Tender for ‘An Impact study to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of Islamic Relief’s orphan sponsorship programme’ consultancy, May

Islamic Relief Worldwide

Islamic Relief is an international aid and development charity, which aims to alleviate the suffering of the world’s poorest people. It is an independent Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) founded in the UK in 1984.

With an active presence in over 40 countries across the globe, we strive to make the world a better and fairer place for the three billion people still living in poverty. As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities – regardless of race, religion or gender.

Our vision:

Inspired by our Islamic faith and guided by our values, we envisage a caring world where communities are empowered, social obligations are fulfilled, and people respond as one to the suffering of others.

Our mission:

Exemplifying our Islamic values, we will mobilise resources, build partnerships, and develop local capacity, as we work to:

• Enable communities to mitigate the effect of disasters, prepare for their occurrence and respond by providing relief, protection and recovery.
• Promote integrated development and environmental custodianship with a focus on sustainable livelihoods.
• Support the marginalised and vulnerable to voice their needs and address root causes of poverty.

At the international level, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council and is a signatory to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Code of Conduct. IRW is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) through raising awareness of the issues that affect poor communities and through its work on the ground. Islamic Relief are one of only 13 charities that have fulfilled the criteria and have become members of the Disasters Emergency Committee (www.dec.org.uk), and is certified by CHS.

IRW endeavours to work closely with local communities, focussing on capacity-building and empowerment to help them achieve development without dependency.

Please see our website for more information http://www.islamic-relief.org/

Background

Islamic Relief initiated the orphan sponsorship programme (OSP) at a very early stage to support those /orphans most in need and is one of Islamic Relief’s oldest running programmes since its initiation in 1986. As one of the leading Muslim INGO’s, IRW facilitates the sponsorship of over 82,000 orphans globally. This is a modest number in terms of the estimated 9 million plus children sponsored across the world. Child/ orphan sponsorship programmes represent the most intimate and direct form of donations made in the NGO sector. Its appeal lies in the fact that it enables individual donors to connect directly with their sponsored orphan child.

Running the programme across 40 countries (field and funding partners), has challenges of dealing with a dispersed workforce with multiple languages, multiple time zones, different currencies, varying local needs, etc.

Scope

This study will assess the impact of Islamic Relief’s (IR) Orphan Sponsorship Programme (OSP) on children, their families and their local community and to what extent the objectives of the programme are being achieved. The objective of the OSP is to support the wellbeing of sponsored children and their families in terms of education, health, nutrition, protection and shelter, as well as sustainable livelihoods. It also intends to determine any unintended consequences, either positive or negative, of the programme and assess its long-term validity and sustainability.

The project will collect data from a representative sample of 9 of the 27 countries in which the OSP is implemented, using a combination of surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and a review of relevant IR documentation and evaluations. Following the qualitative data collection and analysis, the research will provide a cursory assessment of alternative sponsorship models. This study intends to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of the OSP with the potential to inform programme reform, depending on the findings.

Objectives

An evaluation of the impact of the OSP will assess:

1. To what extent is it achieving the outcomes it was set out to achieve?
2. To what extent the gaps in the programme effect it outcomes?
3. How and to what extent has it affected the lives of rightsholders, guardians and the local community?
4. How sensitive and responsive is the OSP to protection risks within communities and households?
5. Does access and impact differ according to the demography of the parents and children (in terms of age, gender, disability and other contextually significant characteristics)?What type of positive, negative and unintended impact did the intervention have?
6. How the OSP model compare in terms of effectiveness/ efficiency/ impact/ sustainability to other models of child sponsorship/ community and sponsorship/ social protection?
7. To what extent does the model promote strengthening and claiming of orphan child rights and the rights of guardians/widows?
8. What are the key learnings, innovative features and/or good practices from different parts of the programme that should be replicated or further promoted?
9. In what way could or should the model be adjusted/transformed to make it more effective, efficient, impactful, sustainable and scalable to possibly local or national levels?

Project background

IRW’s Orphan Sponsorship Programme

Islamic Relief’s OSP is one of longest-running programmes and is very popular with the individual donor base, likely due to the recognition in the Islamic faith of the importance of caring for orphans.

The current design of the OSP is a cash transfer model, with quarterly payments made to the child’s guardian. Sponsorship generally lasts until the child turns 18 but can be extended to 24 in special circumstances where additional support is required e.g., for medical or educational support.

This research has been commissioned by the Orphan and Child Welfare (OCW) department of Islamic Relief’s International Programmes Division (IPD), in cooperation with the IPD MEAL Unit to assess the overall impact of the current OSP with the intention of informing potential changes to the sponsorship programme.

The final report will address the findings of the field research in terms of the intended and unintended consequences of the OSP and will provide a cursory overview of different sponsorship and social protection models e.g., community-sponsorship and productive social protection approaches – including poverty graduation models. The report will be written in accessible, non-academic language and will employ both child protection and child right perspectives as relevant.

Literature Review

Orphans

UNICEF estimated there to be over 150 million child orphans (without one or both parents) in the world in 2018. Orphanhood has become a focus of attention for many development and aid agencies due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and loss of life through armed conflict (Vreyer and Nillson, 2016: 3). Orphans face a variety of hardships in their daily lives, many of which are exacerbated by their geographical location as well as intersecting identity characteristics such as age, gender, and disability. They can suffer from stigmatisation and marginalisation which is often linked with the parental cause of death. For example, orphans who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS are more likely to experience stigmatisation (Caserta et al, 2016). Orphans are more likely to experience heightened psychological distress due to factors including “trauma, being out-of-school, being cared for by a non-parent, inadequate care, child labour, physical abuse, and stigma and discrimination” (Nyamukapa et al, 2010). Although it is considered favourable for an orphaned child to be cared for by a family member, this does not necessarily guarantee a suitable environment for the child as evidence suggests adult caregivers may favour ‘genetic proximity’ i.e. show favouritism to their own children over a niece, nephew or grand-child they are tasked with raising (Vreyer and Nilsson, 2016). Orphans are a decidedly vulnerable group; therefore, it is critical that any interventions aimed at helping them do not cause them any additional harm in any way and are proactive in reducing any protection risks which they may face.

Existing Sponsorship Models

Child sponsorship programmes are particularly attractive to individual private donors who appreciate the closeness of directly helping an individual child with a face and a name. Child sponsorship programmes in 2013 had an annual turnover of over $3 billion, but this figure has most likely increased significantly since then (Van Eekelen, 2013). A variety of sponsorship models are now used. Many organisations, including Save the Children and World Vision, use ‘community-based’ models where sponsorship funds are pooled to fund sustainable development programmes for the sponsored child’s community. This claims to reduce dependency and inequality/unfairness. Islamic Relief uses a direct cash transfer model whereby the sponsorship goes directly to the caregiver of the child (except in some circumstances where gift-in-kind are given to reduce the risk of money being misused). Cash transfers are a commonly used social protection method. Opponents to cash transfers claim that they can cause dependency and reduce incentive to work. However, research has suggested that cash transfers can increase ‘household productive capacity and resilience’, increase rates of school attendance, improve mental health and reduce early pregnancy in vulnerable groups (Innocenti, 2019).

The largest study of the effectiveness of child sponsorship programmes was conducted between 2008 and 2011. The study assessed the impact of Compassion International’s child sponsorship programme on several outcomes. Compassion’s £25 fee provides the sponsored child with school resources and vocational education, medical check-ups, nutritional meals and a minimum of 8 hours per week in an after-school programme that “emphasizes their spiritual, physical and socio-emotional development” with the intention of increasing aspirations and self-esteem. The research found that sponsored children were more likely to finish secondary education, be in paid (salaried) employment as adults and become leaders in their communities (Wydick et al, 2013). However, some of the potential risks associated with child sponsorship programmes in general include; the amplification of inequality at the local level caused by correspondence with and gifts from sponsors (Moreno Parra, 2014); an increased focus on providing life-sustaining support (food, shelter, health care) to the detriment of the social and developmental needs of the child; and too much focus on the individual rather than the family and community as a whole (Herrell, 1986). These issues will be explored in this research.

Islamic Reliefs own monitoring of country specific orphan sponsorship programme provide an insight into the potential findings of this research. Respondents who recipients of the OSP (orphans, parents and guardians) generally reported being satisfied and happy with the impact sponsorship had on their lives. The majority reported that the sponsorship provided them with food security, access to education, healthcare and improved standards of shelter. Few problems were reported except minor instances of harassment of orphans involved in the programme. It is possible that some of those involved in the programme are unwilling to talk about problems they have experienced out of possible fear that their payments may be stopped. Therefore, the research will include respondents from outside of the programme (i.e. local community members and ‘graduates’ of the OSP).

Research process and methodology

The methodology and process will involve the following steps;

1. Detailed literature review,
2. Designing survey tools (which can also act as baseline for any future reviews of any redesigned sponsorship programme),
3. Quantitative data collection in 9 countries (by IRW) and qualitative data collection in six countries (with Bangladesh and Ethiopia to be visited by the consultant and four country qualitative study to be supported by IRW staff based on methodology developed by the consultant);
4. Data analysis
5. Report writing.

The consultant is invited to propose appropriate qualitative and quantitative methodologies that are procedurally sound and informed by the following guidelines but not necessarily restricted to these guidelines:

Data Collection and Analysis

The total number of orphans currently sponsored worldwide is about 81,000. If we adopt a 95% confidence level and account for a 2% margin of error, the ideal sample size would be 2,332 participants globally. (Other level of confidence and error can also be considered). This only accounts for the active sponsored orphans many of whom would be included in the research and not the parent/guardian or community leaders and does not include the children who have graduated from the programme. There must also be a fair representation of the different “types” of orphans and caregivers, taking care to consider: gender, age, disability and family size, health and medical conditions, location within country, displacement status and “mature” orphans. It will also be crucial to attempt to locate those who have “graduated” from the orphan sponsorship programme to assess their quality of life – this will be important in determining whether the programme contributes to a sustainable form of personal development or whether it fosters dependency.

Each country should be analysed according to geographical location, sponsorship category, HDI, cost of living as well as the socio-cultural context. Data collection tools and the preferred method for data entry will also be determined by the consultant – (though digital data collection is preferred if it does not affect validity of data). The consultant will be required to develop the necessary questionnaires and participate in orienting the Islamic Relief team members/data collectors ahead of administrating the survey. Islamic Relief will support in the recruitment and training of data enumerators.

The study should take a mixed-method approach, with both qualitative and quantitative elements. To obtain the quantitative data, the orphans’ quality of life should be assessed using indicators of child wellbeing, protection risk and social inclusion and verified, e.g. via home visits, academic records, marriage, pregnancy and illness rates, employment rate and higher education rate etc. The use of anonymous questionnaires to be completed by orphans and guardians could provide useful quantitative data. The questionnaires will need to be translated into the native language of the participants.

To collect the qualitative data, access to existing reports from field officers, country-specific learning reviews assessing the programme as well as reports available from Al Yateem (the internal sponsorship system used by Islamic Relief) will be necessary. A combination of semi-structured interviews and focus groups will be used to acquire qualitative data from orphans, guardians, community leaders and other stakeholders. A minimum of two focus groups per participant group whose opinions will be assessed via this method would be expected. Existing research on orphans should be used for the sake of comparison as well as studies on alternative existing sponsorship programmes.

The consultant will be expected to lead the qualitative data collection efforts in two countries offices (namely Bangladesh & Ethiopia). Qualitative data collection in four other countries will be supported by IRW following orientation on methodology and core questions proved by the consultant.

The impact on orphan’s academic ability could be assessed through comparing academic grades and records over a period of time, ideally including pre-sponsorship data. Income data and employment, self-employment and higher education rates should also be measured to assess whether the programme has improved the livelihoods of families. It will also be significant to measure rates of illness, marriage and pregnancy among rightsholders. This data should be compared with data concerning non-sponsored orphans where possible – the latter may be collected through secondary literature and statistics.

Subject matter expertise will be provided the Head of the OSP and the MEAL team. The consultant is expected to liaise closely and report regularly to these throughout the duration of the project.

Role of the consultant

The specific role of the consultant will be to:

1. Undertake a detailed literature review and desk study on both IR’s OSP and other alternate child sponsorship/social protection models for supporting orphan and widow families.
2. Develop the impact assessment methodology – including both quantitative and qualitative elements, in consultation with IRW
3. Submit an inception report with above and detailed action plan for the impact evaluation.
4. Develop the questionnaires and tools for quantitative and qualitative data collection, in consultation with IRW.
5. Develop an appropriate sampling framework to ensure number of household and data points collected per country/location/segment is statistically significant to at least 95% confidence level with 5% error margin (but also consider what the sampling framework look like with 90% confidence and 10% error margin).
6. Train selected Islamic Relief staff to administer the data collection either directly or further train data enumerators in-country (quantitative data collection in 9 countries led by IRW and qualitative data collection in four countries led by IRW
7. Undertake in-country visit to conduct qualitative study in two countries – provisionally Bangladesh and Ethiopia – based on agreed sampling framework and list of staff/key stakeholders to be interviewed.
8. Propose mechanism to collate and consolidate quantitative data from all 9 countries and qualitative data from all 6 countries into a common data platform to enable analysis to support with data collation and consolidation into one platform and clean data).
9. Conduct analysis of data collected, resulting in a detailed report.
10. Write draft report with evidence-informed findings and recommendations based on literature review, evaluation visit and key facts/observations from data analysis report
11. Receive feedback on draft report and produce final report (around 30- 40 pages plus appendices) which should include an executive summary of no more than five pages. While the main report will be used for internal IR purposes, the executive summary could be externally published with Islamic Relief authorisation.
12. Present final report via a presentation to IRW management in person or video-conference.
13. Present findings and recommendations to management and staff of IR partners supporting the research
14. Present findings and recommendations via presentation at meeting of Islamic Relief Family Council/ other IR approved Forums.

Research Personnel

In addition to the consultant the study will engage a project coordinator, field officers and M&E staff to collect data in the field as well as the Head of R&D for academic quality assurance and to assist with field research. They should be paired up for the focus groups and interviews (one as the interview facilitator and one as the note taker). The number of staff required will be accurately determined once the countries involved in the research and number of total participants per country have been decided.

Project requirements

The successful consultant is expected to have skills, experience qualifications and qualities:

1. Understanding and experience in sponsorship programming especially in humanitarian and/or development organisation, with a lens on child welfare issues.
2. Knowledge of a range of qualitative and quantitative research techniques.
3. Ability to work independently and to manage large amounts of information; to work systematically and to produce to deadlines.
4. Sensitivity towards and interest in cross-cultural issues including faith and human rights issues.
5. Advanced level of English
6. It is preferred for the successful candidate to have:
7. An understanding of children’s’ rights in the humanitarian and development context.
8. Experience of working cross- culturally.
9. Strong interpersonal, representational and advocacy skills.
10. Degree in social sciences or related subject

Data analysis

IRW expects all quantitative data to be rigorously analysed and representative of the project area within the reasonable limits and constraints of the context. Qualitative data should also be rigorously analysed and should primarily focus on developing a deeper understanding about the relevance of the programme, and providing recommendations for improving or strengthening the effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the results of the programme.

Dissemination of Findings

Results and recommendations will be made available externally to interested stakeholders at the discretion of IRW management. The final report and any primary data collected will be the property of Islamic Relief Worldwide.

If particular sections of the evaluation are deemed useful or informative for the greater humanitarian/development community as lessons learned or opportunities to improve programming, IRW reserves the right to create a separate report with excerpts from the final evaluation report to share with the wider community. At the key findings stage, IRW may request that the consultant produce such a report along with the final evaluation report.

Ethical Considerations

The evaluation team will make clear to all participating stakeholders that they are under no obligation to participate in the evaluation study. All participants will be assured that there will be no negative consequences if they choose not to participate. The evaluation team will obtain informed consent from the participants. The research team will ensure prior permission is received for taking and use of visual still/moving images for specific purposes, i.e., ‘for research report and presentations’. The evaluation team will assure the participants’ anonymity and confidentiality and will ensure the visual data is protected and used for agreed purposes only. In particular, the evaluation team will employ robust data security measures to further ensure participants’ confidentiality and anonymity.

Timescales

It is expected the consultant will be recruited for a period of 25 working days (open to discussion) based on the following provisional timescales;

Days Timeline Tasks Outcome & outputs Person(s) involved

Design and Preparatory Stage

5 July 2022

• Conduct risk assessment
• Determine staff responsible for data collection and brief on project
• Development of data collection tools
• Determine participants to be involved in research
• Obtain relevant existing research and reports
• Database of participants and data collectors
• Data collection tools

Consultant

Project co-ordinator

Data collectors

Desk Research and Field work

8

August 2022

• Data collection
• Translate data collection tools into required languages and distribute to data collectors
• Conduct interviews, focus groups, home visits and collect questionnaire responses
• Translate transcripts from interviews and focus groups into English, where necessary
• Review and analyse reports from past field visits, Al Yateem and other existing research
• Field notes in English and

completed questionnaires

• Analysis of existing literature and reports

Data collectors

Project manager(s)

Translator(s)

Consultant

Data entry, analysis and report writing

12

September 2022

• Entry and analysis of data collected from field
• Production of first draft
• Draft Report ready for late September

2022

Consultant

and Data

collectors

Feedback from IRW

October 2022

• Review of draft report by IRW
• Detailed comments and action points

Project cordinator

5

November 2022

• Final Report production
• Final Report ready for submission by late December 2022

Consultant

January 2023

• Share Report with key stakeholders
• Dissemination of findings

Consultant

Contract duration: Duration to be specified by the consultant and IRW based on completion of the assignment

Direct report: Head of Orphans, Child Welfare and Seasonal

Location: UK, Birmingham

Job Title: Consultant; Impact study for the Orphan Sponsorship Programme

Proposal to tender and costing

A consultant interested in carrying out this work must submit the following items as part of their proposal/bid and this should including the following.

1. Detailed cover letter/proposal outlining a methodology and approach briefing note
2. Résumé/or CV or outline of relevant skills and experience possessed by the consultant who will be carrying out the tasks and any other personnel who will work on the project
3. Example(s) of relevant work
4. The consultancy daily rate (fill in appendix 2)
5. Expenses policy of the tendering consultant. Incurred expenses will not be included but will need to be agreed in advance prior to contract award. (fill in appendix 2)
6. Be able to complete the project within the timeframe stated above
7. Be able to demonstrate experience of outcome reviews, mapping and impact assessment/evaluation approaches for similar work

Terms and conditions

Payment will be made in accordance with the deliverables and deadlines for this project so are as follows:

• • 40% of the total amount – First upfront payment
    – 30% of the total amount – submission of the first draft of the evaluation report
    – 30% of the total amount – submission of the final report including all outputs and attachments mentioned above

We can be flexible with payment terms, invoices are normally paid on net payment terms of 30 days.

Additional information and conditions of contract

The following additional information will be expected from the consultant and be pursuant to the conditions printed beneath as well as the terms and conditions in the consultancy contract.

1. The ToR document is between the consultant and Islamic Relief Worldwide
2. Islamic Relief Worldwide is a legally registered charity under the laws of the United Kingdom charity registration number 328158
3. This document covers the research project identified and described in this document and related correspondence and may not be expended for any other purposes without the prior written approval of Islamic Relief Worldwide, Head of Orphans
4. The project will be carried out under the auspices of the Islamic Relief Worldwide, Orphans team. The lead researcher will be working in the capacity of a freelance consultant.
5. Collected data, information, reports and reference documents should be submitted, along with any audio files and transcripts collected.
6. Intellectual Property Rights to all research, and data, conducted and collected and the final report belongs solely to Islamic Relief Worldwide.
7. In case of contraventions or breach of any of the terms of the agreement, any outstanding payments to the Lead Researcher will be withheld.

During the consultancy period,

IRW will only cover:

Consultancy fees

Any travel costs to visit IRW or any of our country offices if required

IRW will not cover:

Tax obligations as required by the country in which he/she will file income tax

Any pre/post assignment medical costs. These should be covered by the consultant

Medical and travel insurance arrangements and costs. These should be covered by the consultant

To access or download the full tender documents please click on the link below;

https://www.islamic-relief.org/tenders/category/open-tenders/

How to apply

Consultancy contract

This will be for an initial period that is to be specified by the consultant commencing from June 2022 (exact date to be mutually agreed). The selected candidate is expected to work from their home/office and be reporting into the Head of Orphans, Child Welfare and Seasonal Department of IRW.

The terms upon which the consultant will be engaged are as per the consultancy agreement. The invoice is to be submitted at the end of the assignment and will be paid on net payment terms 28 days though we can be flexible.

All potential applicants must fill in the table beneath in Appendix 2 to help collate key data pertaining to this tender. The applicant must be clear about other expenses being claimed in relation to this consultancy and these must be specified clearly.

For this consultancy all applicants are required to submit a covering letter and CV’s of all potential consultants including the project lead.

A proposal including, planned activities, methodology, deliverables, timeline, and cost proposal (including expenses) are expected.

Other relevant supporting documents should be included as the consultants sees fit.

All applicants must have a valid visa or a permit to work in the UK (if travel is required to the UK). A valid visa/work permit is also required for those areas required to be visited as part of this consultancy.

TENDER DATES AND CONTACT DETAILS

All proposals are required to be submitted by Monday 20th June 2022 at 1.00pm UK time pursuant to the attached guidelines for submitting a quotation and these be returned to; [email protected]

For any issues relating to the tender or its contents please email directly to; [email protected]

Following submission, IRW may engage in further discussion with applicants concerning tenders in order to ensure mutual understanding and an optimal agreement.

Quotations must include the following information for assessment purposes.

1. Timescales
2. Full break down of costs including taxes, expenses and any VAT
3. References (two are preferred)
4. Technical competency for this role
5. Demonstrable experience of developing a similar piece of work including a methodology

Note: The criteria are subject to change.

Appendix 1

De Vreyer, P. and Nilsson, B. (2016). When solidarity fails: Heterogeneous effects on children from adult deaths in Senega