2TERMS OF REFERENCE
Monitoring and Evaluation officer – Early Childhood Development
Position Title:
International consultancy – M&E and Field Support Officer for Early Childhood
Development and Social Protection
Level:
Junior
Location:
Kigali
Duration:
11 months
Start Date:
November 2015
Reporting to:
Chief of Social Policy and Research / ECD specialist, UNICEF Rwanda
1.
Background and Purpose
Support to Early Childhood Development and Family services (ECD&F) has emerged as one of the
priority areas for development in Rwanda, as described in the Early Childhood Development Policy
and its Strategic Plan, and reiterated in the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy
which provides directions of the national development agenda.
In order to respond to this government priority and to translate national policies into action, UNICEF
Rwanda and Imbuto Foundation entered in to a partnership to bring together multiple Early Childhood
Development and Family interventions, with the family at the heart of the approach.
The ECD&F programme targets children under the age of 7 in Rwanda, offering a combination of
center-based and home-based ECD interventions. The ECD&F model focuses on responding to
community needs for sustainability and relies on community ownership of the program. While some
of the interventions (e.g. provision of center-based ECD services) focus on targeted villages, the others
(e.g. child protection) cover the whole sector / district. Social protection interventions, home-based
ECD services, WASH and nutrition, focus on the most deprived children and families in the targeted
villages and neighboring communities as well. Through this programme the Ministry of Gender and
Family Promotion (MIGEPROF)/ the National Commission for Children (NCC), the Ministry of Education
(MINEDUC), the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), UNICEF as well as national and
international civil society organizations build on their joint previous achievements, while introducing
innovative approaches to fast track results for Rwandan children.
In addition, the government of Rwanda, with support from UNICEF Rwanda and other stakeholders,
is exploring expansion of the design of Public Works programmes (social protection programmes) to
better link them with national ECD priorities (expanding child sensitive social protection programmes).
Various government policies and strategies, among them the Social Protection strategy and the ECD
policy, emphasize the need for better coordination and linkages between programmes which target
the most vulnerable children. In order to promote the linkage and integration of social protection and
ECD&F, a pilot project will be established in two districts in Rwanda. This pilot will explore expanded
public works options, to broaden public works to a wider range of activities which support ECD, for
example employment of public works beneficiaries with young children as support staff in ECD
centres, and the establishment of mobile crèches in public works sites for mothers with young
children, participating in public works projects. A key component of this project will be the integration
of a nutrition package into child sensitive social protection projects.
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For these purposes, UNICEF is seeking an international consultant to provide strategic coordination,
monitoring, evaluation and documentation support to several areas of the ECD&F project, with a
strong focus on field support.
2.
Justification
The ECD&F programme is a large scale initiative implemented in selected sites in Rwanda. In order to
systematically document lessons learned and identify mitigation measures, UNICEF Rwanda seeks to
recruit an international consultant to support coordination of the monitoring and evaluation and
documenting key lessons learned around certain aspects (child sensitive social protection and
integrated nutrition) of the ECD&F programmes.
3.
Objectives
The main objective and responsibility of this consultancy is to support the effective and efficient
implementation of ECD&F programme in selected sites, focusing on monitoring, evaluation and
reporting in line with agreed requirements, as well as provide a knowledge management role, in
particular as it relates to child sensitive social protection. The key responsibilities of the consultancy
are:
1. Support monitoring and evaluation of the ECD & Family programme by establishing a system
for tracking a cohort of young children and their families;
2. Provide field support for implementation, monitoring and finalization of the essential package
of ECD & Family services;
3. Support the documentation, monitoring and assessment of the social protection component
of the ECD & Family programme.
4.
Methodological Approach & Expected Output
The consultant will work in close collaboration with UNICEF, MINALOC, MIGEPROF, Aga Khan
University, and implementing NGO partners - Imbuto Foundation and CARE International for
assessment and roll-out of pilot projects, and for the M&E of on-going ECD&F services. The key
responsibilities and expected outputs of the consultancy are outlined below.
1. Support monitoring and evaluation of the ECD & Family programme by establishing a system
for tracking a cohort of young children and their families.
1.1 Establish a system for tracking a cohort of young children and their families every 6 months
Based on an ECD&F baseline survey conducted in 2014, the consultant will establish a monitoring
system for tracking a cohort of approximately 450 children, and their families. The consultant will
manage continuous study follow-up to this ECD&F baseline cohort, identifying whether they are
accessing ECD&F services, as well as identify measures to encourage uptake of services. This entails
designing survey; training of field workers, follow-up and supervision of data collection; and data
analysis. The established system will be in line with UNICEF Gender Action Plan and Human Rightsbased Approach to Programming (HRBAP): for instance, data will disaggregated by sex, age, family
social status, etc. to allow appropriate decision-making.
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1.2 Support impact evaluation of ECD&F programme in 10 sites, jointly with (external) evaluation
partner/institute
The consultant will provide support for a comprehensive impact/end evaluation of all components of
ECD&F programme, to be conducted in late 2016. This includes supporting the ECD&F technical
committee design the end-line survey for the cohort of children included in 2014 ECD&F baseline
survey; identify an implementing partner for the survey; support implementing partner with training
of field workers to collect data; provide support to implementing partner for supervision of data
collection; and support implementing partner with analysis of data.
2. Provide field support for implementation, monitoring and finalization of the essential
package of ECD & Family services.
The consultant will provide field support to Aga Khan University (AKU) in the finalization and
monitoring of an essential package of ECD & Family services. The package comprises an adaptation of
the UNICEF and WHO ‘Care for Child Development’ programme and an early learning enrichment
programme for 4-6 year olds in ECD centres, supported by monitoring and outreach services for high
risk children. The first draft of this package is already developed by AKU, and implementation has
started. The consultant will support the early implementation phase in the field, working closely with
the implementing partner (Imbuto Foundation) to increase capacity for quality implementation and
monitoring. Jointly with Imbuto Foundation, the consultant will document lessons from the early
implementation, to inform the finalization of the essential package of ECD & F services.
3. Support the documentation, monitoring and assessment of the social protection component
of the ECD & Family programme.
3.1 Establish an M&E system for integrated child sensitive social protection and nutrition programming
The consultant will establish an M&E plan for integrated child sensitive social protection and nutrition
programming, as part of the wider ECD&F programming. In particular, the consultant will provide
support to CARE International for prioritization of key indicators to track for the child sensitive
protection project, based on the ECD&F baseline. The consultant will plan periodic monitoring visits
to two pilot project districts, based on the agreed M&E plan, supporting the continuous monitoring,
review and evaluation of the child sensitive social protection project in these selected sites, including
arranging joint field visits together with the implementing partners to conduct qualitative and
quantitative checks to obtain feedback in a timely manner.
3.2 Design and implement a formative/process evaluation of the integrated child sensitive social
protection and nutrition project
The consultant will develop evaluation tools and processes for formative/process evaluation of the
integrated child sensitive social protection and nutrition project, to determine whether program
activities have been implemented as intended; and to explore whether the child sensitive social
protection pilot, is feasible, appropriate and acceptable to potential scale-up
3.3 Document key lessons learned around integrated child sensitive social protection and nutrition
project
The consultant will provide support to CARE International and Imbuto Foundation in facilitating
knowledge building and knowledge sharing, ensuring that information and data from the selected
sites integrating child sensitive social protection and nutrition are documented, analysed and reported
in a timely manner, in particular identifying links and synergies for integration. The consultant will
identify approaches and, delivery mechanisms utilized or developed within the child sensitive social
protection programme which have the greatest potential in terms of scale up.
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5. Major Tasks, Deliverables & Timeframe
The major deliverables and timeframe of this consultancy are outlined below:
Timeframe
November
2015
December
2015
January
2016
February
2016
Objective 1: M&E / Survey
Inception report drafted
outlining expected tasks and
outcomes for the duration of
the 11-month consultancy
Survey designed and system
for tracking a cohort of young
children and their families
established
August
2016
September
2016
October
2016
Monitoring and Evaluation
plan for child-sensitive social
protection and Nutrition
ECD&F project drafted (in
collaboration with the Local
Administrative Entities
Development Agency (LODA),
Imbuto Foundation and CARE
International)
2nd progress report on field
support to AKU
1st draft of key lessons
learned on child sensitive
social protection pilot
End evaluation implementing
partner identified, jointly with
ECD&F technical committee
June 2016
July 2016
1st progress report on field
support to AKU
Objective 3: Social Protection
Inception report
1st follow-up survey on cohort
of young children and families
completed; draft report on
findings submitted.
ToRs for end evaluation
drafted and validated by
ECD&F technical committee
March
2016
April 2016
May 2016
Deliverables
Objective 2: AKU support
Inception report
3rd progress report on field
support to AKU
2nd follow-up survey on
cohort of young children and
families completed; report on
findings submitted.
Field implementation plan for
ECD&F evaluation finalized
4th progress report on field
support to AKU
Final draft of key lessons
learned on child sensitive
social protection pilot
6. Stakeholder Participation
For the M&E support and tracking of a cohort of children, the main stakeholders are UNICEF’s ECD&F
taskforce, MIGEPROF, and the implementing partner Imbuto Foundation. The consultant will work
closely with the implementing partner for the evaluation in line with the agreed modalities of
cooperation. .
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In terms of support to the implementation and monitoring of the essential package of ECD & Family
services, the consultant will work under the direct guidance of Aga Khan University, and will work
closely with Imbuto Foundation in the field.
For the social protection component, the consultant will work with Imbuto Foundation, MIGEPROF,
UNICEF ECD taskforce and CARE International to ensure that the pilots are in line with ECD pilot models
under implementation in selected sites. The innovative area of exploring how ECD can complement
public works programmes requires increased coordination between MINALOC and other Ministries,
such as MIGEPROF and MINEDUC. The consultant will work closely with MINALOC counterpart and
the ECD taskforce, and will consult with the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP)1 team in the
field and at central level.
The incumbent will work under the supervision of the Chief of Social Policy and Research and in close
collaboration with the ECD & Family unit responsible for coordinating ECD and Family programmes
across UNICEF sections.
7. Qualifications and Requirements
The International Consultant should have:
 MA degree or PhD in Public Policy, Public Health, Economics, Gender and Development Studies,
Social Development, Sociology or other relevant fields
 At least 4 years with proven experience of field programme coordination, research and analysis
 Good understanding of Rwandan context an asset, in particular ECD in Rwanda
 Strong analytical and writing skills
 Ability to produce deliverables in due time and with quality standards
 Proficiency in computer applications and statistical software (such as SPSS, Stata and NVivo)
 Fluency in written and oral English, French will be an added asset
 Strong interpersonal and communication skills
8. Supervision
The international consultant will report to the Chief of Social Policy and Research, and will be based
in-country for the full 11 months.
9. Terms and conditions:
 Period: November 2015 – October 2016
 Travel arrangements: if the consultant is not based in Rwanda, UNICEF will provide airfare ticket
by the most direct flight in economy class
 On-field (in-country) transport: UNICEF will provide on-field (in-country) transport
 Payment conditions and currency: Payments will be made monthly upon satisfactory performance
and deliverables (in $USD)
 UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory,
if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines
 All materials developed by the consultant will remain the copyright of UNICEF and that UNICEF
will be free to adapt and modify them in future.
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VUP is an Integrated Local Development Program to Accelerate Poverty Eradication, Rural Growth, and Social
Protection. This is an initiative by the Government of Rwanda in collaboration with development partners and
NGOs. It is led by the Ministry of Local Government, Good Governance, Community Development and Social
Affairs (MINALOC) and supported by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN).
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How to apply:
Qualified individuals are requested to submit their cover letter, CV and P11 form (which can be
downloaded from: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc), and proposed daily rate to
Human Resources at: Rwajobs@unicef.org by November 8th , 2015, with subject: International
consultant –M&E and Field Support Officer – ECD and SP
You may also submit to: Human Resources Specialist, UNICEF Rwanda, and P.O. Box 381, Kigali,
Rwanda.
Submissions without daily rates will not be accepted.
Prepared by:
Approved by:
Name: Solrun Engilbertsdottir
Title, section: Social Policy Specialist
Name: Oliver Petrovic
Deputy Representative
Signature: _________________
Date: _____/____/____
Signature: _________________
Date: _____/____/____
PME Quality Check:
Authorised by:
Name: Lilia Ormonbekova
Title: M&E Officer
Ted Maly
Representative
Signature:_________________
Date: _____/____/____
Signature:______________
Date: ___/___/____
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