Training Providers on Basic Research Skills and Geographic Information Systems

Background

The Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) team plays a critical role in ensuring the quality and impact of Helvetas Ethiopia’s projects and program. Helvetas Ethiopia has more than ten projects under the WFC, SJE, VIC and Humanitarian Response working areas where all the projects acquire data, qualitative, quantitative and location, through regular monitoring activities as well as assessments and evaluations.

The team is responsible to conducting different assessment and survey including needs assessments, regular outcome surveys and PDMs as well as coordinating and overseeing baselines, MTRs and Endline surveys conducted by external consultants for the projects.

To enhance the team’s skills in conducting research activities and reviewing and providing feedback on research conducted by others; and managing (collecting, analysing and presenting) geographic data, Helvetas Ethiopia would like to invite experienced consultant/s to provide firsthand training to its country MEAL personnel on Basic Research Skills and GIS.

Objective of the Assignment

The objective of this assignment is to enhance the competencies of our team in basic research skills and data management using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). We aim to partner with proficient training providers who can deliver comprehensive trainings on these topics.

 

Scope of the trainings

The training will cover two main topics:

1. Basic Research Skills: Covering but not limited to the following topics

• Characteristics of a good problem statement (i.e. what should a good problem statement look like)
• Characteristics of good research questions and how it should reflect/address to the problem statement
• What are different kinds of questions (e.g., close-ended, open-ended, binary/multiple, leading, Likert scale, probed and skipped questions)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of all these different questions? How to formulate questions for quantitative and qualitative data collection methods?
• Literature review (studies and assessment reports) techniques
• Research design and methodology including most frequently used sampling methods for baseline, mid-term review, endline survey and final review
• How data quality can be assured? How data verification and validation can be carried out?
• Data analysis methods (quantitative and qualitative )
• Interpreting and presenting research results effectively

2. Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Focusing on

• Understand the basic concepts of GIS
• Use GIS software (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS) for collecting and processing and visualising geographic data
• Create thematic maps and spatial analyses

3. Expected Outcomes

After completed the training, the team is expected to

• Have improved understanding and skill of conducting assessments and survey for projects
• Have improved skill of reviewing and providing feedback on studies and assessment reports conducted by external consultants
• Enhanced skills in data analysis, interpretation and reporting.
• Ability to utilize GIS tools for geographic data management and spatial data analysis.
• Ability to apply learned skills to ongoing and future projects.

Deliverables

• Detailed training plan and schedule for each of the trainings two weeks before the training dates.
• Training materials and resources (participants manual, presentations, exercises).
• A face-to-face training, at least five days each through exercises and practical sessions.
• Final report summarizing the training, including participants list, pre- and post-training assessments, participant feedback, and recommendations for future capacity strengthening measures

Requirements of the Training Provider

Qualifications:

• Advanced degrees in relevant fields (e.g., statistics, data science, geography, GIS)
• Extensive experience in data management, research and GIS.
• Strong practical skills in data analysis software (e.g., SPSS, Excel, NVivo, R) and GIS software (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS)
• Proven experience in delivering training on basic research skills and GIS.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.

Reporting Requirements:

• Progress reports after completion of each training.
• A final comprehensive report covering the training sessions, participant engagement, and outcomes.
• Documentation of all training materials and resources used.

Specification for the submission of offers The Proposal

Qualified consultants or consultancy firms interested in the assignment are expected to submit the following documentations.

Technical Proposal (Not more than 20 pages including appendices) that states:

• Consultant’s understanding of the assignment.
• The proposed course outline with a clear timeline.
• The resources expected from the client for the trainings.
• Sample report of recent and similar assignment
• A brief overview of the consultant/consultancy firm and the skills and experiences they would bring to the assignment (including CVs of team members assigned to the assessment)
• Contact details of three references from other organizations that have recently contract the consultant/consultancy firm to perform similar work

Financial Proposal

• The total cost of the service with a detailed cost description clarifying the budget with professional fee per day, and other relevant costs.
• Renewed Trade License
• Trade Registration as Consultant
• VAT & TIN registration certificates

To ensure a fair and comprehensive assessment of all proposals, the evaluating team will consider both technical and financial aspects. The overall score will be calculated by combining the scores from the technical and financial evaluations, with the technical evaluation carrying 80% of the total weight and the financial proposal carrying 20%.