TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR WATERAID RWANDA AIM 1 BASELINE ASSESSMENT FOR WASH SERVICE LEVELS IN BUGESERA DISTRICT

Background

WaterAid Rwanda developed and approved its new Country Program (CP) strategy in 2023, with two aims (Programmes) : 1) Bugesera Universal, safe and sustainable WASH programme and 2) WASH for health programme.

Aim one will be implemented in Bugesera District to provide a proof of concept of Universal and sustainable WASH achievement for the rest of districts while Aim two will be implemented across the country.

The overall objective of Aim 1 is to contribute towards the achievement of universal, sustainable, and safe WASH services in Bugesera District through systems strengthening thereby creating a model to influence wider change.

Aim 1 has the following outcomes by 2028:

• WASH is sustainably prioritized in national and local budgets and plans
• Successful, scalable WASH models and approaches demonstrated and adopted for replication.
• Community is effectively engaged in WASH and realizing their rights to access affordable and sustainable WASH services.

The baseline assessment will serve as benchmark against which the government, WaterAid and other key stakeholders will be able to understand the progress made towards achieving universal, sustainable and safe WASH. The baseline assessment findings can also be used by government to inform its decision/policymaking and planning process, and support WaterAid and other development partners to develop and adapt their programmes. This baseline assessment will focus on the WASH service level assessment in the following areas:

• WASH service levels in households
• WASH service levels in Health care facilities (HCFs) disaggregated by type of facility 
• WASH service levels in Schools and ECDs disaggregated by type of facility. 

To achieve its intended goal, the WASH service level baseline assessment requires a close working relationship with local government, other relevant institutions and organisations present in Bugesera district.

This TOR outlines the purpose, objectives, scope, proposed approach and methodology, timeframe, expected deliverables, and competencies of the required consultant, to complete the assessment.

Whilst the ToR outlines a standard methodology, where relevant local monitoring methodologies and data sources exist, they can be used. In this regard, the proposed methodology should be referred to when reviewing existing government monitoring processes to provide an opportunity for data sharing data, learning and, where relevant, propose improvements to government-led processes. The current TOR recognises the significance of collaborating with key relevant stakeholders, in particular the government entities throughout the process.

Note: The assessments will not be used as a reflection of WaterAid’s own performance, but rather the sector’s performance and progress as a whole, recognising that there are multiple factors and actors that influence WASH service levels and systems strength that are beyond WaterAid’s immediate control.

Objectives of the assignment

The purpose of the Aim 1 baseline assessments is to understand: 

To establish a baseline for WASH service levels, facilitating the tracking of progressive and sustained improvements.

Specific Objectives are:

1. WASH service level assessment:
2. To understand WASH service levels in households disaggregated by household wealth quintile and household with members with disability.
3. To understand WASH service levels in Health care facilities (HCFs) disaggregated by type of facility.
4. To understand WASH service levels in Schools and ECDs disaggregated by type of facility.

Geographical location of the assessment: 

The assessment will be conducted in Bugesera District for all private and public HCFs, Schools and ECDs. This will help to collect all relevant data to inform the current status of WASH services as well as the strength of the WASH system in the district.

Scope of work

The scope of work for this assessment encompasses the following:

WASH service level:

1. Assess WASH Service Levels using the proposed Joint Monitoring Programme (https://washdata.org/) core questions used to track global progress of SDG 6, with additional questions recommended by WaterAid Rwanda and sector good practices (see linked Excel file for proposed indicators and questions).
2. Conduct in-depth WASH service level assessments (e.g., assessing relationship among authorities and understanding the collaboration mechanism among WASH service providing entities) in healthcare facilities, and schools within in Bugesera district. This assessment will review reports from MINNFRA (MIS Report 2021, WASAC, etc…) for households’ assessment. For institutions, primary data will be collected.
3. Collect quantitative and qualitative data to establish a baseline for WASH service levels.
4. Conduct data collection using mWater tool with adapted predefined questionnaires provide by WaterAid and Prepare a dataset for the WaterAid and Bugesera district.
5. Analyse collected data as per above mentioned criteria and prepare report.
6. Prepare comprehensive and well-structured reports that outline the assessment findings (including diagrams of the Bugesera SDG WASH service level ladders)
7. Methodology

For the WASH service level assessment, the information will be gathered from, Private and public Schools, ECDs and Healthcare facilities in Bugesera district to understand the current status of WASH services. : To achieve this, the following methodology and approaches will be applied including:

Surveys: Separate surveys will be conducted targeting, schools, ECDs and healthcare facilities.

To calculate the sample size the consultant will need to consider the following three elements:

i) the population size: which is the total number of institutions in the Bugesera district, in (private and public schools, ECDs and health care facilities).

ii) the margin of error: the margin of error will tell us how much the survey results may vary from the actual population values. It gives an idea of the possible range of error in your estimates. A smaller margin of error means the survey results are more precise and closer to the true population values.

iii) the confidence Level: Which is a percentage that reveals how confident you can be that the population would select an answer within a certain range. It is expressed as a percentage and represents the probability that the true population parameter lies within the specified range. Commonly used confidence levels are 95% and 99%.

When determining the sample size, both the desired margin of error and confidence level need to be considered. A smaller margin of error or higher confidence level requires a larger sample size to ensure more accurate and reliable results

Local government, service providers, government technical units, and research institutions will collaborate to identify appropriate sample sizes and sampling methodologies. Detalided guidance methodology and how the sample size will be calculated is found here. Tools (questionnaires) are found on the last page.

Enumerator Engagement: The consultant will be responsible to hire enumerators and is advised to use enumerators who are familiar with WASH sector, used mWater and also participated in similar surveys to conduct, schools and health care facilities surveys. They will be trained, given assessment tools uploaded in mWater to be able to conduct the survey.

Data Collection Tools: Data collection tools developed by WaterAid will be Customized for each survey to capture relevant information on WASH service levels (questionnaire will be provided by WaterAid Rwanda), data will have to be collected using mWater platform.

Existing Data review(Desk review): The desk review for this assignment has been conducted and the consultant will only review it and inputs if anything has been missed out.

Timeframe and deliverables

The timeframe of the assignment is 45 days (calendar) after signing the agreement. The contracted organisation/team will submit an inception report that includes final methodology and work plan with key milestones within one weeks of signing the contract. The inception report will be reviewed and approved by WaterAid.

The draft report needs to be produced no later than 30 days after signing the contract. The final report should be submitted within one week of receiving feedback on the draft. There will be formal dissemination of the findings to a wider audience.

The contracted firm/team is expected to deliver the following outputs:

• Inception report outlining the final and detailed methodology, final data collection tools, analysis plan and detailed work plan.
• A well-written draft report organized according to study objectives and containing detailed findings.
• A PowerPoint presentation to disseminate and validate the baseline study findings with stakeholders/wider audience.
• A detailed final report not exceeding 20 pages (excluding Annexes) containing high quality executive summary (concise and well-articulated), interesting findings, recommendations, and synthesis of key issues. The report should present the WASH service level ladders and key data/stats reflecting the status of WASH services in Bugasera, and the scores of the WASH system building blocks with a justification for the score
• Hardcopy (01) and Softcopy of the final report including all datasets and analysis framework (raw and cleaned database).

All reports must be presented to WaterAid Rwanda for quality assurance, and comments to be accommodated accordingly.

Expected competency of consultant(s)

Interested consultants/consulting/research firm(s) is expected to have the following competencies and experience:

• Expertise in conducting quantitative assessment and mix-method studies.
• Experience in conducting large quantitative survey using online based data collection tools (mWater platform will be preferred).
• Expertise in conducting studies (Baseline, Midline, Endline, Situation Analysis, and other thematic studies) in WASH sector or a similar context
• Sound skill on quantitative (Advanced Excel,SPSS, STATA) data analysis with high skills on data visualization and presentation techniques.
• Competency in Data Collection Tool through using mWater platform.
• Competency and track record of conducting impact assessment of WASH projects.
• Competent team for data collection and analysis
• Competency in writing good quality reports in English

Annexure-1: Tools attached as separate document

Annexure-2: Guiding Notes

1. Household survey
2. Schools survey
3. HCF survey
4. Community survey
5. WASH Service Level Updated Guide     

How to Apply:

Please submit both Technical and Financial proposals to //www.jobinrwanda.com/job/RecruitmentsWARW@wateraid.org" title="Email" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(49, 158, 98); text-decoration: none; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif;">RecruitmentsWARW@wateraid.org
The closing date/deadline for applications is July 14th, 2024.
Contact Name: WaterAid Rwanda
Contact phone: +250788318824