Position Title:ย Consultant - Internal Evaluation on IOMโs Humanitarian Camp Planning
Duty Station: Homebased
Classification: Consultant, Grade Other
Type of Appointment:ย Consultant, two months
Estimated Start Date: As soon as possible
Closing Date: 16 September 2025
Project Context and Scope:
Although camps are considered as last resort, every year, IOM is involved in the setting up of up to 100 temporary settlements to host displaced populations globally during sudden-onset and large-scale displacement. It is well understood that camps can pose protection risks and hinder self-reliance, and the achievement of Durable Solutions when not adequately planned. Experience suggests that poor quality assessments for site suitability and spatial planning for the setting up of temporary sites can make humanitarian responses financially and environmentally unsustainable and expose displaced populations to health and protection risks including to floods, fires, overcrowding, evictions. Inadequate settlement planning can also limit equal access to services and the ability of displaced populations to access or recover financial, environmental, physical, and social capital. While established to be temporary, the average lifespan of camps has been estimated as 17 years, and some consolidate as permanent settlements โ transforming these challenges into long-lasting impacts.ย
This internal evaluation of IOMโs humanitarian camp planning practices aims to document
ย the process used by IOM and its capacity to adequately plan temporary settlements, the internal and external factors that influence decision making, accountability mechanisms, and to better understand the impact that settlement planning can have on the following dimensions:
SOCIAL IMPACT: By ensuring the selection of safer sites and layouts and infrastructure provision in compliance with humanitarian standards, settlement planning can improve access to services, mitigate protection risks linked to overcrowding, such as incidence of Gender Based Violence, secondary displacement, and reduces exposure to hazards such as flooding, fire and environmental degradation. It contributes to mitigating exposure to health risks derived from poor site selection and planning such as cholera, vector borne diseases, etc.ย ECONOMIC IMPACT: Settlement planning can reduce the need for costly retrofits and repeated humanitarian interventions, lead to lower construction costs, and improve efficiency in resource allocation. Over time, this reduces the economic burden on humanitarian actors and affected people alike.ย ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: By incorporating environmental risk data and land use considerations, settlement planning is key to promoting sustainable land use and reducing environmental degradation linked to displacement as well as social cohesion with host communities.ย ย AS HINDRANCE OR ENABLER OF DURABLE SOLUTIONS: Adequate settlement planning including the selection of a site, understanding the relationship with its surroundings, allocation of space or even physical layout have a direct link with access to markets, livelihoods and employment, access to services and integration with the surroundings, social cohesion enabling displaced populations to achieve durable solutions.ยThis internal evaluation will inform the development of an internal IOM policy on camps as last resort and should identify recommendations to improve the protection of displaced population hosted in temporary settlements while reducing environmental and financial implications of displacement and enable solutions from the start.ย
Based on the principles outlined in theย Settlement Approach Guidance Noteย developed in 2020 by the Global Shelter Cluster, IOM continues to invest in the operationalisation of the Settlement Approach.ย To support the consistent and scalable application of the settlements approach, IOM has developed the LOCALISE Toolkit, which offers field staff practical steps, methods, and tools to analyse displacement impacts and settlement dynamics in a structured and community-informed manner. The process and toolkit have already been piloted in several countries, providing valuable learning and demonstrating its adaptability across diverse displacement and urbanisation contexts.ย
IOM will carry out in parallel an evaluation of the application of the LOCALISE toolkit to assessย how effectively the toolkit has supported settlement profiling and planning processes, with a particular focus on the quality and outcomes of community engagement and participatory methods.ย ย The consultants engaged in both evaluations will collaborate complementing each otherโs skills and backgrounds.ย
ย Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing:
The consultant will contribute to the projectย โReforming the United Nations System โ Humanitarianโ (DP5624) implemented by the Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery in HQ particularly to its OUTCOME 1 Humanitarian actors have robust systems in place to effectively support operations and cope with operational needs through the evaluation of humanitarian action.
For this assignment, the consultant will work under the supervision of the Shelter and Settlement Specialist from the IOM Shelter and Settlements Unit in HQ. ย
Category B Consultants: Tangible and measurable outputs of the work assignmentย
Deliverable 1: Evaluation design and methodologyย
Description of deliverable: Evaluation design and methodology
Develop a comprehensive evaluation framework and detailed workplan.ย Define evaluation questions, indicators, and data collection tools to assess across the Humanitarian evaluation criteria with a particular focus in the following: Effectiveness:ย Does IOMโs settlement planning for the establishment of temporary sites bring about the desired results in ensuring adequate conditions for the affected population? (Selected Sphere standards and indicators could be used as a frame of reference).ย Efficiency:ย To what extent does settlement planning ensure cost-effective use of resources (time, money, personnel)?ย Impact:ย What broader, long-term effects (positive or negative, intended or unintended) does settlement planning have in the protection of displaced communities?ยConnectedness:ย How does settlement planning contribute to longer-term recovery and development goals and the achievement of durable solutions for displaced populations? ย .ย
Other evaluation criteria to be considered could include:ย
Coverage:ย How does settlement planning (or the lack of it) affect different population groups in need, including marginalized or hard-to-reach groups?Relevance and Appropriateness:ย Do the settlements established by IOM address the priority needs of the affected population and are tailored the context?Coherence:ย Was the set-up and planning of temporary settlements consistent with other interventions?Coordination:ย How well did the intervention coordinate with other humanitarian actors and mechanisms (e.g., UN clusters, local governments, NGOs)?Accountability and Participation:ย Were affected populations involved in planning, implementation, and feedback for the planning of temporary settlements?ยNB: For the development of the evaluation design and methodology โ as well as for other deliverables the consultant will work in collaboration with an expert in evaluations on the technical components of M&E.ย
Estimated workdays:ย 5 days
Deliverable 2a: Desk review and Key Informant Interviews (KII)
Description of deliverable: Summary of documentation reviewed and KII performed.
Review and analyse the available mapping of settlement plans profiling in 8 countries and other existing documentation on IOMโs settlement planning effortsPerform (online) KII with IOM teams in country offices involved in the spatial planning of camps and other temporary settlementsIdentify and analyse additional relevant information sources and publications.ยEstimated workdays: 10 days
Deliverable 2b: Field visitsย
Description of deliverable: Field mission reports
Estimated workdays: 15 (10 for travel and 5 for preparation)ย
Deliverable 2c: Evaluation reportย
Description of deliverable: Evaluation Report assessing the IOMโs humanitarian settlement planning.ย
The evaluation will focus on the process โ based on the desktop review and KII phase looking at activities and outputs. As much as possible, the deep dive into two or three contexts though the filed visits will allow to look at impact considerations at outcome and objective levels. ย
Estimated workdays: 15ย
Deliverable 3: Learning brief and recommendationsย
Description of deliverable: Learning brief and recommendations
Synthesize key recommendations to strengthen IOMโs settlement planning for temporary settlementsIdentify key findings and evidence for an internal IOM policy on โcamps as last resortโ.Estimated workdays: 5ย
Deliverable 4: Support to the evaluation on the impact of LOCALISEย
Description of deliverable: Technical support
In coordination with the consultant in charge of the evaluation of LOCALISE, provide technical inputs to the design of the methodology, questions, data collection and analysis of evaluation results from the spatial planning and settlementsโ perspective.ย
Estimated workdays: 10ย
Payment Terms and Conditions
Payments will be made monthly for a daily fee of USD for a maximum of 60 working days over a period of three and a half months, after submission of progress reports indicating number of days worked per deliverable and/ or fully approved deliverables.
Performance indicators for the evaluation of results
Deliverables outlined in the ToRs are delivered in a timely manner in line with the workplanEvaluation report including recommendations to inform a policy to camps as last resort for IOM.ยEducation:ย
Masterโs degree inย Architecture and urban or Regional Planning, Social Sciences, or a related field.Experience:ย
At least 5 years of professional experience in spatial planning and work in settlements within humanitarian, development, or post-crisis recovery contexts;Experience in designing and conducting evaluations using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and using M&E tools and platforms, including Excel, Kobo/ODK, Power BI, and data visualization tools is an advantage;Experience working with IOM, other UN agencies and/or other international organizations; and,Experience working in humanitarian contexts would be an asset. ยSkills:ย
Demonstration of an elevated level of professionalism and an ability to work independently; and,Strong analytical, reporting, and communication skills, with a track record of translating evidence into actionable recommendations.LanguagesIOMโs official languages are English, French, and Spanish. All staff members are required to be fluent in one of the three languages.
For this position, fluency in English is required (oral and written). Working knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish) is an advantage.
Proficiency of language(s) required will be specifically evaluated during the selection process,
which may include written and/or oral assessments.ย
Subject to approval by the relevant IOM approving authority, the selected candidate is expected to work remotely/homebased.
For further information and other job postings, you are welcome to visit our website:ย IOM Careers and Job Vacancies