Ministry of labour and social affairs

Third-Party Monitoring Firm or Organization

Terms of Reference

  1. Objectives of the TOR

The objectives of these TOR are to  (a) outline the tasks and responsibilities of a Third Party Monitoring (TPM) organization to be hired for the provision of independent monitoring services during the key stages of the business cycle associated with the delivery of the Shock Responsive Safety Net for Locust Response Project (SNLRP); and (b) provide technical and operational guidance on the key TPM methodology parameters the TPM organization will follow. 

  1. Background

The recent outbreak of desert locusts in Somalia has further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis and food insecurity, worsening development outcomes. In December 2019, small clusters of desert locusts were first detected in northern parts of Somalia. By February 2020, the FGS declared a state of emergency after confirmation of the worst desert locust outbreak in 25 years. Desert locusts are projected to continue breeding in the coming months, precipitating further infestation throughout the rest of Somalia and coinciding with rangeland regeneration and planting activities in the country. Consequently, it is expected that the population requiring urgent food assistance will increase by 137 percent by September 2020 due to the desert locust outbreak. It is expected that forty-three of Somalia’s ninety districts will be affected by the locust infestation. Current projections of food insecurity for the period April-June 2021, estimate that 2.7 million people across Somalia to face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC 3+) in the absence of humanitarian assistance. An additional 2.5 million people are facing “Stressed” (IPC 2) levels of food insecurity and are in need of livelihood/income support to protect them from falling into IPC 3+ phases. Moreover, approximately 840,000 children under the age of five years are likely to be acutely malnourished, including nearly 143,000 who are likely to be severely malnourished.

The SNLRP is a World Bank-funded US$ 115 million to be implemented over a 1 year period. It aims to protect food security and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable households affected by the locust outbreak. The project is guided by principles of government ownership and capacity strengthening, collaboration with partners, complementarity with humanitarian assistance, and enhanced resilience. The FGS, through the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLSA) is responsible for all aspects of project design and implementation. MoLSA will coordinate closely with humanitarian and development partners active in the safety net sector to learn from their developed capacity and know-how of delivering emergency safety net style assistance on a large scale.

SNLRP includes three components:

  • Component 1: Emergency Cash Transfers (US$ 107 million equivalent)
  • Component 2: Project Management and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) (US$ 3 million equivalent)
  • Component 3: Intake Registration in the Unified Social Registry (US $ 5 million)

 

Component 1 will respond to the impact of the locust outbreak by providing ECT to about 260,000 poor and vulnerable rural locust-affected households, equivalent to approximately 1.6 million  persons. This caseload will be assisted in two phases. In the first phase (parent intervention), 100,000 households will be assisted over 6 months. This includes an estimated 30,953 households within Baxnaano coverage areas as part of the vertical expansion and about 69,047 households outside of the Baxnaano coverage areas, as part of the horizontal expansion. The second batch comprising the remaining 160,000 households will be assisted over the subsequent  payment cycles, following the ones established for the first batch. Out of the 160,000 households assisted in the second phase an estimated 15,528 will to be covered under the vertical expansion while an estimated 144,472 households will receive their entitlements under the horizontal expansion.  The transfers will be delivered using the delivery system and procedures of the Baxnaano program. MoLSA will strategically partner with WFP to support the implementation of Component 1, governed by a Standard Output Agreement.

 

 

Component 2 will be supported by the well-staffed Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the SNHCP/Baxnaano, housed within MoLSA. Specifically, the PIU will monitor the implementation of the project components and coordinate activities at the local level. Component 2 will also support additional operational activities linked to the monitoring and management of the SNLRP activities, such as field visits by the PIU and other MoLSA representatives in non-Baxnaano districts, and consultations with representative of the Federal Member States (FMS) on relevant aspects of the SNLRP implementation, especially communication, among others.

Component 3

The USR intake registration will collect household data of the beneficiaries of the parent SNHCP and SNLRP projects (approximately 269,000 households), using the Common Registration Form (CRF), available in Annex 6. The objective is to start populating the USR’s database as a means for strengthening the SP system’s preparedness to respond to future shocks and emergencies, including future locust outbreaks.  MoLSA will broaden the scope of its strategic collaboration with WFP to support the implementation of this component.

 

WFP will engage a competent firm for the collection of household data as per the CRF. The provisions under component 3 include the cost of data collection by third-party firm, contract management and technical backstopping by WFP and storage and warehousing of obtained data until necessary pre-conditions have been met to allow the migration of beneficiary data to the government managed Unified Social Registry.

 

The SNLRP business cycle consists of the following processes: (a) communication and awareness raising about the project; (b) beneficiary selection through community-based targeting (CBT), (c) registration and enrolment, (d) payment delivery; (e) grievance redress, and (f) M&E, which includes the TPM. The project also adapts a social risks management framework to ensure social and security risks are clearly identified and mitigation measures are instituted and are enforced. Still, exclusion based on gender, disability status, IDP status, and clan affiliations (due to elite capture of various business processes, especially beneficiary selection and submission of grievances) require continuous monitoring.

 

MoLSA is responsible for the overall implementation, management, and coordination of the program, including coordination with relevant authorities at federal member state level. MoLSA engages WFP to support the implementation of Component 1. WFP in turn engages other entities to provide the following specific services as required.

 

WFP manages the entire SNLRP cash transfer business cycle using the SCOPE platform, coordinates the activities of cooperating partners (NGOs), executes payments through mobile payment service providers, and operates a GRM hotline. NGOs – or cooperating partners – provide communication with communities, organize and facilitate the CBT, conduct registration and enrollment (different from cooperating partners that conduct CBT), and beneficiary identity verification.

 

Payment service providers (PSPs) are responsible for issuing payments to beneficiaries. Given that payments are done fully on a mobile platform, PSPs are also responsible for issue SIM cards to enable mobile based payment delivery to beneficiaries lacking a verifiable mobile number.

 

Comprehensive information on the design and implementation arrangements of SNLRP can be found in the SNLRP project appraisal document (PAD) and the SNLRP project operations manual (POM).

 

  1. Description of TPM approach

 

As shown in Table 1, The TPM activities covered by this TOR will cover 15 districts currently selected for expanded rollout of the SLRP project.

 

Table 1: Districts to be covered by the SNLRP TPM.

 

Region Districts
 

Lower Juba

Afmadow/ Xagar
Badhaadhe
Kismayu
 

 

Bay

Qansax-dheere
Buur Hakaba
Diinsoor
Baydhaba/Bardaale
Afgooye
Baraawe
 

Lower Shabelle

KM/50 (Marka)
Qoryooley
Wanla Weyn
 

Middle Shabelle

Balcad
Cadale
Jowhar

 

The TPM approach will pursue the following objectives through a mix of qualitative and quantitative assessment techniques:

  1. Assess the extent to which the SNLRP operational protocols, as defined in the POM, are being followed through process monitoring. Process monitoring will also include assessing compliance with, and enforcement of, measures to manage social risks, as outlined in the POM and in accordance with instruments and timing outlined in the Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP), as well as the GBV Action Plan.
  2. Determine whether (i) the intended beneficiaries are receiving the cash transfer (ii) the transfers provided are the correct amount, and (iii) understand the use of cash benefits through post-distribution monitoring.
  3. Identify reasons for possible deviations from the procedures and process bottlenecks, paying close attention to such factors as gender, clan affiliation, IDP status, and disability.

 

  • Process monitoring

 

Process monitoring visits to communities and will be conducted after the business cycle has been completed; they will not aim to observe processes as they unfold, but will rely on different stakeholders recollection of experiences with the processes to better understand them.

 

Process monitoring visits will cover a sample of approximately 40 communities covered by this TOR. Communities will be identified through two principle means: (a) communities selected randomly (approximately 35) using a robust randomization algorithm; (b) communities selected based on information received through the GRM (approximately 5). Two rounds of process monitoring visits will be conducted, one after each payment delivery.

 

In the case of those process monitoring visits that are motivated by reports received through the GRM or some other data pointing to unexpected results or outliers, MoLSA will inform the TPM firm which sites must be further investigated. These communities are not necessarily in the sample calculated above, and as such could be located anywhere in the targeted areas. It is expected that the need for further investigation related to fraud and/or significant deviation from procedures will not exceed five (5) communities, but if that is not the case, a different arrangement may be discussed and agreed between the MoLSA and the TPM firm.

 

Process monitoring will rely on a mixed methods approach. It will employ qualitative data collection through focus group discussions (FGDs), and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), but will augment them with “low intensity” quantitative data collection using a short questionnaire. They will aim to generate in-depth understanding of the business processes as they are experienced by different stakeholders, specifically:

 

  • Process monitoring will assess whether the processes of communication, CBT, registration and enrollment, payment delivery and GRM are operating according to the POM and the Project’s social risk management instruments, including the Social Management Plan (SMP), Labor Management Plan, Gender-Based Violence Action Plan, and Stakeholder Engagement Plan.
  • Identify deviations, unexpected results, or challenges related the business processes carried out by the relevant actors and assess their effect on the integrity of the business processes. Process monitoring will closely look at the possible effects gender, clan affiliations, and disability on the functioning of the business processes.

 

For the purpose of process monitoring, the TPM firm will visit selected communities. During these visits, in each community the firm will conduct the following activities:

 

  1. FGDs with beneficiaries disaggregated by: (a) female beneficiaries, (b) male recipients (those delegated by the main beneficiary), (c) beneficiaries from minority group(s), and (d) other relevant groups. The number of participants per groups will be no fewer than 5 (except when the number of beneficiaries only allows for groups of smaller size) and no larger than 10. FGD guides will be developed containing the topics that should be covered during the FGDs, but the FGD moderators will be free to probe for any additional issues that might emerge.
  2. KIIs with community leaders, service providers and other identified individuals. The community leaders will be identified by the TPM firm, but the selection of individuals will be done in a way that accounts for the demographic, social, political, and economic diversity of the community. Staff of service providers like the cooperating partners, payment agency, GRM and call center staff will also be included in the KIIs.

 

Process monitoring will be sensitive to the possible effect of gender, clan affiliation, IDP status, and disability on business processes.

 

MoLSA has developed a number instruments to conduct process monitoring for Baxnaano and for the parent SNLRP. The TPM firm will be able to adapt these instruments and use them for the purpose of this assignment.

 

  • Post-distribution monitoring

Post-distribution monitoring will be primarily a quantitative exercise aiming to:

  • Produce quantifiable measures of correspondence between the actual payment delivery outcomes with the intended/planned transfers outcomes. The outcomes in question are (a) receipt of payments by the intended beneficiaries, (b) whether the amount of actual benefit received is equivalent to the intended transfer amount.
  • Generate quantitative data on actual utilization of the cash transfers during each of the payment cycles,
  • Collect socioeconomic indicators at the individual and household level, and
  • Assess the experience of the beneficiaries with the services provided by the project (registration, enrolment, payments, grievance redressals).

Post-distribution monitoring will be sensitive to the possible role gender, clan affiliation, IDP status, and disability on may have on the utilization of benefits and experience of business processes.

Post-distribution monitoring data will be collected after each payment cycle. There will be two types of data collection included under post-distribution monitoring: a) phone-based payment verification survey and b) face-to-face post-distribution survey. The phone-based payment verification survey will focus exclusively on payment verification, i.e. objective (1), while the in-person post-distribution survey will focus on objectives (1) through (4).

Phone-based payment verification survey. The survey will be based on a systematic sample of payment recipients in a given payment cycle. A total of 2 rounds of payment verification survey will be conducted. The final sample size in each round will be 1000 households after accounting for non-response (i.e. in each round a dataset for 1000 households will be submitted) and will be representative at the national and member state level. The questionnaire will be developed by the TPM firm in cooperation with MoLSA and will be approximately 20 minutes in duration.  The payment verification survey will be conducted within 2 weeks of the payment delivery.

Face-to-face post-distribution survey. The face-to-face survey will be conducted based on a systematic sample of payment recipients in a given payment cycle. A total of 2 rounds of face-to-face surveys will be conducted. The final sample size in each round will be 1000 households after accounting for non-response (i.e. in each round a dataset for 1000 households will be submitted) and will be representative at the national and member state level. The phone-based payment verification and face-to-face post-distributions survey samples will not overlap. The questionnaire will be developed by the TPM firm in cooperation with MoLSA and using existing instruments used for the regular Baxnaano program and the for the parent SNHLP. The questionnaires and will be approximately 60 minutes in duration. The payment verification survey will be conducted approximately 1 month after the payment delivery. The survey design, including, but not limited to, the sampling strategy, and the contents of the questionnaire, will be subject to approval by the Contracting party.

The TPM firm may combine the post-distribution monitoring with process monitoring and should describe how this would be accomplished, both in terms of methodology (sampling design) and implementation arrangements in the proposal.

It is expected that two rounds of data collection will be undertaken, one for each payment cycle, however, depending on the pace of implementation of payment activities in the field, the alignment between data collection and payment cycles may shift and the TPM firm will be expected to adapt its activities in response to these implementation-related constraints.

 

  1. Specific tasks

 

The TPM firm will be responsible for successfully completing the following general tasks:

  1. Defining the methodology to be applied to the three monitoring activities described above (process monitoring, phone-based payment verification, and face-to-face post-distribution survey) in coordination with the Contracting party and detailing it in the inception report. The TPM firm may use various techniques, including individual interviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, reviews of information provided by other data sources, etc.
  2. Establish and follow robust and regular communication procedures with MoLSA, including a designated focal point.
  3. Defining appropriately stratified samples of communities and beneficiaries, in close coordination with the Contracting party.
  4. Adapting available instruments for the purpose of monitoring in connection with this assignment and complementing them with additional instruments as needed.
  5. Contracting a sufficient number of well-qualified field staff and supervisors to undertake the activities and documenting this in the inception report.
  6. Conducting appropriate training of all field staff and supervisors. Training will cover all relevant aspects of the POM and the SMP. The TPM firm will undertake testing of the prospective staff on the POM and SMP and will only deploy field staff and supervisors that pass the test. Test materials will be approved by the Contracting party. Prospective field staff and supervisors who do not pass the test will be replaced.
  7. Establishing effective supervision procedures for the field staff and ensuring quality control.
  8. Developing well-designed CAPI data collection forms and implementing all quantitative data collection through CAPI tools. Appropriate arrangements for recording and processing large amounts of qualitative data should be made, including the use of relevant qualitative analysis software.
  9. Pre-testing and piloting questionnaires and other instruments, adapting them based on pretesting and piloting results.
  10. Implementing effective data quality control procedures.
  11. Carrying out all monitoring activities for 2 payment cycles and/or two rounds of data collection.
  12. Establishing robust data security and privacy procedures and protocols.
  13. Producing draft reports of their findings in a timely fashion. The reports will summarize key findings, lessons learned, exceptions, problems and challenges and recommended solutions. All deviations from the POM and/or SRM framework will be reported immediately. Final reports will be produced incorporating the feedback received on the drafts, if any.
  14. Producing final reports of acceptable quality summarizing the findings of the TPM activities and describing the result of the work, undertaken activities, challenges faced, and lessons learned, conclusions and recommendations for each type of monitoring exercise. Each of the report submission must include the tools used for the assessment and all collected data. A total of 2 final reports will be produced, one for each monitoring cycle.
  15. Producing additional reports that may be required by the Contracting party.
  16. Collect, process, clean, label, and submit all quantitative and qualitative data in formats approved by the Contracting party.

 

Deliverables

 

The TPM firm must submit the following deliverables:

  1. Inception report to be submitted within 2 weeks of the start of the contract. It will include methodology, including a sampling strategy for all activities include in the TOR and outlines of the questionnaires and other quantitative and qualitative instruments, detailed and realistic work plans, and labor allocation plans.
  2. Two final reports (for two rounds of data collection and/or payment cycles).
  3. Additional report(s) as required by MoLSA.
  4. All quantitative and qualitative data and other material: FGD notes, quantitative datasets from spot checks, and questionnaires administered during the process monitoring, including the codes that have been used for randomization of location and dates of spot check visits. The data formats will be determined by the Contracting party.

Team composition 

The TPM firm’s team will be composed of the staff members listed below. An alternative team composition can be proposed as part of the technical proposal during the bidding process, in which case a justification must be provided that demonstrates that the proposed team composition is more appropriate and efficient to undertake the tasks detailed in this assignment. Non-Somali TPM firms must demonstrate they have a local partner, are nationally registered, and have offices in Somalia. Evidence should be provided that the TPM firm is able to operate in all the geographic areas covered by the TOR.

  • A Team Leader (1 person): Must hold a master’s degree in economics or other social sciences with experience in the field of social protection. He/she must have at least five (5) years of field experience in designing and managing large scale monitoring and evaluation surveys. Experience in Africa and especially Somalia is highly desirable. Fluency in English is required.
  • Quantitative Evaluation Specialist (1 person): Experience in the design and supervision of surveys and qualitative research. He/she must have at least five (5) years of experience with minimum of Master’s Degree in a quantitative social science field. He/she should be familiar with monitoring processes of social protection interventions. Familiarity with and experience in Africa and Somalia would be an advantage. Fluency in English is required.
  • Qualitative Evaluation Specialist (1 person): Experience in the design, supervision, and analysis of qualitative data. He/she must have at least five (5) years of experience with minimum of Master’ Degree in a social science field. He/she should be familiar with monitoring processes of large-scale interventions in social protection or related fields (e.g. education, public health). Familiarity with and experience in Africa and Somalia would be an advantage. Proficiency in using qualitative analysis software is strongly preferred. Fluency in English is required.
  • Social Protection Specialist (1 person). He/she must have at least five (5) years of experience in the field of social protection, cash transfers, emergency response programs, with understanding of issues of gender-based violence, clan and tribal relations, internal displacement, and disability, etc. He/she must possess as a minimum a Master’ Degree in a social science field. He/she should be familiar with monitoring processes of large-scale interventions in social protection or related fields (e.g. education, public health). Familiarity with and experience in Africa and Somalia would be an advantage. Fluency in English is required.
  • Data management and statistics officer (1 person): Expert on empirical social research investigations, statistical analysis with at least a Master’s degree in quantitative social science field (statistics, econometrics, economics, demography, etc.) and five (5) years’ experience in evaluation and/or monitoring activities. The person holding this position must be able to carry out the analysis of data collected in the field and in the grievance management database. He/she must be fully proficient in developing high quality CAPI data collection forms and using CAPI for data quality assurance. Fluency in English is preferred.
  • Quantitative Supervisors, Enumerators, and Data Entry Officers. The number of these staff members will depend on proposed field work and resource allocation plan outlined in the proposal and supported by expected productivity calculations. For spot-check visits, the number of these staff members should be sufficient to conduct monitoring concurrently in 5 states.
    • Supervisors: Must have at least 3 years of experience in conducting or coordinating quantitative survey field work and hold at least a bachelor’s degree.
    • Enumerators: Need to have a minimum of 2 years of post-secondary education and should have at least two (2) similar surveys. They must be able to use different interview techniques and methods of data collection and observation.
    • Data Entry Officers: Need to have a minimum of two 2 years of post-secondary education and should have experience in entering and processing survey data in at least two similar assignment.

 

  • Qualitative Supervisors and Social Research Officers. The number of these staff members will depend on proposed field work and resource allocation plan outlined in the proposal and supported by expected productivity calculations. For spot-check visits, the number of these staff members should be sufficient to conduct monitoring concurrently in 5 states.
    • Supervisors must have at least 3 years of experience in conducting or coordinating qualitative data collection and field work and hold at least a Bachelor’s degree.
      • A sufficient number of Supervisors must be familiar with handling qualitative data collection on socially sensitive issues, especially gender-based violence, including interviewing victims and perpetrators in a sensitive manner. Competency and previous competency in the GBV area in Somalia are an advantage, but training will be provided.
    • Social Research Officers need to have a minimum of two (2) years of post-secondary education and should have experience of conducting qualitative data collection on two similar assignments.
      • A sufficient number of Social Research Officers must be familiar with handling qualitative data collection on socially sensitive issues, especially gender-based violence, including interviewing victims and perpetrators in a sensitive manner. Competency and previous competency in the GBV area in Somalia are an advantage, but training will be provided.

 

Contract duration

The duration of the contract is 9 months starting from the day it is signed. This period can be extended to account for delays in project implementation. The TPM firm will continue its activities until the last (second) payment cycle is completed.

 Reporting

The TPM firm will report to MoLSA and agencies acting on its behalf.

 Qualifications

The selected TPM firm must comply with the following requirements and present supporting evidence of its ability to comply with these requirements in a proposal responding to the RFP.  Organizations can be disqualified during evaluation if they do not meet the requirement as per the procurement regulations:

  • Have over five (5) years of experience in field research, and in quantitative and qualitative assessments of comparable scale and complexity.
  • Have at least five (5) years of proven quantitative and qualitative data collection experience for monitoring and evaluation in Somalia.
  • Familiarity with social assistance and humanitarian programs.
  • Experience in developing evaluation methodologies, including sample design and development of quantitative and qualitative instruments.
  • Experience in conducting monitoring and evaluation activities in conflict-affected and emergency contexts.
  • Excellency in data collection and analysis, including supervision arrangements for field work.
  • Work experience with international and local agencies will be taken into consideration.
  • Proven records (with timelines) of having conducted data collection in a timely manner as well as the production of high quality monitoring and evaluation reports.
  • Ability to mobilize and supervise a field team of sufficient size expeditiously in selected geographic areas.
  • The prospective TPM firm must show that it has a suitable organizational setup and sufficient human resources to undertake the work.
  • The prospective firm must prove that it has the capacity to conduct the work in the assigned geographic areas.
  • The firm must guarantee that it recruits or hires an adequate number of field staff with suitable qualifications or experience to cope with the complexity of the exercise.

 

 

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