RFP: Early Stage Impact Assessment - CDRI SWP 23-26
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Hiring of an External International Agency to undertake Early-Stage Impact Assessment of CDRI’s Strategic Work Plan (SWP) 2023-26
Background
The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), an International Organization, recognized vide Gazette Notification F. No. D-II/451/16(3)/2021 by the Government of India, is a multi-stakeholder global partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and academic and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development. The vision, mission, goal, and objectives of CDRI are explicitly linked to the post-2015 development agendas. CDRI promotes its Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (DRI) mandate through knowledge exchange and bolstering technical capacities among member countries and partners through the following key Strategic Priorities:
- Advocacy and Partnerships
- Research, Knowledge Management, and Capacity Building
- Program Support and Technical Assistance
- CDRI Charter
CDRI seeks to expand the development and retrofitting of resilient infrastructure systems to support sustainable development, universal access to basic services, and economic growth, while responding to increasing climate and disaster risks. Its mission is to support countries in upgrading existing and future infrastructure systems, in full alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The governance of the Coalition comprises the Governing Council, the Executive Committee, and the Secretariat. The Governing Council is the highest policy-making body and comprises all members of the Coalition, including national governments, multilateral organizations, and other stakeholders. The Governing Council shall be co-chaired by representatives of two national governments, with India being the permanent co-chair of the Governing Council.
The Executive Committee serves as the managerial body responsible for overseeing implementation of the Governing Council’s decisions, providing operational guidance to the Secretariat, approving major projects and grants, supervising work planning, and commissioning audits and outcome evaluations. The Secretariat implements the work programme, supports the governance bodies, and delivers CDRI’s technical assistance, research, advocacy, and partnership functions in accordance with the Charter.
CDRI pursues its mission through three core programmes. Technical Support and Capacity Development anchors multi-country project development, institutional innovation, and capacity enhancement, including the development of standards, certification mechanisms, and the deployment of technical expertise to strengthen risk governance and financing of resilient infrastructure. Research and Knowledge Management promotes collaborative research, global publications, and shared data systems to enable improved practices in resilient infrastructure development. Advocacy and Partnerships strengthen networks among knowledge and implementation partners, ensure dissemination of CDRI outputs, promote alignment with other global initiatives, and convene strategic dialogues and workshops.
Strategic Work Plan 2023-26 (SWP)
Following the completion of the CDRI’s Work Plan 2020-2022, CDRI conducted a thorough multi-stakeholder review to gather lessons from the implementation of the previous work plan and to shape a vision in response to emerging issues related to infrastructure resilience. The SWP 2023-2026 was approved in March 2023.
CDRI’s Strategic Work Plan 2023-26 describes the broad contours of its priority actions and planned initiatives in the coming years. Initiatives include work across Transport, Telecom, Power, Health, and Urban Development, whilst ensuring technical standards and capacity development. In the next two years, the Coalition will continue to leverage the expertise of its Member Countries and partners to develop context-specific, innovative solutions for resilient infrastructure towards the achievement of national priorities and global commitments of its members.
Within the Strategic Work Plan for 2023 – 2026, CDRI has set out three strategic outcomes:
- Strategic Outcome 1: A strong Coalition that has the membership, resources, and global leadership to drive global, national, regional, and local DRI action.
- Strategic Outcome 2: Global DRI research, Coalition-led peer engagement, and CDRI-curated and generated knowledge promote risk-informed policy and practice.
- Strategic Outcome 3: Enhanced capacities of government, private enterprises, and communities to implement post-disaster recovery and DRI action at scale.
Additionally, the SWP also provides a framework for the Coalition members and partners to collaborate, cooperate, and advocate for meeting global goals and targets related to DRI. It also illustrates how the Coalition's interventions align to produce results or outcomes that support the achievement of the intended impact.
The Strategic Outcomes (SOs) embedded in the SWP are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Each SO includes a set of intermediate outcomes envisioned as building blocks for achieving the higher-order strategic outcome or result.
Early-Stage Impact Assessment
Purpose of the Assessment
As CDRI approaches the end of the Strategic Work Plan (2023–2026), it proposes to undertake an early-stage impact assessment to identify initial signs of impact and relevance and highlight key challenges.
The goal of the assessment is to:
i.) provide CDRI and its stakeholders, particularly donors, with a comprehensive view of the Coalition’s performance up to December 2025;
ii.) support organizational learning and change through informing the strengthening of evolving organizational systems and processes, and provide input for the next phase of CDRI’s strategic planning, particularly with regards to providing CDRI with an evaluation methodology that could be adopted more broadly for the CDRI portfolio, for both direct technical, advisory and capacity building support, as well as through other partner organizations, including Civil Society, etc; and
iii.) Provide recommendations on how CDRI can better integrate M&E data and capability into programme design, learning, governance, results and reporting
Objectives of the Assignment
CDRI aims to onboard an international agency that will conduct CDRI’s early-stage impact assessment that is expected to produce credible outputs, adopting an approach that is collaborative and useful for CDRI, and key multilateral stakeholders.
The assessment must be underpinned by a robust, fit-for-purpose approach, responsive to the international donor landscape and based on the G20 Quality Infrastructure Principles, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The objectives of the assessment are to:
a. Examine how CDRI’s Strategic Outcomes and intermediate outcomes have contributed, or are expected to contribute, to disaster-resilient infrastructure objectives.
b. Identify and articulate plausible contribution pathways where direct contributions are not yet evident, including analysis of intermediate outcomes and enabling factors.
c. Assess key achievements, strengths, constraints, and limitations in CDRI’s organizational and programmatic performance, and generate insights to inform the next phase of CDRI’s strategic planning and engagement with donors, including cross-cutting lessons.
d. Provide actionable recommendations on how CDRI can strengthen the integration of MEL and capabilities across CDRI’s institution-wide (including programme design, implementation, reporting, governance, and decision making).
e. Outline a comprehensive corporate results framework and impact assessment approach that can be applied across CDRI’s portfolio and engagement modalities, including a harmonized set of outcome and impact indicators and guidance for results-based management, learning, and donor reporting.
Scope of Work
The agency will ensure that the assessment adopts a comprehensive view of CDRI’s work, with emphasis on the Strategic Work Programme (SWP), while accounting for donor priorities and broader strategic considerations. The agency will work under the guidance of the DDG-COO and the designated point of contact at the CDRI Secretariat.
The assessment will cover:
- Process adopted for identification of CDRI interventions, such as design of programs (e.g. IRIS), call for proposals, governance mechanisms institutionalized for review, engagement with stakeholders, and final selection of the projects
- Grants implemented by implementing partners (including 2 on-site visits)
- Projects directly managed by CDRI (including 2 on-site visits)
- Capacity building initiatives (remote sampling)
- Fellowships (remote sampling)
- Knowledge management and research
- The Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index (remote sampling of applications of GIRI)
- Advocacy
- The Annual International CDRI Meeting (remote)
- CDRI’s engagement with the stakeholders, including particularly the Implementing Partners and the recipient governments
- CDRI’s overall performance, including its agility and responsiveness
The scope of work will include the following:
- Undertaking an inception visit to the CDRI Secretariat to develop a formative understanding of CDRI’s mandate, institutional arrangements, strategic priorities, and stakeholder landscape.
- Designing a bespoke early impact and effectiveness assessment framework, drawing as appropriate on the MOPAN Organizational Effectiveness framework, and other relevant institutional assessment approaches, tailored to CDRI’s mandate, governing structure, and priorities.
- Review and refine CDRI’s existing results frameworks and indicators, and, based on this analysis, outline a corporate results framework and impact assessment approach that is usable across CDRI’s different engagement modalities, including clear outcome and impact indicators and guidance for results-based management, learning, and donor reporting.
- Conducting consultations with the CDRI Secretariat and selected external stakeholders, primarily through virtual engagements. The in-person visits to selected CDRI projects or intervention locations (4 in total) will be undertaken in consultation with the CDRI team.
- Analyzing qualitative and quantitative evidence to assess CDRI’s organizational effectiveness and the performance of its SWP, including achievements, constraints, and emerging contributions in relation to global, national, and regional priorities.
- Synthesizing findings into a concise assessment report, including learning-oriented insights, and strategic reflections, and validation of findings with key stakeholders to inform the next phase of CDRI’s strategic planning. A close-out visit to the CDRI Secretariat will be undertaken to present and validate findings.
- Early-Stage Impact Assessment: Illustrative Methodology
The impact assessment is expected to utilize a mixed-methods approach, such as:
- Secondary/Desk review of critical documents (e.g., CDRI Charter, SWP, Results Framework, Annual Work Plans, Annual Reports, Financial Documents)
- Site visits to project/intervention locations
- Quantitative Surveys
- In-depth Stakeholder interviews
- Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
The above is indicative. The agency is expected to propose a methodology that is appropriate for an early-stage assessment of an international organization and supports analysis of both organizational effectiveness and emerging results.
It is envisaged that the methodology will focus on: Relevance; Efficiency; Effectiveness; and Sustainability considerations, in a manner tailored to the context of CDRI. Internationally accepted impact assessment approaches will be adopted with regard to the following aspects, among others: sample size, data collection procedures, data quality assurance mechanisms, and the overall analytical framework.
Deliverables
The assignment will result in a consolidated early-stage impact assessment covering CDRI’s organizational effectiveness, early results, and contribution pathways under the Strategic Work Plan (2023–2026). It will identify key findings and emerging patterns across Strategic Outcomes and inform future strategic planning and donor engagement.
Inception Report (including data collection tools)
An inception report that includes a preliminary analysis of documentation and inputs received from initial interactions with CDRI. Based on inception visits and early engagement with the Secretariat, the report will outline the technical approach, assessment framework, detailed workplan, stakeholder mapping, and proposed data collection tools for undertaking the assignment.
Data collection and site visits
A detailed calendar outlining planned data collection activities, including surveys, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and site visits, along with indicative timelines and completion status.
Regular updates on the progress of data collection, along with consolidated data outputs and documentation from interviews, FGDs, surveys, and consultations, in formats agreed with CDRI.
Initial Reflections
A brief report and presentation on initial findings midway through the assessment. This will highlight emerging patterns, key strengths and constraints, and early strategic insights, and will be used to inform ongoing analysis and any necessary adjustments to the assessment approach.
Draft and Final Report
A comprehensive early-stage impact assessment report that includes:
- An executive summary
- Detailed findings and analysis, including cross-cutting findings across Strategic Outcomes
- An outlined corporate results framework and impact assessment approach, including a set of outcome and impact indicators and guidance for results-based management, learning, and donor reporting
- Conclusions and forward-looking recommendations to inform the next phase of CDRI’s strategic planning
- Actionable institutional recommendations for strengthening organizational effectiveness, governance, learning systems, and sustainability of CDRI’s work.
Presentation of Findings
A presentation summarizing key findings and recommendations, to be shared with the relevant stakeholders of CDRI and used for validation and discussion.
Timeline and duration of delivery
The assignment is expected to last until July 2026, with specific milestones and deadlines to be agreed upon at the outset of the engagement, in line with those listed below, to ensure the timely completion of the assessment.
- Start Date: The assessment process is expected to commence from mid-April 2026.
- Completion Date: The final assessment report should be delivered by the end of July 2026
- The assessment should adhere to the following milestones:
- Inception Report (including data collection tools) 30th April
- Data collection and site visits: 1st May-15th June
- Initial reflections: 25th June
- Draft and final report: 5th-15th July
- Presentation of findings: Last week of July
View the attached document for more information.