Baseline Consultant at CBM International

Background of Project

• The project aims to improve the health and resilience of vulnerable communities in the North-Eastern States of Nigeria affected by the Boko Haram crisis.
• In particular, the project plans to support and strengthen inclusive Health and WASH services as well as inclusive humanitarian response in the targeted communities in a continuum with the previous emergency intervention which took place during the acute phase of the crisis.
• A growing number of IDP returnees are leaving the IDP camps or their host communities, and are heading back to their original communities where essential health and WASH services have collapsed.
• The project plans not only to re-establish a basic provision of health and WASH services in targeted communities but also to ensure that such services – as well as in general the whole humanitarian response - are fully inclusive of all vulnerable groups and in particular of persons with disabilities.

Baseline Study Objectives:

• The purpose is to conduct a baseline assessment for the project on current situation of infrastructure (health facilities/services, boreholes) and the uptake of eye health, mental health and WASH services across selected settlements/communities in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. This is to establish baseline parameters for the BMZ Transitional Aid project.

The specific objectives for this assignment will be:

• To assess access to quality and inclusive health services (eye health and mental health services) in CBM target communities including availability of equipment and infrastructure
• To assess access to disability inclusive WASH services in target communities
• To assess the knowledge and awareness, attitudes and practices of target communities on WASH
• To assess the level of inclusion of persons with disabilities by civil society and political actors and their participation in their activities in the target communities

Scope and intended use:

• The baseline is intended for the project team, community members and stakeholders (government, non-government, etc) as well as CSOs to understand the current situation and gaps for improving the lives of commuity members and their families.

Specific Responsibilities of Consultant
The Consultant shall:

• Conduct a literature review with a view to develop data collection tools for the evaluation
• Develop evaluation protocols and take the lead in executing baseline evaluation using agreed methodology and data collection tools
• Participate in the training of research assistants/enumerators who will be saddled with the responsibility of collecting data
• Participate in and supervise data collection and conduct quality assurance of the data collection process.
• Conduct data management of collected data and submit draft report to CBM.
• Present findings to CBM, its partners and other stakeholders for validation and feedback
• Compile baseline evaluation report, taking into account feedback from presentations and submit three bound copies, data collection materials, a soft copy of the report and analysis outputs.

Methodology
The baseline will adopt a flexible approach to data collection which may include the use of qualitative and quantitative methods. Other methods could include; desk review of all relevant documents concerning the project (project documents, reports etc.), focus group discussions, one-on-one interviews to gather relevant information across various stakeholders at various levels. At the conclusion of the field work, the consultant will analyse the data and produce the baseline report with recommendations.

Key Deliverables:

• An Inception Report in English submitted electronically. This report should clearly outline the approach (sampling framework, data collection strategy, methodologies, evaluation ethics process, quality assurance process etc.)
• Soft copy of baseline report that is clear, simple, concise and free of jargons, with main body not exceeding 30 pages (inclusive of executive summary and recommendations). Technical details should be confined to appendices, which should also include a list of key informants, number of FGD sessions and the evaluation team’s work schedule.
• Presentation of baseline study findings to key stakeholders.
• Soft copy of primary quantitative and qualitative data collection tools and description of the process of development of the tools
• Soft copy of fully “cleaned” datasets of all collected data in two formats; xls and SPSS or STATA format.

Required Expertise

• Interested person must have cognate experience in development, implementation and assessment of public health interventions with evident capacity in conducting baseline assessments, surveys for health and WASH related projects using qualitative and quantitative methods.
• A minimum advanced degree in Public health, development, social science or other relevant fields.
• Minimum of eight years of evaluation experience including relevant experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
• Excellent analytical and research skills with demonstrated technical report writing skills
• Ability to provide strategic recommendations to key stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills including ability to facilitate and work in a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience in disability inclusive development (DID).
• Strong analytical skills and ability to clearly synthesise and present findings.
• Ability to draw practical conclusions and to prepare wellâ€written reports in a timely manner.
• Ability to speak local languages.