1.Background and Purpose of the evaluation

In Rwanda, Early Childhood Development (ECD) is considered one of the national investment priorities anchored on human capital development needs argument in the context of a broader national medium to long term development national aspirations. In recent years, ECD has emerged as a national priority and the government has strengthened the policy and institutional framework for investing in the early years including establishing the National Early Childhood Development Coordination Program (NECDP) in 2018. In recognition of the fact that effective ECD programming requires the integration and harmonization of policies and programs across sectors, the GoR developed and approved a national ECD policy in 2016, an Early Childhood Development Single Action Plan (ECD SAP), and an annual action plan for the six-year National ECD Program Strategic Plan (NECDP SP 2018-2024); the latter which calls for the development of an integrated approach that addresses cross-cutting issues of childcare, education, growth and development, safety, health and nutrition, and security.

Despite an impressive record in development and economic growth, children access to integrated ECD services remains low, particularly pertaining to the first critical years of children’s lives (0-3years).Data from the Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2014/15 reveal that only 63 per cent of young children are developmentally on track, and an early childhood development (ECD) baseline study conducted by UNICEF in 2014 highlights even more developmental gaps in terms of problem-solving, communication and personal social skills, as well as gross­motor and fine­motor development. In 2018, 35 per cent of children under five years old were stunted (CFSVA 2018), highlighting the importance of investing in children’s nutrition as early as possible. Twenty percent of children have access to ECD services.

To respond to this government priority and support the policy and strategy developments, UNICEF Rwanda and Imbuto Foundation, under the leadership of the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF) and in collaboration with other stakeholders, entered into a partnership in 2014 to bring together multiple Early Childhood Development and Family (ECD&F) interventions, during Phase I (2014-2016) of the ECD&F programme, funded by IKEA Foundation. The ECD&F Phase I programme targeted children younger than 6 years old in Rwanda, offering a combination of centre-based and home-based ECD interventions across ECD, Nutrition, WASH, Health, Social Protection and child protection sectors.

Building on the impact and success of the Phase I programme, the partnership continued and was expanded in the subsequent ECD&F programme Phase II (2017-2020). Phase II expanded the partnerships to include RICH, the Anglican Church, Chance for Childhood and ADEPE. This phase builds on the three­pronged approach in the socio­ecological model, which is designed to transform children’s lives by changing the way families and communities interact, nurture and care for their children.

The model is based on evidence that the following preconditions are required to maximize children’s developmental potential:

1.       Effective and responsive care of the young child by the family and community

The development of a young child is greatly influenced by: 1) the caregiver’s direct engagement with the child (core childcare practices and direct stimulation of child development) ; and 2) the physical environment, which includes safe physical spaces with adequate sanitation, and the availability of items to stimulate young child development, such as children’s books and playthings.

2.       Utilisation of quality ECD and other basic social services for young children

Integrated social services have the strongest effects on poor children and children from families with low income and low levels of education thus, focusing on child development should include interventions that address the plight of the entire family. Children develop in the context of the family and thus social economic and cultural dynamics that occur in the family context do also affect the holistic development of the child. Between the ages of three and five years, there is an emergence of increasingly complex social behaviours, emotional capacities, problem-solving abilities and pre­literacy and numeracy skills that are essential building blocks for a successful life. It is important that families are made aware of, and do utilizes available ECD services in the context of a child’s life cycle in early years (0-8 years).

3. Implementation of child sensitive policies

A supportive policy environment requires relevant child sensitive policies and accompanying policy instruments (strategic plans, capacity building strategies, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks, quality standards checklists etc.), complemented by adequate strong intersectoral coordination, sufficient budget allocation and planning and implementation mechanisms.

Therefore, a consolidated set of activities has been continued in 10 targeted areas (districts), including provision of ECD services, enhanced nutrition, preventive and curative child protection, and strengthening the transition to primary school. The integrated package of core interventions has multiplied the number of direct beneficiaries from 6,000 young children in Phase I to 32,100 in Phase II, through innovative approaches, including Faith based, low-cost community-based ECD centres and market-based Childcare/ECD services. Policy development and enforcement and mass media activities have also attained national scale.

In 2016 UNICEF Rwanda commissioned an ECD&F Phase I endline/ECD&F survey which sought to establish any changes in the lives of children and their families based on baseline indicators collected in 2014. The endline results and status served as the baseline for Phase II of the project in the same 10 intervention/treatment and 10 control sites in 10 districts. This baseline evaluation provided pre-intervention indicators of child health and development outcomes that informed the design of phase II and would allow for future impact evaluations of programme effectiveness.

To support and evaluate the impact of the ECD&F Phase II programme, an endline evaluation is planned for the fourth quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020. The aim is to capture the impact of a wide variety of ECD&F interventions

2.Justification  

Given the expected workload of documenting and evaluating the initiative at national and local level, the volume of technical deliverables, and level of independence, UNICEF Rwanda would like to engage an independent research institution to facilitate the evaluation. The institution will collaborate with NECDP, Imbuto Foundation, ADEPE, Chance for Childhood, the Anglican Church, RICH and the 10 district authorities. A technical reference team will oversee the evaluation.

3.Objectives / Study Aim

The key objective of the ECD&F Phase II endline evaluation is to evaluate the impact of the ECD&F Phase II programme and to understand whether the intended objectives of the programme have been achieved, in line with the plan, as compared with selected indicators from the results of the endline evaluation of 2016.

The time period to be evaluated in the endline is July 2017 – June 2020. The geographical scope of the evaluation is approximately 850 households in 20 sites (10 control and 10 intervention) in 10 districts (Gakenke, Gasabo, Gicumbi, Ngoma, Nyabihu, Nyamagabe, Nyamasheke, Nyarugenge, Ruhango and Rwamagana).

It is expected that the evaluation will assess the impact that the ECD&F programme on a wide range of ECD indicators, such as child protection, health, nutrition, WASH, development and early learning and programme linkages to other social protection services and livelihoods. Specifically, the evaluation will determine to what extent the intervention has been able to meet its objective to enhance Early Childhood Development in selected sites.

The findings of the evaluation will be used by UNICEF and its partners to develop future programmes and interventions and to inform and update policies and strategies to improve performance of ECD&F programmes in Rwanda.

4.Scope, Focus and Evaluation Criteria

The assignment is to carry out the endline evaluation of the ECD&F Phase II programme. This is a mix-method evaluation (see methodology section below).

The evaluation should be designed to assess the impact of the ECD&F Phase II programme in the surveyed sites, and identify the impact of different ECD interventions, such as in the area of health, nutrition, water and sanitation, early stimulation etc. In addition, the evaluation will assess the socio-economic situation of the households in the surveyed sites.

Please find attached detailed TORs for your reference