Consultant: Evaluation of Oxfam-Supported Community Radio Programme in Sindhupalchok

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Evaluation of Oxfam-Supported Community Radio Programme in Sindhupalchok

Background and Rationale

Nepal was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale on 25 April 2015 and several aftershocks including a major one of 6.9 magnitude on 12 May.  As a result 14 districts were severely affected. Out of 11,288 water systems 1,588 sustained major damage, 3,663 sustained partial damage and 220,000 toilets were either partially or fully damaged.  As a result, the access to water, sanitation and hygiene in the affected communities are seriously affected and the risk of water borne diseases increased significantly. To respond to this disaster, Oxfam has carried out relief operations in 7 highly affected districts and are now transitioning into recovery programs on shelter, livelihoods and WASH.

In Sindhupalchok, one of the severely affected districts, many households have lost their TVs and radios and no longer have access to important information. This prompted the WASH team to distribute radios to key village members and initiate a radio program that will deliver critical information to far-flung villages on the ongoing response and recovery efforts, including key WASH and health messages.

The radio program was called “Jibanshaili” to refer to the lifestyle in Sindhupalchok post-earthquake. Launched in July 2015, it is aired for an hour through Radio Sindhu 105MHz every Friday at 630pm, and repeated every Tuesday at 900am.

Radio Sindhu manages all the preparations, story gathering and production of the episodes with technical oversight from the Oxfam PHP Team. The program is structured to have two 30-minute segments:

(1)   Community Voices segment uses interviews and phone-in questions to solicit community stories / practices and share information on how communities can prevent, protect & respond to risks and on how to access relevant services and be informed of upcoming events.

(2)   Rumours & Realities segment uses drama to clarify rumours published in the OpenMic and from other local media groups

The radio program was originally designed to engage and collaborate with other humanitarian / development organizations and government agencies to increase coverage and reach of the program. Partners are encouraged to distribute radios in their own areas of operation or to contribute technical resources. This has so far been well received in the beginning with six active partners collaborating in the production of the episodes (Norwegian Red Cross, People in Need, Her Turn, Next Generation Nepal, Internews and MAG). However, this has not been carried out consistently for the next round.

So far, Radio Sindhu, has completed 13 episodes for a period of 13 weeks during the first round (July-September 2015). Currently, it has 4 out of 16 episodes left for the second round ending on 26 February 2016. See Annex 1 for a complete list of episodes. 

The first round of episodes did not have the benefit of a formal review but the WASH/PHP team has at least collected community feedback through the support of the female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs). Results are mostly used to inform preferred topics on future episodes, and the focus has been on access metrics. It was found that the radio was an effective medium of getting information after the earthquake. However, there has been limited information on the quality, reach and impact of the program.

Objectives

With the radio program nearly coming to an end, the WASH team intends to conduct an evaluation with the following objectives:

• Determine the extent of reach of the radio program and understand our listener profile and preferences
• Assess the quality and value addition of the Jibanshaili radio program in the community
• Gather stories showing positive and negative impact of the program to the community
• Determine the costs and benefits of the radio program to the community, the radio station, collaborating partners and Oxfam
• Recommend ways to improve the radio program in terms of content, technicality, production quality, management of the radio program and, approaches to engage the community

Target audience and expeced use of output

Results of the evaluation will be used to inform decisions on continuing the program, and feed into a broader evaluation of the PHP work at the country level. As such, the target audience for this evaluation will be mostly OXFAM staff. Success stories, on the other hand, will be shared publicly and a shorter version of the evaluation report will be drafted for circulation to external stakeholders – Radio Sindhu, government and other partners.

Methodology

The evaluation will be carried out using a mix of qualitative and quantitative tools as shown below. 

1. Records review – This will entail reviewing relevant documents of the radio program to gather information on the design, and to compile and synthesise initial feedback results as additional input into the evaluation.

• Radio program concept notes
• Radio Sindhu contracts and reports
• Feedback results

2. Program episode technical review – This will be done through a review of the radio program script or audio file of a sample of program episodes, allowing for a good representation of topics across different sectors (WASH, EFSVL, Shelter). The purpose is to assess the content, technicality, and production quality of the episode.

3. Key Informant Interview – This will be a 1:1 interview with key people who are involved in managing the radio program, and those with interesting stories to share.

• Radio Sindhu – Jibanshaili Project Manager
• Contact persons involved from partners -- Norwegian Red Cross, People in Need, Her Turn, Next Generation Nepal, Internews and MAG, government agencies
• Oxfam focal persons on the radio from each sector (WASH, Shelter, Livelihood)
• Selected community members who had a story to share on how they have been able to use the information from the radio

4. Focus Group Discussion – This will be used to probe deeper on the respondents’ views and perceptions on the quality of the program and their suggestions on improving the program.

• Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV) who have received the radios from Oxfam
• Community members with access to radio (separate FGDs for males and females)
• Radio Sindhu – Jibanshaili staff 

5. Household Survey – The survey will be used to get an estimate of radio program reach, listener satisfaction rating and factors affecting continued patronage of the program. The survey will be done through the Household Baseline Survey that the MEAL team will conduct sometime in February. This will not be part of the task of the Consultant. However, results of the survey will be used as part of this evaluation.

Timeline

Jan 31 – Feb 10            Hiring of Consultant and formation of Data Gathering Team

Feb 11 – Feb 18            Research Protocol, development and pretesting of tools (7 days)

Feb 19 – Feb 23            Data gathering (4 days)

Feb 24                          Debriefing / Preliminary Results

Feb 24 – Mar 2              Processing of data and report writing (7 days)

Mar 3                            Draft Evaluation report

Mar 4                            Sharing of Radio Program Evaluation results (1 day)      

Mar 5-9                         Additional writing/ revisions (3 days)

Mar 10                          Final Evaluation report

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CONSULTANT:

• Hire his research assistants to support in data gathering, transcription and report preparation
• Develop the evaluation protocol and tools in consultation with the WASH team
• Brief/train the data gathering team on the use of the tools
• Pre-test the tools together with the data gathering team of Oxfam
• Prepare the logistics requirement for data collection in data collection needs (tools, team set-up, schedule) with support from the PHP Deputy Team Leader
• Lead in the conduct of data gathering, processing and analysis
• Moderate focus groups, key informant interviews, episode reviews
• Analyse and interpret the data to identify patterns and solutions
• Write the evaluation report and present results
• Have the appropriate equipment required in the conduct of the task such as laptop and camera

Deliverables

The Consultant shall provide the following:

• Final evaluation protocol by February 18
• Draft Evaluation Report  (in English) in soft copy by March 3
• Final Evaluation Report (in English) in hard and soft copy together with the copy of the tools used and transcripts (in Nepali) by March 10
• The MEAL/MAC team shall provide a compilation of success stories.

Management & Team Support

• The Consultant in the performance of the above responsibilities reports to the PHP Deputy Team Leader – Sindhupalchok. Technical support will be provided by the PHP Capacity Builder deployed in Sindhupalchok.
• Development and pretesting of the tools will be done together with the PHP team and the Consultant. The Consultant will be provided with at least 5 staff from OXFAM for data gathering (PHP Capacity Builder, PHP Deputy Team Leader, PHP Assistants, MAC & MEAL staff).
• Report sign off will be authorised by the District WASH Team Leader of Sindhupalchok and the PM(?).

The following support will be provided to the Consultant:

• Accommodation while in Sindhupalchok
• Vehicle during field work and to/from Kathmandu
• Office space for the Consultant 
• MP3 recorders for use during data gathering

Oxfam MAC team will provide support in gathering success stories in the use of the radio program and the MEAL Officer in Sindhupalchok will provide support in data gathering/ processing / analysis of the survey data.

SKILLS REQUIREMENT:

• Educational background in public health, sociology, and communications; must at least have a Master’s degree on any of the said field of study
• At least 3 years research experience using quantitative and qualitative research methods and statistics.
• Good command of English and Nepali language
• Strong analytical skills;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Report-writing skills;
• Accuracy and attention to detail;
• Organisation skills, including time management and the ability to work under pressure and to deadlines.
• Teamwork, flexibility and drive;
• IT literacy

The proposal should include:

• Detailed Work Plan
• Methodology
• Budget Breakdown
• CV of the Consultant
• Legal Documents of Consultancy
• VAT Registration Document

Interested consultant/firms are requested to send their proposal clearly mentioning the title of assignment in their email subject line by 29 February 2016 via mail to recruitment_nepal@oxfam.org.uk