Research Study Consultant - Kilifi at Aga Khan Foundation

Scope of the evaluations

The study will be conducted in Mombasa and Kilifi in selected few sampled sub-counties, all led by same consultant or consultancy team. The study population will include women, men, adolescents, boys, and girls residing within the project areas of implementation. The National Entities with presence in the counties, county government department and CSO Partners. The study will be looking at the relationship and influence of Policies like the Gender Equality Policy, GBV policy and related acts, Women economic empowerment programs and Initiatives and the community perceptions on harmful practices/norms and behaviour change. The research aims to provide information and guidance to policy makers, Gender Program Development, and social behaviour Change Interventions.

Objectives of the research study:

Instructions: This section has been pre-populated with a general objectives statement for all the research study. The consultant may adjust these objectives or add objectives if relevant.

The overall purpose of the Research Study is to obtain information that will provide Policy makers, Change Agents, CSOs, Community Members and AKF design programmes, Initiatives and advocate for policies that will enhance behaviour change, Norms, Values and Practices. The following are the specific objectives of the baseline studies:

• The Importance of policy on changing negative gender/cultural norms, and how gender norms change because of Introduction of Policies.
• Can harmfully gender norms be transformed at individual and societal level through equitable, inclusive, empowering practices, interventions, and policies.
• Does policy development and public Inclusion harness the drivers of change at individual and societal level to prompt positive gender norm shifts.
• What Policies and interventions are required/Missing to address harmful social behaviour, Norms and Gender Inequality.
• The perceptions of the community on Policies, Gender Equality Interventions (women economic empowerment, GBV interventions) and the Impact/Implications they have in their lives.

Outcome Indicators vs Data Collection Tools

• of policy, advocacy and service delivery recommendations articulated by women, men, girls, boys that are integrated into ward level or sub county and county plans and budgets
• Document review of County workplans and budgets, Key informant interviews with policymakers of community Members aware of different policies in place and their level of understanding.
• Sample Survey Questionnaires of women and girls participating in skills building & economic empowerment programs
• Survey with women and girls trained/ supported by different entities of women vs Men who actively participate in Public Policy forums
• Sample survey with project population of policies in place that may influence Norms, Behaviours & Practices
• Policy document review in each county of Policies currently being developed and level of intended impact on behaviour change
• County review of policies in the development phase.
• Extent to which members of the population participate in policy development
• Sample survey with project population Community members (male and female) demonstrating gender equitable behaviours towards adolescent girls and boy's household roles
• Sample survey with project population of effective referrals for SGBV and SRHR services made through community sensitizations
• Document review from previous projects (consultant should develop tool to measure this) of community members citing benefits of women participating in decision making spaces
• Sample survey with project population

The Consultant to formulate questions around

• Women empowerment programs and the corelation to increased GBV
• Recommendations to the response on GBV and Domestic violence from the community angle.

Methodology

• The consultant for the research study is expected to adopt a mixed methods approach in conducting the research. The methodology used should be a combination of participatory qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to allow a comprehensive examination of all aspects of the programme. Use the socio-ecological model to build an understanding around the kinds of change necessary in individuals (i.e. attitudes and practices), structures (barriers that prevent equitable access to resources and services), and across society. The consultant will also be expected to review primary and secondary data to inform the assessment of the evaluation objectives and to measure certain indicators. The following primary data collection methods are proposed:
• Household survey (not exceeding 120 respondents per area)
• Focus group discussions (3-6, each not exceeding ten participants)
• Key informant interviews (not more than 15)
• The consultants will be responsible for preparatory meetings, review of documents including the project proposal; finalization of project inception report already drafted by AKF, including study design, planning, methodology and data collection tools; and enumerators recruitment, training and pilot testing; data collection; quality assurance; data analysis; and reporting.

Ethical Standards and Safeguarding:

The Research study must conscientiously abide by AKF’s Safeguarding Manual, and all members of the Consultant team must sign AKF’s Safeguarding Statement of Commitment upon contracting. The design and implementation of the studies must be in line with the research ethical standards including protection of participants from potential research-related harms, confidentiality, informed consent, beneficence, and safeguarding principles to protect respondents from potential harms such as sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, and bullying. The consultant will seek approvals at County level to gain entry permission to the sub counties and sites for project implementation.

Deliverables and timelines

The main deliverables and tentative timelines for this study are as follows:

Final Research Report: Presentation of a finalised research report for validation– Completed study report (the report should be disaggregated at Sub County level for understanding the sub counties relevant situations), including quantitative and qualitative study findings, completed dummy tables, data visualizations, and analysis of findings-7th November 2024.

Draft research report: Submission of a draft report and successful completion of validation workshop – 24th October 2024

Study datasets: Raw data and complete datasets in English. The Consultant will also be expected to provide a fully ‘cleaned-up’ dataset in an agreed file format (e.g., XLS, CSV, Excel) accompanied by the code used to conduct analysis and a variable codebook.

Transcribed transcripts: Complete, edited transcriptions and translations in English of all focus group discussions and key informant interviews conducted.

Key competencies

• Team lead should possess at least a master’s degree in Gender Studies, demography/ population studies, or Statistics and with essential training in Monitoring and Evaluation. Any training in public policy is an added advantage.
• Other team members should ideally possess multidisciplinary qualifications across gender, social science, social work, and related qualifications.
• Strong experience conducting surveys and associated qualitative data collection, particularly focusing on Gender or related thematic areas.
• The lead should have experience of conducting evaluations on public policy, gender, and women studies for at least 6 years.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing studies, including proven experience in sound sampling, mixed methods approach (quantitative and qualitative), tool development and enumerator training.
• Demonstrated experience in employing Open Data Kit (ODK) or other computer assisted personal interviewing software.
• Demonstrated experience in data management, including designing and managing Gender Sensitive projects and capable of handling large datasets for study purposes.
• Country knowledge and experience in conducting research and impact evaluation studies in Coast region, both urban and peri-urban areas and especially the Counties applied for.
• Demonstrated experience safeguarding and working with vulnerable populations.
• Advanced proficiency in English is mandatory. Knowledge of Kiswahili is highly desirable and any additional languages used in the project area applied for is an asset.