TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT
Title of the Assignment : WASH in Schools Needs Assessment Study
Assignment Location : Maseru, Lesotho
Time Frame : 25 July – 19 August 2022
Duration : 20 Days
1.0 CRS Background
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health and nutrition, WASH, agriculture and food security, education, microfinance, peacebuilding and Integrated Catchment Management (ICM).
2.0 Project Background and Justification
Access to water and sanitation and adoption of good hygiene behaviours is a critical challenge in Lesotho, particularly in rural areas. More than half of the rural population is without access to basic sanitation and a third without basic drinking water. Both at home and at school, inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure and hygiene education leave children highly vulnerable to preventable diseases and other threats to their well-being. WASH also plays a significant role in health and well-being of learners, school attendance and performance, and ultimately to learning outcomes. The Sustainable Development Goals – including Goal 4 on quality education and Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation – call upon countries to ensure universal access to safe and equitable WASH services and a safe and inclusive environment in schools. This represents increasing recognition of WASH as a key component of an inclusive and effective learning environment, especially for children living with disabilities and for girls, ensuring their menstrual hygiene management (MHM) needs are met.
According to UNICEF’s Scoping Study of WASH in Schools Programming in Eastern and Southern Africa, there are significant data gaps on WASH in schools in Lesotho, making it difficult to determine levels of access and monitor trends. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Lesotho is leveraging ongoing climate-related programming to accelerate progress towards an enabling WASH environment and will implement a WASH in Schools pilot project between 2022 and 2023. The pilot project will be implemented in select public primary schools (15-20) in Khubelu, Maletsunyane and Hlotse ICM Project Sub-Catchments with the purpose to improve WASH infrastructure and education. The strategic objectives of the pilot project are as follows:
Strategic Objective 1: Improved, inclusive and equitable access to drinking water and ecofriendly sanitation services at targeted schools.
Strategic Objective 2: Children are empowered to serve as agents of change in their households and communities.
3.0 Complementarity with Other CRS Projects
It is anticipated that the successes, challenges, best practices and lesson learned from this pilot project will be used in strengthening the implementation of the WASH component under the anticipated five-year United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program (McGovern-Dole). CRS recently submitted a bid for this program, therefore the goal is to help ensuring project cost effectiveness by taking advantage of best practices and capitalizing on lessons learned. Under this anticipated project, CRS intends to invest in improving WASH infrastructure in public primary schools through construction of latrines, hand washing stations, water access points, solid waste bins as well as ensuring the incorporation and monitoring of School Sanitation Hygiene Education (SSHE) throughout the school year in targeted schools. To achieve these improved WASH in Schools
Services, CRS will utilize the “3-Star Approach” as put forth in Lesotho’s National WASH in School Guidelines.
4.0 Overall Objective of the Assignment
The purpose of the WASH in School Needs Assessment study is to identify and assess the extent of the WASH needs of the project target schools which will then inform the project design and implementation.
Specifically, the needs assessment is meant to achieve the following objectives:
✓ Inform project planning and most viable implementation approaches,
✓ Inform budgeting and resources planning,
✓ Inform prioritization of the most pressing needs
✓ Ensure that the project is relevant to the unique WASH needs of the target schools,
5.0 Methodology
Key Informant Interviews – The consultant will conduct in-person interviews with the people most knowledgeable about WASH in selected schools and those include government, school management teams (if they exist), headteachers, teachers, students, parents, and community leaders.
Focus Group Discussions – The consultant will conduct focus group discussions with teachers, parents, and pupils.
Observations – These include, but are not limited to, physical observations of WASH infrastructure, use of the facilities by students and staff, presence/absence of soap and water, and Information and communication (IEC) materials at schools. Observations should include
photographs taken at each of the schools, documenting the following:
- Water Supply
- Sanitation
- Handwashing
- Menstrual Hygiene Management
- WASH Education
- Waste Management
- Operation and Maintenance
Finally, for each of the selected schools, the observational assessments shall include the completion of the 3-Star School Assessment as put forth in section 8.2 of Lesotho’s National WASH in School Guidelines, titled “How Many Stars Does My School Have?”. As a result, each selected school will be assigned a “star rating” for each of the 7 considerations listed above.
Literature review – This includes the review of local and international grey literature (articles, project reports, research reports, government reports, evaluation reports etc.) and draw best practices and lessons learned which can be replicated and customized by CRS in design and implementation of WASH in Schools project. Lesotho’s National WASH in School Guidelines must be reviewed and well-understood as part of this literature review as it will serve as the guiding document for implementation of this pilot project.
6.0 Expected Deliverables
The key deliverables of this assignment are as follows;
- Inception Report clearly outlining the methodology and tools which will be used to undertake the study,
- Draft WASH in Schools Needs Assessment Report,
- Final WASH in Schools Needs Assessment Report,
- Presentation and discussion of findings with CRS Lesotho country program, including HRD/SARO WASH team.
7.0 Desired Competencies, Technical Background and Experience
✓ Advanced University Degree (Masters/PhD.) in one of the following fields is required:
Environmental Health, Public Health, Water and Sanitation, global/International Health and Water Supply, Water Resource Management, Water and Environmental Sanitation research, Policy and/or Management, Health Sciences or Public Healthrelated science fields,
✓ A minimum of 10 years of professional experience (preferably in developing countries)in one or more of the following areas: WASH, public health, WASH planning and management, community development or Preventive Health services.
✓ Previous experience in conducting similar WASH related studies especially in developing countries,
✓ Knowledge and experience in using WASH methodologies including 3 Star approach,
✓ Full computer literacy, including familiarity with research tools,
✓ Proven capacity to coordinate all administrative and technical aspects of the consultancy,
✓ Excellent writing skills,
✓ Knowledge of Lesotho water and sanitation landscape will be an added advantage,
✓ Familiarity with Lesotho National School Wash Guidelines will be an advantage,
Application Procedure
Interested individual Consultants should provide the following:
- Curriculum Vitae/Resume
- Brief technical proposal (no longer than 20 pages) demonstrating the consultant’s understanding of the assignment and approach/methodology to the assignment,
- Financial proposal including a breakdown of their all-inclusive fees (including professional fees, travel, living cost, visa and other costs),
Full proposals to be submitted to by 22 July 2022. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
Please contact Fulu.Koali@crs.org for enquires.