Consultancy to Conduct NGO Perceptions Survey on Effectiveness of South Sudan NGO Forum 118 views0 applications

TERMS OF REFERENCE (TORs)

TO

TO CONDUCT COUNTRY AND NATIONAL DIRECTORS’ PERCEPTIONS SURVEY ON THE SERVICES AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SOUTH SUDAN NGO FORUM SERVICES

Introduction

The NGO Forum is a voluntary, independent networking body of currently 214 national and 116 international NGOs that supports its members to effectively respond to the humanitarian and development needs in South Sudan. All member organisations provide assistance to the South Sudanese people regardless of ethnic background, political affiliation, or religious belief.

The NGO Forum provides a platform through which NGOs, the Government of South Sudan, the UN, donors, and other external stakeholders can exchange information, share expertise and establish guidelines for a more networked, efficient and effective use of aid resources in South Sudan. The Secretariat primarily focuses on information sharing, networking, capacity enhancement, representation and communication around safety and wellbeing.

The Forum is comprised of two main constituencies (national NGOs – NNGOs and international NGOs – INGOs) served by a joint Steering Committee of INGO and NNGO members coordinated by the NGO Secretariat. While there is a dedicated National NGO Focal Point in the NGO Secretariat all positions serve both the National and International NGO Groups.

NGO Forum Purpose is to support NGO members in the principled delivery of aid assistance in South Sudan in order to save lives and improve lives. The Forum aims to achieve this purpose through a number of services that it offers its members by exercising a number of functions.

Objectives

South Sudan NGO Forum seeks an experienced and qualified consultant(s), preferably South Sudan-registered and -based, to conduct a comprehensive survey targeting members of the South Sudan NGO Forum to collect statistically reliable data on current perceptions about NGO Forum services to members, both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The findings of the survey inform the next steps regarding what needs to be done in order to improve the Forum services to members, building on established strengths of the Forum.

Specific Objectives

Specific objectives of the survey are:

• To obtain statistically reliable data on the NGO Forum services to members.
• To assess the current NGO Forum members’ needs and how they are being met.
• To assess the current level of Secretariat’s and Steering Committees’ responsiveness to NGO Forum members’ needs
• To assess the effectiveness of the functions of the NGO Forum in supporting members in principled delivery of aid assistance in South Sudan.
• To establish the current extent of effectiveness of National Directors’ and Country Directors’ Group meetings in responding to members needs and/or concerns.
• To assess how the Forum is supporting field-level coordination among members and between members and other actors or coordination networks.
• To assess how the Forum effectively engages with external actors such as the Humanitarian Coordinator, OCHA, Humanitarian Country Team, UNHAS Steering Committee, Inter-Cluster Working Group, South Sudan Humanitarian Fund, the Humanitarian Response Plan, donors, UNMISS, Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Finance/National Revenue Authority, and other UN agencies in addressing challenges that affect operations of members in South Sudan.
• To assess how NGO Forum facilitates members’ access to training, funding or networking opportunities.
• To assess the extent to which the Forum promotes best practices including awareness of humanitarian principles among members.

Key Outputs and Activities

The scope of work, including expected outputs and supporting activities, to be delivered by the selected consultant will include, but is not limited to the following:

• Draft a comprehensive and suitable survey instrument and methodology. The suggested sample size out of the total population is to be drawn at 95% confidence interval and 5% margin of error. The analysis methodology should include both descriptive analysis (i.e., X% of NGO Forum members hold this sentiment) as well as multivariate regression analytical data at the Forum level (i.e. X% of Forum members hold this sentiment which can be attributed to X, Y and Z factors). NGO Forum Secretariat will work in partnership with the consultant(s) to refine the methodology to ensure alignment with the indicators, being cognisant that resources dedicated to this purpose is limited);
• Pilot the survey instrument/data collection tools and methodology;
• Finalize the draft questionnaire through consultative process with the NGO Forum Secretariat and Reference Group drawn from the Steering Committees;
• Develop a work plan;
• Develop an engagement mechanism to encourage target groups to respond to the survey;
• Conduct the survey of National and Country Directors;
• Carryout data and trend analyses and quality control for the survey;
• Draft report of findings shared with the Reference Group;
• Organize and conduct workshops to validate draft findings; and
• Produce Final Report (Introduction, conceptual framework, methodology, findings, conclusions recommendations and bibliography shared with key stakeholders.

Notes to the Consultant(s)

• The Consultant(s) is responsible for quality assurance as well as coordination of the data collection as well as data entry, analysis and reporting. The data analysis should involve an appropriate level of disaggregation;
• The Consultant is responsible to arrange and provide transport/phone call services, accommodation and other logistics for the survey.

Expected deliverables

The following are the expected deliverables for this consultancy:

Milestone 1:

• Inception report based on the inputs and agreements for implementation, which includes but not limited to detail draft methodology and instruments/tools, detail work plan with timeline and survey team composition.

Milestone 2:

• Consultative meetings to finalize survey methodology and instruments;
• Finalized methodology and survey instrument;
• Guiding document for data collection and supervision.

Milestone 3:

• Draft survey report for inputs by NGO Forum Secretariat and Reference Group;
• Second draft report incorporating the inputs;

Milestone 4:

• Final survey report (in soft and hard copies) with clear set of findings, conclusions and recommendations, based on an agreed reporting outline, a final report not exceeding 20 pages with relevant and key data being presented graphically;
• Debriefing reports and presentations to the Steering Committees;
• Collected and cleaned data (both qualitative and quantitative) using appropriate database/statistical software.

Required Qualifications for consultancy

Individuals or firms that apply for this consultancy will need to meet the following requirements

• At least four to five years demonstrable institutional experience in field research;
• Demonstrable experience in conducting both quantitative and qualitative surveys, including stakeholder/beneficiary perception surveys and programme outcome evaluations, in international and post-conflict or fragile state contexts;
• Demonstrable experience of operating in areas with accessibility challenges;
• Demonstrable experience in engaging with local community members, using participatory and consultative approaches;
• Demonstrable experience in engaging with government institutions and use of tact and sensitivity when handling sensitive information;
• Demonstrable experience in monitoring and implementing activities and delivering all required outputs;
• Demonstrable strong oral and written communications;
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and maintain flexibility in working hours.
• Strong analytical skills
• Experience from South Sudan desirable.

Requirements for Consultant(s)

While it is up to the Offeror to propose the optimum team composition to achieve the objective of this study, it is hereby suggested that the proposed team should include one or two of the following expertise:

• M.Sc. degree in social science or related field and five to seven years of demonstrable experience in coordination, project management and implementation as well as monitoring of programme outputs and activities;
• M.Sc. degree in Statistics or Population Studies or related field and with five to seven years of demonstrable experience in designing methodologies and undertaking data analysis for research and surveys.

Reporting

The selected Consultant(s) will provide milestone updates to the NGO Forum Secretariat Director and/or his designate at key stages of the initial assessment, survey design and implementation process and as may be required. Moreover, the Consultant(s) is responsible for delivering timely and good quality presentations on the technical aspects of the survey as well as progress on implementation to NGO Forum Secretariat and/or relevant members of the Forum/Reference Group.

Timeframe

The perception survey is expected to be conducted between November 2018 and December 2018. However, the Consultant(s) will have to submit the exact timeframe. Detailed work plan together with timeframes could be revised at the later stage in consultation with the Survey Reference Group.

The Recipient

1. The primary recipients of this consultancy is the NGO Forum through the NGO Forum Secretariat. Secondary recipients are donors, civil society, and local institutions.
2. As a recipient NGO Forum through the Secretariat will:
3. Appoint a focal point to support the consultant during the survey process;
4. Coordinate with and inform NGO Forum members as needed;
5. Advise the selected consultant to identify key stakeholders to be interviewed as part of the assessment;
6. Support the selected consultant in liaising with members of the Forum and providing relevant documentation as well as feedback.

Proposal

The technical proposal must include but may not be limited to the following:

Scope of the survey

• The consultant should explain its understanding of the scope of this Assignment.

Methodology

• The consultant(s) should explain its methodology and approach to the survey, including demonstrating an understanding of the survey objectives and suggest key research questions for the survey.

Quality Assurance Plan

• The consultant must explain its quality assurance mechanisms for each stage of the survey process.

Work plan

• The consultant(s) should provide CVs and references, certificates, a tentative detail work plan, including time frame with list of activities required and resources needed. The presentation of a work plan; appropriate methodology for delivering against the terms of reference within one week of commencement, for agreement by NGO Forum.

Financial Proposal

For this consultancy, the following payment schedules shall apply:

• Payment 1: 25% of the payment upon the completion of the Milestone 1, acceptable by the client.
• Payment 2: 20% of the payment upon the completion of Milestone 2 acceptable by the client.
• Payment 3: 25% of the payment upon the completion of the Milestone 3 acceptable by the client.
• Payment 4: 30% of the payment upon the completion of the Milestone 4 acceptable by the client.

Reference materials:

• The consultants should study the following documents among others;
• NGO Forum Statutes of Operations;
• NGO Forum Functions as spelt out on the Forum website: www.southsudanngoforum.org;
• National Directors’ and Country Directors’ meeting minutes
• Joint Steering Committee meeting minutes;
• Other relevant documents produced by the Forum over the last one year.

Background:

NGO Forum Core Functions

The South Sudan NGO Forum exists primarily to serve the needs of its members and to act in their interest. To this end, the NGO Forum pursues five aims:

1. Information Sharing function
2. To collect and disseminate relevant information on decisions and changes that affect operations of members in South Sudan.

Function is carried out through the following Services:

• Collect, store and disseminate relevant information pertaining to humanitarian action, recovery and development activities and policies;
• Collect, store and disseminate relevant government publications, announcements, and circulars following up with the appropriate line ministries to ensure that they are understandable to the NGO audience;
• Collect, store and disseminate calls for proposals from donors;
• Disseminate job vacancies from donors, UN Agencies, and NGOs to stakeholders;
• Attend and disseminate minutes/notes of meetings in which the NGO Forum is invited to participate (i.e. pooled funding oversight committees, UN HCTs, donor fora, UN Security Management Team etc.);
• Publish weekly update to the Country Director’s Group;
• Disseminate information on public / special events;
• Maintain and disseminate a contact directory of different stakeholders for NGOs where appropriate;
• Prepare and publish briefings on issues of common interest to the NGO Forum as defined by the Steering Committee;
• Support NNGOs in diagnosing institutional gaps and strengths as well as generate quantitative information to inform NNGO capacity status discussions;
• Support, publicise and/or organize training opportunities for members and/or stakeholders.
• Safety & Security function:
• To Support the NGO Forum with information sharing, analysis, advice and guidance in order to enhance situational awareness, inform operational decision-making and help enable humanitarian activity.

Function is carried out through the following Services:

• Providing more timely early warning on potential risks to NGO operations in South Sudan;
• Provide 24/7 response to emergent security issues;
• Provide flash and daily incident updates;
• Provide weekly and monthly security analysis reports;
• Manage incident database;
• Provide weekly security briefing;
• Coordinate NGO security-based relocations;
• Conduct outreach activities to support field NGOs;
• Manage and coordinate information sharing platforms;
• Conduct external liaison with security / safety network;
• Policy function
• To ensure that formal policies and guidelines support NGO operations and service delivery to South Sudan population through the representation, communication and public messaging function, the forum engages in relevant fora.

Function is carried out through the following Services:

• Share with members relevant policies and formal communications that touch on NGOs operations in South Sudan;
• Engage with authorities on implementation of formal policies and statutes;
• Engage with members for inputs that shape polices and laws;
• Forging strong working relationships with relevant duty bearers in South Sudan;
• Share and engage with relevant stakeholders best practices in policy development and implementation;
• Advocate and represent collective interests of members to relative stakeholders and duty bearers.

External Engagements function

• To facilitate NGOs delivery of humanitarian and development outcomes through joint working with members, authorities, donors, UN agencies and observers.

Function is carried out through the following Services:

• Represent members voice and concerns to relevant partners, duty bearers and donors;
• Providing technical assistance support to NNGOs;
• Facilitating dialogue and workshops; promoting networking;
• Discuss implications of changes in operational context on NGO work with key stakeholders’
• Reach-out and disseminate relevant messages on NGO work in South Sudan;
• Peer reviews and analysis;
• Forge and amplify good working relationships with actors that impact NGO work in South Sudan.

INGO-NNGO Networking and Capacity Development function

• Enhancement of NGOs posture and National NGOs (NNGOs) capacity strengthening for improved delivery of programs.

Function is carried out through the following Services:

• Information sharing on best practices in humanitarian and development programmes delivery;
• Offering training and mentoring opportunities to members and range of other stakeholders for effective programming;
• Internal networking among NNGOs and with INGOs and with donors and other stakeholders;
• Capacity development of national NGOs;
• peer-pairing and sharing information on funding opportunities;
• NNGOs system strengthening;
• Internship Programme;
• State Coordination Support;
• National NGOs Annual Exposition;

South Sudan NGO Forum seeks to be technically robust, building a strong evidence base for its services, robust risk identification and mitigation to avoid doing harm, and drawing on humanitarian and development best practice, as appropriate, to support effective delivery of credible services and results by NGOs in South Sudan.