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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST & TERMS OF REFERENCE

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF) is the oldest and largest international health development NGO based in Africa. With headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, AMREF implements approximately 150 health projects in East, Horn, Western and Southern Africa, with support offices in Europe and North America. Building the capacity of Africa’s health systems, AMREF works with communities to achieve lasting health change in Africa.

AMREF has prioritized its work under a three-year Business Plan that runs from October 2011 through September 2014. The Business Plan focuses on five health strategic directions, supported by research and institutional development. AMREF emphasizes documentation of results and reporting of data, with six global targets as well as outcomes for health programming and institutional development. To support implementation of the Business Plan, AMREF launched a global Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system. AMREF seeks to undertake a mid-term review (MTR) of the Business Plan in June – August 2013.

PURPOSE AND SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The purposes of the mid-term review are as follows:

• to provide information that can be used to assess the effectiveness of Business Plan implementation, using milestones where appropriate;
• to identify areas of progress and challenges and to propose corrective action as appropriate;
• to identify in advance other areas of health that are not covered by the Business Plan and that AMREF will need to consider in future plans.

Specific objectives

There are several objectives for the midterm review, which will require external technical assistance, for reasons of objectivity in the assessment.

1. To document changes (qualitative and quantitative) related to key Business Plan milestones, outputs, and outcomes specified for each focus area (SD 1-7).
2. To document the extent to which AMREF’s technical strategies are (a) actually being implemented by programmes in SD 1-6, and (b) demonstrating expected results through implementation.
3. To assess the extent to which AMREF’s support services and health programmes have modified their functioning to align with the Business Plan and link more closely together.
4. To identify potential additional health issues that AMREF will need to consider in planning its next business and implementation plans, for more effective delivery of SD 1-5 of the Business Plan, or because the issues are important to the health of communities with whom AMREF works and will be priorities in the next Business Plan or in AMREF’s post-2015 agenda.
5. To assess how AMREF has moved toward greater sustainable financing of its own work, and suggest additional steps to be undertaken.
6. To assess the extent to which AMREF offices have moved toward becoming a stronger, more unified ONE AMREF, including management and governance.

SCOPE OF WORK

The consultant in consultation with AMREF will be expected to undertake the following tasks:

• Review key AMREF and other relevant documents;
• Prepare an inception report 7 days after onset of the consultancy that reflects the understanding of the midterm review, details an appropriate and acceptable methodology and expected outputs, and identifies any additional data requirements, for approval by the AMREF MTR Reference Group;
• Use the AMREF M&E system and relevant indicators for the MTR to develop comprehensive data collection tools;
• Collect, clean and analyze data;
• Prepare an MTR draft report and Powerpoint presentation in formats agreed with AMREF;
• Circulate draft reports to AMREF and incorporate feedback into the revised reports, keeping to the agreed schedule;
• Submit the final MTR report and presentation to AMREF, by 6 September 2013.

APPROACH

The MTR will involve review of existing documentation with some, limited data collection. For SD 1-5 (global targets, other indicators and qualitative outcomes), key documents will include the baseline for the Business Plan and external data sources, such as DHS, MICS, AIS, and other national surveys in AMREF areas of implementation. Relevant data will be extracted from those sources. Examples of documents for the MTR assessment of SD 6 and SD 7 include SMT and Board reports, selected financial records, minutes of meetings, and other sources relevant to the outcomes in those SD’s. The relevant time period spans the period of Business Plan implementation (October 2011-present), with a focus on January-May 2013 as the midterm time point. For the midterm review, this approach asks the following questions:

• Would the current, midterm status (for any specified outcome) be the same had the Business Plan not been implemented?
• Has the Business Plan made a difference to the specified focus area, its outcomes and to global AMREF, or not, apart from the documented outcomes?
• Is progress made in line with defined milestones for the Business Plan?
• How well aligned are current activities to the Business Plan and what corrective action, if any, is needed? How well does the Business Plan reflect AMREF’s actual work in various areas?
• How well aligned is the Business Plan to AMREF’s strategic plan and what adjustments need to be made, if any?

Further, the midterm review will be open to the following questions, although constraints on resources and time may limit a full exploration:

• Are there any unanticipated developments that enhance or hinder achievement of the expected results?
• Are there unexpected results (positive or negative) in any focus area that may influence the implementation of the Business Plan?
• What additional health issues are critical to achievement of AMREF’s Business Plan, or are important to communities and health systems where AMREF works but not yet addressed?

Data will be collected by an external assessor, to promote objectivity and an independent perspective.

MILESTONES, DELIVERABLES & TIME FRAMES

The key deliverables and dates are as follows:

1. An inception report as described in the scope of work, above, by 7 June 2013;
2. A final midterm report on AMREF’s implementation of the Business Plan, in MS Word format, by 6 September 2013;
3. A Powerpoint presentation of key findings for use with multiple audiences, by 6 September 2013.

The schedule of milestones and deadlines is as follows:

EXPECTED PROFILE OF THE CONSULTANT

The potential consultant should have the following:

• Minimum of a masters degree in public health, social sciences or related disciplines;
• An strong understanding of health sector policies and systems in Africa;
• Demonstrated experience in conducting reviews and evaluations in reputable organizations in the public, private and/or non-governmental sectors;
• Proven expertise in monitoring and evaluation of health projects and programmes.

SPECIFICATIONS ABOUT RESPONSE

AMREF expects that the consultant engagement under this TOR will be approximately 20-25 days, over the period of 3 June through 6 September 2013. AMREF will pay direct expenses under this assignment as agreed in advance with the consultant. Partial fee payments up to 50% of the total will be made on achievement of key milestones as agreed between AMREF and the consultant, with the balance paid on satisfactory completion of the scope of work, with timely delivery of the final report and presentation.

Interested consultants must include in their application a detailed technical and financial expression of interest, with the following components:

i. Technical

• Understanding and interpretation of the TOR
• Methodology to be used in undertaking the assignment
• Time and activity schedule
• Profile of the consultant(s)
• Samples of two most recent related works (and/or references for the same)
• Curriculum vitae of key personnel.

ii. Financial

• Detailed cost proposal in US$ for the consultancy
• Breakdown of costs by direct expenses (e.g., travel, communication, etc.) and fees (maximum US$10,000), in total not to exceed US$12,000.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL

The proposals should be emailed to M&E@amref.org by 5:00 pm Nairobi time, 24 May 2013.

EVALUATION AND AWARD OF CONSULTANCY

AMREF will evaluate the proposals and award the assignment based on technical and financial feasibility. AMREF reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal received without giving reasons and is not bound to accept the lowest or the highest bidder.