Request for Proposal

Evaluation of the National Early Childhood Development Programme 2004 – 2015

UNICEF is looking for an Evaluation team for Evaluation of the National Early Childhood Development Programme 2004 – 2015. Early Childhood Development has been recognized in Nepal as a basic right given the mounting amount of empirical evidence demonstrating the value of ECD. The evaluation aims at:

• Identifying possible ways of enhancing coordination amongst key ministries;
• Demonstrating the linkages between Early Childhood Education and other sectoral interventions of ECD
• Identify the gaps between policy and implementation.

The evaluation will contribute in providing strategic guidance during the elaboration of the new ECD strategy (2017 – 2030). Findings and recommendations will support the government in policy making and national and sub national planning.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

The company should be able demonstrate strong track record in producing evaluations, studies and flagship reports on Early Childhood Development (at least 1 report), Education (at least 1 report) and economic analysis. The reports can either be that of the institutions or the evaluation team members.

Demonstrable capacity to engage in evidence-based policy dialogue with Governments and other key stakeholders based on previous evaluations, studies or programmes implemented. This should be a section in the technical proposal.

The evaluation team should comprise a gender balanced team of technical experts with expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, and with the following specific qualifications:

1. The team leader should hold a Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Education, Psychology or a Social Science discipline, with expertise in early childhood development programming and/or evaluation in the sector. S/He should have at least 10 years of documented experience in research and evaluation of development programmes or a minimum of 5 years’ experience in ECD programmes from developing or least developed countries.
2. A second team member should be an economist with at least 7 years of experience in research and evaluations in developing or least developed countries.

• The team should include a statistician with at least 5 years of experience in evaluations

1. One team member should have knowledge on gender equality, equity and human rights programming
2. Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain effective work relationships with counterparts and external partners;
3. Knowledge of standard operation procedure in the UNICEF

• The team should be made up of international and national consultants.

Please note that the evaluation team must declare any possible conflict of interest. They will need to inform the technical committee if they are currently working with the government or institutions in Nepal directly implementing ECD sector programmes.

The detailed terms of reference and the RFP document can be accessed at www.unicef.org.np/rfp

Sealed offers should be sent to:

UNICEF NEPAL COUNTRY OFFICE – OPERATIONS WING MANBHAWAN, KATHMANDU

Offers MUST be received latest by 17:00hrs on Thursday 06 April 2017

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