Terms of Reference for case stories collection on Gender Justic, Climate Resilience and Zero Hunger (Food System)

Terms of Reference for case stories collection on Gender Justic, Climate Resilience and Zero Hunger (Food System)

Global Hunger Index Launching Program, Nepal

On behalf of Welthungerhilfe and partner organizations,

17 January 2025

1. INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in Germany operating in the humanitarian assistance and development fields. It was established in 1962, as the German section of the “Freedom from Hunger Campaign”, one of the world’s first initiatives aimed at the eradication of hunger. Welthungerhilfe’s work is still dedicated to the following vision: All people have a right to a self-determined life in dignity and justice, free from hunger and poverty.

Welthungerhilfe (WHH) has been operational in Nepal since 2012, and it is currently managing different projects in eighteen districts under seven thematic areas (sectors): Humanitarian Actions, Agriculture, Climate Reliance and Natural Resource Management, Nutrition & Health, WASH, Economic Development, Economic Empowerment, Civil Society Empowerment and ICT4D. WHH works partnership with civil society in Nepal to empower socially marginalized and economically poor citizens, to strengthen their resilience and to ensure their right to adequate food and nutrition through a systems thinking approach.

Welthungerhilfe with Concern Worldwide and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) launched the 2024 Global Hunger Index: How Gender Justice Can Advance Climate Resilience and Zero Hunger on 10 October 2024 globally. Based on global launch, Welthungerhilfe CO Nepal is planning to launch GHI 2024 country specific report partnering with LI-BIRD on 7 March 2025. The event aims to share the findings and recommendations of the 2024 GHI report and create a platform for conversation on how to foster gender and climate justice for Zero Hunger and come up with guidelines to advocate for sustainable food system. For this purpose, WHH Nepal is planning to collect the five case stories related to gender and climate resilience (looking at changing roles of women and men to foster equality and climate justice) from its working areas to present in the launch event. It will support foster discussion among policy makers, institutions, academia and government to strengthen the policy as well as contribute in GHI 2024 global theme.  

2. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The purpose of this assignment is to collect and finalize the five case stories from different project areas on gender, food security and climate resilience based on GHI 2024 global theme and rapporteur GHI event.

3.  Users of the Results Generated under this Assignment

The primary users of the results of this assignment will include: 

• Welthungerhilfe Nepal to design the concept for GHI launching event,
• Welthungerhilfe Head Office to compile reliable evidence GHI 2024 global theme,
• Partner organizations
• Policy and decision makers
• Event participants and the Donors to foster the policy brief to reduce the hunger

4. Scope of the assignment

The assignment will be based on the GHI 2024 global report and its theme. The assignment will review the existing case stories available in WHH and its partner organization office and collect the relevant five case stories from field covering different geographical area of Nepal. The person will also be required to rapporteur for one day GHI Launch on the 7th of March 2025

5. Assignment design and methodology

The assignment will be applied qualitative methods to collect the stories from field. However, the consultant/agency is expected to elaborate in their proposal on:

• Refinement of key areas of inquiry: the process that they intend to employ to support Welthungerhilfe and partners to refine the key areas of inquiry based on the Impact-oriented data assessment exercise.
• Preliminary methodological approach: provide a preliminary description of the proposed assignment approach and methods, including an outline of methodological and logistical considerations (such as desk review, area selection, quality assurance, coordination with local partners and stakeholder). 
• Ethical considerations, such as do no harm, confidentiality and informed consent will be strictly adhered throughout the assignment process. The consultant must sign an agreement to protect personal data collected through this assignment.

In the case of qualitative data collection, transcripts from interviews and group discussions should be shared with WHH.

6. Managerial Arrangements/ roles and responsibilities

The consultant/agency will be responsible for the design and execution of the full assignment. 

The incumbent consultant/agency will report directly to the MEAL Expert as single point of contact for this assignment. S/he will facilitate overall coordination with all country & HQ teams, logistics, monitoring, sharing documents & data, review, and approval of all consultants’ outputs/deliverables. Besides this, WHH Nepal will establish a steering committee, comprising country director (WHH Nepal), Senior Policy Advisor Global Hunger Index (WHH, Germany) and communication officer (WHH Nepal). The steering committee will provide guidance in the consultant work (briefing, debriefing, inputs in report and approval) and steer the process.

7. Timeframe

The final deliverables of the case story assignment are expected to be available by 20 February 2025. The rapporteur services will be needed on the 7th of March 2025 and the report for one day event to be completed by the 31st of March 2025. The consultant/agency is expected to develop a workplan as part of the proposal, including timeline that would be feasible to ensure high quality results.  

8. Deliverables

The following deliverables are expected to be produced by the consultant/agency: 

1. Inception report (max. 3 pages for the main text without front page, table of contents and annexes). The inception report should set out the planned design, methodology, data collection and analysis plan, as well as case story outline template.
2. Five Case stories draft and final: English, 2-3 pages in each case story. The final deliverables need the approval of the Contracting Party. In case of dissent, there has to be a documentation of the matter.
3. GHI Launch Event Report: English, prepare and share GHI launching event report after completion of event on 7 March 2025.
4. Photos: High-quality photos of the process (e.g. FGDs, interviews) to be submitted in JPEG or GIF format. The informed consent of the person(s) capture in the photos is a prerequisite.

9. Resources & Available data

Available story and documents will be made available to the consultant on finalization of contract. This will include GHI 2024 details report, brief report, country specific information and brief. 

10. Confidentiality

The consultant shall protect the confidentiality of those participating in all stages of the assignment. All information and data acquired from documents, during interviews and meetings are confidential and remain at all times the property of the contracting party. The study deliverables, and all materials linked to the assignment, produced by the consultants or the organization remains the property of Welthungerhilfe and must not be shared with third parties without a written approval from Welthungerhilfe. This clause will hold beyond the life of the TOR signed between WHH and the agency. After completing the assignment, the agency shall safely purge all primary and secondary records/ data associated with the evaluation study assignment.

11. Expertise of evaluators

Welthungerhilfe seeks a qualified consultant/agency, with a blend of international and national expertise, to ensure comprehensive, context-sensitive insights into the program's evidence base. The consultant should collectively possess the following minimum qualifications and skills:

1. Sector Expertise

• Demonstrated capacity to produce very high-quality case studies from the field
• Demonstrated experience in conducting complex, qualitative assignment, including impact documentation and case story development especially within the areas of nutrition, food security, gender, climate resilience and food system.
• Proven experience with multisectoral program documents and knowledge management.
• Demonstrated ability to apply innovative impact assessment methods.

2. Technical Knowledge

• Understanding of food system and climate and gender sensitive and interventions and how they interact with sectors like agriculture, and malnutrition and hunger.

3. Language Skills

• Strong written and oral proficiency in English is essential.

4. Additional Considerations

• Strong interpersonal and facilitation skills to engage effectively with diverse stakeholders, including government officials, local organizations, and community members.
• At least master’s degree in development studies, public health and agriculture.

12. Technical and financial offer

Applicants need to provide a technical and financial offer;

• The technical part of the offer should include reference to the perceived feasibility of the Tor. It should also include a brief description of the approach, design & methodology of the assignment as well Capacity statement of the proposed team and a workplan (maximum 4 pages);
• The financial part includes a proposed budget for the complete assignmnet. It should state the fees per working day (plus the respective Taxes, if applicable), the number of working days proposed and other costs (e.g. travel costs, accommodation, per diems, etc). Proof of professional registration and taxation is also required (e.g. by providing the evaluator’s tax number);
• CV(s) with references;
• Proof and examples of relevant previous assignments, including one writing example (ideally final report) of a relevant previous assignment.

Followings are the key consideration while preparing the budget:

• All insurances are the responsibility of the evaluator(s).
• Soft copies of relevant documents will be provided by Welthungerhilfe.
• Welthungerhilfe staff will facilitate community access.
• Laptops need to be provided by the evaluator(s).
• Offers will be accepted from individual consultants, commercial companies, NGOs and academics.

13. Supplier selection criteria

A proposal evaluation committee will evaluate the received proposals. The final score for each proposal will be the weighted average of scores received in technical and financial evaluation, with weights assigned as 60% and 40%, respectively. The proposal with the highest weighted score on the combined technical and financial proposal would be the contracted.

14. Deadline for proposal

The interested and qualified consultant/ consulting firm must apply by 17:00 hours (COB) dated 26 January 2025 via email address given below (subject of the email “Case Story-GHI 2024 Nepal”) Email: procurement.nepal@welthungerhilfe.de

The proposal should include the following documents:

1. Letter of expression of interest (EoI) signed by the main applicant.
2. Detailed technical and financial offer as stated in bullet 12 above
3. Firm/Individual profile detailing the past assignments (at least one sample copy)
4. Detailed curriculum vitae of the consultant and of all team members, if any, highlighting their areas of work and experience
5. Company registration certificate (for Firm)
6. Latest tax clearance certificate (For Firm)
7. VAT registration certificate (for both firms and individual consultants).
8. Signed supplier declaration form

Please go through the link below to download the Supplier Declaration form:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1mF1KsdArY4DQzogca8ZjSB3BZLmIFvyt

Please note that the selected consultant/ consulting firm should adhere with WHH data protection and other relevant policies during the assignment.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for further evaluation process. Welthungerhilfe Nepal reserves all the rights to reject any or all application without assigning any reasons.