Consultants: WA Covid-19, Church & Community Research at Tearfund Nigeria

Tearfund is a development/humanitarian faith-based International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO). It has its presence in over 50 countries. In the West Africa region, Tearfund works in Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone.

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates to fill the position below:

Job Title: Request for Quotation for Consultant: WA Covid-19, Church & Community Research

Location: Jos, Plateau
Employment Type: Contract

Terms of Reference
Background:

• Tearfund works to tackle the causes and consequences of poverty, through integrated approaches of Church & Community Transformation (CCT), Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)/HIV Response, Peacebuilding, Disasters preparedness and Response and Environmental and Economic Sustainability (EES).
• This it does in partnership with local churches, theological institutions, Christian faith-based organizations, Christian church networks and institutional donors.
• Our unique calling as Tearfund is to envision and equip local churches, so they join God in restoring the broken relationships that are causing poverty in their context.
• Our corporate priority of Church and Community Transformation (CCT) focuses on this mission. We have established CCT work in the majority of our country offices.
• This work looks to envision churches around integral mission and a whole life transformation approach and then equip them with practical processes and tools to catalyse transformation both within the church and their communities.
• COVID-19 has been a massive external shock to the world. Anecdotal evidence has been shared by many countries with positive stories of how the churches and communities they engage with through CCT responded during the pandemic.
• This has provided us with an opportunity to consider the varying response capacities of the local church in meeting the emergency needs of their affected communities with a focus on West Africa.
• The purpose of this research is to build on evidence stories reported, investigate and provide evidence of how our CCT work is affecting the ability and willingness of the local church to respond to this crisis.
• The study will also evaluate the impact of the country-level COVID-19 interventions on the local church and communities.

Goal, Objectives and Questions
Study Goal:

• This consultancy intends to look at the research from two dimensions, on one hand, it intends to look at the impact of Covid-19 on the church and communities (Tearfund and non-project sites).
• The consultancy will support Tearfund to conduct a synthesis of learning to evidence how Covid-19 has impacted CCT and how CCT has influenced the local church responses to Covid.
• It will also ascertain the extent to which Specifically how well local CCT churches have coped and adapted to Covid-19, to the partial and full lockdowns and the impact they have had on their members, their families and the wider community response.
• This will inform Tearfund internal learning and sharing of best practices so we and our partners can further support local churches to become more resilient to shocks and may be shared externally if significant findings are identified.
• On the other hand, the consultancy will ascertain the extent to which the various Covid-19 emergency projects funded through the various waves by Tearfund impacted the church and communities where they were implemented.
• It will also draw out lessons for adaptive management and future programming.

Study Objectives / Questions:

• The review will aim to look at how far Covid-19 affected the CCT processes and the local churches ability to function; whether, to what extent, and how quickly, local churches and communities were able to help their members and community; and what strategies and innovations became apparent from a local church and community responses.
• In particular, the study will analyse these overriding questions which have been categorised in two parts:

Part 1: CCT & the Church Specific Learning

• How did Covid-19 affect CCT processes in local churches?
• What was the local church response to Covid-19?
• What was the community response to Covid-19?
• How did CCT processes influence/equip local churches and communities to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic?
• What were the outcomes of the local church response to Covid-19?
• How did Covid-19 affect project implementation processes at Tearfund?
• What learning has emerged from the response on best practice, areas for improvement within CCT and emergency response and how we can further equip local churches and communities for future responses?

Part 2: Covid-19 Projects Evaluation
The objectives of the evaluation are as follow:

• To what extent have the Covid-19 projects implemented in the WA cluster been effective in achieving the intended project objectives? Areas for consideration include:
  • What are the achievements of the Covid-19 project, its outputs and its purpose;
  • What are the contributions towards the project goals, the major factors that influenced the achievement/non-achievement of the project objectives?
  • Was Tearfund’s Quality Standards followed, while considering global standards and especially Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS)?

The evaluation is designed to follow 6 OECD/DAC’s criteria and also the Tearfund’s Quality Standards as the main lines of inquiry:OECD/DAC Criteria:

Impact:

• What was the impact of the various Covid-19 emergency projects on the church and communities?
• What has happened as a result of the project? How many people have been affected?
• What real difference has the project made to the beneficiaries with regard to immediately, medium-term and for their long-term recovery?

Effectiveness:

• To what extent has the project achieved and/or expected to achieve its objectives?

Relevance:

• What is the relevant importance of the objectives and results achieved?

Efficiency:

• How did the project achieve the project outcomes based on the resources used in the given time frame of the project?

Sustainability:

• How has the project empowered staff, partners, community leaders, faith leaders, community health workers, to adequately respond to future emergencies?
• How has the work achieved helped to support lasting impact across the communities served with regards to:
  • Livelihood interventions and sustainability?
  • Strengthening local capacities?
  • Technologies introduced and the efficiency and effectiveness of its usage?
  • How were local stakeholders involved throughout the project cycle?
  • How did the project help to identify and integrate the use of local resources for continuity?

Coherence:

• How well does the intervention fit?
• Does the project create duplication of efforts?
• Does it undermine or supplement the effects of any existing programs or policies?

Tearfund Quality Standards
Behaviour:

• Do you know what kind of behaviour to expect from our partners/team?
• Were you told what constitutes unacceptable behaviour of staff? Did the team talk to you about it?
• Do you know how to report if something wrong/inappropriate happens because of TF/partner staff?
• Will you report if something wrong was to happen? How?

Impartiality and Targeting:

• Do you know why you were selected as a beneficiary of this project?
• Who was most affected by the Covid-19 emergency? Who deserved assistance the most?
• Did you have a say in beneficiary selection? How did you express your opinion/suggestion? Was your opinion taken into consideration?
• Are there people in the community who weren’t included into the project but who should have been?

Accountability:

• What are your preferred ways to share feedback with the team? Did the team ask you how you wanted to share feedback?
• Who do you trust the most in terms of sharing your general feedback?
• Who do you trust the most in terms of sharing sensitive feedback?
• Did you share your feedback with the team? Did you get a response?

Gender:

• Do women have the same access to participate in the project as men?
• As a woman/man, do you feel your voice was heard? Were you asked to participate in meetings? Were you given a safe space to speak? Do you feel the project is addressing your needs? Are the activities timed/located in a way that you can participate without putting yourself in danger or compromising on your other duties?

Empowerment:

• Did the team assess your capacities? Asked about your skills and assets?
• Did you know when the project was going to be over? How did you find out?
• Do you feel you will be able to get on with life easily when the assistance is over?
• How much influence do you feel you had on the way that the project was implemented?

Resilience:

• Do you know what risks your community is exposed to due to Covid-19? How did you get that knowledge? What are you doing about it?

Protection:

• Do you feel the assistance delivery is elderly-/child-/PWD-/minority-friendly? Are they included in the project?
• Did the project make you feel safer/less safe? How has the project affected your sense of dignity and self-worth?

Technical Quality:

• Is the assistance provided meeting your needs? Is it the assistance that you asked for? Is it culturally/faith appropriate?
• Did the project staff talk with you about what they were learning from this project?

Review

• The review will look at different variables with an active comparator, such as length of time/stage within a CCT process, level of Tearfund support and type of CCT process (e.g. integration of SHGs). It will also take into account the varying degrees to which Covid-19 has impacted different communities and countries.
• This study aims to synthesise existing learning and capture new learning in a rapid light-touch systematic review process.
• This is to make use of the range of stories of change, case studies, end-of-project reports, evaluations and also anecdotal evidence already available which will present different degrees of quality and rigour. Where gaps emerge in the learning, specific light-touch learning reviews will be conducted to generate new learning.
• Although there will be a need to verify some findings and ensure a good standard of reliability, the study does not aim to be a rigorous and comprehensive review of all CCT or local churches' responses to Covid-19. Nor is it an attempt to gather only high-level robust evidence. However, the study may recommend further research into specific findings identified.
• This study is intended to facilitate the gathering of evidence and learning by the country-level teams and the data collected is owned by country teams and the WA cluster.
• The consultant will assist countries with the filtering, sorting and synthesising of the evidence, guide and assist this collection and endeavour to encourage and maintain country team participation and engagement throughout the course of the study.

Methodology
The specific role of the consultant will be to:

• Work with the DME Advisor, Programme Managers/Officers and CCT Officers to generate community-level data through KIIs and FGDs to inform the research findings,
• Review final reports, stories of change and case studies of the Covid-19 projects from the WA cluster on TRACK to gather lessons learned as well as ascertain the impact of such interventions on the Church and community.
• Assess how Tearfund’s Quality Standards was followed in the process of project implementation, specifically looking at Accountability, Inclusivity and Community Engagement among others,
• Support the countries’ initial collation and synthesis of their findings at the cluster level,
• Support extra light touch learning reviews and sense-making exercises with countries or where necessary,
• Conduct the cluster synthesis and analysis of the data,
• Produce a report on the findings.
• Consultant’s Suitability

Responsibilities and Duties

• Conduct desk reviews on topics and synthesizes material in the form of abstracts, reports, case studies, stories of change or other research products.
• Complete fact and citation checks on journal articles, research reports, website content and other publications.
• Support the various countries in collecting primary data (KIIs, FGDs and learning reviews)
• Support the various countries (if necessary) in recruiting qualified enumerators for fieldwork
• Data entry and compiling results.
• Perform basic analysis tasks and process qualitative and quantitative data.
• Produce preliminary visual representations of results and findings (tables, graphs, etc.).
• Develop a coding framework for the transcribed interviews.
• Design data collection methodology for conducting interviews/focus groups note-taking, creating protocols, and proofreading translations.
• Produce a final draft of a research report.

Qualifications

• Minimum of Master's Degree in Sociology, History, Demography, Public Policy, Human Development, International Development, Social Science, Gender Studies, Theology, Religious Studies or related fields for Research Consultant position.
• Strong analytic/logical thinking/writing and organizational skills.
• Competence with the Microsoft Office suite, especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Familiarity with packages such as NVivo, Atlas ti, or other statistical software for qualitative analysis is a plus.
• Some coursework and research experience in statistics and qualitative or quantitative research methods.
• Must be a motivated worker and good writer, with excellent grades and detail orientation.
• English language proficiency is required. French is an added advantage.
• Experience in conducting research or evaluation on Covid-19
• Good knowledge of West African dynamics.
• Good knowledge of the Church and Community Mobilisation Process (CCMP) will be an added advantage.

Scheduling

• 12 November 2021 - Sign Contract with Consultant
• 19 November 2021 - Submission of finalised desk review + translation
• 23 November 2021 - Method tools (survey/interview guides) finalised + translation
• 3 December 2021 - Collate all the learning from the various countries and synthesise
• 10 December 2021 - Collate all the reports of all the WA Covid-19 projects from Track and synthesise
• 31 December 2021 - Finalise work remotely with country teams for Field work, Consultant conduct data analysis
• 10 January 2022 - Draft report submitted.

Communications

• Main Contact at Tearfund will be the West Africa DME Advisor, Virgil Anyim.
• Email: virgil.anyim@tearfund.org
• Most communication will take place virtually. Consultant will also be required to visit Tearfund office in Jos, Nigeria for face to face meetings with the West Africa DMEAL Advisor.

Study Output and Cost and Delivery Assumptions:
The expected outputs of the research are:

• Summary of initial findings
• Penultimate draft
• Final version of the report
• A stand-alone study executive summary
• A self-evaluation of the study evidence base using the BOND evidence principles
• Infographic
• Slide set

Expected Outputs:

The final report should be no longer than 20 pages with an accompanying summary 2-pager and slideset.

The report structure:

• Executive summary
• Background
• Methodology
• Findings (organised around the main research questions):
  • Effect of Covid on the Local Church in WA
  • Local Church response to Covid in WA
  • Community response to Covid in WA
  • Impact of CCT processes on the church response in WA
  • Outcomes of the local church response to Covid-19 in WA
  • Impact of the various Covid-19 emergency projects on the church and communities in WA
  • Quality Standards assessment on the WA Covid-19 projects already implemented
  • Learning:
    • Best practice
    • Gaps
    • Recommendations
    • Conclusions.
• The report should present the synthesised findings highlighting differences and similarities between the clusters and countries.
• Required Inputs
• Field research will be conducted by and inputs made by Tearfund staff and partners in the countries where the research will be conducted, Tearfund staff in Cote d’Ivoire, Chad, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Application Closing Date
8th November, 2021.