Tenders are invited for International Consultant Final Project Evaluator: Conflict Prevention and Resilience Building in Return Areas of the Communes of Bosso Closing Date: 27 Oct 2025 Type: Consultancy Evaluation Context Since 2015, several regions of Niger have been the subject of violence committed by violent extremist organizations (OVOs). In the Diffa region, several factions from Boko Haram have subjected local populations to violence while continuing their attacks on security forces. It is estimated that in Niger, more than 20,000 civilians have lost their lives as a result of OVCs since 2015, according to government statements. Due to its geographical location, the region is particularly affected by the insecurity and humanitarian situation resulting from this crisis, thus impacting public and private infrastructure. On the humanitarian front, in the Diffa region, more than 200,000 Nigerian refugees have been hosted, as well as 150,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), made up of 51% men and 49% women, mostly young, with 65% under 18 years of age. The capital of the Diffa region has seen an increase in its population due to the arrival of its IDPs/refugees who are distributed in the citys neighbourhoods. The violence committed by the OVCs, combined with government measures and counter-terrorism operations, has also led to a sharp slowdown in the economic activity of communities living mainly from rain-fed agriculture, livestock and fishing. In the region, a large number of internally displaced persons and refugees (90%) from neighbouring countries are facing critical situations, particularly in areas that are difficult for humanitarian actors to access. Most IDPs reside with host households where they gather spontaneously, increasing the pressure on host communities and available resources. In the aftermath of his election in March 2021, in a desire to contribute to the resolution of the security crisis in the Lake Chad Basin, President Mohamed Bazoum pledged to ensure the return of IDPs and refugees to their communities and countries of origin to strengthen the stabilization of the region. This political will was concretized in June 2021 by the return of 40,138 IDPs (i.e. 7,376 households) to 23 villages in the communes of Bosso, Gueskerou and Kablewa[1]. As of September 13, 2021, data from the regions authorities lists a total of 35,445 people, including 13,469 young people under the age of 35 (including 7,004 young women) who have joined the communes of Bosso, Gueskerou and Kablewa. Despite the governments efforts, some of the necessary prerequisites for the recovery and sustainable voluntary return of IDPs to their communities of origin have not been met, including the strengthening of security, conflict prevention and social cohesion, the availability of livelihoods, and basic social services, which are in some areas non-existent and in others limited in services. According to IOMs March 2021 Stability Index, which focuses its data collection at the lowest possible administrative level in the Diffa region, access to health services, markets, farmland and fishing areas is low. The results suggest that the perception of stability in the Diffa region of Niger is highly dependent on the indicators of the safety and security scale, followed by the livelihoods and basic services scale, and to a lesser extent the indicators of the social cohesion scale. In view of the above, three factors of fragility/tension have been identified: 1. The absence of state institutions, factors that weaken a sustainable return of communities The weak presence of administrative authorities and state technical services in the areas concerned, and the absence of inclusive and participatory dialogue at all levels of society, constitute an obstacle to good local governance. According to the exchanges with the mayors but also with the various decentralised technical services, the various targeted municipalities no longer functionally host representations at the departmental and municipal level. For some, the buildings have been destroyed or are unusable. According to these stakeholders, everything has to be redone as explained by the mayors of the three municipalities who no longer have workspace and equipment to support the communities. The latter, in general, including returned IDPs, have limited access to basic social services (85% of the infrastructure has been destroyed as a result of attacks in the areas concerned) such as health, psychosocial well-being, education and vocational training centres. The government has set up regional mechanisms in the Diffa region, which therefore benefit from some support that stems from the implementation of the Regional Development Plan (RDP) and that should be translated at the communal level. However, at the level of the Economic and Social Development Plan 2017-2021, there are weaknesses such as the low mobilization of own resources (more than 60% of municipalities do not control the fiscal potential) and the inefficiency of public spending in connection with development challenges; poor governance of local authorities (less than 20% of municipalities have respected the deadlines for submitting their management accounts, poor budgetary monitoring); the ineffectiveness of the transfer of skills and resources; the weak technical supervision of the Local Authorities with human resources in sufficient quantity and quality. These weaknesses in local governance have a direct and indirect impact on the daily lives of host, returnee and refugee communities in the communes of Bosso, Gueskerou and Kablewa. According to the report of the diagnosis of border areas for the development of the national border policy, these areas are being left behind and this facilitates the presence of bandits and suspected members of non-state armed groups. This only increases the gap between communities and the state, resulting in distrust of the state. According to the mayor of Bosso, millions of CFA francs are lost every day from taxes on agricultural activities in the commune due to the weak presence of the authorities in order to ensure their sovereign role which is mainly the implementation of the Communal Development Plan (PDC). These plans are now obsolete in the face of the change in the context of these municipalities, and will have to be updated. In addition, due to the displacement of populations, community structures for social cohesion, such as the Communal Peace Committees (CCPs) set up by the HACP, but also local associations and cooperatives are almost non-existent. According to a consultation with the Governor of the region, for conflict prevention and management actions, the emphasis must be placed on the restoration of state authority and community cohesion structures. According to the Multisectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA), in Diffa, 90% of returned households have been in a situation of displacement for at least a year. While 85% of them left their place of origin as a result of armed conflict, 10% reported that their displacement was initially linked to community conflicts (compared to less than 5% of IDP and refugee households). Returnee households appear to be less targeted overall than internally displaced and refugee households by humanitarian assistance: only 36% reported having received humanitarian assistance in the 30 days prior to data collection, compared to 42% of IDP households and 54% of refugee households. According to the NASM survey, returnees appear to have significant gaps related to their living conditions, particularly in terms of access to basic resources and infrastructure. 15% of households reported taking more than 30 minutes to get to and from their main water source. 44% of returned households also reported having experienced restrictions on movement (in the vast majority of cases, related to government measures due to insecurity in the area), which can impact households ability to access resources, services and livelihoods. (UNHCR Report 2021). 2. Access to economic opportunities is the cornerstone of external and internal conflict dynamics, weakening social cohesion and living together Particularly vulnerable returnees who had to abandon some or all of their material resources when they left, find their property and resources destroyed, stolen or exploited by others on their return (1% of the current population displaced before 2014; 38% in 2014; 46% in 2015; 14% in 2016 and 1% in 2017). Households are then often forced to reconvert to less remunerative activities at their new location. These factors contribute to weakening the livelihoods of displaced households, already constrained by external components such as climate change and insecurity. They can also lead to conflicts or tensions with the populations who have remained in their territories despite the difficulties. The most income-generating activities practiced by the target populations, which are mostly young (65%, of which 49% are women), are subsistence farming (45%) and small businesses (27%). Other frequent activities include handicrafts (12%), day work (11%), wood collection and sale (10%) and livestock (6%). The evolution of economic activities during displacement underlines the likely loss of means of production by some of the displaced households, which would explain the increase in livelihoods requiring few or no production tools (daily work, collection and sale of wood, crafts, etc.). The significant increase in independent trade/petty trade can be explained by restrictions on fishing and agriculture (due to restrictions on irrigation due to insecurity around the lake), which were major economic activities of people prior to their displacement. The significant increase in subsistence agriculture is likely due to the need to find alternative sources of food due to declining purchasing power and the inability to engage in regular employment, as Tender Link : https://reliefweb.int/job/4180912/consultant-international-evaluateur-finale-de-projet-prevention-des-conflits-et-renforcement-de-la-resilience-dans-les-zones-de-retour-des-communes-d
