Mozambique: Call for Consultancy - Lessons Learned

INTRODUCTION

Save the Children is the world's leading independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children's lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfil their potential.

We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

In partnership with DFID and the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC), Save the Children seeks to conduct a research to draw lessons about the efficacy of using cash-based instruments for aid delivery following their pilot for the just ended emergency drought response project.

The aim of this research piece is to evaluate the lessons learned from use of the paper and electronic voucher systems by Concern Worldwide, Oxfam, Save the Children and Care International (COSACA) consortium and the WV, WHH & FH Consorcio Humanitario de Moçambique (CHEMO) in order to contribute towards improvement in the delivery of future humanitarian assistance.

Save the Children welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the knowledge pool on the comparative advantages of various delivery modalities of humanitarian assistance in Mozambique and the world at large which will be of benefit to various sector players in the humanitarian field.

1.RESEARCH SUMMARY

Geographical coverage:

Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala, Zambezia and Manica

Sampled Areas

Save the Children will conduct their learning exercise in a sample of eight districts out 12 pre-selected districts: Gaza- Guija, Mabalane, Chicualacuala, Chigubo; Inhambane- Funhalouro, Homoine, Govuro, Mabote, Panda; Sofala- Chemba; Manica- Machaze; Zambezia; Nicoadala. The choice will be made based on how representative they are of the other remaining four districts in the Province to allow for more accurate generalizability of the findings.

Two communities will be assessed per district.

Study Purpose

To evaluate the lessons learned from use of the paper and electronic voucher systems by in order to contribute towards improvement in the delivery of future humanitarian assistance

Primary Methodology

Mixed Methods

Study Start Date:

22^th May 2017

Anticipated Study Report Release Date

5^th July 2017

2.DESCRIPTION OFSAVE THE CHILDREN PROGRAMMING APPROACH

Save the Children is working in Mozambique with a full-spectrum approach to programming, engaging in both long-term development projects and emergency interventions, building the resilience and improving the lives of girls and boys throughout the country

As part of emergency program, Save the Children is the lead of the COSACA consortium - a consortium working in Mozambique in emergency preparedness and response, as well as longer term resilience. COSACA consortium is composed by CONCERN, OXFAM, CARE and Save The Children (Consortium lead). COSACA’s primary objective is to respond to drought in 6 provinces of Mozambique covering WASH and FSL interventions, including the use of a voucher modality for food assistance

1. ABOUT COSACA

SC joined INGOs Concern, CARE and Oxfam in 2009 to form the COSACA consortium in order to expand the geographical reach and technical expertise available during emergencies and to reduce response time. The government has relied on COSACA both as a primary emergency first responder and as training body for the government and other organizations to prepare them to plan and mobilize for emergencies. Since its formation, COSACA has been called to respond every year, and has effectively and efficiently mobilized and delivered a comprehensive supply of life-saving resources to camps of displaced persons within 72 hours, as well as provide emergency supplies for communities and households at risk so that they can remain in situ, reducing recovery time. COSACA partners have technically supported emergency clusters at all levels, as well as providing critical skills-building training for partners.

COSACA traditionally operates in tandem with INGC in responding to major and rapid on-set disasters in the country such as cyclones and flooding.

This research will be carried out on behalf of COSACA consortium, where Save the Children will provide overall leadership and oversight of the process with full involvement of its consortia partners. The CHEMO consortium will carry out the similar research in their areas of intervention. The results of two researches will be reviewed and consolidated in one final report.

4.RESEARCH TARGET AUDIENCE

The research outcome will be used to engage with: the UN agencies and peer institutions within the NGO community operational in the humanitarian sector to provide the critically needed evidence; the Government of Mozambique, and the donors including DfID to stimulate a discussion on appropriate delivery modalities for humanitarian assistance that are best suited to the Mozambican context. The research findings will further enrich the evidence repository of the Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP) which is a global community of practice engaged in policy, practice and research on cash-based programming. The findings will also be used to engage with corporate service providers of cash-based programming technologies such as Master Card Aid for future improvement of their software and hardware prototypes.

5.DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED EVALUATION STUDY

The proposed Research will analyse the paper and electronic voucher system which were in use by COSACA and CHEMO’s just ended emergency drought response programmes, which phased out in March 2017. It is envisaged that the learning and recommendations will necessitate the need to revisit the national humanitarian agenda and develop robust intervention packages as well as implementation modalities that meet the needs of the partner communities. The research will be undertaken under the leadership of a highly competent and outsourced consultant with demonstrated abilities on rigorous evaluation and research function as well as similar assignments and proven track record. The consultant will work with a team of enumerators and will be backstopped by designated Save the Children and regional staff and in collaboration with designated World Vision Mozambique Research Manager. The research design, approach and methodologies to be used will be developed by the consultant. A triangulation of mixed methods for primary data collection and secondary desk reviews will be used where necessary. The lead researcher is expected to develop an appropriate research method including a representative sample to allow for wide generalizability and conclusiveness of the results.

6.RESEARCH PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

6.1 Research purpose

To generate evidence based on the evaluation of the lessons learned from use of the paper and electronic voucher systems by Concern Worldwide, Oxfam, Save the Children and Care International (COSACA) in order to improve to contribute towards improvement in the delivery of future humanitarian assistance. This will be an in depth examination by consortium partners that will be inward looking, focusing on areas such as performance and achievements, critical enablers for technical roll out, gaps in implementation that can be improved in future, gaps in project design that can be improved upon in future, robustness of the governance framework, evaluation of the staff capacity and other internal aspects, as well as generating evidence based on:

a) What went well?

b) What did not go well?

c) What are the best practices that were generated?

d) What innovations have Save the Children successfully piloted?

e) What can be improved upon in future and how?

6.2Research objectives

Outlined below are the study objectives:

• To get a detailed understanding of the implementation process
• To identify and document any trouble shooting technical glitches experienced with the Last Mile Mobile Solution (LMMS) and Master Card Aid electronic technologies
• To quantify the minimum recommended infrastructural and staffing requirements of migrating from paper voucher to e-voucher systems
• To understand the perceptions of external stakeholder users of the voucher systems including beneficiaries, vendors, community leaders etc.
• To understand the impact that the voucher systems and the food distribution as a whole had on the beneficiary households and the individuals within the households, with a particular focus on gender, young children, those with disabilities, the elderly, and other disadvantaged groups
• To compute a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of the efficiency gains of the e-voucher system over the paper-voucher system
• To compute a CBA of the efficiency gains of the e-voucher systems (LMMS & MCAid) over multi-purpose cash transfers
• To understand the interaction of the voucher systems with local economies

6.3Research framework

6.4 Scope

The study will solely focus on paper voucher and electronic voucher systems that were in use by COSACA and CHEMO during the just ended emergency drought response projects.

The part of evaluation supervised by Save the Children will be conducted in eight (8) districts that will be selected amongst 12 districts in which COSACA implemented a food assistance response programme (due to the feasibility): Gaza- Guija, Mabalane, Chicualacuala, Chigubo; Inhambane- Funhalouro, Homoine, Govuro, Mabote, Panda; Sofala- Chemba; Manica- Machaze; Zambezia; Nicoadala. Two communities will be assessed per district.

The consultant may also interview relevant national level stakeholders as key informants based on the information needs required.

6.5 Rationale

The lessons learnt study is justified for the following reasons:

· It will contribute to the vast wealth of knowledge on the comparative advantages of e-voucher systems over paper voucher systems which will guide future designs of humanitarian interventions

· It will provide empirical evidence packaged as fact-based lessons that will be fed back to service providers like MasterCard Aid to help them improve their technological platforms as an innovative modality of delivering humanitarian assistance

· It will position Save the Children and its consortia partners among respected think tanks in the domain of research operations research

· It will improve the social accountability of Save the Children and its consortia partners to its constituent beneficiaries by giving them a chance to validate the learnings from the voucher systems

• It will provide DfID an opportunity to strengthen its public facing accountability to its taxpayers and the UK Aid Government with a body of evidence that effectively communicates impact of their financial investments from a value for money perspective

7. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The consultant is expected to articulate a robust and suitable research methodology in line with the scope, objectives and evaluation questions. The detailed method should include but not be limited to the following:

• A robust study design to depict the project effectiveness using mixed methods including the use of secondary data, and the triangulation of the findings
• Data collection instruments, protocols and procedures,
• Sampling procedures for both qualitative and quantitative methods
• Procedures for analysing mixed methods
• Reporting and the dissemination strategy
• How users/key project stakeholders in the research will be involved

It is preferred that research method selected will involve Save the Children and consortium staff, beneficiaries, and partners. Quantitative methods selected should contribute to the assessment of outcomes and outputs indicators. In addition, the consultant should select qualitative data collection methods e.g. Focus Group discussions, case stories, etc. to give deeper understanding of processes and approaches, perceptions and behaviours and other factors that have contributed to COSACA drought response indicators. The type of methods and samples used may vary depending on the cultural constraints or opportunities presented by the project’s context.

8. RISKS AND LIMITATIONS

The research might be constrained by disruption of data collection due to adverse weather conditions, unavailability of the respondents and competing priorities but these will be mitigated against in the best possible way including having a sizeable and well representative sample size. Furthermore, limited involvement of partners in the study process due to unforeseen circumstances could affect the study (e.g., activities organized by the local government or other partners within the community may disrupt the exercise.). However, the consultant should be experienced enough to overcome these limitations to increase the validity, reliability, and utility of the research findings.

The consultant and the team are expected to make the necessary plans in order to minimize these limitations.

9. AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY

a.Team members and Roles

The consultant is expected to work closely with Save the Children staff and the region. Furthermore, the consultant will work with enumerators in the course of data collection and processing. In order to facilitate smooth undertaking of the research, the Save the Children Lessons from emergency assessments are reflected on for enhanced recovery (LEARNER) Manager will be the main point person assisted by MEAL and other staff at the country office and Senior Leadership including the Region and Save the Children UK. The research will have a number of people who will play different roles during the exercise as outlined in the Table below:

The LEARNER Manager in collaboration with World Vision Mozambique (WVM) Research Manager will work with the consultant to ensure process and data integrity as well as to provide logistical support for the entire exercise.

The consultant is expected to lead the process working closely with Save the Children and consortium staff. The responsibilities of the consultant are summarized below:

b. Evaluation Team***

No.

Member

Responsibilities

1

Save the Children and Consortium Leadership & Regional and Save UK

· -Review and validate the inception report including tools

· -Ensure quality and compliance with standards in data collection

· -Approve the final draft of the research report

2

Consultant

· -Design an appropriate sampling method of the target population, which must be well described in the report.

· -Prepare a schedule/ work-plan for the entire process.

· -Work with LEARNER Manager and WVM Research Manager to acquire ethical clearance

· -Develop and pre-test data collection tools

· -Train enumerators on the study tools

· -Handle enumerators’ issues.

· -Supervise and lead both quantitative and qualitative data gathering

· -Interview key informants and hold focus group discussions

· -Coordinate and supervise data entry, cleaning and analysis and interpretation.

· Plan the field work

· -Provide feedback to the communities, partners, consortium, and Save the Children Senior Leadership Team.

· -Write the draft and final report within the scheduled time.

· -Present the report to Save the Children for sign off

3

LEARNER Manager and Save the Children MEAL and Field staff

· -Facilitate Community Mobilization

· -Organize the meetings with stakeholders

4

Consortium leadership

· -Sharing of findings with the stakeholders including the affected communities

Subject Matter Experts

5

Consortium MEAL Teams.

· -Provide technical support during planning, data collection and analysis

Partners

6

Government departments, (INAS &INGC) & the UN Agencies

· -Provide required data as targeted key informants

7

Community based organisations and other NGOs

· -Planning, data collection, and feedback provision.

10. RESEARCH GOVERNANCE

The study process will be led by the consultant who will work in close collaboration with WVM and CHEMO/COSACA consortium teams. The consultant will be ultimately responsible for ensuring the right tools are used with the intended method and also that the sampling protocol is followed. The Research enumerators and team members if necessary, will be selected beforehand to ensure appropriate level of support, participation and relevance. Importantly, the consultant will work with the WVM Research Manager to acquire the ethics approval. Furthermore, WVM leadership will ensure that appropriate clearance is acquired from the various levels of government to ensure a smooth research process. A clause in the contract that will be drawn with the consultant will outline all the legal requirements that the consultant will have to abide by for ethicality reasons including protection of intellectual property generated from the research.

11. BUDGET

Save the Children will cover all costs associated with the exercise. Examples of the costs include: consultant’s professional fees, travel costs (in kind or refund upon presentation of original receipts), consultant’s accommodation and meals during data collection, enumerators fees, accommodation, per diems, professional report design and printing, publication fees, and any other legitimate costs.

Research Time Frame

No.

Activities

Date

1

Deadline for the submission of consultant’s technical and financial proposals

15^th May 2017

2

Contract signing, Inception meeting and sharing of programme documents

22^th May 2017

3

Ethical clearance

23^th– 26^th May 2017

4

Submission of the inception report including tools for review and discussion

24^th May 2017

5

Review and feedback tools and consultants arrival for data collection

25^th– 26^th May 2017

6

Enumerator’s training for data collection, entry and cleaning

Field phase for data collection

29^th May - 9^th June 2017

7

Data entry, cleaning and analysis

9^th June – 12^th June

8

Presentation of preliminary findings/exit interview

12^th - 13^th June 2017

9

Further data analysis and report writing

12^th - 19^th June 2017

10

Submission of draft Report

20^th June 2017

11

Feedback on the draft report and finalization

21^st - 27^th June 2017

12

Submission and signing off of the final report

4^th July 2017

Note: The total payable contract period shall not exceed 30 days; # denotes travel and inter province activities.

12. LOGISTICS**

The consultant will be expected to request for the required logistics before and during the research. Save the Children will provide the logistics required in kind. The logistics will include but not be limited to accommodation and transport arrangements.

13.DELIVERABLES

The most important product expected is the final research report professionally designed in soft and printed copies. The consultant is expected to present a final, comprehensive and clearly structured report. The report must be robust enough for submission to the research society for registration. The consultant will submit the report to Save the Children and partners. The research will have four (4) products as summarized below.

a.Inception report which will be approved by Save the Children before the study commences – should include but not limited to:

• Evaluation frame

• Evaluation questions

• Sources to be used

• Evaluation matrix • Evaluation designs

• Data-collection methods • Indicators to be measured

• Data analysis methods

• Detailed work plan

• Allocation of work within the team

• Data-collection tools.

b.Draft study report This will be circulated to all stakeholders by the consultant to enlist their feedback. The report must be comprehensive and clearly structured (in simple English), with appropriate recommendations for the Government of Mozambique, humanitarian actors and the donor community. The report must have high standard of statistical rigor while making the information accessible to multiple target audiences. All sources of data, calculations used to arrive at findings, and indicator definitions shall be clearly acknowledged, so that the measurements can be replicated in other research activities. Any assumptions should be made explicit and have appropriate appendices as attachments.

c.Final study report (which will incorporate feedback from all stakeholders) in electronic form and hard copy.

d. Cleaned quantitative and qualitative data set and/or summaries.**

Minimum requirements of the final report:

The study report must demonstrate compliance with generally accepted quality standards such as: study objective; design and setting; sampling procedures and sample characteristics; theoretical framework; setting of data collection and analysis; study participants and representativeness; data disaggregated by gender, disability, and by age where feasible; statistical analysis; clarity of themes; findings and reporting consistency, ethical concerns; and limitations. Furthermore, key crosscutting themes such as gender, environment and protection should clearly be addressed.

14. DOCUMENTS

The documents to be reviewed by the consultant include amongst others;

• COSACA/CHEMO Baseline reports
• COSACA/CHEMO Rapid Assessment Report
• COSACA/CHEMO Final Evaluation reports
• Technical Secretariat of Food and Nutrition Security (SETSAN) reports
• Country humanitarian plan
• COSACA El Niño induced drought response strategy, drought response project proposals, baselines, monitoring reports and evaluations if available.
• Any other relevant documents

15.APPLICATION PROPOSAL

In accordance with the proposed implementation schedule, the consultant shall submit the following deliverables:

ü Technical Proposal:

ü Financial Proposal:

ü Duties and Taxes

1. Technical proposal:

The technical proposal should contain a clear description of the research methods, activities, work plan and the reporting system as well as the detailed CVs and notarised degree certificates of the persons to be involved clearly indicating the responsibilities of each individual. In addition to these, the consultant should submit a sample of experience in similar kind of work. The consultant should demonstrate the capacity to use STATA or other appropriate software to be used for data analysis. The consultant should demonstrate experience in similar pieces of work, have industry recognition, and credibility.

b.Financial proposal:

The financial proposal should contain first of all, the consultant’s daily rates, and in addition, present a detailed breakdown of the financial estimate such as cost of accommodation and meals while in the field, consultant travel costs, report preparation, communication, etc. The total cost should be clearly written in a recognised currency both in figure and in words including all Taxes. In case of mismatch, the words will prevail.

1. Duties and taxes

The Consultant shall pay all tariffs, duties, other taxes or charges levied by their government at any stage during the execution of the work. The consultant shall be responsible for their tax obligations and should not pass that obligation to Save the Children.

16. APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

All the proposals submitted within the given time will be received and form a basis of pre-selection of the best candidate (s) on the next working day of the last date for submission of proposals. Based on the research task, Save the Children will select one/two best proposals from the consultants and award the task to a consultant that demonstrates the best capabilities. All rights are reserved with Save the Children either to approve or disapprove the proposal without giving any reasons whatsoever. If needed, the consultant will be asked for modifications in the proposal before approval. If the consultant does not hear from Save the Children in a week after submission deadline, he/she should consider his/her application as not having been selected.

17.QUALIFICATIONS OF CONSULTANT/FACILITATOR

· Advanced degree in Economics, Agriculture Economics, Rural Development, Development Studies, Nutrition, Humanitarian Studies, Evaluation Studies, Project Management or any other related field.

· Extensive experience in undertaking evaluations with other International organizations.

· Excellent presentation, facilitation and report writing skills. Fluent in both English and Portugues

Both technical and financial proposal should be submitted to Save the Children in separate folders by e-mail: scimoz@savethechildren.org coping deizi.sitoi@savethechildren.org with Consultancy Lessons Learned as subject.