Terms of Reference for a Consultant to conduct a needs assessment for the project: ‘Interactive theatre and Legislative theatre for sex workers and their clients’

Background

Through its Community Programme, Theatre for a Change (TfaC) has been working with female sex workers in Malawi since 2007. Our programme uses experiential behaviour change and advocacy approaches to equip participants with the knowledge, awareness and skills to reduce their risk of poor sexual and reproductive health and assert their gender and sexual rights. We have been working with Comic Relief since 2010, and have just begun a new four year project with them.

Objective of the needs assessment

As we begin this new project and round of funding we want to ensure that we have learnt lessons from our previous work, and that our new project meets the needs of the women and girls that we work with - reflecting their priorities and voices. We are therefore looking for an independent consultant to conduct a needs assessment that will enable us:

  • To understand more comprehensivelythe context in which we work, the key barriers and constraints faced by the women and girls we work with
  • To listen to our participants and reflect that listening in our programme design
  • To learn how we can better include participants’ voices throughout the programme cycle
  • To analyse TfaC’s role in the change process for participants, stakeholders and staff involved in the project, trying to identify where TfaC can contribute to change and identify cause-effect relationships
  • To ensure our systems match our values by looking at how TfaC can ensure and demonstrate accountability to our donors and partners whilst also ensuring that the systems for doing this are suitable for the vulnerable women and girls we work with (e.g. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, Financial systems etc.)

Approach:

Part of the needs assessment will be the development of a set of questions we need to answer that will help us to:

1. Examine TfaC’s systems, ToC and current approach

2. Understand the reality of our participant’s lives

3. Understand how change takes place

4. Understand the wider context

Initial thinking includes:

  • How should we recruit our participants and how far is our current reach?
  • Who are we not reaching and why are we not reaching them?
  • Does our theory of change reflect a real process of change for the women and girls we work with? What else do we need to do to achieve individual, group and social change?
  • How do our systems of accountability and the structures within which we work promote or inhibit participation from the women and girls we work with?
  • What are our participants’ experiences of accessing sexual health services? What are the barriers they face in doing this?
  • What are our participants’ experiences of violence? Where are they facing this, who is perpetrating it and how often is it taking place?
  • What are our participants’ experiences of accessing justice (reporting to police etc)? What the barriers to them doing this?
  • What are the barriers to the women and girls we work with in ensuring good health? Which of these barriers does the programme currently address and which barriers is it not addressing?
  • How can the programme better work with the children and intimate partners of the women we work with? Are there other people in the women’s lives that we need to work with?
  • Who are the key stakeholders and influencers that have a direct influence on women’s and girls’ lives? How can TfaC better work with these people?
  • How can social mobilisation for change amongst our participants take place? Is the Sex Worker’s Network an appropriate forum for this?
  • What other barriers exist in women’s and girl’s lives that TfaC are not addressing? Are there ways to include these in our programme?

Methodology

We require a participatory methodology that actively engages key stakeholders, who should be provided with an opportunity to provide input and comment. Our particular focus however is the voices of the women and girls we work with and they should be the primary focus of this piece of work. You should consider including:

  • Regional and national literature review on sex workers and sexually exploited girls in Malawi/in Southern Africa
  • Focus group discussions/ interviews and more innovative participatory research techniques with participants including female sex workers, sexually exploited girls and other stakeholders
  • Interviews with relevant local and national organisations
  • Discussions and interviews with TfaC project staff
  • Review of organisational systems and processes that impact on the programme

Presenting the Findings:

The consultant will be asked to make an initial presentation on the findings of the needs assessment at the end of the research process. This can be done through powerpoint or similar, and will include the headline findings of the research.

This will then be followed by a short report that includes an executive summary and recommendations.

The report should be clear, simply written and free of jargon. Technical details should be confined to appendices, which should also include a list of informants and the evaluation team’s work schedule. The key focus of the report should be the voices of the women and girls we work with, however it will also be important to provide a wider context through desk research of national and regional findings regarding sex work and sexually exploited girls.

The report should finish with recommendations for project implementation and recommendations for how TfaC can ensure that its values of participation and social justice are reflected in its organisational structures and practices.

Deliverables

Inception meeting with project team to discuss scope of work and plans

Agreement and sign off with project team on methodology – including scope of the needs assessment and set of questions to be answered during the assessment

Regular contact with project staff to feedback findings and update on progress

Presentation on initial findings for staff team

Draft report for review and comments by project team

Final report including recommendations

Timeframe

Technical proposals to be provided by 15th October 2014

Interviews with potential consultants to be held by 20th October 2014

Work to start week commencing 25th October 2014

Presentation on initial findings by 12th November

Draft report to be provided by 12th November 2014

Comments and feedback provided by TfaC by 17th November 2014

Comments and feedback incorporated and returned by 23rdNovember 2014

How to apply

The consultant/s should have:

  • Significant experience in international development, HIV programming and SRH and gender programming
  • Proven experience of undertaking similar needs assessment assignments funded by international donors
  • Previous relevant regional work experience, ideally within Malawi
  • A relevant advanced degree (Masters or above)
  • Excellent communication and report writing skills in English

You should send a technical proposal of no more than 5 pages (excluding CVs) which includes:

  • Suggested approach to work
  • Timeline
  • CVs for consultant/s who will undertake the work
  • Fee breakdown

Fees

Please express your fee in UK sterling

Half payment will be made at the beginning of the work and final payment will be made upon completion of a satisfactory report.

For more information about TfaC please see

Please submit your technical proposal by email to stating ‘Comic Relief evaluation’ in the subject heading by 15th October 2014