VSF Suisse Regional Office Consultancy Services – Participatory Impact Assessment

Request for Expression of Interest for Consultancy Services
The Consortium of VSF Belgium, VSF Germany and VSF Switzerland are International NGOs whose mission is to improve the welfare of vulnerable populations in developing countries, through improving animal health and production.
The Consortium seeks to hire a consultant to conduct Participatory Impact Assessment on the Interactive Booklets on Children Drought Preparedness for Improved Community Response to Drought (ICRD) phase II project which is ECHO funded

Background
The overall goal of the project is to contribute to alleviating the impact of current drought and frequent drought cycles on the target vulnerable local communities in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia.
Rather than providing significant levels of external support, the project seeks to enable pastoralists to build on their own knowledge and to utilize their existing assets (both social and capital) more effectively. ICRD II is a follow up project built on the achievements of a first phase implemented one year earlier. It seeks to replicate outcomes of the results. These can be then used to influence the development of future drought preparedness.
During the first phase of ICRD, under result IV, 2,500 interactive booklets were produced using western teaching methodologies for school children in order to enable them to realize the impact of different drought management methodologies.
Distribution was done in 20 primary schools in the three clusters, and 21 teachers trained on the use of the booklets.


Purpose of Consultancy


In order to measure impact of the intervention on the children, it is planned to assess prior to the dissemination, to carry out Participatory Impact Assessment on the interactive booklets. It is expected to help measure the impact of the booklets on school children in relation to their knowledge on drought, its impact and best practices to mitigate, and the added value for the communities. This is also expected to help in the design of future interventions in the next phase of the project.
The consultancy will cover the following locations;
  • Karamojong ecosystem: Moroto district, Karamoja region, Uganda.
  • Somali ecosystem: Diff, Sebule and Wajir-Bor divisions, Wajir South district, Kenya.
  • Oromiya ecosystem: Illeret location, North Horr division, Chalbi district, Kenya.
The consultant is expected to
  • Prepare a detailed work plan for the consultancy which outlines the methodology to be used.
  • Review existing related literature.
  • In each of the three project locations, gather all relevant information from the schools (schoolchildren, teachers), schoolchildren family households, local authorities and other humanitarian/development actors.
  • Present at the end of the fieldwork preliminary findings in each of the area, to the project team, school administrations and other humanitarian/ development partners involved in this particular activity.
  • Prepare a detailed draft report including recommendations for the next phase and debrief VSF in Nairobi on the main findings.
  • Integrate any feed-back into the final report.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables by the Consultant
The consultant will provide a comprehensive Participatory Impact Assessment report.
Particular emphasis will be on to help measure the impact of the booklets on schoolbchildren in relation to their knowledge on drought, its impact and best practices tobmitigate, and the added value for the communities.
Duration of the Consultancy
The consultancy is scheduled for a maximum of thirty (30) consultancy days.
Competency and Expertise Required
  • Have solid experience working with drought affected pastoral communities.
  • Experience in participatory monitoring and evaluation
  • Community mobilization (with emphasis on youth) background
  • Good knowledge of capacity building tools with focus on youth
  • Excellent inter personal, facilitation and writing skills
Submission of Proposals
Interested consultants should submit their proposal to the above postal or email address by 12th May 2010. The submission should contain both a technical and financial proposal for the assignment, a report previous work done and curriculum vitae.
VSF Suisse is not obliged to offer the job to the lowest bidder.
VSF Suisse Regional Office Nairobi – Ole Kejuado Road, Kileleshwa
P. O. Box 25656-00603
Nairobi, Kenya
E mail: recruitment@vsfsuisse.org