Baseline needs assessment on the six Dutch Caribbean islands

Context

The Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC) has one overseas branch on each of the six Caribbean islands being Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint-Eustatius and Sint-Maarten. These six Red Cross branches are separate associations but still part of the NLRC national society through a mutually agreed cooperation agreement. Their activities are focussed on First Aid, direct emergency support before, during and after disasters and the provision of specific assistance to vulnerable groups on the islands.

Aruba, Curaçao and Sint-Maarten are autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. They have their own political structure and legislative set-up and only rely on the Kingdom for matters of defence and foreign policy. Saba, Sint-Eustatius and Bonaire are special municipalities of the Netherlands and are therefore dependent on the policy of the Netherlands. These different political structures are not reflected in the Red Cross structure as all six overseas branches have a similar status.

The three windward islands (Sint-Maarten, Saba and Sint-Eustatius) and the three leeward islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao) are nearly 1.000 km apart. This geographic spread results in cultural (language), economic and environmental differences including hazards threatening the islands.

In September 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria severely impacted the windward islands, especially Sint-Maarten which suffered a direct hit from a category 5 hurricane. The impact on the infrastructure and economy of the island of Sint-Maarten has been extensive. Many families lost their house and belongings and/or were left without a job. Red Cross set up a large scale response and recovery operation which came to an end four years after the immediate impact.

The leeward islands have been heavily impacted by the exodus of inhabitants of nearby Venezuela since 2017. Though inter-island and interregional migration had been common on all islands, the Venezuela crisis suddenly increased the influx. Until 2017 UNHCR took care of the registration of asylum seekers through an informal working relationship with the RC branches on Aruba and Bonaire. The governments took over after this, but no asylum has been granted since.[1] Current estimates indicate that 20,000 Venezuelans are residing in Aruba and 22,000 in Curaçao.[2] Estimates for Bonaire are a few hundred. Many of them are irregular, due to overstaying their visa period or limited opportunities for regular entry and international protection, exposing them to protection risks.

In 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Caribbean region hard. Due to the limited scale of the health services on the islands, the medical infrastructure appeared insufficient to cope with a large number of patients on intensive care. Besides the short term impact on the health services there has been, and still is, a longer term impact on the economy. The economy on each of the islands was already suffering structural challenges prior to the pandemic. The temporary closing of the borders and the many other restrictions affected an important economic sector for the islands which is tourism.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak the Netherlands Red Cross and its overseas branches set up a large scale response program in 2020-2021, targeting the most vulnerable population of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint-Maarten (CAS islands). This consisted of mainly e-vouchers complemented by food- and hygiene parcels and ready to eat meals for the most vulnerable. The program ran for a year with a total budget of nearly 60 million euro. Amongst this target group there is a considerable group of undocumented migrants coming from the wider region and especially Venezuela.

Objective of the assessment

The Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC) and its overseas branches have a longstanding commitment to respond to the humanitarian needs of vulnerable people in the Caribbean region. To ensure future response options and selected activities fit the needs of the affected population, we need to have a proper understanding of the actual context and the needs of the population on the islands.

Therefore, the NLRC and its overseas branches are looking into conducting a general needs assessment on all six islands. The needs assessment will focus on the general situation of the population, measuring the main needs of the inhabitants, both the registered population as well as undocumented migrants. We focus on the current situation including the socio-economic impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic as the situation is now very different compared to just a few years ago.

There are four main objectives to this assessment:

1. Fill the data gaps that are identified based on an in-depth analysis of the secondary information taking into account relevant data that has recently been evaluated by Netherlands Red Cross.

2. Provide reliable and representative facts and figures accessible through a hands-on interface allowing a better understanding of the current socio-economic reality among the population of each of the six islands.

3. Identify vulnerable groups within the communities, their characteristics, their priority needs, their capacities as well as the relevant vulnerability criteria based on which they are estimated as being vulnerable.

4. Stakeholder mapping related to services to vulnerable groups on each island and consequential gaps in addressing the needs.

The findings of this assessment will be used to adjust current programming, develop new projects and activities to meet remaining humanitarian needs, organize the technical support required, and lobby for change with relevant stakeholders to address the causes of vulnerabilities identified. It will also be used as a baseline measurement to be able to assess positive and/or negative change during follow-up assessments.

Scope of the assessment

The scope of the assessment is determined by the following factors:

· Geographical

All six Dutch Caribbean islands are to be part of the assessment. They are to be considered as six independent contexts with their own dataset and descriptive analysis based on this data.

· Catchment area

When looking at each island we consider the entire territory of each island as relevant for the assessment. Both the more densely populated areas as well as the more rural areas away from the city centres.

· Population

For each island a representative sample should be taken from the entire population [3]living on the islands. Extra research can be done to gain a better understanding of certain sub-groups if there would be the need to do so.

· Gender, age, nationality, language, legal status, household composition etc.

The characteristics of different categories of the population must be reflected in the gathered data

· Sectors

Different sectors must be addressed such as the 11 sectors that can be found in the latest IFRC resilience assessment tool.

The consultant uses both the local knowledge and network of the branches and other sources to gain insight and access to different relevant information sources per island. He or she is not limited by the information sources provided by the overseas Red Cross branches and the Netherlands Red Cross.

The consultant can make specific recommendations based on the findings of the assessment. But the main expected outcome of the assessment is the gathering and analysis of the data.

Key questions

The questions below serve as a guidance but the analysis should not be limited to the questions mentioned below.

1. What is the current situation on the islands in terms of:

2. Cost of living: what are reference prices for basic goods and services, which prices increased substantially during the past years, how does the cost of living relate to the minimum income and the average income, what is the minimum expenditure basket?

3. Income opportunities: what income opportunities are there, taking into account the relevance of different sectors such as public authorities, tourism, fisheries, petrochemistry, … considering different types of labour including seasonal labour, day labour and the informal job market.

4. Quantitative and relative composition of the population: also looking into the relevance and impact of emigration of many young, educated and skilled people and a high level of immigration from the Caribbean and South-American region

5. Public support systems: what formal and relevant informal support systems are available to those who are unemployed, undocumented, chronically ill, disabled and elderly, minors, stateless and how do these benefits relate to the cost of living and to who are they accessible?

6. What are the obstacles for households to have access to formal rights and services such as health and nutrition services, utility services, education, food security, labour market, safety, protection and legal assistance.

7. What is the profile (documented by quantitative and qualitative data) of the vulnerable groups within the population and based on which criteria are they currently identified as vulnerable?

8. What governmental, non-governmental and informal support systems do households rely on to cover the gap between their basic needs and their own means.

9. What negative coping mechanisms did households turn to in order to cope with a lack of formal and informal support and would they use these mechanisms again in case of a new crisis?

10. What are the main humanitarian needs coming out of the situational analysis and which of them are not covered by governmental or non-governmental stakeholders?

Methodology

The assessment will draw on secondary data complemented by gathering primary data. A summarized proposal should be part of the application documents. Once selected, a detailed methodology is expected in the inception report.

The assessment will take a context specific and participatory approach as each island varies strongly. The preference is given to a co-design approach in which the branches are both the participants in these sessions to co-design the needs assessment and they will be trained to become co-design facilitators themselves. This way they can use this co-design methodology to ensure the needs on the islands are structurally assessed.

The methodology will adhere to the IFRC guidelines and standards of the PMER service of the NLRC on needs assessments.

As the IFRC has recently published a new methodology called ‘resilience radar’ we strongly suggest to integrate this in the needs assessment for as much as it is relevant and beneficial to achieve the objectives of this terms of reference.

First phase

A. Briefing by NLRC Caribbean desk and NLRC PMEAL on all aspects relevant for this assignment.

B. Review of relevant background documents provided by Red Cross movement actors, governments, external reports, news articles, previous assessments, etc to familiarize with the setting.

C. Selection and analysis of usable and reliable secondary data on both regional and island level.

D. Preliminary design (mock-up) of a data dashboard per island and on the Caribbean region for elements extending the island perspective.

E. Presentation of the mock-up dashboard to the Caribbean desk and the management of the six branches.

Second phase

F. Identification of data gaps that would require primary data gathering.

G. Estimation of the time and effort needed to gather the missing data compared to the added value for completing the data set.

H. Presenting the action plan and budget per island to fill the data gaps.

I. Development of the primary data collection tools such as mobile data collection questionnaires, discussion guidance notes, etc.

J. Briefing of the boards and management teams on the objective and methodology of primary data gathering followed by a training of the volunteers of the respective branches or external teams if Red Cross volunteers are not sufficiently available.

K. Requesting meetings with the external organizations and key informants of interest in close cooperation with each of the branches.

L. Data gathering through observations, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with households, Red Cross volunteers and staff and external key stakeholders (governmental and non-governmental).

Third phase

M. Segregate data according to age, gender, status and other relevant parameters taking into account the different sectors and population subgroups.

N. Analyse the gathered data.

O. Complement the data dashboard on island and regional level.

P. Identify relevant indicators, formulate recommendations relevant for Red Cross and draft a strategy to keep the data set up to date and usable.

Q. Draft the required reports.

Timeline

The timeline below is an indicative timeline which will be further developed once the consultant has been appointed. The timeline below contains the key points of the process only.

• Processing background information to set the scene/Remote/1st week Sep./4days
• Planning timeline for interviews/Remote/1st week Sep./1 day
• Scoping interviews/Remote/2nd week Sep./5 days
• Draft inception report and presentation to branches and NLRC HQ/Remote/3rd week Sep./5 days
• Desk review of secondary information/Remote/4th week Sep. – 3^rd week Oct.
• Design the mock-up dashboard in cooperation with Red Cross internal specialised services/NL HQ+remote/4th week Oct./6 days
• Review data collection strategy and presentation to branches and NLRC/NL HQ+remote/4th week Oct./3 days
• Data collection tool development/Remote1st week Nov./4 days
• Data collection including on the spot training of the data collectors/Field/2nd week Nov.–2^nd week Dec.
• Data analysis/remote/3rd week Dc.-2^nd week Jan./on average 4 days per island
• Complement dashboard with the required data/NL HQ+remote/3rd week Jan./5 days
• Report writing/remote/4th week Jan. – 2^nd week Feb./14 days
• Feedback round and workshop for the branches and NL HQ/NL HQ/remote/3rd week Feb./3 days
• Revision draft report/remote/4th week Feb./3 days
• Presentation final report to boards and management of the branches and the NLRC HQ Caribbean desk/NL HQ/remote/4th week Feb./2 days

Total duration assessment assignment: Approximately 159 days

Deliverables and planning

At the end of the assessment, in coordination with NLRC relative stakeholders at HQ, the consultant will provide the following deliverables taking into account the below mentioned deadlines:

• Inception report
• Mock-up dashboard
• Finalized dashboard incl. the up to date data per island
• Draft report
• Final report incl. the stakeholder mapping and description of vulnerable groups
• Recommendations follow-up strategy and indicators

Profile of the consultant

Education

a. University degree

b. Qualification in PME, DM, protection and /or other relevant area

Experience

a. Experience with remote studies and research is a requirement

b. Experience in performing medium to large scale program and/or project studies

c. Knowledge, experience and a network on the Caribbean islands is highly preferred

d. Experience with working in the international humanitarian aid sector is preferred

e. Experience with participatory assessment, program planning and qualitative and quantitative assessment techniques

f. Experience working for RCRC considered an asset

g. Experience in leading a team consisting of both staff and volunteers is considered an asset

h. Experience in conducting assessments similar as described in this terms of reference.

Skills

a. Fluency in spoken and written Spanish and English language. Knowledge of Dutch, Creole and Papiamento is an asset.

b. Ability to write concise, yet comprehensive reports

c. Excellent interpersonal, analytical and organizational skills

d. Ability to work effectively in an intercultural setting

e. Ability to meet strict deadlines

f. Self-supporting in working with computers (word-processing, spreadsheets, statistical software, etc.)

Knowledge

a. Technical knowledge and experience in the field of humanitarian response and programming is an asset

b. Knowledge of the region is an asset

How to apply:

Application and selection details

We ask for registered consultancy companies to apply to this assignment.

Interested candidates/teams should submit their expression of interest to logistics@redcross.nl by the 19th September 2021. The proposal should mention the assignment you are applying for, your surname and first name. (SUBJECT: needs assessment Dutch Caribbean islands – last name, first name). Interviews will be done on a rolling basis as soon as suitable proposals are submitted.

The application should include:

1. Cover letter: clearly summarizing the experience of the consultant team leader as it pertains to this assignment, daily rate and contact details for three professional referees

2. Curricula vitae: team leader and team members

3. Narrative and methodological proposal

4. Financial proposal (budget)

5. At least one and up to two samples of previous written work similar to that described in this term of reference.

Application materials are non-returnable, and any incomplete applications will not be considered.