Assessing the water accessibility intervention impacts: Terms of Reference

Water access and sanitation infrastructure has been among Sudan’s most pressing challenges.
The COVID-19 pandemic and required prevention and mitigation measures have further increased the urgency of improving WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) infrastructure to a significant extent. The impact of climate change in Sudan and unprecedented rainfalls in 2019 and 2020 have resulted in the Blue Nile to record the highest water level in 100 years. Without the presence of resilient infrastructure, due to the consequent flooding, the city of Khartoum was inundated with contaminated water. Prior to the flooding, a significant number of water facilities were broken because of the lack of proper maintenance.

Against this backdrop, the Government of Japan has decided to support the ILO in its response to recent flooding and the COVID-19 pandemic in the Mayo Suburb of Khartoum, Sudan. This 1 year project (April 2021- March 2022) will allow the ILO to support the rehabilitation of damaged water reservoir facilities and feeder roads with functional drainage systems, improving access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, while mainstreaming
decent work principles and enhancing employability through the world of work. The project leverages the ILO’s Employment-Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) approach in the implementation of rehabilitation works, maximizing the local labour inputs for the rehabilitation of these assets. The EIIP approach applies the labour-based methods of construction works, in which the use of manual local labour is optimized for such works as excavation, water piping, haulage, soil compaction and road sealing, among others.

Appropriate equipment is used to supplement work for reasons of cost or quality, and it does not exclude the use of machines. The present project consists of 4 pillars: 1) rehabilitation of destroyed water pumps and feeder roads with drainage systems (as well as sanitary facilities such as toilets, in response to an initial scoping mission) with the labour-based methods, 2) provision of skills development opportunities to local communities in the affected areas and government officials, 3) enhancing awareness of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards in the construction sector, and 4) provision of infrastructure investment planning tool to the central government for sustainable outcomes. This TOR pertains to the first pillar: rehabilitation of water pumps and feeder roads.

Due to the inaccessibility to water resources, local communities in Mayo spend a significant share of total disposable income for purchasing water. This is not solely due to the lack of the functionality of public water pumps, but also because the local water pumps are considered to be unreliable sources of water in terms of quality. Household water insecurity is thus high in the communities. This insecurity is affecting other areas of human security first and foremost
economic security due to the high share of disposable income on water that could otherwise be spent for other meaningful purposes. Other security issues pertain to health security without sanitary water that is of great importance in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis, and personal and community security that is key for peaceful coexistence of residents in the community, which is unstable.

Opportunity costs deriving from the limited access to sanitary water are therefore significantly high in Mayo. Against this backdrop, the project aims to work with a consultant to conduct research to analyze the status quo of the communities in Mayo vis-à-vis lack of access to water and resulting socio-economic challenges (ex-ante). The research also aims to analyze potential socio-economic impacts of water interventions (e.g. rehabilitation of water pumps, sanitary facilities, and drainage systems) on the community access to social and economic activities,
not limited to water itself, based on the project interventions (ex-poste).

Overall objective

The overall objective of this consultancy (hereafter “external collaboration”) contract pertains to
the enhanced understanding of correlation between water access improvement and socioeconomic
development. The project aims to achieve this objective through the following twofold
analyses:

1. Methodological development to clearly and properly capture the variables in question, in relation to water access and project impacts
2. A baseline survey of local accessibility to water resources in Mayo Suburb and analysis of relationships between water accessibility and socio-economic development, before the project intervention
3. Assessment of the project intervention impacts on water accessibility in terms of economic, social, and environmental impacts on households from both direct (i.e. direct benefits from having enhanced access to water) and induced perspectives (multiplier effects of enhanced access to water on economic, social, and environmental variables).

Economic impacts include variables such as access to jobs, incomes, and household savings;
Social impact variables include school attendance, physical and mental health, and access to sanitation; Environmental impact variables may contain overall positive environmental gains, if applicable at the hypothetical level.

Scope of Works
The study will cover key institutions the project has been engaging with, including private and
public sector institutions as well as a cross-selection of beneficiaries within the Mayo district.
Methodology The external collaborator will deliver the following services to the ILO:

Methodological development

Develop the methodological approach to the study, including:

1. Background and significance of the research
2. Research question and hypothesis
3. Timeframe of the study (i.e. methodological development, data collection, analysis, reporting)
4. Sampling criteria
5. Survey instrument and questionnaire
6. Statistical issues: sample size, randomization, analytic approach
7. Ethical issues

Data collection

Supervise the household data collection in Mayo Suburb

Data analysis

Analyze the collected data and write a mid-term and final report

Deliverable

1. An inception report outlining the methodological approach
2. A mid-term report presenting the baseline study findings
3. A final report containing the methodological approach, relevant data, analysis, key findings and policy recommendations.

The external collaborator shall regularly inform the ILO project team of the progress and seek
its guidance when necessary.

Proposed approach and corresponding deliverables
**
Conceptualization of the methodology**

The methodology will continue to be developed and informed by the researcher’s experience of key socio-economic issues related to water access and sanitation in the area and expertise in methods of economic analysis, including regression. Research questions will also be developed in the conceptualization process. The overall methodology and approach for the baseline survey will be described in an inception report. This will include sample size, randomization, analytic approach.

• Deliverable 1: Inception report detailing the methodological approach and strategy for the baseline survey (25/08/2021)

Baseline survey

• Sampling strategy: The development of a baseline survey for a minimum of 300 households within Mayo is required.
• Survey development: The survey questions and target indicators will be refined as part of the methodological conceptualization process.
• Data analysis: Regression analysis will be conducted using the results of the baseline survey to empirically test the strength of the relationships between metrics of household water insecurity

The results of the baseline survey may also be used to inform ILO on local needs within each Mayo district. The results will be presented to the ILO team and a Baseline Report of the results will be developed.

• Deliverable 2: Draft Baseline report (30/09/2021); PowerPoint presentation of draft baseline results (30/09/2021) ; Final Baseline report (15/10/2021)

Impact assessment

Following the planned body of works (scheduled for completion around February 2021), a full
impact assessment will be conducted. The impact assessment will employ the baseline survey
to both treatment and control groups in the area.

• Deliverable 3: Submission of Impact Assessment report (01/03/2022); Powerpoint presentation of final results (01/03/2021); Final report (07/03/2021)

Delivery and schedule of outputs:

The period assignment is from 15/August/2021 to 30/March/2022. The external collaborator
is expected to work within this period up to 90 days.

Payment and schedule:

• 20% of the total fees against inception report covering the methodological approach
• 30% of the total fees against mid-term report covering the baseline study to the satisfaction of the ILO
• 50% of the total fees against final report covering the impact assessment to the satisfaction of the ILO

Consultancy fees

The ILO will pay to the External Collaborator the consultancy fees plus eventual transport costs, which shall be the sole remuneration and include provision for any incidental expenses. The External Collaborator will submit invoice(s) for payment, in accordance.

Qualifications and Experience

• Advanced University degree in economics, development studies, environmental studies, or a related field
• A minimum of three years of experience in policy-oriented research in the field of social and environmental policy, acquired in government or related public policy institution, international organisation, university, research centre or think tank.
• Familiarity with the Sudanese development context; an experience conducting research on the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector particularly in the Mayo area is a strong asset.
• Advanced knowledge of data analysis tools (e.g. STATA, R, Python) and demonstrated experience in regression analysis.

Evaluation Criteria

• Demonstrated experience of research in the field of social and environmental policy (30 marks)
• Conceptual clarity of the technical proposal (30 marks)
• Demonstrated familiarity with the development context in Sudan. Knowledge of the target area Mayo is an advantage (20 marks)
• Demonstrated experience utilizing statistical software such as Stata, R, Python etc. (10 marks)
• Fluency in English language (10 marks)