Result of Service

Implementation of Durable Solutions for sustainable socio-economic recovery and effective integration of IDPs/host communities in Adamawa State, Nigeria

Work Location

Nigeria

Expected duration

2 months

Duties and Responsibilities

Background
The Lake Chad Basin Crisis developed around four countries in Western Africa (Cameroon, Niger Chad and Nigeria) and resulted in protracted armed conflicts and severe and complex multidimensional humanitarian crisis in the North-East, North-Central and North-West of Nigeria, triggering large-scale displacement, disruption of livelihoods and income generation opportunities, as well as overuse of already fragile basic services and infrastructure. As of July 2021, IOM estimated that 2,182,613 people had been displaced in the North-East region, of which more than 70% originated from Borno State (1.6 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 59 formal camps and 182 informal settlements). Adamawa State registers 208,000 IDPs in 3 formal camps and 24 informal settlements, while Yobe State, with no formal camps, registers 156,000 IDPs in 23 informal settlements.
The living conditions of IDPs and their situation on the ground remain substandard with most of them depending on humanitarian assistance for years. Overcrowding in many of the camps severely affects living conditions: around 430,000 IDPs – more than half of IDPs living in camps – reside in highly congested conditions. High levels of congestion are an ongoing challenge in more than 156 of the 1,603 displacement settings assessed in the Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) States, including in government buildings allocated to shelter IDPs and reception centres. The average available area per individual is between 6-24m2, well below the SPHERE standard of 45m2.
IDPs residing in camps and host community settlements continue to experience limited access to basic services, crowded living conditions, significant protection risks, and inadequate shelter and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities. Due to the protracted nature of the displacement, IDPs who were initially welcomed are increasingly drawn into conflicts with their host communities due to growing pressures on limited land, water and other resources, including income generation opportunities.
In addition, the high risk of flooding during the rainy season (March to September) exacerbates an already difficult situation. Most of the IDP sites are in locations with poor drainage conditions causing floods during the rainy season. These flooded sites pose a risk of disease outbreaks and continued damage to infrastructure which is already strained. Across the BAY states, communities hosting IDP families continue to report additional pressures on critical infrastructure, particularly WASH facilities.
According to the 2021 report of the UN Secretary-General High level panel on internal displacement, durable solutions are an imperative and there is an urgent need to strengthen government political will, capacity and action, ensuring that all society is invested, making better use of capacities and resources of public and private sector, and at the same time strengthening prevention and addressing the drivers of displacement. The World Bank (2019) reports that “rates of poverty and food insecurity among IDPs are alarmingly high, and most face poor housing, education, and health outcomes”. Studies have also shown that in situations of protracted displacements, up to 40% of IDPs do not eventually return to their original homelands.
There is, therefore, an urgent need to implement durable solutions for management of displaced populations to improve quality of life, reduce conflict risks and facilitate greater integration between IDPs and their host communities. The Adamawa State Government authorities, under the leadership of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), is currently proposing a major operation to encourage displaced communities to choose either to return to their places of origin or settle permanently on land to be made available through negotiations with host communities.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), during a mission to Yola in November 2021, held consultations with state authorities, namely the Ministry of Lands and Surveys and SEMA on key issues related to the reintegration of displaced populations aiming at increasing social cohesion and economic interdependence, including land management, settlement planning, access to adequate shelter and basic services, and access to livelihoods. As a result of this mission and discussions held between UN-Habitat and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) representatives in Yola and Abuja, both agencies have agreed to jointly support the implementation of a Durable Solutions pilot project in Adamawa State by introducing a more developmental perspective to address the challenges identified in the current on-going humanitarian interventions. This UN to UN collaboration, at the request of Adamawa State Government, also includes a rapid spatial analysis over the whole Adamawa State to understand the distribution of socio-economic functions and the pull and push factors leading to displacement and mobility of the population, an essential information to better plan the role of urban centres in the ongoing crisis affecting the North-East of Nigeria.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the UN Agency dealing with all facets of sustainable urbanisation. Its Strategic Plan 2020-2023 includes “Effective urban crisis prevention and response” among its four Domains of Change, of which Outcome 2 reads: “Improved living standards and inclusion of migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees through effective crisis response and recovery”. UN-Habitat has been present in Nigeria for the past 15 years, with funding from the Federal Government, and has mainly been supporting policy development and the preparation of urban plans. It has a large experience in implementing urban durable solutions in post-conflict countries such as Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, DRC and Burkina Faso, among others.

Context
The UN-Habitat project is titled: “Implementation of Durable Solutions for sustainable socio-economic recovery and effective integration of IDPs/host communities in Adamawa State, Nigeria”. Importantly, this activity, which needs to be concluded by end of September 2023, is part of a larger one-year IOM initiative of 12.1M USD funded by the Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs (BHA) of USAID named: “Improving Protection and Living Conditions and Reducing Vulnerabilities of Crisis-Affected Populations in North-East Nigeria”.
The project aligns with the UN system-wide definition of Durable Solutions in addressing the challenge of IDPs, which states that: “A durable solution is achieved when IDPs no longer have specific assistance and protection needs that are linked to their displacement and such persons can enjoy their human rights without discrimination resulting from their displacement”.
The objectives of the project are, in collaboration with IOM, to:
(i) to support sustainable socioeconomic recovery and promote effective integration of IDPs and host communities in the targeted communities, with their active participation and participation and prior and informed consent, by facilitating access to adequate mechanisms for housing, land, property and basic services, and enhance employment and livelihood opportunities for the target populations.
(ii) to improve implementation of balanced spatial development initiatives across the sub-region.

Three broad strategies are envisaged to achieve these objectives:
1. Establishing the basis for achieving improved standards of living, sustainable territorial development and rapid economic recovery by conducting a regional spatial analysis to determine status of migration dynamics and displacement in Adamawa State. This will be done by informing a Matrix of Functions to generate a hierarchy of existing settlements towards maximising the benefits of priority infrastructure investments. Part of Adamawa State was already covered in terms of data collection through the Urban Resilience component implemented by UN-Habitat as part of the Sahel Resilience Project managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
2. Conducting a comprehensive needs assessment on issues around housing, land, property and basic services delivery towards developing a training brief and materials and undertaking an in-situ training workshop for IOM, Shelter/CCCM, key technicians and artisans, and staff of relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), in the context of the implementation of durable solutions.
3. Supporting the development of participatory detailed housing/shelter designs and drawings as well as local urban plans, including layout plans and land management systems, in identified resettlement areas and/or IDP camps; at the same time, support the identification of viable strategies for developing employment and livelihood opportunities for the target communities.

Task and Responsibilities
The main objective of this assignment is to strengthen the technical and capacity assistance of UN-Habitat to the UN system in Nigeria, the Government of Nigeria and other activities of HAPSO with a view to building on ongoing efforts by the UN-Habitat Regional Office for Africa/HAPSO to grow the UN-Habitat portfolio in Nigeria; expand the operational footprint of UN-Habitat across the country; and, assist in establishing a framework for financial sustainability of the office.

Under the general guidance of the Senior Human Settlements Officer responsible for West Africa, the consultant will develop technical assistance capacities and strategies in various modalities for HAPSO and the Government of Nigeria directly and in collaboration with other UN agencies, state, and local actors with a specific focus on activities, particularly in the Northeast region.

¿ He/She will provide necessary technical inputs, within the framework of his/her responsibilities for the realization of the activities and deliverables.
¿ He/ She shall carry out need assessments, desk review about durable solutions process and the project in close partnership with key partners.
¿ He/ She shall carry out field missions to assess on-site situations and collect relevant data that will inform programmatic and technical responses to the ongoing conflicts in the region.
¿ He/ She will backstop missions for interventions and objectively assess the feasibility of proposed interventions, costing and budgeting, as well as evaluate environmental, security and social risks.
¿ The He/ She will be responsible for the development of specific project safeguards based on the detailed assessment carried out at state and local levels.
¿ The He/ She shall prepare technical reports and consolidate documentation to guide the decision-making process within UN-Habitat.
¿ The He/ She shall be responsible for ensuring the optimal and timely delivery of the services and products entrusted in these Terms of Reference.

Qualifications/special skills

Minimum of University Master Degrees in fields related to territorial and urban planning, urban planning, geography, urban design, territorial and/or related studies is required
Demonstrate at least 2 years of professional experience in the development, management, and implementation of large-scale urban and/or territorial projects, coordinating multidisciplinary work teams is required.
Demonstrate experience in reviewing substantive and technical content in documents relevant to public institutions is desirable.
Demonstrate relevant experience in the conflict areas and knowledge of the 2030 Agenda, the New Urban Agenda and the UN-Habitat language is desirable

Languages

English and French are the two working languages of UN. For this opening, proficiency in both oral and written English is required.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.