Consultancy Services to Conduct a Comprehensive Base Line Assessment

Background

Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD) is an Ethiopian Development Organization established in 2005 and reregistered by the Agency for Civil Society Organizations as an Ethiopian Development Organization with a Certificate № 0321 under the Proclamation № 1113/2019. ECDD is working with other organizations to promote and facilitate the inclusion of persons with disabilities and disability issues in mainstream service delivery and development programs envisioning an Inclusive Ethiopia where persons with disabilities exercise the same rights and have access to the same services and opportunities enjoyed by other citizens.

With the financial support of GIZ, ECDD has recently started a new Livelihood project titled “I-BPO: Upskilling and Employing Persons with Disabilities through an Inclusive BPO Ecosystem in Ethiopia.” This project aims to realize a functioning disability-inclusive BPO ecosystem to be modeled where persons with disabilities are equipped with foundational skills, employers are committed to disability-inclusion, and national institutions are aligned to sustain and expand opportunities.

In this regard, ECDD intends to conduct a comprehensive baseline assessment to have scientifically generated evidence on employment, retention, and key factors affecting long-term participation of persons with disabilities in Business Process Outsourcing-BPO companies to make informed decisions and interventions to tackle the identified challenges and harness opportunities to improve the lives of persons with disabilities in the target cities in particular and in Ethiopia in general.

The assessment will employ both qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis and interpretation using appropriate data collection and analysis tools and techniques. The assessment is required to go through all the relevant scientific processes of assessment to generate adequate and reliable data and information across all the perspectives of employment, retention, and key factors affecting long-term participation of persons with disabilities in Business Process Outsourcing-BPO companies in the target regions.

The results of the assessment are desired to qualify as information for decision making and intervention, and be references to assign targets in all intended chain of results of the project, as well as measure progress and performance of the project throughout the implementation period.

Therefore, ECDD invites qualified and experienced consultants to submit expressions of interest to undertake this important base line assessment in Addis Ababa Bahir Dar, Adama, Hawassa, and Arba Minch target cities.

General Objective

The general objective of the assessment is to generate a base line data through a comprehensive baseline survey on employment, retention, and key factors affecting long-term participation of persons with disabilities in BPO companies in Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar, Adama, Hawassa, and Arba Minch target cities.

Specific Objectives

This assessment is intended to meet the following specific objectives:

• To assess and identify the key factors affecting employment of persons with disabilities in BPO companies.
• To assess and identify the key factors and conditions affecting long term participation/employability of persons with disabilities.
• To assess and provide reliable, accurate and timely(current) quantitative and qualitative data on the identified factors of employment, retention, and long term participation(employability) of persons with disabilities in BPO companies
• To provide appropriate recommendations for the identified challenges with regard to the factors affecting on employment, retention, and long-term participation of persons with disabilities in BPO companies.

Data Collection and Analysis Methodology

The assessment will adopt a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the situation of persons with disabilities in the target locations of the project.

4.1. Quantitative Methods

• The assessment will collect quantitative data through structured survey, questionnaire from target persons with disabilities, the community, BPO companies, households, relevant government sector organizations, educational institutions(TVETs, Universities), and others as necessary, and facility surveys as necessary.
• Document review will be made to get relevant data for the assessment.
• Scientific data analysis techniques will be applied through appropriate software to quantitatively analyze the collected data.

4.2. Qualitative Methods

• The assessment will collect data through key informant Interviews (KII) from relevant government sectors officials, heads of educational institutions (Universities, TVETs).
• It will collect data through focus group discussions (FGD) from Organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), persons with disabilities who are unemployed, underemployed and seeking for employment.
• It will also undertake interview with the community, observation to the physical environment of the workplace to collect data on the compatibility of the facilities, infrastructure, accessibility of supportive equipment, devices to the persons with disabilities.
• The qualitative data will be systematically analyzed and triangulated against data collected quantitatively.

4.3. Sources of Data

The data for this study will be collected both from primary and secondary sources.

• Primary data will be collected through interviews, self-administered questionnaire, KII, FGD and Observation
• Secondary data will be collected from documents of BPO companies, government, OPDs, EOAs existing document, valid research documents, and other official sources of data, etc., as appropriate.

4.4. Sample Size Determination

The sample size determination for this base line assessment will employ relevant scientific sample size determination techniques, and include all the relevant subjects/people that need to participate in the assessment so that relevant, accurate and reliable data will be collected.

4.5. Data Analysis

• Quantitative data will be analyzed using the relevant statistical software to identify trends, gaps, and correlations.
• Qualitative data will be analyzed to extract insights on barriers, enablers, and stakeholder perspectives, and triangulate the relevance, accuracy and validity of data collected quantitatively.

4.6. Ethical Considerations

• Informed consent will be obtained from all participants.
• Data confidentiality and sensitivity to disability-related issues will be strictly maintained.
• Inclusive and accessible communication methods will be used throughout the assessment.
• The consultant is expected to propose participatory, accessible, and inclusive data collection approach in consideration of the types of impairments of persons with disabilities.

4.7. Key Deliverables

• Inception Report: Outlining the proposed methodology, including research methods, sampling framework, data sources, procedures for data collection and analysis, and a draft table of contents.
• Research Tools: All proposed data collection tools will be reviewed and approved by ECDD and its partners prior to fieldwork.
• Draft Assessment Report: A preliminary version of the assessment report will be submitted for review and feedback by ECDD.
• Revised Draft: A second round of revisions may be requested by ECDD before final approval.
• Final Report: A comprehensive final report incorporating all comments, submitted in both PDF and editable Word formats.

Selection Procedure and Requirements

• • Selection of consulting firms will be based on technical competency including but not limited to expertise and experience in the area of assessment
  • A realistic and feasible financial proposal will also determine the success of securing the consultancy offer.
  • Familiarity with the social, political, and economic situation of the target regions, and proven experience conducting similar works in the area will be considered.

Qualifications and Expertise Required

• • The consultancy firm must have at least three years’ experience in the area
  • The lead consultant must have at least a post-graduate degree in Social Sciences, Business, Economics, Statistics, or related fields, Special Needs,
  • The assessment team must be composed of professionals in humanitarian and development response initiatives with proven experience in disability issues
  • Relevant professional experience in research and conducting similar assessments, and have recommendations.
  • Strong background and experience in data collection and analysis.
  • Technical expertise in assessing issues related to the organizational system
  • Excellent communication and report-writing skills.
  • The consultant must hold a valid professional license, renewed registration certificate, and business license with TIN and renewed VAT registration certificate.

Selection Criteria

The Technical and Financial Proposals will account for 70% and 30% respectively of the selection criteria, broken down as follows: