CONSULTANCY TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONDUCTING BASELINE SURVEY

Position Title: Baseline Assessment Consultant

Duty Station: Monrovia and travel to Grand Gedeh, River Gee & Sinoe

Position Status/Duration: 8 weeks

Reports to: Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Background

medica Liberia (mL) formerly medica mondiale Liberia is a non-governmental women’s rights organization working in Liberia since 2006. Our organization offers support to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) through legal, psychosocial, and sexual and reproductive health (SRHR) services. With a feminist, trauma-sensitive approach, we provide direct support, advocacy, and community engagement to advance women’s rights.

Rural regions in Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, and River Gee Counties face significant challenges related to gender-based violence, limited access to quality services, and weak institutional capacities. The high prevalence of SGBV in these communities underscores the urgent need for effective prevention and response mechanisms. Local Protection Network Groups and women-led Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) play a critical role in addressing these challenges, yet they often lack the necessary data and resources to effectively plan and implement interventions.

To address the issues, face in the Southeast, mL recently received funding from the Irish Embassy to implement a Project titled “Strengthening Action, Response and Services for SGBV in South-eastern Liberia (STARS 4 SGBV),” This project seeks the services of a qualified consultant team to conduct a comprehensive baseline assessment. This project aims to improve the quality and accessibility of services for women and girls affected by SGBV while strengthening local actors’ capacities for sustainable prevention, response, and advocacy.

This consultancy is designed to address these gaps by establishing clear benchmarks through a baseline assessment. The resulting data will enable medica Liberia to tailor its interventions, enhance monitoring and evaluation, and ultimately strengthen the resilience and empowerment of communities across the target regions.

Key Objectives of the Baseline Assessment

The consultant team with support from the Program and M&E staff will lead the baseline assessment process in 20 intervention communities within the counties, Liberia (i.e., River Gee-6; Sinoe-6; and Grand Gedeh-8).

The primary objectives of this consultancy are to:

• Establish Baseline Data: Gather comprehensive quantitative and qualitative data on current SGBV/SRHR conditions, community practices, and service delivery mechanisms.
• Measure Key Indicators: Assess indicators such as the frequency of SGBV/SRHR educational activities, SGBV incidence, community knowledge, and capacity of public service providers.
• Inform Program Design: Update the project tracking sheet, monitoring plan, and baseline targets to guide future interventions and capacity-building efforts.
• Identify Gaps: Provide actionable recommendations based on identified gaps in service provision, community engagement, and stakeholder coordination.

Scope of Work and Deliverables

The consultant team will be required to lead on the following task in consultation with mL’s program and M&E staff:

• Conduct a desk review of key relevant documents and understanding the project design and contextual framework.
• Design tools/questionnaire and methodology to collect both qualitative and quantitative data (Inception report to be handed to mL for inputs before data collection starts);
• Submit draft inception report including suggested detailed methodology and procedure for feedback
• Submit the final revised inception report
• Implement and supervise field data collection and data entry.
• Provide mL with anonymized raw data collected
• Analyze and synthesize data; and prepare report and Program Indicator Tracking.
• Submit draft report including data analysis for feedback.
• Submit a comprehensive baseline assessment report in both electronic versions and signed hard copy including recommendations.
• Produce baseline to be delivered with the final report.
• Present key findings and results during the validation workshop of the baseline assessment.
• The consultants will be expected to incorporate feedback from the validation workshop into the final report before submission.

Approach and Methodology

The consultant team is expected to use a mixed-methods approach that includes:

Desk Review: Analysis of existing project documents, previous assessments, and relevant literature.

Quantitative Surveys: Structured questionnaires to capture baseline indicators on SGBV incidence, SRHR knowledge, and service delivery metrics.

Qualitative Methods: Key informant interviews and focus group discussions to gain deeper insight into community perceptions, challenges, and capacities.

Participatory Validation: A validation workshop to discuss preliminary findings and incorporate feedback.

The approach must be ethically sound and trauma-sensitive, ensuring confidentiality and informed consent throughout the data collection process.

Final approach and methodology will be designed by the consultant and counterchecked by medica Liberia.

Project Communities

The baseline assessment will target key stakeholders and communities within the intervention areas:

• Communities: 20 communities across Grand Gedeh, River Gee, and Sinoe Counties.
• Participants: Beneficiaries (women, girls, marginalized groups), members of Protection Network Groups, public service providers, and representatives from local government and civil society organizations.

Timeline for Deliverables

The consultant team will present an inception report one week after the start of the assignment, and before the collection of data starts. The baseline assessment is expected to be completed within 8 weeks.

Expertise and Experience

• Individuals in the suitable team must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in the fields of Social Sciences, Statistics, Demography, Research Methodologies, Development Studies, Law, Education and any other related fields.
• At least 5 years’ experience working with development organizations by undertaking desk reviews, as well as rapid assessments & or evaluations.
• The consultant team should be conversant with NGO’s operation with a focus on feminism, women’s rights and sexual and gender-based violence.
• The consultant should also have experience in ethical and trauma sensitive data collection approaches in the area of SGBV
• The consultant team should have a significant experience of collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data from surveys/assessments;
• Knowledge of medica Liberia’s work is an added advantage.
• Knowledge of SASA! Together Approach is an added advantage

Application Process

Please submit the following documents when applying:

• Cover Letter.
• CVs of team members including reference details of previous clients worked for.
• A sample of any previous work in similar consultancy work, i.e; assessments, surveys, baselines; provide a technical proposal to conduct the baseline survey including methodologies to be used, work plan and a financial proposal.
• Roles and responsibilities of team members.

All documents must be submitted no later than March 3, 2025 via email to recruit@medicaliberia.org with a copy to: mbalu.jusu@medicaliberia.org reference “Baseline Assessment Consultant– STARS 4” as the subject of respective mail/application.

Note: Female consultants are encouraged to apply.