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DRR/Resilient Livelihoods Impact Research, Philippines
Terms of Reference – October 2014
Background
Christian Aid (CA) is a learning organisation committed to analysing and improving the
quality of its contribution to poverty eradication. CA is commissioning this research to
understand the extent by which the Philippine country programme has been able to
bring about changes in behaviour and practice that enable communities to be more
resilient (anticipate, organise and/or adapt) to the disaster (and other) risks they face.
Christian Aid is interested to better understand the contribution it has made, gather evidence
of good practice, and draw out lessons that can be applied in other contexts, particularly on
the extent to which they have:
1. successfully incorporated Disaster risk reduction (DRR)-Climate Change Adaptation
(CCA) and resilience objectives in to the Philippines country programme, and
2. influenced community development work and policy advocacies carried out by
Christian Aid partners
Christian Aid has had a programme in the Philippines since the 1970’s. As a country
particularly vulnerable to the effects of recurrent disasters Christian Aid has a long
engagement in responding to emergencies and working with communities to reduce their
vulnerability to such disasters.
From 2007-2012, the Philippine country strategic plan identified DRR-CCA as one of its key
priorities alongside its work in urban poverty, mining-affected communities and macro-policy
reforms. One of the first opportunities to build the country programme’s understanding and
practise on DRR-CCA came in 2008-10 when Christian Aid implemented the DfID funded
Building Disaster Resilient Communities (BDRC) programme in several communities across
the Philippines, through local partner organisations working in the national (i.e. DRRNet,
UPSARDF) and community level (Prelature of Northern Quezon, MO-NIGS, Coastal Core,
COPE, MACEC, FORGE, PRDCI, Social Action Ministry of Ipil). The aim of the programme
was to incorporate DRR into community development work, carried out by Christian Aid’s
partners, using the sustainable livelihoods approach, and to elevate DRR as a policy priority
through promoting the active involvement of civil society in the preparation of local and
national development plans. The programme was based on Christian Aid’s approaches
which put the communities and their understanding of communities’ risks and rights at the
centre of their own development.
Since then, opportunities (using both restricted and unrestricted resources) to strengthen
DRR-CCA capacities of the programme and incorporate DRR and resilience objectives into
partners’ programming were pursued. Notably, this included the following:
 Ketsana Rehabilitation Programme with partners in Greater Metro Manila (CDP, SPI,
COM, Unlad Kabayan, SALIGAN, TAO Pilipinas, PHILSSA, JJCICSI, MO)
 DIPECHO projects, notable in small islands (prelature of Northern Quezon, Coastal
Core, MACEC, BDRC Learning Circle).
In 2011 Christian Aid secured Conflict, Security and Humanitarian, (CSH) Programme
Partnership Agreement (PPA) funding and committed to three years of funding (now
extended by 2 years) to further our work on disaster risk management and reduction by
targeting countries with most humanitarian need, identified as being at the highest risk from
conflict, geophysical and climate-related hazards and with high levels of vulnerability, of
which the Philippines country programme was one. Partners included a mix of those working
at the national level (DRRNet, Aksyon Klima, Social Watch, Manila Observatory, PHILSSA,
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ATM, RWAN) and community level (PHILNET, Coastal Core, FORGE, SPI, Minland, Unlad
Kabayan).
Currently, CA in the Philippines is applying the lessons learned and approaches used in its
Yolanda Rehabilitation and Resilience Programme.
Based on what we had learnt during our implementation of BDRC in 6 countries, the debate
had moved forward and the programme was now focused on an integrated approach to
Resilient Livelihoods, of which DRR is an important component. Christian Aid’s approach to
Resilient Livelihoods can be found in Annex 1, and our expectations on DRR as a
component of this in Annex 2.
Purpose
The overall purpose of this research is to establish the intended and unintended impact
of Christian Aid’s DRR-CCA and resilience work on poor men and women over the
past 7 years in the Philippines, including:
 Determining how strategies/ interventions of the Philippine programme, partners, and
communities contributed to these impacts;
 Documenting good practices and lessons that can be shared with other programmes
and stakeholders; and,
 Recommending ways and means to improve the resilience work of the Philippine
country programme and Christian Aid’s global approach to resilience.
Audience and how the document will be used
This study is primarily for Christian Aid and partners. Information gathered in this research
will also be used to provide evidence to donors on our commitment to DRR and resilience in
our programmes. It will also contribute to sector-wide discussions on the value that
introducing this resilience and partner-based approach has (or not) to projects/programmes.
Evaluation Team Composition
The evaluation team will be composed of:
1. Lead Consultant: primary responsibility for
o leading, designing, implementing, and report writing of the study
o coordinating and collaborating with the CA steering group
2. National Consultant: responsible for supporting the Lead Consultant, particularly
bringing an understanding of the national context and approaches to DRR/resilience
within the Philippines, and coordinate with a country programme assistant on
logistics for data collection, should it be necessary
3. A Christian Aid staff not associated with this programme: responsible for informing
evaluation team with Christian Aid’s overall approach to partnership and resilience
programming. It is highly desirable that the CA staff will be able to use the output of
the study and the learnings in the evaluation process to his/her current post and
programme.
The evaluation team will work with the following CA staff (the steering group) for the duration
of the project:
 Senior Programme Officer, Resilience – Janaki Kuhanendran
 Senior Programme Officer, Philippines – Allan Vera
 Senior Programme Officer, Philippines - Jojo Matriano
 Programme Advisor, Resilience - Simone Di Vicenz
 Senior Humanitarian Performance Advisor – Juliet Parker
Proposed Activities
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1. Study and team preparations
2. Review of sector wide approaches to measuring impact in DRR/resilience
programmes
3. Collaboration with the CA steering group
 Orientation of resilience programme in CA Philippines
 Development of methodology, particularly in refining research questions,
scoping and defining limitation of the study, determining research
methods
 Methodology should deliver convincing empirical data (both
qualitative and quantitative) of the impact (or not) of CA’s
DRR/resilient livelihoods approach and programming in the
Philippines
 Sample selection of communities will need to be identified during
discussions around methodology. The Philippines resilience
programme is broad and varied, and the intention of this research
is not to analyse and represent all areas of the programme but to
identify a number of specific areas where we can drill down and
make a more thorough analyse of our impact. Sample
communities may therefore be selected to represent different
areas of programming (rural/urban), geographical areas, levels of
investment, areas that have faced disasters during/since the
period of implementation etc.
 Logistical arrangements
 Updating of progress and adjustments
4. Review of Secondary data
 Project evaluation reports (primarily focused on the impact of DRR
projects on communities) (i.e., BDRC final evaluation; Ketsana
rehabilitation programme evaluation; Dipecho funded projects – BDRSIP,
ASCEND, SUBU; CA’s Climate change review; PPA mid-term review
2012)
 Project Publications (Documentation/ case studies of Projects) (i.e.,
Building Disaster-Resilient Communities: Stories and lessons from the
Philippines; A Voyage to Disaster Resilience in Small Islands: A Guide for
Local Leaders; Resilient Urban Communities: Stories from Ketsana
Rehabilitation Programme) and unpublished case studies
 CA Philippine CPSP 2012-2016 and 2007-2012 and associated reviews
 Annual Philippine Programme reports
 Programming documents / Proposals (e.g., Ketsana Rehabilitation
Programme, Yolanda Rehabilitation and Resilience Programme, etc.)
(optional - to provide background on different projects and evidence of
DRR/Resilience integration into Country programming)
 Christian Aid briefing papers on Resilient Livelihoods and Value for
Money
 Selected Project reports (e.g., BDRC, Ketsana, DIPECHO funded
projects)
5. Data gathering, including Initial interviews with key CA/partner staff as required
and field data gathering
6. Preliminary Report Write-up
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7. Workshop with CA Philippine team and ICH-based staff and select partners
 Validation of findings, preliminary analysis and recommendations
 Feedback on methodology used and possible application in other contexts
8. Final Write-up and management response
Considerations
 It is recognised that the Philippines DRR/resilient livelihoods programme was not set
up with this impact study in mind, and that the quality of documentation of different
programmes and projects will vary. The consultant may therefore need to develop
creative ways to access data while ensuring as much rigour as is possible.

CA is particularly interested to find ways in which the research can investigate the
value for money, particularly in the context of DRR/resilience work wherein indicators
are based on possibly-unrealized scenarios (e.g., Reduced disaster damage and
loss). For Christian Aid’s interpretation of value for money please see Annex 4.

CA is keen to emphasise the community perception of impact and would like, if
possible, to examine the change in behaviour and practice in their experience of
recurrent emergencies.

CA is interested in determining impact at a community level, but understanding the
contribution of our programme and partnership approach to this. We are interested
in receiving recommendations on the development of sound impact indicators for
resilience and how this could be practically incorporated in ongoing programmes.

We recognise that that the benefits of our resilience work at a programme and
partnership level may not yet have filtered down as tangible impact at a community
level. We are interested in a methodology that can help us to understand the
potential impact of such interventions which can take some years to come to fruition.

We are exploring the possibilities for commissioning a broader research piece early
in the next financial year which would build on findings from this study across a wider
range of our interventions in the Philippines to more fully understand the breadth and
depth of our contribution to resilience at local to national levels. We hope this TOR
can lay some of the foundations for this follow on piece of research.
Timeline (Exact dates to be finalised)
Activity
Study and team preparations
Review of sector wide approaches to
measuring impact in DRR/resilience
programmes
Collaboration with the CA steering group
Review of Secondary data
Data Gathering
Preliminary Report Write-up
Validation and Feedback Workshop
Final Write-up
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
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Research management
 A representative from the steering group will be responsible for the overall
management of this piece of research and for ensuring its purpose is fulfilled.
 Members of the steering group in both the Philippines and London will be jointly
responsible for recruiting the consultant(s) and for the appropriate management of
this process.
 A representative from the steering group will provide the consultant/s with all the
Christian Aid documentation on previous and present DRR/Resilience work
 The steering group will work with the Evaluation Team to develop the methodology to
reflect Christian Aid’s evolving approach to building resilient livelihoods and
communities.
 CA London and the Philippines will be responsible for all arrangements relating to the
field research
Profile of the consultants
 Significant field experience in humanitarian or development programming (both
would be a plus)
 Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English
 Significant experience in designing and testing research methodologies using both
quantitative and qualitative techniques (lead consultant in particular)
 Understanding and knowledge of the Philippines context and the development of
DRR/resilient livelihoods practices in the region (national consultant in particular)
 An understanding of evaluative practices relating to advocacy work at local to
national levels would be desirable
 Good knowledge and practice of participatory research methodologies
 Good communications skills
 Ability to manage the available time and resources and to work to tight deadlines
 Ability to write clear reports (will be required to produce examples of previous work)
Expression of Interest invited by Friday 7th November 2014
We are looking to recruit for both positions of lead and national consultants. Applications are
invited for either post from suitably qualified consultants.
Those interested in the lead consultant position should submit:
 A brief methodology and structure of how the research will be conducted over the
evaluation period; as well as how the final report will be structured
 A description of how the consultant plans to spend the budget, splitting costs and
time by research phase (planning, desk review, interviews, management, research
and report writing). Total number of days planned and daily rate should be clearly
outlined
 CV(s) and covering letter explaining how you meet the above profile
 References of similar work conducted by the consultant
Those interested in the national consultant position should submit:
 CV(s) and covering letter explaining how you meet the above profile
 References of similar work conducted by the consultant