National Consultant_Post Distribution Monitoring

Terms of Reference

Context

The continued rainfall from 26 September for three days, resulted in massive flooding and landslide incidences reported throughout the country. The rainfall caused most of the rivers crossing the danger level resulting in flooding claiming 209 death and huge loss of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, public buildings etc. as well as massive impact in private houses in at least 50 districts (http://drrportal.gov.np/), with majority of the damage being reported from Kavrepalanchowk, Sindhuli, Lalitpur, Makwanpur, Ramechhap and Panchthar etc.

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and it’s members worked together with the NRCS to develop IFRC-Wide response plan. The IFRC allocated CHF. 520,000 through Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) operation and Members (American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross and Swiss Red Cross) provided funding support to NRCS for implementing response activities in the most affected districts Kavrepalanchowk, Sindhuli, Makwanpur, Ramechhap, Panchthar and Lalitpur. NRCS deployed 35 of its Emergency Response Team (ERT) members, and 605 volunteers were mobilized to support the operation.

As of January 2025, NRCS had delivered emergency assistance to 1,524 families (6,925 people including 2,453 females) with Non-food Relief items (NFRI). In addition, 2,066 families were supported with multipurpose cash (MPC) grant of NPR.15,000. Similarly, additional 326 people with disability and vulnerable criteria received the Protection gender and Inclusion (PGI) MPC of NPR 15,000. Further, NRCS distributed 238 dignity kits to women of reproductive age.

The NRCS mobilized 35 psychological first aid services (PFA) trained staff and volunteer to provide the MHPSS support to 3,202 community people affected by the flood.  Besides that, NRCS had reached 6,846 people through health and hygiene promotional activities through door-to-door visit, community consultations etc. During the response period, NRCS supported the repair and maintenance of 60 water supply schemes damaged by flood and landslide.

The Government of Nepal requested NRCS to conduct a detailed household assessment and establish Helpdesk for the registration of the affected households in the district. NRCS mobilized 42 volunteers and reached 776 people from 12 helpdesk established in the most affected area. NRCS mobilized 170 volunteers who conducted details assessments of 5,603 households in 6 most affected districts (Kavre, Sindhuli, Ramechhap, Lalitpur, Panchthar and Makwanpur).

Purpose and scope

The overall purpose of this Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) is to collect information related to the relief support received by the affected families, level of satisfaction, effectiveness of the distribution during the operation, by drawing recommendations for future emergency operations in Nepal and elsewhere.

The operation includes services such as relief distribution and cash transfers as well as other activities defined in the operational plan including support from IFRC through the DREF application as well as bilateral support from IFRC in-country members. 

The purpose of this consultancy is to collect quantitative and qualitative data, and analyse the data received from the field (beneficiaries and other stakeholders) by using mobile based data collection application and prepare analytical PDM report. The consultant will carry out the following tasks: 

• Develop questionnaire for household survey, key informant interview (KII) and focus group discussion (FGD) to collect information from beneficiaries and other key stakeholders in consultation with IFRC, its members and NRCS EOC team.
• Develop methodologies, tools and templates for field survey, and gathering of qualitative information in close coordination with operation team of NRCS, IFRC and members.
• Analyse the  coordination approach incorporated by   NRCS in response planning and implementation.
• Analyse the integration and effectiveness of community engagement and accountability (CEA) and Protection Gender and Inclusion (PGI) component and the challenges faced during the response
• Carry out field survey for quantitative and qualitative data collection mobilizing volunteers.
• Analyse the quantitative and qualitative data collected from the field to assess the relevancy of NRCS relief assistances as well as relief items provided.
• Analyse the effectiveness of different cash delivery mechanism used in response operation.
• Make a short presentation on key findings of PDM during the final presentation of the PDM survey. The findings should include household survey findings, qualitative data analysis, etc.
• Submit final version of the report, analysis sheet and work completion report when the report is approved by the management of IFRC Nepal Country Delegation.

The contact focal for the consultant will be the IFRC PMER focal point who will be coordinating with the EOC teams of NRCS and IFRC Members for this consultancy.

Methodology

The consultant is expected to first produce an inception report showcasing the purpose, scope of work, methodology and quality assurance of the final product. Secondly the consultant will collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data, as the consultant will be taking lead on the household survey for quantitative and qualitative data collection by mobilizing volunteers who were not part of the operation.

In addition to this, the consultant will conduct data collection orientation to the enumerators in the districts with district team and other concerned stakeholders. Finally, consultant will prepare report based upon analysis of quantitative, qualitative data with key recommendations for the future references. Detail methodologies will be finalized by the consultant together with the IFRC, its members and NRCS team but will be drawn upon the following primary methods:

1. Inception report: The consultant will produce an inception report highlighting the purpose, scope of work, methodologies and quality assurance of the final product. The IFRC/members/NRCS will review the inception report and assign the work once inception report is approved.
2. Document Review: IFRC PMER and response operation team will collect necessary documents, mainly project plan, periodic progress report and checklists/tools used in relief services which will serve as references to for consultancy task.
3. Data Collection: The consultant, in consultation with NRCS and IFRC and its member PMER team, will develop questionnaire for household survey, KII and FGD. The consultant will use the mobile based data collection application for data collection purpose. The data collection will be led by the consultant ensuring survey is not biased and responses are not skewed. The detailed methodology will be provided by the consultant in their inception report.
4. Data Analysis: For the data analysis, the consultant will develop/use data tabulation template to establish effective analysis of the data. The consultant will engage in extracting raw data from from the mobile base application, cleaning and analysing data to prepare a final report.
5. Reporting: Based on final data analysis sheet, the consultant will prepare draft report of PDM in close consultation with IFRC, its members and NRCS PMER focal persons which will follow a through reivew process from the oepration teams and will be finalized afterwards. The consultant will submit final version of report, final version of data analysis sheets and work completion report to IFRC when Committee of Contract approve the report.

In order to have a triangulation of various data and information, the following quantitative and qualitative data will be provided for further analysis and reference:

• Beneficiary verification data
• Distribution reports
• Other related secondary data

Deliverables

Timeframe and schedule

It is expected that the consultant starts the work 28 February and complete the assignment by 31 March 2025 the latest.

Management of the consultant

• Management of the consultant will fall under existing rules and regulations of IFRC Nepal Country Delegation.  IFRC HR focal person will provide necessary support to organize signing of contract, any mandatory briefings etc.
• For day-to-day work, the IFRC PMER Focal will be the primary contact point together with the IFRC DRM Manager and representatives from the IFRC members (American, British, Danish, Finnish and Swiss Red Cross).
• Travel to field locations is required for this consultancy.

Ethical considerations

It is also expected that the consultant will respect the seven Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent: 1) humanity, 2) impartiality, 3) neutrality, 4) independence, 5) voluntary service, 6) unity, and 7) universality. Further information can be obtained about these Principles at: www.ifrc.org/what/values/principles/index.asp

The following ethical considerations will be observed throughout planning and execution of the evaluation and during documentation and presentation of the findings:

• The process at any point will ensure ‘Do No Harm’ principle. This will not only relate to physical consideration but also emotional and contextual considerations that might affect the well-being or social position of the participating individuals.
• Information at all levels will be confidential in nature and the analysis will be done based on blinding of the characters and context; as much as possible.
• Each person involved and the participating stakeholders will be completely briefed about the purpose of the process and the expected end products, with all the mediums to be used for documentation and presentation of the same.
• Any photograph and contextual information (name, household information, history, locality name, municipality, ward name etc.) will only be published if all the participating members endorse the process and allow publication of the same in totality.
• Any health or social status of the interviewed individuals will not be revealed with his/ her real name on it and without consent.
• The data and information collected will be triangulated in totality before publishing and the same will be done for all the secondary information received.
• In case of the case study and monographs, the consultant will use caution to present the cases with dignity and without any personal judgment and bias.
• The findings, case studies, photographs, process highlights, and recommendations will be shared with the NRCS and IFRC Nepal CD and its members at Kathmandu, before finalizing the document for publication.
• The consultant will not have any personal and patent rights over the raw and refined data and the end-product of this process.
• In case the author wishes to use the unpublished datasets or information, from this assessment; (s)he/they must seek principal approval from IFRC.
• The consultant is not authorized to promise a service or provide solution for any expressed problems. Though (s)he may document the same and make it available to the NRCS and IFRC.
• Complete orientation of the government laws and policies will be pivotal and at any point the consultant must respect and adhere to the local laws and policies.

Qualifications

• Prior experience of data processing, analysis and reporting with demonstrable experience in preparing reviews and reports on post-distribution monitoring of humanitarian programs responding to Disaster Risk Reduction and Response operations with experience of cash and voucher assistance. Strong analytical skills and ability to clearly synthesize and present findings, draw practical conclusions, make recommendations and to prepare well-written reports in a timely manner.
• Knowledge and experience working with the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement is preferred
• Demonstrated capacity to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent English writing skills, with relevant writing samples of similar reports.
• Availability for the entire period indicated in time frame section.

Application procedures

Interested applicants should submit their expression of interest to the following email: aliza.baidya@ifrc.org, by 13 February 2025. Applicant must submit the following documents:

1. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
2. Cover letter clearly summarizing your experience as mentioned above
3. Narrative and financial proposal
4. Sample Report- Please provide a copy of a previous written report (similar type of report submitted to any organization in the past)

Application material are non-returnable, and we thank you in advance for understanding that only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the next step in the application process. Please take note that incomplete application will be rejected.

Notes:

The consultant will be paid as per the IFRC rules and regulations for the consultancy within the country. The consultant will be responsible to manage field travel arrangements, logistics, basic equipment like laptop and other equipment required for their team members with their own, except for NRCS volunteers. IFRC/ NRCS will pay logistic cost and per-diem of NRCS volunteers. All the data, original photos, and related information collected during this consultancy will be fully reserved with the IFRC.