Request for Service Feasibility Study

Transcription

1 Request for Service Feasibility Study Advisory Support Services to Independent Civil Society in Transition (ASSIST) January Introduction Country: - Myanmar Project title: - Advisory Support Services to Independent Civil Society in Transition (ASSIST) Project No.: - MMR 1119 Project holder: - Welthungerhilfe Project Budget: Euro Project period: - Expected Start Date April 1st 2019 Welthungerhilfe (formerly known as German Agro Action/GAA) was founded in Today it is one of the biggest private development organisations in Germany. Wellthungerhilfe Myanmar is running projects in the fields of food security, agriculture, water & sanitation, rehabilitation of social infrastructure, and community development in Yangon, Ayeyarwaddy, Chin State, The Dry Zone and in Shan State. Welthungerhilfe has implemented a series of integrated food security projects in Htan Tabin Township from 2007 to 2018 covering a total of 15 village tracts and 60 villages. During these projects, strong community-based organizations (CBOs) were formed and strengthened in the area. These community-based organizations focus on self-administrated community and economic development with an emphasis particularly on the management of self-created village development funds, social safety nets and/or economic cooperation for the improvement of living conditions of the poor and very poor, as well to advocate for further development initiatives to newly formed township development committees and division authorities. Through networking and cooperation, federations of village based CBOs were founded in 2014 in order to provide peer support and have developed skilled resource persons in organizational management, internal control and advocacy for grassroots organizations. These organizations Page 1 of 9

2 are managed by members and self-funded through member contributions and/or profit from economic activities. Below are the main CBOs/ CBO Federations: A Village Development Committee (VDC) Federation (registered as a local NGO) and its member 42 VDCs (5,000 members), which provide village led development, financial support for pro-poor small business development and an emergency health microinsurance; Self-help groups (savings groups) organized in three Self-Help Group Federations (registered as a finance cooperative) which provide savings and loan services to members; Farmers groups, which jointly store harvest and rent machinery for members. Many of these groups are organized into a Cooperative who purchases fertilizer in bulk as well as try to connect member farmers with the private sector. Due to the success of the CBOs and the respective federations of CBOs in the Htan Tabin township, Welthungerhilfe is developing a project to create a capacity building center focused on providing trainings and advisory services on organizational development and management to grassroots CBOs in Myanmar. The training center will apply the novel approach of using resource persons from the Htan Tabin CBOs as the central trainers. Hence grassroots CBO leaders in Myanmar would receive capacity building/training from practitioners who have undergone over 11 years of experience as grassroots leaders, community mobilizers and networkers. The trainings would as well include visits and short term internships to CBOS and CBO networks, where trainees can learn beyond the classroom. The training center proposed to be located in Htan Tabin Township and be managed by the Su Pong Arr Mann VDC Federation (listed above), though resource persons from other CBOs in Htan Tabin would as well participate in curriculum development and the implementation of trainings. The Su pong Arr Mann VDC Federation is also the planned project partner, with project funds provided directly to the organization for the creation of the training center. Welthungerhilfe is currently seeking an independent feasibility study of the above project, with a focus on examining the following: 1. The current organizational capacity building needs of CBOs in Myanmar. 2. The demand for a training center focused on CBO organizational capacity building by development stakeholders (NGOs, CBOs and relevant government ministries). 3. The potential sustainability of a CBO training center and risks to its success. The results of the feasibility study will be used by Welthungerhilfe, as well as the project partner, to guide the project design and implementation. The results will furthermore be used to document the relevance of the project s approach for consideration in further interventions by Welthungerhilfe in Myanmar. Page 2 of 9

3 2 Task description The main tasks for the team are drafted below. The suggested structure of the report is attached in Annex Questions of specific interest for Welthungerhilfe and its Partner 1) What is the (current) situation in the training and capacity building sector for civil society organization in the proposed target areas? 2) Who are the primary target groups of the project and what are their needs? 3) Who are potential Stakeholders and Clients of the CBO training center? a) Which development stakeholders would have specific interests in the trainings center (governmental and non-governmental)? b) What are the supporting and inhibiting factors of including these stakeholders. Would there be competition or other potential risks involved? c) What has to be considered to generate ownership among relevant stakeholders? 4) What are the current demands/ needs in CBO organizational capacity building? a) Which training contents are relevant for the target groups technically and didactically? b) How should the different curricula be developed? Who are relevant stakeholders for the curriculum development? This should take into consideration learnings from previous projects and studies. 5) Is there a demand for a CBO training center? Who would likely use its services (ie who would be the main customers/clients)? 6) Is Htan Tabin Township a relevant location for the training center? 7) What would be a realistic scope of training center (capacity/ no. of trainees/ geographical catchment area) in relation to the demand for its services (see number 4 above) 8) What would be potential operating models of the training center (management model, frequency of courses offered, employment modality of trainers etc.) 9) What would be potential methods to promote/market the center to the relevant stakeholders? 10) What are the potentials for the training center to as well act as central networking platform for CBOs in Myanmar? a) What needs to be taken into consideration to make a networking platform sustainable (e.g. critical mass, scope of outside of Htan Tabin area, benefit for members, etc.)? b) What are challenges for female members to engage in a networking platform? How should these challenges be addressed? 11) What would be necessary for the training center to be financially sustainable? Who would be the main contributors and actors taking into account internally and externally generated resources? Page 3 of 9

4 12) Are there alternatives to the proposed project or any of its components? 13) Are the financial, institutional and human resources proposed sufficient? What additional support may the project partner need? Note to the evaluator: In the report, these specific questions might be integrated into the sections as outlined in Annex 1 structure of the report including the OECD/DAC criteria or/and the chapter conclusions. 2.2 Criteria for the assessment of the project For the feasibility of the project, the OECD/DAC criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability apply. Further explanations of the content and guiding questions are attached as annex Design and methodology The study team will design an adequate process and methodological approach for the study, to be submitted with the proposal. In general, the following methodologies are required for the feasibility study of the CBO training center, though additional methodologies are welcome: Desk research including relevant former studies and evaluations Stakeholder Analysis (including a risk analysis) Needs Assessment/ Market Analysis A critical assessment and discussion of the project s strengths and challenges is welcome. 2.4 Reporting and documentation a) Minutes of the kick-off meeting, documenting decisions, specifications, agreed dates for field visits, reporting etc. emerging from the meeting (in English) b) Debriefing paper, at the end of the field mission that outlines the most important findings of the study, 1-2 pages (in English) c) Feasibility Study report, at the latest two weeks after the field mission, 15 pages maximum, plus annexes. (in English) d) A summary of findings and recommendations for presentation to the project partner using a visualization and wording which facilitates the understanding, 5 pages (in Burmese/Myanmar) Except for point d) details of the reports and documentations are included as annex 1. For d) the consultant will present an example. Page 4 of 9

5 3 Timetable and phases of the study Tentative Timeframe: Total 17 days in the second half of January till beginning of February 2019 (negotiable) (3 days preparation, 11 days data collection, 3 days report writing - negotiable) 4 Profile of the Study team Key Competencies/Areas of Expertise Required: Capacity building, Governance, CBOs/Civil Society, Cooperatives Additional Advantageous Areas of Expertise: Grassroots Advocacy, Community Mobilization 5 Literature and further information - Project Proposal in English and/or German - Planned Logframe and activities - previous evaluations and studies conducted in the proposed project area 6 Deadline and Place of Submission Consulting firms or individual freelancing evaluator that fulfill the requirement shall submit detailed technical and financial proposals via to nathalie.demel@welthungerhilfe.de or as hardcopy in a sealed envelope to Welthungerhilfe 59 A Shwe Taung Gyar Street Att. Nathalie Demel Bahan Township, Yangon The offer closing date for proposals submitted in hard or soft copy will be on January 7 th, 2019 at 5 pm. 7) Proposal Content The proposal submitted by the consultants has to fully comply with the Terms of Reference and must contain technical and financial part. The complete proposal document shall be submitted in soft copy or hard copy. Page 5 of 9

6 Content of the Proposal: a) Application letter; b) Financial and technical proposal with schedule; c) Detailed CV of the consulting team; d) Availability in the whole process of study, e.g., field work, data analyzing, report writing, presentation, etc.; e) References/Work History The technical proposal for the content of the study must at least contain: a) Methodology: detail of the following should be presented - Type of study design - Sampling technique if applicable - Data collection technique - Methods of data compilation, analyzing and interpreting b) Organizational experience and capacity to undertake the assignment c) Work schedule Financial part The offer should contain the costs of personnel (lead and assistant consultant, enumerators, supervisors, etc) and inputs (stationery, photocopying, etc). Transport to and from the project site will be provided by Welthungerhilfe. 8) Proposal evaluation The evaluation of the proposal will be done in two stages. During the first stage, the technical part of the proposal will be evaluated and rated. The financial part will be evaluated in the second stage. 9) Termination If the client finds that the consultant is not discharging its duties according to this terms of reference, it may at any time unilaterally terminate the contract and holds the consultant liable for all damages, financial and otherwise including advance payments. 10) Reimbursement and support for proposal preparation: The cost of preparation of the financial and technical proposals is neither reimbursable nor can be considered as a direct cost of the project. Annexes Annex 1: Structure of reports and documents Annex 2: Information about DAC Criteria Page 6 of 9

7 Annex 1: Structure of reports and documents 1) Minutes of the kick-off meeting (1-2 pages) The minutes of the kick off meeting provide initial feedback on how the study will address the Terms of Reference (ToR). This document might replace the inception report. It is a short report (1-2 pages) or a formless . It is a lighter form of documenting further steps of a study than the inception report. In the minutes, the decisions, specifications, agreed dates for field visits and reporting are documented. 2) Debriefing paper (1-2 pages) For the debriefing, a paper or a PowerPoint presentation (PPT) has to be prepared. In this paper/presentation it is recommended to provide the most important findings concerning the specific questions of interest, the study criteria and recommendations. A hard copy of the PPT also has to be handed over to the participants. 3) Structure of the feasibility study report (15 pages maximum plus annex) Note: The report should be readily understandable to outsiders. Cover page contains the information found in the following illustrative example: Feasability Study on behalf of Welthungerhilfe s Regional Office in Yangon Project Title: Advisory Support Services to Independent Civil Society in Transition (ASSIST) Team Members: Peter Petersen and Rodrigo Rodriguez March 2009 Optional: photo of project activity and/or logo of Welthungerhilfe or relevant donor. Content of the report: Table of contents List of abbreviations and acronyms List of tables, illustrations, boxes, etc. Acknowledgements and disclaimer 0 Executive summary (3-4 pages, independent self-explanatory document) Page 7 of 9

8 1 Introduction 2 Description of project and context 3 Study purpose and users of the study, process, methods, data quality 4 Brief context and problem analysis 5 Findings description, analysis and assessment 5.1 Target group and stakeholder analysis 5.2 Relevance 5.3 Effectiveness 5.4 Efficiency 5.5 Impact 5.6 Sustainability 5 Conclusions and learnings 6 Recommendations Annex Terms of reference Work planning matrix Travel and work schedule Sources (resource persons, documents, baselines, surveys, etc.) Maps, photos, other Optional: Minutes of the final on-site meeting/ debriefing 4) Summary in Burmese Page 8 of 9

9 Annex 2: Information about DAC Criteria Assessment of the planned project based on OECD/DAC criteria (see a) Relevance: Are the planned project activities appropriate for addressing the problem? Does the project approach address a key development problem or constraint in the partner country or region? Is the approach in line with the needs of the target groups? b) Effectiveness: What is the most suitable project approach to achieving the objectives? Are the measures and the chosen methodology suitable for reaching the project objective? What measures does the study recommend with a view to achieving objectives? c) Efficiency: Can the objectives be achieved in an economically efficient way through the planned project? Are the financial, institutional and human resources proposed sufficient? Will it be possible to implement the planned measures within the time allocated for the project and based on the resources that are planned? Will it be possible to achieve the desired impacts, and will all that be possible in an economical and efficient manner? d) Significance / overarching development impact: Will the project help achieve broader development impacts? Which objectives and impacts derived from the problem/needs analysis are to be achieved, and for what target groups? To what extent will the project have a structural impact, to what extent can it serve as a model, and to what extent will it have a broad-based impact? e) Sustainability: Will the positive impact last after the project has been completed (without further external support)? How can sustainability of results and impacts be ensured and reinforced (in institutional, economic, social and environmental terms)? Which socio-cultural barriers may impede the planned approach, and how can they be overcome? What negative consequences and impacts might result from project implementation? To what extent will it be possible to consider and address these risks in the project/project concept (e.g., Do No Harm approach, conflict-sensitive impact monitoring, etc.)? What risks are involved in project implementation? How can they be minimized? Page 9 of 9