TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR DESK
BASED MIDLINE STUDY FOR THE WVL PROJECT IN KENYA

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TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR DESK-BASED MIDLINE STUDY FOR THE WVL PROJECT IN KENYA 

 

 
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1. Background

CARE International is a confederation of 18 CARE member organizations and affiliates committed to supporting communities in over 90 countries to achieve lasting solutions to poverty. Founded in 1945, the organization’s mission is to work with individuals, communities and partners to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice. CARE has been operating in Kenya since 1968 to facilitate processes that eradicate poverty and ensure social justice through development programs, local institutional capacity building and public policy influencing.

Drawing strength from our global diversity, resources and experience, CARE promotes innovative solutions and advocates for global responsibility.

At CARE, we put women and girls at the center of our work because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. Our Values are: Equality, Integrity, Transformation, Excellence and Diversity. We are present in at least 15 counties across Kenya and support sustainable development, humanitarian action, advocacy and partnerships.

 
2. Women’s Voice and Leadership Project Profile

The Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) Kenya project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is being delivered by CARE Canada, CARE Kenya, Uraia Trust, The Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), Community Advocacy and Awareness Trust (CRAWN Trust) and Urgent Action Fund-Africa (UAF-Africa). Its goal is to support the capacity and activities of local and national women’s rights organizations and movements seeking to empower women and girls, advance the protection of women’s and girls’ rights, and achieve gender equality with the ultimate outcome being the “Increased enjoyment of human rights by women and girls and the enjoyment of gender equality in Kenya”.

Kenyan WROs range from large, well-established and internationally recognized organizations to small, county or youth start-ups. They focus on a gambit of issues, providing direct service delivery, linking women to legal aid and justice, raising awareness and undertaking political reform. Some are strongly aligned with international or Pan-African organizations and movements, while others work in relative isolation. Some have a strong ability to analyze and effect policy change, while others are skilled at mobilizing marginalized, grassroots women’s groups to advocate for their own rights, and those of their constituency. The WVL-Kenya project is coming in to strengthen the capacities of these WROs, women networks and women rights leaders. In so doing, the project intends to improve quality of work and service delivery in their various thematic areas of intervention.

WVL offers the following four types of support to women’s rights organizations (WROs):

 

The WVL project objectives include:

 
3. Purpose of the Mid-line Study

The first purpose of the mid-line study is to assess the progress of project implementation since inception, and document best practices and lessons learned and identify gaps to inform and support decision makers, key stakeholders in various policy, program design, and implementation.

The baseline will also seek to understand if the project is making adaptations to improve efficiency, impact, or effectiveness and analyzing the learning from implementation to see if these are being used to inform decision making or adapting where required. It will also be important to learn what opportunities and barriers exist in employing adaptive management principles within the context of the project.

Finally, it will collect baseline data on the new WROs selected as part of the project’s second call for proposals for multiyear funding.

The overall objectives of this assignment are:

 

Examples of evaluation questions to be answered through the study (objectives 1 and 2 stated above) are:

 
4. Consultant Responsibilities

The consultant is expected to work closely with the WVL Kenya project team and its four principal WRO partners and provide overarching strategic guidance and advice to the entire midline process. The CARE Kenya team and its four principal partners have already made a solid start on preparations for the midline study for the consultant to review and to incorporate into the consultancy midline report, once on board. These include:

 

Tier 1: Midline data collection with key stakeholders and the four principal partners (November/ December 2021)

Conducting follow-up virtual key informant interviews with CARE staff and other key stakeholders, as well as virtual and phone-based interviews with staff of the four principal WRO partners, linked to the project’s performance indicators. Findings will be compared to the baseline conducted last year to track changes in the results.

 

Tier 2: Midline data collection with the 26 ultimate recipient/beneficiary WROs, beneficiaries of         Rapid response grants and the network members involved in the first phase of project implementation (November/ December 2021)

Conducting follow-up virtual and/ or phone-based interviews/ surveys with staff/ members of the 26 WROs, beneficiaries of Rapid response grants and around seven national or regional women’s rights networks that benefited from the first phase of project granting. Findings will be compared to the baseline conducted last year to track changes in the results.

Tier 3: Baseline data collection with the new 24 ultimate recipient/beneficiary WROs involved in the second phase of project implementation (November/ December 2021)

Conducting baseline virtual and/ or phone-based interviews/ surveys with staff/ members of 24 WROs that have been selected to benefit from the second phase of project granting. Findings will be compiled to the baseline data collected last year analyzing both baselines’ results together to form a total baseline.

 
5. Scope of the Mandate

The study population for this mandate is composed mainly of the WROs and networks that benefitted from project activities and funding.

The midline study will be undertaken in a manner that is feasible given the current COVID-19 reality and associated limitations on movement and convening. Attached is a guidance paper on collecting MEAL data during the COVID crisis. Data will be collected against the PMF of the project which will be shared with the consultant.

The mandate should start approximately on 18th October 2021 and end on 30th October 2021, which is the latest date by when the final report must be approved. Altogether, it is estimated that the mandate should take about 14 person-days.

The project is currently funding WROs in the majority - (40) of counties in Kenya: the midline study will need to collect data from all WROs. Applicants are invited to propose a methodology that is either entirely virtual or that combines virtual and physical  data collection.

 
6. Methodology

To gather information and data for key results, participatory and mixed methodological approaches will be used. Both primary and secondary study methods are expected to be applied to allow for the collection and triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative data. Specifically, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and review of secondary data will be used in order to understand the project, assess contexts, dynamics and policy frameworks that might influence project delivery.

CARE suggests the following methods for undertaking the study:

Secondary data review (October/November 2021)

 

Tier 1 data collection (November/ December 2021)

 

 

Tier 2 data collection (November 2021)

 

Tier 3 data collection (December 2021)

 

The consultancy team should be prepared to have these calls at various times of the day, including outside business hours, to accommodate for the various needs of those being interviewed, especially women and youth who may have unpaid care burdens and other workloads to manage during the COVID-19 pandemic. If requested by respondents, the interviews could be split into two or more shorter calls to accommodate busy schedules. Data collection should also take into account the persons living with disability (e.g. visual impairment, hearing impairment, etc.) and take into account small and nascent WROs in the grassroots and remote areas who may be technologically disadvantaged and unable to take part in the virtual/ online survey or have language barriers and need translation support.

All primary data collected will be analyzed with disaggregation in line with the PMF as follows:

Overall data for the four principal partners

No disaggregation given small sample size

Overall data for the 50 ultimate recipient organizations

Disaggregated per different characteristics, as relevant and feasible (age, gender, rural/urban, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender non-conforming, indigenous groups, etc.)

Overall data for the five women’s networks

Disaggregated per different characteristics, as relevant and feasible (age, gender, rural/urban, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender non-conforming, indigenous groups, etc.)

 
7. Ethics and Consent

The consultant needs to apply standard ethical principles during the course of the assignment. This includes requiring respondent consent prior to beginning data collection and maintaining the confidentiality of interviewee statements. The consultant shall not, either during the term or after termination of the assignment, disclose any proprietary or confidential information related to the service without prior written consent by the contracting authority. Proprietary interests on all materials and documents prepared by the contract holder under this assignment shall become and remain properties of CARE.

 
8. Outputs and Deliverables

Inception report: The consultant will produce an inception report following the initial desk review and scoping meetings, including:

 

Preliminary findings workshop: Following data analysis, the appointed consultant will present preliminary findings to a selection of relevant stakeholders (CARE Kenya, CARE Canada, four principal partners, certain WROs). This presentation will be followed by a discussion. The objectives of the session are to validate the findings – and exchange on draft recommendations, if they are ready – prior to report writing.

Draft report: The consultant will produce a report and hand it in after the preliminary findings workshop, after having carefully integrated data stemming from said workshop.  The report shall be written in a clear, plain and concise manner in the English language not exceeding twenty-five (25) pages excluding annexes. The draft report shall consist of the following components: program description, purpose, methodology, findings, recommendations on project delivery and results measurement, and conclusion. The draft report will be submitted to CARE Kenya, CARE Canada and the four principal partners’ team for comments and revision.

Final report: Based on feedback received on the draft report, the consultant will produce a final midline study report following the same format as the draft. The final report will not exceed 30 pages and will include, in addition to the contents of the draft, an executive summary and a series of annexes (data collection tools, list of key informants, number of respondents by type and organization, bibliography of documents reviewed (secondary data), and a version of the Performance Measurement Framework with both baseline and midline data column filled in with the findings). The cleaned dataset will be shared with this report. CARE Kenya, CARE Canada and the four principal partners will provide feedback on the report, for integration by the consultant. The report will be considered final when approved by CARE and the four principal partners.

 
9. Consultant’s Roles and Responsibilities
 
 
10. CARE and Principal Partners’ Roles and Responsibilities
 
11. Requirements

The applicant/ team should possess the following desired knowledge and expertise. The team as a whole should fulfil these requirements, not each individual consultant on the team unless that consultant is applying alone:

 
12. Expression of Interest

Firms, teams, or consultant(s) who feel that they meet the requirements should submit an expression of interest, which should include the following:

 

Annexes must include:

 
13. Submissions
 

Please send an electronic submission of your expression of interest by 30th October 2021 to KEN.bids@care.org. The subject line should read WVL Kenya Project Midline Study. Only pre-selected firms/consultant(s) will be contacted. All enquiries in relation to the TOR should be sent to KEN.bids@care.org

 

 

Women consultants, women-owned and managed firms or consortiums are strongly encouraged to apply.