TERMS OF REFERENCE TO HIRE A CONSULTANCY FIRM(S) TO CARRY OUT AN ENDLINE SURVEY OF THE TUBE AHEZA AMAZI HAFI PROJECT 

1. Introduction

Caritas Rwanda is a non-profit organization legally registered, with the mission to assist people in need and foster their integral human development. Caritas Rwanda has more than 60 years of working experience in building poor families’ resiliency through development, social welfare, and health interventions.

In July 2021, Caritas Rwanda signed an agreement with Caritas Slovenia to coordinate the Tube Aheza Amazi Hafi project: ‘’Sustainable Management of Water and other resources towards better health and living conditions in Karongi district in Rwanda’’. The project intends to improve access to and sustainable management of water and environmental resources for the wider population in the Gashari, Mutuntu, Rugabano, and Rwankuba sectors in the Karongi district. 

2. Background

By addressing the problem of lack of adequate water infrastructures and rational use of water to vulnerable populations in the four sectors, Gashari, Rugabano, Mutuntu, and Rwankuba; addressing the root causes of poverty faced by adults and youth by facilitating them to access financial services and contribute to their families economy and both men and women have decision-making power; helping poor populations improve their agro-pastoral practices towards sustainable food security, and using Social Behaviour Change Communication calling upon habitants of Gashari, Mutuntu, Rwankuba and Rugabano to adopt good practices in WASH, hygiene and sanitation, environmental friendly practices etc. The Tube Aheza Amazi Hafi project contributes to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 5: Gender equity, 6: Clean water and sanitation, and 13: Climate action.

To carry out activities related to these SDGs, Caritas Rwanda received funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and Caritas Slovenia and works with Caritas Nyundo/Kibuye as an implementor of all the project activities.

Therefore, Caritas Rwanda is hiring a consultancy firm to carry out an endline survey to measure the impact of the project’s interventions on the population of the Gashari, Rugabano, Mutuntu, and Rwankuba sectors and inform all the stakeholders of the extent to which the project activities have brought about the desired results.

3. Objectives of the assignment

3.1 General objective

The overall objective of this survey is to evaluate the project's success and effectiveness. The survey will generate empirical evidence of how:

1. The project-targeted beneficiaries have improved access to clean water and improved water sanitation and hygiene practices (WASH);
2. The project-targeted beneficiaries (70% of whom are women) have accessed financial services to boost their family’s economy;
3. The agricultural practices and community awareness of agro-ecological practices contributed to the environmental promotion and increased access to food;

The survey will be conducted to collect data (qualitative and quantitative) that will allow us to measure to which extent Tube Aheza Amazi Hafi’s activities contributed to the improvement of target beneficiaries’ lives and environmental conditions.

4. Description and Coverage of the Assignment

Description of the Assignment:

The survey implementation will be carried out by the contractor with support from Caritas Rwanda and Caritas Nyundo/ Kibuye. The contractor will provide the English version of the questionnaire to be used for the assignment and will later provide its version translated into Kinyarwanda.  During the survey, the contractor will have to physically meet the project beneficiaries at the field level to collect data, based on the sampling method proposed and agreed on. Caritas Rwanda will provide the contractor with a final selection of beneficiaries and households to be included in the survey. The assignment should be completed in 30 calendar days. In this survey, the contractor is advised to use a control group to better understand and motivate changes that occurred thanks to the project implementation.

Coverage of the Assignment(s):

The survey will be carried out on a sample from 1,450 beneficiaries from the Rugabano, Rwankuba, Mutuntu, and Gashari sectors and the sampling method should be part of the consultant (firm) selection.

5. Expected Outputs - Deliverables

A detailed Inception report showing the methodology with research tools (questionnaires; interview guide) and approach to conduct the assignment. The inception report should also include ethical considerations, and a literature review showing existing findings in the domain of intervention. The inception report will also include a detailed action plan with a timeline to accomplish all assigned tasks. The approved inception report should be submitted within 5 calendar days after signing the contract.

1. Data collection, analysis, and Draft quantitative report include the research findings. Caritas Rwanda will review the report and provide comments and inputs to be addressed by the consultant. The draft report should be submitted 20 calendar days after the inception report.
2. Final survey report should be submitted in English and should cover the:

• • Research Methodology describing how the survey has been implemented;
  • Research findings from qualitative and quantitative data collected during the survey;
  • A set of actionable recommendations that can be incorporated into activity design for future projects;
  • The approved final survey report will be submitted with the final raw dataset and final cleaned dataset with documentation in 5 calendar days after the draft report.

6. Qualification Requirements of the Consultancy Firm (Consultant)
   • General Qualifications

• Demonstrating experience of at least 5 years in conducting large-scale household surveys in Rwanda in areas of livelihood, development, water hygiene, sanitation, behavior change, etc;
• Having access to experienced interviewers and data collection supervisors is essential;
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Kinyarwanda is essential;
• Prior experience working with Caritas Rwanda is an added value.

6.2 Specific team qualifications

Team leader (essential):

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• University degree in economics, social sciences, statistics, agriculture, or relevant discipline plus a minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience or a post-graduate degree plus a minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience in livelihoods-related areas, socio-economic research and evaluation studies;
• Minimum of 3 similar tasks in baseline/end-line survey in livelihood, agriculture, environment, behavior change, etc;
• Technical expertise including relevant analytical frameworks and programming approaches and standards;
• Experience in generating useful and action-oriented recommendations for management and programming;
• Proven expertise in writing professional, clear, and concise statistical reports in English.

Team member – statistician/data analyst (essential)

• A university degree in statistics (statistical analysis) is required, as is at least 5 years of relevant experience in quantitative data analysis;
• Proven data analysis experience using data analysis software;
• Proven experience in complex survey design, development, testing, and implementation, as well as analysis;
• Extensive knowledge and experience with quantitative survey design methodologies, sampling design procedures, sample size calculations, variance estimation, compound weights, and simulation studies;
• To ensure reliable data collection, experience with data quality assurance protocols and data collection in the domains of sampling and measurement error, non-response, and coverage bias is required. 

7. About the Bid Preparation

• Technical proposal

The applicant should prepare a technical proposal for carrying out the described survey, which should include the general approach to carrying out the survey as well as specific ways of dealing with challenges anticipated for the proposed survey. The methodology, as well as data collection methods and analysis tools, will be outlined in the technical proposal. The proposal should also describe the approach to ensuring the high quality of the collected data which is critical to the survey's success. The proposal should describe the firm's staffing and organizational structure, as well as detailed proposed activity timelines. The proposal will also include plans for piloting data generation tools and training enumerators. A summary of relevant qualifications and experience with at least three good completion certificates of similar surveys should be provided. Any other technical or administrative information should be provided to increase the consultant/firm chances of being the winner.   

• Financial proposal

The financial proposal should include a breakdown of the proposed budget by relevant major activities, as well as a narrative describing the rationale for the proposed activities, as well as the corresponding timeline and budget breakdown. The financial proposal must include a detailed description of the proposed fieldwork model, including team size and composition, modes of transportation, and any assumptions upon which the budget is based. The budget should identify unit costs and quantities for each activity. 

8. Milestones and Payment Instalments

• Submission of the approved inception report– 30%;
• Submission of the draft quantitative report including the research findings – 40%, assuming data quality and analysis are satisfactory and the whole targeted population was achieved (this payment is only made when Caritas Rwanda is satisfied that the data is to the standard expected)
• Validation meeting conducted and the final report with all deliverables submitted – 30%

9. Evaluation criteria

Applications will be assessed based on cost reasonableness (30%) and technical competence (70%).

10. The Application file must be comprised of

1. Letter expressing interest in carrying out the consultancy service required;
2. CV (s) of the consultant (s);
3. A technical proposal written in English describing the background, methodology, and timeline;
4. Notarized copies of Academic and Professional qualifications of the Consultant (s);
5. A copy of RDB registration certificates;
6. A copy of the RRA (VAT) Registration certificate;
7. A copy of Proof of EBM Possession;
8. A copy of a valid RRA Tax clearance certificate;
9. A copy of a valid RSSB clearance certificate;
10. Good completion certificates from the previous surveys conducted (at least 3 certificates of successful similar work in the last 5 years);
11. Financial proposal (Price quotation).

N.B: Submission of all administrative documents listed above is mandatory and non-submission of one of said documents will cause the rejection of the offer.

11. Evaluation of technical proposal

The submitted technical proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

OVERALL RESPONSE                                                                     10 pts                                    

• Understanding of the terms of reference and responsiveness to Caritas Rwanda requirements
• Understanding of scope, objectives, and completeness of response
• Overall concord between Caritas Rwanda’s requirements and the proposal

METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH                                                 30 pts

• Quality of the proposed approach and methodology
• Suitability: To what extent the methodology is designed in response to the needs of the TOR
• Quality of proposed implementation plan, i.e. how will the applicant undertake each task to meet the deadline?

RISK MANAGEMENT                                                                        20 pts

• Risk assessment and risk management plan - recognition of the risks/peripheral problems and methods to prevent and manage risks/peripheral problems, troubleshooting issues in the field.

ORGANISATIONAL CAPACITY and PROPOSED TEAM                40 pts

• Professional expertise of the consultancy firm, knowledge and experience with similar projects, list of clients served, and consulting assignments;
• Organization of the team and roles & responsibilities:
• Team leader: Relevant experience, qualifications, and position with the firm;
• Key Team members (especially data analysts – should have studied statistics or Economics with Relevant experience, skills & competencies);
• Timelines proposed must be detailed and be based on the ToRs;

12. Evaluation of financial proposal

The financial proposal has a total score of 30 points. The financial proposal will be judged against the overall proposed budget and financial resources available.

13. How to apply

Interested applicants with the required skills and competencies are required to send their offers, including technical and financial proposals through the email tenders@caritasrwanda.org no later than Friday, 25^th August 2023 (by 2:00 p.m. Kigali Time). Late applications will be rejected.

Done at Kigali on 9^th August 2023