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TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR BASELINE CONSULTANCY MAVAMBO CHILDREN
VANA (MCV) Project
Contents
TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR BASELINE CONSULTANCY Mavambo Children Vana (MCV) Project ........... 1
1.
ABOUT MAVAMBO ORPHAN CARE (MOC) ................................................................................. 2
2.
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE OF THE PROJECT BASELINE STUDY.......................................... 2
3.
Project Goal, Objectives and key Result Areas ........................................................................... 3
Goal ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Objectives ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Project Key Result areas...................................................................................................................... 3
4.
Objectives of Baseline Study ....................................................................................................... 4
The specific objectives of the baseline: .............................................................................................. 4
1. To assess the current capacity of communities and local service providers to sustainably
care for children with a focus on the following; ............................................................................. 4
2. To determine current parenting capacity of household (HH) to meet the education, health
and food needs of children. The baseline study will also pay attention to the following .............. 4
3. To assess the current capacity of local health centres, DSS and DCWPS subnational levels and
community structures in supporting vulnerable children and their families to access HIV
services............................................................................................................................................ 4
4.1 PEPFAR Biennial Indicators ............................................................................................................... 5
Project PEPFAR Indicators....................................................................................................................... 5
5.
Scope of work.............................................................................................................................. 6
6.
Baseline Duration ........................................................................................................................ 6
7.
Expected results .......................................................................................................................... 7
8.
Consultants Profile ...................................................................................................................... 9
9. Proposals ......................................................................................................................................... 9
10. To Apply: ....................................................................................................................................... 9
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1. ABOUT MAVAMBO ORPHAN CARE (MOC)
Mavambo Orphan Care is a Private Voluntary Organization established in 2001 and
registered as a PVO in 2005 (Registration Certificate number: PVO 6/2005).
VISION: A healthy self-sustaining community for all children.
MISSION: Empowering children to develop their maximum potential to become socially
adjusted, self-sustaining, healthy, responsible citizens.
2. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE OF THE PROJECT BASELINE
STUDY
With funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through
USAID, MOC is implementing the Mavambo Children Vana (MCV) Project. The five year
project seeks to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS on Zimbabwe’s children by enhancing
care and support services for OVC. The MCV project is going to provide a critical continuum
of care for targeted beneficiaries and is earmarked to contribute to epidemic control through
social-economic interventions that reduce vulnerability to HIV AND AIDS. MCV will
complement the four pillars of the National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children
which seek to strengthen children, their families, communities and government to provide
holistic care and supportive environment for all children.
Strategy: The MCV project’s core strategy is to work with existing structures and improve
their capacity to provide comprehensive services to the children through a continuum of care.
It will build upon lessons learnt from National Action Plan for OVC (NAP) 1 and
Vana/Bantwana Project and in line with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare Strategic Plan 2014 - 2018. MCV will implement some creative initiatives to engage
and work with children, their households, communities and relevant government structures.
Each initiative will have a clear exit strategy guaranteeing sustenance of care and support by
households, communities and relevant government structures.
MCV Program Approach
MCV builds on Children First (CF)
and
Vana/Bantwana
(VB)
achievements to develop the longterm resilience of communities to
care for vulnerable children and their
families. MCV takes a householdfocused approach to improve the
ability of impoverished families to
care
for
their
children.
Acknowledging the important roles
local actors and service providers
play in child development, MCV
strengthens existing community
structures, including schools, Early
Childhood Development (ECD)
centres, resource units, Child
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Protection Committees (CPCs), Case
Care Workers (CCWs), village
health workers (VHWs) and clinics
and other health providers, to sustain
service provision for vulnerable
children. In this way, MCV
strengthens existing structures and
systems
from
household
to
community to provincial level,
ultimately contributing to national
level.
MCV will employ sound and proven models developed with partners under previous
USAID programs while using evidence-based approaches to pilot innovations. In all its
activities, MCV will engage and capacitate the relevant government structures for long-term
sustainability and ownership. MCV will strengthen community case management systems,
integrating case management into program interventions and support Government of
Zimbabwe (GoZ)’s relevant Ministries coordinating role for service providers. Recognizing
the potential for child abuse by project staff and partners, MCV will conduct a comprehensive
risk assessment and develop mitigation strategies to be upheld by all. MCV will ensure that
sub-partners and other service providers have appropriate, effective child safeguarding
policies in place. MCV will also develop and uphold a policy on stigma and
discrimination with the support of the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) to
promote an inclusive continuum of care for all vulnerable groups affected by HIV and AIDS.
Project Results: The project will support a cohort of 63 080 children and their families to
access a comprehensive continuum of services.
MOC thus seeks the services of an independent consultant to design, plan and conduct a
rigorous baseline study for the Mavambo Children Vana (MCV) Project.
3. Project Goal, Objectives and key Result Areas
Goal
The overall goal of Mavambo Children Vana is to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS
on Zimbabwe’s Children by enhancing the sustainability of care and support services for
OVC.
Objectives
1)
Strengthen the capacity of communities and local service providers to
support vulnerable families and children.
2)
Strengthen the capacity of vulnerable households to care for children.
3)
Strengthen the capacity of the public sector social service system to support
vulnerable families and children.
4)
Strengthen the capacity of communities to support vulnerable children and their
families to access prevention, care and treatment of HIV services.
Project Key Result areas:
KRA 1: Capacity of Communities and Local Service Providers to Sustainably Care for
Vulnerable Children and Families Enhanced.
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KRA 2: Capacity of households to sustainably care for vulnerable children strengthened.
KRA 3: Capacity of Government’s Social Service System to Sustainably Care for Vulnerable
Children Strengthened.
KRA 4: Capacity of communities to support vulnerable children and their families access
prevention, care and treatment HIV services strengthened.
4. Objectives of Baseline Study
The baseline survey is to establish the status of project indicators so that the information
obtained can inform the implementation of project activities. The baseline shall assess the
current situation of access to services by children, the current capacity of households,
communities, local services providers and the Government of Zimbabwe at district level to
sustainably care for children. Also the baseline is intended to determine the current status of
community case work mechanisms that support OVC care and practices and systems that
promote children’s well-being at local, subnational and national levels. The baseline study
will also establish benchmarks to enable the on-going measurement of project outputs,
outcomes and impact.
The specific objectives of the baseline are:
1. To assess the current capacity of communities and local service providers to
sustainably care for children focusing on the following;
1.1 Attendance and retention rates in ECD, primary and secondary schools
1.2 Access to primary health services including health monitoring
1.3 Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health
1.4 Existing community based child protection and community case work mechanisms
1.5 Child rights knowledge amongst both children and parents.
1.6 Community Psychosocial support mechanisms
1.7 Prevalence knowledge and attitudes towards GBV and post GBV services
1.8 The major child protection issues in the districts in which the project is to be
implemented.
1.9 Characteristics of OVC in the districts that MCV is implementing.
2. To determine current capacity of caregivers /household (HH) in parenting and
meeting the following basic needs of children: education, health and food. The study will
pay attention to the following:
2.1 Current household economic strengthening activities including Internal Saving and
Lending
2.2 Livelihoods activities
2.3 Parenting skills
2.4 Household vulnerability assessment
3. To assess the capacity of Government’s Social Service System and DoCWPS to
Sustainably Care for Vulnerable Children.
The study will focus attention to the following:
3.1 Establish the capacity of child protection structures from sub national to community
levels.
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3.2 Appreciate the National Association of Social Workers of Zimbabwe (NASWZ) at
subnational level.
4. To assess the current capacity of local health centres, community and districts’
structures in supporting vulnerable children and their families access HIV services.
4.1 Current capacity of local clinics to initiate children on ART
4.2 Status of support groups
4.3 Current community capacity in adherence follow up
4.1 PEPFAR Biennial Indicators
Specifically, the project seeks to document baseline information of goal and outcome
indicators by ascertaining the status of these indicators?
1. Percentage of children whose primary caregiver knows the child HIV status.
2. Percentage of children <5 years of age who are undernourished
3. Percentage of children too sick to participate in daily activities
4. Percentage of children who have a birth certificate.
5. Percentage of children regularly attending school
6. Percentage of children who progressed in school during the last year
7. Percentage of children <5years of age who recently engaged in stimulating activities
with any household member over 15years of age
8. Percentage of caregivers who agree that harsh physical punishment is an appropriate
means to discipline or control in the home or school.
9. Percentage of households able to access money to pay for unexpected household
expenses.
Project PEPFAR Indicators
1. Number of active beneficiaries served by PEPFAR OVC programs for children and
families affected by HIV AND AIDS (DSD)
2. Number of active beneficiaries receiving support from PEPFAR OVC programs to
access HIV services (DSD)
3. Number of the target population who completed a standardized HIV prevention
intervention including the minimum components during the reporting period.
4. Number of people completing an intervention pertaining to gender norms, that meets
minimum criteria
5. Number of people receiving post-GBV care
6. Number of HIV-infected adults and children receiving care and support services
outside of the health facility.
7. Number of individuals who received HIV Testing and Counselling (HTC) services
and received their test results.
5 Scope of work
MCV baseline study will be conducted in the 4 districts shown in table 1 below. The
baseline should adequately address the data needs embedded in these TOR as per the agreed
quality standards and timelines.
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Table 1: Coverage per district
District
Children
Adults
Harare
29533
1850
Goromonzi
17056
1100
Centenary
7200
1880
Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe
3051
1050
Total
57200
5880
6 Baseline Design and Data Collection Methods:
The baseline study design and methods to be used must be explained in detail and be
appropriate and of sufficient rigor to produce valid results. The baseline team is expected
to employ a variety of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to gather the
evidence required to adequately answer the evaluation questions. The baseline should
ensure sound methodological design, independence and objectivity, as well as high
quality documentation of findings. The team is expected to:
•
Utilize data collection and analysis techniques that ensure internal validity and
reliability of baseline results.
•
Employ social science methods and tools that reduce the need for consultant-specific
judgments.
•
Employ standardized recording and maintenance of records from the baseline (e.g.
focus group transcripts).
•
Collect data on variables corresponding to the key domains of the baseline
•
Produce baseline findings that are based on MOC’s evidence and data. This precludes
relying exclusively upon anecdotes, hearsay and unverified opinions. Findings should
be specific, concise and supported by quantitative and/or qualitative information that
is reliable, valid and generalizable.
7 DURATION
The baseline study is expected to begin on 18 May 2015. The total duration of the entire
study is 30 days.
8 Data Analysis
The consultant/s should provide a detailed analysis plan as part of the expression of interest
to conduct the study.
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9 Limitations of the baseline design and methodology
The consultant/s should clearly spell out key limitations to the baseline. Overall limitations to
the baseline must also be clearly disclosed in the baseline report.
10 EXPECTED PRODUCTS
a) Final baseline design, work plan and timeline presented to MOC by the lead evaluator
within FIVE (5) days of the award of the contract. The baseline design will include a
detailed baseline design matrix (including the key questions, the methodology and
data sources used to address each question), draft questionnaires and other data
collection instruments, and known limitations to the baseline design. The work plan
will include the anticipated schedule and logistical arrangements and delineate the
roles and responsibilities of members of the baseline team. USAID approval of the
final baseline design will be sought by MOC.
b) The team will present preliminary findings in PowerPoint format to MOC/USAID and
other key stakeholders in separate meetings after completion of field work and initial
data analysis.
c) Draft baseline report (meeting all the criteria below) delivered to MOC/USAID for
review within 5 business days from the day of presenting preliminary findings.
d) The final report will be provided to MOC in electronic form within 5 business days
following receipt of comments from MOC.
The baseline report must address all baseline questions included in the scope of work. It
must represent a well-researched and organized effort to address the baseline purpose.
MOC and stakeholders must have sufficient information about the body of evidence and
how information was gathered to make a judgment as to its reliability, validity and
generalizability.
The final report should not exceed 35 pages (excluding appendices) and must include the
following sections:
2.
3.
4.
5.
Cover Page
Table of Contents
List of Acronym
An executive summary: 3-5 pages that summarizes the key points (project purpose and
background, baseline purpose key baseline questions, baseline design and data collection
methods and analysis, findings, conclusions, and recommendations)
6. Background information on the project
7. Purpose and use of baseline
8. Baseline team: must be described with particular reference to the existence or lack thereof
real or potential conflicts of interest relative to the project.
9. Baseline design and data collection methods: must be explained in detail and limitations
associated with the baseline methodology (selection bias, recall bias, unobservable
differences between comparator groups, etc.) must be disclosed in the report
10. Baseline findings: must be presented as analyzed, evidence and data and not based on
anecdotes, hearsay or the compilation of people’s opinions. Findings must be specific,
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concise and supported by strong quantitative or qualitative evidence. When applicable,
include statements regarding any significant unresolved differences of opinion on the part
of funders, implementers and/or members of the baseline team.
11. Conclusions and Recommendations: need to be grounded in specific set of findings and
must be action-oriented, practical and specific, with defined responsibility for the actions.
12. Annexes: The final scope of work, baseline tools and sources of information must be
properly identified and listed in annex. Also, include in Annex signed statements attesting
to a lack of conflict of interest or describing an existing or potential conflict of interest
relative to the project being evaluated by team members to the baseline study.
e) The final report should be submitted to MOC with all primary (transcripts/SPSS files
and syntax) and secondary data and records from the baseline in some readable
electronic format.
The baseline report should adhere to the USAID Baseline Policy requirements.
11 Consultants Profile
The Lead consultant must have the following qualifications:
a. Advanced degree (at least Masters) in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Health
Studies, Community Development, Development Studies or any other relevant
advanced degree.
b. A thorough knowledge of OVC programming.
c. Vast experience in Pediatric HIV baseline surveys.
d. Strong knowledge and experience of qualitative and quantitative research methods,
sampling strategies and analysis.
e. Good command of the following languages: English and Shona
f. Research experience with children is an added advantage
g. Proven experience in conducting Baseline surveys preferably on women and girls
programs.
h. Statistical analysis skills and strong expertise in SPSS and or STATA,
9. Proposals
National consultants/firms interested in conducting the assignment are invited to present their
proposals, which consist of a detailed technical offer plus:
a. their understanding of the TOR
b. a suggested methodology to be applied
c. a proposed time schedule
d. CVs of the persons to be involved in the baseline study with their roles &
responsibilities
e. references on similar assignments already conducted
f. and a detailed budget
10. To Apply:
1. Interested and qualified applicants should send their applications no later than
1600hours on May 8, 2015 via email to: [email protected]
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Any modifications to the scope of work, whether in technical requirements, baseline
questions, evaluation team composition, methodology or timeline need to be agreed
upon in writing by MOC and the lead consultant.
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