Request for Proposals to conduct Baseline Data Collection for IECCD Project

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  • Consultancy
  • Lilongwe
  • Applications have closed

Save the Children

The Opportunity

Request for Proposals

 TO CONDUCT BASELINE DATA COLLECTION FOR “INCLUSIVE EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT” PROJECT

  1. Background/Introduction

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children, which works in over 120 countries around the world. Our Vision is to have a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

Save the Children is implementing an inclusive and integrated early childhood education project called Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Development. The goal of the project is to ensure increased equitable access to integrated, quality and inclusive Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) especially for children marginalized by gender, extreme-poverty, disabilities and the effects of HIV and AIDS.  The project will be targeting 9,815 Community Based Childcare Centre learners aged 0-6 (4,665M/ 5,150F) of which 486 learners are new from 27 CBCCs in three Traditional Authorities; Kampingo Sibande, M’zikubola and M’mbelwa in Mzimba South Education District in Malawi. Other beneficiaries for the project are;

  • 1700 CBCC Centre Management Committee members (CMCs)
  • 537 CBCC caregivers
  • 20,000 parents/ caregivers (9,600M/ 10,400F)
  • 36 head teachers
  • 34 Deputy Head Teachers
  • 68 Primary School Teachers
  • 340 parenting group facilitators
  • 200 water committee members
  • 36 Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs)
  • 3 Primary Education Advisors

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The specific objectives of the project are;

  • To strengthen capacities to deliver integrated quality and inclusive early childhood care and development at household, community, district and national levels
  • To strengthen integrated case management for improved delivery of ECCD services and
  • To improve comprehensive nutrition specific and sensitive community and facility-based services (refer to annexe 1)

The project runs from 01st March 2022 to 29th February, 2025 and will be implemented jointly with a partner called Saint John of God Hospitaller Services and collaboratively with Government ministries.

  1. Purpose

The overall objective of the Baseline survey is to assess the situation and establish baseline values for indicators based on the Project Logic framework to inform Monitoring and Evaluation plan, setting of project benchmarks/targets and form platform for the impact evaluation of the project.

The IECCD program will work in three of the nine Traditional Authorities (TA) namely; Kampingo Sibande, M’zikubola and M’mbelwa in Mzimba South Education District The consultant is expected to reach out to all targeted TAs in the district.

  1. Scope of the baseline data collection

The Consultant is expected to lead in conducting the following activities:

  • Writing inception report on how data will be collected in line with overall baseline survey approach. This will include development of work plan.
  • Conduct data collection of the baseline survey.
  • Conduct data cleaning and analysis.
  • Submit field progress report
  • Draft a report according to agreed standard at inception phase and share with SCI for review, edits and comments, before a final copy is submitted
  • Prepare a PPT presentation for sharing findings with SCI and stakeholders and a final copy after comments to be used for further dissemination. Submit final baseline survey report, after incorporating comments from SCI and key stakeholders.
  • Submit cleaned quantitative data in STATA format to Save the Children.
  • Submit qualitative data/transcriptions to Save the Children
  1. Data collection Methodology

The consultant is expected to develop a detailed methodology for the baseline survey. It is expected that the consultant will outline the work and approach at community level to ensure the methodology is practical and is done according to standards and as laid out in the methodology. The consultant is expected to collect data using an agreed questionnaire to be developed with input from Save the Children staff.

The consultant will ensure that the questionnaire is well understood and the following steps will be taken:

  • Cognitive pilot-testing the questionnaire.
  • Full pilot-testing the whole process with households outside targeted area but within the district; and
  • data quality assurance, which should be detailed in proposal and inception report and discussed at inception phase – back-checks of 5% of surveys, the supervisor should visit again some random set of households to check answers are valid, controls on skip patterns, on enumerators who have surveys with many missing values or a large number of “skip” questions -those that allow skipping large parts of the survey.)

The Consultant is expected to develop a mobile data collection platform and share with Save the children.

  1. Organization, roles and responsibility
  1. Consultant

The entire data collection process will be led by the consultant. The consultant will be responsible for

  • Developing a sound field work approach
  • Planning and conducting consultative review
  • Managing data collection in the field
  • Clean the dataset/s and submitting to Save the Children
  • Work in line with COVID-19 guidelines
  • Hiring, manage, coordinate and monitor the enumerators
  • Data analysis and report writing
  • Disseminate findings of the study to SC and relevant stakeholders
  1. Save the children

     SC Malawi will be responsible for

  • Covering costs of the evaluation
  • Make available relevant documents to the consultant including situational analysis, relevant tools and project documents
  • Providing contacts, information and logistical support
  • Supervision of field work and support on-field decisions virtually through regular phone calls.
  • Review and provide feedback on field work approach and input on daily progress and emerging issues in the field.
  • Monitor the whole process in the field
  • Final review of reports, dataset/s and approval
  1. Key deliverables and timeline
  • Produce an inception report with a detailed work plan and field work approach to be used with respect to quantitative data collection and qualitative measurements. (7 days after signing the contract)
  • Inception report seven days after signing contract
  • Study data collection tools to be included at inception phase/report
  • Draft report following agreed template/key areas
  • PPT presentation of key findings, conclusion and recommendations
  • Final report that includes comments from SCI and key stakeholders. This will have to be accepted by SCI before final payment is made. The package will include:
    • Cleaned data sets – both quantitative and qualitative data.
    • Final data collection tools used in the study
    • PPT presentation for dissemination

The baseline study is expected to be conducted in the month of August, 2022. The consultant should develop a work plan that suggest the time line for data collection, but ideally SCI would like to have the clean dataset/s and report within 30 working days.

  1. Budget

Save the Children Malawi will fund the assessment by covering a lump sum consultancy fee. The potential consultant to submit a detailed financial proposal along with the technical proposal, with operational costs clearly distinct from professional fees. The operational costs will be liquidated with valid receipts and documentation before final professional fees are paid.

  1. Desired team composition and field of expertise

A carefully selected team with specialized competence in all the key facets of the data collection areas including:

  • A lead consultant with extensive experience in coordination of survey design, contract management, field work management and reporting.
  • A team of enumerators with experience in administering both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools including experience in use of mobile data application
  • The team must also be experienced in administering questions on sensitive issues relating to gender.
  • The consultant to share with SCI CVs for all enumerators to be engaged for SCI review before hiring them.

Consultant(s)/researcher(s) should have the following requirements;

  • A Master’s degree in Education or Social Sciences or equivalent with good understanding of development programs
  • Extensive and proven experience in managing surveys for Education (ECCD and Basic), Nutrition, Disability, Child protection, Child participation and HIV and AIDS with an integrated approach.
  • Good communication, analytical and writing skills.
  • Should have knowledge and skills in data collection using mobile application especially KOBO Collect, CsPro and online databases.
  • Be familiar with the concept of child participation
  • Experience collecting anthropometric data is highly recommended
  • Experience undertaking research work with focus on social inclusion

 

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All consultants and researchers working with Save the Children must comply with and be committed to SC Child Safeguarding Standards.

  1. Award Criteria

SCI will establish a technical review team to assess all proposals in terms of the following criteria:

Key Issue Score
Compliance with Consultancy requirement  
Provision of required information & documents; responsiveness to ToR’s. Does the proposal comply with Request for Proposal conditions for Service Delivery? Is the period OK? 10
Consultant Experience
Qualifications and general experience of the firm – what is the preferred measure of experience i.e. years against number of consultancy performed? Experience working with vulnerable communities including women and youth especially adolescent girls, understanding of gender dynamics and sensitivity and managing data collection of sensitive “personal” issues. 25
Proven specific experience in performing similar assignments in the past three years with reputable organizations. Did the consultant work with Save the Children in Malawi before? 10
Adequacy of Work Plan & Methodology
Methodology and techniques to be applied well stipulated 10
Clear description of tasks in their Scope of Work 15
Qualifications and Experience of Staff proposed for the Assignment
Mix of staff and qualifications proposed – see CVs; Availability of appropriate skills amongst their staff in relevant fields 20
Bidder’s Price Quotation (MK) Price quoted tax free? Price fixed for adequate days? Are the fees being charged in line with budget? 10
Total Score 100

SCI plans to award the contract to the bidder that offers the best value, cost and all other factors considered.

  1. Mode of Submission

The technical and financial clearly marked “Proposal to conduct baseline data collection for “Inclusive Early Childhood Care and Development” should be submitted not later than 12th August 2021 at or before 1700 hours local time via Ariba Network.

To express interest, please send name of consultancy/consultant, physical address and contact person details to Malawi.Procurement@savethechildren.org. You will be shared with a link through which you will be able to submit your Proposal.

Note:

  • Late submissions will not be accepted.
  • E-mail submissions will not be accepted unless with prior approval
  • Save the Children reserves the right to accept the lowest, highest or no proposal
  • Save the Children maintains a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy towards fraudulent, dishonest, corruption and bribery practices. If you are approached by Save the Children staff or representative demanding or asking for any kick-back or willing to provide any privileged information in exchange of business favors, please call the toll free line on 52121. Corrective measures shall be taken according to the organizations’ policy and the supplier shall never be penalized or disadvantaged in any way.

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 healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise 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

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We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a rucial 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 environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

A copy of the full role profile can be found at www.savethechildren.net/careers

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Find out more about this role by downloading the job description here  Job description

Date advertised: 28 Jul 2022

Closing date: 12 Aug 2022 – 23:59 CAT

Location: Lilongwe, Malawi

Department: Programme, Development and Quality

Type: Contingent

Schedule: Part-time

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