Mali: CONSULTANT FOR BASELINE SURVEY

About the Red Cross:
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide, which was created to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering.

The Mali national society, the Croix-Rouge Malienne (CRM) was established in 1965 based on the Geneva Conventions of August 1949 and in line with the March 1959 order governing associations and NGOS in the Republic of Mali. Its mission is “to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity". The CRM has been implementing projects in partnership and with the support of the Canadian Red Cross in Mali for more than ten years.

Project Background:
The Canadian Red Cross and the Red Cross of Mali will collaborate in the implementation of a new project entitled "Improving the health of mothers, newborns and children in Mali” with funding by the Canadian Government and the Canadian Red Cross.

The initiative is an integrated four-year maternal, newborn and child health intervention implemented by the Mali Red Cross (Croix-rouge Malienne, CRM) and the Government of Mali through the Ministry of Health (national, regional and district levels), and in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross. The project will reach some of the most underserved populations in 6 districts across the Koulikoro and Sikasso regions to prevent and address the major threats to the lives of women, children and newborns, significantly contributing to the objectives of the Ministry of Health’s MNCH and ICCM strategies. The partners will achieve this by harnessing the potential of communities and by extending the reach of the Ministry of Health through Community Health Workers based in communities, to implement practical, proven and cost effective ICCM and MNCH interventions. Furthermore, social and behaviour change communication will be used to address social barriers, particularly gender barriers, to maternal, newborn and child health. The project will support the primary and secondary health care centers (CSCOMs and CSREFs) improve the quality of their MNCH services. It will also support the health management information system in the targeted districts. Together the implementing partners will improve the health and lives of more than 1,261,400 women, children and men in the districts of Nara, Dioila, Kolokani, Koulikoro, and Banamba in Koulikoro Region and Sikasso district in Sikasso Region.

The project will be supported by a Canadian research institution, SickKids Centre for Global Child Health (SickKids CGCH), and will contribute additional technical support to strengthen performance management and accountability, including local data collection, monitoring and evaluation, operational research and analysis of results.

The Red Cross Mali and the Canadian Red Cross are now seeking qualified individuals/firms to support the baseline process in the collection of data in its targeted regions and districts.

2. Baseline Purpose
The baseline study is intended to provide programme staff with detailed pre-implementation data on key project indicators as outlined in the Performance Measurement Framework (PMF) that inform about health changes in girls and boys, women and men to be measured over the course of the project. It will include questions on gender barriers and cultural norms that impact MNCH practices. Canadian Red Cross, Red Cross Mali, its consortium partners and the program funder will use the baseline report as a benchmark against which to measure changes over time, improve programming, and set targets. It may also be used by government agencies (e.g. Ministry of Health) within the country. The data collected will use questionnaires with closed questions (quantitative methodology), collected from both household surveys and facility surveys as appropriate. SickKids will guide and manage the monitoring and evaluation of the project and will design the data collection tools and perform the analysis and write the report.

2.1 Scope
The baseline will consist of a representative household survey (HHS) of approximately 1000-1500 households per region (Koulikoro and Sikasso). The household survey includes 4 sections: household questionnaire, woman’s questionnaire, questionnaire for children under 5, and man’s questionnaire. The household questionnaire collects a household roster and information on household socioeconomic characteristics. The women’s questionnaire asks primarily about reproductive, maternal, and newborn health and targets women aged 15-49 who had a birth in the past 2 years. A sample size of 1000-1500 households per region is expected to yield interviews with approximately 450-600 women who gave birth in the past 2 years. The under-five questionnaire collects information from mothers on care for sick children in the past 2 weeks. Finally, a man’s questionnaire will be administered in a random sample of households in order to obtain an approximate sample of 200-300 men age 15-54. In addition a facility survey will be undertaken in a sample of targeted facilities among the 126 CSCOMs and 6 CSREFs where the project is being implemented. Sample size estimates will be finalized once maps of enumeration areas and associated populations become available.

We are proposing a two-stage cluster randomized sampling strategy, similar to what has been used for large scale household surveys such as the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS), where the first stage of randomization is the census enumeration area cluster, and the second stage is a random sample of households from within the enumeration area (based on mapping of the area).

2.2 Purpose and Objective of Mandate
The baseline consultant will be responsible for all aspects of work related to enumerator recruitment and training, data collection (including electronic data capture, where relevant) and quality assurance.
The specific tasks of the consultant are:

• Recruiting all field staff involved in baseline data collection including translators, field enumerators, and supervisors. The enumerators for the household survey must be mainly female (for the women’s questionnaire) and a smaller portion of men (for the men’s questionnaire), and must have experience in data collection. Ideally, enumerators for the facility assessment should have medical or nursing training.
• Translation and back translation of all data collection tools into local languages of Koulikoro and Sikasso
• Provision of maps of census enumeration areas and associated populations, and where available maps of households in selected enumeration areas to allow SickKids to determine the sampling strategy.
• Training enumerators, data entry personnel and supervisors following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and data collection protocols provided by SickKids
• Pilot testing all data collection tools
• Data collection according to the sampling using a developed household questionnaire.
• Data quality assurance checks, including ensuring spot checks by supervisors are conducted with a subsample of selected households and facilities. Real-time data should be checked to facilitate the identification of errors and initiate retraining of enumerators if required.
• Use computer assisted data collection tools such as tablets is strongly encouraged and will factor into the decision of who is selected. Where the use of tablets is not possible, the consultant will double data entry is required, following standard guidelines. Data quality checks on data entry, to verify data is logical, consistent and complete. Re-entry of data and/or re-training of data entry personnel if required
• Provision of raw data on request during data collection period and a complete dataset upon conclusion of data collection, as per the schedule
• Work with Red Cross Mali to gain necessary clearance to undertake Household Survey and Facility Survey
• Provide a field report, detailing any challenges, lessons learned, modifications to collection protocols and any remediation required
• The consultant should not share any of the assessment results with any third party
  3. Outputs and suggested timeframe
  The period of the contract will be approximately from July 15th, 2016 to September 15th, 2016 with an expected contribution of approximately 47 working days over 2 months[1]. The consultant is expected to carry out all the preparation required to roll out the study as per the suggested time frame below.

Output/Deliverable Suggested timeframe Estimated Timeline

1. Skype call with Red Cross and SickKids to review proposal, plans, questions, trainings, logistics and tools1 dayJuly 15, 2016

2. Provide area mapping and enumeration to SickKids1 dayJuly 18

3. Translation of data collection tools (household survey and facility survey)5 daysJuly 18-22

4. Recruitment and training of supervisors, data collectors and data entry personnel (if required)8 daysJuly 25-August 3

5. Pilot-test of tools completed and analysis of pilot results shared3 daysAugust 2-4

6. Data Collection4 weeksAugust 8-Sep 5

7. Data Entry and Data Checks completed, dataset shared with SickKids (ongoing with data collection)4 weeks (without computer assisted collection)August 11-Sep 8

8. Data sent to SickKids and reviewed throughout the project: data cleaning and editing ongoing throughout the data collection, by the consultant4 weeksAugust 11-Sep 8

9. Raw dataset sent to SickKids and Canadian Red CrossN/ASep 8

10. Field report delivered to Canadian Red Cross and SickKids5 daysSep 15Suggested total8 weeks Red Cross Mali’s M&E and/or project staff will supervise training, field visits and data collection, with the support of SickKids.

[1] The total number of days will be dependent on whether computer assisted data collection is utilized.

4. Skills and qualifications of the baseline team**
The team must be multidisciplinary as the baseline review is an opportunity to set the direction of all project components. At minimum the consultant(s) must posses the following:

1. Minimum of 10 years of experience in administering studies, collecting data and producing quality baseline/endline study reports, preferably for international non-governmental organizations or multilateral agencies, including multi-country studies
2. At least a Masters degree in public health, epidemiology, demography or related field and demonstrated experience in household data collection related to MNCH.
3. A professional licence for consultancy in similar tasks
4. Good knowledge of Mali and preferably Sikasso and Koulikoro where the project is being implemented with demonstrated practical working experience or research in Mali.
5. Experience of effective interaction with local non-government organizations, government departments, and international organizations.
6. Excellent spoken and written communication skills in English and French.
7. Evidence of similar work in the recent past is a key requirement.
8. Ability to recruit enumerators with local language skills in Koulikoro and Sikasso and team members who speak these languages.
9. Experience collecting household data using computer assisted interviews is a strong preference. The consultant should supply the tablets and back up power source if they will use computer assisted data collection.
10. Ability to collect geo-location data preferred.
    5. Reporting
    The consultant is expected to produce a field report after data collection detailing the data collection process based on the quality standards outlined in the field work SOPs. This report should be submitted no later than seven days after data collection is completed.
    In addition, the consultant is to submit all required documents, raw data, transcripts and reports to the individual noted above within the specified timing in section 3 of this TOR.

6. Application Packages and Procedures
Qualified and interested parties are asked to submit the following:

1. Letter of interest
2. A copy of your curriculum vitae (CV) which should outline your qualifications and relevant experience and those of all team members (excluding the supervisors and enumerators).
3. Detailed technical proposal of a maximum of 5 pages clearly demonstrating a thorough understanding of this ToR and which specifically outlines:
   1. The proposed methodology you will apply in delivering the intended objectives.
   2. Detailed time and activity schedule, expanding on the outputs and timeline in section 3.
   3. Team composition and level of effort of each proposed team member
4. A financial proposal with a detailed breakdown of costs for the study, including:
   1. Itemized consultancy fees/costs
   2. Itemized field data collection expenses
   3. Itemized administrative expenses
   4. Validity period of quotations
5. The detailed technical proposal and the financial proposals are to be submitted in two separate documents.
6. Names and contact information of three references who can be contacted regarding relevant experience
7. A Consulting Firm profile (if applicable).

The proposal will be scored on both technical (methodology) and financial (budget) aspects.
Complete applications should be submitted electronically to:
Canadian Red Cross at internationalhr@redcross.ca with the subject line of: Proposal for MNCH Baseline Survey in Mali
Closing date for submission of the application package is end of business day on July 6, 2016 (20h00 – GMT).

1. Disclosure of Information
   It is understood and agreed that the Consultant(s) shall, during and after the effective period of the contract, treat as confidential and not divulge, unless authorized in writing by Red Cross, any information obtained in the course of the performance of the Contract. Information will be made available for the consultants on a need to know basis. Any necessary field visits will be facilitated by Red Cross. The selected consultant will commit to respect Red Cross Policies, including Child Protection Policies and other ethical standards.