Request for Proposal

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Annual Impact Assessment Survey, 2020

Beyond the Finish Line (BFL)-Inclusive and Sustainable Rural Water Supply Services

Area Wide Rural Water Supply Services (ARWSS) Project in Nepal 

Introduction

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation is a non-profit international development organisation with headquarters in the Netherlands.  SNV applies practical know-how to make a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty and has its programs in more than 25 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. SNV contributes through strengthening the capacity of local organizations within three main sectors: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Agriculture; and Renewable Energy. 

With the funding support of DFAT Australia’s Water for Women Fund, SNV Nepal is implementing the Beyond the Finish Line – inclusive and sustainable rural water supply service project in Dailekh and Sarlahi districts. This project is being implemented applying SNV’s Area Wide Rural Water Supply Services (ARWSS) approach.

Currently, SNV Nepal is planning to carry out an annual impact assessment survey of Area Wide Rural Water Supply Services (ARWSS) project in Dailekh and Sarlahi districts. The annual impact assessment survey will be conducted at households, schools and health facilities. In Dailekh district, working areas are Dungeshwor, Gurans, Mahabu and Thantikanda Rural Municipalities, whereas in Sarlahi district, working areas; are Chandranagar, Kaudena, Parsa and Ramnagar Rural Municipalities. 

SNV Nepal is seeking a service provider to carry out this survey. The assignment is anticipated to start in the first week of November 2020 and to be completed by 15 December 2020. 

Objectives

The annual impact assessment survey will help us to measure progress in terms of impact indicators at three premises (Households, School and Health Facilities) level. This will also help us to measure drinking water quality status at point of use (at three premises-HHs, school and Health facilities level). The water quality test will measure E.coli concentration in water in both the districts and Arsenic in Sarlahi.

In ARWSS, there are altogether 3 questionnaires developed; 1. Household Questionnaire, 2. School Questionnaire; and 3. Health Facility Questionnaire. In this quantitative survey, Household questionnaire has 256 questions, School questionnaire has 267 questions and Health Facility questionnaire has 222 questions.

 Survey process

SNV uses Akvo Flow software for conducting quantitative survey. To conduct ARWSS Annual impact assessment survey through digital data gathering, SNV Nepal will provide the service provider access to Akvo Flow software, where all three questionnaires are loaded in English and Nepali.

The selected service provider will be required to visit the target areas, train supervisors and enumerators, manage the data collection process, develop data quality assurance mechanism, monitor data quality in Akvo Flow Dashboard and conduct data cleaning in spreadsheet.

For water quality (E- Coli in both districts and Arsenic in Terai only) testing, the service provider is required to set up a suitable space for the samples to be tested in suitable locations at RMs level/district level. The water sample collection can be done during household, school and health facility visit. The collected water samples need to be transported to lab within 8 hours and get it tested using Hygiena Micro-Snap test. E.coli testing devices and equipment will be provided by SNV Nepal.

SNV Nepal will provide the service provided with the following prior to starting the survey:

• Detail survey methodology for each type of questionnaire (household, school and health facility).
• Full sets of questionnaires (in both Nepali and English) for conducting supervisor and enumerator training and quantitative survey.
  
• Access to Akvo Flow dashboard for data collection using mobile phones, monitoring data submitted by enumerators and data cleaning. 
• SNV Nepal will provide necessary number of mobile phones with charger and power bank required for data collection.
• SNV Nepal will provide Hygiena Micro-Snap test equipment and necessary consumables for conducting water quality testing (e.g. E.coli, Arsenic) that are portable and can be used in the field. 
  

Please note that the service provider is not expected to develop new questionnaires or any new quantitative data collection tools.

Sample size

Household:

The tentative sample sizes are estimated as following, therefore service provider is requested to estimate and provide financial proposal considering the samples in the table below:

School:

Health Facility: 

Expected deliverables

1. Supervisor and enumerator training on questionnaire and Akvo Flow, mobile based data collection tool.  
2. Data collection as mention in the sample sections above. 
3. Data cleaning after completion of data collection, and submission of cleaned data sheet to Monitoring Evaluation and Learning unit of SNV Nepal within 16 Dec 2020.    

Main tasks of the assignment

1. The service provider will be expected to make available/recruit qualified personnel which will include but not limited to:

• One Team Leader who will work in close coordination with WASH team and M&E unit of SNV Nepal.
• Field supervisors (one in each district) who will work in close coordination with Team Leader and supervise enumerators in four municipalities/each district. 
• Data sorting supervisor one based in central location to work with Team Leader.
• 14 to 16 data collection enumerators to conduct survey in four municipalities per district as mentioned in the sample size, within the project duration. 
• One to two lab technicians or personnel with adequate testing experience for conducting E.coli lab test, Arsenic test and working in close coordination with team leader.
  

2. The service provider will hold an inception meeting with SNV Nepal WASH and M&E team for guidance on project, objectives of the assignment, survey methodology and sampling process, survey plan, and detail work plan of the assignment.

3. The service provider will organize training for the survey team members to understand the questionnaires and to practice mobile based data collection using Akvo Flow.

4. The Team Leader will mobilize supervisors and enumerators in field, monitor data quality, timeliness and sample adherence in Akvo Flow dashboard. 

5. The Team Leader will clean the data collected, import them to AKVO Flow dashboard and submit them to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning unit in SNV Nepal. SNV Nepal will indicate the name and contact details of SNV Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning focal person.  

Qualification and experience required:  

Company requirements:

1. At least 3 years of demonstrable experience in conducting quantitative survey in Nepal, preferably related to water, sanitation, and hygiene.
2. Demonstrable experience in using mobile-based data collection tools and platforms. Previous experience in AKVO Flow tool is desirable.
3. Demonstrable experience in water quality testing in WASH project is desirable.

Team leader’s profile:

1. Master’s degree or higher qualification in environmental engineering, public health, rural development, social science, management, statistics or other relevant field.
2. At least 6 years of relevant experience in qualitative and quantitative social research in Nepal, preferably related to water, sanitation and hygiene.
3. Direct knowledge and experience of using mobile based data collection tools and platforms. Previous experience in AKVO Flow tool is desirable.
4. Demonstrable understanding of data protection and associated risks.
5. Demonstrable capacity to organize and complete assignments within specified timeframes.
6. Good command of oral and written English and Nepali.
7. Demonstrable ability to manage supervisors and enumerators effectively during all tasks of the assignment.
8. Willingness to travel to rural area of Nepal with limited facilities and access to road and to oversee data collection.
9. Basic knowledge of water quality testing is desirable.
   

Supervisor’s profile:

1. Bachelor’s degree or higher qualification.
2. At least 2 years of relevant work experience in conducting social research. Water, sanitation and hygiene survey experience is desirable.
3. Demonstrable experience of training and supervising enumerators, and manage data collection process possibly in rural settings.
4. Experience with mobile based data collection process. Experience in using AKVO Flow is desirable.
5. Experience in water quality testing process especially for E.coli is desirable.
   

Enumerators’ profiles:

1. +2 degree or higher qualification. 
2. Demonstrable experience on carrying out quantitative surveys. Water, sanitation and hygiene survey experience is desirable. 
3. Demonstrable experience in carrying out mobile based data collection survey.

Application and evaluation process

SNV Nepal will assess each proposal on the basis of its organisational and financial aspects. The proposal obtaining the highest organisational and financial combined score will be awarded the contract. 

The organisational proposal shall include but not be limited to the following:

a. Team composition for the assignment:

• Title and role of each team member
• CV of team member for the assignment
  • CV of team leader (mandatory)
  • CV of proposed supervisors (mandatory)

b. Company profile, including but not limited to: 

• Details of similar assignments undertaken in last five years including the following information:
  • Title of project
  • Year and duration of project
  • Sample size, implementing area, and value of project (unless it is confidential) 
  • Reference / contact persons 
• Copy of the company registration
• Copy of the most recent financial audit report available. 

The financial proposal shall include but not be limited to the following: 

The financial proposal will be based on the assignment and deliverables as described in this ToR, and will include a breakdown of all costs. The main cost items will be the following, to which the applicant can add extra cost items: 

 Application submission deadline: 19 October 2020, 10:00 AM

Interested applicants/agencies are requested to submit an organisational and financial proposal through email address nepal@snv.org  with subject title ‘BFL-WfW-ARWSS- Annual Impact Assessment Survey, 2020’.

For any clarity about Terms of Reference, the applicants can contact SNV via email address nepal@snv.org.

Other considerations:

Any incomplete applications will not be considered. Telephone enquiry and influences from different sources will not be entertained and may lead to rejection of application.