Request for Proposals (RFP): Design Thinking Consultant to develop -Amhara, Ethiopia

Contract Period: April 10, 2023 – March 30, 2024 (1 year)

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS ONLY. Responses to this RFP are strictly voluntary and Splash will not pay respondents for the information provided in response to this RFP. The purpose of the activity as envisioned under this RFP is to design and pilot a high-quality program(s) to complement existing behavior change programs. This will allow Splash and their partners to address critical knowledge and behavioral gaps related to the deployment of our behavior change program in rural Amhara, Ethiopia.

SPLASH IS LOOKING TO HIRE AN EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL OR FIRM WITH EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND IN DESIGN THINKING, HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN, AND PROGRAM DESIGN TO CREATE NEW PROGRAM ASSETS TO COMPLEMENT EXISTING MATERIALS FOR A COMPREHENSIVE WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE + MENSTRUAL HEALTH (WASH+) BEHAVIOUR CHANGE PROGRAM IN AMHARA, ETHIOPIA.

BACKGROUND

Splash, an international non-profit organization, is one of the foremost leaders in providing urban water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) at scale. It has a distinct and clear intervention goal: to improve the lives and health of children living in urban cities. Splash’s largest WASH in Schools program has been implemented in over 750 schools and impacted more than 850,000 kids.

OVERVIEW

Splash’s behaviour change program uses Behaviour Centred Design (BCD) as a guiding framework and aims to build the capacities of teachers and students, enabling them to orient and influence parents, school staff and peers within school-based settings. Currently, Splash delivers a hygiene program through a Training of Trainers model, leveraging curriculum with engaging activities and child-focused materials. Splash’s curriculum focuses on five key areas:

SCOPE OF WORK

Building upon the research, program design and training Splash has already deployed, we will collaborate with partnering organizations and local government to co-design and contextualize an entire suite of complementary behaviour change programs to be implemented in rural Amhara. The Splash hygiene curriculum has already been contextualized for rural areas; however, our menstrual health curriculum needs to be modified, as well as the creation of new programmatic components targeting social stakeholders such as community leaders, religious leaders, etc. Local stakeholders (including teachers, parents, community leaders, religious leaders, and government officials), beneficiaries and end-of-line trainers will be extensively consulted and engaged through joint convenings, focal group discussions, and interviews.

Key activities include:

• To level-set, the consultant will be asked to orient themselves on Splash’s behaviour change and menstrual health research and materials.
• Engage stakeholders to understand the physical and social environment, as well as knowledge, motivation and subconscious decision-making surrounding hygiene, menstrual health, and operation and maintenance of infrastructure.
• Support formative research which will be under a separate contract to 1) understand what aspects of the current Splash intervention could transfer effectively and 2) identify potential solutions to address any key intervention discrepancies/gaps.
• Develop new program components uniquely relevant to rural areas, such as the engagement of community and faith leaders as well as health care extension workers through design thinking processes and principles.
• Facilitate discussions with partnering NGOs and local government to develop an implementation strategy and scaled systems change to achieve sustainable WASH in schools across the target regions.
• Develop a cascading training model and facilitation guide for every level of training (from government staff and implementing NGOs to end-line trainers who will deliver the program at schools). This will include guides to ensure quality of the training.
• Support Splash’s larger behavior change portfolio, contributing to the program design and sustainability of behavior change programming (estimated 10 hours per month) through direct and regular engagement with Splash team members. This engagement will not be limited to the scope of the Ethiopian Rural Amhara work and has the potential to span multiple geographies.

KEY DELIVERABLES

*Once selected will further define the scope and deliverables

SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, AND EXPERIENCE

• The firm should be highly proficient in design thinking, human-centered design with at least 10 years of experience working on program design and behavior change.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with international and local staff, local implementation partners, contractors, government partners, and vendors.
• Experience in leading human-centered design sessions is required.
• Experience working with schools is preferred.
• The firm or consultant must be responsible for the quality of the work of any subcontractors that they employ for this project.
• Experience working in Ethiopia is preferred.
• Professional level of written and verbal fluency in English.
• Should be based in either Ethiopia or Kenya and will have substantial time spend in Amhara for this project.

REPORTING

The agency or consultant will report to Megan Williams, Director of Behavior Change.

BUDGET

Not to exceed $115,000 USD

How to Apply

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

Please provide one (1) electronic copy of your response in Microsoft Word or PDF format as a single email attachment to Mekonnen Addisu (mekonnen@splash.org). Please submit a response via e-mail before April 7, 2023. Questions and clarifications will be provided if requested.

Responses should include the following:

• Detailed timeline and proposed methodology
• Profile of relevant qualifications, experience and related work, countries served
• Biography of proposed team member(s)
• Detailed budget, including daily rates
• Submission of a relevant work sample