Terms of Reference (ToR)

Development of the National Scale-Up Strategy for the Bandebereho Program

Background

About RWAMREC

The Rwanda Men's Resource Center (RWAMREC) is a non-governmental organization working on gender equality and GBV prevention through the promotion of positive masculinities and engaging men and boys. RWAMREC operates in 27 districts across all four provinces of Rwanda and the city of Kigali, working within six strategic areas: Community Empowerment, Healthy Families, Gender Justice, Youth Mentorship, Diversity and Inclusion, and Capacity Building. The organization implements various programs and projects aimed at addressing Gender-based Violence, socio-economic empowerment of women, and the overall health and welfare of women, families, and communities in Rwanda. Please refer to the RWAMREC strategic plan attached here.

About the Bandebereho Program
Bandebereho, RWAMREC’s flagship program, empowers Rwandan families by engaging men in reproductive, maternal, and child health, as well as caregiving and family violence prevention—challenging the traditionally limited male involvement in caregiving and maternal and child health. Using fatherhood as an entry point, Bandebereho effectively addresses harmful gender norms. The program has demonstrated success, reaching 20,000 families with significant reductions in intimate partner violence and improved health outcomes for women and children, as evidenced by two rounds of randomized controlled trials. The program aims to expand its reach to 104,000 families by 2027, with a vision for full integration into Rwanda's Community Health system beyond 2027. Currently, RWAMREC is conducting a baseline and cost analysis to inform the national scale-up strategy for Bandebereho.

RWAMREC seeks to hire a team of consultants to work collaboratively with RWAMREC and key program stakeholders including RBC, MIGEPROF, NCDA, UNABU, Equmundo and others, to develop a costed national scale-up strategy for the Bandebereho Program.

Scope of Work

The purpose of this consultancy is to support RWAMREC to engage the government high level leaders in developing a national scale-up strategy for the Bandebereho Program and buy in of the program that will ensure successful integration of the program within the community health system of Rwanda. This will involve working collaboratively with RWAMREC, RBC/MCCH, MIGEPROF, NCDA, UNABU, Equimundo and the broader Bandebereho Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to:

1. Identify and validate the most suitable pathway to scale for the program,
2. Establish a roadmap and strategies towards achieving a nation-wide scale up of the program,
3. Establish a costing framework for the national scale-up, and
4. Oversee the rollout of the strategy and provide technical support and advisory.

To ensure continuity beyond the consultancy period, the consultants are expected to work closely with the existing RWAMREC and Equimundo teams throughout this assignment. They will collaborate with the Bandebereho team, particularly the scale-up coordinator, the technical team of Equimundo, the Director of Programs, and the Executive Director. The consultant will establish an actionable succession plan for the conclusion of the assignment, detailing clear roles and responsibilities for the Bandebereho Team, RWAMREC management, TAG members and other key stakeholders; and identifying key strategic priority projects that will require follow-up beyond the timeframe of the consultancy.

The scope of work provided is not exhaustive. Therefore, the consultants are expected to work closely and collaborate with the RWAMREC and Equimundo teams to fully understand the scope and establish success metrics prior to the commencement of the assignment.

III. Specific Objectives

The objectives of this assignment are to:

• Develop a national scale-up strategy for the Bandebereho Program that aligns with Rwanda Vision 2050, the Health Sector Strategic Plan 2024–2030 (HSSP V), the National Community Health Strategic Plan, and the Second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) 2024–2029, informed by consultations with the Bandebereho Technical Advisory Group and government leaders at national, district, and community levels. The strategy should include a robust risk assessment, and a clear implementation framework.
• Conduct comprehensive budgeting for the national scale-up
• Develop a clear action plan with recommendations for implementing the Bandebereho scale-up strategy.
• Establish and define clear roles and responsibilities of program stakeholders in successfully implementing the national scale-up strategy.

Specific Tasks and Responsibilities of the Consultants

Strategy Development and Coordination

• Organize, conduct and coordinate all consultations with program stakeholders, including RWAMREC, RBC, MIGEPROF, other TAG members, and government leaders at National and District level
• Support RWAMREC in defining detailed pathways and strategies for the elaboration of the Bandebereho national scale-up strategy integrated into the community health system.
• Lead the development, validation, finalization and approval of the national scale-up strategy of Bandebereho by high-level government leaders.
• Co-organize and lead the validation meetings for the national scale-up strategy with key government stakeholders.
• Establish clear roles and responsibilities of program stakeholders in successfully implementing the national scale-up strategy.
• Ensure the strategy includes a well-defined implementation framework and a comprehensive risk assessment aligned with the Rwandan health system.

Research and Cost Analysis

• Carry out a desk review of relevant documents to understand the mandate, legal framework and context of the national scale-up strategy for the Bandebereho Program, including but not limited to Rwanda Vision 2050, HSSP V, the National Community Health Strategic Plan, and NST2.
• Review existing national community health policies, strategies and laws to guide the integration of Bandebereho into the community health system.
• Develop a sound methodology and a cost estimate that supports the proposed strategies for national scale-up.
• Ensure the strategy is grounded in programmatic research and aligns with global best practices in community-based health and gender equality programming.

Deliverables

1. Inception Report: A detailed report outlining the methodology and work plan for the assignment.
2. Consultation Reports: Documentation of all consultative meetings with stakeholders.
3. Validation Meeting Reports: Summaries of feedback and decisions made during strategy validation sessions.
4. Roles and Responsibilities Matrix: Clearly defined roles for each stakeholder involved in the national scale-up.
5. Final Consultancy Report: A comprehensive report that includes the final approved national scale-up strategy, cost related to the scale-up strategy, implementation roadmap, and actionable recommendations.

Qualifications and Expertise

Education

• A Master’s degree in Gender and Development Studies, Public Health, International Development, Health Policy, or a related field. A post-graduate degree is an added advantage.

Experience and Skills

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in designing and/or leading the implementation of wide-scale gender and health programs, with specific expertise in scale-up strategies.
• At least 10 years of experience in research and/or research management, with a particular focus on cost-effectiveness research.
• Prior familiarity with the Bandebereho Program or similar male engagement initiatives in gender or health is a significant asset.
• Proven experience in strategic planning, facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes, and producing high-quality strategic documents.
• Previous collaboration with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), MIGEPROF, NCDA is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with government institutions, development partners, and civil society actors.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information clearly and concisely.

VII. Timeline

Start Date: June 2nd, 2025
(Proposed) End Date: December 15th, 2025

• Milestone one: Validation of the submitted inception report by June 16th, 2025.
• Milestone two: Validation of submitted report from the consultations and desk review, including clear recommendations on the most suitable pathway to scale, by July 10th, 2025.
• Milestone three: Submission of draft 0 of the scale-up strategy by July 31st, 2025.
• Milestone four: Submission of the preliminary cost of the scale-up, the action plan and roles and responsibilities by August 22nd, 2025.
• Milestone five: Submission of Draft 1, including the revised and validated cost, action plan and roles and responsibilities by September 12th, 2025.
• Milestone six: Validation of the national scale-up strategy for the Bandebereho Program by Government leaders by November 30th, 2025

VIII. Evaluation Criteria

RWAMREC reserves the right to selection of the consultant, or the consultancy, and will apply the following criteria;

Technical Requirement: 70

• Understanding of the assignment ToRs, and overall strategy to be used for implementation. Highest possible points to be awarded = 10
• Technical aspect: Highest possible points to be awarded:30
• Detailed description of the approach & methodology for use,
• Proposed work plan & relevant timelines
• Team composition & expertise.
• Risk management & mitigation,
• Monitoring, Evaluation, and reporting plan,
• Capacity building plan, and previous experience. 
• Relevant experience, expertise, and skills of the consultant: highest possible points to be awarded: 20
• Academic qualifications of consultant and team:10

Financial Requirement: 30

• Detailed cost breakdown in Rwandan francs, per milestone
• Indirect costs
• Tax and VAT should be included in the proposal
• Proposed payment schedule
• Terms of payment
• Assumptions and conditions

Note: Bidders who do not score the minimum of 50% points on technical requirement will be disqualified and not be evaluated at financial level.

Submission of Proposals

Interested candidates/consultants are requested to submit the following signed documents by 5 PM CAT, May 15th, 2025. Applications submitted late or not signed will not be considered.

All applications are submitted through info@rwamrec.org, with the email subject “Application: BANDEBEREHO scale-up strategy development consultancy”

1. A technical proposal outlining an indicative methodology, timeline, and delivery dates (maximum 7 pages).
2. A quotation or financial proposal (maximum 3 pages).
3. A detailed CV or company portfolio including two references. (max 2 pages)