Live & Learn Environmental Education,Independent Review: Sanitation Enterprise Pilot Approaches, Western Pacific Sanitation Marketing and Innovation Program

Closing
date: 23 Oct 2016

Independent
Review: Sanitation Enterprise
Pilot Approaches, Western Pacific Sanitation Marketing and Innovation Program

Background:

The Western Pacific Sanitation
Marketing and Innovation Program is funded by the Australian Government and is
being implemented in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, PNG and Fiji by a consortium of
Live & Learn (Lead), International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) and
International Water Centre (IWC), working alongside in-country locally
registered offices of Live & Learn. The main focus of the program is the
development and establishment of Community-Based Sanitation Enterprises
(CBSE’s) in urban and peri-urban, informal settlements, whilst also
facilitating an enabling environment for these enterprises to succeed and
thrive. The program also aims to improve sanitation and hygiene outcomes in
schools by working with a range of Change Agents.

During the first phase of the
program, situation and market analyses were conducted to inform the sanitation
marketing approach. The program is now piloting community-based sanitation
enterprises in a small number of communities across four countries. To support
continued learning and improvement of the program, comprehensive, and
country-specific Monitoring, Action Research, Evaluation, Response, and
Learning (MAERL) plans are being implemented. This Review complements other
activities within this plan, to support learning and improvement, and assess
the viability of the CBSE concept.
Review Purpose and Target
Audience:

The purpose of the Review is to
assess the viability of the CBSE’s and associated determining factors. It will
also support learning and improvement of the sanitation marketing approach by
providing an independent perspective of this component of the program. Findings
and recommendations from the Review will support the target audience in
reviewing and updating program strategies and objectives.

The target audience for the
Review includes:

The Live & Learn Program Management and Project
Delivery Teams;
Partner Organisations: The International Water Centre
and International Women’s Development Agency;
The CS-WASH Fund Management Facility, including:

The Australian Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Section
Monitoring & Review Review Panel
(MERP)
CS-WASH Fund Manager and Knowledge
and Learning Manager (Palladium)

Review
Objective and Scope:

The Review will assess the
potential, viability, replicability, and scalability of the CBSE’s in the
sanitation marketing component of the Western
Pacific Sanitation Marketing and Innovation Program. In particular,
the assessment should evaluate the financial viability of the CBSE’s, and
associated issues (enabling environment) likely to determine the success of the
approach. The Review will also assess the challenges and successes to-date in
establishment and functioning of CBSEs.

The main areas of focus are:

Viability of the CBSE’s. The key question is: Are the CBSE’s demonstrating
potential for long-term financial viability in delivering their plans for
WASH products and services?

The Sanitation Marketing
framework (appendix 1) outlines the key factors for achieving a viable and
sustainable CBSE. The Review should use this framework as a guide to assess the
pilot CBSE’s, and determine whether the current approach is suitable.
Additional factors (not identified in the framework) may also be considered.
Critical factors from the framework, for consideration during the Review
include:

a. Review of the CBSE’s

i. Community ownership and
commitment to community-based sanitation marketing

ii. Business processes and
capacity (including human resources – motivation and reward; customer feedback)

iii. Governance and management
arrangements

iv. Technical capacity (sanitation,
marketing, business operations)

v. Appropriate products/services
(market interest/demand, affordability, supply chains, environmental/ disaster
considerations, Gender and Social Inclusivity)

vi. Financial viability of
current plans, and necessity for growth through new products or servicing other
communities b. Enabling Environment factors, particularly those external to the
community, such as sanitation and small businesses campaigns and policies that
support/disable CBSEs

2. Scalability of the CBSE’s. The key question: To what extent can the CBSE’s grow to
deliver WASH products and services in other communities, or expand their
offerings?

This could include consideration
of:

a. Capacity of the CBSE’s to
reach a broader market (and availability of these markets)

b. Ability of CBSE’s to innovate
and expand business offerings c. Mechanisms supporting scale-up, and
requirements for further external support, funding, etc. to realise full
potential

3. Replicability of the models. The key question: Can the Sanitation Marketing approach be
effectively and efficiently replicated (by Live & Learn, or other enabling
actors) to establish CBSEs in other areas and communities?

a. Suitability of planned
mechanisms for future replication (likely effectiveness, suitability for Live
& Learn, suitability for other enabling actors to implement)

b. Suitability of enabling
environment, policies etc, including consideration of potential networks of
CBSE’s and leveraging WASH sector support.

c. Requirements for further
external support, funding, etc, to realise full potential.
Approach and Methodology:

The Review will involve three
main phases: desktop review and planning, field visits and interviews, and
report preparation.

Desktop Review and
Planning:
A package of supporting resources and data will be provided, including:

Operational Plans & supporting documents
Mid-Year and Annual reports, and feedback reports
Monthly reports
MERP monitoring visit reports (1 per country)
CBSE business plans and budgets
Country MAERL plans and toolkit
Analysis reports arising from monitoring and/or action
research activities (as described in the MAERL)

The consultant will review
provided resources as needed to address the Review questions and criteria. A
preliminary activity will assess MAERL processes to identify modifications
required to ensure required data is collected. From the further desktop review
the consultant will identify areas requiring further information or independent
verification, and produce a work-plan outlining how information will be sought
through the second phase of the contract.

Field Visits and
Interviews:

The consultant will undertake
direct interviews with project stakeholders and the Review Target Audience,
which may include:

Live & Learn Program Management Team, including
Executive Director, Program Manager, WASH Technical Manager
Live & Learn Project teams: Project Managers and
Project Officers in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and PNG.
Key partners, International Water Centre, and
International Women’s Development Agency
Key Project Change Agents, in particular CBSE’s, WASH
committees
Project partners, such as enabling environment
stakeholders, in particular National/Provincial/Local Government Dept’s,
other NGOs

The consultant will undertake
field visits to project sites, for the purpose of verification of data and
further development of understanding of the project context, and assessment
against the Review criteria. Field visit activities will include:

Interviews/meetings with Live & Learn Project
Managers and Project Officers.
Interviews/meetings with selected Project Change Agents,
in particular CBSE’s, WASH committees, and with enabling environment stakeholders
including relevant government departments.
Site visits to target market communities, and interviews
and/or surveys with community representatives and householders.
Observations of community, environmental, and business
context
Observations of CBSE operations, marketing, and
facilities.

Report Preparation:

The consultant will complete a
report outlining the Review findings, recommendations, and lessons learned,
relevant to the target audience. The findings should clearly describe the
potential and the constraints of the project strategy and approaches. The
presentation of results is to be intrinsically linked to the Review issues,
establishing a flow of logic derived from the information collected. A draft
will be submitted to the Program Manager for comments.

Further information or
clarification can be requested in this time, and a workshop/discussion held
with Live & Learn and partners to present the draft report and gather
further input to inform any incomplete aspects.

The final Review report will also
include summaries of any supporting source information and interviews.

Timing and
deliverables:

The major output from this Review
will be a Review Report, including sections on:

· Approach and methodologies

· Findings

· Recommendations

Dates : Milestone
/ deliverable

November 2016 : Preliminary
review of existing documentation

Dec 2016 – Feb 2017 : Data
compiled and provided to the consultants

February 2017 : Consultant
desktop review

March 2017 : Consultant field
trips, interviews, further review

April 2017 : Consultant drafting
report

Management arrangements:

The Consultant will be contracted
directly to Live & Learn Environmental Education, and report to the
International Program Manager.

Evaluator Competencies
and Requirements:

A highly experienced team or
individual is sought, which must fulfill the following:

Experience conducting Reviews for large programs (e.g.
upwards of $5million AUD)
Working familiarity with DFAT’s objectives and
indicators
Experience in evaluating WASH Programs. Knowledge of
sanitation marketing is a particular bonus
Experience in business management, social enterprise, or
similar
Experience in the Pacific
Ability to meet the timeframes of the Review