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British Embassy Kathmandu (BEK) Resilience, Adaptation and Inclusion in

Nepal (RAIN) Programme

CALL FOR CONCEPT NOTES

Launch Date: Monday, 22nd April 2024

Deadline for Submission: 23:59 hrs (Nepal Time) Friday, 10th May 2024

Summary

British Embassy Kathmandu is seeking concept notes from eligible organisations for the
Community Resilience, Early Action, Adaptation and Inclusion component under the RAIN1
programme for a budget of up to £10 million over 5 years (2024/25 -2028/29).

Resilience, Adaptation and Inclusion in Nepal (RAIN) Programme

RAIN is a six-year programme that aims to strengthen the Government of Nepal's (GoN)
climate change adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk management efforts and to help make
social protection systems more shock-responsive. This will reduce losses and damages and
build the resilience of the most vulnerable communities at risk of natural (climate-induced and
earthquake) hazards. RAIN will provide technical assistance to three spheres of the
government on strengthening systems to design, develop, and implement policy, planning,
and budgeting systems to support the at-risk communities in adapting to climate change and
preparing and responding to natural hazards. It aspires to unlock additional climate finance for
adaptation and mitigation, support the work on early action and early warning to build
community resilience and make existing social protection systems adaptive and shock
responsive. Inclusion, evidence and strategic learning underpins the entire programme.

The overall budget for the total RAIN programme is £38.5 million and the budget is split across
four components and includes an unfunded Internal Risk Facility (up to £3.5 million). The
interconnected components of RAIN (up to £35 million) are:

Component A: Technical Assistance and Strategic Learning Unit

Component B: Climate Adaptation and Finance
Component C: Community Resilience, Early Action, Adaptation and Inclusion (this Call for
Concept Notes falls under Component C)
Component D: Adaptive and Shock Responsive Social Protection

RAIN will take a systems strengthening approach and delivers against four broad interlinked
outcome areas:
1. GoN uses its own fiscal resources and access to international climate finance to meet
the goals of Nepal’s National Adaptation Plan.
2. Enhanced capacity (at government and community levels) to understand climate and
disaster risks and incentives to integrate climate and disaster resilience into planning,
policy, and investment decisions across all affected areas of society and economy,
including through effective channelling of adaptation finance to the local level.
3. Social protection systems are adaptive, shock responsive and effective in reaching the
most vulnerable communities.

1
Mobilisation of the RAIN Programme is contingent upon the approval from the Government of Nepal
(GoN)

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4. People are safer from disasters through improved accessible early warning systems
and preparedness and strengthened delivery mechanisms and early action to reach
those who need it the most thus reducing impact of shocks.
The call for concept notes primarily focuses on outcome 4 but linked with the other outcome
areas.

Background

Nepal is one of the most climate-vulnerable and disaster-prone countries in the world. Its
diverse geo-climatic system makes it highly susceptible to natural hazards, including
earthquakes, floods, landslides, heatwaves, coldwaves and droughts. With global warming in
Nepal projected to be higher than the global average, climate change is already causing glacial
melt and the frequency of extreme precipitation is increasing. The HKH region is warming at
two times the global average which means that glaciers are retreating quickly (65% faster in
the 2010s than in the previous decade), snowfall days are dwindling, and permafrost is
melting. The negative impact of these multi hazard events equates to, on average, 2% of GDP
each year (increasing to 5% when there is extreme monsoon flooding or in the case of the
2015 earthquake).

Though disaster risk management is a shared responsibility between the federal, provincial
and local governments in Nepal, there is a lack of delineation of roles and responsibilities for
risk reduction, preparedness, relief and response. Development partners are supporting the
GoN in responding to small and medium-scale emergencies such as floods and landslides
which deliver lifesaving interventions, but these initiatives are not scaled up nor able to
influence the GoN’s policies for effective disaster preparedness and response. Limited
progress has been made on strengthening preparedness and response capacities at the local
level and there is a lack of coordination at the federal, provincial and local levels regarding the
choice of emergency preparedness and response actions.

The geographic footprint of disaster preparedness and response activities with investments in
anticipatory action is in a nascent stage. Flood early warning systems are currently operational
in Koshi, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces and are being piloted in Madhesh Province.
Anticipatory Action is an emerging approach where early action is taken ahead of predicted
multiple hazards that can reduce the impacts of shocks on vulnerable people and their
livelihoods, and improve emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. This
innovative approach provides ex-ante support to at-risk communities and requires pre-agreed
plans. These identify partners and activities, reliable forecast and early warning information,
and pre-agreed financing that can be released flexibly and swiftly when agreed triggers and
thresholds are reached. Anticipatory action requires a robust understanding of the socio-
economic vulnerability profiles of communities and relevant preparedness actions for multiple
hazards such as floods, heatwaves, coldwaves, droughts, fires and landslides.

BEK's RAIN programme through this component will invest to (i) strengthen GoN’s
preparedness systems for effective response, using innovative anticipatory action
approaches, (ii) enhance community resilience using adaptation interventions and (iii) promote
inclusion. The focus will be on the following sub-themes below.

Early Warning and Early Action:

Development, delivery and implementation of forecast based early action protocols for multiple
hazards (floods, droughts, heatwaves, cold waves, fires and landslides) with geographic
specific triggers and thresholds (for both preparedness and activation) across UK priority
provinces (Karnali, Lumbini and Madhesh) by working with at-risk communities across local
governments.

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Establish and strengthen early warning systems for multi-hazards, improve forecasting for
multi-hazards, improve risk communication (using mobile technologies, scientific arts and
murals, jingles and performances), support Bipad portal localisation, strengthen capacity of
provincial and local emergency centers on information management, search and rescue and
foster coordination with all levels of government.

Community Resilience and Adaptation:

Safe shelters (resilient to multi-hazards and GEDSI friendly), flood resilient housing, EWS
sirens, risk transfer, water management to improve livelihoods and build resilience.
Construction of bio-dykes and embankments for flood protection, elevated handpumps, nature
based solutions (bio-engineered check dams, recharge ponds, gully protection and other
innovations contextual to geography) and prepositioned stock items relevant for early action.

Inclusion and Localisation:

Ensure marginalised and vulnerable at-risk and landless communities, indigenous people,
(including women and children), people with disabilities, can access government services.
Adopt a gender sensitive and disability inclusive programming including women and girls and
work with socially excluded communities ensuring they have access to and understand early
warning messages. Ensure that early warning, early action, resilience and adaptation options
are inclusive with leave no one behind principles and cater to needs of at-risk communities.
Promote the use of data from GoN portals to engage with communities and local governments.
Build capacity of communities, local governments, civil society and community-based
organizations to respond to small and medium scale disasters.

Shock Responsive Social Protection:

Engage with local governments to strengthen social protection systems by enrolling people
into the existing systems (especially the vulnerable and marginalised, people with disability,
pregnant and lactating women and elderly who remain excluded). Work closely with other
RAIN implementing partners delivering other components to provide coverage to protect at
risk communities from shocks. Design interventions that explores the linkages between social
protection, landlessness and displaced communities and adopt an inclusive approach to target
at risk communities. The Technical Assistance (TA) for this will theme be delivered by an
international financial institution and the consortium will need to collaborate and coordinate to
ensure that the activities are joined up and contributing to shared learning outcomes.

Eligibility

The call for concept note is:

-Open only to consortia and eligible international, national and local Non-Government
Organisations (NGOs) recognised by the Social Welfare Council (SWC) as per the GoN
regulations.
-Concept notes need to clearly identify lead consortia partner and/or sub-lead for the themes
(mentioned above) based upon the possible interventions. The lead organisation of the
consortia should manage the delivery and implementation in all geographies (federal,
provincial and local) and build strong partnerships within the consortia partners, thereby
avoiding silos and promoting learning. Funding from BEK will also be channelled through the
lead consortia partner who will be responsible for disbursement to sub-leads and conducting
downstream due diligence.
-Given the size of the programme and associated management complexities international
NGOs may likely be the lead and sub-lead for the themes. However, it is encouraged to
include national and local NGOs/CSOs and technical partners as consortia members.
-Lead consortia partner could be the lead for one or many sub theme(s) but must demonstrate
relevant technical experience and expertise.
-Consortia (including international, national and especially local partners) must be able to
demonstrate prior experience of having delivered similar and relevant programmes in Nepal

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with a focus on early warning, forecast based early action, emergency preparedness,
community resilience, inclusion and adaptation, shock responsive social protection, and
responding to humanitarian emergencies.
-Local partners should have relevant experience and expertise in the sub-themes mentioned
above where they are leading engagement with communities and local governments.
-Consortia are expected to form formal technical partnerships with UK Centres of Excellence
(Universities and/or UK Met Office) and/or Climate/Hydro-Met Centres whilst applying for the
call for proposals that could provide expertise across the themes. Technical partnerships
should support in generating evidence to support implementation and work with local partners.
These partners should have relevant experience and expertise of using research, data and
evidence to inform resilience pogramming in Nepal relating to anticipatory action. A maximum
of two or a minimum of one partner(s) across the consortium is expected.
-There is no set limit on number of consortia members, but the partnerships must be rational
and avoid inefficient and costly spread with a strong focus on inclusion and localisation.
-The lead partner is expected to ensure FCDO’s Due Diligence pillars such as governance
and internal control, ability to deliver similar projects and programmes, financial management
and stability, downstream partner management and safeguarding aspects are assured for
itself and its consortium partners.

What are we looking for in the concept notes?

-A consortia that demonstrates strong collaboration with partner organisations and

stakeholders on what works and what does not for early warning, anticipatory action,
adaptation, community resilience, localisation and shock responsive social protection in
Nepal.
-Use of science, technology, innovation and evidence of best practices on establishing and
strengthening early warning systems, improving forecasting for multiple hazards,
strengthening risk communication, information and data management and supporting wider
coordination at all spheres of government.
-An explanation of how the consortia will achieve the intended outcomes and sustain
interventions impact beyond the project period and leverage government's fiscal resources for
disaster preparedness and response.
-An explanation of how the proposed consortia activities build resilience beyond the targeted
communities and generate evidence to influence local and national policy decision making.
-Focus on inclusion and working with vulnerable, marginalised and socially excluded at risk
communities in accordance with FCDO's do-no harm principles.
-Understanding of the priorities of the communities whilst designing interventions taking a
deliberate approach towards integrating gender, disability and social inclusion.
-An explanation of how the consortia will be able to take agile approaches and design
interventions to build resilience and adapt to climate change.
-Consortia should ensure that local partners are empowered and accountable in the
partnerships such that overhead costs are shared equitably to promote organisational
development and capacity building to enhance capabilities of the civil society organisations
and NGOs.

Geographic Priority

BEK development programmes are focussed in Madhesh, Karnali and Lumbini provinces. The
call for concept notes expects consortia to elaborate how they would be working with at risk
communities and local governments (not based on organisations’ prior geographic footprint
and existing programming but based on risk assessments for multiple hazards). In Madhesh
province the primary focus will be on floods followed by heatwaves, coldwaves, droughts and
fires. For Lumbini province the focus should be on floods, droughts, heatwaves, fires
coldwaves and landslides in selected at risk areas. Focus on Karnali will be limited to floods,

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droughts and fires. BEK expects partners to have good understanding of the locations and
communities where they intend to work. Consortia are expected to demonstrate data,
evidence and assessments have been used to prioritise at risk locations across the three
provinces, and how implementation approaches will be tailored to the specific disaster risk
and adaptation challenges present across the specified priority provinces. However, the final
geographic footprint will need to be agreed with BEK during design and implementation.
Consortia should prioritise depth and transformative impact at the local and provincial levels.

Budget

The overall budget for this component of RAIN is up to £10 million over 5 years. The amount
required per year does not need to split evenly across the years but an indication of spend
should be included. There is an expectation that at least 60% of the resources will be allocated
for Madhesh and 25% for Lumbini and 15% for Karnali respectively. Tentative budget is
required to be submitted at the Concept Note stage. Detailed financial breakdown will be
required at the invitation to full proposal stage in accordance with the FCDO Accountable
Grant (AG) template.

Expected Duration

Funding will be made available for a maximum of 5 years (2024/25-2028/29) but will be
contingent on ODA prioritisation and funding available in outer years. Please note that BEK
will develop a performance management framework to monitor progress of grants and
reserves the right to amend or curtail agreements if there is underperformance, changes in
FCDO priorities or lack of funding.

Monitoring and Learning

BEK envisages a Strategic Learning Unit within RAIN Programme as part of the Technical
Assistance and the consortium is expected to work with the facility on knowledge and evidence
generation. The consortium is also expected to monitor the project and build joint learning
plans with the facility to capture lessons on what works and what does not in early warning,
anticipatory action, community resilience, localisation, inclusion and social protection. BEK
therefore expects the consortium to provide data and results and actively contribute to
learning, influencing and advocacy with the Technical Assistance and the Strategic Learning
Unit.

Gender, Disability and Social Inclusion

Addressing gender inequalities and marginalisation and working with socially excluded groups
will be crucial and the consortium is expected to incorporate approaches to understand
contextual dynamics of exclusion, disability and inequality to inform implementation, thereby
addressing the needs of the most vulnerable and at-risk communities.

Concept Note Submission Process and Templates

Consortia are invited to submit their concept notes in the prescribed format as mentioned
below (Arial Font 11, A4 double sided) by 23:59 hrs, Friday, 10th May 2024 via email to
[email protected]. Any concept notes received after this deadline will not be
considered. Consortia are not expected to attach any annexes at the concept note stage.
Figures and tables used will not be counted within the word count limit but these should be
used proportionately.

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Format and Requirements for Concept Notes

A. Project Details (800 words)

-Consortium structure and arrangements for lead and/or sub-lead for respective
themes and technical partnerships through a schematic narrative including local
partners.
-Articulation on the selection of international, national and local partners to deliver
illustrative activities in the sub-themes to achieve outcomes and impact at scale.

B. Project Approach and Implementation (800 words)

- Rationale of the interventions.

-Proposed methodology and activities across provinces linked with expected impact and
outcomes.
-How research and evidence will be used during design and implementation.
-Explain how innovation will be used building upon existing approaches in Nepal.
-Provide details on how the themes (mentioned above) are interlinked across
geographies and implementation modalities.

C. Targeting (400 words)

-Total number of at-risk communities that will be directly and/or indirectly targeted.
-Geographic targeting at the local level (in Madhesh, Lumbini and Karnali provinces).
focusing on working in areas with a risk-based approach rather than working in areas
with prior geographic footprint or existing programming.
-Use of evidence for targeting the most vulnerable, marginalised, people with disability
and excluded population groups (communities).
-Linking risk information including context analysis whilst targeting at the local level.
-Extent to which the project will reach the hard to access areas and marginalised
communities.

D. Gender, Disability and Social Inclusion (400 words)

-Specific local knowledge and gaps related to inclusive and equitable action needs be to
be addressed.
-How GEDSI will be mainstreamed and underpin all stages of design and
implementation?
-How intersectionality of vulnerabilities will be considered for marginalised communities.
-Interventions should be specific and address inequalities across geographies at the
local level.
-How people with disability will be targeted whilst designing activities across the sub-
themes.

E. Coordination and Collaboration (800 words)

-Identify the main government (NDRRMA, MoHA, DHM, provincial and local
governments) and non-government actors that the consortium will work and coordinate
within the selected geographies.
-How will the project collaborate with existing development programmes or projects
(working on resilience and adaptation) in the same geographic locations to maximise
outputs from the intended outcomes and impact?
-Explain how the consortium would ensure meaningful technical collaboration with UK
Centres of Excellence (Universities and/or UK Met Office) and/or Climate/Hydro-Met
Research Centres and their engagement on research, generating evidence and

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knowledge for adaptive management by building capacity of local partners. A maximum

of two and minimum of one partner(s) across the consortium is expected, ensuring value
addition to inform implementation and work closely with local partners.
-Explain coordination principles with other components of RAIN to maximise synergies.

F. Monitoring and Learning (800 words)

-How will the consortium work with the Strategic Learning Unit to monitor progress
against outputs and outcomes and evaluate overall impact?
-How will the consortium ensure that regular monitoring and learning effort will feedback
into project implementation to support flexible and adaptive programming.
-Set out how you will build on effective approaches on disaster resilience and adaptation
to support early warning and early action, community resilience, adaptation, inclusion
and localisation initiatives.
-How will the project generate learning to support wider evidence and knowledge
generation initiatives and share approaches and examples nationally, regionally and
globally for advocacy and influence for anticipatory action in Nepal?

G. Budget and Value for Money (800 words)

-Topline budget headings covering project activities, capital expenditure, project staffing
costs, monitoring and learning and indirect project costs (including proportionate
overheads for all local partners). Budget should cover costs pertaining to the entire
consortium.
-How will the project ensure Value for Money (VFM) - what steps will be taken to
maximize the impact of UK funding with evidence of avoiding inefficient and costly
spread across the consortium that includes technical partnerships.
-A delivery chain map in the form of a schematic on how funding will be channelled to all
partners (international, national and local) in the consortium with breakdown including a
separate provincial split of resources per year.

H. Programme Management (800 words)

- Please explain the management structure, including how the lead partner will provide
technical oversight and accountability for the wider consortium, and arrangement
(including all downstream partners) and ways of working, ensuring empowered
accountability.
-Explain how the consortium will add value and support effective delivery against
intended impacts and outcomes.
-Explain how localisation will be promoted by working with downstream partners and
their added value and comparative advantage including collaboration with technical
partners such that the focus is on using evidence to inform delivery.
-For downstream and wider consortium partners, describe whether partnerships are
existing or not and how you will regularly conduct due-diligence assessments, mitigate
against risks and support capacity building of partners?

I. Risk (800 words)

-What are the main likely risks (strategy, context and delivery, political) of the project and
how will they be managed. This must include a narrative on managing risks such as
safeguarding, fraud and corruption.
-What controls and checks will the consortium have in place to manage these risks,
particularly where many partners may be involved and have different reporting and risk
mitigation approaches?
-Approach on how the project will be politically sensitive and apply do no harm principles.

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Evaluation and Selection Criteria

-As per established FCDO practice, BEK is running a competitive ‘call for proposals’, inviting
a wide range of potential implementing partners to participate. This will be a two-stage
process:
(1) call for concept note
(2) full call for proposal from shortlisted consortia.
-BEK will evaluate the concept notes based on comprehensive selection criteria such as
programme delivery, programme management, suitability to the call and monitoring and
learning.
-BEK will then invite successful consortia to submit full proposals. Final selection will take
place in July 2024.
-BEK will not provide feedback for the unsuccessful consortia and all decisions made will be
final.
-BEK aims to inform the successful consortia(s) within 10 working days (by 24th May 2024) or
later after the submission of the concept note whether they are invited to submit a full proposal.

Annex 1: RAIN Business Case

RAIN Business
Case.pdf

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