Nigeria: Provision of Multi-Sectoral Basic Services for Adolescent and Youth

Plan International strives to advance children’s rights and equality for girls all over the world. As an independent development and humanitarian organization, we work alongside children, young people, our supporters and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge. For over 80 years we have been building powerful partnerships for children, and we are active in over 75 countries.

Project Background: 

The protracted crisis in the Lake Chad Basin region remains one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies in the world, affecting the North East of Nigeria, the Far North region of Cameroon, the Lake region of Chad and the Diffa region in Niger. The crisis has unfolded in a region beset by chronic fragility where poverty, underdevelopment, gender inequality, unemployment and a lack of prospects for young people fuel extremism. This is compounded by environmental degradation and the impact of climate change.

With funding from German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), Plan International Nigeria Nigeria is about to implement the " Provision of multi-sectoral basic services for adolescent and youth in the Lake Chad region project" for a duration of 3 years. The objective of this project is to support through gender sensitive protection, SRHR and nutrition interventions Children, adolescents and young people (CAY) particularly adolescent girls and young women affected by the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad region to realize their rights safely with dignity.

In Nigeria, the project will be implemented in the North of Nigeria in two state (Borno and Adamawa State) across 3 Local government areas … . Of the four desired impacts (outcomes) of the project at the level of the three countries, Plan International Nigeria will work towards achieving them all.

• Outcome 1 states that Adolescents and youth are empowered with skills, knowledge and attitudes to make autonomous decisions about their protection and health and protected from violence, neglect, exploitation and abuse.
• Outcome 2 states Adolescents and youth live in safe and supportive families and communities where their basic needs (incl. psychosocial support) are met.
• Outcome 3 states Adolescents and youth have access to adolescent- and gender- responsive SRH and CP services that support their survival and well-being
• The last one Outcome 4 Peer to peer support systems, established by communities, apply healthy nutrition and care practices for all children, adolescents and youth, especially mothers (including adolescent mothers).

Basline Evaluation Focus:

Purpose of the Baseline: 

The baseline is intended for project Implementation Technical team, German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), Plan International Germany, Plan International Nigeria and any others relevant stakeholders in each of the 3 countries.

The purpose of the baseline data is to provide a benchmark from which to measure progress of the project implementation through an in-depth situation analysis and to provide the current status of the indicators in the results framework and facilitate monitoring of progress towards meeting project outcome in the target locations in … .

So, the mission will generate measured baseline informations that Plan International Nigeria can use to plan and/or adjust the target of indicators to achieve during the intervention.

NB: It is also recommended to the consultant to use the AoGD indicators tool as much as possible to align project with the global strategy and PMERL system.

More specifically, the scope of this assignment will be to:

1. Collect data for the outcome indicators in order to have initial data which will be the comparison base with the monitoring and Evaluation data. The indicators that should be measured are below and also given in proposal and log frame.

• 1a. % of Adolescent and Youth (AY) who report to apply positive practices that promote their wellbeing, health and safety.

• 1.b % of Child Protection (CP) and Gender Based Violences (GBV) cases that receive quality case management response (assessment, case planning, case plan implementation, follow-up, and case closure)

• 2a. % of targeted AY who report positive parent-child interaction at family level

• 2b. % of targeted Community level child protection structures that are functional and actively identifying, reporting, referring, and following-up on CP and GBV cases

• 3a. % of AY who perceived access to CP services

• 3b. % of AY who consider SRHR and CP services to be adolescent- and gender-responsive, at the time asked
• 3c. % of adolescent girls and young women who report to be able to access emergency contraception and post-exposure prophylaxis.
• 4a. % of caregivers, including adolescents and youth, trained on identifying danger signs of acute malnutrition, who report to be applying MUAC screening on a regular basis
• 4b. % of Care-Groups members who report to have acquired IYCF and ECD skills and started to put them into practice
• 4c. % of families with children < 5 years suffering from severe and moderate acute malnutrition report to have access to treatment

5. Analyze gender mainstreaming and inclusion during the missions in other to have an overview and updates.

6. When analyzing the desk review, present the result about the project relevance, coherence, feasibility and project structure analysis.

Baseline Evaluation Issues: 

After the selection of the Consultant, the latter will be responsible for proposing a set of data collection tools and a methodological framework that will make it possible to meet the expectations of the mission. The consultant must provide a clear explanation on how Gender will be integrated in his approach. These tools will first be discussed and validated by Plan International in a methodological workshop.

Methods for Data Collection and Analysis: 

Good to keep in mind that the methods and tools used at baseline must be considered for mid-term and end line to collect data on the indicators. It is expected that the consultant develops a detailed overall methodology, appropriate methods and specific tools to respond to the baseline evaluation expectation. It is expected that the consultant(s) will develop a detailed methodology for data collection, management and analysis in their proposal. This methodology should correspond directly to the project indicators and, where appropriate, to other research questions for the baseline study relating to the project context. This methodology will be explained in more detail in the consultant's inception report once the baseline study is underway.

The consultant shall outline the reasons for selecting the methods proposed and depict the skills/ experience he/ she has in applying them. It is recommended to apply a mixed method approach. The consultant will also be responsible for piloting the new tools, ensuring that they are gender-sensitive.

The proposal must contain a description of the envisaged data validation, quality assurance and data analysis techniques.

In addition, the consultant will receive all the necessary information, specifically the existing tools, to conduct the baseline data collection for the indicators as shown in project documents.

The consultant will conduct a detailed review of available project documents such as proposal, needs assessment, log frame, gender analysis reports. Plan International will make available to the consultant all project documents upon request.

Sample: 

The consultant shall propose a sampling strategy for the primary data collection to answer the baseline expectations, including how they will identify respondents. More specifically, the intended sample strategy shall include a description of the:

• Sample size and formula related to,
• Necessary respondent disaggregation (Gender, age, status (IDP, returnees, refugees, host population…) and people with disabilities (5% of sample)
• Number and type of locations
• Sampling approach (stating the reasons for the approach selected)

For the data collection on indicators, the sample needs to reflect the sampling strategy, size and selected respondents. Relevant information will be made available to the consultant upon signature of the contract.

Participant Selection and Recruitment: 

The target population to be considered includes potential project participants that will directly or indirectly benefit from interventions of Plan International in the targeted communities in Adamawa State, Local Government Areas (LGA):

• Fufore (Gurin and Ribadu communities) and Borno State, Damboa LGA (Shuwari, Alkaleri communities), Mafa LGA (Mafa central and Tamsugandua Ward (Kaleri, Zannari, Sinmari, Gwozari, Bulamari, Malakyariri, and Dibterima).

Ethics, Child Safeguarding: 

The consultant(s) and the team that will interface with children will be required to provide a statement within their proposal on how they will ensure ethics, child safeguarding in the process of data collection and visits in compliance with Plan International’s Global Safeguarding Children and Youth People Policy. Details on the adoption of gender-balance amongst interviewers, focus group discussion (FGD) facilitators and observers shall be provided. The consultant(s) shall also explain how confidentiality and anonymity of participants will be guaranteed. This is because the GFFO intervention is keen on giving opportunities for girls, boys, women and men to provide feedback on the project intervention. Gender lens would be used to analyze results for girls and boys in comparison to their situations.

Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy represents a serious commitment by the organization to hold ourselves accountable to children and young people, ensuring that they feel safe and protected with us and those who represent Plan International at all times. Everyone working with and associated with Plan is expected to adhere to the provisions of the policy. This means always acting appropriately with children and young people, assessing and reducing risks to children and young people in all our operations and activities including research and studies, and taking appropriate action in line with global and local procedures to report and respond to concerns about a child or young person’s welfare. Plan International takes stringent measures against any Plan staff, associate, or visitor who breaches this policy.

The study will involve data collection with young people, and therefore, must ensure appropriate, safe, non-discriminatory participation; stressing that a proportional representation of young women’s and young men’s views are collected; a process of free and un-coerced consent and withdrawal; confidentiality and anonymity of participants. Environments and working methods should be adapted to the capacities of children and young people; time and resources should be made available to ensure that young men and women are adequately prepared and have the confidence and opportunity to contribute their views.

Other Ethics that consultant/s should adhere to include the following;

• All terms/conditions stipulated in the contract agreement.
• Conducting them in a respectful manner, while undertaking assignment, this includes not making any commitments to communities and any other persons, on behalf of Plan International Nigeria.
• Time-frame and conditions outlined in the TOR and consultancy agreement

Intended Users of the Evaluation: 

The intended users of the final Baseline evaluation are the project team, staff from Plan International Germany, Lake Chad Programme Unit, the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), as well as Plan International’s Country Office of Nigeria. It is expected that the baseline report will provide a starting point to the project achievement and serve as a guide for stakeholders and partners in the implementation.

Key Deliverables: 

• Inception report including:
• an updated timeline
• a detailed methodology including draft sampling methodology and size
• draft data collection tools
• ethical and safeguarding considerations and risk assessment
• consent forms for any primary data collection
• draft methods for data analysis and quality control
• brief justification of the methods and techniques envisaged (including relevant underlying values and assumptions/ theories) with a justification of the selection made.
• Final data collection tools;
• Final Sampling methodology (including unit of sampling and sampling frame);
• Draft baseline evaluation report, including cleaned data files (e.g. Excel, SPSS, Kobotoolbox), transcripts of qualitative data syntax/ code books etc. and completed consent forms (including for children and their caregivers and adults;
• Final baseline evaluation report including an Executive Summary and indicators monitoring table with reference data;
• Other communication product to disseminate.

NB: It is extremely important that the consultant provides the final versions of the data collection tools, as these tools will be used for all future monitoring activities during the life of the project to ensure consistency of measure. Moreover, with the support of PLAN Nigeria and the project team, he will provide an indicators matrix including definition and specification.

The specification and definition of an indicator describes exactly what the indicator means and how the indicator is calculated. The indicator definition should specifically describe:

• What is measured and the unit of measurement like # of households, individuals, level of life skill, food production in Kg/tonne, Income generation per year etc;
• How the indicator should be calculated;
• How the indicator should be analyzed (i.e. composite indicators);
• What other information you might need to triangulate with to validate the information.

Consultant Expected Qualifications and Selection Criteria: 

The Consultant selected for this study will be a firm, a group of consultants or an individual. The team leader of this baseline study should have a university degree (Bac+5) in social sciences, Statistics, epidemiology or a relevant field; at least 5 years of experience in research and evaluations in the humanitarian and development setting with relevant references. At least one member of the team should meet the following criteria, the scoring of which will contribute to the shortlisting of the Consultant.

The selection process will take place in two phases: the technical proposal will be analyzed before proceeding to the analysis of the financial proposal. A team from Plan International Nigeria will score the documentations (technical and financial proposal) provided by the potential consultant on the bases of 70% and 30% respectively. The consultancy will be offered to the candidates with the highest combined score (best value for money, cumulative evaluation).

Criteria & Score: 

• At least 5 years of higher education in social sciences and related fields- 10%
• Good knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods (Methodology, calendar - 20%
• Knowledge of research ethics - 10%
• Good knowledge of quantitative data analysis, Excel software, or any other proposed software -15%
• Experience in conducting research activities in project and programme evaluations -15%
• Good knowledge of how to mainstream Do not Harm principles and gender sensitivity and vulnerability issues and how they are considered in evaluation activities -10&
• Good ability to work in a team and to coordinate a multidisciplinary team - 10%
• Excellent analytical, synthesis and report writing skills -10%

TOTAL - 100%

How to Apply: 

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects:

1. (If a firm or company proving), Provide the legal documents of registration and operation of the its existence and compliance with the law;
2. Reports of two similar evaluations carried out and/or 2 recommendations from INGOs for which the bidder has recently carried out a similar study.
3. Provide curriculum vitae of team members detailing knowledge/experience in the above areas;
4. Proposed methodology;
5. Detailed budget, including daily fee rates, expenses, taxes etc.
6. Possible dates he/she will be available to commence the consultancy ASAP.
7. Provide name of at least two references that can attest to the consultant capability to conduct this baseline study.

Please send your application to Plan International Nigeria on or before 2nd November 2023 referencing “Nigeria Baseline Evaluation for GFFO project” in the subject line, to: Nigeria.Consultant@plan-international.org.**