End Line Survey at Save the Children

Background on Save the Children

Save the Children is the leading global independent organisation for children. Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children’s unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach.

We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our vision: A world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.

Our mission: To inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

Our values: Accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity and integrity.

We are committed to ensuring our resources are used as efficiently as possible, in order to focus them on achieving maximum impact for children.

Child Safeguarding:

Level 3: the role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; ore because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

Background information/context

The conflict in Northeast Nigeria has resulted in widespread displacement, abuse and violation of human rights, destruction of livelihoods and disruption of basic services. UN OCHA reports that 14.8 million people have been directly affected and 7 million are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. The conflict has resulted in alarming malnutrition with global acute malnutrition (GAM) and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) rates, some of which exceed WHO emergency threshold levels of 15% and 2% respectively. Of the nearly 400,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in northeast Nigeria, only 18% are receiving treatment. A lack of adequate water and sanitation infrastructure, food insecurity and poor infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and hygiene practices contributed for high malnutrition rate.

Over the past three years, Save the Children has dramatically expanded its ability to meet the humanitarian needs in northeast Nigeria. Since launching the response in 2014, Save the Children has reached many beneficiaries including children. Through the establishment of a Borno Field Office in Maiduguri, Save the Children now operates programs in Maiduguri, Mafa, Kaga, Jere, Magumeri and Konduga LGAs.

The OFDA funding aimed to provide integrated protection, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and economic restoration services for children and their families affected by conflict in Borno state, Nigeria.

Objective

The purpose of this end line study in the implementation communities is to assess the level of success of the WASH, Nutrition, child protection food security and livelihood projects. The specific objectives of the study are to:

Generate end line data for the outcome indicators. Some of the outcome indicators to be measured includes:

· % of children aged (6-17 years) reporting an improvement in their sense of safety and wellbeing at the close of the project

· Proportion of infants 0 – 5 months of age who are fed exclusively with breastmilk

· Proportion of children 6-23 months of age who received foods from ≥ 5 (out of 8) food groups during the previous day

· Provide current information/data for comparison of impact from the start to the end of the project.

· Examine changes over time in beneficiaries’ knowledge regarding:

Nutrition

· Assess uptake of knowledge, practices of optimal infant and young child feeding and health seeking behaviors

Child Protection

· Examine changes over time in beneficiaries’ knowledge and practice regarding child protection.

WASH

· To identify the opportunities, challenges and lessons learnt in implementing the behavior change communication activities in the targeted WASH communities.

· Assess change in knowledge, attitude, perception and practices as it relates to water, sanitation and hygiene.

Location and official travel involved

The Supplier will work full time in the SCI Borno field office location. Regular office hours are 9:00am to 5:00pm, Monday to Sunday. Office space will be provided but the consultant is responsible for bringing his/her own IT equipment. The Supplier may be required to travel to other locations. Any required travel will need pre-approval by SCI in accordance with SCI’s Travel Policy and applicable RO/CO Expense Policy.

Services the Supplier will provide

The consultant/team is expected to provide a number of deliverables. These deliverables are to be submitted to SCI in electronic copy, as described below.

1. Inception report according to the standard template, including detailed work for TAs review and sign off for the start of data collection.
2. Draft evaluation tools (interview guides and questionnaires) for the evaluation for review and approval by SCI.
3. The final report should be written in English and submitted within the time-frame using the project approved reporting template.
4. PowerPoint Presentation of key end line findings.
5. All documentation including raw data gathered during the survey should be handed to SCI before the consultant’s work is certified complete.

Ethical Considerations

It is expected that this assessment will be:

§ Child participatory. Where appropriate and safe, children should be supported to participate in the evaluation process beyond simply being respondents. Opportunities for collaborative participation could include involving children in determining success criteria against which the project could be evaluated, supporting children to collect some of the data required for the evaluation themselves, or involving children in the validation of findings. Any child participation, whether consultative, collaborative or child-led, must abide by the 9 basic requirements for meaningful and ethical child participation. Refer to the Practice Standards in Children’s Participation (International Save the Children Alliance 2005).**

§ Inclusive. Ensure that children and adults from different ethnic, social and religious backgrounds have the chance to participate, as well as children and adults with disabilities and children/adults who may be excluded or discriminated against in their community.**

§ Ethical: The evaluation/research must be guided by the following ethical considerations:**

o Safeguarding – demonstrating the highest standards of behaviour towards children and adults.**

o Sensitive – to child rights, gender, inclusion and cultural contexts.**

o Openness – of information given, to the highest possible degree to all involved parties.**

o Confidentiality and data protection – measures will be put in place to protect the identity of all participants and any other information that may put them or others at risk. **

o Public access – to the results when there are not special considerations against this**

o Broad participation – the relevant parties should be involved where possible.**

o Reliability and independence – the evaluation/research should be conducted so that findings and conclusions are correct and trustworthy.**

It is expected that:

§ Data collection methods will be age and gender appropriate.**

§ Assessment activities will provide a safe, creative space where children feel that their thoughts and ideas are important. **

§ A risk assessment will be conducted that includes any risks related to children, young people, or adult’s participation. **

§ A referral mechanism will be in place in case any child safeguarding or protection issues arise.**

§ Informed consent will be used where possible.**

§ The consultant will not be required to obtain approval from a Human Research Ethics Committee. Save the Children will work with the relevant agency and provide assistance with this process.

§ The consultant will not be required to obtain approval from a Human Research Ethics Committee. Save the Children will work with the relevant agency and provide assistance with this process.

Experience and skill set required

The external consultant/team must have experience and significant knowledge of humanitarian response mechanisms, and have previous experience in conducting external evaluations for conflict responses as evidenced by past reports. The evaluation team must be external to all stakeholders of the project. In addition, the following characteristics are highly desirable:

§ Significant experience (5-6 years) in coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of emergency response programmes AND expertise in at least 1 relevant sector (Food Security & Livelihoods, Nutrition, Child Protection)

§ Demonstrated experience of evaluating humanitarian response projects is essential (experience of evaluating USAID-funded projects is desirable).

§ Knowledge and experience in child participatory approaches and child safeguarding

§ Fluency in English and ability to write clear and concise reports (examples of previous work will be requested)

§ Understanding of USAID requirements as a humanitarian donor and specific requirements for this evaluation.

§ Ability to manage the available time and resources and work to tight deadlines.

Application Requirement:

Interested parties/candidates should submit the following documents:

§ Technical proposal describing how the requirements of the Terms of Reference will be met within the given timeframe.

§ Budget

§ CV(s) of lead evaluator/team (CVs are not very useful as each person have different information on their CV)

§ 1-3 samples of relevant work

All consultant is expected to submit the expression of interest online.

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

§ How well the requirements laid out in the ToR are met

§ Skills and experience of the consultant

§ Share relevant reports

§ Cost effectiveness

*Technical Competencies:

Evaluation criteria

Only consultants that score ALL Yes under the essential criteria evaluation will progress to the capability evaluation stage.

The pass mark for the capability criteria is 75 points out of 100 points.

Experience and skill set required

Individual consultants who respond to the tender must meet the following criteria:

Essential Criteria

Yes/No

Agrees to comply with Save the Children standard policies and procedures as stated in the RFQ or Invitation to Tender (ITT) document

A ‘no’ in either of these boxes will result in immediate disqualification.

Successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in a relevant area, such as social sciences, development studies, or in specific technical areas such as education, public health, nutrition, food security, etc.

Provides a CV and cover letter, explaining relevant experience and relevant reports of previous work

Provides brief description and evidence (attached copies) of up to 4 relevant services provided to other actors (either INGOs, International Organisations or donors), including the year of service and an official email address to contact as a reference

Capability Criteria (technical)

Max. 100

Evidence of minimum of three years’ experience designing and carrying out high-quality assessments, baseline, mid-terms and endline studies, and mid-term and final evaluations, for one or more of the following thematic areas:

· Child protection,

· Education,

· Health and Nutrition,

15 points

Evidence of experience working in development and/or humanitarian settings

5 points

Evidence shows strong training and experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and analysis

10 points

Evidence of knowledge and experience with a range of statistical and qualitative data managing software and approaches (such as SPSS, EPI Info, Stata, NVivo, Atlasti, KOBO Toolbox, ODK or other similar software)

10 points

Evidence proves strong command of the English language, both written and verbal with strong report writing and documentation skills

10 points

Evidence of working experience in Nigeria or similar contexts

5 points

Provided brief description (200 words or less) of steps the consultant will take to ensure the quality of the services you would provide is of consistently high standards

[10 marks for providing a highly satisfactory response, 5 marks for a satisfactory response, and zero marks for not providing one or providing an unsatisfactory response]

10 points

Provided brief description (200 words or less) on experience in inclusive and ethical child participatory methods of data collection

[10 marks for providing a highly satisfactory response, 5 marks for a satisfactory response, and zero marks for not providing one or providing an unsatisfactory response]

10 points

During the interview, the consultant demonstrates in-depth knowledge of assessments, studies and evaluations, in terms of their design and implementation, which will be assessed and scored by a panel of experts

15 points

Expected Deliverables

SCI expects the following deliverables to be provided:

1 – Inception report – The report is to define the project’s exact work plan and scope for the rest of the duration. The report should be supported by quantitative/qualitative evidence from internal and external analysis

Presentation/Report delivered to Project Board

2 – Draft business case – Comprehensive draft business case for recommended operating model

Completed SCI business case template

3 – Final survey Methodology (agreed following consultant selection). – Detailed methodology document describing selection criteria, sampling, data collection, data analysis and report writing.

Presentation/Report delivered to Project Board

4 – Power point presentation of preliminary findings. – Comprehensive report Communicating findings of the survey.

Presentation/Report delivered to Project Board

5 – A preliminary and final survey report – Comprehensive report Communicating findings of the survey. The report should also include recommendations based on findings from the report.

Report delivered to Project Board

Timeline

· The duration of the survey will be 40 days.

· Travel days (Including Security Debriefing): 4 days

· Inception of report writing: 2 days

· Review of the survey tool: 2 days

· Validation of methodology by Working groups: 2 days

· Training Enumerators and pretesting tools: 5 days

· Data collection: 10 days

· Debriefing with Borno staff and other relevant stakeholders.: 2 days

· Data analysis and submission of first draft report.:10 days

· Presentation of the first draft report to SCI: 1 day

· Submission and Presentation of the final report: 2 days

· Total: 40 days Maximum

Estimated Commencement Date: 1^st August, 2021

Estimated End Date: 9^th September, 2021.

1 – Travel days (Including Security Debriefing) – 1st– 4^th August, 2021

2 – Inception of report writing – 5th– 6^th August, 2021

3- Review of the survey tool* – 7th– 8^th August, 2021

4 – Validation of methodology by Working groups – 9th– 10^th August, 2021

5 – Training Enumerators and pretesting tools – 11th– 15^th August, 2021

6 – Data collection – 16th– 25^th August, 2021

7 – Debriefing with Borno staff and other relevant stakeholders. – 26th– 27^th August, 2021

8 – Data analysis and submission of first draft report. – 28thAugust – 6^th Sept., 2021

9 – Presentation of the first draft report to SCI – 7thSept., 2021

10 – Submission and Presentation of the final report – 8th– 9^th Sept., 2021

Scope of work

Below are the areas that will be assessed: –

Child Protection: positive discipline and child protection concerns and issues; focus on households with children less than 18 years and interview parents/caregivers and children.

Nutrition: current practices of infant and young children feeding and health seeking behaviours will be asked to PLWs and caregivers of children under 5 years.

WASH: access to water and sanitation facilities and hygiene; applies to all the households selected for the study.

Location of Study – LGAs

Jere, Kaga, Magumeri, Konduga, Mafa, MMC

Acceptance

Detail how success/satisfactory completion of the deliverables will be measured/verified. Make sure this does not contradict any terms in your contract/FWA

e.g.

· Deliverable 1 – to be accepted by Project Board within 15 days of delivery date

· Deliverable 2 – to be accepted by Project Board within 15 days of delivery date

General assumptions and dependencies

Include assumptions around SCI roles during the project, SCI resource availability and project management responsibilities. Detail any dependencies that exist.

e.g.

SCI will identify the key stakeholders to be engaged as part of the project

Payment information

Consultant’s fees shall be paid as per the contract. The break-down of payment shall be based thus:

· 30% upon signature of contract and submission of quality and acceptable inception report

· 70% upon submission of standard quality and acceptable final report.

SCI reserves the right to withhold payment if deliverables do not meet the requirements outlined in this Terms of Reference and surveys/ evaluations standards.

In addition to the fees stated above, the followings are reimbursable costs:

• Transportation Cost: Flight cost shall be paid based on submission of flight ticket/receipts. Transportation to and from airport shall be paid based on submission of invoice. Other than flight, inter-state travel to Maiduguri shall be based on SCI mileage.
• Enumerator Fee: The fee for the enumerator shall be paid based on the number of days they are engaged- N4,500 per day to survey supervisor and N4,500 per day to enumerator. A transportation allowance and refreshment shall be provided to the enumerators only for the day(s) of training. The enumerator shall be paid directly into the enumerators’ bank account (or as specified by the SCI Finance team).
• Accommodation: This shall be provided to the Lead Consultant and co-consultant or re-imbursement will be made to the consultant for accommodation (subject to submission of hotel receipt/invoice). The reimbursement for accommodation shall be in line with SCI rate.
• Per Diem: This shall be provided as per SCI rate for the number of days the consultant spends in the field
• Car Hire: This shall be provided only for the number of days of field work

THE ORGANISATION

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better health care, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Save the Children is committed to ensuring that all our personnel and programmes are absolutely safe for children.

We undertake rigorous procedures to ensure that only people suitable to work with children are allowed to join our organization and all candidates will, therefore, be subject to this scrutiny.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Applicants are advised that Save the Children International does not require any payment or expense during the entire recruitment process. Any request in this direction should be immediately reported as it is contrary to the values and practices of our organization.

Due to the volume of applications received, Save the Children may not provide feedback to all applicants. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, as applications will be reviewed as received. Save the Children reserves the right to change the closing date, if considered necessary.