OXFAM strategy review IN Rwanda

Terms of reference for the Review and alignment of Rwanda Joint Country Strategic Plan (JCAS) to the Oxfam Strategic Plan and changing context in Rwanda from 2013

Background

Oxfam rolled out its strategy 2011 -2016 in Rwanda last March. The strategy focus on two thematic areas;

• Enterprise development for employment creation within the agricultural sector
• Participatory governance for a more inclusive development process

There are two implementing affiliates, Oxfam GB and Oxfam Novib and one funding affiliate, Oxfam Ireland. Oxfam GB is the managing affiliate and has a physical presence in Rwanda with a small team of 13 staff. Oxfam Novib manages its partnership-implemented programme from Kampala. Oxfam Ireland currently is the major donor for the Oxfam GB implemented livelihoods programme, and is involved in strategic issues on areas such as HIV, humanitarian and livelihoods. All three affiliates are active members of the Country Leadership Team.

OGB implements sustainable livelihoods programme through a range of programme partnerships with civil society and private sector organisations, alliances with a broad range of actors, and also contracts in a significant amount of support through consultancies from service providers. OGB is registered as an International NGO in Rwanda, with the Ministry of Agriculture as its line manager (based on a Memorandum of Understanding) and registered annually with the Department of INGOs at the Directorate for Immigration and Emigration.

Oxfam Novib is not yet physically present in Rwanda, but has already put in place processes for two staff to join OGB to continue with its grant funding to a range of civil society organisations under both the livelihoods and governance pillars. Part of Novib operations will still be managed its regional office in Nairobi and Kampala.

Rwanda Country Context

The Rwandan rural setting is characterised by extreme land scarcity (average 0.7ha/hh) and limited livelihood diversification. Over 90% households rely on agriculture as a major source of livelihood. Rwanda ranked 152 out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index (UNDP 2010) . The country’s Vision 2020 plan (long term development strategy), aims to transform the economy into a middle income country. Transforming agriculture into a productive, high value, market oriented sector is one of its core strategies. The Government has targeted horticulture as a means to achieve this transformation, considering the potential to generate much higher levels of income and employment.

Rwanda has a high female population (53%) and nearly one-third, (32.1%), of Rwandan households is headed by women (mainly widows and/or single women). The country is also struggling with the issue of HIV /AIDS with prevalence rate among adults of 3%, making women more vulnerable. The patriarchal structure has moulded the life of women and men in society thus giving them different roles and identity. Its impact is seen not only on systems and laws but it also determines who has access and control over resources. The issues of gender inequality are quite evident in agriculture produce value chains (the approach many agencies in the country are trying now) where women are most often employed in labour intensive and low value added activities.

In its Vision 2020 plan, the country has planned to transform the economy into a middle income country. Transforming agriculture into a productive, high value, market oriented sector one of its core strategies. The Government has targeted horticulture as a means to achieve this transformation, considering potential to generate much higher levels of income and employment. The country is on course to achieve most millennium development goals (2,3,4,5).

JCAS was launched March 2012 and yet since then there has been many changes in Rwanda including rigorous exercise of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy II (EDPRS I) reviews which began with districts and sectors carrying out self-assessment to ascertain lessons learnt from implementation of EDPRS I. EDPRS II planning phase is done and endorsed by the cabinet. The elaborate process alongside sixteen sector strategic plans, thirty District Development plans and City of Kigali Development plan fed into EDPRS II. These were further beefed up by the results from Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV3) report and Demographic and Health Survey (DHS4). All these evaluations pointed to the tremendous progress over EDPRS I and sustainable economic growth of 8% average, a poverty reduction of 12% and reduction in income inequality.

Despite the impressive achievements, the evaluation results is evident that there is still a long way to go, for instance the poverty rate is still at about 50%, women economic empowerment and human capital challenges persists. These and inadequate planning skills, insufficient coordination and communication across sectors as well between central and local government entities are among others identified in EDPRS II.

Rationale for the consultancy

In 2008, following the Rwanda Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy I (EDPRS) 2008-2012, Oxfam GB Rwanda Programme adopted a five year National Change Strategy (2008-2013) with market oriented livelihoods as the flagship programme. Since then, Oxfam went “Live” March 2012 and is now on its second year of SMS. Oxfam in Rwanda has invested significantly over 2011 in deciding its strategic direction through a highly participatory process, to determine how best to influence for pro-poor change in the Rwandan context.

As such, the consultancy would look at how the current JCAS meets the overarching development needs and challenges of the recently/or yet to be launched EDPRS II, and other policy documents in Education, energy, ICT, entrepreneurship etc, Oxfam affiliates can work together in a fully integrated model for greater efficiencies and coherence in relation to the Rwanda context.

In addition, it would also look at the current programmes and how they can be made relevant and compactable with overall Oxfam strategic plan. It is also important that current programmes are reviewed in terms of;

• programme design and development to date, achievements and challenges
• models for scale up would potentially serve the programme best as it moves into the next phase
• Oxfam’s role in Rwanda – in particular working as a facilitator and its implications for how we scale up
• the implications of how the scale up model will work for how we organise ourselves particularly in relation to (i) funding models and (ii) organisation and (ii) partnerships as potentially a business development service agency
• support needed from the region and from elsewhere to put these plans into action over the medium term
• impact and value for money and funding
• efficiency and effectiveness and accountability of OXFAM
• Contribution & learning towards regional and global goals of Oxfam (i.e. OI Strategic Plan 2013 – 2019) and the Oxfam HECA Regional Food Security & Livelihoods Framework
• Gender minimum standards

Specifically there is a need to revisit Oxfam’s operational presence in Rwanda for the medium/long-term in light of a number of internal and external challenges including:

• Change in the poverty situation based on EDPRS 1 assessment
• Conflict in DRC and effects of direct donor aid to Rwanda
• Severe funding constraints for civil society in Rwanda, since the majority of donor funding is channelled directly to the Government as budget support (although the trend has started changing with recent political development following conflict in the Eastern DRC.
• High transaction costs for civil society in Rwanda from the Government of Rwanda and to coordinate with other civil society actors in contrast with a conducive private sector environment
• Expectations that INGOs should be helping to deliver Government plans and priorities even where this does not fit with Oxfam ways of working (and run contrary e.g. to a private sector focused programme). This had implications for, e.g. Oxfam’s ability to re-register easily with the government (an annual process).
• A country programme that is not able to recharge a significant proportion of its costs to external donors and therefore burdens core funding (OGB and ON)
• The review should consider how Oxfam can best organise itself to deliver on the strategic areas outlined in the OSP, in a way that both builds on our core strengths as an international organisation, but that better reflects the operating reality of working in Rwanda and how this might be done most effectively.
• The assignment should consider learning and strengths of cutting edge ways of working around social enterprise and appropriate models such as venture capital organisations , contributions of Private Sector to growth & to equity; equity in growth (or not); policies contributing to development including education; energy; investment; trade; transportation; industry; sectoral focus of the government (ICT? Banking? Agriculture?) that might provide some possibilities for delivery on the country strategy.

Expected Outcome and Outputs:

(1) A situation/Political Economy Analysis (PEA) of Rwanda, including trends – particularly in investment, growth, and the private sector
(2) A short review and analysis of Oxfam’s work (as well as other key INGOs), outlining current and potential entry points as well as impacts;
(3) A review of recent literature of Rwanda’s growth & development & poverty alleviation;
(4) A stakeholders workshop report with inputs into the above preliminary work and recommendations
(5) A set of recommendations contributing towards strategic and programmatic work of Oxfam GB and Oxfam Novib as well as to what extend the current JCAS is/can be aligned to the OI Strategic Plan and EDPRS II.
(6) Analysis of strategic bottlenecks opportunities and risks associated with the current programme specifically the feasibility of a private sector driven rural transformation Programme in a country like Rwanda

Approach:

The assignment will be divided into phases;

• Phase I: desk review of multitude of literature including GoR documents, Programme Progress reports, OI strategic plan JCAS etc. This is to help the consultant acquaint him/herself with the country context and OXFAM ways of working.
• Phase II: interviews with key people both internally and externally and field visit
• Phase III: presentation of report to the invited participants (in a stakeholder forum) and subsequently completion of final report.

Duration of the consultancy

The consultancy would be expected to be completed in maximum 6 4weeks from start of assignment, with most likely 2 periods spent in Rwanda working with the Country Team and collecting information from other actors.

Scope of work

In order to achieve the above deliverables, the consultant will be responsible for the following

• Designing methodology and process for achieving the outputs
• Carrying out primary and secondary research internally and externally
• Facilitating meetings and workshops e.g. with the Rwanda country teams, affiliates and stakeholders
• Submitting drafts and final reports for consideration and input by key stakeholders

Deliverables:

• Concept note explaining the methodology to be used
• Outline of final report
• Workshop draft report with recommendations for dissemination
• Final report

Competencies and experience of consultant

Essential

• Strategic thinking and planning experience gained in a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural setting preferably in Rwanda and/or Great Lakes region
• Proven experience of using participatory, inclusive stakeholder engagement methods
• Proven track record of successful innovation, creative and out of the box solutions applied in different contexts
• Experience of development and design of ‘new’ forms of social organisation such as social enterprises, venture capital funds, within a development context
• Experience of working with the private sector / private sector engagement / public-private partnerships / business development
• Strong facilitation skills, ability work independently under tight deadlines and under pressure
• Experience of embedding gender equity into strategies and programmes
• Strong communication skills, both written and spoken (in English)

Desirable

• Understanding of Oxfam’s core values
• Livelihoods development and food security experience

How to apply:

The potential candidates are requested to provide their CVs with a proposal letter on how they meet the competencies and terms of reference of the consultancy (no more than 2 pages) and a proposal on how they will approach the assignment that includes the costs by June 20th 2013. Submissions should be sent tokigali@oxfam.org.uk, copying in pwajero@oxfam.org.uk. Queries can also be sent to these addresses.