Terms of Reference (ToR) for consultancy service

Terms of Reference (ToR) for consultancy service on

3 days of Financial literacy and financial management training for staff

1.Overview

Rural Development Centre (RDC) Nepal is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit making organization established in May 2002 with its headquarters in Rautahat District of Nepal. Since then, RDC has been heavily engaged in humanitarian assistance, community development, conservation of natural resources, and environmental protection mainly in the Terai region of Nepal through the dozens of humanitarian and long-term development projects reaching out to the children, adolescent boys, and girls, youth, women, land poor, urban poor,  and people living with disabilities, HIV & AIDS, conflict and disaster survivors from most poor, historically marginalized communities such as Dalits and Muslims, Indigenous communities and other underprivileged groups. 

 2.Background

Rural Development Center ( RDC Nepal) Rautahat is implementing a protection-related project in the Rautahat district with the support of Islamic Relief Nepal, emphasizing interventions in protection and livelihoods. This project "Accelerating Actions to Reduce Gender-Based Violence (GARVA)," was initiated in June 2023 and is implemented in the Rajpur and Chandrapur municipalities of Rautahat district. This project aims to reduce Gender Based Violence (GBV) and enhance the well-being of 34,155 women, men, girls, and boys in the project's target municipalities. This goal will be achieved through several key strategies, including improving the economic empowerment of GBV survivors or at-risk women and girls, enhancing the capacity of service providers and local bodies, and raising awareness about GBV prevention and available services.

Rational and consultancy background:

The GARVA project team established Self-Help Groups (in total of 40) and Social Supportive Groups( in total 40). The self-help groups are female groups of GBV survivors or at-risk women whereas Social Supportive Groups are groups of males from the family members of Self-Help Groups. Both groups were provided the one-day Financial Literacy Training. The training has helped them to understand financial literacy but not sufficient. 

The project team is providing livelihood support to the 40 Self-Help Groups; 1000 individuals. The rationale for providing the 3-day financial literacy & financial management training to the project staff is based on the findings of a thorough training needs assessment. The assessment highlighted the necessity for project staff to acquire essential skills and knowledge across various aspects and components of group saving, its importance, and financial literacy to support the livelihood beneficiaries. It is anticipated that this training equips the project to proficiently facilitate rounds of the importance of group saving and financial literacy to the targeted rightsholders.

Training objectives:

The main objective of the training on financial literacy training for the implementing partner’s team is to equip and enable them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and tools to conduct impactful support on group saving and financial literacy to self-help and social supportive groups/their families.

The consultant is expected to achieve the following objectives:

1. Build up participants' understanding of financial literacy and group saving skills and knowledge.
2. Enhance project staff's competence so they can efficiently guide self-help groups on group saving and financial literacy. 

Role or scope of consultant: 

The consultant will provide 3-day Financial Literacy training to the project staff in close coordination and understanding with the GARVA project coordinator. This training will be conducted in Chapur/Gaur-Rautahat. The number of participants/trainees for the proposed training will be 15 January. 

• The role of the consultant includes the following:
• Identify the specific financial literacy and group saving skills that staff members need to develop.
• Conduct surveys or interviews to understand staff's current knowledge and skills.
• Design comprehensive training programs that cover key aspects of financial literacy  to support self-help groups (livelihood beneficiaries)
• provide relevant techniques and tools as well as methodologies and practical exercises on to support livelihood beneficiaries on financial literacy and group saving. 
• Deliver training on financial literacy to staff. 
• Provide/present relevant successful case studies and real-life examples to illustrate improved living standards having financial literacy and group saving skills.
• Prepare, collect, and compile relevant training materials and handouts in Nepali and share them with the participants/trainees.
• Submit a final training report summarizing the training process and outcomes.

Approach and methodologies:

A participatory approach should be applied throughout the course to ensure the active participation of all trainees. 

In addition, the consultant needs to prioritize and apply the following approaches/methodologies while facilitating the training.

1. Interactive training techniques: Utilize a variety of training techniques to keep the learning process interactive such as group discussions, role-plays, case studies, practical exercises, demonstrations, simulations, games etc.
2. Audio visual aid: Integrate multimedia elements such as videos, audio clips, and visual aids to enhance the learning experience.
3. Support and guidance: Offer individualized support and guidance to participants, as needed.
4. Pre and post-training evaluation: At the beginning and end of the training compare and evaluate the progress and the level of knowledge acquired. 

Deliverables: 

1. Provide a comprehensive training plan, and pre-test and post-test questionnaires, and compare the results to demonstrate the participants' increased skill levels.
2. Supply training materials and handouts in the Nepali language.
3. Prepare training reports in English, including a compilation of relevant documents.

Report to: 

Project coordinator (GARVA project) from RDC Nepal

Targeted Participants:

26 participants from the GARVA project including the project manager, officers, community mobilizer, livelihood technician, and community facilitators will participate.

Timeline and Budget:

This consultancy will start as soon as possible, beginning with the development of the training content. The actual training will take place towards the (second week of January 2025). The consultant will prepare a detailed work plan that will be part of the contract. The budget will cover the expert fee for the consultant to develop and implement the training, and reporting. RDC Nepal Nepal will cover additional expenditures as/if required like travel and accommodation for the assigned consultant directly.

Qualifications/requirements of consultant:

1. Extensive relevant experience in designing and delivering practical training in the NGO sector.
2. Proven experience and expertise in facilitating financial literacy & financial management training. 
3. Substantial knowledge and understanding of the GBV and related cultural and contextual dynamics.
4. Excellent communication and facilitation skills (prefer additional Bajjika language).
5. Knowledge of community groups.
6. Relevant academic qualifications (at least a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree preferably) in literacy, social science, or a related field.

Payment schedule

The payment will be done as follows:

100% payment after completion of training. Detain will be mentioned in agreement.

Submission of documents

Interested individuals, who meet the above requirements should apply by submitting their application letter with the documents asked to accomplish the aforementioned tasks with the subject line “Trainer-Financial literacy and financial management Training” before 10th January 2025, 5 PM through email at procurement@rdcnepal.org 

Rural Development Centre (RDC) Nepal

Chandrapur-4 Rautahat

Contact no: +977 55 540203 and +977 9845380628

Email: procurement@rdcnepal.org