OXFAM in Sudan, through the action “Strengthening resilience for refugees, IDPs and host communities in Eastern Sudan”, aims to build the capacities of the

1. MOHs and their staff along the deployment lines of its organigram starting from the States’ institutions down to the farthest outreach post,
2. to the host communities,
3. migrants,
4. IDPs in Sudan by means of a set of training and capacity building programs designed to transfer knowledge, practices, and tools to build theoretical and practical knowledge and experiences.

The project will work through the institutional framework of the MoHs of Sudan at State and Federal level and will assure the institutional sustainability of the action: this will be ensured through e continuous and direct empowerment of the local authorities in the direct implementation of the activities.

On the other hand, it will create awareness and mobilize communities, which will establish contact with the PHC services actively and boost the resilience of the communities. Furthermore, another effort of this project is to fill part of the information gaps in the target areas by conducting an integrated multi-sectoral study on core subjects of this plan.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The overall objective of the consultancy is to conduct the survey from the planning phase up to the reporting stage in order to have updated information on available nutrients and nutrients gaps in the children and mothers affected by chronic and acute malnutrition. The research will address three different populations: the host communities of Port Sudan people and possibly the migrants and IDPs in the residential areas of Um algura, Algadesi, Almargania, Alyarmouk, Hushery, Deim Mayo. The survey will involve a range of different survey modules covering demographic information about the households, nutrition behaviours, household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), knowledge and social norms, observation of housing condition.

Specifically, the consultancy will:

• Enable development and finalization of survey protocols and data collection tools;
• Effective coordination with Oxfam Staff and Nutrition Department Officer of SMoH in Port Sudan for the timely approval of the survey protocols;
• Ensure strict adherence of the survey protocols and standards during data collection and data processing;
• Support technical validation of the survey results and finalization of the survey report;
• Specific activities to be completed to achieve the objectives: Under the supervision of the Nutrition Department officer and Oxfam Project Manager, the consultant is expected to:
• Provide primary technical guidance and advice in conducting a survey for the duration of the contract; • Support technical working group coordination and discussion
• Develop the survey design;
• Develop concept note, survey, questionnaires and other survey tools;
• Provide data analysis and report writing process;
• Submit weekly progress reports of fieldwork to Oxfam and MoH.

METHODOLOGY AND TARGET POPULATION

The Survey is based on 30 cluster sampling methodology with a total number of 210 interviews to be collected. The target population are women between 15 and 49 years and mother of a child between 0 months and 5 years old.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

Submit the following:

1. Mid-term progress report and presentation
2. Draft research reports
3. Final research report
4. All soft and hard copies of the data collected

Task End Product/deliverables Duration/Deadline Estimated duration of work

1. Develop research protocol, data collection instruments and consent forms in English. Revise documents after review and translate documents into local languages

• Research protocol, data collection instruments and consent forms in English and local languages completed.
• Update and detailed timeline for conducting the study completed 15th July 15 days

2. Prepare research documents and application forms for review by Nutritionist Officer and Oxfam Staff

• Relevant research tools and documents submitted to Oxfam and MoH Nutrition Department for review 31st July 15 days

3. Data collection phase 1: pretest and finalize all data collection instruments

• Final data collection instruments (English and local languages completed) 15th august 15 days

4. Data collection phase 2: transcription/translation, data entry, data analysis and prepare topline PowerPoint presentation

• Audio-recording of data collected, transcript in local languages
• Complete databases (for structured data) and other electronic/hardcopy notes from data collected in English Including datasets containing all of the data coded from each cluster; any notable difficulties of deviations from the standard field plan; any other notable occurrences.
• Presentation of topline findings from phase 1 e 2 in English to Oxfam and MoH 31st august 15 days

       5. Prepare final study report and PowerPoint presentation

• Final study report in English submitted to OXFAM (after review and feedback by OXFAM and MoH) 30th September 1 month

Proposed payment terms: 30% upon completion of tasks 1-2; 30% upon completion of tasks 3-4; 40% upon completion and acceptance of the final study report (task 5)

• Postgraduate degree in public health, statistics, epidemiology, demography, applied research or related technical fields (Nutrition and Reproductive Health).
• Experience conducting qualitative research studies
• Minimum three years of experience in conducting qualitative/quantitative research studies
• Demonstrated ability to:
• Organize and undertake different types of data collection-- both quantitative and qualitative data (focus group).
• Conducting various types of interviews: semi-structured interviews and structured interviews and correctly interpret and transpose the responses into meaningful findings.
• Perform data analysis and management.
• Work well with other researchers, data collectors and team members.
• Communicate effectively with others orally and in writing and use a variety of computer programs.
• Demonstrated experience in using Excel and Word software.
• Knowledge of Nutrition/Diet and Reproductive Health.
• Excellent command of spoken and written English and Arabic. Working knowledge of Eritrean/ Beja and/or Benna/Hammer language is an asset.

EXPECTED TIMELINE

• The consultancy has an expected duration of 4 months. The work is expected to commence by the end of June 2020.

CONTRACTUAL ISSUES

• The consultant must comply with the OXFAM rules and procedures related to security, privacy and relations with the media
• The consultant must respect the ethics related to evaluation practice
• To the consultant will be required to use their own laptops and submit all deliverables in paper and digital format.

CONFIDENTIALITY

• The documents produced during the period of this consultancy will be treated as strictly confidential, and the rights of distribution and/or publication will reside with OXFAM and MoH. Use or re-publication of data or survey findings by the contractor will not in any way be permitted.

NATURE OF PENALTY CLAUSE TO BE STIPULATED IN THE CONTRACT

• Oxfam reserves the right not to pay the Contractor or withhold part of the payable amount if one or more requirements established for this assignment is not met or deadline set for the accomplishment of the tasks is missed.

HOW TO APPLY

If you feel you fit the required profile and are available for the assignment,  please submit your cv and the technical proposal  in English. All the documents must be submitted in pdf version. Submit via email to costanza.barucci@oxfam.it on or before 30 May 2020. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

How to write the technical proposal :

The Technical proposal will consist of three separate parts - the Technical Approach, Personnel, and Management Plan. The proposal should be prepared as per format below and they will be evaluated based on the scoring criteria mentioned here below. Bidders should follow the page limits identified for each section below. Bidders are also encouraged to avoid overly generic proposal language and instead provide a contextually-appropriate, descriptive, and specific plan for managing the activities and reaching the expected deliverables.

Technical Proposal:

 Technical Approach (2-3 pgs.) - Maximum points 20

• Description of the approach and methods proposed to carry out the formative research works as per objectives, methods and deliverables specified
• Description of the potential challenges or risk and mitigation measures that the offeror will undertake to overcome them. 

Personnel (3 pgs.) - Maximum points 35

• Description of qualification 
• Description of past experience in conducting similar formative research in the region (attach relevant examples of research work completed) 

Management Plan (2 pgs.) - Maximum points 15

• Description of how the researcher will manage the required research work within a specific time frame