Terms of reference for Action research

About Christian Aid

Christian Aid is an international development organisation working globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty strives to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality. We provide urgent, practical and effective assistance where need is great, tackling the effects of poverty as well as its root causes and speaking out on issues such as economic justice and climate change.

Christian Aid has worked in Ethiopia for more than 30 years, initially responding to emergencies but gradually building a long-term development programme. We opened a country office in 1998. Christian Aid works through partnership with local non-governmental organisations, supporting them to access information, training and financial resources, by building strategic alliance. Together Christian Aid and its partners deliver programmes that deliver big, deep and lasting change with and for vulnerable and marginalised people

1.      About ASURE

ASURE-Health: Access, Service and Utilisation of Reproductive Health project is a five-year project implemented in Gamogofa, Wolayta and Segen Area People’s Zones in Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) of southern Ethiopia.

For the implementation of this project, a consortium is established by organizations having significant expertise in health and grass root community organization and mobilization. The consortium is made up of Amref Health Africa - Italy; Amref Health Africa - Ethiopia; Christian Aid; Women Support Association (WSA); and Ethiopian Interfaith Forum for Development, Dialogue and Action (EIFDDA).

The overall objective of this project is to help Ethiopia to achieve poverty reduction and improve the wellbeing of populations through better reproductive health and informed family planning choice, vital in themselves but also key prerequisites for reducing child and maternal mortality and combating diseases.

The specific objective of this access Service and Utilization of reproductive health is

1. To increase universal access to comprehensive reproductive health services in Gamo Gofa, Wolayta, and Segen Area People Zones of Southern Ethiopia by 30% from the baseline by 2020.
2. To increase awareness among health service providers, teachers, parents and the community at large about the reproductive health needs of youth.
3. To increase access to quality reproductive health information and services to women of reproductive age targeting the most vulnerable people with the least access to reproductive health.
4. To improve the capacity of Local Authorities (LAs) to provide quality and friendly service to the target groups

The program focuses on targeted awareness raising, community mobilization, health education, and strengthened provision of family planning methods in health facilities, self-help groups, family dialogue sessions, community action groups, in-school and out of school clubs for youth, awareness raising campaigns, and engagement with faith leaders to promote sexual and reproductive health

2.      Justification for action research:

As part of strengthening institutional capacity to support and sustainably deliver a wide choice of RH services, the program strengthens health systems by promoting interventions focusing on policies and strategies that are pro-poor and cost-effective and strengthen also the capacity of local authorities to deliver sustainable RH services using existing resources.

With this in mind it is to conduct action research, to identify ways in which sustainability of the project could be strengthened, define gaps that still need to be addressed for a continuation of the project and best practices to share and scale up at national level. This action research will help to respond to the key questions on the impact of the ASURE program in terms of strengthening the local authorities to deliver quality, cost effective, friendly and sustainable sexual and reproductive health service for the community

3.      Scope of Work

It is envisaged that the scope of work for the Action research will include:

1.      To undertake an action research study on the ongoing ASURE program in southern Ethiopia that has been implemented in 3 zones since 2014 and make recommendations for what the future programmes should cover as per the justification. This will include conducting a field study, training of data collection assistants, data collection activities and analysis of the data resulting into a concise and user-friendly research study report.

2.      Present in a one-day workshop for participants drawn for consortia members, EU and government representatives and other significant stakeholders to share the findings of the study. The workshop will provide an avenue to receive feedback from donors, national NGOs, partners and government offices to finalize and validate the findings of the study.

3.      The research team will, in the final report, make comprehensive recommendations for how the ASURE program will be utilized to deliver the effective, efficient and sustainable outcomes in Ethiopia through the local authorities. 

4.      Objectives of the research

The overall purpose of the action research is to assess the processes and achievements made in terms of strengthening LAs capacity to deliver quality, cost effective, friendly and sustainable SRH service and its integration with woreda development plan and draw lessons that will inform the development of the next project; to give feedback on achievement of project objectives, establish and document the impact and effectiveness of project interventions and lessons for future programming.

5.      Methodology

The intended action research will be done using relevant means such as:

·         Desk review of reproductive health performances and situations at national and project areas and ASURE related documents produced by the implementing partners. The consultant will collect all relevant studies, materials, and data/statistics already produced by relevant government agencies and institutions, NGOs and/or research institutes in the recent past, and detail the outcomes of these studies, as a starting point to reveal the main constraints and opportunities.

·         Quantitative method –through structures data collection tool

·         Qualitative method - Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Key Informant Interview (KII) with community representative, other NGOs who are working in the same area and local authorities from government offices;

·         Employ other methods deemed necessary

6.      Deliverables

1.      Inception Report – A detailed inception report clearly articulating how the operations research approach will be employed articulating both qualitative and quantitative approaches to undertake the study. The inception report will also include the specific research tools to be used and schedule of tasks indicating the time line for each activity (#of days) to be undertaken to accomplish the tasks and the financial requirements to undertake the task.

2.      Draft report with a detailed analysis of data and well-articulated findings and recommendations to be presented for comment.

3.      Present in a one-day workshop for participants the findings of the study.

4.      A final report incorporating all comments.

7.      Ethical consideration

Ethical approval for this study will be required. All participants in the study will be fully informed about the nature and purpose of the research and their requested involvement. Only participants who have given their written or verbal consent (documented) will be included in the study.

·         Post Graduate degrees in Public Health, reproductive health, Epidemiology and related fields

·         Minimum of 8+ years of relevant work and research experience in sexual and reproductive health

·         Expertise in having conducted action research

·         Highly effective written and oral communication skills to address a wide variety of audiences.

·         Ability to interact with local government, partners and/or others as requested by Christian Aid

·         Knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Ethiopia

·         Strong organizational, analytical and reporting skills, presentation skills, attention to detail, ability to meet deadlines,

·         Strong proficiency in qualitative and quantitative data analysis software

·         Working with international and local NGOs;

·         Demonstrated experience in leading similar assignments