TERMS OF REFERENCE – WASH SERVICE LEVEL BASELINE ASSESSMENT, WATERAID LIBERIA

INTRODUCTION

About WaterAid

WaterAid has been working to improve the provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene services to the poorest and most marginalized people for more than 40 years. Since our foundation, we have reached 28.5 million people with clean water, 29 million people with decent toilets, and 27.8 million people with hygiene behaviour change. We’re on a mission to reach 400 million more people with life-saving clean water, sustainable sanitation, and improved hygiene behavior in the next decade.

WaterAid’s new global strategy (2022-2032) has four global aims. As a country programme, WaterAid Liberia developed its programme strategy to guide the direction of the country programme from 2023 to 2028. Our overall goal is to contribute towards the achievement of universal provision of inclusive, safe, affordable, sustainable, and climate-resilient WASH services in Liberia. Our ambition for Liberia by 2028 is for (a) 700,000 more people with sustainable, safe and inclusive WASH, starting with universal coverage in Todee District, Montserrado County (b) Public health outcomes in Liberia to improve through better integration of WASH in the national health system, and (c) At least $13 million more per year mobilized for WASH across the country.

We have committed that by 2028, all people in Todee District will have access to safe water and improved sanitation, and sustainably practice positive hygiene, sanitation, and water use behaviors. This model will be documented and used as evidence in our work influencing the GOL to scale solutions across the country. We will focus on people who are marginalized from these services, prioritizing the needs of women, girls, people living with disabilities, and people in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

Purpose of the WASH Service Level Baseline Assessment

The purpose of the WASH service level baseline assessment is to determine and understand the status of WASH services in Todee District at the start of the Aim 1 programme. This baseline assessment will provide a benchmark against which we will be able to measure progress made towards achieving universal, sustainable, and safe WASH in Todee District. The assessment will be used to inform Programme development, implementation, learning, and adaptation. Following periods of implementation, a review of the programme will be carried out to learn and adapt through required programme re-designing. The consulting firm and WaterAid will work closely with the local government, other relevant institutions, and organizations present in Todee District to ensure this assessment is comprehensively done.

This TOR covers essential aspects such as planning, sample determination, enumerator training, data collection, data analysis, and report writing. Whilst this outlines a standard methodology, when necessary, the constant and/or other technical partners will suggest relevant existing approaches/methods and data sources to be used. The final design of the assessment including methodology and approaches will be approved by WaterAid in consultation with the relevant Government authority. This methodology can be referred to when reviewing existing government monitoring processes and can provide an opportunity to share data, learn and, where relevant, propose improvements to government-led processes. This TOR recognizes the significance of collaborating with relevant stakeholders, in particular government entities throughout the process.

The baseline entails WASH service level assessment at Households, Healthcare Facilities and Schools, and other relevant institutions.

This assessment will be done closely with Todee local government, District Health Teams, District Education Teams, District WASH Committees, service providers, and other relevant actors as part of our efforts to strengthen their capacity in service level monitoring and data-driven decision-making.

Geographical Coverage:

Data collection will be conducted in healthcare facilities, schools, and Communities in Todee District.

Target Beneficiaries:

Todee District, the largest district in land size within Montserrado County is mainly rural in context with a population of over 40,000 inhabitants. The district has 3 townships, 7 Clans, 2 chiefdoms, and over 403 communities with seven (7) healthcare facilities and fifty-three (53) schools. Consultant/WAL will consider primary data collection through a mixed approach of quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample size for households will be calculated to select the number of households that will be involved.

Objectives of the assignment

The purpose of the WASH service level baseline assessment is to determine and understand the status of WASH service levels and behaviors as well as support systems in Todee District at the start of the Aim 1 programme.

Specific Objectives are:

• To assess the current status of WASH service levels in communities, households, healthcare facilities, and schools within Todee District.
• To establish a baseline of WASH service levels, facilitating the tracking of progressive and sustained improvements.
• To collaborate closely with local government, district health, education teams, service providers, and other stakeholders to strengthen their capacity in service level monitoring and data-driven decision-making.
• To understand WASH service levels in households disaggregated by household wealth quintile and households with members with disability.
• To understand WASH service levels in Health care facilities (HCFs) disaggregated by type of facility.
• To understand WASH service levels in Schools disaggregated by type of facility.

Methodology

The WASH service level assessment aims to comprehensively determine and understand the status of WASH services and support systems for coverage in households, schools, and healthcare facilities within Todee District. The following methodology outlines the approach for conducting this assessment:

Surveys: Four separate surveys will be developed and conducted targeting communities, households, schools, and healthcare facilities.

Sampling Approach: Representative sampling approach will be adopted based on the population size of the Todee District. The approach will be designed to ensure statistically sound results. Local government, service providers, government technical units, and research institutions will collaborate to identify suitable sample sizes and sampling methodologies.

Table 1: Guide for sample size determination

Enumerator Engagement: Local enumerators will be engaged from local, regional institutions. Priority will be given to using existing government-led data collection mechanisms or processes to minimize duplication and ensure alignment with local efforts.

Data Collection Tools: Customized data collection tools should be developed for each survey to capture relevant information on WASH service levels (draft questionnaire will be provided by WaterAid Liberia). Final questionnaire will need approval by WaterAid before it is used. Quantitative data will have to be collected using mWater platform. The consultant will be allowed to suggest alternative data collection tools.

Conduction of necessary workshops: The consultant is also expected to Facilitate a validation workshops at the district level to validate and improve on data collected during the service level survey.

Scope of work

The scope of work for this assessment encompasses the following:

• Assess water and sanitation services and hygiene behavior levels using relevant national and global join assessment tools used to track global progress of SDGs, with additional questions recommended by WaterAid Liberia and National Government Institutions.
• The assessment will cover the entire Todee District with a population of over 40,00 people, 400+ communities, HCF, Schools, etc. Therefore, the result should reflect the situation of the entire District.
• Conduct in-depth WASH service level assessments in communities, households, healthcare facilities, and schools within the Todee District.
• Collect quantitative and qualitative data to establish a baseline for WASH service levels.
• Analyze collected data as per above mentioned criteria and prepare a draft report.
• Facilitate validation sessions with key stakeholders including the district authority.
• Prepare a comprehensive and well-structured report that outlines the assessment findings, recommendations, and action plans.

Timeframe and deliverables

The timeframe of the assignment is 26 working days spread over three months. The contracted consultant will submit an inception report that includes final methodology and work plan with key milestones within one week of signing the contract. The inception report will be reviewed and approved by WaterAid. The draft report needs to be produced no later than 7 days after completion of data collection. The final report should be submitted within 14 days after the validation/feedback session. There will be formal dissemination of the findings to a wider audience.

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

• Inception report containing final methodology, final data collection tools, analysis plan, and detailed work plan.
• Train enumerators for 4 days and field test the survey.
• A well-written draft report organized according to study objectives and containing detailed findings. A presentation to disseminate and validate the baseline study findings with a wider audience.
• A detailed final report not exceeding 30 pages (excluding Annexes) containing a high-quality executive summary (concise and well-articulated), interesting findings, recommendations, and synthesis of key issues. The report should include diagrams of the service level ladders for water, sanitation and hygiene (similar to how the JMP present service level data) as well as other key statistics related to service reliability and sustainability.
• Hardcopy (1) and Softcopy of the final report including all datasets, and analysis framework (raw and cleaned database)

All reports must be presented to WaterAid Liberia, and comments to be accommodated accordingly.

Timetable

Funding and Mode of Payment

Below is a table highlighting payment modality

Expected competency

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

Degree in Social Sciences, Public Health, International Development, or related fields

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Public Health, International Development, or related fields
• Expertise in conducting quantitative assessment and mix-method studies.
• Over 5 years of practical 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 in quantitative data analysis. High skill in data visualization and presentation techniques.
• Competency in Data Collection Tools through using the mWater platform.
• Competency and track record of conducting impact assessments of WASH projects
• Competent team for data collection and analysis
• Competency in writing good quality reports in English

Submitting an expression of interest

Individuals or firms interested in executing this assignment should submit a proposal demonstrating an understanding of the TOR, methodology, and detailed budget for review. The proposal should also highlight the technical capacity of the Consultant by submitting a CV of the principal Consultant.

Expressions of interest will be reviewed based on competencies, a record of previous work, the quality of the proposal, and a demonstration of understanding of the task.

The deadline for both Technical and Financial Proposals is 5th January 2024. Detailed proposals should be submitted to recruitmentwli@wateraid.org The subject line of your email should read “Application – TODEE DISTRICT WASH SERVICE LEVEL BASELINE ASSESSMENT”

Safeguarding

WaterAid has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of abuse. We require our staff, partners, and service providers to share in this commitment to protect all individuals we interact with from exploitation, abuse, or harassment.

Report Concern to: safeguarding@wateraid.org ; 231(0)776361417 or 231(0)886814640

Click the apply button below to download the pdf version of this advert.