Terms of Reference (TOR)

for

Baseline Survey of the project ‘’Improving Physical and mental Health of children and adolescents as well as elderly people in Teknaf Upazila, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh”

1. Background:  

GK has been active in Cox's Bazar district since the 1990s. In addition to its extensive programme activities in the area of humanitarian support for Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, which have been greatly expanded since 2017.  The first cooperation between GK and Action Medeor took place in 2019. The project, which lasted a total of eight months. It was subsequently continued for a further ten months by other donors - Hungary Helps Agency, Secours Populaire Français , and Medico International. The pilot phase of the project approach was to improve the health situation of a target group of elderly persons as well as children within the Baharchara Union in Teknaf Upazila, Cox's Bazar has been successfully implemented.  This was confirmed during project visits by the Action Medeor consultant (monitoring) and an externally conducted evaluation. The contact and exchange between both organisations has remained very close since the cooperation in 2019. The present project proposal represents a joint follow-up project. For this purpose, the project approach, which has proven to be promising, is to be expanded and intensified.

2. The project location:

Fifteen communities in Baharchara Union of Teknaf Upazila in Cox’s Bazar district.

3. The direct target group consists of:

• 1,500 older (60+), particularly vulnerable people who benefit through their participation in self-help groups and through the various health promotion and health education activities.
• Priorities or selection criteria for participants are: extremely low and irregular household income from casual labour, virtually no productive resources; households affected by chronic food shortages; poor housing conditions (substandard building materials, sanitation and household goods); households headed by women (widowed, separated, divorced or with a disabled husband or family member).
• 150 most vulnerable older people to be enrolled in kitchen gardening activity.   
• 4,000 children and young people (between 7 and 16 years old) will have the opportunity to build social capital, improve their health and nutrition knowledge, use life skills through participation in the Shishu Parishad groups.
• Special attention in the selection of participants is given to the inclusion of school drop outs and children affected by child labour, children and young people with disabilities and/or limitations.
• 3,000 mothers who are given the opportunity to participate in Uthan Baithak (Courtyard) sessions on health and nutrition session, prevention of non-communicable diseases, contribute to improving health and future prospects of their children and families by making changes in their everyday’ s behaviour.
• Nine local community mobilisers and two health facilitators, who receive extensive training during the project period and take this knowledge back to their communities.
• Antenatal check-up and referral of 1500 pregnant mothers are indirect beneficiaries of the project. 

4. Situation of the targeted population:

In the project area, the physical and mental health conditions of the local population are precarious. The state social security system lacks massive resources and coverage. Therefore, especially the elderly population groups in rural, marginalised areas are affected by extreme poverty, social isolation and lack of health care.

The needs of the target groups (elder population, children and young people) are to strengthen social solidity. Knowledge about general health and health prevention, especially in the context of non-communicable diseases, is low in the target population. Cox's Bazar district is also heavily affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the context of the Rohingya refugees. The overall fragile and insecure social environment, characterised by a lack of resources, puts children and young people in particular at a disadvantage, so that their mental and physical health is affected in the long term and they are deprived of positive development prospects for their future.

5. Objective of the Baseline Study:

• Identify the current status against relevant indicator to monitor and tracking the progress; and  
• Establish a benchmarks for impact evaluation.

6. Impact matrix:  

The impact matrix is given as annex - 01

7. Deliverables from Consultant:

• Finalize the methodology, data collection tools and content of the study in consultation with GK – Action Medeor project representatives within 7 business days of signing the agreement;
• Test field tools and finalize input integration and share final tools GK – Action Medeor team;
• Presentation of the first draft of the report within 20 days of signing of the agreement;
• Final report within 7 working days after by including input from all stakeholders (15 - 20 pages without annexures, cover page, table of contents including dataset in excel format, etc.,

8. Selection criteria of the consultant:

A Combination of marks on essential qualification plus the technical proposal (rated 65%) and financial price (rated 35%) will be used as selection criterial of the consultant.

The applicant consultant should have the following essential qualifications-

• Postgraduate degree in social science or public health with minimum 10 years of experience in participatory research and program development in the areas of gerontological social services, child development, community health care and social capital, and life skills.
• Sound skills and expertise in quantitative and qualitative approaches and methods.
• A proven record of writing a comprehensive report in English.
• Speaking and understanding of local language will added value.

9. Reporting:

The consultant will report to the Program Coordinator.

10. Payment Schedule:  

11. Institutional Arrangement:

• The interested consultant must submit
• a technical proposal - maximum of 3 pages including the table of contents; the proposal or technical offer will be rated 65%;
• a financial proposal - the price offer will be rated 35%.  a CV;- will be used to justify  section 8 above;  
• COVID-19 immunization certificate.
• Team membership will not exceed two. If this is the case, both CVs are required. The proposed team membership cannot be changed without an acceptable justification from the management of GK.   
• The project will deploy nine Community Mobilizers for full-time data collection under the direction of a consultant, at no charge to the consultant. However, the consultant will be responsible for training community mobilizers for 3 - 5 days (as required) with the consultant's cost.   
• The consultant will cover travel, accommodation, food cost etc of his/her, team member and data collectors. All related cost to be reflected in the financial proposal.  
• GK shall deduct the applicable income tax and VAT under the law of the country (which is approximately 25% plus or minus of the amount payable).
• The proposal should be submitted by 5 PM of September 30, 2022. The proposal will be accepted only by email (Anisur Rahman <anisurrahman673@gmail.com>) and in PDF format (signed scanned copy) with the subject line "Hiring a Technical Consultant to Conduct Base Line Study". GK is expected to have commissioned the study by the end of September 2022.
• A shortlisted consultant may be interviewed prior to awarding the task. GK retains the right to accept or reject any or all application without stating any reason or anything.

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