Working in Fragile Contexts

NIRAS has developed a cutting-edge multisectoral approach and is able to implement projects in complex environments and/or directly impacted by conflicts. Our network of permanent or project-based country offices in most intervention regions, together with an established group of associates and partners in target countries make NIRAS a leading actor in the field of development consulting in fragile areas.

NIRAS' approach is based on years of experience working in volatile environments in several regions. It is tailored to each project’s specificities and articulated around several pillars:

  • A network of trained partners and high-level experts, competent in all sectors of intervention (agriculture, WASH, infrastructures and transportation, MEL, digitalization, etc.);
  • A multisectoral approach and cutting-edge skills than can cover the entire project cycle: training, strategic support, results-based management/theory of change, feasibility studies/action plans, monitoring, third-party monitoring, mid-term and final evaluations, digital support, tailored outputs and deliverables, dissemination;
  • Access to all intervention areas, including those directly impacted by open conflicts and/or insecurity dynamics;
  • Direct access to all populations groups, including the most vulnerable and/or hard-to-reach communities (women and youth, nomadic groups, IDPs, refugees, etc.).

NIRAS develops research-based methodologies, adapted to clients’ expectations, projects’ complexities and intervention contexts, including:

  • Co-construction of approaches with the client, country offices, and NIRAS associates to meet the specific expectations of each project.
  • Comprehensive security protocols for teams.
  • Effective and tailored do-no-harm approaches towards all target groups of populations, particularly the most vulnerable ones.
  • Digital support for fieldwork allowing geolocated and real-time monitoring of projects and results.
  • Exhaustive and comprehensive quality assurance of field work, both on-site through a network of trained focal points and supervisors and remotely, enabling high-quality services, analyses, and strong evidence-based recommendations.
  • A transparent approach and regular checks-in with clients and partners to discuss service delivery, preliminary results, and, if necessary, jointly address any constraints and difficulties.
  • Targeted and tailored deliverables to each project and clients and partners’ specific expectations.

NIRAS provided services to develop a MEL system at the overall UK Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) level (£1.26 billion) which influences CSSF country and regional programmes across the globe

Our work helped the CSSF develop stronger MEL standards and practices, thereby enabling the Fund to better demonstrate its contributions towards government priorities and to use reliable evidence for decisions. We have worked with the UK FCDO to build a strategic understanding of the shape and intent of the Fund, through the creation of a Fund-wide MEL system focused on capturing evidence and learning against fund-level outcomes. We also provided thought leadership on key CSSF principles including agility, catalytic effect and high-risk programming and helped the Fund to operationalise these.

From Monitoring & Evaluation to Learning: Supporting the Climate Change, Conflict, Displacement and Irregular Migration Programme in the Sahel (CCDMP)

Since 2022, NIRAS has played a pivotal role in supporting Denmark’s Climate Change, Conflict, Displacement and Irregular Migration Programme (CCDMP) through robust MEAL services. Contracted by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), NIRAS has ensured performance monitoring, risk management, learning, and strategic communication across four complex regional programmes in the Sahel—covering Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, and Senegal. NIRAS’ contributions have significantly strengthened the coherence, accountability, and impact of Danish-supported interventions through high-quality support to implementing partners (UNDP, IFAD, World Bank, and Pro-Arides).

Key achievements include the development of joint risk management systems, strengthened results frameworks and theories of change, annual synthesis reporting, and facilitation of shared learning across partners. Through evidence-based learning missions, stakeholder engagement, and communication efforts, NIRAS has effectively elevated the visibility and strategic relevance of Denmark’s investments in climate resilience, peacebuilding, and migration governance in fragile contexts.

NIRAS’ Strategic support to the French Defence Ministry: Understanding perceptions of foreign partners in Africa

Under the Observatoire Afrique framework contract, NIRAS is playing a key role in enhancing the French Defence Ministry's understanding of how populations in West Africa, Central Africa, and the Gulf of Guinea perceive foreign technical and financial partners, including France. This long-term project focuses on generating in-depth, actionable insights—both qualitative and quantitative—across fragile and conflict-affected areas, particularly in rural zones.

Our contribution includes:

  • Designing tailor-made data collection tools for crisis and post-conflict zones;
  • Recruiting and training local data collection teams in both quantitative and qualitative methods;
  • Ensuring rigorous data quality control and confidentiality standards;
  • Managing the logistical, administrative, and security aspects of field deployments;
  • Developing a secure, interactive digital dashboard for real-time data tracking and analysis (using Kobo Toolbox and Power BI);
  • Conducting verified, on-the-ground data collection via mobile devices; and
  • Delivering actionable reports, country analyses, and synthesis documents.

Through this initiative, we provide the French Defence Ministry with robust, real-time insights to support strategic decision-making, improve international cooperation narratives, and strengthen France’s engagement in Africa.

Third-party monitoring in the Liptako-Gourma region for GIZ

NIRAS has been commissioned by GIZ to carry out this third-party monitoring project in the Liptako-Gourma region, covering several bordering, conflict-impacted, regions in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The project is implemented in collaboration with the German Stabilisation Platform, a GIZ-run entity that supports the German Federal Foreign Office's involvement in crises and conflicts around the world. The service is part of the "Stabilisation Platform - Monitoring and Analysis of Stabilisation Contexts (MASC)" programme.

Based on quantitative and qualitative data collection at the local level and desk research, NIRAS is to produce evidence-based reports and security reaction notes relevant to the decision-making process of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Liptako-Gourma region. Deliverables include: a community perception survey of the general security situation, monthly status reports, ad-hoc briefings, etc. In addition, NIRAS has developed an interactive and secured digital dashboard designed to access collected data in real time, visualisations and user-relevant disaggregation.

To carry out the data collection, NIRAS mobilised its partners in the three countries and teams of local enumerators and supervisors in all selected regions. Based on the partnership established with national-based organisations in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, the project has enabled:

  • Recruiting and training teams of interviewers, supervisors and focal points in all the target regions and localities;
  • Developing research tools adapted to local conflict-affected contexts and highly sensitive situations (questionnaires, grids, interviews, sampling and selection of areas);
  • Engaging with populations at the grassroot levels, including the most vulnerable groups, e.g. IDPs, women, youth, and nomadic groups.
  • Setting up a secured digital dashboard for centralising and displaying real-time data collection results; and
  • Using quantitative and qualitive collected data to produce evidence-based deliverables (start-up reports, conflict trend analysis, etc.) and support stabilization policies.

Knowledge Management Platform in the Lake Chad region for the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the World Bank

The Knowledge and Monitoring Platform (KMP) for the Lake Chad region is managed by the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), with the support of the World Bank. This online platform contains data and national studies on relevant themes for LCBC member-states.

NIRAS has been recruited (i) to collect quantitative and qualitative data in four bordering countries (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria), (ii) to support regional knowledge and stabilization policies through evidence-based reports and policy notes, (iii) to foster regional dialogue by establishing a regionally accepted database on economic, security, development, governance and climate change indicators, and (iv) to support the establishment of a regional knowledge hub, accessible to all member-states and relevant organisations. Based on perception surveys and focus groups conducted in 24 highly volatile border regions of Lake Chad in Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad, NIRAS has produced several reports, briefing packs and policy notes presenting the main lessons, conclusions and evidence-based recommendations drawn from this baseline data collection.

The collection of reference data from over 10,000 respondents, including highly vulnerable and conflict-affected communities, has enabled NIRAS to fulfil four main functions:

  • Establish a precise, objective and up-to-date comprehensive picture of the situation of communities at local level in peripheral, marginalised and hard-to-reach regions;
  • Support policy dialogues and thinking processes on regional development and/or stabilisation strategies;
  • Support multi-sectoral programming processes designed to assist the return to long-standing stability and community-led development (triple nexus); and
  • Nourish political reflection on how to strengthen and deepen regional cooperation between the various Member States and technical and financial partners on common issues.

Supporting stabilisation in Eastern DRC through two baseline studies and a Third-party monitoring contract for the STAR-EST project

NIRAS, in partnership with IBC, a Congolese consultancy company with HQ in Bukavu, is conducting a series of assignments in support to the implementation of the STAR-EST project in the provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project funded through an IDA-World Bank loan, aims to stabilise and rebuild conflict-affected communities in Eastern DRC through four key components: community stabilisation, community-based reintegration of ex-combatants, decentralised governance, and technical support.

NIRAS’ mandate includes establishing baseline data in the three provinces to inform the project results framework. Activities include:

  • Designing data collection tools for crisis-affected contexts;
  • Recruiting and training field teams;
  • Ensuring data quality and secure digital tracking through a real-time dashboard (Kobo Toolbox + Power BI);
  • Gathering comprehensive socio-economic and psychosocial data; and
  • Analysing conflict dynamics and the profiles of at-risk households.

The TPM contract focuses on verification, impact measurement and validation of key assumptions and includes:

  • Works: Supervising the quality and progress of construction works, including compliance with environmental and social safeguards, budget and schedule management;
  • Goods and Services: Verifying suppliers' compliance with delivery schedules, the quality of goods and services through inspections, and the suitability of goods and services for their intended use;
  • Outputs, outcomes and impact: Assessing whether each sub-project and STAR-EST as a whole are achieving their objectives.

Through this work, NIRAS provides robust, field-based insights to strengthen STAR-EST’s implementation and contribute to long-term peacebuilding in Eastern DRC.