Consultants to Conduct Legal and Budgetary Possibility Assessment for Increasing Governmental Subsidies

SOS Vietnam is looking for consultants to conduct LEGAL AND BUDGETARY POSSSIBILITY ASSESSMENT FOR INCREASING GOVERNMENTAL SUBSIDIES. TERM OF REFERENCE LEGAL AND BUDGETARY POSSSIBILITIES ASSESSMENT FOR INCREASING GOVERNMENTAL SUBSIDIES I. Introduction This assessment will contribute to SOS Children`s Villages Vietnam (SOS Vietnam) by providing feasible information concerning the countries’ status on social services and in particular those related to children that have lost parental care or at risk of losing it. Our maximum goal is to increase the share of Governmental subsidies in the total amount of SOS Vietnam’s local income by creating a strategy using this assessment as one of the tools. Governmental Subsidies are any contribution (money, in kind, tax reduction, etc.) given by a government to help an organization cover its costs, so that it can provide products or services. For the purpose of the project implementation Government subsidies include the following: § Government Contributions allocated to the organisation by domestic government bodies (e.g. ministries, social welfare agencies etc.) – booked in Navision database § International Chart of Accounts: § 32000 Local Revenues from Public Sources § 32110 Domestic Government Allowances § 32130 Public Grants Domestic § 32995 Conditional Local Revenues Public § Any kind of non-monetary contribution granted by domestic government and other public institutions (e.g., salaries for SOS staff paid directly by the government to them, free construction material and work, flights, free food or clothing) – booked in Navision § 32120 Donations in Kind/Public § Not included: - fundraising local income - contributions from non-governmental organisations - contributions from foreign governments However, it does not end there, this assessment will also serve as a document to understand regional and global trends how services, including alternative care for children are finance by public resources, being a tool for comparative reports and contrasts studies. In this sense, this document will be studied by people that understand perfectly the national context and are experts about it, but also for people that do not know much of the countries’ situation. About SOS Children’s Villages SOS Children’s Villages International is the umbrella organisation for the global federation of 136 national SOS Children’s Villages associations, working in more than 2,000 programme locations worldwide. We work together with a single mission: to ensure that every child grows with love, security and respect. Uniquely, we provide long-term, family-like care for children who have lost parental care (SOS family care programme unit, SFC), and we work with vulnerable families and communities to help strengthen them and prevent child abandonment (family strengthening programme unit, FS). The SFC programme units are usually organised in the form of a cluster of SOS families, where a SOS caregiver cares for small groups of children. Through our family strengthening activities, SOS Children's Villages helps families look after themselves by providing material support, childcare, education, counselling - whatever is needed so that families can become self-reliant and stay together. Only in this way can we ensure that children are not abandoned and that they can grow up with dignity and security in their own families. We work with communities and local partners to support vulnerable families across the world through our family strengthening work. In Vietnam, SOS Children’s Villages Vietnam was established in 1987 and has been operating in 17 provinces, including: Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Ca Mau, Da Nang, Dien Bien, Gia Lai, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Nghe An, Phu Tho, Quang Binh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Hochiminh and Hue. More than 6,100 children deprived of parental care have been supported through SOS Vietnam’s projects and programs including family-like care in 17 SOS Children’s Villages, 14 youth houses; 12 Hermann Gmeiner schools; 16 kindergartens; 1 Hermann Gmeiner Vocational Training School in Viet Tri; 03 vocational training workshops; 1 medical center; kinship care and family strengthening programs in 6 provinces. II. Guidelines: 1. Assessment approach, process and methods: 1.1 Approach: The main approach of this assessment is to respond in the most complete and accurate way each of the TOR questions, in order to provide the organization with feasible information that helps the process of developing a national subsidies strategy and hence, the increase of the governmental contributions. It’s vital not to just summarize data but interpret the meaning of this information according to the national context for the organizational goal. Main research question: in the particular contexts, how an organization which is providing social services, including different type of alternative care for children in risk, can access better partnership with the authorities in delivering support to children and young people and how public funding can be ensured for such partnership. 1.2 Process: A Report Template will be provided with critical questions at Item III of the TOR (Annex attached) The assessment must be done through the analysis of legal and public policy documents, individual and group interviews and the compilation, transcription and interpretation of the analysed data according to the TOR questions. 1.2.1 Plan: The external consultant should plan the design of the assessment in coordination with the SOS programme staff on local/national and regional/continental level. That includes:

Propose composition of a survey team;
Plan and design data collection process:

o Identification of the major stakeholders - key local government representatives, and other service providers in selected provinces o Selection of representative to be interviewed on the basis of agreed criteria o Agreeing on the type of information to be collected o Preparation of checklists and other tools for data collection o Develop a methodological tools for data collection and consult with SOS programme staff on project/national/continental level 1.2.2 Data collection: The assessment will include a series of interviews in the field work with different stakeholders - internal SOS staff and external stakeholders - government agencies at central and local levels, NGOs; and to collect information in accordance with the requirements stipulated in the assessment design. The field work will be conducted in selected provinces representing 3 regions of North - Central - South where having operation of SOS Vietnam. Main tasks include: • collecting of data • check relevance of the data • collecting information not available in official information – for example future plans of the State, tendencies etc. List every source used in footnotes (for every biographical source you should mention the author, year, name of the publication, link and specific pages from the study you are taking the information) (for every physical source you should write the full name of the person and the person’s role/job title). 1.3 Methodology

The assessment should use quantitative and qualitative data collection methods such as semi-structured interviews (individual interviews, group discussions, consultations, etc.) as necessary.
The methodology of evaluation will include the following:

o Document review including analysis on key reference documents o Interviews (structured and/or semi-structured; in person and/or by telephone) with key informants listed in Terms of Reference o Revision of legal and public policy documentation o Other methods relevant to evaluation objectives and scope The assessment should be: · Easy to read: keep the information concise, to the point and use strategies to make the information short, such as tables, charts and bullet points. Make it practical. · Easy to search within its sources: each source must be complete, including the link and pages where it was extracted from or the full name of the interviewee. · Trustworthy: every question must be answered objectively and by using evidences: hard data, reports, interviews, press information, etc. Every statement that is not proved with evidence is considered not valid and not trustworthy for this study. The only space where the consultant’s personal opinion is requested is during the conclusions and recommendations section · Complete: each of the TOR questions must be answered. In the event that some of the questions do not apply in the national context or there is no available information, you must specify it. E.g: “there was no available information concerning the question”. Do not skip any of the questions or leave them blank. 2. Time Frame: tentatively 12 weeks and will start in March 2020 3. Specific tasks and Deliverables [Ref Key tasks Deliverables Timelines] 1 Meeting with SOS Vietnam to review the work plan, technical, administration requirements, timetable and deliverables schedule Meeting minutes Week 1 2 Collect and review available documents, publications on children (national laws, policies, strategies, national reports, research/study reports, statistical data,…) Summary of documents, reports, publications Week 2 3 Prepare a final and agreed on analytical framework and outline for development of the assessment report based on this TOR Outline, analytical framework Week 3 4 Conduct Interviews and consultations at national level List for interviews and consultations, questionnaires, schedule, meeting minutes Week 4 5 Conduct interviews and consultations at local level List for interviews and consultations, questionnaires, schedule, meeting minutes Week 5 6 Produce report - Draft 1 in Vietnamese Draft report available for review by SOS Vietnam and related stakeholders Week 6 - 8 7 Produce report - Draft 2 in both English and Vietnamese Draft report available for review by SOS Vietnam, related stakeholders and SOS International Week 9 - 10 8 Produce final report on legal and budgetary possibilities assessment for increasing governmental subsidies in both English and Vietnamese Final report Week 11 9 Prepare materials for dissemination workshop and facilitate the workshop Dissemination workshop and presentation Week 12 4. Cost projection: The cost should be competitive but not exceed 200,000,000VND in total (In words: two hundred million Vietnam dong). 5. Management and reporting The assignment will be undertaken under the supervision of the Program Director of SOS Vietnam. The National Advocacy Coordinator of Program Department will be the primary contact for the consultants. Additional guidance and technical inputs will be provided by the National Director of SOS Vietnam. The consultant will provide an update on the weekly basis with regards to progress, challenges being encountered, support required or proposed solutions. 6. Profile of the external consultant The consultant (e.g. research institutions, university, independent freelancers, etc.) must have: • master’s degree at least in the social sciences, Economics/Statistics or related fields relevant for the assignment • at least 10 years of research and other relevant professional experience • proven competency and experience in monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment • a good understanding of development work, government structure, partnerships, social policies and related laws • good facilitation and interpersonal skills • proven experience or participatory evaluation and data collection methods • strong skills in coordinating teamwork • strong analytical and conceptual skills • excellent writing and communication skills in English and local language. • ability to transfer complex concepts / ideas into practical and simple language • ideally experience in organising research processes with/for SOS Children’s Villages 7. Application Process Interested and eligible consultants should forward: a) A Cover letter “The cover should indicate relevant experience, availability” b) Resume of competent consultants c) Technical and financial proposals with clear indications of competitive estimated costs d) Samples of previous similar work will be an asset Potential consultants are requested to submit above documents in soft copies to: Mr. Vo Xuan Hoa National Advocacy Coordinator Program Department, National Office of SOS Vietnam Alley 1, Pham Van Dong road, Mai Dich, Cau Giay district, Hanoi, Vietnam Email: hoa.voxuan@sosvietnam.org Only shortlisted consultants will be contacted for negotiations.

Tags: SOS Vietnam