change legislation’s, track the extent, identify challenges in development and implementation of policies, while understanding climate change policy integration across sectors. The study will also entail a review of public participation mechanisms for policy development that will entail identification of avenues for citizen participation, progress made and challenges to citizen participation. Priority will be given to counties where Act! has implemented climate change interventions or started policy processes on climate change or related sectors.

The findings of the study should lead to recommendations on how the project will contribute to completion of some of the policy processes while supporting development of frameworks for climate change integration across sectoral ministries at the county level. The study need also to bring out key gaps in climate change response at the county level.

3.0 Objectives of the Study
The survey seeks to explore the extent to which Northern Counties have responded to the climate change and environment through policy and livelihood interventions.

The specific objectives of the survey are:

a) Objective 1: To assess the extent of development of county level climate change legislations by key sectors at the county level. This should also entail an analysis of the extent to which key climate change National and global legislations have been domesticated by the counties (NCCRS, NCCAP, Climate change agreements among others). While profiling the challenges and drivers to climate change legislation development at the county level.

b) Objective 2: To assess the extent integration of climate change policies in key planning (CIDP) and sector based policies at the county level. This will also entail a review and documentation of institutional frameworks for integration of climate change across sectors and recommendation of a suitable framework for climate change integration across sectoral ministries at the county level. The constraints and drivers to integration will also be profiled.

c) Objective 3: Review and document citizen participation avenues at the county level while profiling the constraints and drivers to citizen participation on climate change policy processes. This will also entail mapping out key actors at the county involved in climate change legislation processes while documenting avenues used by the actors to influence policy.

d) Objective 4: Map out key projects and programs on climate change and environment at the county level and filter lessons on how such programmes contributed to community resilience. This will involve mapping out of key actors and the type of interventions implemented.

e) **Objective 5***: Ascertain the contribution of any developed climate change legislations, policies and projects to increased resilience to climate change impacts at the county level.* The analysis will need to bring out any aspects of Mal adaptation driven by the existing policy instruments at the county level.

f) Objective 6: Develop county based policy briefs with recommendations on increased integration of climate change across sectors, the policy brief will also entail an institutional framework for cross sectoral policy integration. We also expect a second policy brief on the general status of climate change and environment in terms of key interventions implemented and contribution to resilience.

g) Objective 7: Facilitate a feedback session with the Act! team and her project partners followed by organizing a stakeholder workshop where the consultant will present the findings and recommendations at the County level.

4.0 Specific Tasks
Specifically, the consultant will work closely with Act! Program staff and MERL Team to;

Determine a representative sample for data collection.
Develop tools to collect data and share with Act! for feedback.
Use a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods including desk study, Key Informant Interviews, questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions, Observations to collect data. Analyze the data and develop a draft report.
Share the report with Act! teams and stakeholders for validation.
Develop a final report after integrating inputs from stakeholders and Act!.
Develop policy briefs out of the findings

5.0 Deliverables
The consultant is expected to deliver (3 reports) a soft copy and three (3) hard copies of the study report. The report must include at least an executive summary, background, methodology, findings, summary and recommendations for policy makers. It should be presented in active language with photos, and case studies/profiles to make an interesting read.

Key reports to be delivered:
The general report on state of climate change and environment in the Northern counties.
Status report on climate change policy legislation processes in the 4 counties, namely Mandera, Taita Taveta, Kajiado and Baringo.
Climate change mainstreaming guidelines developed for the different sector for the Kenyan Northern counties, namely, Mandera, Marsabit, Wajir, Garissa and Turkana.

6.0 Duration:
The consultancy is expected to take a maximum of 30 person days commencing August 15th 2017. These include the preparatory phase, data collection and report writing. The final deliverables should reach Act! by 1st October 2017.

7.0 Required Qualifications
To be eligible to apply for this role the consultant/s must meet the following requirements:

The consulting firm/person must have the requisite skills including research, policy analysis and evaluation.
The team leader must hold an advanced degree in ENRM or a related field.
The team leader must have at least five years’ experience working in Kenya or East Africa and have a good understanding the Kenya policy making processes in light of devolution systems.
The consultant need also to have an understanding of climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions required for increased resilience.
Team leader needs to have undertaken several similar studies.
Experience working with county government policy systems will be an added advantage.
Demonstrate excellent professional writing skills in English.

HOW TO APPLY:
8.0 Selection Procedure:Qualified consultant or consultancy firms are required to submit;**

A five-page proposal to Act! interpreting the terms of reference and elaborating the consultancy methodology and design, level of effort required to fully deliver the assignment, and with a work plan and budget for undertaking the assignment with separate Itemized costs under:(a) Professional fee per day, (b) logistical Costs e.g vehicle hire, research assistants, accommodation costs etc per day, logistics to include organizing of a stakeholder feedback session in one of the Northern counties.
Brief overview of consultant/consultancy firm and the skills and experience they would bring to assignment.
CV of consultant or CVs of team members– maximum 3 pages or a Company/firm profile.
Contact details of three referees from organizations that have recently contracted the consultant/s to perform similar or related work for the last 2-3 years.
Sample report of the consultancy work.
All proposals should be submitted electronically (in PDF format) to hr.admin@act.or.ke quoting the reference ACT-SCC-18-17 number not later than 5 PM Wednesday 2nd August 2017.