Child Safeguarding:
Level 3 – the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.
Background on Save the Children
Save the Children is the leading global independent organisation for children that believes every child deserves a future. 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 – transforming their lives and the future we share.
Our vision: A world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.
Our mission: To inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.
Our values: Accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity and integrity.
We are committed to ensuring our resources are used as efficiently as possible, in order to focus them on achieving maximum impact for children.
Background information/context
Save the Children has been working in Nigeria since 2001. The early focus was on getting children actively involved in shaping the decisions that affect their lives. Today, SC is working in 20 states focusing on child survival, education and protecting children in both development and humanitarian contexts. The humanitarian response started in 2014 with Save the Children being one of the first responders to the conflict.
The ongoing conflict in the North East continues to increase population displacements, restrict income-generating opportunities, limit trade flows and escalating food prices. As a result of the reduced food availability and access, local and IDP populations in worst-affected areas of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states continue to experience food gaps, in line with crisis level (IPC Phase 4) acute food insecurity, with an estimated 4.6M people in Phase 3-5 (Cadre Harmonizé (CH) Analysis).
Survey Methodology
The consultant/s will prepare and conduct a SMART survey in Borno state. He/she will develop and design survey tools using SMART Methodology i.e., sampling procedure, the sample size for anthropometric data, selection of households and children, training and supervision of teams during data collection, generally he/she assume overall responsibility of carrying out the survey.
Objectives
- To assess the level of acute malnutrition, stunting, underweight and overweight among children 6-59 months
- To assess retrospective morbidity among children under 5
- To assess retrospective mortality (Crude Mortality and U5 Mortality rates) over 3 months’ recall period among populations.
- Assess key IYCF practices like EIBF, EBF, MAD among the households with children under two years of age
- Estimate the prevalence of malnutrition in women of reproductive age using adult MUAC
- To establish recommendations on actions to address identified gaps to support planning, advocacy, decision making and monitoring.
Location and official travel involved
The Consultant will work full time in the SCI Borno field office location. Regular office hours are 8:30 am to 5:15 pm, Monday to Sunday. Office space will be provided but the consultant is responsible for bringing his/her own IT equipment. The Consultant may be required to travel to other locations. Any required travel will need pre-approval by SCI in accordance with SCI’s Travel Policy and applicable RO/CO Expense Policy.
Specific field locations for the survey are as listed below; LGAs:
Jere, Konduga, Mafa, MMC.
We will be conducting one survey for each LGA as stated above = Total of 4 SMART surveys.
Services the Supplier will provide
The consultant is expected to provide (Required Deliverables):
· Inception report explaining the methodology, sample size calculation and means of analyses
· Final nutrition survey Methodology (agreed upon following consultant selection).
· Powerpoint presentation of preliminary findings to Nutrition cluster and SCI.
· A preliminary and final nutrition survey report validated by the Information Management working group.
· An Itemized price quotation for consultancy fee (Exclusive of international and domestic travel expenses which will be provided separately by SCI)
**
General Conditions of the Consultancy
· SCI will provide accommodation for the consultant
· Meals and other incidentals will be the responsibility of the consultant while in the primary location of the consultancy
· Payment of per diem for the period of Consultancy (Where it applicable) will be in line with SCI per diem policies
· The consultant will conduct his/her work using his/her own computer equipment.
· Other miscellaneous costs directly related to the task that can include photocopying of questionnaires etc. shall be covered by SCI. Any cost needs to have prior approval from SCI.
· The movement of the consultant and team to and from the field will be facilitated by SCI.
· SCI will provide survey enumerators; translators as may be required.
· The cost related to travel from/ to the Field of the survey teams will be covered by SCI.
· Payments will be paid in three instalments: The first instalment 30% paid upon finalization and approval of inception report; 30% paid upon submission of a first full draft of the report and its approval; the remaining 40% paid upon validation of the report by the Nutrition Sector/Inter-Agency Working Groups.
Experience and skill set required
Individual consultants who respond to the tender must meet the following criteria:
Essential Criteria
Yes/No
Agrees to comply with Save the Children standard policies and procedures as stated in the RFQ or Invitation to Tender (ITT) document
A ‘no’ in either of these boxes will result in immediate disqualification.
Successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in a relevant area, such as social sciences, development studies, or in specific technical areas such as education, public health, nutrition, food security, etc.
Provides a CV and cover letter, explaining relevant experience and relevant reports of previous work, a minimum of 3
Provides brief description and evidence (attached copies) of up to 4 relevant services provided to other actors (either INGOs, International Organisations or donors), including the year of service and an official email address to contact as a reference
Capability Criteria (technical)
Max. 60
Evidence of a minimum of three years experience designing and carrying out high-quality assessments, baseline, mid-terms and endline studies, and mid-term and final evaluations, for one or more of the following thematic areas:
· Child protection,
· Education,
· Health and Nutrition,
5 points
Evidence of experience working in development and/or humanitarian settings
5 points
Evidence shows strong training and experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and analysis
5 points
Evidence of knowledge and experience with a range of statistical and qualitative data managing software and approaches (such as SPSS, EPI Info, Stata, NVivo, Atlasti, KOBO Toolbox, ODK or other similar software)
5 points
Evidence showing strong command of the English language, both written and verbal with strong report writing and documentation skills
5 points
Evidence of working experience in Nigeria or similar contexts
5 points
Provides brief description (200 words or less) of steps the consultant will take to ensure the quality of the services you would provide is of consistently high standards
[5 marks for providing a highly satisfactory response, 3 marks for a satisfactory response, and zero marks for not providing one or providing an unsatisfactory response]
5 points
Provides brief description (200 words or less) on experience in inclusive and ethical child participatory methods of data collection
[5 marks for providing a highly satisfactory response, 3 marks for a satisfactory response, and zero marks for not providing one or providing an unsatisfactory response]
During the interview, the Consultant should be able to demonstrate inclusiveness as it relates to children or caregivers with disability, gender inclusiveness.
5 points
Sustainability
The bidder demonstrates experience and understanding of local context and community.
The Consultant should also be able to demonstrate how the knowledge can be transferred to SCI staff.
10/10 – Bidder demonstrates a strong understanding of local context and community
5/10 – Bidder demonstrates a satisfactory understanding of local context and community
0/10 Bidder doesn’t provide confidence that they have an adequate understanding of local context and community
10 points
During the interview, the consultant demonstrates in-depth knowledge of assessments, studies and evaluations, in terms of their design and implementation, which will be assessed and scored by a panel of experts
10 points
Profile of the Consultant
Education:
· Postgraduate Degree in Public Health, Social Sciences or related discipline.
· Qualified and experienced consultant with Health and Nutrition background in surveys and assessments using the SMART methodology.
*Work Experience:
· Led at least 3 SMART Surveys (reports to be presented as evidence)
· Experience working in conflict-affected areas
· Experience in conducting SMART surveys in multiple LGAs/ districts concurrently.
Languages:
· Fluency in written and spoken English is essential. Knowledge of the local language is an added advantage.
Technical Competencies:
· The consultant must have a strong background in statistics and data analysis. Must know SMART survey methodology and ENA for SMART, SPSS, Epi/ENA or Epi Info software.
· Excellent reporting and presentation skills.
· Excellent knowledge of and experience with humanitarian guidelines and principles.
· Willingness to travel extensively and work under pressure & meet deadlines
· Ability to work in a multicultural and inter-sectoral environment.
· Ability to work collaboratively as a team with the other staff members.
· Ability to coordinate, direct and supervise others to achieve a common goal.
· Ability to live and work in an isolated area in conditions of limited comfort
· The candidate must present an approved final report of the most recent SMART survey that he or she has conducted.
Expected Deliverables
SCI expects the following deliverables to be provided:
- Inception report – The report is to define the project’s exact work plan and scope for the rest of the duration. The report should be supported by quantitative/qualitative evidence from internal and external analysis – Presentation/Report delivered to Project Board
- Final nutrition survey Methodology (agreed following consultant selection) – Detailed methodology document describing selection criteria, sampling, data collection, data analysis and report writing – Presentation/Report delivered to Project Board
- Powerpoint presentation of preliminary findings – Comprehensive report Communicating findings of the survey – Presentation/Report delivered to Project Board
- A preliminary and final nutrition survey report – Comprehensive report Communicating findings of the survey. The report should also include recommendations based on findings from the report – Report delivered to Project Board
Timeline
• The duration of the survey will be 35 days.
· Travel days: 2 days
· Preparation of survey protocols, developing tools and collection of secondary data: 3 days
· Training and pre-testing of SCI staff and Survey enumerators: 5 days
· Data collection and entry: 15 days
· Analysis and Submission of Preliminary Report: 5 days
· Submit final Report: 5 days
- Total: 35 days
Estimated Commencement Date: 1st February 2022
Estimated End Date: 31st March 2022
Scope of work
- Develop and design SMART survey protocol, including sample size estimation, population size, clustering of the villages etc., and validate contextual tools using the SMART methodology
- Train the SMART data collection teams and data clerks (including field testing)
- Organize survey: Ensure accurate data collection at the field level. Ensure adequate supervision and coordination of the survey teams in the field and collect relevant reference materials for report writing
- Be responsible for data cleaning and analysis using appropriate software i.e., Epi Info, SPSS, ENA for SMART
- Prepare a draft SMART survey report for review by SCI, ensuring that the assessment is comprehensive and includes all relevant indicators
- Prepare a final report including background, methodology, results, limitations, conclusions and recommendations incorporating feedback from SCI staff on the draft report and Nutrition Information Management group for validation/ Nutrition
Status updates/reporting
· The preliminary assessment report will be sent to the SCI within 3 days of completion of data collection; the consultant will present preliminary findings of the survey to SCI, and SCI team will upon review, send it to the nutrition cluster and or Inter-Agency Working Group for validation purpose.
· The consultant will lead in the presentation of the survey summary before the Nutrition sector/ Inter-Agency Working Group members. The final report, incorporating all comments and inputs received, will be submitted to SCI within 5 days after validation of the preliminary report.
THE ORGANISATION
We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better health care, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.
We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
- No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
- All children learn from quality basic education and that,
- Violence against children is no longer tolerated
We know that great people make a great organization and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.
Save the Children is committed to ensuring that all our personnel and programmes are absolutely safe for children.
We undertake rigorous procedures to ensure that only people suitable to work with children are allowed to join our organization and all candidates will, therefore, be subject to this scrutiny.
We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
Applicants are advised that Save the Children International does not require any payment or expense during the entire recruitment process. Any request in this direction should be immediately reported as it is contrary to the values and practices of our organization.
Due to the volume of applications received, Save the Children may not provide feedback to all applicants. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, as applications will be reviewed as received. Save the Children reserves the right to change the closing date, if considered necessary.
How to apply
Interested candidate(s) should submit an expression of interest (technical proposal describing how the requirements of the Terms of Reference will be met within the given timeframe, budget, CV(s) of lead evaluator/team, samples of relevant work) to [email protected]
