Job Description

African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

Terms of Reference: Consultancy on Project Evaluation

About APHRC: The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a leading Africa-based, African-led, International research institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and engaged in multidisciplinary, evidence-based policy research.

Our research addresses important issues and challenges facing Africa in areas such as education, health, population, aging, urbanization, and well-being. We engage with policy-makers in the region to disseminate our research findings to influence policy decisions and improve the quality of life in Africa.

APHRC is committed to generating an Africa-led, African-owned body of evidence to inform decision-making for an effective and sustainable response to the most critical challenges impeding economic and social development on the continent.

One of our goals is to “become a leading independent research institution, with signature areas of interest, providing open access to quantitative and qualitative data for setting targets and tracking progress toward national and global development goals”.

Promoting Sustainability of Healthcare Investments Project

The Promoting Sustainability of Healthcare Investments (ProSHI) project is building on the successes and infrastructure of the partnership for maternal, newborn, and child health (PAMANECH) project as a pathway to scaling up the PAMANECH model.

With support from Comic Relief (UK), the PAMANECH project was implemented from 2012 to 2016 in Korogocho and Viwandani informal settlements, Nairobi, Kenya. The aim was to strengthen public-private partnerships for the improvement of health care services and outcomes for mothers, neonates, and children below 5 years.

The project utilized a before and after design. The main learning question was: “Does strengthening the private sector with support from the public sector for the delivery of quality health services for slum residents have an impact of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) outcomes?”

Purpose of the Consultancy

These terms of reference stipulate the scope of work for a consultant for a final evaluation of the ProSHI project.

The ProSHI project is a three-year project implemented since 2017 in urban informal settlements of Korogocho and Viwandani by APHRC and its partners.

Funder: Comic Relief (UK).

ProSHI Project Goal

The overall objective is to assess the effect of the public-private partnership model (PAMANECH) on the sustainability of healthcare investments for the improvement of health care services and outcomes for mothers, neonates, and children under five in the Viwandani and Korogocho informal settlements

To ensure financial sustainability we aspired to have:

1) More community members enrolled in medical insurance schemes

2) Private health providers developing and maintaining strategic investment plans, matched with annual work plans, and seen in better hiring and retention of healthcare workers.

Project activities included:

a) Training of health facility leaders’ in strategic leadership and management;

b) Implementing the SafeCare® system for quality improvement;

c) Capacity building for health care providers in Maternal, Newborn and Child health;

d) Engagement of community health volunteers (CHVs) to create demand for available health insurance schemes and create demand for utilization of health care services through linkages;

e) Engagement of youth groups to raising awareness about health insurance schemes and creating demand for enrolment;

f) Support the sub-county health management team activities like supportive supervision, in charges, and stakeholder meetings.

Key learning questions:

• What is the effect of training in strategic leadership on health facility managers’ planning skills and sustainability of MNCH services in informal settlements, and on data quality and reporting skills?


• What effect has the implementation of the SafeCare® system in the selected facilities have on the quality of care?


• What effect does creating awareness on health insurance schemes have on demand-creation for enrollment and reduction in financial barriers to health care utilisation?

Data was collected during an initial assessment (baseline evaluation), the collection continues through a monitoring process during the project implementation, and an endline evaluation is scheduled from October 2020.

Evaluation Issues

The following general evaluation questions should be answered:

• Relevance / Appropriateness: Does the intervention make sense within the context of its environment? Has it addressed the needs and aspirations of the beneficiaries? Have changes in the environment affected its relevance?


• Effectiveness: Were the outputs and the outcomes delivered as planned?


• Impacts: What has happened (or is likely to be) as a consequence of the Intervention? What are the positive or negative, intended or unintended impacts of the intervention on the beneficiaries? What are the impacts of external factors? Has the intervention influenced the stakeholders, and what capacities has it built?


• Coverage: Were all targeted populations appropriately reached and monitored? Where the most vulnerable and marginalized reached?


• Coordination: To which extent has the intervention been harmonized between different actors, promoted synergies, avoided gaps, duplications, and resource conflicts?


• Sustainability: Is there evidence that the intervention is likely to grow- scale up or out- beyond the project life?

Methodology

The evaluation shall be based on a participatory methodology including key informant and in-depth interviews, and focus groups, where possible.

Being an external evaluation, document review shall be the starting point to identify lessons learned in accordance with these terms of reference and verification of compliance with each of the indicators with their respective sources of verification.

The basic methodology for the evaluation should be based on

• The documentation available,


• Interviews with key persons (including staff of all project partners and beneficiaries,) as well as,


• Fieldwork including data collection and analysis

Timelines

The time allocated for preparations, fieldwork, and reporting should be 10 weeks after signing the contract.

The table below presents the tentative schedule.

Qualifications

The individual consultant or consulting firm should meet the following functional profile:

• A Ph.D. in Social Science, Public Health, Monitoring and Evaluation, and/or related discipline with 10 years of M&E experience;


• Minimum of 5-7 years’ experience in providing program monitoring, impact, and/ or institutional evaluations with experience as a lead researcher in an impact evaluation being an added advantage;


• Ability to engage with and understand the needs of respondents from different backgrounds with different skill levels;


• Strong comprehension, verbal, and writing capacity in English and Kiswahili.


• Previous work experience in urban slums is preferred.

Special clause

• Intellectual property: All data (including the recordings), reports, products, including drafts, are the exclusive property of APHRC. Reproduction (total or partial), as well as publication, is prohibited without the written authorization of APHRC.


• Fraud: The parties agree that if one party commits fraud or deception regarding the agreement, such action will result in the termination of the contract with the sole responsibility of the part that induces or executes willful or fraudulent action.

Output and Deliverables

• Evaluation inception report and work plan: An inception report should be prepared by the Evaluator before going into the full-fledged evaluation exercise and to be submitted two weeks after signing the contract. The inception report should include the evaluation matrix detailing the activities that the evaluation will assess, data collection methods, and the standard or measure by which each activity will be evaluated.


• First draft evaluation report: A draft evaluation report presented to the project team eight weeks after signing the contract. The report should address the assessment of project quality attributes: Relevance, Effectiveness, Coverage, Coordination, Sustainability, and Impact. Analysis of compliance with project commitments in its logic of development: Implementation of activities, results – achievements of specific objectives and contribute to the overall objectives. Analysis of the investments of resources for achieving project commitments (funds, materials, and human resources and time required to reach). Identification of good practices and recommendations for future projects.


• Final evaluation report: this will incorporate comments and reviews made to the draft evaluation report by the project team. The final report will contain a short executive summary and the main body of the report covering the methodology, the conclusions, and findings with respect to the guiding questions, indicators, as well as new issues which emerged during the evaluation, and recommendations

Application process

Prospective individual consultant or consulting firm are expected to submit technical and financial proposals in English, including the following:

• Profile of consultant/consulting firm, a clear demonstration of previous experience in conducting Monitoring and Evaluation, and Impact Evaluation.


• Expression of Interest (EOI) outlining how the consultant meets the selection criteria and their understanding of the TORs and the methodology approach to be used


• Proposed activities of schedule/ work plan with timelines


• Financial proposals including consultant fees and field costs


• Short cover letter stating interest and availability


• Professional CV / Resume of the consultant(s) who will undertake the evaluation


• Three Professional References


• Three recent examples of similar evaluations undertaken by the applicant. A report from one of these evaluations should be included in the submission

Please email your response to consultancies@aphrc.org and cc ekamande@aphrc.org by 21st September 2020.

Please use “ PRoSHI External Evaluation” as the subject title of your email.

Incomplete applications will not be considered and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Application letters should be addressed to:

The Human Resources Officer
African Population and Health Research Center, Inc
APHRC Campus, Manga Close, off Kirawa Road, Kitisuru
P.O. Box 10787-GPO, Nairobi

Website: www.aphrc.org

Please note that:

• The consultant is responsible for all taxes and legal authorizations required to complete this assignment.


• The consultant is obligated to keep confidential contents of meeting discussions, briefing materials, or any materials associated with the consultancy and shall not use them for any other purposes except to complete this assignment


• APHRC is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to the protection of children

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