NEW DISTRICT EXPANSION NEEDS ASSESSMENT: TERMS OF REFERENCE

BACKGROUND

The Water Trust empowers the poorest rural communities in Uganda to provide clean water and healthy homes for children and their families to thrive to their maximum potential. The Water Trust focuses on improving sustainability and instilling behavior change through Self-Help Groups. Its long-term goal is to advance universal coverage of sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene services and healthy norms in Kiryandongo and Masindi and eventually, the rest of rural Uganda. Over the last 16 years, TWT has heavily invested in Masindi and Kiryandongo districts and the  WASH coverage in these two districts has greatly improved and some focus sub counties are close to saturation. The Water Trust seeks to expand its programs to a new district in the next 1 or 2 years to spread the impact and touch more lives in Uganda.

OVERVIEW OF TWT PROGRAMS

The Water Trust implements comprehensive WASH projects in communities and institutions. The Water Trust selects communities for water points, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure based on factors such as geography, needs assessment, community involvement, and long-term sustainability. The Water Trust plans to conduct a needs assessment of Hoima, Nwoya, Oyam, and Kagadi Districts to gather information that will guide their expansion in the district.

PURPOSE  OF THE CONSULTANCY

To conduct district wide WASH needs assessment of Hoima, Nwoya, Oyam, and Kagadi Districts in Uganda and generate data to inform future expansion of TWT programming.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. To collect basic information about the 4 districts related to WASH needs and programming and establish the status of the following parameters (disaggregated to the Sub County level):
   • Total number of water sources and the level of safety and reliability
   • Sub counties without adequate water points 
   • Hygiene and sanitation levels in schools and Health Centers
   • Water points associated with village loans and saving groups.
   • Community level sanitation coverage across sub counties in each district. 
   • Other WASH partners working in the 4 District and their areas of operation (technical and geographical scope) 
2. To identify districts and sub counties in greatest need of WASH interventions and implementing partners.
3. To recommend priority districts and sub counties for WASH intervention programming by TWT.

SCOPE OF THE CONSULTANCY

• Develop and submit the assessment protocol including the methodology and tools that will be utilized for data collection and analysis.
• Develop and submit the assessment work plan and comprehensive schedule for field assessment visits.
• Propose a draft structure for the needs assessment report.
• Conduct a desk review to rank the 4 proposed districts based on available reports, from the Ministry of Water and Environment and other partners.
• Conduct field visits to locations in accordance with the work plan.
• Conduct consultation (using key informant interviews or FDG methodologies) with MWE, district and sub county leaders, water sector authorities, implementing partners, members of potential beneficiary communities, and other stakeholders.
• Provide a list of  WASH infrastructures or systems across the district and include their functionality status.
• Compile and present a comprehensive report and summarised powerpoint presentation to TWT.

TIMELINES 

The Consultancy will run for a maximum period of 3 weeks. The final deliverables will have to be shared with TWT by the 25th January 2025.

GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE

This assignment will be held in one of the following districts;  Hoima, Nwoya, Oyam and Kagadi districts. The consultant will survey all water sources in one of the 4 districts and assess sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, including those in schools and health centers. The district to be surveyed will be determined based on the initial assessment.

The district based stakeholders for this mapping are the local government officials both technical and political i.e. Chief Administrative Officer, Resident District Commissioner, District Chairperson, District Health Officer, District Education Officer and District Water Officer.

METHODOLOGY

Once a successful applicant is selected, the chosen consultant will be expected to develop a detailed research methodology in collaboration with The Water Trust team. The mapping process will utilize both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Since the mapping aims to cover entire districts, the consultant will not be required to use any sampling techniques. All objectives will be addressed through the survey findings, which will be reported to The Water Trust.

Whereas the TWT contends that it is the responsibility of the consultant to develop and implement the most suitable and appropriate study methodology, here are some suggested methods,

• Desk review of WASH resources including MWE website, district websites, UBOS e-library, TWT e-library e.t.c.
• Key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders. 
• Focus group discussions with identified groups.
• Data collection to be done using electronic platforms and tools e.g mWater.

OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES  

An inception report with detailed execution plan including tools, study sample and implementation timeline

1. A  draft report after data collection  
2. A final report in the format outlined below

• Executive summary
• Background information
• Brief project description and context
• Objectives of the assessment 
• Methodology
• Finding 
• Recommendations 
• Conclusions.  

1. A powerpoint presentation summarizing the needs assessment methodology and findings. 

The consultant will also be required to submit the data collection tools, datasheets, or datasets used for analysis. Additionally, the consultant may include any other relevant concerns related to the study.

BUDGETS  

The consultant is expected to develop a Realistic Budget which will be used as a basis for the financial evaluation. Note that statutory deductions (withholding Tax) will be levied on the consultancy fees. 

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

The Consultant should have at least 5 years’ hands on professional experience in conducting evaluations, Research studies, Needs assessments, programme & Project Design and implementation in the WASH sector/ programs. 

Relevant academic qualifications will be considered as part of the evaluation.

Interested individuals who meet the above description of competence should submit a;  

• Technical proposals including Expression of interest 
• CVs of the consultant(s) 
• 1 pager listing similar assignments conducted in the past  
• Budget for the assignment including logistics.  
• Any other information deemed relevant  

Qualified and experienced individuals and companies that are duly registered and operating in Uganda are eligible to apply.

Application process

All candidates are encourage to apply early. The last date to submit applications is December 16th, 2024, at 5 p.m. EAT. Incomplete applications will not be considered. No paper copy applications will be considered. 

The Water Trust does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process nor request any information related to bank accounts.