Oxfam GB Strategy Review Consultancy Job Vacancy in Kigali, 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 to kigali@oxfam.org.uk, copying in pwajero@oxfam.org.uk.
Queries can also be sent to these addresses.