RURAL ROAD III PROJECT. Terms of Reference

Transcription

1 RURAL ROAD III PROJECT Terms of Reference Assessment of the Cost-Effectiveness of Rural Road Maintenance with Local Women s Participation and its Impacts on their Household and Community Livelihoods in Lao Cai province March 29, 2010 A. Project Overview Background Vietnam has made remarkable economic progress in the last decade with an average annual GDP growth rate of 7.5%. This performance is expected to continue over the period of the next Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) 2006 to As a result, there have been significant investments in the road network. By 2002, expenditure in the transport sector reached 4.5% of GDP, 90% of which has been invested in roads. Rapid expansion of the road network, particularly in rural areas, however, has created new challenges in terms of longevity of the rural road system. To implement a coherent and sustainable national rural roads program, Rural Transport Project III assisted Vietnam to develop a fiscally constrained planning, programming, budgeting and procurement process for both rural road improvement and maintenance at the provincial level. The challenge to this project, however, is the limited financial resource allocated to routine road maintenance, which discourages the interest and engagement of local contractors in providing routine maintenance of the rural road network in remote areas. In rural areas, numerous poor women need off-farm job opportunities to earn additional income. However, off-farm jobs are not always available. In some areas, seasonal migration to industrial parks or cities to seek job opportunities is significant. Although migration for seasonal jobs earn them some extra money, there are always adverse impacts on both their livelihoods and the way they take care of their family. Doing routine maintenance of rural roads near their houses such as grass cutting, side ditch cleaning, and tree cutting appears appropriate to them as an additional income generation activity whereas helping overcome the above financial constraints for rural road maintenance. This grant project is carried out to test the above idea by funding a pilot project in Lao Cai province. The project aims to demonstrate that engaging rural women in road routine maintenance is a cost-effective way to maintain rural roads, meanwhile providing them

2 with off-farm job opportunity to improve their household income and enhance their livelihoods. Project objectives 1. Provide women in rural area with off-farm job opportunity in road routine maintenance work, thereby improving their income for their family. Increased control over earnings is also expected to bring about increased ability to manage and participate in their families and communities affairs. 2. Trial to see if road routine maintenance (through engaging local women along rural road) is cost-effective, 3. Raise awareness of rural people about the need for routine maintenance of rural roads which are typically underfunded, and (if the trial is successful) 4. Provide work skills in road routine maintenance to local women to put into place a sustainable and cost-effective road routine maintenance arrangement. Project site Four communes of Ban Lien, Nam Mon, Nam Tri and Hoang Thu Pho of Bac Ha district of Lao Cai province were selected as the project sites. Bac Ha district was selected because it is categorized as the most difficult and poorest district among sixty-one districts in Vietnam. Bac Ha is home to 53,157 people of which 85% are from ethnic minority groups and more than 50% of the households are of poor households. Before the project begins, quality of already constructed roads in all eight communes (including the above four communes) were assessed to establish a quasi-experiment with four treatment communes and four control communes. This experimental design aims to compare post-ante and post-ext impact of this pilot project. After six months, the quality of the roads in these two groups of communes as well as the expenditure for rural road maintenance will be evaluated. A final report will be prepared and delivered to the Lao Cai People s Committee (PPC), provincial Department of Transport (PDOT) and the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) for their review and followup action. Project activities The Women s Union of Lao Cai Province was contracted to manage, monitor and recruit women who live along the rural roads in four treatment communes of the project to engage in carrying out routine maintenance of the road section that cut through their communes. Before this is done, training to participating women and necessary equipment will be provided to recruited women to ensure they can do the work properly while ensuring safety at work. Details of road sections are as follows: Nam Mon commune: Nam Mon Coc Ly roadlink: 17 km 2

3 Nam Det commune: Nam Tri Nam Det roadlink: 11km Hoang Thu Pho commune: Ban Pho Hoang Thu Pho roadlink: 8.5km Ban Lien commune: road leading to Ban Lien: 14.5km The project is scheduled to start on 18 January 2010 and close on 30 April The overall budget is USD35, 000 (of which USD30, 000 is allocated to training of participating women and wage payment to routine maintenance works, USD5, 000 is earmarked for overhead management cost and other relevant activities. The Women s Union of Lao Cai, in collaboration with the Office of Urban Management of Bac Ha district, is expected to: 1. Organize training sessions for recruited women to do road routine maintenance in 4 treatment communes (training material is the Provincial Rural Road Management Handbook published by the Ministry of Transport), 2. Prepare activity plan, conduct supervision, hand-over, payment and audit as necessary to ensure three rounds of road routine maintenance are carried out within the above project time frame. This includes their evaluation of road conditions in four communes and preparation of bill of quantity. 3. Prepare monthly report on the routine maintenance activities and final report upon the completion of the project. Expected project outcomes Economic: Cost-effectiveness achieved through engaging women (living along rural road) in carrying out routine maintenance of rural road. Household income generation: Income level increased, contributing to enhancing the quality of life (through increased daily food diet and income for children s tuition fees/school supplies, family health care, agricultural inputs ) Women empowered through positive changes in husband s attitude towards women from the perspective of women s role in the family and in decision-making in family businesses. Community participation: High level of women participating which contributes to enhancing their family s income. Participation of women in road maintenance contributing to enhancing cohesion among members of local women s union and neighborhood. Road maintenance practice adopted by local people (women in particular) 3

4 Project timeline No Activity By when 1 Conduct first round of routine maintenance for about 60 Km of 15/01/2010 roads in 4 communes 2 Conduct second round of routine maintenance for the same 60 Km 29/02/2010 of roads in 4 communes 3 Conduct third round of routine maintenance for the same 60 Km of 15/04/2010 roads in 4 communes 4 Prepare assessment report on the output and outcome 15/04/ Final report 03/05/2010 B. Terms of Reference Scope of work Using relevant methods, the Consultant(s) are expected to: 1. Conduct a financial benefit-cost analysis (BCA) to assess the cost-effectiveness of this project by comparing costs incurred from road maintenance between communes using the with project and without project framework (treatment vs. control). 2. Assess social advantages and disadvantages of this project through examining a) the level of participation of women in rural road routine maintenance, b) the socioeconomic benefits that the project bring to women participants as individuals and as members of local women s union, empowerment opportunity (gender), and project s impacts on their family s and community s social capital. 3. Assess the success likelihood for replication of this model to other parts of Vietnam. Deliverables and Timetable Deliverable 1. Inception report (detailing data collection method/tools/plan, data analysis method, financial and human resources, and report outline) Timetable 5 days WB s prior review needed 4

5 2. Conduct field works 5 days 3. Submission of draft assessment report 7 days needed 4. Submission of final assessment report 3 days Budget and Payment Schedule The assignment is set up as workday basis with an expected start date of 15 May 2010 and end date of 5 June Disbursement schedule will be as follows: Signing 10% Inception report 20% Fieldwork 30% Final report 40% Reporting The Consultant will report to Ms. Tran Thi Minh Phuong (Task Team Leader) of Rural Road III project. The Consultant is expected to undertake the work in close coordination with Mr. Le Anh Tuan (Social Development Specialist), Mr. Daniel Mont (Senior Poverty Specialist), Mr. Nguyen Hong Ngan (Communication Specialist) and liaise with the support team - Ms. Nguyen Bich Thuy (Program Assistant) from the World Bank. The consultant is expected to liaise on an as-needed basis with project s local partner in Lao Cai province (provincial Women s Union) to arrange field work, conduct interviews, participants observation, and to collect secondary data from project collaborators in Lao Cai (including provincial People s Committee, Women s Unions at provincial, district and communal level, local mass organizations, provincial Department of Transport (PDOT), Office of Urban Management of Bac Ha district, Ministry of Transportation, local and international NGOs) to collect relevant data for analysis. Fees will be paid upon submission of invoices, with evidence of work accomplished, and according to the schedule above. Required qualifications and experience The Consultant shall be a local firm, research institute, or appropriate civil society organization which can conduct economic analysis, particularly benefit-cost analysis, and social and poverty analysis with focus on community participation, gender analysis, social capital and institutional arrangement. Professional skills include communication skills, field-based applications of participatory learning and action (PLA) methods and approaches, combined with qualitative research skills including focus group discussion, key informant interview, in-depth interview, participant observation, ethnography, and 5

6 knowledge relevant to understanding of community participation, gender analysis, institutional arrangement, consensus building, collective action in the rural and ethnic minority context. The Consultant should include on the research team member with direct experience of having conducted participatory poverty assessments or other forms of vulnerability assessment. Ability to draw on, triangulate between, and synthesize across a wide range of quantitative and qualitative data sources is essential. 6