LRFP -2018 - 9141396 - Entering into a Long Term Agreement with a Company to Carry Out Data Collection for Social Protection and Social Policy​​

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR SERVICE CONTRACTING

Assignment: Long term agreement for data collection and analysis for UNICEF Jordan

Monitoring the Socio-Economic Status of Children in Jordan

Location: Jordan (Camp and Host Communities)

Estimated Start Date: September 15th, 2018

reporting to: Social Protection Officer

                     Chief of Social Protection

1. JUSTIFICATION/BACKGROUND

Jordan is home to 9.5 million people, where only 70 per cent are Jordanians while 13 per cent are Syrians, 7 per cent Palestinians, 1 per cent Iraqis and 9 per cent other nationalities (census 2015). Forty  per cent of the population under 18, 20 per cent between age 15-24 years, 63 per cent under 30 years and 62 per cent in the productive age between 15 to 64 years (Census 2015). The Syrian crisis is into its seventh year, according to Census (2015), there are more than 1.2 million Syrians are living in Jordan in 2015. As of April 2018, 661,859 are registered refugees, of which 51 per cent are children under 18 and 20 per cent live in camps (UNHCR, 2018).

Government of Jordan have signed and ratified UN Convention on the Rights of the Children (UNCRC) and shown significant commitment towards achieving SDGs with its first voluntary report (MOPIC, 2017). Jordan is ranked 80th in the World and 5th in the region in SDG index Overall, considerable achievements were made during the last decade, especially in the areas of acute poverty reduction, maternal child health, communicable diseases and universal primary education. Whereas, monetary child poverty and multidimensional child poverty remains high and there are significant disparities among the governorates. Poverty estimates from HIES (2010) shows that more than 14 per cent of the population fall below the national poverty line of 68JOD per person per month. According to UNHCR, 86 per cent of Syrian refugees in host community are living below the national poverty line of which 10 per cent are living below the abject poverty line of less than 28JOD per month. UNICEF (2018) shows that there are 85 per cent of the Syrian children fall below the national poverty line. Child multidimensional poverty in Jordan is reported at slightly above 20 per cent, these figures are derived from DHS 2012 (UNICEF-MENA 2017).

UNICEF is shifting towards a vulnerability approach, which has potential to address cost-effectiveness and focus on multiple vulnerabilities faced by the children in Jordan. Changing from a rapid response to a systems approach requires an improved analysis of the inequities among children that exist across various characteristics. Assessing the welfare condition of the children will enable the targeting of relevant barriers and bottlenecks specific to each group.

UNICEF acknowledges the fact that focusing on multiple vulnerabilities can promote social cohesion and address inequities. Given that there are multiple vulnerabilities faced by the children in Jordan, UNICEF intends to understanding them through quantitative and qualitative assessments with a focus on extremely poor and vulnerable children in whole of Jordan. The assessments will consist of multi-sectorial questionnaire covering the basic rights of the children. The data and analysis will also feed into previous monitoring exercise conducted as part of the Frequent Monitoring with the Syrian refugee households with children in host communities and study of the population covered by the Hajati proram. The questionnaire will be repeatedly administered to a representative sample of Jordanian and Non-Jordanian households with children in camps and non-camp settings.

1. OBJECTIVE AND TARGETS

The purpose of this contract is to collect and analyze information regarding the vulnerabilities of children in Jordan in order to identify the changing circumstances of Jordanian and Non-Jordanian households with children in camp and host communities.

The data will also help UNICEF to ascertain the types and extent (overlap) of multidimensional deprivation faced by the children. This will help to improve the targeting of both humanitarian response as well as building the foundation for development of harmonized approach for targeting extremely vulnerable population.

1. SCOPE OF THE WORK (WORK ASSIGNMENT)
   1. Frequent Monitoring of Children

      The major areas of enquiry will be household welfare, child development, child and maternal health, children’s education, child protection, disability, use of drinking water and sanitation facilities. The exact number of households to be interviewed will be based on a representative sample with an expected attrition of 10 per cent each wave. UNICEF will ideally follow the same households/cases over same three different survey waves and should cases drop-out, the households in the same neighborhood would be interviewed. By June 2019, three data points per case would be available, this would provide a solid base to estimate trends on key indicators of child-welfare: the construction of a panel dataset to estimate trends offers obvious advantages compared with analyzing repeated cross-sectoral waves of data points. The three waves of data collection are currently planned,

• 1st wave           starting July 2018

• 2nd wave          starting December 2018
• 3rd wave          starting May 2018

  The survey will enable disaggregation of responses by geolocation, gender and other characteristics.

  UNICEF will seek approval from Institutional Ethical Board will review the survey tool, methodology and sampling framework.

  1. Hajati Program targeting

Households of children that are enrolled in specific schools across the Kingdom are entitled to the Hajati child cash grant if they meet the criteria for eligibility. The criteria is calculated through a multidimensional indicator of vulnerability and if families score lower than a certain threshold they are eligible for the grant. As the indicator relies on socio-economic data from the households UNICEF requires a firm to collect this data on a regular basis so that it can adjust its list of beneficiaries accordingly. While the selection of beneficiaries ultimately fails under UNICEF criteria, the contractors would provide UNICEF the data it needs to carry out a fair and informed selection process. UNICEF will provide lists of contacts to be screened by the contractor over phone call. If they meet the enrolment criteria (one child enrolled in an eligible school) then an interview should be carried out with the household. The process would follow the steps outlined below:

• Day 1-UNICEF sends a list of phone number to check for enrolment criteria
• Day 2 to 20-Contractor screen for the eligibility requirement and is being
• Day 21-Contractor sends a consolidated database that inform the status of each phone number (reached and surveyed/reach and does not meet enrolment criteria/not reached…) such as a consolidated list of surveys completed,
  1. Social protection programs post distribution monitoring and evaluation

As part of the monitoring exercise of the Social protection programmes (Hajati and Makani), UNICEF is carrying out Post Distribution Monitoring surveys on a bi-annual basis. The questionnaire includes information about the vulnerabilities of the household including the following chapters: access to education, living conditions, disability, health, nutrition, coping strategies, expenditures, incomes, children’s well-being and child protection. The questionnaire includes a set of questions to be directly asked to children. The sample of households to be interviewed is provided by UNICEF, including phone number, names of respondents and information regarding the location of the households to be interviewed.

UNICEF will seek approval from Institutional Ethical Board which will review the survey tool, methodology and sampling framework for which the research institution will be expected to provide inputs.

1. Methodology

The assessments carried oud will adopt a mixed methods approach to understand the situation of children in Jordan. The mixed method approach will allow the use of a variety of data sources (data triangulation), multiple perspectives (theory triangulation), and multiple methods (methodological triangulation). The data triangulation will contribute to the quantitative analysis, whereas theory triangulation will give a theoretical framework to contextualize and understand the empirical evidence. Data will be collected through a questionnaire developed by UNICEF, based on representative sample of the population considered. The questionnaire will be produced using some of the MICS6 modules for children and women. Quantitative data will then be analyzed by UNICEF and participatory focused group discussion will be leveraged to validate and complement the findings from the quantitative analysis.

In all cases, UNICEF will follow guidelines on ethics in research and three ethical principles mentioned in Belmont report: respect for the persons, beneficence, and justice.

The survey will be conducted using CAPI. There would be adequate safety features in place to maintain security and confidentiality of data collected by the research institution. The research institution will develop an analysis and tabulation plan.

1. Reference Manual

To clarify the way the questionnaire should be administered, and to clarify the exact meaning and intention of each question, a short reference manual will be developed by the research institution. UNICEF will approve final version of the manual.

1. Piloting of questionnaire and pre-testing

UNICEF will develop and provide the questionnaire to the research institution. The agency is expected to provide feedback on the survey and pilot it. The research institution will then prepare the survey tools in Arabic and English. The Arabic version of the questionnaire and the reference manual will be piloted on approximately 25 households in different settings (Amman, peri-urban areas, and small towns). UNICEF field monitors will oversee the pre-test; the survey tools will be finalized after incorporating feedback from the pre-test.

Thereafter, the research institution will share with UNICEF the final version of questionnaires and manuals in both Arabic and English for final review and clearance, before undertaking fieldwork. The M&E officer, following consultation with sections experts, will approve the final survey tools.

1. Fieldwork team composition

Data collection in the field will be carried out by several teams. The field staff should be adequately qualified and have substantive experience.

1. Data quality

The research institution will be responsible for securing data quality and should put in place relevant quality mechanisms. During the data collection field work, the research institution should provide UNICEF a detailed logistical plan including the teams composition, contact information and places to visit the latest at 3:00 pm the day before. UNICEF will randomly select one team to check on the quality of data collected and would give feedback for improvements to the research institution. Additionally, UNICEF will reserve the right to audit the data collected through a third party auditing firm.

1. Data Collection

Quantitative data should be collected on portable devices using a platform that is compatible with the XLS Form standard. The equipment used by the research institution should allow to collect GPS location data and collect pictures of relevant documents allowing to identify the respondents of the survey.

1. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

please refer to Annex 1.

1. REALISTIC DELIVERY DATES AND DETAILS ON HOW THE WORK MUST BE DELIVERED

Will be determined at for each contract signed in the framework of this Long Term Agreement.

1. OFFICIAL TRAVEL INVOLVED

Yes, within Jordan. The research institution will arrange for his/her travel

1. DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS, SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERIENCE

The bidder should be a research institution with at least 2 years of experience conducting large scale surveys in Jordan.

1. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF RESULTS

   UNICEF will have a completed oversight on the implementation of the key tasks of the assignment as appropriate to the task. Performance during the contract will be evaluated against the following criteria:

• Timeliness
• Responsibility
• initiative
• communication
• Quality of the products delivered.

   

1. FREQUENCY OF PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

   UNICEF will have a completed oversight on the implementation of the key tasks of the assignment as appropriate to the task. Performance during the contract will be evaluated against the following criteria:

• Timeliness
• Responsibility
• initiative
• communication
• Quality of the products delivered.

  The contractor will work on its own assets and use its own office resources and materials in the execution of this work. The contractor fee shall be inclusive of all office administrative costs. Contractor will use its own means of transportation. Payment will be done on deliverables based as mentioned in the table above.

   

1. CALL FOR PROPOSALS

   Proposed deliverables are listed above.  All interested institutions are requested to include in their submission detailed cost per deliverable, using the unit specified in the description. The breakdown of cost should include:

    

• Expenses that are estimated to complete the deliverable
• Daily rate including hours per day
• Any additional requirements needed to complete the deliverable that might have impact on cost or delivery of products

  The contracting institution would be required to use its own resources (computer, printers and photocopier etc.) to complete the deliverable

  UNICEF will evaluate the capacity of the bidding institution to submit the deliverables specified at the quality required following a two-stage procedure to assess the proposals. An assessment of the technical proposal will be completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Applications shall therefore contain the following required documentation:

1. Technical Proposal

   Applicants shall prepare a proposal as an overall response to TOR ensuring that the purpose, objectives, scope, criteria and deliverables of the study are addressed and a specific focus on the scope of work, methodology, to be used and key selection criteria for selection of respondents. The proposal shall include a draft work plan and timeline for the assignment. The technical proposal shall also include updated profiles/CV of the Consultancy institution’s team members including links to previous materials developed for similar work which reflects proven experience in conducting nationally representative quantitative and qualitative surveys. Technical proposal need to have detailed data quality management plan and data security.

2. Financial Proposal

   Offer with cost breakdown: A financial proposal detailing the budget breakdown based on expected daily rates and technical content for each deliverable specified in the previous section.

   Seven days after the publication of the TORs interested bidders would be convoked to a pre-bid meeting to be carried out in UNICEF premises. Any party interested to join should register previously by completing the registration form available at: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=lQFBd-EUuE-QS6sYkgI2Z2vJYzNgra9Mmhl32NOvkhBUQjBTQ0tXUERJNjZJUjhHVU9ZS0FaMENSTS4u

1. INDICATION OF HEALTH STATEMENT AND CERTIFICATE OF GOOD HEALTH HAS BEEN RECEIVED PRIOR TO SIGNING THE CONTRACT

   Non Applicable

2. UNICEF RECOURSE IN CASE OF UNSATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE

   The contractor will work on its own assets and use its own office resources and materials in the execution of this work. The contractor fee shall be inclusive of all office administrative costs. Contractor will use its own means of transportation. Payment will be done on deliverables based as mentioned in the table in section 4.

   In case of unsatisfactory performance, the payment will be withheld until quality deliverables are submitted. If the research institution is unable to complete the assignment, the contract will be terminated by notification letter sent 15 days prior to the termination date. In the meantime, UNICEF will initiate another selection in order to identify appropriate candidate.

3. INDICATION THAT THE CONSULTANT/INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR HAS RECEIVED A COPY OF THIS DOCUMENT OR. ALTERNATIVELY, AN EXPERT OF RELEVANT PROVISIONS INCLUDING THOSE CONCERNING LEGAL STATUS, OBLIGATIONS AND TITLE RIGHTS.

   Not Applicable

4. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND WEIGHTING CRITERIA

               __70___% technical

               __30___% financial

               100% total

   Submitted proposals will be assessed using Cumulative Analysis Method. All requests for proposal will be weighed according to the technical (70%) and financial considerations (30%). Financial proposals will be opened only for applications that attained 49 points or above on the technical part. Below are the criteria and points for technical and financial proposals.

   Financial Offer (30 points)

   A separate Financial Offer detailing all activity expenses and logistics should we submitted under this section. The financial offer should be submitted on a separate page from the Technical Capability and Schedule Information.

5. CONDITIONS

• The contractor will work on its own computer(s) and use its own office resources and materials in the execution of this assignment. The contractor’s fee shall be inclusive of all office administrative costs
• Local travel and airport transfers (where applicable) will be covered in accordance with UNICEF’s rules and tariffs.
• Flight costs will be covered at economy class rate as per UNICEF policies.
• Any air tickets for travel will be authorised by and paid for by UNICEF directly, and will be for the attendance of meetings and workshops.
• Please also see UNICEF’s Standard Terms and Conditions attached.