Terms of Reference (ToR) for Preparing the Scientific Paper

Unification Nepal (UN-Nepal), Gorkha

Terms of Reference (ToR) for

Preparing the Scientific Paper

Context 

UN Nepal is implementing an “Investing in Early Childhood Development” (IECD) project in 48 ECD centers of Shahid Lakhan Rural Municipality, Gorkha in partnership with Planete Enfants & Developpement (PE&D), France. The project has been started from 1st November 2023 and will be completed by the end of July 2026.

The project has the following objectives:

1. Improve the quality of early childhood protection, care, and education (ECED) by strengthening child-friendly practices, improving learning environments, and ensuring holistic development opportunities for young children.
2. Enhance the knowledge and capacity of parents, teachers, so they can better support children’s learning, protection, health, nutrition, and psychosocial wellbeing.
3. Strengthen local governance and institutional support for ECED through advocacy, policy development, coordination with local authorities, and promotion of sustainable child-friendly services and infrastructure.

To achieve the said objectives, followings are the major activities of the IECD project.

• Conducting parenting education and awareness sessions on early childhood care, nutrition, hygiene, learning through play, and positive parenting practices.
• Providing training, coaching, and mentoring for ECD teachers on child-friendly teaching methods, psychosocial support, classroom management, and use of locally available materials for learning, in class observation and coaching to ECD teachers.
• Developing and supplying teaching-learning materials and child-friendly classroom resources to improve the quality of ECD classrooms.
• Improving the school environment through support for child-friendly classrooms, WASH facilities, kitchen facilities, and indoor/outdoor play spaces based on nurturing care principles.
• Identifying and supporting children and families in difficult situations through the Family Development Methodology (FDM), home visits, referrals, and psychosocial support.
• Organizing teacher exchange meetings and online learning groups to promote sharing of good practices and peer learning among ECD teachers.
• Conducting health screening and awareness activities in coordination with local health posts to support children’s health and development.
• Orienting and engaging school management committees, parents, and local government representatives on the importance of ECED, and child-friendly services.
• Advocating with local authorities to develop integrated ECED plans, policies, and budget allocation for sustainable early childhood services in the municipality.

Out of those activities, UN Nepal has planned to document scholarly following the rigorous and scientific methodology on the impact of  two major activities i.e. 

    i) parental  sessions and 

    ii) in-class observation and coaching for ECD teachers, following its procedures.

In this context, UN Nepal Gorkha is looking for a consultant / consulting firm to develop and undertake the publication of scholarly papers.

Objective of the assignment:

UN Nepal is seeking an external consultant/scholar to prepare two academic paper exploring the process and impact of two activities to evaluate the results of the Investing in Early Childhood Development  project (further named IECD project). The specific objectives of the assignment are given below:     

The objective of this assignment is to undertake a comprehensive review and analysis of two above-mentioned activities of Investing in Early Childhood Development (IECD) project through the examination of secondary project data and consultation with project beneficiaries and key stakeholders as agreed in the sampling framework. The assignment specifically aims to generate rigorous evidence-based scholarly outputs that critically document and analyze the project’s major activities, i.e. i) parent education sessions and ii)  in-class observation and coaching support provided to Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers, its process and the outcomes associated. Hence, the assignment seeks to develop two high-quality academic papers suitable for publication in national and/or international peer-reviewed journals.     

Click on the link below for the detailed TOR:

TOR for Preparing the Scientific Paper

Application Process

Consulting organizations/firms/Individuals should submit a technical and financial proposal with the following documents to the UN Nepal Office no later than 19 May 2026:

1. A letter of interest, current CV of lead consultant/s, and confirmation of their availability for the duration of the contract (applicable to firms and organizations as well).
2. Technical proposal demonstrating the consultant’s understanding of the ToR, the proposed tools, methodology/approach, sample size, and the timeline for the deliverables, and explaining why you are the most suitable for this consultancy.
3. A financial proposal/budget required to carry out this assignment including field visits, paper writing, report preparation, food and lodging, transportation, and other associated costs such as meeting with the informants, communication, logistics etc.
4. Legal documents such as company registration, PAN, VAT certificate, latest tax clearance documents, and other relevant experience.
5. Other documents mentioned in General and Specific Qualification.

Interested consultancy firms who meet the above requirements should apply by 5:00 PM on 21 May 2026, submitting their Expression of Interest (EOI) with the subject line “Call for Proposal for Scientific Paper-UN Nepal FY2026” to the following address:

Unification Nepal

Gorkha Municipality 11, Sorakilo, Gorkha or unnepal9@gmail.com

Only short-listed consultancy companies/consultant will be contacted for an interview. UN Nepal has the right to accept or reject any proposal and will not be liable to furnish any explanation or whatsoever. UN Nepal is a child rights-focused organization and selected consultants will be subjected to background checks. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.