Terms of Reference to Conduct Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM)

Introduction

Action for Social Development and Environmental Protection Organization (ASDEPO) is an Ethiopian indigenous, non-governmental and non-profit making humanitarian organization established in 2014. ASDEPO is currently implementing different development and humanitarian response projects under its ten thematic areas including Health, Nutrition, WASH, ES/NF, Education, Protection, agriculture, livelihood and food security, Multipurpose Cash Assistance and Peace building.

ASDEPO has secured funding from the Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund (EHF) through PAD to implement a project titled “Integrated Responses to Drought-Affected Communities in Siraro Woreda of the Oromia Region.” As part of this project, cash assistance was provided to 1766 caregivers whose children were admitted to and successfully discharged from Outpatient Therapeutic Programs (OTP) or Stabilization Centers (SC), in a one-time distribution. The cash transfer amount was determined based on a market assessment to ensure sufficient resources for procuring appropriate food items for the discharged children, and was endorsed by the relevant Nutrition cluster.

ASDEPO has successfully completed the cash transfer, and now seeks the services of a qualified consultancy firm to conduct a Post-Distribution Monitoring (PDM) of the Cash distribution in the targeted woreda. Therefore, this Terms of Reference (ToR) is issued to invite interested firms to submit their proposals for this assignment.

Project description

Siraro woreda of West Arsi Zone Oromia region is facing critical Nutrition concerns as a result of the ongoing drought. The high degree of drought in the area exacerbated the acute crises in the woreda. The convergence of these crises has exacerbated vulnerability of affected populations, creating an urgent need for intersectoral response. To address the problem, ASDEPO is providing lifesaving Nutrition response that targeted the drought affected communities in the Woreda ASDEPO specifically assisted 1353 care givers of Childrens discharged from Malnutrition treatment centre with Cash assistance. The Cash distributed for 1766 care givers in Siraro woreda. Therefore, 7026 ETB was distributed to each of the 1766 targeted Care takers in three rounds through Awash Bank in Siraro Woreda

As the distribution of the Cash is successfully completed, it is important to conduct a PDM assessment to determine the effectiveness of Cash distribution in terms of its intended objectives and assess the level of satisfaction of beneficiary on the delivery of assistance. Hence, this Terms of Reference (TOR) summarizes the proposed activities to cascade and conduct PDM.

Objective of the PDM

The purpose of the Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) is to determine the effectiveness/impact of the Cash distribution project in terms of its intended objectives and assess/evaluate the level of satisfaction of beneficiary on the delivery of assistance including participation, relevance, targeting, timeliness, quality, and quantity of the support.

This comprises:

• Effectiveness: Assessing the degree to which the goals of the Cash distribution initiatives have been met. This entails determining if the beneficiaries’ children’s ‘ immediate food requirements have been satisfied and whether the distributed Cash has supported on the Nutritional outcome of the Childrens.
• Efficiency: Evaluating the distribution process to see if the money, were used as efficiently as possible. This entails evaluating the distribution’s punctuality and logistics and noting any difficulties that arose along the way.
• Appropriateness: Evaluate if the items distributed were appropriate for the recipients’ particular needs and circumstances. This entails evaluating the Cash usefulness, cultural suitability, and efficacy in meeting the demands that have been defined.
• Beneficiary Satisfaction: Assessing beneficiaries’ satisfaction with the Cash they received. This includes learning about how they perceive the response appropriateness, and quantity (amount of cash distributed)
• Impact: Assessing the overall impact of the Cash interventions on the Nutritional well-being of the beneficiaries/targeted children’s. This involves evaluating changes in food variety of Served for discharged children from treatment centres
• Identify Gaps and Challenges: Assess any challenges or difficulties in the beneficiary’s selection, verification and distribution process.
• Provide Actionable Recommendations: Provide suggestions on how to close the gaps (if any) and enhance the Cash distribution initiatives in the future. Make sure the suggestions are grounded on the PDM survey results and are realistic and workable.

Scope of the PDM

The PDM will take place from June 5 to June 12, 2024, in Siraro woreda of West Arsi Zone. The detailed scope of the work includes:

-Methodology Development: Outline a thorough quantitative and qualitative data collecting strategy and checklist (for surveying a sample of households, focus Group discussion and key informant interview to obtain feedback) in accordance with the PDM criteria of the Ethiopia Cash working group.

• Sampling Strategy: Provide a structure for sampling (15% of each of the beneficiaries that received the cash support and locations) to guarantee that recipient households provide representative data for data collecting.
• Data Collection: Conduct household surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs), and key informant interviews (KIIs) to gather relevant data.
• Data Analysis: Utilize suitable statistical methodologies and qualitative analytic approaches to examine the data that has been gathered.
• Reporting: Develop and submit a thorough report including your findings, conclusions, and practical suggestions.

Deliverables

Inception report

It should contain: The key data of the consultancy, suggestions for TOR amendments, if necessary, the consultancy preparation (team, timetable, distribution of tasks, reporting), evaluation design (chosen methods, approach, steps for their implementation, plan for enumerators and their training), tools for their implementation (questionnaires, KII, data processing and analysis etc.), a draft implementation plan for the consultancy. The inception report will be discussed with ASDEPO (MEAL and Program teams).

Draft PDM Report

All findings, conclusions and recommendations including the methodology should be described and presented, submitted and evaluated by ASDEPO Team.

Final PDM report

The final report should be delivered including key findings, conclusions and recommendations and lessons learnt should be presented in a clear and transparent way. All appendices, tools and relevant pictures should be annexed.

Responsibilities and duties

ASDEPO will provide:

• All necessary /required project documents.
• Staff technical support during data collection

The consultancy firm will:

• Take the responsibility of logistic arrangement, deployment of enumerators and supervisors for the assessment
• Develop harmonized PDM tools that are integrated and aligned with the cluster standard tools, the project indicators, desired goals and methodologies for response strategy.
• Train and orient the data collectors on the use of the tools developed and best practices when conducting PDMs.
• Undertake the Post-Monitoring Distribution within the given timeframe.
• Submit a final report outlining overview of findings, activities and any key recommendation for future Cash for Nutrition interventions.

Methodology

Target Population

The target population for this PDM will be the selected sample of beneficiaries those who have been received Cash assistance. The PDM will be conducted on the targeted households in Siraro woreda of West Arsi.

Sampling Techniques

The sampling strategy must guarantee adequate representation of specific sub-groups of interest within the sample (15% (264 Care takers) of the beneficiaries who received the assistance). This is based on the prioritization criteria used to provide the assistance.

The consultancy firm may select using:

Probability sampling: as all individuals are selected based on the technical requirement

Requirement/qualification

• The contracting consultant should have a minimum of B.A/ B.SC and above in any fields of study.
• Strong analytical, report writing and presentation skills.
• Evidence of success in conducting similar studies
• Strong qualitative/quantitative PDM assessment and analytical skills
• Proven record of excellent management, leadership, decision-making and interpersonal skills
• Proven strong, clear technical writing and oral presentation skills in English
• Proven ability to prepare high-quality technical reports on time
• The contracting consultant is expected to review the TOR very carefully.

Duration of the Work

The consultant will be contracted for a maximum of 2 weeks to complete the assignment starting from the signature of the contract. The final report submission date is 3 weeks after the signing of the contract agreement.

Work Schedule and Responsible Bodies

Activity description	Date	Responsible Bodies
PDM technical and Financial proposal	Week 1	Consultancy
Submission of Inception report	Week 1	Consultancy
Preparing agreement/contract and providing advance payment	Week 1	ASDEPO
Travel to project woredas	Week 1	Consultancy
Train enumerators, supervisors and data clerks/entry on data collection for a day	Week 1	Consultancy
Field data collection	Week 2	Consultancy
Data cleaning and data summary for analysis	Week 2	Consultancy
Data Analysis and draft report writing	Week 2	Consultancy
Sharing the first draft report for a comment	Week 2	Consultancy
Incorporating comments and Presenting all the final PDM reports to ASDEPO	Week 3	Consultancy

Criteria/procedures

The consultancy can only be done by a consultancy firm. The firm that get the highest points as per the herein below criteria will be awarded the contract. The criteria will be based on technical capacity of the consultancy firm (70%) and financial viability (30%). The firm scored higher mark will be awarded the assignment.

Description	% value
1. Technical Proposal
Understanding the scope of work; comprehensiveness of the methodology/approach; and organization and completeness of the proposal	15
Academic background (Master’s Degree/Bachelor’s Degree) and team composition	10
Experience in conducting PDM in humanitarian responses	10
Previous experience with Kobo tool and SPSS data analysis	10
Previous experience of conducting PDM in the project areas	15
Previous experience in delivering related assignments, working with EHF funded projects	10
	70 %
2. Financial Proposal
Budget justification and costs realism	30
	30%
Total Score	100

 

Terms of Delivery and Payment

Payment schedule (upon receiving invoice from consultant):

• 40% upon ASDEPO’s approval of inception report
• 60% upon ASDEPO’s approval of final PDM report