Household Resilience Index (HRI) Consultant

Job Description

Global Communities is seeking a consultant with expertise in measuring household/economic resiliency for a period of up to twenty (20) working days including at least two (2) weeks in Rwanda in July or August 2015. The purpose is to review and refine the Global Communities/Rwanda Household Resilience Index (HRI) tool and ensure that measures and dimensions align with latest knowledge and research in the field of measuring resiliency. The HRI tool is the primary means to gauge whether or not a household will “graduate” out of program support. The tool, therefore, must accurately reflect the ability of a household to thrive without the help of program interventions.

Background on Project and Global Communities HRI Tool:

The Improved Services for Vulnerable Populations (ISVP) program known as USAID/ Twiyubake is a 5-year, USAID-funded program with the overall goal to improve protection of vulnerable populations against adverse circumstances. Starting in February 2015; the program consortium led by Global Communities in partnership with three International NGOs, namely, Plan International, Associazione Volontari per lo Sviluppo Internazionale (AVSI) and Partners in Health (PIH), as well as local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), will deliver an integrated program aimed at achieving the following key results:

Increased capacity of families and communities to provide healthy, nurturing, and engaging environments for vulnerable young children;

• Decreased family economic vulnerability;
• Increased knowledge, attitudes, skills, aspirations and confidence of adolescents transitioning to adulthood; and
• Increased capacity of communities to provide essential preventative and protective services to vulnerable families and children.

USAID/ Twiyubake will work in 15 targeted districts in Rwanda and aim to identify and assist 250,000 orphans and vulnerable children, by reducing economic vulnerability in 50,000 households, increasing parenting knowledge and skills, and empowering families to make investments to meet the unique needs of young children and adolescents. It will accomplish this by providing vulnerable, enrolled households with a tailored set of services aimed at increasing household resiliency.

This model builds on the lessons and achievements from the 5-year USAID/Higa Ubeho Program that ended in February, 2015, and was also implemented by Global Communities using the Household Resilience Index. The Higa Ubeho HRI was based on use of an annual quantitative survey that included nine (9) proxy measures focused on Household assets and income (savings, livestock and income), household expenses (number of meals per day, ability to pay for basic needs and ability to invest in income-generating activities); and health outcomes (ability to pay for school fees, access to health insurance and ability to produce enough food). Under Higa Ubeho a longitudinal sample cohort of less than 1000 families was tracked over three years, while under USAID/ Twiyubake Program all 50,000 families will be tracked annually until they graduate.

The HRI has been proposed to USAID as the key tool through which USAID/ Twiyubake will measure changes among target households in their ability to:

• improve their health, social and economic conditions;
• reduce their vulnerability to shocks and stressors; and
• Improve their capacity to adapt and cope.

As currently planned, families that attain a certain score on the HRI will be considered capable of sustainably providing for themselves with limited external support. Note each household is envisioned to remain in the program for only 2 years; this means each household will be measured at program intake and an additional two more times.

Refinement of the HRI will need to incorporate a review of data, results and lessons learned from use of the previous HRI, and an understanding of approaches used in Rwanda and beyond to strengthen and measure changes in household resilience.

Objectives of the Consultancy:

The purpose of this consultancy is to assist Global Communities in defining and refining its HRI Tool to effectively track and measure household resilience for USAID/ Twiyubake target beneficiaries. The consultant will be expected to:

• Guide the refinement and adaptation of the HRI tool based on latest research in resiliency programming, ensuring that the HRI is constructed in a robust, yet locally appropriate context, that will gauge changes in household-level resiliency and accurately reflects conditions of households. It is expected that this will include
  • Latest research on measuring changes in household resilience, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa;
  • Recommendations on the plans for the utilization of the tool.
  • Suggestions on inclusion of any additional research questions and use of any additional quantitative and/or qualitative research methods that will allow Global Communities to most effectively define and measure resilience appropriate to the Rwandan USAID/ Twiyubake context.
  • Information on instruments used elsewhere by projects similar to ISVP as relevant.
  • Review planned household interventions from a resiliency perspective to ensure that planned interventions follow best practices in resiliency programming and research; and
  • Provide guidance and recommendations on development of additional survey tools or data collection instruments needed to effectively capture required resiliency data to supplement the HRI tool itself.

Key Activities:

• Desk Review of HRI tool, data and results from USAID/Higa Ubeho;
• Desk Review of ISVP program documents (e.g. cooperative agreement, workplan, M&E plan, etc);
• Engage USAID/ Twiyubake program team, partners and stakeholders in defining resilience for the Rwandan context;
• Draft Revisions of HRI tool incorporating feedback and latest research;
• Field Test New HRI instrument on sample respondents to ensure its validity;
• Orient USAID/ Twiyubake technical team on measuring household resiliency.

Deliverables:

The consultant is expected to provide:

• Briefings, on-going communications and debriefing with Global Communities and USAID/ Twiyubake Program team;
• Preliminary findings and results mid-way through consultancy for input from the USAID/ Twiyubake Program team
• Revised HRI tool with related survey instruments and guidelines for annual data collection and analysis;
• Recommendations on additional tools that may be relevant for measuring household resilience;
• Recommendations on mainstreaming of increased resiliency into programming;
• Consultancy report (body of which should not exceed 50 pages) that includes:
  • Executive summary of consultancy
  • Key findings and recommendations
  • List of individuals, firms and organizations interviewed
  • List of documents reviewed
  • Any data gathering tools or guidelines used
  • Copy of consultancy SOW

(Note delivery of tools and associated guidelines is separate from consultancy report, though could be an annex.)

Qualifications:

• At least a Master’s in international development, agriculture, sociology, psychology, social work, or related field
• Professional experience in designing and/or measuring resilience programs, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Five years or more experience in leading program assessments or evaluations;
• Proven experience in design and implementation of participatory quantitative and qualitative evaluation efforts and tools
• Proficiency in use of Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), SPSS, STATA or other statistical software
• Strong organizational and reporting skills utilizing clear, concise language, attention to detail, and ability to meet deadline;
• Prior experience in Rwanda strongly preferred;
• Ability to deliver verbal and written communication in English.