Terms of Reference: PLAY & PSYCHOSOCIAL WELLBEING RESEARCH

Right To Play

  1. Right To Play International

Right To Play is a global organisation that protects, educates and empowers children to rise above adversity through the power of play. We help millions of children each year to stay in school and out of work, to prevent life-threatening diseases and to stay safe from exploitation and abuse. We are the leading global development organization that uses play to transform the lives of children and youth impacted by poverty, war, disease and inequality.

Established in 2000, Right To Play reaches children through experiential programming in 15 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. These programs are supported by our headquarters in Toronto, Canada; London, UK and seven national offices across Europe and North America.

For more information, follow @RightToPlayIntl and visit www.righttoplay.com.

  1. Research Overview

Global Focus

The Right To Play Global Research Agenda is designed to guide research priorities and generate evidence around key research questions aligned to the core outcome areas and organisational strategy between 2021-2025. This research opportunity comes at a crucial time for Right To Play after a recent pilot program of multiple innovative play-based psychosocial support interventions across a variety of country contexts. The research should support Right To Play in addressing the global research question exploring the value of play-based approaches in contributing to improved psychosocial wellbeing outcomes for children. In doing so, the research will advance RTP expertise and influence the strategic direction of the organisations’ psychosocial support portfolio. More broadly, this research presents a key opportunity to contribute to and advance sectoral understanding of the causal relationships between play and wellbeing.

Palestine Focus

The Right To Play Palestine portfolio integrates quality and inclusive education and child protection projects, with components of play-based learning and psychosocial support for children (Grade 1-9). Right To Play is currently in the final year of implementing MA’AN, a five-year project (2019-2024) financed by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada. MA’AN works towards improved safe, supportive, and gender-responsive education for girls and boys in grades one through nine enrolled in United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) schools in Gaza and West Bank, Palestine. Within the MA’AN project, RTP have sought to support the existing UNRWA psychosocial support provision in schools by engaging School Counsellors in training and support on play-based approaches to psychosocial support. The research presents an opportunity to:

  • Develop a case study on play-based psychosocial support in the Palestine context
  • Provide evidence of what works in PSS programming in order to support the design, delivery and funding of effective play-based psychosocial support for children by RTP in Palestine.
  • Help position Right To Play amongst new and existing partners working to support children’s psychosocial wellbeing at a global and local level
  1. Purpose of Consultancy

Right To Play is seeking to procure the services of an independent learning partner to design and manage a research study to respond to and advance organisational thinking in relation to play-based psychosocial support and psychosocial wellbeing outcomes for children.

The study should respond to the following research questions:

  1. What are the causal mechanisms between play-based psychosocial support and psychosocial wellbeing of children in complex and conflict affected contexts?

    1. What is the existing evidence on play and psychosocial wellbeing, and how does play-based psychosocial support contribute to children’s psychosocial wellbeing?
    2. To what extent is the Right To Play approach to play-based psychosocial support aligned to the evidence on play and psychosocial wellbeing? To include a review of key documents such as psychosocial support theory of change, PSS research brief, life skills framework etc.
    3. What should Right To Play do to improve its approach to play-based psychosocial support?

  2. How does play-based psychosocial support delivered by school counsellors contribute to children’s psychosocial wellbeing in UNRWA schools in Palestine?

    1. What is the evidence that the play-based psychosocial support approaches used in the MA’AN programme contribute to children’s psychosocial wellbeing?
    2. To what extent do teachers and school counsellors and parents/caregivers report that children engage with play-based psychosocial support in school, and what are the perceived effects on children’s wellbeing?
    3. What is the child’s experience of participating in, and perspective on, play-based psychosocial support in-school?
    4. To what extent does the play-based psychosocial support approach implemented in MA’AN align with the existing evidence on what works to contribute to children’s wellbeing, and what are the causal mechanisms at play in the MA’AN programme?

The primary objectives of the consultancy are as follows:

  • Design and manage a research study in collaboration with Right To Play to respond to the key research questions
  • Conduct a comprehensive literature review of existing evidence on play-based psychosocial support and the relationship between play and children’s psychosocial wellbeing
  • Design a research framework and instruments to collect data, with a focus on qualitative, fun and participatory, child-focused methods
  • Develop a case study on the causal mechanisms between play-based psychosocial support and psychosocial wellbeing based on the Right To Play MA’AN programme in Palestine.
  • Develop a comprehensive research report that responds to the key research questions and identifies key practical recommendations for Right To Play to advance the approach to play-based psychosocial support (including theoretical, practical, and strategic recommendations)
  • Share emerging evidence and learning from the research to Right To Play and humanitarian/development funding and implementing organizations across the wider sector
  1. Key Deliverables & Timeline

The following table provides an overview of key deliverables and the indicative anticipated timelines. These will be further discussed with the selected consultant.

Deliverable // Deadline

  1. Terms of Reference Published // 2nd August 2023
  2. Submission of proposals // 6th September 2023
  3. Award of Contract // 12th October 2023
  4. Design & Inception Phase // 2nd November 2023:
    1. RTP consultations and document review
    2. Workplan
    3. Literature review
    4. Methodology & Tools finalised
  5. Data Collection // November-December 2023
  6. Draft Report // 22nd January 2024
  7. Final Deliverables // 15th February 2024:
    1. Final Report (English & Arabic)
    2. Learning Workshop
    3. Tools & Data

* Please note, any primary data collection in Palestine will need to be scheduled around the end of ongoing UNRWA labour action ending November 2023, end of first semester exams starting 19th December 2023, and school re-opening from 20th January 2024.

  1. Experience

The consultant/firm should have:

  • Experience of designing and managing research studies, including research with children
  • Expertise and/or experience in child protection, specifically psychosocial support and/or psychosocial wellbeing (essential), and play (preferred)
  • Experience of managing research in the Palestine context
  • Commitment to critically analyse data and translate findings/learning/recommendations to multiple audiences
  • Ability to deliver in tight timeframes and meet deadline in dynamic circumstances
  • Ability to work through project flexibly, adapting approaches as necessary
  • A commitment to child-focused, child-friendly, and participatory research methods
  • Ability to travel to and within Palestine in support of the study, as required
  • Commitment to abide by the Right To Play child safeguarding policy
  • Excellent proficiency in English (essential) and Arabic (preferred)
  1. Proposed Budget and Payment Schedule

Consultants are asked to provide a financial proposal for offers under CAD 100,000.

The payment schedules will be as follows:

  • First payment: After signing of contract agreement with Right To Play (20%)
  • Second payment: Submission of final inception report, including revised tools and approach following piloting of instruments (40%)
  • Final payment: Submission of final endline report and PowerPoint presentations approved by Right To Play (40%)

How to apply

We invite interested candidates to submit the following application documents:

  • Expression of interest including relevant expertise and previous experience
  • Technical Proposal including response to Terms of Reference, outlining approach to the research objectives, and specifying days per activity (maximum 4 pages)
  • Financial Proposal (budget/day rates)
  • CV/s of each team member.
  • Two relevant references

All questions or clarifications regarding this Terms of Reference must be in writing and submitted to [email protected] no later than 21st August, 2023. Questions and requests for clarification, and responses thereto, will be circulated to parties who have indicated interest in the opportunity.

Proposals must be submitted no later than 6th September 2023 to Henry Gathercole, Global Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager ([email protected]).

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis and will be reviewed as soon as they are received. Early submissions are encouraged and Right To Play reserves the right to select a consultancy before the proposal submission date noted above.

Right To Play is a child-focused organization. Our recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to the safety and protection of children in our programs. To learn more about who we are and what we do, please visit our website at: https://righttoplay.com/en/