Organization: Concern Worldwide
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Closing date:
09 Jan 2015DRC WASH Consortium: Terms of Reference for operational research on training and support for Water Management Committees
1. Introduction
The DRC WASH Consortium which is comprised of five agencies, Action Against Hunger (ACF); Agence d'aide à la Coopération Technique et au Développement (ACTED); Catholic Relief Services (CRS); Concern Worldwide (as lead agency) and Solidarités International, seeks a consultant or team of consultants to:
- Review the Consortium’s current approach and other approaches in the sector to supporting and training village committees for managing rural WASH services, in particular the management of water points such as handpumps on boreholes or dug wells, spring catchments, and small gravity flow schemes.
- Develop, test and roll-out improved training modules for water management committees, especially on project management, financial management and social marketing to foster adherence to payment for WASH services. This should include how to develop local ‘business plans’ for rural WASH services which enable all life-cycle costs of different technical options to be considered as part of informed investment decisions by communities and local authorities.
- Design pilot initiatives and develop the initial set-up of these initiatives for providing long-term support to water management committees by local actors outside the community on key issues such as:
- Administration (e.g. advice on legal issues such as developing water user associations).
- Finance (e.g. mutualisation of costs and support to capital maintenance costs; support to income-generating activities; accounting advice; links to banking facilities).
- Technical support (e.g. technical advice on repairs; support to supply chain development and spare part stocking).
- Background to WASH in DRC and the Consortium
In DRC, investments in rural water infrastructure are generally made without good information on what is required in the long term, especially in terms of financing and technical support, for the infrastructure to provide a sustainable service to the users. The responsibility for organising and financing long-term operation, maintenance, and minor and major repairs is left to the users by default, usually through community-based water management committees. The actor with the greatest influence on the choice of infrastructure and the decision to invest is often an external NGO or private company who is present in the area only for a limited period.
However, evidence shows that communities are rarely able to maintain infrastructures without some form of long-term external support. At the very least, technical support is required such as skilled mechanics who can carry out significant repairs. Other forms of support are also usually needed, such as support to help communities raise money to pay for repairs (for example, through helping develop local tariff systems or income-generating activities), and also direct financial support for some repairs themselves. Given the weak capacity of all local actors in DRC (communities, local authorities, health services, private sector etc.), it is important to make investment decisions about what infrastructure to install and where to install it based on a realistic assessment of local capacities to ensure the infrastructure functions in the long-term.
In this context, the DRC WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Consortium is working to increase the coverage of sustainable water and sanitation provision and hygiene behaviour in rural areas of DRC. The Consortium is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) through a grant of £23.9m from 2013-2017 as part of DFID’s 2013-2019 WASH programme in DRC.
In total, the DRC WASH Consortium aims to support 461 villages and 554,122 beneficiaries in up to 17 health zones in rural DRC through a 12-step process which lasts eighteen months in each village, followed by additional monitoring and evaluation for a further six months. Programme activities include the promotion of good hygiene behaviours through “Small Doable Actions”, support to the construction of household and institutional latrines, and (where judged technically and economically feasible for long-term sustainability) the development of water points such as spring protections, protected wells, and boreholes. The Consortium also works with local health services, local authorities, the private sector and civil society to develop their capacity to support communities and promote the sustainability of WASH services. The Consortium aims to use its experiences, innovation and research to produce and disseminate evidence for sustainable, community based solutions to WASH needs in the DRC.
- For more background on the DRC WASH context, see Annex A.
- Full details on the Consortium’s Theory of Change are included in Annex B.
- The Consortium’s 9-point strategy and 12-step process are summarised in Annex C (note that the 12-step process is currently being revised and the detailed new version will be available in January 2015).
- The full logical framework is included in Annex D, with baseline data from the first phase.
- A map of the Consortium’s areas of intervention is included in Annex E.
- Role of the consultancy in the context of the Consortium programme
The approach of the DRC WASH Consortium is designed to be flexible enough to integrate learning during the programme in line with the need for adaptive programming expressed by DFID and others,[1] especially if evidence produced shows that parts of the original Theory of Change may not be valid.
The programme therefore proceeds in a sequence of different phases of villages and conducts additional research and innovation projects to enable learning to be fed back into the programme. During the first two years of the programme, extra information becomes available from:
- Field experiences and results from the completion of the first phase of villages (Sept 2013 – Feb-March 2015) and ongoing experiences from the second and third phases (in progress between April 2014 – Oct 2015). The fourth phase of villages is due to start in July 2015.
- Research projects on: spare parts and supply chains for handpumps; community mobilisation and behaviour change.
- Innovation projects on: preparation and rapid response for cholera outbreaks; WASH mapping.
- Sharing of experiences with other sector actors through six-monthly Technical Reviews.
Key developments to the programme approach so far include:
- More detailed development of an economic approach to better define, estimate and measure life-cycle costs and first steps in using this information as part of informed decision-making for investment in drinking water infrastructure.
- Revision of the selection process for intervention areas and villages to increase the likelihood of success given the extremely challenging context in rural DRC.
- Initial review of the Consortium’s approach to community mobilisation and behaviour change.
This consultancy forms part of the operational research component of the Consortium to enable learning from the first phases of the programme to feed into the ongoing second and third phases and the fourth phase which is due to start in July 2015.
4. Objectives of the consultancy
- Review the Consortium’s current approach and other approaches in the sector to supporting and training village committees for managing rural WASH services, in particular the management of water points such as handpumps on boreholes or dug wells, spring catchments, and small gravity flow schemes. This will include:
- Review of the existing tools used by the Consortium to help communities in project management and financial management, which are adaptations of tools originally developed by the Global Water Initiative (GWI) in West Africa.
- Review of tools developed by other organisations in the WASH sector such as IRC WASH and other work on implementing the life-cycle costs approach (LCCA) in practice.
- Review of tools developed by organisations outside the WASH sector in DRC for project management by communities such as Tuungane.
- Review of the existing capacity, strengths and weaknesses of village committees for managing water supplies, including: economic viability; ability to manage business plans; governance; water tariff policy; technical capacity; other Income Generating Activities; advocacy potential.
- Develop, test and roll-out improved training modules for water management committees which are adapted to the DRC context and can be used as part of the Consortium’s 18-month intervention process, especially on project management, financial management and social marketing to encourage payment for WASH services. This should include how to develop local ‘business plans’ for rural WASH services which enable all life-cycle costs of different technical options to be considered as part of informed investment decisions by communities and local authorities. This includes addressing the following questions:
o How can tools be adapted or developed for use at community level and integrated into training for water management committees? At least the following themes should be considered:
o Individual leadership skills
o Organizational development
o Operational management
o Financial management and transparency
o Cash management
o Water service delivery
o Tariff policy
o Technical capacity for maintenance and repairs of water points
o Business plan development, ownership, and management
o Public advocacy
o Ancillary income generating activities
o Communications and outreach
o What are the limits to the use of such tools and training, for example in communities which are extremely poor; extremely low-literacy; low social cohesion etc?
o How can tools and training be linked from village level to higher levels of government administration (e.g. decentralised entities; health zones; territories; provinces), to enable financial planning and investment decisions at different levels?
o How can the training process be replicated? What training is required by trainers themselves (staff of local health services and/or NGOs)?
- Develop pilot initiatives for providing long-term support to water management committees by local actors outside the community on key issues such as the following. These initiatives should be implementable in at least 1-2 health zones during 2015-2017. The consultants will be reasonable for the detailed design and set-up of the key initiatives identified in collaboration with the Consortium:
- Administration e.g. advice on legal issues such as developing water user associations.
- Finance e.g. mutualisation of costs and support to capital maintenance costs; support to income-generating activities; accounting advice; links to banking facilities.
- Technical support e.g. technical advice on repairs; support to supply chain development and spare part stocking.
- Outline methodology and timetable
The operational research should be completed during the period Jan-March 2015.
The detailed methodology will be developed by the consultants and approved by Concern Worldwide. The methodology must uphold DFID’s ethical principles for research and evaluation. At a minimum, the operational research should draw on:
- Reports on previous research projects (spare parts and supply chains for handpumps; community mobilisation and behaviour change; climate and environment assessment).
- Interviews / workshops with key internal and external stakeholders in Kinshasa.
- Development and testing of tools with key internal and external stakeholders in at least two different areas of intervention, ideally more, including the views of direct programme participants.
Note that field visits to project sites typically require at least a week per project site including travel time (e.g. 2-4 days travel + 3-5 days at or near the project site).
Other key events to be considered as part of the timetable include:
- The Consortium’s six-monthly external Technical Review in mid-March 2015 (date TBC). The consultant(s) will be expected to present the recommendations as part of this workshop.
Expected products
Draft methodology as part of proposal.
Inception report and final methodology for approval after XX days of the contract (to be agreed)
Draft tools and training modules for feedback after XX days of the contract (to be agreed).
Revised tools and training modules after testing.
A guide for trainers (staff of local health services and/or NGOs) on how to conduct the training at village level.
Preliminary presentation of findings and proposed structure of final report for feedback in country, including presentation during the external Technical Review in March 2015.
Final report, including:
o Stand-alone executive summary of 2-4 pages (in English and in French), which highlights the key lessons learned and key recommendations. (This will be used by the Consortium as the basis for a briefing note for the sector).
o Specific list of recommendations at different levels (strategic, programmatic, operational) targeted to different groups.
o Annex of all data, references and analyses undertaken.
6. Composition, skills and experience of the consultant(s)
Between them, the team members should have the following skills and experience. Collaborations between international and local consultants are encouraged.
Essential
- Relevant academic and professional background in rural development and WASH, including experience in fragile states.
- Experience in approaches for community mobilisation, social marketing and behaviour change.
- Knowledge of the Life-Cycle Costs Approach and service delivery approaches for rural WASH.
- Excellent communication and report-writing skills in English.
- Ability to speak French.
- Willingness and ability to work long hours in a difficult environment.
Desirable
7. Management, reporting and quality assurance arrangements
The consultant(s) will be contracted by Concern Worldwide as the lead agency of the DRC WASH Consortium and will report to the Consortium Director and the Consortium WASH & M+E Coordinator. To ensure quality, the timing of payments will be made according to the delivery of key outputs, to be agreed in the contract. The inception report and final methodology will be approved by Concern Worldwide before proceeding to the development of tools. The draft tools and training modules will be approved by Concern Worldwide before proceeding to the completion of the final tools and guide for trainers.
[1]DFID’s 2013 “end to end review” of programming (led by the Deputy Head of DFID DRC at the time) concluded that the conventional approach to programme management needs to change and that programmes need to be flexible to adapt to changing realities and emerging opportunities (for more info see presentation by Pete Vowles on Adaptive Progamming at “Hard to Measure Benefits” workshop at DFID in London, October 2013).
How to apply:Please submit an Expression of Interest by January 9th 2015toemily.bradley@concern.net outlining exact availability in line with the approximate timeline. The expression of interest should contain: (a) a technical offer and (b) a financial offer, comprising:
A. Technical offer:
· Up to date CV of the consultant(s) explaining how the consultant(s) meets the skills and experience required.
· Technical proposition detailing proposed methodology and resources needed (max 3 pages).
· At least one example of similar work undertaken.
B. Financial offer:
· A list of all expenses expected to be incurred by the consultant(s) including a daily rate.
· Costs of transport in-country and accommodation while on field visits outside Kinshasa will be covered directly by the Consortium and should not be included.
The following additional information is available in the Annexes to this TOR:
· Annex A – Context of WASH in DRC
· Annex B – The Consortium’s Theory of Change
· Annex C – The Consortium’s original 9-point strategy and 12-step process
· Annex D – Logical Framework with baseline data for Phase 1
· Annex E – Map of the Consortium’s Area of Intervention.
Please contact emily.bradley@concern.net for all queries.