unicef bulgaria country office terms of reference … · most vulnerable children, has been a key...
TRANSCRIPT
1
UNICEF BULGARIA COUNTRY OFFICE
TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR
А NATIONAL CONSULTANT/TEAM OF NATIONAL CONSULTANTS TO SUPPORT
THE EVALUATION OF THE UNICEF DEMONSTRATION HOME VISITING
SERVICES FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN
Tentative start date of consultancy: 20 November 2018
End date consultancy: 15 April 2019
Total number of days: up to 26 days per consultant (in case of a team of consultants)
1. CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND
General context
Strengthening the national capacities to promote early childhood development, particularly of the
most vulnerable children, has been a key area of engagement of UNICEF in Bulgaria since 2013.
During the Country Program 2013-2017, UNICEF was involved in advocacy, technical support and
facilitating knowledge sharing, modelling and implementation of innovative interventions for
improving caregivers’ skills to provide nurturing care. One major activity included the development
and testing in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of a home visiting service for children from
birth to 3 years of age and their families. Under the Country Partnership for the period 2018-2022,
UNICEF will further support the work in this area to ensure that home visiting is established as an
effective and sustainable program for promoting young child development and wellbeing.
In 2013 UNICEF in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the Bulgarian Association of Health
Professionals in Nursing, developed a model of a home visiting service to improve health and
development of young children. Scientific evidence shows that the first 3 years of life provide a
unique “window” of opportunity for learning and development1. During this period the effect of
adverse experiences (like extreme poverty, abuse and neglect, lack of responsive caregiving, etc.) and
environmental factors (toxic chemicals or pollutants for example) on early brain development is
particularly profound and can potentially influence health, behaviour and wellbeing over the entire
life course. To develop to their full potential young children need nurturing care – a set of conditions
that provide for children’s health, nutrition, security and safety, responsive caregiving and
opportunities for early learning. Evidence shows that strategies that support families and communities
to provide nurturing care have the potential to mitigate the impact of adverse experiences and
environmental factors and strengthen child development.
The present TOR aims to support the independent evaluation of the demonstration home visiting
services established with UNICEF support in Shumen and Sliven regions to generate knowledge and
lessons learnt to inform the work of the Ministry of Health toward introducing similar services in the
country and their sustainable implementation in the future. The provisions of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and other relevant human rights documents should guide the process of evaluation,
including design of the methodology, implementation and analysis. The evaluation should also be
designed and carried out to assess the equity dimensions of the interventions, as well as gender
equality.
1 The First Thousand Days. An Evidence Paper. Centre for Community Child Health. The Royals Children’s
Hospital Melbourne, 2017.
2
Description of the model home visiting service:
The model home visiting service referred to as “Centre for Maternal and Child Health” was
developed with the primary aim to strengthen caregivers’ capacities to provide nurturing care to
children from birth to 3 years of age, to improve early identification of developmental difficulties
and risks for children’s wellbeing, and facilitate early intervention including through improving
access to available health care, social and educational services in the community. Home visits are
the main way of service delivery. The staff of the services consists of trained nurses/midwives and
a social worker. The target group for the services are expectant parents and families with children
under 3 years of age. The participation of the families in the program is voluntary.
The home visiting services have universal coverage i.e. all families with young children and
expectant parents have access to a minimal package of services and visits. However, support is
tailored to the individual needs of the users and families receive different packages of services
depending on their needs and risks. A universal package is offered to all families and consists of 2
visits during pregnancy and 5 visits from birth until the child reaches 3 years of age. During the
visits families receive information, practical advice and guidance relating to childcare, health,
feeding and breastfeeding, healthy lifestyle, child safety and safe pregnancy, hygiene, stimulation of
children’s cognitive and language development, positive discipline and dealing with difficult
behaviour, family planning, etc. Attention is given to promoting strong parent – child relationships
and responsive parenting.
Families who experience specific difficulties (for example difficulties related to breastfeeding,
weaning of the child, sleeping of the child, difficult child behaviour, etc.) are offered additional
home visits and support until the issue is addressed. The most disadvantaged and vulnerable families,
as well as families where issue with potential adverse impact on child health and development (for
example pre-term babies, children with disabilities, children brought up in poor families, pregnant
women without health insurance, teenage mothers, children in risk of abandonment or abuse,
families with history of domestic violence, etc.) are identified, receive intensive support tailored to
their individual situation. Support may include intensive home visiting, for provision of guidance,
education and support, and involvement of other specialists (speech therapists, medical specialists,
occupational therapists, etc.) or child protection services.
Demonstration services were established in two regions of the country – Shumen (in 2013) and
Sliven (in 2014) as part of existing medical facilities for outpatient care. They provided services on
the territory of the entire regions. Until August 2018, the two services provided different packages
of support to more than 10,000 families with 12,000 children (approx. 67% of the child population
0-3 years of age in the two regions).
The logical mode of the whole intervention was developed and later adjusted based on the UNICEF
Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia Guidance. The logic model is attached as Annex.
Within the logical model, a set of performance indicators was developed for monitoring purposes.
Services were regularly monitored by UNICEF for measuring the progress in implementation of the
planned activities. A web-based tool was introduced as well to facilitate monitoring and assessment
of the work of the two services.
The demonstration services were implemented with the Ministry of Health, the Agency for Social
Assistance and local partners – medical facilities for outpatient and in-patient care in Sliven and
Shumen. At local level – in Sliven and Shumen medical facilities for outpatient care (Medical
centres) were responsible for establishment of the home visiting services (also referred to as Centres
3
for Maternal and Child Health) as part of their structures, for management and implementation of
all activities relating to service provision on the territory of the respective regions.
An expert group with participation of relevant stakeholders (representatives of the Agency for Social
Assistance, Regional Health Inspectorates, the Bulgarian Paediatric Association, The National
Association of the General Practitioners, the Bulgarian Association of Health Professionals in
Nursing, the National Centre for Public Health and Analysis) was also established at the Ministry of
Health to oversee and support the implementation of the service, to make recommendations for
changes and develop a proposal for legal changes to ensure the place of the service in the existing
health system.
Detailed information on the project implementation will be provided to the successful applicant.
2. DECRIPTION OF THE EVALUATION
Purpose and objectives of the evaluation
The purpose of the evaluation of the demonstration home visiting services in Sliven and Shumen
regions (also referred to as Centres for Maternal and Child Health) is to assess their implementation,
results achieved and the overall impact, identify lessons learned and provide recommendations to
inform the process of national scale up.
The specific objectives of the evaluation are to:
- Assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability and, to the extent possible,
the impact of the demonstration services on caregivers and children.
- To assess the demonstration services from an equity and child rights perspective both in
terms of the capacities to reach out to and deliver support to the most vulnerable groups,
and in terms of its role for reducing equity gaps in access to essential services and support
for health and child development during the first 3 years of life.
- Identify and document lessons learnt, including in terms of service design, scope of support
provided, resourcing, implementation, reach, involvement and retention of caregivers,
cooperation with other relevant health providers and cross-sectoral cooperation for meeting
the complex needs of children and families.
- Identify the enablers and challenges for upscaling the service nationally.
- Provide recommendations for the process of scaling up of the service nationally and for
actions to ensure quality and sustainable implementation of home visiting services in the
future (beyond the EU funded project).
The evaluation is final and is to be conducted toward the end of the piloting phase implemented
with UNICEF support. It is particularly relevant to be implemented at this point of time when the
Ministry of Health is in a process of preparation for introducing home visiting services in all regions
of the country with funding from the EU Operational Program “Human Resource Development”.
Evaluation scope
The evaluation will focus on the two demonstration home visiting services established with
UNICEF support and will examine:
- the model, its implementation and to the extent possible its impact on children and
families;
4
- the relationships and integration of the services into the local systems of services for
families and children in Shumen and Sliven regions.
The evaluation will cover the period April 2013 – present.
Geographical coverage of the evaluation includes the regions of Shumen and Sliven. The evaluation
shall include the perspective and views of all relevant stakeholders: caregivers, expectant parents
and families with children under 3 years of age who benefited from the demonstration services,
caregivers who did not benefit from services but fall within the target groups, local providers of
social and health services (general practitioners/paediatricians, hospital staff, social service
providers), representatives of the regional health authorities, child protection services and others.
Additional meetings with key stakeholders at national level are also envisaged.
The Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA), equity and gender equality and mainstreaming
approaches also need to be assessed. Particular attention should be paid to exploring equity
dimensions of the intervention. For UNICEF equity means that all children have an opportunity to
survive, develop, and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. Equity-
based evaluation provides assessments of what works and what does not work to reduce inequity,
and it highlights intended and unintended results for the most vulnerable groups as well as the
inequalities in the outcomes for vulnerable children and families. To the extent possible access to
quality support and outcomes for different subgroups of vulnerable children and families should be
explored in the evaluation (based on ethnicity, residence, setting – institutional/family, gender,
disability, etc.) and the groups least reached identified.
Evaluation framework and questions
The evaluation will assess the demonstration home visiting services in terms of the following
criteria: relevance to the child rights and equity agenda, effectiveness, efficiency, relevance,
sustainability, and impact (as defined by OECD/DAC).
Below are given indicative questions to guide the evaluation, which however can be further
expanded during the inception phase in consultation with UNICEF and the Reference Group. The
need of assessment of relevant human rights, equity and gender equality aspects should be
considered while formulating the questions. Regional dimension (with respect to the two regions
of implementation) should be explored as well.
Relevance:
the extent to
which the
objectives of
the service
address the
real problems
and the needs
of the target
groups and
country
priorities.
Questions to be explored include:
• To what extent the demonstration home visiting services (objectives,
strategies, activities, etc.) are aligned with the government policy
priorities/policies/reforms agendas in the areas of maternal and child
health, early childhood development, deinstitutionalisation, child care
and social inclusion?
• To what extent the demonstration home visiting services and
approaches to delivery of support are evidence-based, correspond and
address actual needs of children, families and communities in the two
regions and nationally?
• To what extent the services are important for and relevant to the needs
of the most vulnerable children and families?
• Is the design of the model services and the activities appropriate for
achieving the intended results and outcomes?
5
• Has the model service design and implementation been aligned with the
CRC principles (non-discrimination, best interest of the child, the right
to life, participation), gender mainstreaming and Human Rights Based
Approach (HRBA) to programming? Did it contribute towards gender
mainstreaming and HRBA?
Effectiveness
The positive
and negative,
primary and
secondary
long-term
effects
produced by
an
intervention,
directly or
indirectly,
intended or
unintended.
• Have the services achieved/or are likely to achieve the planned
objectives? To what extent the objectives are realistic?
• To what extent the target groups have been reached? Have the services
been able to reach out to the most vulnerable groups of children and
pregnant women?
• What are the key benefits for children and families who received
support from the services? Are different groups (based on ethnicity,
socio-economic profile, urban-rural residence, children with special
needs, etc.) benefitting to the same extent of the services?
• What factors affected the effectiveness of the services and their impact
on families and children? What factors affected the effectiveness in
relation to the most vulnerable groups?
• What factors (e.g. political, social, gender and cultural, social norms,
systemic, or related to the service design and implementation,
professional practices) were crucial for the achievement or failure to
achieve the service objectives in the two regions so far?
• Have services provided any additional (unintended) significant
contribution to or effect on families and children, including on
vulnerable families and children?
• How effective were the capacity building activities targeting the staff of
the demonstration services?
• What is the level of satisfaction of the families who benefited from the
services? What are their views for improving the service?
Efficiency: a
measure of
how
economically
resources/
inputs (funds,
expertise,
time, etc.) are
converted to
results.
• To what extent have UNICEF and the implementing partners used the
available human, financial and technical resources in the most efficient
manner?
• Would there have been a more cost-effective way to achieve the
expected results?
• How well the establishment and implementation of the services was
planned and managed?
• Were the demonstration services coordinated with other similar
programme interventions, including of UNICEF (for example the
Consultative centres for maternal and child health established in the
regional hospitals in Shumen and Sliven under the National Program
for Improving Maternal and Child 2014-2020, Family Consultative
centres established in Shumen with UNICEF support, others) to
encourage synergies and avoid overlap? Was there any overlap of
efforts?
• To what extent the data collection and monitoring activities performed
by UNICEF informed and contributed to improving the implementation
of project activities and achievement of results?
6
Sustainability:
The
continuation
of the benefits
after the end
of the
intervention.
The
probability of
continued
long-term
benefits. The
resilience to
risk of the net
benefit flows
over time
• To what extent has UNICEF been able to support its partners in
developing capacities and establishing mechanisms to ensure ownership
of the service, both on national and subnational level?
• Are legal, institutional and financial mechanisms established to ensure
sustainability of the home visiting services (as part of the EU funded
project and beyond)? Are conditions established to ensure quality of the
services (service standards, training, supervision mechanisms, etc.)?
• What are the key factors that can positively or negatively influence the
long-term financial sustainability of the services (beyond the EU
funded project of the Ministry of Health)?
• What specific recommendations could be given that would contribute to
the sustainability of the services after the completion of the EU funded
project – financial and institutional?
• How sustainable are the results achieved for children?
• What conditions need to be put in place to ensure the provision of
quality home visiting service and results for children, in terms of
resources (human, financial, material), human resource development,
institutional linkages within the health care system and with other
sectors, etc.) – as part of the EU -funded project and beyond?
Impact: The
positive and
negative,
primary and
secondary
long-term
effects
produced
directly or
indirectly,
intended or
unintended.
• To what extent did the services contribute to long-term positive changes
in caregiving practices and wellbeing of children? Are there any
differences in terms of the impact on the most vulnerable children and
families?
• To what extent did the services contribute to increasing parent and
community demand for home visiting, including of the most vulnerable
groups?
• To what extent and in which areas (parenting practices related to
nutrition, safety, early childhood development, safety, child protection
and prevention of abandonment, improving parental knowledge) the
services had significant impact? Are there any sub-group differences?
• What factors favourably or adversely affected the impact of the services
on families and children, including on the most vulnerable?
• To what extent the demonstration services are recognised by the target
group and the population in general in the two regions?
• What worked and what did not work to reduce inequities (in child
outcomes, access to and utilisation of essential service, etc.)? What are
reasons for this?
Partnerships
and
cooperation
• To what extent have partnerships been sought and established and
synergies created to support the work of the demonstration services?
• Were efficient cooperation arrangements established between UNICEF
and partners (medical facilities, NGO, governmental institutions,
professionals, other partners)?
• Have any new partners emerged that were not initially identified?
• To what extent the demonstration services were integrated in the
existing local systems of services (health, social, and educational) for
7
children and families and how well they coordinated efforts for meeting
the complex needs of children and families?
Issues related to the Human Rights-Based Approach to Programming, Equity, Results-Based
Management and Gender Equality will be addressed across the evaluation questions or, if required,
developed as specific points as per United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Guidance on
Integrating human-rights and gender equality in evaluation (see link below) and complies with the
organization’s commitment to gender mainstreaming as expressed in the Policy on Gender Equality
and the Empowerment of Girls2.
Evaluation methodology and phases
The evaluation will follow internationally agreed evaluation criteria of relevance, efficiency,
effectiveness, impact, and sustainability.
Mixed method approach will be applied in the evaluation combining qualitative and quantitative
components to ensure complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses. The analysis is
expected to build on information collected from variety of sources through different methods
including review of secondary data and information, primary data collection from government
representatives, representatives of local service providers, caregivers, community members, staff
and managers of the demonstration home visiting services, and others. The information gathered
should be critically examines and synthesized in an objective manner. If contradictory information
is obtained from different stakeholders, an effort should be made to understand the reasons for such
information, including any gender-based differences.
The evaluation should be participatory involving service users, representatives of the target groups
(who have not used the service) and members of the communities. Methods, data collection tools
and analysis should build on a human rights and child rights approach and should be gender and
culturally sensitive.
Wherever monitoring systems will not be able to bring enough evidence (e.g. limited gender/equity
focus), the assessment will be based on stakeholders’ perceptions. The evaluation results will be
validated with national partners and key stakeholders.
Inception Phase: The first step of the evaluation process will be the inception phase during which
an evaluation framework, methodology, sources of information (including stakeholders to be
involved) and data collection tools will be developed by an international consultant. For each of the
questions and sub-questions, indicators to inform the responses and identify the corresponding
means of verification will be established.
A Desk Review of relevant reference materials, including laws, policies and strategies, official and
administrative statistical information, service documentation (methodology, progress and statistical
reports, training and supervision reports, monitoring electronic database, other).
Primary data collection: Primary data will be collected at regional level – in the regions of Shumen
and Sliven, through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, individual face to face
interviews/questionnaires and focus group discussions. The methodology should allow for
2 http://www.uneval.org/documentdownload?doc_id=980&file_id=1294
8
exploring the views of representatives of different stakeholders: representatives of the Regional
Health Inspectorates, children protection services, health and social service providers, staff of the
demonstration home visiting services, service users, representatives of the target group and
community members. In addition, evaluation data on and from service users/community members
with different socio-economic, ethnic and residence (urban/rural) profile should be collected as well
to assess equity dimensions of the interventions. The methodology and data collection tools should
also consider language difficulties experienced by some ethnic groups whose mother tongue is not
Bulgarian (Turkish and Roma).
The possibility to use electronically administered questionnaires should be considered if applicable.
At national level, data will be collected from relevant national stakeholders from the Ministry of
Health, Agency for Social Assistance, National Centre for Public Health and Analysis, members of
national associations of health care professionals, others.
Data analysis and report writing: the process will start at the inception phase when detailed
methodology and the structure of the final report will be agreed. Data analysis will progress
simultaneously with the desk review and the in-country data collection. Draft final report will be
reviewed by UNICEF CO and national stakeholders as well as an external quality review company.
Consultants will incorporate the received comments and submit the final report to UNICEF
Bulgaria.
General considerations: The methodology of the evaluation should be in line with the United
Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards. UNEG Norms and Standards and UN
Evaluation Policy (attached).
Work plan and evaluation management
The evaluation will take place over the period 25th of October 2018 – 15th of April 2019. It will
include the following main activities:
9
Activities Responsible Expected Timeline
INCEPTION PHASE
Desk review of reference material and mapping of
relevant stakeholders
International consultant
(remote)
25th of October –
30th of November
2018
Development of the inception report International consultant
(remote), input from
national consultants
By 30th of
November 2018
Review and feedback on the draft inception report UNICEF and the
Reference group By 10th of
December 2018
Submission of the final inception report International consultant
(remote) By 15th of
December 2018
EVALUATION – IMPLEMENTATION
Orientation/training of the national consultants to
support the evaluation
International consultant (in
country)
21-26th of January
2019
Data collection
• Collection of evaluation data (primary and
secondary).
• Protocols/transcripts of interviews, focus groups
and data/ collection (survey) results.
International consultant
(in country)
National consultants
21st of January to
3rd of February
2019
Debriefing with UNICEF and stakeholders –
presentation of the preliminary findings
International consultant (in
country)
January 2019
Data analysis International consultant
(remote)
National consultants
By 28th of February
2019
EVALUATION REPORTING
Development of the 1st draft evaluation report International consultant
(remote) with inputs from
the national consultants
By 28th of February
2019
Review and feedback from UNICEF and the
Reference group
UNICEF team By 18th of March
2019
Development of the 2nd draft of the evaluation report International consultant
(remote) By 25th of March
2019
DISSEMINATION
Presentation of key findings
• Presentation of key findings of the evaluation to the
Reference group and UNICEF
International consultant –
in country
National consultants
8th of April 2019
Dissemination
Dissemination of evaluation report/key report findings
(to key stakeholders and partners, Regional Office,
etc.).
UNICEF team April 2019
10
3. SCOPE OF WORK AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSULTANCY
UNICEF contracted an international consultant who will be responsible for the overall design and
implementation of the evaluation study, including development of the study methodology
(methodology, sampling, data collection tools, etc.), data collection in cooperation with the national
researchers, data analysis and preparation of the evaluation report with the recommendations.
As part of the evaluation process and under the present Terms of Reference UNICEF in Bulgaria is
seeking to recruit a team of 2 national consultants or an individual consultant who will support the
process of evaluation under the guidance of the international consultant. Within the approved
framework of the evaluation, the national consultants will be responsible for the following specific
tasks:
Specific task of the team of national consultants:
Support for the development of the inception report (tentative time frame: 20th of November –
10th of December 2018)
The inception report including desk review and study methodology will be developed by the
international consultant. UNICEF will provide all necessary documentation for the development of
the inception report. It is expected that the national consultants will:
- provide additional information, data, documentation, etc. as requested by the international
consultant, including data on key indicators related to child wellbeing, etc.
- review the draft inception report and provide comments/recommendations;
- consolidate the feedback received from the national stakeholders and the members of the
Reference group on the draft inception report and submit it to UNICEF and the international
consultant. Translation will be arranged by UNICEF.
Training and piloting of data collection tools (tentative timeframe: 21st of January – 5th of
February 2019):
- participate in 1-day training on study methodology to be held in Sofia by the international
consultant;
- organize testing of the data collection tools;
- test data collection tools and provide feedback to the international consultant on their
application and design, including recommendations for amendments.
Primary data collection (during the period 21st of January 2019 – 5th of February 2019):
It is expected that the national consultants will support the process of primary data collection and
in particular will:
- liaise with partners and relevant stakeholders with a view of identifying respondents and
organize focus group discussion and individual interviews in consultation with the
international consultant;
- conduct focus group discussions and individual interviews as agreed with the international
consultant;
- monitor for any issues that may hinder the process of data collection and address them in
consultation with the international consultant and UNICEF;
- transcribe discussions in the focus groups;
11
- provide summary of the discussions in the focus groups and individual interviews conducted
as agreed with the international consultant and UNICEF. Translation will be arranged by
UNICEF;
- provide any additional support for the analysis of the data collected;
Development of the evaluation report (tentative timeframe: 28th of February 2019 – 25th of
March 2019)
- review the draft evaluation report and provide input to the text as needed.
- consolidate the feedback provided by national stakeholders and members of the Reference
group on the report and timely provide it to UNICEF and the international consultant leading
the evaluation study.
- participate in the presentations on the preliminary and final findings on the study.
In addition, the national consultants may be required to provide some limited
translation/interpretation from English to Bulgarian (and from Bulgarian to English) to assist the
international consultant, particularly during the testing of data collection tool and data collection
process. UNICEF will be responsible for ensuring translation and interpretation but in some limited
cases the national consultants may be required to provide support with this regard.
4. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
The national consultants are expected to provide the following deliverables:
- Comments/inputs on the draft inception report – by 27th of November 2018;
- Consolidated feedback from the members of the Reference group on the draft inception
report - by 12th of December 2018;
- Summary of the discussions and interviews conducted – by 3rd of February 2019;
- Input/comments on the draft evaluation report – in the course of report development;
- Consolidated feedback from the members of the Reference group on the draft evaluation
report – by 18th of March 2019.
The expected deadlines are tentative and may be adjusted in consultation with the international
consultant leading the study and UNICEF.
5. TIMEFRAME AND DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMET
The assignment will take place tentatively over the period of 20 November 2018 – 15 of April 2019.
6. REQUIRED QUALIFICATION, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES
The successful candidates are expected to have the following qualifications and experience:
• Postgraduate degree in sociology, public health, development studies, psychology, or other
relevant field.
• At least four years of experience conducting participatory, qualitative research;
• Experience in conducting evaluations of programs/interventions in the area of social and child
protection, public health, ECD, etc. will be considered an advantage;
• Excellent understanding of the national context and services for children and families (health,
education and social protection);
• Professional level of English, with fluency in reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• Demonstrable experience in writing qualitative research reports preferred.
• Experience in working as part of a research team.
12
Expected competencies:
• Excellent writing skills, with demonstrated ability to produce targeted, coherent, concise
reports.
• Excellent verbal communication skills, with proven ability to engage with people from diverse
backgrounds, with different strengths, needs, interests and abilities.
• Experience in using interactive, creative data collection methodologies.
• Ability to keep interviews on track, and ask open-ended guiding / follow-up questions as
needed.
• Ability to analyse information from different sources, draw together key themes, and clearly
present findings.
• Ability to transcribe interviews verbatim.
• Working knowledge of research ethics, including informed consent, data confidentiality, do no
harm, child safeguarding etc.
• Willingness to sign and adhere to the research ethical protocol.
7. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Evaluation will be led by the UNICEF Country Office in Bulgaria. A Reference group
consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Health and Regional Health Inspectorates in Shumen
and Sliven, Agency for Social Assistance, Bulgarian Association of Health Professionals in
Nursing, and other will be established to review and approve assessment methodology, support data
collection, review, provide comments on and approve analytical report.
The entire evaluation team will consist of the international expert and 2 national consultants
(national researchers) – selected as a team or in individual capacity. The national consultants will
be reporting directly to the international consultant who will report to the focal point in the UNICEF
Country Office. The UNICEF focal point will formally supervise the national consultants. The
national consultants will receive ongoing technical guidance and support from the international
consultant leading the evaluation study. The implementation process will be jointly monitored by
UNICEF and the Reference Group, including the approval of final deliverables. The UNICEF focal
point will also be the contact person for reporting ethical issues.
The national consultants will be required to follow the deadlines and guidance developed by
international consultant and UNICEF. UNICEF Country Office together with national partners will
be responsible for providing all available documents, organizing the field visits, meetings,
consultations, for providing access to the government counterparts and partners, and for
coordinating the work at country level with other stakeholders.
8. ESTIMATED NUMBER OF DAYS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT FOR AN INDIVIDUAL
Activities/Outputs/Deliverables Days
Support for the development of an inception report 3
Training and testing of data collection tools 4
Primary data collection, including transcription of the discussions and support
for data analysis 15
Development of the evaluation report 4
Total 26
13
The estimated number of days refers to the expected total workload for an individual consultant.
The consultancy is expected to take place tentatively over the period of 20 November 2018 – 15th of
April 2019.
9. LOCATION OF WORK AND TRAVEL
The consultancy is home based with expected travel to Sofia, Shumen, Sliven or another region
depending on the methodology of the evaluation study.
The consultants are expected to provide their computers and recording tools for the purposes of data
collection. They will be responsible for their own travel arrangements.
10. RENUMERATION AND INCURRED COST
UNICEF Bulgaria country office will sign individual contracts with the selected consultants.
Consultants will be paid consultancy fee as agreed with UNICEF and as per UNICEF rules and
regulations. All expenditures for in-country travel for the purposes of the assignment will be covered
by UNICEF separately based on the actual cost incurred and upon a provision of an invoice. The
travel expenditures should be based on economy class travel, regardless of the length of travel.
Payments of the consultancy fee will be made monthly after the provision of a timesheet and and
acceptance of the deliverables.
11. GENERAL INFORMATION
Ethical considerations:
The consultants are expected to abide to the ethical standards set in the UNICEF Procedure for
Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation, Data Collection and Analysis (Attached as Annex). They
are required to follow the ethical procedures and protocols laid down in the Inception report
approved by UNICEF and the Reference group. Any ethical issue that arise during the process of
data collection should be communicated to UNICEF in a timely manner.
Data sharing requirements and procedures:
The consultants are responsible for ensuring that all data collected is stored, transmitted and
protected appropriately. The personal data collected will be accessible only to the members of the
evaluation team and will be transferred securely between them, as well as with UNICEF. Data can
be shared with third parties only upon agreement with UNICEF.
12. REMARKS AND RESEARVATIONS
UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory,
if work/deliverables are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.
All material developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and according to UNICEF guidance
on external academic publishing (January 2017). Evaluators are responsible for their performance
and products. UNICEF reserves the copyrights and the products cannot be published or disseminated
without prior permission of UNICEF.
14
Candidates interested in the consultancy should submit a proposal, including daily consultancy fee,
resume/CV and a cover letter.
In a case when a team of consultants applies in response to the invitation, the candidates should
indicate in the Cover letter that they apply as a team and attach the CVs of the two members of the
team. The individual daily fees of the individual member of the team should be clearly stated.