·      Master Degree in International Development/Social Science/Education/Inclusive Education/public health

·      Demonstrated writing skills

·      At least 5 years of experience in WASH needs assessment design and reporting

·      At least 5 years’ experience in education related research, including assessments

·      Knowledge of the Somalia context

·      Demonstrates strong analytical skills

·      Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision

·      Experience using Microsoft, Kobo programs and other software application

CSS.LOGISTICS@savethechildren.org

The applications should be submitted in PDF format as one document comprising Technical and Financial sections as detailed below.

Applicants should also indicate the date they are available to start working on the consultancy

All applications MUST be submitted on or before the closing date below to be considered for the assignment.

Only shortlisted Candidates will be contacted.

Shortlisted candidates will be requested for an interview.

Background

In low and middle-income countries, almost half of schools do not have safe drinking water and 55% lack sanitation facilities. School hygiene is a particular challenge; based on the limited data available, only 21% of schools in developing countries have hand washing facilities. This lack of basic water and sanitation services and improved hygiene behaviors is holding back students’ potential and preventing them from escaping poverty. Poor environmental conditions in the classroom can also make both teaching and learning very difficult. Girls and boys are likely to be affected in different ways by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in schools, and this may contribute to unequal learning opportunities. Sometimes, girls and female teachers are more affected than boys because the lack of sanitary facilities means that they cannot attend school during menstruation. Save the children education program integrated WASH in school as part of improving the learning outcome. However, the WASH in school interventions are either not a full WASH package or not functioning well as planned. This TOR is therefore prepared to hire an experienced consultant to identify critical gaps in the current school WASH situation, as well as to identify the level of intervention needed in individual schools in a district. Schools can use the outcomes of this exercise to prepare their annual plan and budget for WASH facilities. Outcomes from the assessment will also help the Ministry of water, education to prioritize planning and budget allocation. Additionally, the assessment findings will use for save the children education, WASH team, for future project intervention and overall fund-raising effort. 

1. Objective

The objective of this exercise is to undertake a formal assessment to establish the current gaps of WASH in schools in save the children intervention areas that will be used to develop school WASH approaches and strategy. Additionally, the objective of this assessment is to generate quantitative and qualitative evidence about the outcomes of current WASH in school and to assess the underlying factors that have influenced sustainability.

1. General approach

The assessment will be undertaken through Key informant interviews with INGOs, officials from the line ministries (Ministry of Education and Ministry of Water, Energy) and the school head, direct observation and discussions will also be carried out in both primary and secondary levels in 17 regions, Secondary data collection will be done through desk review of literature on previous assessment reports. Assessment methods will also include discussions with teachers, students, parents and community members, direct observation.

The assessment must be undertaken, including assessment of the health condition of the boys and girls, their hygiene behavior, the existing facilities, the mainstreaming of WASH in curriculum, the knowledge and skills of the teachers on WASH, the available teaching materials and the available budget. The involvement of boys and girls in this stage is crucial. Critical points for sanitation assessment include, Presence of latrines as per the required ratio, Cleanliness of the latrines and presence of cleaning materials, Drainage of wastewater, Garbage disposal, Accessibility of the latrines for the entire school population, Appropriateness of the design, Critical points for water supply assessment include: Presence of sources, tap, pump or tank, Appropriateness or the design and accessibility for small boys and girls, Condition of the source, Availability of water for flushing latrines, hand washing and drinking water, Maintenance arrangements, including availability of spare parts. Critical points for girls and boy’s hygiene behavior assessment include: Knowledge, attitudes and practice towards hygiene, Washing hands after defecation and after handling food, Safe water handling and storage, Proper utilization of latrines for defecation, Regular cleaning of facilities, Availability of appropriate hygiene promotion programs and teaching aids, Assessment of the implementation of the school WASH curriculum includes: Hygiene education is addressed properly as indicated in the curriculum if available, Capacity of the teachers to conduct hygiene education, Uses of participatory methods including demonstration, Hygiene education is based on living conditions and daily behavior.

1. Geographic coverage of the assignment:

Save the children supports 1156 schools 17 regions as illustrated in the table below. The consultant will us to generate representative sample.

1. Scope of Work/ Work Assignments:

·      Establish gaps in water provision, access to sanitation facilities and improved hygiene practices in schools

·      Find out factors that affect WASH in schools

·      Provide feasible recommendations on how to improve WASH situation in schools

·      Provide baseline that will to gauge progress in future interventions.

·      Generate lessons and best practices for use in future projects

1. Deliverables

·      Inception report detailing proposed methodology and overview of secondary data review

·      Research protocol for including:

o   Planned itinerary, including key informants

o   Research framework

o   Semi-structured interview guides

·      Draft report (guide length 20-25pp excluding summary and Annexes).

·      Final reports

1. Criteria

• Master Degree in International Development/Social Science/Education/Inclusive Education/public health
• Demonstrated writing skills
• At least 5 years of experience in WASH needs assessment design and reporting
• Knowledge of the Somalia context
• Demonstrates strong analytical skills
• Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision
• Demonstrated experience in training, facilitation and supervising survey enumerators to collect and enter data as per high-quality standards;
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
• Fluency in English (spoken and written). Somali language will be added advantage
• Ability to produce high-quality work under tight timeframes
• Experience using Microsoft, Kobo programs and other software application

1. Timescale

Target completion of all final reports 30^th October 2021.

Inputs

Save the Children will provide the following:

9.    Contact details of focal person(s)

10. Save the Children and Ministry of Education general documentation, namely

a.    Global Strategy

b.    Programmatic Approach

c.     District-wide Approach

d.    Frameworks –

e.    All documentation, including – Policy documents of Ministries of Education, Health and Water which refer to school WASH

f.      Laws, guidelines and standards related to school WASH

g.    Documentation of Educational Management Information Systems (EMIS) and monitoring indicators and data

h.    Sector Performance Reports

i.      School WASH plans, budgets, targets

j.      Save the Children Country Programme Evaluations (If relevant)

k.     Save the Children Country Strategy

l.      Save the Children Annual Reports (education) for last 3 years

m.  Save the Children current Multi-year Plan and Budget for education

n.    Any school WASH research and monitoring reports (Subject to availability)

11. Arrangements for meetings, field visits and workshops.

1. Report structure

·      Title Page

·      Table of Contents and Other Sections

·      Executive Summary

·      Background and Country context

·      Assessment / Research aim and objectives

·      Specific methodology (including limitations )

·      Findings in relation to Enabling, Developing, Sustaining

·      Recommendations

1. Annexes

a.    A – TOR

b.    B – Itinerary

c.     C – Informants/contact details

d.    D – Reports of KI interviews, visits, workshops

e.    E-Inception Report;

f.      F- Data collection Tools;

g.    G-Case studies;

h.    H- Elaborated data to support the findings, conclusions or recommendations section;

i.      I- Data sets 

14. Key Deliverables and Timelines

The assessment report is supposed to be completed over a period of approximately 45 working days between September- October 2021.

15 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

The following attributes are requirements for the selection of the consultant:

• Proven experience WASH assessments. Please attach copies of previous contracts

·      Submit a Technical Proposal that clearly explains the proposed methodology/ approach, and timeframe to conduct the training;

• Submit detailed financial proposal with cost break down.
• Submit CVs of the lead researcher/consultant conducting the assessment including relevant qualifications

Share your documents with email; CSS.LOGISTICS@savethechildren.org   with the subject line of the email “WASH in School assessment”.

Deadline for submission is 12th September 2021