Consultancy for documentation of Whole System Design Frameworks for the KOBAC Action, including Operation & Maintenance (O&M)

## Terms of References (TOR) for Documentation of Whole System Design Frameworks for the KOBAC Action, including O&M roles and responsibilities

## 1. BACKGROUND AND PROJECT CONTEXT

The Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS) Consortium is implementing KOBAC – a 36-month EU-funded action operating in the displacement-affected urban centres of Jowhar and Afgoye. KOBAC’s central theory of change rests on three interlocking outcomes: (1) local authorities coordinate and deliver inclusive urban services accountable to displacement-affected communities (DACs); (2) mandated authorities collaborate with DACs and the private sector to jointly design, deliver, and maintain sustainable urban infrastructure; and (3) DACs access livelihood opportunities directly linked to the operation, maintenance, and sustainability of that infrastructure.

A defining feature of KOBAC is the commitment to whole-of-system infrastructure design. Rather than investing in standalone assets (boreholes, individual flood defences, streetlighting), KOBAC seeks integrated system solutions in which grey/hard infrastructure, green/nature-based components, government oversight roles, community-level maintenance responsibilities, and DAC livelihood opportunities are conceived and documented as a single coherent approach from the outset.

As of mid-2026, KOBAC is moving from its inception phase into implementation. Infrastructure priorities have been extensively assessed and consulted upon with municipalities and communities in both locations; shortlisting is planned for late June/early July 2026. The teams now face the challenge of translating this rich body of work into clear, multi-stakeholder whole-system design documentation that simultaneously captures what is being built, who is responsible for what, how livelihoods are embedded, and how accountability between all parties will be maintained and tracked over the life of the project.

As the project moves from inception into implementation, the Consortium has identified a critical gap: there is no standardized methodology or harmonized process for **documenting whole-system infrastructure designs** while simultaneously integrating O&M accountability plans that (a) assign and track responsibilities across all actors, (b) quantify and embed livelihood opportunities into O&M plans, and (c) enable periodic review for mutual accountability between all parties. This consultancy is commissioned to fill that gap.

**2. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES**

The purpose of this consultancy is to develop a standardized, replicable process and documentation framework for whole-system infrastructure design, including integrated Operation & Maintenance KOBAC. The framework should serve immediately as a project accountability tool and over time as a replication guide for future infrastructure systems across or beyond the two cities.[\[MH1\]](https://reliefweb.int/#_msocom_1)

The consultancy has two equally important dimensions: 1) developing the tool/framework, and 2) producing a small number of fully worked examples that demonstrate the framework applied to real KOBAC infrastructure priorities. These worked examples are essential – they are what will allow BRCiS teams and municipal counterparts to replicate the process independently for subsequent infrastructure systems.

**Specific Objectives**

- Review and synthesise lessons from past BRCiS and EU BREACH infrastructure and O&M approaches to identify recurring strengths, failures, and design gaps that should inform the framework.
- Develop a standardized “Whole-System Design” documentation framework that integrates the following components for each infrastructure system:
- The system design itself: how grey/hard and green/nature-based components relate and reinforce each other.
- O&M responsibilities: assigned by actor type (municipal department, line ministry, community structure, private operator where applicable), with specified frequency, cost implications, and escalation pathways.
- Livelihood integration: a structured methodology for identifying which O&M functions generate employment or enterprise opportunity, quantifying slots, and assigning them to specific KOBAC Outcome 3 pathways.
- Accountability and review: a built-in mechanism enabling periodic review of whether each party is meeting their stated responsibilities throughout the project lifecycle.
- Process narrative: a record of how the design was reached – which stakeholders were engaged, what decisions were made and on what basis and challenges encountered and mitigations – to enable replication.
- Produce fully worked documentation for 2–4 KOBAC infrastructure priorities (distributed across Jowhar and Afgoye) that demonstrate the framework applied to real infrastructure activities developed by the project, serving as reference cases.
- Facilitate co-development workshops with BRCiS teams and municipal counterparts in both locations to produce these worked examples collaboratively.
- Propose a monitoring integration approach that embeds the framework’s accountability commitments into existing KOBAC MEAL and/or Outcome 1 municipal coordination structures.

**3. SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES**

The consultancy is structured in three phases. Phase 1 begins immediately upon contract signature and is not dependent on infrastructure shortlisting. Phases 2 and 3 are sequenced to follow shortlisting confirmation, though the consultant should be prepared to work with infrastructure priorities at varying levels of design maturity (worked examples may be presented as living drafts to be updated as designs are finalised). The overriding principle is that collaboration with BRCiS member teams and municipal counterparts moves at pace; the consultancy should accelerate, not gate, the teams’ own momentum.

**Phase 1 – Inception and Lessons Review (Weeks 1–3)**

The consultant reviews existing BRCiS project documentation, O&M plans from prior programmes (NEGAAD, BREACH, BRCiS III, and others as available), and relevant secondary literature on integrated infrastructure documentation in fragile urban contexts. The purpose is to ground the framework in what has and has not worked in directly comparable programming, and to agree the framework structure with CMU before development begins.

**Deliverable D1- Inception Report and Framework Outline**

**Description-**A concise document (max 10 pages) setting out: key findings from the lessons review[\[KS2\]](https://reliefweb.int/#_msocom_2) , including recurring O&M failures from prior programmes; immediate recommendations to steer preliminary private/gov engagements and infrastructure selections; the consultant’s proposed methodology for the co-development workshops; and an annotated structural outline of the Whole-System Design Documentation Framework for CMU approval before Phase 2 begins.

**Timing-** End of Week 3

**Phase 2 – Framework Development and Worked Examples (Weeks 4–8 or as adjusted)**

Building on the approved inception report, the consultant develops the full documentation framework and facilitates co-development workshops in Jowhar and Afgoye to produce 2–4 fully worked examples against real KOBAC infrastructure priorities. Workshops may be conducted remotely or in-person depending on access and the consultant’s proposed methodology, but must be substantively collaborative – the worked examples are co-produced with the teams, not drafted independently by the consultant.

The framework must treat the five components below with equal rigour. In particular, the O&M responsibility assignment and the livelihood opportunity identification must be developed simultaneously and show clear mutual dependence: the livelihood opportunities are derived from O&M functions, and O&M plans are designed with livelihood integration in mind from the start.

The framework must be infrastructure-type agnostic (a single adaptable template, not separate variants per infrastructure type).