Consultant Company to Conduct the PDEP Impact Assessment Study

I. BACKGROUND

Save the Children has been implementing the project “Strengthening capacity of civil society organizations in child rights governance in Vietnam” since 2017. The objectives of this project is that State actors recognize the importance of the involvement of CSOs in fulfilling children´s rights and Government support and promote the initiative towards a total ban of PHP. The target population of the project is deprived children, including children and youth who are most at risks of abuse, victims of gender-based violence/bullying and Physical and Humiliation Punishments (PHP). CSOs/Community- based Organizations (CBOs)/Local Non-Government Organizations (LNGOs) that identified as strategic partners. Project sites are Hanoi, HCMC, Hue and nearby provinces.

Under this project, the component of Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP program), which started from 2018 to now, has reached parents/ caretakers in Vietnam and that many children have benefited from this program. After nearly 3 years of project implementation, VACR and SC would like to conduct a study to evaluate the effectiveness of PDEP. The results of the study will be used for advocacy purposes with an alternative method to replace violent discipline and contribute to eliminate physical and mental punishment in all forms in Vietnam.

VACR and SC have a plan to recruit a consulting company (hereafter called consultant) to conduct this evaluation from May to July 2021.

II. EVALUATION PURPOSE

The primary purpose of this evaluation is to determine the effectiveness of the PDEP program on the target group of parents/ caregivers and the children of the participating parents. Specifically, the evaluation will:

§ Evaluate the change in knowledge and attitudes on the negative effects of physical and humiliating punishment (PHP) as well as gender violence of parents and caretakers trained in PDEP.

§ Evaluate the application of PD in their daily life among parents and caretakers who has been trained in PD.

§ Find out how children perceive and evaluate the change in their parents who have benefited from the PDEP.

III. EVALUATION QUESTIONS

The evaluation will answer the following questions:

Relevance:

§ To what extent was the PDEP program designed and implemented in line with the needs of the participants and the context? Do the needs identified at the pre-start of the project have been addressed and are still needs nowadays?

§ How were parents/caretakers involved in different stages of the project?

Effectiveness:

To what extent did the PDEP program achieve its goals and objectives?

§ How have parents and caretakers who have involved in PDEP Program changed their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors toward PHP?

§ How children of parents participating in PDEP Program have benefited from parental change after training on positive discipline in daily parenting practice?

§ Why the inventions of the PDEP program have been (in)effective?

Sustainability

§ To what extent is the PDEP Program adaptable and replicable?

IV. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY OF THE EVALUATION

The consultant is expected to develop a plan demonstrating an appropriate mix of child-friendly qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyse data for this survey.

Quantitative method will focus on measuring effectiveness (KAP of parents and caretakers, benefits of children) and secondary data. Questionnaires will be used to collect data from parents and caretakers who have involved in PDEP Program and their children. In addition to this, secondary data (administration data) from project team and partners will be collected in this survey to describe the results the PDEP program has achieved.

Qualitative method will focus on the relevance and sustainability of project and add more information about effectiveness by using tools such as focus group discussions (FGDs), in-depth interviews (IDIs). Open-ended questions must always be used in all FGDs and IDIs, also with a gender lens.

The final methodology and plan shall be developed in consultation with VACR and SC. To ensure a rich qualitative narrative; study methods such as storytelling, recorded case stories, photo documentation, drawings, participatory action research, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions should also be considered and appropriate with the various key informants.

The consultant shall develop an ethical plan during the whole data collection process to ensure gender-sensitivity, child-sensitivity and meaningful participation of boys and girls in the study.

Sample size and sampling method will be determined by the consultant, in consultation with the project team, to ensure representation and sufficient information to be gathered.

Target population:

- Parents and caretakers who have involved in PDEP Program

- Children of parents participating in PDEP Program

- Project team

- Partners

- Stakeholders

The evaluation will be conducted in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and some provinces of project sites. If travel is restricted in some areas at a period of time, the virtual approaches will be considered.

V. RESPONSIBILITIES, QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF CONSULTANT

1. Responsibilities of Consultant

§ Review the project proposal, baseline and related documents to understand the project approach method, project sites, PDEP program and project beneficiaries. (Please see the annex to have the information of projects).

§ Prepare inception report, including survey objectives, methodologies, survey tools, detailed schedule and total budget to conduct this survey. The draft of this report should be submitted with the technical proposal.

§ Meet with VACR and SC staff to discuss on methodologies, content, survey tools, process of survey implementation, and other related issues.

§ Ensure the compliance with PDEP program fundamentals, SC’s Safeguarding policies, information confidentiality principles, and research ethics.

§ Conduct the survey training for enumerators who can help to do KAP survey in project sites (including how to obtain consent form and follow SC’ data protection policy).

§ Report on the progress of the evaluation on a weekly basis, including evaluation plan, risks and issues and request support (if needed).

§ Conduct the survey to collect data and information in project sites.

§ Clean, process and analyze data.

§ Prepare a survey report. The draft report will have to be shared with VACR and SC to get comments and feedback then finalize it.

§ Present key findings and recommendations.

2. Expected qualifications of Consultant

For team leader:

§ Master's degree or higher, specialized in community development, social sciences, child protection, or related areas;

§ At least 5 years of experience in the field of evaluation and/or research;

§ Experience in working/cooperating with social/non-government organizations, especially human rights/ children/ humanitarian aid organizations;

§ Experience in coordination and management skills in carrying out an evaluation/research;

§ Understanding of Vietnamese laws related to human rights in general and Child’s Rights in particular.

§ Good command of English language (especially writing).

For team members:

§ Bachelor degree or higher degree in community development, social sciences, child protection, or related areas;

§ At least 2-3 years’ experience in the field of evaluation and/or research

§ Be skillful in facilitating FGDs and IDIs, especially with children.

§ Be able to work in a team and have the skills in participatory approach.

§ Good time-management skill.

§ Ability to work in high pressure environment.

VI. DELIVERABLES

§ A finalized study proposal with contents, methods, tools, plans and budget.

§ Form of data entry (for questionnaire)

§ Raw and cleaned data set (for questionnaire)

§ List of codes with frequencies (for qualitative data analysis), and connections between them (if any)

§ Raw data set (or transcripts of FGDs and IDIs)

§ A summary report of key findings (maximum 05 pages).

§ A detailed report in Vietnamese and English (maximum 50 pages), which covers the following issues

- Executive report (summary).

- Background

- Research implementation process.

- Research Methodology, target groups, limitations etc.

- Key findings (should account for 60% of the report)

- Conclusion

- Recommendations

- Annexes

All survey materials, raw data, electronic data, and other information will remain the property of VACR and SC and should be transferred to VACR and SC upon completion. The above documents may only be copied and reused with the consent of VACR and SC.

VII. TIMEFRAME

The time of the evaluation is intended to be conducted in mid-2021 with a total of 30 working days. Final report MUST be summited by 25 October 2021.

Activity

Day (s)

Meeting with VACR and SC for orientation discussion

0.5

Training on SC’s Safeguard Policies

0.5

Desk study of project documents and related materials needed for the survey

Develop inception report including method, tools, plan, timeline and total budget of evaluation

Meeting with VACR and SC to share baseline findings, tools evaluation and testing tools.

Finalize inception report and survey tools (with comments from VACR and SC)

Conducting survey in project sites

Data entry, analysis and writing the draft report

Meeting with VACR and SC for comments and feedback for the draft report

Finalized the report

Share the evaluation findings in a workshop with VACR, SC and stakeholders

Total

VIII. CRITERIA FOR CONSULTANT SELECTION

Candidates are selected based on the following criteria:

§ Quality of technical proposal: 40% of the score

§ Competency/ Quality Profile of the performed contract consultant: 30% of the score

§ Financial Proposal: 30% of the score

The consultant selection and evaluation process will be done through 2 phases:

§ Document evaluation: includes Technical Proposal, Financial Proposal, and Capability Documentation

§ Direct interview (candidate may be asked to make a short presentation)

The financial proposal is full package which covers consultation fees, per diem, accommodation, travel, and related expenses (support volunteer, etc.). VACR and SC will not pay any additional costs compared to the approved financial proposal.

Criteria for evaluating the quality of candidate profiles will be allocated as follows:

Criteria

Score

1. Experience and expertise

1.1 Appropriate qualification

Mandatory requirements, not scoring

1.2 Experience in conducting research from 5 to less than 7 years

1.3 Experience in implementing research from 7 to 10 years

1.4 Consulting contracts have been performed well (2 points per contract, not more than 4 contracts)

1.5 Experience working with social organizations, international organizations

1.6 Understanding children's rights, social work, psychology (each criterion gets 3 points)

2. Technical proposal

2.1 Research Outline Framework

1.1.1 Set a reasonable and feasible research issue, objective, question and scope.

2.1.2 Research design (analytical framework, implementation plan, data collection, analysis) is reasonable, feasible, and meets the objectives of the evaluation.

2.2 Appropriate timeframe for research implementation

3. Financial proposal

Suitable proposed consulting fee and budget plan for evaluation, high cost effectiveness

IX. PAYMENTS METHOD

Consultants are paid in two times by bank transfer:

§ 50% after the research document has been approved by the project management board.

§ The remaining 50% is paid after VACR and SC receive all output products stated in item “VI. DELIVERABLES” have been approved and consultant complete relevant documents: confirmation of work completion, timesheet, payment request, other related invoices and documents (if any) according to regulations of the Project

X. HOW TO APPLY

Interested company please prepare documents including:

(1) Email expresses interest.

(2) Proficiency profiles of company.

(3) Copy of company registration certificate

(4) Copy of previous contracts with similar tasks/ responsibilities mentioned in this TOR

(3) Technical proposal of the work implementation.

(4) Financial proposal.

Documents are requested to be sent to the email address: vietnam.quotation@savethechildren.org with "[Your name] SIDA-CSO: PDEP Endline" in the Subject field. Do NOT copy other email addresses.

Application deadline: 13/08/2021

Location Hanoi