Terms of Reference (TOR) for Developing a Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) Manual and Tools for the ADRA Network’s Food Security, Emergency, Agriculture, and Livelihood Projects
BACKGROUND
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is the global humanitarian organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Through an international network, ADRA delivers relief and development assistance to individuals in more than 118 countries – regardless of their ethnicity, political affiliation, or religious association. By partnering with communities, organizations, and governments, ADRA is able to improve the quality of life of millions through four crucial impact areas.
ADRA considers monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) as a critical function that helps the agency improve the implementation of its projects and programs and ensures financial and program accountability with its donors. By generating and providing evidence-based information, evaluation contributes to ADRA’s role in generating knowledge on what works to improve the implementation of its development and emergency projects within the ADRA network and other stakeholders. In addition, ADRA also uses MEAL for learning purposes. Lessons learned are collected, analyzed, and incorporated into current and new interventions.
Post-distribution monitoring (PDM) is one of the important outcome and process monitoring approaches commonly used in emergency and food assistance programs to track program activities and measure results in the short term. This means that ADRA can establish whether the beneficiaries of a project have received their entitled assistance. It is also a way to clarify the mode of utilization of assistance among project participants. This type of monitoring also assists managers in finding out the types of problems the beneficiaries face during and after distributions, measuring quality assurance and accountability, and evaluating the distribution process’s overall effectiveness.
PURPOSE
Purpose
ADRA seeks a short-term consultant to develop a PDM manual containing comprehensive guidelines, including practical steps and tools, using humanitarian and development industry standards that can be replicated by ADRA offices to carry out a PDM. The consultant will also be expected to use the experiences and challenges from the ADRA network offices by reviewing past PDM reports and interviews with MEAL officers from ADRA country offices. The manual should include practical guidelines on conducting a PDM, choosing the right sampling method, collecting the right data (i.e. quantitative and qualitative), analyzing the data for decision-making, and reporting the PDM data. The manual should also include standard survey tools and reporting templates. As this manual will be used across the ADRA network offices it is expected to be replicable in both regional contexts as well as emergency and disaster contexts.
METHODOLOGY:
The methodology will encompass a range of approaches and techniques so that a wide range of data and information from diverse sources related to PDM are gathered, as well as voices from a diverse range of stakeholders[1] and regions. The primary methodology to undertake this assignment is (1) literature review, (2) desk review, and (3) internal interviews with key ADRA network office staff.
For the literature review, the consultant is expected to conduct a rigorous secondary review of PDM-relevant literature from global humanitarian organizations and multi-lateral agencies in the emergency and disaster context appropriate to different regions, cultures, environments, and social dynamics to ensure that the PDM manual includes the highest industry standards.
ADRA International will provide a sample of PDM reports from different ADRA network offices that have been conducted recently. The consultant is expected to carefully assess and analyze them to find gaps (with recommendations) or best practices that should be included in the manual. Moreover, to have more in-depth field voices and in case gaps are identified, the consultant is also expected to carry out interviews with select ADRA Network office staff to better understand the challenges and issues faced in the field. The consultant can suggest other appropriate methodologies and approaches that can be innovative to furnish the purpose and scope of work stated above.
The consultancy will consist of desk-based analysis and no fieldwork is anticipated, although ADRA country offices can be consulted virtually.
EXPECTED DELIVERABLES:
Specific Responsibility of the consultant:
- Literature and desk review
The consultant will conduct a literature review of industry standards to base the PDM manual on. The consultant will also review the experiences and challenges from the ADRA network by reviewing past PDM reports from around the network and conducting interviews with MEAL officers from select ADRA country offices.
- Develop a manual to help conduct the PDM:
- The SoW of the PDM survey
The consultant will develop a PDM manual for project staff and implementers to use that contains step-by-step implementation and ensures the quality of the PDM data and reports. The manual will contain the following topics in practical steps:
- Definition and techniques of PDM
- Methodology and design
- Tools and process of data collection
- Data quality assurance systems
- Managing data and results
- Reporting templates
- Results dissemination process
See additional details below.
- Develop standard data collection tools:
The consultant will develop standard data collection tools that the ADRA network can adapt and contextualize to collect quality PDM data and capture the results of the outcomes, including other tools to collect data such as for a Market Price Assessment.
- Incorporate mixed methods surveys:
The manual will include instructions on choosing the most appropriate methods to ensure the quality and needs of the PDM study. It is expected that guidelines on collecting both quantitative and qualitative data will be included. These PDM surveys will collect two kinds of information: quality assurance/accountability data and data to measure the project’s progress on cash assistance distribution or other NFI inputs following the indicators suggested by the donor. Quality assurance and accountability will be measured through questions such as wait times, quantity and quality of food or inputs purchased or received, ease of service, clarity around the program processes, safety, security, and awareness of the feedback mechanisms in place. The consultant is expected to suggest and add other questions as appropriate. The manual should also contain guidelines on training enumerators to conduct the survey questionnaire and focus group discussions.
- Establish a standard sampling mechanism:
PDM surveys are usually administered to a representative sample of project participants using multi-stage cluster sampling when conducted at the field level and simple random selection (SRS) from the overall participant list. The consultant should include a standard sampling methodology for the PDM surveys based on industry standards in the manual.
- Develop standard data collection process:
The consultant will develop a standard data collection process, the tools to be used, and how they should be analyzed. It should also incorporate topics such as how to inform participants about the PDM and what logistics need to be arranged before starting data collection.
- Establish a data quality assurance mechanism:
The consultant will provide robust guidelines on how to incorporate data quality assurance, critically looking into the existing ADRA practices. For example, survey supervisors check data quality on PDM forms daily and provide feedback to the data collection teams as necessary. Specifically, they check that the forms are complete and if any questions are unanswered. Also, they look for any quantities of items entered, etc. If there are problems with data quality, the team or teams are provided with additional explanations on how to apply the questionnaires.
- Managing PDM data and results
The consultant will provide guidelines on managing PDM data and its confidentiality, following the standards recommended by the most common donors and ADRA’s data protection policy.
- Template for Reporting
The consultant will develop a reporting template detailing how the information produced should be used to adjust and adapt project implementation.
- Results Dissemination
Additionally, the manual should include guidelines on how the results should be disseminated and to whom they should be disseminated.
Specific Responsibility of ADRA International:
ADRA International MEAL Unit will provide relevant materials to the consultant, such as PDM reports, periodic check-in calls, and review deliverables.
- TIMELINE AND EVALUATION DELIVERABLES
The consultancy will cover a period between September and October 2024 for a proposed total of 15 effective working days spread over two months.
The following is a proposed schedule:
- Kick-off meeting: September 9
- Full inception report, including detailed work plan: September 10-11
- Review inception report: September 12
- Lit review, desk review, and virtual interviews: September 16-17
- Draft PDM manual: 8 working days
- Review draft PDM manual: September 30-October 3
- Incorporate comments and submit final manual, presentation and orientation of manual to MEAL unit: October 7-8
- Review final draft: October 9-10
- Presentation of final manual: October 14
- MANAGING THE MANUAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
The consultancy will be conducted by an experienced consultant supervised and managed by the MEAL unit director of ADRA International. Key deliverables (outlined above, except for the final report) will be reviewed and approved by the ADRA International MEAL unit director. The consultant will be responsible for the quality of the final PDM manual and the final report, which will be submitted to ADRA International for approval.
Payment Method
The payment for the consultancy will be made as follows:
- Advance payment of 40% of the total budget upon approval of the inception report.
- The remaining balance of 60% of the total budget upon the acceptance of the final PDM manual and report to the satisfaction of ADRA International.
- QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE OF THE EVALUATOR/CONSULTANT
The consultant shall have the following skills:
- Excellent and proven knowledge of MEAL frameworks and PMD studies.
- Proven experience conducting PMD surveys, developing relevant methodologies and tools, and writing reports.
- Demonstrated experience in developing manuals, guidelines, and tools for MEAL
- Experience and recent background in emergency settings, particularly in cash assistance, food security, WASH, Non-Food Items (NFIs), and agriculture sectors in the last five years.
- Proven practical professional experience designing and conducting evaluations over the last five years.
- Excellent analytical and writing skills in English.
- Post-graduate degree in economics, development, evaluation, or a related field specific to the task.
- Experience working with USAID (particularly BHA), multi-donor/partner initiatives, and managing complex evaluations in different contexts.
- Other skills:
- Strong analytical skills and ability to work independently.
- Excellent report-writing and editing skills.
- Excellent data presentation and visualization skills.
- SUBMITTING A TECHNICAL PROPOSAL and SELECTION PROCESS
Submitting the technical proposal
The consultant will be hired through a competitive selection process. Interested candidates should provide a technical proposal (maximum five pages, excluding annexes) and the estimated costs. The technical proposal should include the following:
- Brief description of the understanding of the assignment.
- Presentation of a proposed approach.
- Presentation of a work plan, including timelines, schedule, and tasks.
- The costed proposal (financial offer in USD) should follow the following breakdown:
- Consultant’s fee: fee rate per working day and the total amount
- Any other costs
- Detailed CV and references of similar assignments (as annexes).
- Proposals should be submitted by September 2, 2024, to Nestor Mogollon: nestor.mogollon@adra.org. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Evaluation/selection of proposal
The technical and financial proposals will be weighed at 70:30, respectively. Criteria that will be used to assess the proposals include:
- Expertise, relevant experience, and suitability of consultant.
- Quality and coherence of the proposal, (i.e. methodology, timeline, and work plan).
- Coherence of financial and technical proposal.
After the selection of the consultant, they will be briefed and asked to provide an inception report (to include, but not limited to, a detailed approach and methodology, including stakeholder engagement, evaluation standards to focus on, and data collection and analysis). ADRA International will then evaluate the inception report for approval. The consultant will begin its implementation once an agreement has been reached on the inception report.
- CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The consultant shall be independent and respect ethical standards concerning conflict of interest, confidentiality, and transparency. Any potential conflict of interest (actual or perceived) should be disclosed in the submission documents.
[1] stakeholders here mean ADRA network offices and staff and not necessarily direct beneficiaries.
How to apply
Please send interest to sisi.cruz@adra.org
