CVA Research Coordination Consultancy

Background

Save the Children has developed a Global CVA Research Agenda to identify and address major evidence gaps related to how best to design and deliver CVA for Child Outcomes. Since early 2022, several impact evaluations and research pilots have been implemented to assess the overall effectiveness of CVA as well as to determine the extent to which CVA contributes to child outcomes such as:

• reduction in malnutrition among children under five years old;
• reduction in child engagement in child labour, incidence of child marriage, and recruitment into armed groups; and
• increase in school attendance and learning,

In addition to addressing significant gaps, this primary research is intentionally designed to directly influence future use of CVA within SC

Purpose of the consultancy services

The purpose of these consultancy services is to support SC’s research focused on measuring the impact of CVA for child outcomes, to generate the evidence and learning necessary to inform the design of future programming.

The consultancy will support the CVA Senior Research Advisor with research mapping, coordination with research partners and implementing country offices (COs), analyse internal research data, and identify relevant and appropriate fora for research dissemination.

Key activities

The successful bidder will be responsible for the following activities:

• Research mapping across the SC movement: identify projects for CVA research that are linked to SC’s Global CVA Research Agenda and flag relevant studies for collaboration.
• Coordination and monitoring of ongoing and new research activities: maintain regular communication with SC technical advisors (TAs), Research Advisors, and Research Partner focal points to ensure provision of necessary support. This may include in-country monitoring and support visits by the Senior Research Advisor and/or the consultant. Provide regular updates to the Senior Research Advisor and flag delays, challenges, and risks related to research and research partners.
• Document Key Research Findings and Recommendations: support the CVA Senior Research Advisor with extracting key findings and learnings from internal and external evidence (research publications, program evaluations, grey literature) for programmatic use.
• Mapping of research dissemination platforms: identify events, activities, and publications (academic journals, online platforms, special editions of journals etc) to disseminate SC research, and support submission of abstracts and publications.
• Refresh of Research Agenda: support the CVA Senior Research Advisor with updating the research agenda to incorporate additional feedback/suggestions/evidence gaps.
• Data analysis and reporting: analyze data for in-house research (e.g., pilots, exploratory studies, program evaluation, etc.) and coordinate with country office (CO) and global TAs to periodically review data, adapt technical approaches, and ensure comparability of results. Develop a final report, ensuring it has been reviewed and approved by relevant stakeholders (CO, global TAs, etc.).

Deliverables

• Item 1: Research mapping activity will be undertaken to identify ongoing or planned research at SC that aligns with the CVA Research Agenda.
  • An output from this activity would include a tracker of research opportunities andtheir research question(s), themes, timeline, and focal points.
• Item 2: Regular engagement with research teams (internal and external members) throughout the research life cycle, including regular follow ups to ensure research timelines are on track/ regular coordination with TAs.
  • Regular calls with COs and global TAs on research progress
  • Established periodic reviews of research data and recommendations to address challenges
  • Ad hoc support to research implementation as determined by the CVA Senior Research Advisor
• Item 3: Mapping of research dissemination fora. Identify key stakeholders and activities to share research findings and recommendations. This could include:
  • Implementing partners, donors (including individuals) and a series of activities on engaging identified stakeholders.
  • This engagement could include holding meetings and directly sharing results with stakeholders via research briefs and other learning documents.
  • An output from this activity would include a list or tracker of stakeholders and activities.
• Item 4: Compile white and grey literature related to SC CVA Research Agenda from internal and external sources (peer-reviewed studies; NGO/UN reports, including evaluations and monitoring reports) and extract key findings that answer our research questions.
• Item 5: Refresh of SC Research Agenda. Support consultations with global, regional, and CO TAs to inform any changes/additions to the CVA Research Agenda and ensure alignment with the updated Global REL Agenda. This could include:
  • Mapping of existing CVA research agendas
  • Conducting secondary research on existing questions (SC agenda)
  • Developing consultation (FGD/KII) tools
  • Scheduling consultations with key stakeholders and documenting observations
  • An output from this activity would include a list of recommendations from stakeholders
• Item 6: Final report. A report that compiles key research findings, learning, and recommendations from in-house research such as pilots or exploratory studies for future program design.

Proposed Timetable

• February-November 2024 – Item 1
• February-November 2024 – Item 2
• March 2024 – Item 3
• August 2024 – Item 4
• September 2024 – Item 5
• October 2024 – Item 6

Ways of Working

The services are not location bound and can be delivered from anywhere in the world. The countries to be supported will be agreed upon at the beginning of the consultancy. The consultant will report to the Senior Research Advisor, Humanitarian Cash & Markets.

Required Consultant Experience

The services require the consultant to have:

• Significant experience (5-6 years) in MEAL and/or Research within an emergency or humanitarian and development contexts.
• Demonstrated experience (4-5 years) in data analysis – quantitative and qualitative – and proficiency in using software (STATA, R, SPSS, MAXDQA, NVivo, etc.).
• Demonstrated experience (3-4 years) in research implementation and dissemination, including developing research questions.
• Strong reporting writing skills.
• Strong remote-working abilities.
• Proficiency in speaking and writing English (Spanish, French and/or Arabic is a plus)

SC Policies: Consultants will receive and must agree to follow Save the Children’s policies, including Child Safeguarding, Zero Fraud, and others.