Terms of Reference To conduct a Study on effectiveness of WASH Systems Strengthening approach in Madhesh Province

Welthungerhilfe Nepal

Terms of Reference

To conduct a Study on effectiveness of WASH Systems Strengthening approach in Madhesh Province

1. INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT

1.1 BACKGROUND

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. (Welthungerhilfe, WHH) is one of Germany’s largest private aid organisations with a dual mandate in development cooperation and humanitarian response. WHH works with civil society, communities and public institutions to address the root causes of hunger and poverty and to realise the right to adequate food and nutrition. Guided by a rights-based and locally led approach, WHH aims to enable people to live self-determined lives in dignity and justice.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is a core pillar of WHH programming because safe and reliable WASH services are fundamental for nutrition outcomes, health, resilience and poverty reduction. In cooperation with local and international partners, WHH has developed a coherent and diverse portfolio of WASH activities in many low- and middle-income countries, covering both humanitarian and development contexts. Putting the user first, addressing sustainability by applying a holistic systems-strengthening approach, converting needs into demand, and promoting hygiene behaviour change to block the transmission of diseases effectively are fundamental principles for WHH’s work in providing sustainable WASH services that contribute to reducing hunger and poverty.

Over recent years, WHH has increasingly prioritised WASH Systems Strengthening (WSS) to move beyond isolated infrastructure delivery towards sustained, equitable and climate-resilient services at scale. WHH’s WSS approach combines support to service authorities and service providers with community engagement and social accountability, and focuses on the performance of the wider WASH system: institutional arrangements and coordination, inclusive planning and budgeting, financing for full life-cycle costs, monitoring and use of data for decision-making, regulation and accountability, and continuous learning and adaptation.

WHH has been operational in Nepal since 2012 and currently implements projects across twelve districts under thematic areas including humanitarian action, WASH, agriculture, climate resilience and natural resource management, nutrition and health, economic development, civil society empowerment, and digital innovation. In line with Nepal’s ongoing decentralisation and the central role of municipalities in service delivery, WHH’s WASH portfolio has progressively expanded from community-level improvements to targeted support for local governance, service provider capacity and sustainable operation and maintenance. In the Terai, where climate and disaster risks, rapid urbanisation and social exclusion intersect, WHH’s WSS work places particular emphasis on inclusive and accountable municipal planning, strengthened service provider performance, and resilient WASH services for disadvantaged and marginalised groups.

1.2 The Project and Context

WHH Nepal is currently implementing a project “Up-scaling WASH systems strengthening approach in the Terai region of Nepal” in Siraha and Saptari districts in Madhesh province with the support of BMZ and Viva con Agua (VCA), project period: 03/2023 - 04/2026. The working municipalities in Terai include Karjanha, Kalyanpur, Siraha, Bishnupur and Golbazar in Siraha district and Dakneshwori, Bishnupur, Rajgadh, Saptakoshi and Agnisair Krishanasabaran in Saptari district. 

Goal: The major goal of the project is to promote the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation through community engagement, WASH systems strengthening and advocacy.

Outcome: Access to safe drinking water, safely managed sanitation, and hygiene is increased through improved quality and sustainability of WASH services and behavior change of users. 

Outputs

1. Sustainable access to water, sanitation and hygiene is improved for disadvantaged communities through community-led initiatives and management.
2. Municipal WASH governance is strengthened to deliver climate resilient, safe, sustainable, and accountable WASH services
3. Approaches, tools and learnings of the project are exchanged and promoted at provincial and federal level through evidence-based advocacy initiatives and knowledge sharing.

The project seeks to strengthen the long-term basis for service delivery at micro and meso levels and using lessons and evidence to change and influence systems at national levels (macro level). In this project area, the current intervention is an upscaling of Phase I of the project “Strengthening WASH Governance for Social Change in Siraha and Saptari Districts,” which was implemented from 1 November 2018 to 28 February 2023.

Nepal has made progress in WASH service delivery, but major gaps still persist. Although 88.6% of the population has basic water services, only 16% use safely managed drinking water. In sanitation, 95% have basic facilities, yet only 51% have safely managed services, and open defecation continues. Hygiene practices remain limited, with only 64% of households having handwashing facilities. In Nepal, only 25% of water supply schemes are fully functional. About 36% require minor repairs, while the remaining 39% need major repairs, rehabilitation, or complete reconstruction. The primary challenge affecting the functionality of these schemes is the limited capacity of Water and Sanitation Users Committees (WSUCs). Several studies indicate that these committees often struggle to operate schemes sustainably due to inadequate tariff collection, insufficient technical capacity for maintenance, and a lack of accountability and transparency. Governance and financing challenges further affect progress, as only 10% of the required national WASH financing is available, and many local governments lack complete plans and reliable data. In addition, one of the declarations of the Joint Sector Review also focuses on the sustainability of the water supply schemes with the capacity enhancement of the service providers.

WHH therefore intends to conduct the study on WASH system strengthening in Siraha and Saptari districts to generate evidence-based insights to guide WHH’s future programming, partnerships, and advocacy efforts, while also supporting provincial and local governments in strengthening their systems. This TOR outlines the scope of work, methodology, deliverables, expertise requirements, evaluation criteria, and conditions for undertaking this assignment.

Click on the link below for the detailed TOR:

TOR_NPL 1082_WASH SS study

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSAL

The interested and qualified consultant/ consulting firm must apply by 17:00 hours (COB) dated 26 February 2026 via e-tender portal: Public RFT - Study on effectiveness of WASH Systems Strengthening approach in Madhesh Province

Any queries or concerns can be directly sent via the same e-tender portal by 20 February 2026

The proposal should include the following documents:

1. Letter of expression of interest (EoI) signed by the main applicant.
2. Detailed technical and financial offer as stated in bullet 13 above
3. Firm profile detailing the past assignments (at least two report as a sample copy)
4. Detailed curriculum vitae of the consultant and of all team members, if any, highlighting their areas of work and experience
5. Company registration certificate
6. Latest tax clearance certificate
7. VAT registration certificate (for both firms and individual consultants).
8. Signed supplier declaration form

Please note that the selected consultant/ consulting firm should adhere with WHH data protection and other relevant policies during the assignment.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for further evaluation process. Welthungerhilfe Nepal reserves all the rights to reject any or all application without assigning any reasons.

Applicants believing that they have been harmed by an error or irregularity during the award process may file a complaint at https://welthungerhilfe.whispli.com/reportconcerns.