Terms of Reference for ASSESSMENT (Factors affecting poverty among children and their families in BiH) of the Child Protection – ENVISION II (NCE) Project

1.     SUMMARY INFORMATION

2.     BACKGROUND

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In Northwest Balkans and around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn, and protection from harm. When crisis strikes and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children's unique needs are met and their voices are heard.  We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – to transform their lives and the future we share.

Save the Children in Northwest Balkans (SCiNWB), based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina conducts its activities in three countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Serbia, and Republic of Montenegro, and supports the realization of regional initiatives in Southeast Europe.

2.1.           Context of the project

Street-involved and at-risk children present one of the most jeopardized groups in the state of social need that due to the poverty and need for work stay excluded from all relevant social systems. Most street-involved children live below the poverty line, often part of a cycle of poverty that is generationally passed on. As a group, street-involved children have to a large extent been 'hidden' from the public eye as well as the main spheres of political, economic, and social life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The opening of drop-in centers (DiC) for street-involved and at-risk children was on several occasions characterized as the only positive example of support provided to this population. Strengthening existing and replicating quality services for street-involved children has become a basis of the Save the Children support, which resulted in established strategic partnerships with governmental institutions and NGOs in Mostar, Banja Luka, Bijeljina, and Brčko in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Podgorica and Nikšić in the Republic of Montenegro.

2.2. Target areas of the Activity

Factors assessment will be conducted in the locations where Save the Children operate, focusing on concrete work in 3 targeted geographic areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Republic of Srpska, Federation and District Brčko).

3.      SCOPE OF WORK

Save the Children is seeking the Evaluator - consultant or research consulting firm to design and conduct:

Assessment of factors affecting poverty among children and their families in BiH.

Assessment should use methods that generate the highest quality and most credible evidence that corresponds to the questions being asked, taking into consideration time, budget, and other practical considerations.

The main purpose of the consultancy is to identify factors that are affecting poverty among children and their families in BiH and to gather data on the impact of identified factors. Also, the assessment should produce a set of recommendations for future actions on the topics of poverty reduction, specifically targeting vulnerable youth.

3.1. Purpose of the ENVISION II Project Assessment of factors affecting poverty among children and their families in BiH

Assessment of Factors affecting poverty among children, youth and their families in BIH of the ENVISION II project will be implemented to determine the factors and their impact on the poverty of children, youth and their families in BIH. The special focus of the Assessment should be on youth and the factors which are affecting on their position in society and on mitigation ways in which their poverty can be reduced.

3.1.2. Impact Assessment Questions

Key evaluation questions for the Assessment include the following:

1.      Which are the sociological factors affecting poverty among children, youth and their families in BiH?

2.      Which are the economic factors affecting poverty among children, youth and their families in BiH?

3.      To what extent have identified factors affected children's lives, youth’s lives and their families’ lives?

4.      To what extent has COVID-19 affected poverty among children, youth and their families’ lives?

3.1.3. Methodology

Assessment should be a quantitative and/or qualitative analysis that identifies poverty indicators, trends, and the groups at greatest risk. Assessments should be based on models of cause and effect and require a credible and rigorously defined counterfactual to control for factors other than the intervention that might account for the observed change.

The evaluator will develop a methodology that is going to be used for the reporting. Experimental or quasi-experimental methods should be used to answer assessment questions.

Targeted beneficiaries of the Activity: Relevant, numerically expressed sample, is to be defined within the assessment methodology.  Expected beneficiaries are children (5-16 years), youth (16-18 years) and adults (18+ years) from vulnerable groups.

3.1.4. Timeline of the Assessment

The Assessment should have one measurement point and one report. The data should be collected within the last implementation year of the Project (the second half of 2022). Assessment will use the methods to explore questions related to identifying and measuring of impact of factors related to child poverty and their families.

4. REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO GENDER

Evaluation and study design, methodology, data collection, and analyses should capture the situations and experiences of both males and females. The Evaluator should collect appropriate sex-disaggregated data and ensure that an evaluation is gender-sensitive or "engendered". To engender an evaluation is to view the evaluation process, dynamics, design, and the key elements of each evaluation stage through a "gender lens" to make sure that the evaluation and associated data collection and analysis practices are fully informed by an awareness of how gender shapes and is shaped by both programs and evaluations.

By engendering an evaluation, all aspects of that evaluation deeply consider gender needs and issues; the evaluation is responsive to the cultural context in which gendered relationships play out, and inquiry is focused on the data and analysis needed to achieve gender equality and empowerment objectives.

Engendering an evaluation means that all stages of the evaluation reflect:

(1) an awareness that the degree and meaning of program participation, program results, and potential sustainability are shaped by gender;

(2) a recognition that explicit attention to gender issues must be integrated into the evaluation of gender equality objectives to be addressed; and

(3) a commitment to examining the extent to which gender equality was achieved as a result of the strategy, project, or approach that was implemented.

5. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

For the assessment, Save the Children will contract an independent third-party consulting firm to collect reliable, accurate, valid, and timely data.

Responsibilities of Consultant / Consulting firm:

·        The consultant/Consulting firm is fully responsible for the implementation of this assignment, including methodology design, data collection, data analysis, and reporting;

·        Consultant / Consulting firm will liaise with Save the Children staff throughout the process, providing regular updates and seeking their input and advice where necessary;

·        The consulting firm will prepare a detailed task timeline and draft methodology (inception report) and work with Save the Children to finalize the methodology;

·        The consulting firm is responsible for methodology design, including sampling and tools for data collection;

·        Consultant/Consulting firm is responsible for conducting data analysis based on collected data through evaluation;

·        The consulting firm will adhere to the timeframe of the consultancy;

·        The consulting firm will deliver a periodical and final report;

·        All the data collected during the research/study period should be protected in line with provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, and national regulations on the protection of personal data in Bosnia and Herzegovina;

·        The consulting firm will ensure the ethical participation of children, and ensure full implementation of Save the Children's policy on Child Safeguarding.

Responsibilities of Save the Children:

·        Providing background materials for the research consulting firm;

·        Monitoring adherence to specified deadlines; facilitating access to required information;

·        Providing guidance throughout all phases of execution, approving all deliverables, and facilitating, access to any documentation (or any person) deemed relevant to the process;

·        Share deliverables with stakeholders;

·        Perform quality control, as required for all deliverables.

6. DELIVERABLES AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The consultant should submit the following deliverables during the evaluation process:

·        Draft methodology for the Assessment;

·        Inception report (methodology, sampling, tools for data collection, approach to data analysis, and details of Evaluation Work Plan (draft implementation schedule);

·        Monitoring tools;

·        Conduct assessment and submit draft and final reports English; final report will incorporate Save the Children's feedback into the draft report;

·        Datasets – quantitative data/datasets created or obtained in the performance of this task; datasets) must be delivered in non-proprietary, machine-readable format; the dataset must be organized and documented for use by those not fully familiar with the intervention or evaluation. 

7. CONTENT OF THE EVALUATION REPORT

Save the Children expects that the final report will include the following sections, at a minimum:

·        Cover Page;

·        Acronym List;

·        Executive Summary;

·        Project Background;

·        Purpose and Scope of the Evaluation;

·        Literature review;

·        Evaluation Questions;

·        Evaluation Methodology;

·        Evaluation Results;

·        Conclusions (successes, challenges, and lessons learned);

·        Recommendations;

·        Attachments (evaluation SoW/ToR, data collection instruments, photos, charts, graphs, additional analyses).

·        Bibliography (APA Style of referencing).

8.     ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE

The below assessment schedule can be modified and adjusted according to the Activity's overall implementation plan. To perform all scheduled tasks, the Consultant/Consulting firm shall be hired for the period October 2022 – December 25, 2022. The Consultant/Consulting firm shall prepare and implement the work plan in consultation with and support by the relevant personnel of Save the Children and partner organizations, following the following dynamics:

9.     SELECTION CRITERIA

Save the Children will engage an experienced, independent third-party Consultant/Consulting firm to conduct an impact assessment. Therefore, Save the Children will select an external Consulting firm, and Save the Children will work with the same firm throughout the life of the project. The third-party evaluator will:

·        Be financially and legally separate from Save the Children and partner organizations;

·        Have staff with demonstrated knowledge, skills, and experience in conducting impact and performance evaluations of education development programs;

·        Provide an outline for the evaluation, major tasks, and schedules before initiating the evaluation;

·        Experience in conducting evaluations will be considered an asset.

Save the Children will make the award to the Bidder whose proposal provides the best value, considering both technical and cost factors. Technical and cost factors will be evaluated relative to each other, as described herein. The technical evaluation factors, taken as a whole, are of greater importance than cost or price in determining the best value.

Bidders should note that these criteria:

(1) serve as the standard against which all proposals will be evaluated, and

(2) serve to identify the significant matters which Bidders should address in their proposals.

The proposal submitted will be the primary document upon which each Bidder will be evaluated. 

Save the Children reserves the right to waive any minor or technical defects or irregularities and reserves the right to reject any or all bids.

The Consultant/Consulting firm must submit a proposal taking into account the following guidelines:

·        Description of Methodology;

·        Budget;

·        Curriculum Vitae with detailed summary of the evaluation of programs/ projects conducted previously for individuals/companies. If the evaluation was done for a company/organization, please include a profile of such company/organization;

·        A minimum of three letters of reference from organizations with which it/s/he has conducted previous consulting work or a list of three references;

·        A minimum of two examples of evaluation reports that the consultant/consulting firm has led.

Save the Children emphasizes that all the accompanying costs of the process of evaluation and implementation of the engagement (travel costs, accommodation, etc.) should be included in the offer.

Candidates interested in the engagement should send their bids to Procurement.NWB@savethechildren.org no later than November 7 , 2022.Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Please find enclosed documents for submittion of application:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1t9gUUCUIwxH55airIQ_Q-E13DBaWCyH5?usp=share_link

Special requirement:

No person working on any task for or behalf of Save the Children may in no way whatsoever be involved or related to child abuse or exploitation as defined in the Save the Children's Child Safeguarding Policy.

The contracting authority also requires that the personal data of all evaluation participants must be protected and stored in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation - (EU) 2016/679 and the national law on personal data protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH Law on Personal Data Protection, Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina No. 49/06)