Terms of Reference for Conducting Survey and Stakeholder Analysis Related to Water Usage in Ararat Valley
The Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development (UFSD) solicits applications from Consultants (individual or organization) for fulfilling assignments described below in the framework of the PURE-Water Activity funded by USAID.
The overall objective of the PURE-Water Activity is to increase water productivity, efficiency, and quality, as well as foster behavioral change to reduce the rate of groundwater extraction in the Ararat Valley.
This assignment has the following objectives:
- Designing and conducting baseline surveys among population of the target area (list of Ararat Valley communities is attached) and in depth interviews with experts, policymakers and practitioners in water sector at national and local level.
- Designing and carrying out stakeholder analysis and mapping.
- Designing and facilitating a focus group session for checking communication messages
- Designing and conducting baseline survey.
The survey shall include analysis of quantitative and qualitative data.
For quantitative data, the selected organization/individual will be responsible for designing and conducting a baseline survey among consumers and selected stakeholders to find out, inter alia, their awareness, attitudes and perceptions regarding the water resource management, water quality, use, accessibility and responsibilities. The findings of the survey will help better design and implement policies and actions directed towards increasing efficiency of water use, enhancing transparency of water resource management practices, mobilization of people to realize oversight and control for sparing and fair water usage, as well as developing effective communication strategies to increase public awareness and environmental consciousness.
The selected organization/individual will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Development of methodology and sample design;
- Development of the survey tool and its pretesting;
- Instruction of interviewers on interviewing techniques and the subject matter of the survey;
- Conducting the survey (random checking of about 10% of interviews will be required);
- Processing the data (entry, coding, cleaning);
- Preparing survey report (in Armenian and English).
In addition to the collection of the quantitative data, a number of in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders will be carried out with the aim of getting deeper information on questions asked in the baseline survey relating to water usage practices and resource management policies. The selected organization will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Development of the interview guide;
- Carrying out in-depth interviews;
- Preparation of the report on qualitative data.
Deliverables:
- Detailed survey methodology including sampling method;
- Survey questionnaire;
- Transcript of in-depth interviews;
- Completed database with cleaned data;
- Analytical report of the survey including analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, findings and recommendations in Armenian and English;
- Power point presentation in Armenian and English on the findings of the survey.
The survey design will be finalized in consultation with the Activity team.
- Stakeholder analysis and mapping
Currently, many donors and projects are active in the water resource sector, and therefore it is important to understand who does what and where in order to avoid overlaps and understand the gaps. Leveraging resources, knowledge and experience of others will not only allow for better coordination among the donor organizations, but also set the basis for the implementation of joint activities and reducing duplication of efforts and eventually amplifying the impact on the target sector.
Apart from donors, important stakeholders of the sector may be a number of government institutions, territorial administrations and local authorities, civil society, fisheries, research institutions, etc.
Tasks:
The selected organization/consultant will conduct stakeholder analysis and mapping to furnish the project team with explicit understanding on the interests, attitudes, roles and level of influence of different stakeholder groups.
Deliverables:
- Narrative stakeholder analysis in Armenian and English.
- A spreadsheet and graph/chart in Armenian and English representing the mapping of the stakeholders in Ararat Valley per their focus areas.
Focus Group
The PURE-Water Activity has a strong public awareness and communication component. Appropriate elaboration of communication messages is key for its successful implementation. Messages will be elaborated by the project team in close cooperation with key stakeholders, however, they will need to be tested to check whether they are easily and unambiguously comprehended by relevant audiences. This will be done in a focus group session to ensure that the messages reach out potential audiences and for their feedback and comments.
- Elaboration of questions and the script
- Elaboration of method for selecting participants
- Facilitation of the focus group session
- Preparation of the report
- Deliverables:
- Transcripts of the focus group session
- Report with recommendations
Duration of the assignment:
The organization/individual should suggest timeline for the assignment which should start during the second week of May and should not exceed two-month period. Preference will be given to the organization/individual who would be able to allocate resources to implement several tasks (baseline survey, stakeholder mapping and in depth interviews and focus groups), in parallel.
Interested organizations/individuals are requested to submit Technical and Financial applications.
Maximum 70% of the total score will go to the Technical application, which will include following documents:
- Brief methodology for conducting survey, in-depth interviews and stakeholder analysis (max. 1 page) – 30%
- Description of human resource capacities of the applicant to fulfill the described tasks within limited timelines (max. 1 page) – 30%
- Past experience about accomplishment of similar tasks (max. 1 page) – 20%
- CV of the lead social scientist – 20%.
Maximum 30% of the total score will go to the Financial application, which will include budget estimate with per task breakdown.
Cost of the Assignment:
The maximum price offered for this assignment should not exceed 2,600,000 AMD.
Application procedures:
Interested organizations/individuals should submit the requested documents electronically to the following address: [email protected] by COB May 01, 2017.