Hiring a firm to support data collection in the framework of PROSPECTS’ tracer study for ILO PROSPECTS Iraq At International Labour Organization

General Background
The forced displacement crisis has increased in scale and complexity in recent years. According to UNHCR, 117.3 million
people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2023. Forcibly displaced persons (FDPs), including refugees and
internally displaced persons (IDPs) face specific vulnerabilities, including loss of assets, limited rights, lack of
opportunities, a protection risk as well as a risk to be out of school, and a lack of planning horizon. In addition, the
communities hosting FDPs also struggle to pursue their own development efforts.
In response to the considerable challenges facing FDPs and host communities, a partnership initiative titled: ‘PROSPECTS’
Partnership for improving Prospects for host communities and forcibly displaced persons, was launched by the
Government of the Netherlands in 2019, bringing together the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International
Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank. Through
the PROSPECTS partnership, the five partner agencies aim to leverage their comparative advantages and areas of expertise
to programme complementary and interdependent interventions that address education and skills, employment and
protection challenges. The partnership spans eight countries, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Sudan,
and Uganda and covers in its Phase II the period 2024-2027.
2. ILO PROSPECTS in Iraq
In Iraq, PROSPECTS partnership aims to support national efforts to strengthen systems and develop/implement policies
that promote inclusion and socio-economic development of forcibly displaced and host communities, whilst working
closely with local authorities, business/private sector, and communities to identify, maximize, and realize opportunities on
the ground. With a geographic focus on the Northern governorates of Duhok and Ninawa, the partnership focuses on three
pillars, namely: education and learning; economic inclusion and protection; and critical infrastructure pillars.
Within the framework of the education and learning, economic inclusion, and critical Infrastructure pillars of the
PROSPECTS partnership in Iraq, ILO’s focus is on supporting thousands of forcibly displaced persons and host community
members to access more and better livelihoods and decent job opportunities. It is doing so through an integrated approach
that support market-driven skills training; improve public employment services; implement labour intensive infrastructure
projects; promote financial inclusion; and support business start-ups and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises
(MSMEs).

ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The PROSPECTS programme is currently designing a tracer study to assess the effects of the project on its beneficiaries.
The baseline of the tracer survey will focus on project beneficiaries who are just beginning to participate in phase two project
interventions or who have participated in ILO PROSPECTS activities in the first phase and will continue to benefit from
PROSPECTS in the second phase.
The firm hired shall work closely with the programme team to design a detailed assessment of the outcome-level indicators
that can be assessed using this approach. Specifically, the tracer survey will be used to capture baseline data on the
following global indicators:
 2a) Number of new employment and/or self-employment (business) opportunities supported by PROSPECTS.
 2b) Number of Forced Displaced Persons (FDPs)s/Host Community (HC) members already employed or selfemployed
who have either increased their income, enhanced their working conditions or maintained resilient
livelihoods.
 2.1b) Number of FDPs/HCs who have been issued work permits and/or business registrations (or other relevant
operating licenses) with support from prospects
 2.3a) Number of FDPs/HCs accessing financial services (bank account, loan, or another financial product) to
support their business/coop with PROSPECTS support
 Index of decent work for FDPs and host community members, namely the presence of explicit contractual
relation, social security, a safe working environment and satisfactory income/wages, as well as the absence of
discrimination.
 A self-reliance index for FDPs and host communities.
 The social cohesion situation between refugees and host communities.
 Other information of interest in the framework of ILO PROSPECTS, which can help understand better the potential
impacts of the programme at a later stage.
The tracer survey will require a sample size of 600 (or the maximum size possible if less than 600) valid surveys from
refugees, HC members and internally displaced persons (IDPs), randomly selected across the various PROSPECTS
intervention components. A two-step approach to data collection will likely be necessary. Initially, surveys can be
conducted over the phone whenever feasible. However, if practical challenges, quality control concerns, cultural
sensitivities, or geographic limitations arise, in-person surveys will need to be employed. It is expected that all surveys are
collected by experienced and well-trained enumerators using electronic data collection.
The tracer survey will be accompanied by around (12 minimum – 16 maximum) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with ILO
PROSPECTS beneficiaries based on probability purposive sampling for the different categories (e.g., type of intervention or
service received, gender, host community versus forcibly displaced persons, etc.) Subsequently, individuals to be included
in the discussions can be randomly selected from the beneficiary lists. The categories used may include, as applicable in
the context of ILO PROSPECTS areas in Iraq:
 TVET / skills development.
 Apprenticeships.
 Work Based Learning (WBL).

Employment services.
 Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) interventions,
 Access to finance interventions
 Cooperatives training services.
 Rights at Work.
FGDs should be organised around gender and national status (IDPs, refugees and host communities), and workstreams for
example, Apprenticeships, Work-Based Learning (WBL), Employment services, etc. Experienced and well-trained
facilitators and note-takers are expected to conduct the FGDs in person. Discussions should be transcribed in real-time
during the sessions. If consent is granted for FGD recording, the recordings should be used to enhance the accuracy of the
transcriptions.
These two lines of enquiry shall provide valuable information that the ILO can use for comparison in future measurements
about the changes to those that have been exposed to the project interventions. Specific objectives of the baseline study
include:
1. Current employment status.
2. Current level of income being earned.
3. Current employment conditions.
4. Current access to financial services.
5. Current level of social cohesion among target groups.
6. Understanding the current living conditions of target groups, challenges they face, and training needs they have.
7. Current level of vulnerability of beneficiaries.
8. Variations of employment status and conditions between Phase 1 and Phase 2 ILO PROSPECTS beneficiaries, as
relevant.
9. Level of dependence on external assistance.
10. Access to social protection, whether under direct income support, social insurance or social care and support
services.
11. Current access to work permits, working conditions, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), labour rights and
compliance with labour laws.
12. Other elements of information as per key learning questions developed.
SCOPE OF WORK AND METHODOLOGY
The baseline tracer study will adopt a mixed approach of quantitative (tracer survey) and qualitative data collection (FGDs).
The enumerators and facilitators shall conduct a targeted desk review of relevant project-related documentation to
understand the project design, reported achievements and challenges. Additionally, the enumerators and facilitators will
need to become well acquainted with the global PROSPECTS inception report detailing all aspects of the tracer study.
The ILO PROSPECTS team has already designed the data collection tools, but they may have to be slightly adjusted with the
support of the PROSPECTS M&E team to better account for the specific programme activities and expected results in the
project locations in Iraq.
If the data collection instruments are given in English format, the firm shall be translating (in the case of Iraq, in Arabic and
Kurdish) and testing them before the actual data collection to ensure the flow and skip patterns are working well. Based on
the pretest feedback, the data collection tools shall be revised.
The enumerators shall use appropriate mobile data collection applications to support the design (Excel forms of surveys in
English will already be developed and a generic version in Arabic) and Kurdish and conduct surveys with the selected
beneficiaries. The ILO PROSPECTS team will arrange an orientation and training on the survey tool and data collection
methodology at the outset of the assignment. The survey was designed to be completed in a maximum of 20 minutes. The assignment will use smartphones/tablets for data collection and the Kobo toolbox1, which is an open-source suite of tools
compatible with Android2
A random sample of refugees, host community and IDPs beneficiaries will be selected from different ILO PROSPECTS
interventions implemented between 2024 and 2025. These consist of access to finance services, training programmes, and
Employment creation/ EIIP activities. The total sample size will not exceed 600 and will be distributed between three
enumerators. Each enumerator will be responsible for approximately 75 completed surveys validated by ILO.
The methods and processes for carrying out the data collection, entry, and validation are detailed below:
1. Preparation for Fieldwork
1.1. Induction and training on survey tools by ILO.
1.2. Revise the Tracer survey / FGD questionnaire language.
1.3. Pre-testing and adjustment of questionnaires, with clearance of changes from the ILO. (This will not be counted as
completed surveys).
2. Data Collection.
2.1. Data collection and validation will be conducted using phone calls with project beneficiaries and implementing
partners. The contact details for the assigned sample will be shared at the outset of the assignment.
2.2. For the tracer, consistency checks of the questionnaire are done to ensure that questionnaires are entirely
consistent and complete before enumerators leave the respondents’ households.
2.3. Obtain further information for incomplete entries.
2.4. Enter data from source documents into a prescribed computer database, files, and forms (primarily by using
Kobo/Excel Collect and/or Google Forms and similar kinds of Data Collection tools)
2.5. Data entry using the relevant platform and associated tools (tablets, mobile applications, etc.) The ILO will detail
these before the start of the contract.

DELIVERABLES
Deliverables Deadline
1- Inception Report, this will detail the.
a. Methodology of the study,
b. Translated data tools.
c. Enumerator and FGDs facilitator recruitment and training
d. Data quality management processes (for both quantitative and qualitative).
e. Study timeline and fieldwork plan
April 30, 2025
2- Fieldwork Report (including the Data Collection Report) & Raw Datasets, which include:
a. Summary of the data collection process.
b. Comment on the accuracy, adequacy, and usability of the data collected.
c. Recommendations for improving future data collection processes.
May 15, 2025
3- Study datasets: The raw and cleaned quantitative and qualitative data were collected during the
study and used to prepare the final report.
a. The quantitative data should be shared in Excel (or other formats if requested). All
narratives, including the responses to open questions in the tracer/survey tools, should
be in English.
b. Qualitative transcripts should be shared in MS Word and English.
May 31, 2025
All data and information received from ILO for this assignment are to be treated confidentially. They are only to be used in
connection with the execution of these Terms of Reference (TOR). The contents of written materials obtained and used in
this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the express advance written authorization of the ILO. All
intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these TORs are assigned to the International Labour Organization.

The intellectual property rights of the materials modified through the assignment remain with the International Labour
Organization.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES
 The service provider must have a lead consultant for the assignment who possesses a university degree in a relevant
academic background, e.g., Social Studies, Demography and Population Studies, Development Studies, International
Relations, Statistics, Monitoring and Evaluation, etc.
 The service provider must have a lead consultant for the assignment with a minimum of 8 years of experience in field
research and an in-depth understanding of how to design and implement tracer studies.
 The consultancy firm must have previous experience in a similar assignment in Iraq’s refugee context.
 Proven capacity to hire and manage a team of experienced enumerators, facilitators/notetakers.
 The consultancy firm must include team members fluent in Kurdish and Arabic who are capable of effectively
collecting information from interlocutors who may only speak one of those languages.
 Access to tablets/Smartphones for electronic data collection.
 Significant experience using participatory research techniques, especially in engaging with vulnerable groups.
 Proven track record in working with mobile data collection approaches.
 Experience in designing and implementing evaluations or research activities remotely.
For enumerators:
1- Education: An advanced degree in a related field, such as computer science or statistics.
2- Experience in data entry, using applications and software such as Kobo, excel, access, and ODK.
3- Exposure to work on livelihoods, employment decent work, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure would be an
advantage.
4- Excellent attention to detail
5- Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
For facilitators:
1- Education: An advanced degree
2- Experience in qualitative data collection and entry
3- Exposure to work on livelihoods, employment decent work, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure would be an
advantage.
4- Excellent attention to detail
5- Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
REQUIREMENTS OF SUBMISSION OF EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Qualified consultancy firms are encouraged to submit a technical and financial proposal detailing the following:
 A short outline of the approach, research design and methodology for the baseline tracer study.
 A proposed process and timeline for the study setting out the steps, the number of
consultants/enumerators/facilitators and the number of days.
 The anticipated challenges and dependencies likely to affect the implementation of the study and how these
should be addressed.
 A description of how to ensure data quality throughout the baseline tracer study process.
 A detailed budget, with a breakdown of the consultants’ fees, research team costs and operational expenses.
 Proof of physical address.
 Certificate of incorporation/Certificate of Registration.
 Tax Identification Number (TIN) certificate, if applicable.
 An example of tracer report authored by the main consultants, provided as a separate cover.
Note: Please note that if you have no proof of the above your proposal will not be considered.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Selection will be made against the required experience and based on value for money.
The proposals will be evaluated according to the criteria:
A- 70% on the technical proposal
Technical proposal assessment details Points
1. The depth and quality of responses to the RFP 10
2. Technical compliance with the Terms of Reference and its planned deliverables 15
3. The qualifications and experience of proposed key personnel who will manage and
implement the assignment.
10
4. The proposed implementation, management plan and work plan 25
5. Data Collector and Facilitators’ previous experience in similar assignments 10
B- and 30% on the financial proposal.
Financial proposal assessment details Points
1. The budget and its overall costs are realistic. 15
2. The budget breakdown and costing per budget lines. 5
3. The alignment between technical and financial proposals in terms of resources needed
for data collection, analysis, and reporting.
10
SUPERVISION AND LOGISTICAL ARRANGEMENTS
The enumerators and facilitators hired will perform the assignment under the overall supervision of the PROSPECTS Iraq
project manager. The firm will work directly with the PROSPECTS data analyst and PROSPECTS Regional M&E Officer, under
the overall technical guidance of the ILO PROSPECTS Global M&E Officer and an international consultant in charge of data
analysis and report writing. The assignment will also be conducted in close collaboration with PROSPECTS implementing
partners in target areas.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE
The following are the proposed terms of payment, but the final terms shall be negotiated at the contracting stage.
1. 50% of the contract sum is due after the submission and approval of the inception report.
2. 50% after the submission of cleaned datasets and Fieldwork Report (including the Data Collection Report) & Raw
Datasets.

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