Consultant Team Leader for RI Niger Child Survival Program Final Evaluation

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANT TEAM LEADER for RI NIGER CHILD SURVIVAL PROGRAM FINAL EVALUATION

(Healthy Start Child Survival Program, CA #: GHS-A-00-07-00028-00)

Project location & Country: Konni District, Republic of Niger

Period (dates): Sept 16, 2011 – Oct. 21, 2010

Anticipated Level of efforts: One consultant for 20 work days (excluding weekends but including travel time to and from Niger)

Activity Manager (s): Dr. Mahaman Hallarou, Child Survival Program Manager Michelle Minc, Program Manager W. Africa

I. Background and introduction

With support from USAID’s Child Survival and Health Grants Program, Relief International (RI) is implementing a four-year (2007-2011) Child Survival project in 90 villages of Konni Health District, of Tahoua region. Konni is among the poorest districts of the region that suffers from high rates of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity caused by poor hygiene and child care practices with limited access to essential health services. The estimated total beneficiary population of the district is 174,421; this includes 83,324 children less than five years of age and 91,297 women of reproductive age. The major public health problems that are responsible for death and illness include malaria, diarrheal diseases, malnutrition, and childhood communicable diseases. The Under-five mortality rate in the district is among the highest in the country with estimated 270 deaths per 1000 live births and it has been estimated also that 30% of those deaths are diarrhea related.

The project goal is to reduce morbidity and mortality rates of women of reproductive age and children less than five years of age in the district of Konni.

The strategic program objectives include:

• Increased practice of selected emphasis behaviors for M/C survival; • Ensure institutionalized sustainable MOH and community support for community health workers; and • Strengthen capacity of communities and communities and local/district health teams.

The project plans to achieve the above goal and objectives through implementation of selected high impact interventions that include Control of Malaria (20% of effort); Control of Diarrheal Diseases (20% of effort); Maternal and Child Health (30% of effort); and Nutrition (30% of effort). All interventions are consistent with the MOH policy and the ultimate goals are to (a) sustainably reduce MMR, and U5MR; and (b) sustainably improve the capacity of the district-based health workers and the communities to respond to their health needs.

The strategies that have been used to achieve the above results-based objectives include: (a) capacity building of health workers and the volunteers at health facilities and the community levels with special focus on house hold Community-IMCI (HH/C-IMCI); and (b) community organization, education, and mobilization which include the establishment of functional women’s health groups and BCC. In March 2010, Mid Term Evaluation was conducted by external and has concluded that the project is on track toward reaching objectives.

II. Objectives of the Final Evaluation

Under the consultancy: The proposed Final evaluation (FE) activities will focus on the process of project implementation and Achievements as described in the RI Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP). The Final evaluation will use data and information from the project’s monitoring system and other sources: • To determine the extent to which the project accomplished the results that were outlined in the Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP) and to present the evidence of these accomplishments. • To provide a record of how these results were obtained, so that USAID can share these results with others outside of the CSHGP program-- including the U.S. Congress--and so that in-country partners and NIGER understand what should be done if they want to reproduce these results. • To demonstrate how this project contributes to global learning about community based health programming. • To ensure that all relevant stakeholders are involved and are able to fully participate in the final evaluation. To include a section on program highlights and learning with particular reference to program research which has been undertaken.

Within the context of this particular evaluation, RI expects the consultant analysis to address the following basic questions:

1. What type of impact has the RI program had on beneficiaries in the target area?
2. What are the current perceptions of RI among the community, RI staff, and peer agencies?
3. What challenges or mistakes have been faced by the RI program to date?
4. What lessons have or can be learned from the RI program ?
5. What successes/achievements have been achieved by the RI program to date and what elements are appropriate for replication?

III. Methodology

The Final Evaluation is envisioned to be a participatory process. The prospective consultant is expected to have good research methodology background and extensive experience in designing the evaluation process and conducting sensitive community surveys in accordance with the established USAID guidelines. Furthermore, the consultant must have experience in the sectors outlined and must possess demonstrated exceptional skills in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, and demonstrated exceptional report writing skills that emphasize objective analyses. The consultant is free to choose his/her own evaluation methodology. RI expects a review of primary data, interviews and focus groups with beneficiary and non-beneficiary populations. RI staff and some partners’ representatives in Niamey should be included to the extent possible as members of the evaluation team.

IV. Consultant’s tasks and responsibilities

Within the context of the USAID-assisted child survival project in Konni district of Niger, RI is contracting the services of an external consultant to carry out the Final evaluation of the project with increased participation of the child survival project staff and other stake holders. The consultant will serve as the evaluation Team Leader and provide the required technical leadership in carrying out planned evaluation activities in the target district.

Specifically, the consultant will be responsible for carrying out the following duties and responsibilities:

1. Review updated USAID guidelines for FE activities in developing countries;
2. Consult with RI/HQ and field level staff and obtain the required documentation (DIP, Cooperative Agreement, annual reports, quarterly reports, etc.) that will facilitate the planning for the evaluation activities;
3. Develop Draft qualitative questionnaire that will be revised and validated by the evaluation team during planning and orientation sessions;
4. Organize the evaluation team to carry out field level FE activities at selected health facilities and community levels;
5. Conduct interviews and/or focus groups with project staff, partners’ staff, volunteers, selected community members, and key local MOH counterpart staff to review project activities, achievements, constraints, project sustainability and lessons learned;
6. Lead the overall evaluation process including coordination of data gathering, synthesis, analysis, and the development of the FE recommendations;
7. Develop a Draft FE report outline, and share the details with the Activity Managers (Project Manager, Sr. Program Officer, and Sr. Program Director for Africa/South Asia) for comments before the first Draft FE report is produced;
8. Obtain the assistance of key project staff for the development of some key sections of the report;
9. Write the first draft of the FE report and include the feedback provided by RI/Niger and RI/HQ in the final version of the report; and
10. Coordinate closely with the RI contact person at the country and HQ levels to ensure timely completion and submission of the FE report.

V. Profile of the preferred candidate

At a minimum, the preferred external consultant (Team Leader) should meet the following selection criteria:

• French fluency required; • Background/ experience in International Nutrition/Health Sciences; • Post graduate qualification (Masters Level), preferably in Nutrition/Public Health; • Proven experience in evaluating USAID funded Child Survival Programs; • Experience in evaluating health and nutrition development programs; • Familiarity with the health challenges facing rural Sahel communities; • Five or more years of work experience in monitoring and evaluation; • Demonstrated proficiency in survey implementation, statistical analysis, and use of analysis software; • Demonstrable written communications skills in English and French.

VI. Time frame and the estimated level of effort for consultancy

It is expected that this scope of work for FE activities in Niger, including the production of the evaluation report will not exceed 28 days (including travel time). Field level evaluation activities are expected to start Sept 16, 2011 and will end October 21, 2011.

Table 1: Work plan and the estimated level of effort for the consultant

Consultant activities/tasks Estimated level of effort (in days) 1. Pre-travel planning and orientation (document review) 3 days 2. International travel to and from Niger 2 days 3. Field level planning with the evaluation team (including the orientation of the evaluation team in FE activities, questionnaire development, and materials production)
4 days 4. Field level evaluation activities (interviews, focus groups, data collection, data compilation and analysis, and development of summary reports)
5 days 5. Work with the evaluation team on the development of summary reports of findings, conclusions, and recommendations. 2 days 6. Debriefing with partners and the evaluation team and start the development of the evaluation report 1 days 7. Development of the first Draft report and the required annexes 5 days 8. Development of final report with comments from RI and the evaluation team 6 days Estimated total LOE 28 days

VII. Deliverables

1. Draft outline of the FE report in English to be submitted to the Activity Managers for review and comments prior to the development of the Draft evaluation report.

2. A set of qualitative questionnaire used for interviews and focus group discussions with volunteers, community leaders, and with mothers (beneficiary populations).

3. Draft evaluation report. This document will be submitted to the RI/HQ and the field office technical staff for comments within a week following the consultant’s return to the United States.

4. Final FE report including the required annexes that provide a comprehensive summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations.

To Apply: To be considered for this recruitment, please submit a cover letter, resume, salary history, 3 professional supervisory references (whom we may contact after a second interview) with the date of availability to hrprogram@ri.org. Incomplete applications will not be considered. The email subject line should include the following: RI Niger Child Survival Program Consultancy