Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) Research at Plan International

Plan Nigeria invites interested individuals or research teams to submit application documents for the assignment of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) Research – MMC, Jere, Konduga, Askira/Uba and Damaturu LGAs of Borno & Yobe States.                                   

                                                 GAC-EiC Project

Educating vulnerable and hard-to-reach girls and adolescent girls in Northeastern Nigeria

Scope of Works:

Two models for delivering demand-side incentives for adolescent girls’ education will be implemented concurrently in the project: i) conditional school vouchers and ii) conditional cash transfers. This research will assess the efficiency and effectiveness, and equity of the two models on participation in school. This includes the impact on local markets.

Based on evidence gathered from demand-side financial interventions in non-crisis environments, combined with the contextual factors in Northeast Nigeria, as well as the pilot voucher/cash program implemented by Plan International in 2018, the hypothesis guiding the CVA in the EiC project is that direct financial support for families will increase the participation of adolescent girls in secondary school, with increasing returns to cash transfers over vouchers due to greater flexibility in reallocating household finances. This hypothesis is dependent on the equal provision of supply-side interventions that guarantee access to education.

An additional hypothesis is that flexible household financing for adolescent girls’ education will support increased adaptation to a changing environment (specifically security and the related constraints on resources that encourage negative coping mechanisms). This will be evidenced by continued attendance at school during periods of increased crisis. Sustainability considerations will be incorporated through assessing the potential for channeling financial support through existing community level mechanisms, including Village, Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), microfinance banks or through mobile telephone payments.

Qualifications and experience of Consultant:

• 7-10 years of experience in conducting research, particularly in the education or CVA sectors
• In-depth knowledge and experience in conducting research in Nigeria.
• Fluent in spoken and written English and at least one member of the team fluent in local language (Hausa).
• Good knowledge of education challenges that girls in Nigeria face
• Good understanding of socio-economic and cultural realities of NE Nigeria
• Good understanding of the Education policies and programmes in NE Nigeria
• Excellent analytical and research report writing skill,
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Able to travel to remote locations and communicate with children, men and women

For the Research Questions, Goals and Objectives, Methodology, Key Activities and Outputs, Deliverables, Supervision, Deliverables and Time Frame, Qualifications, please click on the link: https://tinyurl.com/mt8p3wnk