Resilience Evaluation, Analysis and Learning 2 Associate Award Initial 18-month Work Plan

and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of Cooperative Agreement No. 7200AA20LA00004. The award aims to generate high-quality evidence on the effectiveness of USAID resilience investments and provide critical thought leadership on frontier issues influencing the resilience of vulnerable individuals, households, communities, and systems. The REAL 2 Associate Award serves three primary purposes: demand-driven resilience evidence generation and research, evidence-based thought leadership, analysis, and technical guidance in frontier resilience issues, and co-creation and facilitation of the use of resilience knowledge to improve design and adaptive management of resilience investments. The award will continue specific activities initiated under the REAL Associate Award and expand on previous resilience learning and initiate research into emerging areas of resilience measurement and analysis. The REAL 2 Associate Award will focus on several key initiatives, including the expansion of the resilience evidence base on the Partnership for Resilience and Economic Growth (PREG II) Activity in northern Kenya, the promotion of consistent measurement of humanitarian assistance averted through effective resilience programming, and the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data from the impact evaluation in Nigeria. Additionally, the award will build on the "State of the Union" Roundtable on resilience programming in fragile contexts and the Rapid Learning Briefs series on resilience programming among conflict-affected populations. The REAL 2 Associate Award will also focus on systems-level resilience analysis, developing tools for measuring factors contributing to the resilience of critical market, health, and social systems. Furthermore, the award will build on the nearly final version of the Discussion Brief on Better Integration of Nutrition into Resilience-Strengthening Programs and reinitiate joint planning calls with USAID Advancing Nutrition and counterparts within RFS and Global Health to determine potential next steps. The REAL 2 Associate Award will also provide technical support for USAID and other key stakeholders by developing guidance on resilience-oriented M&E systems and training of field-based analysts in foundations of resilience measurement. Additionally, Mercy Corps will conduct a review of current climate adaptation measurement approaches to inform the development of new tools and methods for measuring resilience in the face of climate change. The REAL 2 Associate Award will be implemented over an 18-month period, from April 2021 to September 2022, and will be managed by Save the Children and consortium managers in close consultation with the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS) and other USAID stakeholders. The award will be supported by a range of partners, including TANGO International, Mercy Corps, and USAID Advancing Nutrition, among others. The REAL 2 Associate Award is designed to build on the successes of the REAL Associate Award and to expand on previous resilience learning and initiate research into emerging areas of resilience measurement and analysis. The award will provide critical thought leadership and technical guidance to USAID and other key stakeholders on frontier issues influencing the resilience of vulnerable individuals, households, communities, and systems. The REAL 2 Associate Award will also focus on the development of new tools and methods for measuring resilience, including the development of guidance on resilience-oriented M&E systems and the training of field-based analysts in foundations of resilience measurement. Additionally, the award will conduct a review of current climate adaptation measurement approaches to inform the development of new tools and methods for measuring resilience in the face of climate change. Overall, the REAL 2 Associate Award is a critical component of USAID's resilience strategy and will play a key role in generating high-quality evidence on the effectiveness of USAID resilience investments and providing critical thought leadership on frontier issues influencing the resilience of vulnerable individuals, households, communities, and systems.