World Vision International – Somalia Programme

Terms of Reference (ToR): Nutrition SMART Survey Consultancy

South West State of Somalia, Baidoa

Background

World Vision Somalia (WVS) has worked with the children of Somalia, their families and communities since 1992 through a variety of emergency and rehabilitative programming to address the emergency needs of the communities while addressing some of the underlying causes of vulnerability in those same communities. During the last 25 years, the program has grown to 15 districts spread over three main operational regions of Puntland, Somaliland and South-Central with a liaison office in Mogadishu. The strategic aim of the Somalia program is to develop and implement high quality projects that address emergency, rehabilitation and developmental needs in a demand driven and responsive manner. The overall goal of all World Vision programs is to save lives and contribute towards the economic development of the Somali people, while contributing to the child well-being outcomes.

With the support of the South West State Ministry of Health (MoH) WVS has been implementing Integrated Emergency Response Project in Baidoa district of Bay region from March 2019. The project is aimed at improved access to essential goods and services such as food, water, sanitation, health and nutrition for vulnerable households, including IDPs and vulnerable host communities in Baidoa. Specifically, the project focuses on improving access to food supplies of the vulnerable affected population in IDPs and host communities; improving emergency access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene to vulnerable population in IDPs and host communities; and improving access to essential health care and nutrition services for IDP communities and vulnerable host communities; and enhance the capacity of MOH, community structures and implementing staff to offer quality health care services and increasing coverage.

This covers both at primary health facilities (Health posts) and mobile/outreach facilities in order to reach more beneficiaries in the IDPs and host communities. Given the drought situation and increasing humanitarian needs in Bay region, the project has also provided lifesaving services such as immunizations, reproductive health at targeted health facility and outreach points. In addition, WVS has trained health facility staff, family health workers (FHWs) on ttc, drugs management, facility administration and outreach programmes in order to facilitate effective implementation of the project. In particular, the programme results include;

· Reduce morbidity and mortality among women of reproductive age and children

· At least 2,540 children under one immunized through the EPI routine services for vaccine preventable disease therefore reducing morbidity and mortality of children

· At least 1,728 children under 5 access and utilize integrated essential quality nutrition services of moderately and severely under nourished children managed in health posts and host communities by mobile team of the targeted district of Baidoa.

· At least 21 health care workers and 10 community health workers have been trained on timely targeted counselling (ttc) nutrition, health, WASH to enhance their skills to provide quality health and nutrition services both at health facility and community level.

Therefore, WVS plans to conduct a full SMART Survey in order to assess the current nutritional and health status in the target districts of Baidoa where the project is implemented. This nutritional survey is recommended for the purpose of monitoring the nutrition situation of the targeted population and to evaluate the impact of the on-going intervention. The information and results from this survey will then be used for appropriate planning and intervention.

Objectives of the Survey

The main objective of this assignment is to measure the nutritional status of children 6-59 months of age, mortality rate of children under 5 and for the general population, along with overall morbidity rate of under 5 children as well as building the internal capacity of WVS staff to conduct subsequent SMART surveys.

Specific objectives of the survey are indicated below.

· To estimate the prevalence of acute malnutrition among children aged 6-59 months and mothers of the targeted children.

· To estimate retrospective under-five and crude mortality rates

· To estimate the prevalence of common childhood illnesses (suspected malaria, measles, diarrhoea and acute respiratory illnesses) among children aged 6-59 months

· To estimate the coverage of measles vaccination, deworming and Vitamin A supplementation status among children aged 6-59 months

· To assess infant and young child feeding practices (EBF, timely complementary feeding, food frequency, dietary diversity and hygiene during complementary feeding)

· To assess key WASH indicators (use of latrines, handwashing and access to safe clean water)

· To formulate and provide practical and feasible recommendations or interventions based on the survey findings to improve the nutritional status of the surveyed population.

Scope of work

To achieve the survey objectives, WVS is seeking the services of a competent consultant to; lead the survey from the planning phase up to the reporting in order to have an updated information on the nutritional and health status of children and women in the project areas of Baidoa District.

In particular, the consultant shall ensure the completion of the following activities in accordance with the terms and conditions of the consultancy contract:

· The Consultant will also provide training for data collectors and supervisors on the survey methodology, anthropometric measurement techniques and effective interview techniques.

· Design and undertake full SMART survey in Baidoa District.

· Enable the development and finalisation of the survey protocols, training materials and data collection tools following the SMART survey standards

· Conduct and analyse pre and post- test training results and conduct pre-test of the methodology and questionnaires.

· Ensure strict adherence of the survey team members to survey protocols and standards during data collection and data processing

· Support technical validation of the survey results and finalisation of the survey report

· Lead on the survey logistics (movement plans, sequence of data collection/mapping of selected villages), with the support of WVS

· Coordinate the data collection exercise from the field and supervise the team on a daily basis to ensure quality data is collected. This will involve developing quality control guide, supporting the team in sampling of households, supporting in taking of the anthropometric measurements.

Geographical scope

The SMART survey will cover only Baidoa District of Bay region where the project is implemented. This includes two mobile teams and 10 health facilties/posts with one maternity wing in Kormari IDP.

Methodology

The survey methodology will be designed in alignment with full SMART survey standards. The data collection process will adopt a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches involving review of records, interviews with project participants and focus group discussions among others. A more detailed survey methodology will be designed by the Consultant in consultation with WVS Health & Nutrition, and M&E team and Nutrition Cluster for approval of the survey protocol. The detailed design must include among others; survey design, sample size determination using Emergency Nutrition Assessment (ENA) software, quality control, data collection and management process.

Expected Deliverables

· Inception report and survey protocol presented to WVS to get approval from Nutrition Cluster. This should detail the approach and methodology to be used, sampling, detailed execution plan and survey tools.

· Detailed full SMART survey work plan including clear calendar of survey activities

· Final survey design and data collection tools

· Raw data together with the preliminary report/ finding

· Producing preliminary findings/report and submitted to WVS within the agreed timeline between WVS and the Consultant.

· Presentation of the key findings and recommendations to WVS, MoH and Nutrition Cluster

· Final survey report within two weeks after preliminary presentation/submission.

· Survey tools, both quantitative and qualitative

Time frame

The SMART survey process is expected to take in a maximum of 45 days including preparation, data collection, and analysis and reporting. The Consultant should be able to undertake some of the tasks concurrently to fit within the planned time-frame, without compromising the survey quality and standards. The assignment is expected to commence on in the last week of February 2020.

Authority and Responsibility

WVS will establish a survey team to oversee all the related activities. The DME team will be responsible for the overall coordination of all the SMART survey activities. The DM&E team would also carries out surprise monitoring in order to assess quality of data collection. The Health and Nutrition Project team will also provide the necessary technical support required throughout the survey process.

Support from WV Somalia

World Vision will be responsible for the following:

· Recruit the external Consultant and finalize the consultancy agreement

· Share all necessary documents to the Consultant to finalize the SMART survey design, protocols and tools for data collection tools.

· Provide input in the SMART survey methodology, data collection tools and report

· Ensure that input from WVS is coordinated and shared with the Consultant

• Flight expenses for the Consultant to Baidoa (as per the agreement in the contract)
• Vehicle hire to support the SMART survey process
• Working space for the Consultant while in the field
• Recruitment and payment of enumerators (or depend up on agreement with the consultant)
• Stationery for data collection

· Overall accountability of the SMART survey process

· Guidance and coordination throughout all the phases of SMART survey, keeping communication with the Consultant throughout all phases

· Provide support to the Consultant during field visit processes

· Closely supervise the data collection process, ensuring quality control, daily debriefing, meeting the timelines set for assignment;

· Inform the SMART survey audience including MoH for their involvement and validation of the findings.

The Consultant will be responsible for the following:

· The Consultant will be required to provide a detailed description of the technical and budget for undertaking this assignment.

· Develop the inception report and have the protocol to be presented to Nutrition Cluster for their approval.

· Review all the relevant documents for the SMART survey

· Develop SMART survey design including the methodology and the data collection tools as appropriate including a field manual for training in consultation with WVS health and nutrition team.

· Develop the field work schedule in consultation with WVS team

· Facilitate the training of enumerators and supervisors on the tools and data collection processes.

· Supervise the data collection process, give advice and ensure the quality of the data

· Data analysis and report writing. It is expected that at least 2 drafts be provided to WVS and nutrition cluster with feedback addressed in each round before submission of the final report

· Provide the required raw data that is complete and labelled in English (variables and values)

· Provide final versions of data collection tools.

· Provide daily field briefing to the DME and Project Manager on progress and any challenges from the field.

Qualifications of the Consultant

Education: The consultant should hold an Advanced University Degree in Nutrition, Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Social Sciences, Monitoring & Evaluation or related discipline with the relevant technical knowledge in Survey Methodology, Research Methods etc.

Experience: Extensive experience (7-10 years) in coordinating and managing SMART nutrition surveys is mandatory. In particular, minimum experience of having led SMART survey; proven team leading and managerial experience, knowledge of working with conflict-affected populations and experience in managing SMART surveys in fragile contexts will be considered a plus.

Technical competence:

• The consultant must have a strong background in statistics and data analysis. Must know EPI info and Emergency Nutrition Assessment (ENA) for SMART and all relevant computer applications in general.
• Excellent reporting and presentation skills.
• Excellent knowledge of Somalia and other fragile context
• Excellent knowledge of and experience with humanitarian guidelines and principles.
• Fluency in English and local languages spoken in the working area is an advantage.
• Computer literacy in ENA Software, Epi Info or alternate statistical package, MS Word, MS Excel and PowerPoint.

SMART Survey Report

The assessment report will follow the following format.

I. Executive summary. This preliminary report will contain analysis of nutrition anthropometric indicators assessed among children 6-59 months. The report will also include analysis of key variables of interest. The final report will be disseminated after it’s validated by MoH and nutrition cluster group.

II. Introduction

o Geographic description of the survey area including the country, region, districts and villages among others. Type of setting (e.g rural, urban, camp), season when the survey was conducted.

o Description of the population. This includes the total number of people living in the survey area. Type of population (resident, IDPs etc).

o Objectives of SMART survey.

III. Methodology

o Full SMART survey design

o Sampling

o Survey teams among others

o Data quality control and plausibility checks.

IV. Results

This will correspond to the sampling method that has been applied in the field. At minimum, the following chapters should be include;

o Point GAM and SAM estimates according to WHZ and/or oedema and low MUAC with 95% confidence interval in case of random sampling or as one unique value (considered as the true value)

o Additional quantitative and qualitative data.

o Validation of accuracy, representativeness and precision of data. These have to be supported with the plausibility check to be added in annex

o The limitations of the results.

V. Discussions including the interpretation of the results

VI. Conclusions and recommendations

VII. Annexes: Maps, tools used, plausibility check, row data etc.

Requirements

Qualified and interested parties are asked to submit the following;

1. Letter of interest in submission of a proposal
2. Detailed technical proposal clearly demonstrating a thorough understanding of this ToR and including but not limited to the following;

o Consultant/Company Profile

o Description of the Methodology

o Demonstrated previous and excellent experience in SMART nutrition surveys is required and qualifications outlined in this ToR (with submission of at least TWO most recent SMART survey reports as evidence).

o Proposed data management plan (collection, processing and analysis).

o Proposed timeframe detailing activities and a work plan.

o Team composition and level of effort of each proposed team member (include CVs of each team member).

3.Financial proposal with a detailed breakdown of costs for the study quoted in United States dollars.