Save the Children Consultants Jobs Vacancies

Save
the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children. We
work in 120 countries. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we
help them fulfill their potential.
We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the
world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their
lives.

We
are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job
Title: Consultant
– Process Evaluation and Baseline Study for the Stop Diarrhoea Initiative
Project
Location: Lagos
Job Type: Part-time

The
Stop Diarrhoea Initiative (SDI)

Through
the Stop Diarrhoea Initiative (SDI), Save the Children in partnership with
the Lagos State Government and Reckitt Benckiser (RB), aim to fully
implement the WHO/UNICEF 7-point plan as a Signature Programme in Shomolu
Local Government Area (LGA).
This
four year programme will contribute to Save the Children and RB’s global
ambition of removing diarrhoea as a top five leading cause of death
amongst children by 2020. In line with Save the Children’s theory of
change, the programme will: test the effectiveness and efficacy of the
WHO/UNICEF 7-point plan; collate evidence to demonstrate proof of concept
and value for money and advocate the Lagos State and Federal Government of
Nigeria, and its partners, to replicate and scale up the approach
nationally.
The
Stop Diarrhoea Initiative (SDI) focuses on the treatment and prevention of
diarrhoea in the targeted communities. The aim is to contribute to at
least 50% reduction in the prevalence of diarrhoea. The core programme
elements include child health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH),
advocacy, community capacity building/participation, service delivery and
partnership.

Purpose
of the Study

The
overall purpose of the process evaluation is to assess the effectiveness
of selected SDI interventions and document the evidence on the process:
(what is working / not working and explore the reasons why; assess whether
the interventions have been implemented as design intended; the extent of
uptake; challenges; lessons; whether they have achieved their intended
outcomes;), and assess the level of participation of community members and
children.
In
addition, the process evaluation will be used to validate the impact so
far, with specific focus on the results that have been achieved in the
implementation to provide a transparent basis for accountability for
results, decision making, learning and for drawing lessons and for
improvement on future programming.

Specific
Objectives
The process evaluation seeks to address the following issues and provide
specific, actionable and practical recommendations for programme improvement:

Determine
the effectiveness of selected SDI interventions that form part of the SBC
strategy (School Health Clubs, Community Action Cycle and Photo Voice)
Assess
the effectiveness of the school health clubs focusing on: the
functionality of the clubs according to training guidelines; effective
facilitation by teachers; and meaningful participation of children as
change agents for social and behaviour change around health and hygiene at
school, home and in the community;
Assess
the effective uptake of the Speaking Book in school health clubs,
including creating a baseline for schools yet to receive the book and
setting up periodic monitoring opportunities and tools to gauge changes in
knowledge, attitudes and practices of children exposed to the
speaking book and their capacity built for improved health outcomes at
school, home and in the community
Assess
the effectiveness of community action cycle approach on the capacity of
the community to organize themselves to identify, prioritize and develop
local solutions to community issues, plan, implement and evaluate their
progress in a gender sensitive and empowering way for improved health and
social outcomes, reaching the most marginalised;
Assess
the effectiveness of Photo Voice on children’s capacity as change agents
to use the approach as a means of raising their voice on issues of concern
to them to influence policy making and policy implementation.
To
document evidence on successes, challenges, and lessons learnt and
actionable recommendations for improved programming for SDI on selected
intervention.
Assess
the level of effective participation of community members and children in
selected interventions and gather stories of most significant change for
selected interventions;
To
review current monitoring tools and plans for selected SDI interventions
and assess their effectiveness in gathering periodic data which can be
used to document changes in behaviours and practices, as well as monitor
improvements in the effectiveness of selected approaches.
Modify
and/or create new tools to improve programme monitoring, including
participatory monitoring tools that can be institutionalised (used by
existing structures) to enhance sustainability.

Methodology

The
successful consultant will be expected to develop a detailed study
methodology, data collection tools, budget and workplan to undertake the
research study.
The
research consultant must be skilled and prepared to work with children.
Efforts should be made to ensure that terminology and language used
facilitates the integration of children into the discussions of
sophisticated topics and debates.
Child
safeguarding and Ethical considerations regarding data collection, storage
and analysis, including confidentiality must be clearly highlighted in the
methodology.
As
required, the study protocol and instruments will be subject to review and
approval prior to the study’s initiation.

Scope
of Work

The
scope of the research study will focus on the Process evaluation questions
on programme effectiveness. These include what is working and not working,
what are the successes achieved so far, what are the challenges
encountered, what recommendations should be incorporated into the
implementation for the next two years, which mechanisms within the
interventions triggered changes and are these changes being maintained,
what are the conducive conditions for the intervention to work, what is
the level of child participation in Schools Health Committees and wider
community members for CAC and to gather stories of most significant
change.
The
work will also include a baseline for school health clubs focusing on
their existence, functionality and activities to involve children as
change agents; a baseline for speaking book; a baseline for community
Action Learning Cycle; a baseline for photo voice; and a review of current
monitoring tools for selected interventions with suggested
modifications/new tools that will facilitate participatory monitoring for
the process evaluation embedded into existing structures.

The
process and tasks within this work will be the following:

Collaborate
with SCUK Advisors and SDI project team to define the scope of the
research study
Preparation
for field work, including the production of a topic guide and tools for
data collection
Preparation
of logistics for field work
Carry
out fieldwork in x wards in Somolu over a xx period, carrying out xx FGDs,
xx KIIs etc (detailing duration and scope). Final details will be agreed
on.
Preliminary
analysis in the field at the end of data collection presented to key
stakeholders for their input
Full
data analysis and a sub-set produced which will be used for benchmarking
Produce
a substantive report
Carry
out preliminary preparation of the research proposal for Nigiera,
including a review of background literature and key project documents;
Produce
a brief inception report which will be used to input into a more detailed
research proposal
Full
literature and background review and detailed methodology for the research
design
Produce
a one page advocacy summary of the results which will be shared with MoH
Represent
the project and its findings as appropriate and agreed throughout this
process

Key
Deliverables for the Consultancy

Tools
for Baseline, Process Evaluation, and participatory monitoring
Inception
report
Substantive
report including a presentation of data collected and an in-depth analysis
as well as ramifications of the data for programming
Power
Point summary of key actionable recommendations

Educational
Background, Skills and Competencies

At
least M.Sc Degree in Statistics, Sociology, Demography, Psychology or any
other related Social Science. A Ph.D. holder in any of the above subject
will be an added advantage and preferred;
Experience
in quantitative and contemporary statistical packages, as well as in
systematically analysing qualitative data;
Experience
in conducting high quality quantitative and qualitative research in
communities in Nigeria;
Child
safeguarding and Ethical considerations regarding data collection,
including confidentiality must be clearly highlighted in the methodology.
At
least 5 to 10 years field experience in work related to survey or
operational research;
Demonstrable
and practice ability indicating good experience in household survey
through previous work in rural communities, in particular participative
data collection work directly with children;
Planning
should take into consideration Ethical Checking Requirements in country.