INVITATION TO BID for Althani Project Integration Research for higher impact for Children breakthrough – Puntland

INVITATION TO BID FOR CONSULTANCY

Save the Children International (SCI) Somalia program hereby invites interested consultants to bid for the consultancy assignment detailed below

1 Title of Consultancy Consultancy for Althani Project Integration Research for higher impact for Children breakthrough – Puntland
2 SCI Contracting Office Save the ChildrenPuntland Office
3 Period of Consultancy The assignment will be 20 days inclusive of travels. The anticipated dates of the Integration Research are June 21 – 11th July 2020.
4 Consultant type required Firm or Individual
5 Responsibility for Logistics arrangements and Costs The consultant shall be responsible for their own logistics arrangements and costs. The consultant will not be entitled to per-diem
6 Taxation Provisions Consultant shall be responsible for all Taxes arising from the consultancy in line with the Somalia/Somaliland Tax regulations applicable at the SCI contracting office named above
7 Travel requirements The consultant is required to travel to different locations in Somalia/Somaliland during the consultancy activities. Specific locations will depend on the sampling and the Technical approach in the approved proposal  
8 Security requirements Consultant will comply with standard Save the Children Security procedures,
9 Qualification and Experience This assessment shall be conducted by an external expert or team experts selected through competitive proposal submission process both technical and financial proposal will be objectively reviewed. The lead evaluator will have as minimum the following core competencies – Project management, policy analysis, possess projects/programme analysis, comprehensive understanding of broad issues that impact on the lives of child livelihood.The lead evaluator should demonstrate exceptional skills in understanding integrated multi-area, multi-sectoral project. Previous experience of conducting similar assignment in Somalia or conflict affected area. The consultant should have capacity to conduct such assessment under the pandemic situation coronavirus outbreak; without direct contact with any of the staff or beneficiaries.
10 Evaluation Criteria Criteria for evaluation:

  • Relevant Education background
  • Similary past experience
  • Soundness of the Technical approach and proposed methodology
  • Budget
  • Proposed Timeline to deliver
11 Application Procedure Interested consultants should submit their applications via email to [somalia.procurement@savethechildren.org].The applications should be submitted in PDF format as one document comprising Technical and Financial sections as detailed below.

a)     Technical proposal – including but not limited to :

·         Consultants understanding of the assignment and context

·         Approach to the assignment

·         Methodology

·         Tools

·         Workplan

·         CV of the lead evaluator

b)     Financial proposal – providing a breakdown of all charges related to the assignment.

Applicants should also indicate the date they are available to start working on the consultancy

All applications MUST be submitted on or before the closing date below to be considered for the assignment.

12 Closing date for Applications Interested consultants shall submit their applications through the email address provided above on or before 18th  June, 2020Shortlisted candidates will be requested for an interview.
13 Terms of Reference (ToR) Complete ToR with details appended below attached herewith as    Annex 1.

  • Purpose of the consultancy,
  • Introduction of the project,
  • Background of the consultancy,
  • Objectives of the consultancy,
  • Proposed methodology and approach,
  • Scope of work,
  • Activity timelines

ANNEX 1 : Consultancy Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference Althani Project Integration Assessment Research in Somalia

1. BACKGROUND

Save the Children International (SCI) is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to fight for children’s rights and deliver immediate and lasting solution to children’s lives worldwide. SCI has been operational in Greater Somalia for over 40 years. Current programs straddle relief and development in various sectors including Health, Nutrition, Child Protection, Child Rights Governance, Vocational and Skills Training, Education and Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) working in Somaliland, Puntland and Southern States of Somalia to help communities cope with drought, conflict, displacement and flood. Save the Children International profoundly invested in humanitarian and development projects by getting financial and technical support from international donor community. Ambitious 2019-2021 SCI Country Strategic Plan highlights the importance of strengthening the operational capacity of the health and livelihood system through innovative breakthroughs by creating synergies between humanitarian and development intervention with intention of better impact for every child.

Focusing on Somalia government national development plan and challenges faced by children Save the children designed strategic plan from 2019-2021 and breakthrough which includes: Most deprived children 0-5 years of age have a strong start in Life; Children (6–14yr) have a better foundation for bright future; young people (15-24yr age) become socially and economically productive citizens; girls and women have greater voice, choice and control over decision affecting their lives, and Strengthening Government and Civil society capacity to Sustain Child wellbeing in Somalia.  The five-core thematic programmatic areas designed to address multi-face of the problem faced by the children are: Health, Nutrition, WASH, Child protection, and Child Poverty Reduction (CPR) channeled to address one or more burdens Somali children encounter. 

The overall objective of CSP is contributing towards every child in Somalia attains right to survive, protected, and developed and participated in decision making that affects their lives. SCI Somalia expanded investment in health, nutrition, education, protection, and Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) improving interventions. To achieve the overall goal of Country Strategic Plan, strategies were developed around: Increasing access to quality health service coverage by increasing health infrastructure; providing support to institutions and health management system; increasing access to/and demand for reproductive health services; increasing vaccination coverage for new born;  promoting optimal IYCF practices on exclusive breast feeding, complementary and continuous breastfeeding; reduction of incidence of common diseases such as diarrhea through improved water and hygiene practices; contributing towards reduction of acute malnutrition; and improving the well-being by improving food security for children living at high risk in vulnerable communities.

Over the past few decades, program integration has been advocated as a viable strategy to improve organizational program design, implementation, and bringing higher impact with limited resources .SC projects follow an integration approach as fundamental part of its implementation strategies. Integration involves coordination of comprehensive spectrum of services such as health, education, community and social services by multiple agencies (Browne et al.). We understand the current SCI structure health, nutrition, education, protection, and food security and livelihood activities-based intervention implemented by separate and semi-autonomous different themes at different thematic and donors, and members; with several barriers to intensify integration. For two reason: one local government has different interest and demand to balance the effort by integration efforts, instead of in concentrated to dispersity reach with separate components of the program, which left partially addressing the challenge, against the comprehensive all-inclusive approaches. SC Somalia proposing conducing project integration assessment to further improve the impact of the project implementation and decision making process.

Al Sheikh Althani project is implemented in nine regions of Somalia: Bakool, Banadir and Galagadud in South Central and, Bari and Mudug in Puntland; and Sanaag, Sool, Marrodi  and  Togdheer in Somaliland. The project targets the most vulnerable community living in camps of Internally Displaced People (IDP), host communities, by to targeting the health, nutrition, WASH, and cash transfer, to improve nutrition and food security. 

Althani project aimed at providing immediate lifesaving child and maternal focused health, nutrition services, cash for consumption smoothening to the most vulnerable groups, and contributes to reducing morbidity and mortality related to acute malnutrition. Through this project, SC will provide emergency health, nutrition, WASH, cash for food services to drought affected communities across 9 of the 18 regions of Somalia; focusing on areas that have huge health/nutrition service gaps and particularly areas affected by the current drought with IDP populations.

2. PURPOSE

The objective of this integration study is to generate evidence on how the integration is implemented on the ground and recommendation to conduct integrated programs. This proposed study seeks answers to the following three main programmatic questions.

  1. How should a project with cash and nutrition interventions be resourced by reviewing the project direct personnel budget and time-budget analysis.
  2. What management arrangements and coordination mechanisms have been made and what are the collaborations and decision-making process between different themes (i.e. cash, FSL, and nutrition and health, and WASH) which area was more or less successful, and what could be done to improve it? 
  • How and why did the above happen, according to them and to the project staff (consider also gender of recipients and gender dynamics)?  

Specific objectives

  • Improved program design and implementation through learning, and adapting
  • Increased value for money or reduced cost of operation through coordination with other thematic areas.
  • Reaching most deprived children with the full package of intervention to meet their needs. This include addressing different needs of the target group (Children, Women, Youth and people with disability)
  • Less expensive more effective way to reach people with what they need coordinated approach reduce duplication of resources.
  • Improved decision making and monitoring actual implementation and confirm successful implementation on integration

3. Guiding questions under each research question.

3.1. Reviewing how should a project with cash and nutrition interventions be resourced?

Reviewing the project direct personnel budget and time-budget analysis. Under this question the consultant is to assess the project resourcing: What project staff and level of efforts were budgeted for? Which staffing lines had significant been over spent or underspent; Which staff was not budgeted for, but actually worked in the project, if any; this include reviewing staff at country, regional and global level; why the staff time is over spent or under spent. 

3.2. Project management and coordination structure

Under this research question guidance, the consultant will review overall decision-making in project management and coordination towards integrations process in project designing and implementation specifically focusing on: Who, within the project, makes decisions on the combination of interventions? What was the decision-making process like? Who involved in or consult in decision making participatory/consultative/top down; What went well about the way this decision was made? What went less well and why?  What information is necessary to decide the most appropriate combination of interventions? In hindsight, what information were you lacking when you started? Who, within the project, makes decisions on the beneficiary groups to be targeted and the targeting criteria? What was the decision-making process like? Think of participatory/consultative/top down, how stakeholder understand participation; What went well about the way the decision group selection was made? What went less well and why? What information is necessary to decide the most appropriate target group and targeting criteria? In hindsight, what information were you lacking when you started?

3. 3. How the project integration happening

The project is a multi-sectoral project aiming at improving the livelihood children and their parents through improved food security, health, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene. The consultant will assess the integrity of the project components and the impact at the household level through key informant interview to selected beneficiaries [interviewer to describe combination of interventions, breaking it down in a clear and simple way for the recipient], key stakeholders involved in project implementations both internal and external participants.  The consultant should able to answer at least the following questions and included in the evaluation criteria

  • In general, what went well and enabled you to improve the nutrition situation for you and/or your child (ren)? How the nutritional status of the children changed? Improved or worse? Their children referred by the save the children staff or save children supported community nutrition volunteers?
  • What went less well, and made you less able to meet your nutrition needs and those of your child(ren)? Did you meet yours and your children nutritional need? Children eat better? Drink milk? Children received RUTF or RUSF?
  • What else could have helped you to improve the nutrition situation for you and/your children? what do you recommend to improve the children nutrition situation in addition to cash? Did you receive cash and nutrition counseling?
  • In this project, you were assisted through What did you think about the combination of assistance you received? What was good about it for you? And for your children? [prompt: think of type of interventions in the package; think of sequencing of these interventions]?
  • What was less good about it for you? Can you tell us why? And for your children? Can you tell us why?
  • Did the beneficiary households received Cash, Nutrition support, health, and WASH from save the children, how many people (children and adults) benefited; how many times? . What was good about the fact that the assistance was provided to you for this long? Can you tell us why?
  • What was less good about its duration? Can you tell us why? How long should this have lasted instead? Why?
  • And what do you think about the time in which you received the assistance? Think for instance if the assistance was given right after the child is admitted to SAM/MAM treatment? Was it at the right time when you needed it? Why?
  • What could have been a better timing for you? And for your child?
  • What was good about the frequency of this assistance that was provided to you? Can you tell us why? What was less good about it? Can you tell us why? What frequency would have been better?
  • Have you been referred to another SCI support after receiving the others (e.g. referred to health check after cash transfer, or refered to Cash after treatment of MAM/SAM )

4.      Methodology and Study Design

4.1. Methodology

This study will combine quantitative and qualitative data collection using virtual data accessing technology including Desk review of the project document; accessing and reviewing the budget and staffing; conducting KII with selected project staff at all level field office, country level, and regional, and global, and beneficiary households; and conducting secondary data analysis using Althani Project Baseline and Post distribution data, and data from similar project to make comparison of the project performance with other projects.   The method gives measure of the degree of integration accounting for underlying assumption and involvement level of the participating bodies toward common goal of improving the outcomes of children. The model provides quantified gap analysis between perceived and expected level of integration within SC thematic areas, for each thematic area integration, and the institution wide integration. Quantifying integration: Quantification of integration is multi-level and multi-dimensional to measure quantitatively of the extents, scope, and depth of project integration as perceived by different actors (designer, implementors, and end users), that gives to the score of system integration.

4.2. Study design

 The study design involves interviewing representative  of four layers (Country, area, field, and beneficiaries) stages of perceived and actual integration on 5-point scale (0-very limited connection, 1-Awareness: Have a good knowledge of the other except the common institutional goal of the reaching children no effort made to plan, organize, and execute activities together; 2-Communication: You and other program team have regular communication and sharing the beneficiary information; 3-Coopertaion: You and other team each use your knowledge of other services to guide and modify your own planning in order to get better coordination between services; 4-Collaboration: You and the other team jointly plan service delivery, actively modify operations plans based on the advice and input from mutual discussion).

  1. Country level: How the heads, TA, TS, of thematic area perceived their understanding about the other thematic area.
  2. Area level: How does the area Operation team, PM, REALM, perceive and expected from the others
  • Field level: Field office level (FSL, Health, Nutrition, WASH, Child protection)
  1. Beneficiaries: How does the beneficiary family perceive and expect the service delivery SCI.

The lead evaluator or team is expected to write an inception report following review of literature and reference documents using the guidance format provided by SC Somalia. Such a methodology should define an appropriate sample size and specify mechanisms that will be adopted to avoid selection bias. As a minimum, the evaluation process will include the following key steps:

  1. Review of relevant literature related to the integration project and drafting an inception report;
  2. Application of appropriate data collection tools (e.g. questionnaire, checklist etc) for Interviews and KII.

iii.         Data analysis and Evaluation Report writing; and

  1. Presentation of key assessment findings;

4.3.  REFERENCE MATERIAL

  • Althani Project proposal
  • Althani Project project document and finance document
  • Althani Baseline and PDM data and report
  • Althani Project MEAL log frame work

4.4. EVALUATION TEAM

This assessment shall be conducted by an external expert or team experts selected through competitive proposal submission process both technical and financial proposal will be objectively reviewed. The lead evaluator will have as minimum the following core competencies – Project management, policy analysis, possess projects/programme analysis, comprehensive understanding of broad issues that impact on the lives of child livelihood.

The lead evaluator should demonstrate exceptional skills in understanding integrated multi-area, multi-sectoral project. Previous experience of conducting similar assignment in Somalia or conflict affected area. The consultant should have capacity to conduct such assessment under the pandemic situation coronavirus outbreak; without direct contact with any of the staff or beneficiaries.

5. TIME-FRAMES

Time frame for the activities will be:

18th May – June 11, 2020

5a. Timeframe and activities

The assessment should be completed over a period of approximately 20 working days from 18th June 2020 to July 8th 2020.  Illustrative activities and timeline are provided below:

Phase Activities Timeline Proposed Date
Phase-1 Desk Review – Inception Report Review of background documents and consultation with relevant SC staff (3 days) 21st – 23rd  June
Presentation of Inception Report 1 day 25th June
Design of assessment methodology and tools for data collection 1 day 26th June
Review and feedback on inception report and data collection tools 28th June
Data Analysis and Report writing Data analysis and Draft preliminary report with recommendations (5 days) July 5th 
Save the Children Staff review and feedback on the report July 9th
Finalize report (following review/vetting) and presentation) (2 days) July 11th, 2020

6. Application Process

The consultant is expected to submit the following documents which will form part of the pre-selection recruitment process:

Company Profile

  • CVs of the lead evaluator
  • Technical proposal, outlining the methodologies including methods, sampling, quality assurance, analysis, management and tools to be used
  • Work Plan
  • Financial proposal
  • Proven samples of the previous similar work

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