Girl Effect Ethiopia (Yegna) is seeking to commission a research agency with experience in girl-centered research, to support the content development process for Yegna. The agency will be required to undertake primary research into the value and visibility of girls in Ethiopian society and their voice, participation, and social networks or connections. Girl Effect Ethiopia (Yegna) seeks to understand how these themes play out with girls' specific needs and challenges across the following asset areas of health, education, and economic empowerment. The research will explore the services and support systems available to girls in each of these domains, the drivers and barriers that influence girls’ access, and the discriminatory gender norms that hold girls back.

The research will inform the change objectives for the brand and content of its media platforms and, most importantly, the five-year strategic plan. The agency will be expected to work closely with Girl Effect’s Evidence Teams to ensure that insight from this research piece effectively informs the Yegna content-creation process.

The refined research objectives across the asset areas will be shaped through an extensive literature review that is currently underway and will be communicated to the agency before the beginning.

Research Objectives

• To understand how young people experience issues relating to health, education, and economic security; what are their concerns, what support is available, and what prevents young people from accessing this support.
• To understand how young people navigate society; what is their position in the community, what does their network look like, how involved are they in implementing change, and how much weight do their voices hold.
• To understand what information and support might improve the lives of young people with regards to education, health, and economic security and how can this best be creatively executed to appeal to this audience

Research Questions

The specific research questions will be finalized during the research design phase but an indicative outline of areas of inquiry is listed below. Despite our brand being girl-specific and youth-focused, we also want to understand better parents/guardians, communities, and influencers’ roles in promoting or restricting girls’ empowerment and agency.

1. What is the status of girls’ agency and empowerment in Ethiopian society, understood across the themes of their value, visibility, voice, participation, and social networks or connections?
2. How do these themes play out in relation to girls' specific needs and challenges across the asset areas of health, education, and economic empowerment?
3. How do girls experience access to services and support systems in relation to these asset areas? What are general perceptions about barriers, values, and needs (e.g. common myths and misperceptions)?
4. What are gender norms and expectations that girls, boys, parents, and communities subscribe to, and how do these enable or impede girls’ access to services and support systems in the asset areas mentioned?
5. What are other barriers (e.g. socio-economic, physical, psychological, lack of awareness, etc.) that impede girls from accessing services and support systems that are generally available?
6. To what extent are girls and their communities exposed to social communication that addresses negative social norms and other barriers that girls face? Who are these players that launch social communication, and how do girls and their communities feel about their social communication?

Approach and Methodology

• A qualitative approach should be used given the exploratory and in-depth nature of this research and the questions to be addressed.
• A participatory, child-centered learning approach to the research should be adopted
• The qualitative method should enable the exploration of attitudes and behavior of girls themselves as well as those of boys, families, and influencers towards girls (e.g. social norms around the value and position of girls in the Ethiopian society)
• The perspectives and experiences of girls regarding the impact of boys, parents/guardians, and influencers on their aspirations, life choices, educational attainment, and exposure to risks should be included.
• Potentially in-depth interviews (IDI), paired depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), key informant interviews, and observation should be employed. (Note: Applying agency is required to specifically mention the methods they plan to apply with sufficient reasoning)

Sampling Frame

• This research focuses on girls and boys aged 10-19 and their families/guardians and communities living in both rural and urban Ethiopia.
• Girls and boys should be sampled across three age cohorts (10-12, 13-15, 16-19) and included both in-school and out-of-school girls, from all social statuses, and considering disability issues from rural and urban areas.
• Parents/guardians of girls aged 10-19 across each of the three age cohorts should be sampled.
• Opinion formers, as described above, should be consulted in each community where girls, boys, and parents/guardians are sampled.
• The number of districts and groups included in the research should fully explore the potential questions outlined above. Here, Girl Effect expects samples from representative regions of the country to obtain sufficient qualitative evidence from the different parts of the country.

Note: applying agency is expected to consider this and specifically propose for the areas to consider with rural-urban distribution including the rationale behind the selection and should propose sample size for each segment specified again with a rationale for the size definition.

Hint: we are looking to cover a minimum of about 5 regions with an urban-rural split and looking to interview a minimum of around 30 influencers, 200 girls, 100 boys, and 170 parents/guardians, which again will be considering age, schooling, economy, and disability to be distributed against each method. Agencies have the flexibility to come up with their number of regions and sample size but should not be lower than what is given as a guide.

Locations

This research will be representative of girls and boys aged 10-19, and as much as possible will be, including representative regions/locations of both urban and rural in Ethiopia.

Expected Commitment

​​We would like the agency to start as soon as possible, and we also expect the number of days per week and contract length to be outlined or provided in line with the work plan.

Description of Services

The commissioned agency will be responsible for the following:

Project Management

• Responsible for the management of the project
• regular updates and proactive communication with Girl Effect and the fieldwork teams
• solutions-focused approach
• working to a tight timeline

Recruitment

• Responsible for the recruitment of all research participants or supply of respondents database, and adhering to the safeguarding policies as set out by Girl Effect (including informed consent)

Interviewing and moderation

• The interviewers must have experience in running qualitative research interviewers, and moderations with previous experience are preferred.
• The interviewers must be trained in using the tools for data collection
• The interviewers must attend a one-day workshop post fieldwork to debrief on the data collection process, with the Girl Effect teams present

Note: Girl Effect will develop and provide the interview questions and discussion guides accordingly.

Transcription and translation

• Responsible for translating all fieldwork tools into language appropriate for fieldwork at the national level
• The agency will review the fieldwork tools and offer feedback before tool translation.
• As part of the translation process, suggest any wording edits make it appropriate for the local context and audience.
• All fieldwork activity (interviews) will be translated and/or transcribed for the Girl Effect team to use

Data management

• Responsible for delivering all collected data (transcribed), clearly labeled with respondent IDs

The Scope

Generally, the research piece is to be implemented by a research agency hired to work alongside Girl Effect staff. Girl Effect will lead the research design, tool development, analysis plan, analysis, and reporting.

The selected agency as specified above will be required to:

• Recruit a suitable team of researchers and field supervisors
• Translating and contextualizing the data collection tools into Amharic and other relevant local languages and also review and quality assurance of tools plus cognitive testing
• Facilitate training for all researchers, including a pre-testing/piloting exercise under real field conditions
• Sample participants according to the provided sampling criteria.
• Obtain informed consent from all participants
• Conduct data collection at the national level (in selected representative locations) following strict quality assurance procedures and ensuring high data management standards. All field worker management, logistics, etc., are the agency's responsibility.
• Record all discussions/interviews with detailed fieldwork notes and digital recording devices
• Compile and submit fieldwork reports with a breakdown per region
• Coordinate transcription and translation of the recordings into English – to high quality, according to specifications provided by Girl Effect Ethiopia
• Ensure all work is conducted according to the Girl Effect Safeguarding Policy and an agreed safeguarding agreement
• Provision of raw data (audio and/or written data/transcribed data)

The agency will coordinate closely with Girl Effect to align with the set methodology and plan the data collection. The Girl Effect Team will conduct quality assurance during the fieldwork implementation.

Training and Piloting

Training

Girl Effect will oversee a 2-day training session with the team (once an agency has been selected). This will ensure a complete understanding of the research approach, objectives, and questionnaire throughout the process. Once the team feels comfortable with the approach, we will role-play every element of the research approach, including possible responses from audience participants. This training will also feature safeguarding onboarding, where agency moderators will be taken through Girl Effect safeguarding protocols regarding research with adolescent girls. Introducing those who will be participating in the research with the team at this stage will be helpful to maximize comfort and fluidity as a team.

Piloting

Following 2 days of training, a pilot exercise will be conducted. This familiarisation will maximize the chance of a fluid approach when ‘live’ for fieldwork.

Deliverables

Under this assignment, the agency shall produce high-quality data from primary qualitative research. Following are the critical milestone deliverables that the agency will deliver under the assignment in line with the payment schedule:

• Inception report, including the researcher training plan, final sampling strategy, agreed on fieldwork plan and timeline, data quality and management, research ethics, and safeguarding processes
• Translated data collection tools (translated and back-translated version of final research tools into regional languages)
• Training report including details of the training of the researchers and details of the piloting of tools
• Piloting of tools and refined tools, including debrief and working sessions with Girl Effect to refine and finalize the data collection tools before fieldwork.
• Field progress reports/s detailing the qualitative data collection, with a breakdown per region
• Transcribed and translated data in English. The agency would need to coordinate transcription and translation of the recordings – to a high quality.
• All raw data and supporting documents. Field notes, audio recordings, translated transcripts, safeguarding documents.

Analysis and Reporting

Girl Effect will be leading on all research design, questionnaire/tool development, analysis, and reporting for this project.

Confidentiality, child protection, and ethical considerations

The successful agency should also take care to maintain the confidentiality of the information provided by the respondents during the interview. Informed voluntary consent should be taken prior to starting the interview. If an individual refuses to participate, s/he should not be compelled to participate or demoralized by any means, and these cases will be treated as no-response under this survey. The research team must all undergo safeguarding training per Girl Effect Ethiopia’s child safeguarding procedures and sign the Girl Effect Ethiopia Safeguarding Policy.

Safeguarding

Girl Effect requires all staff and partner organizations to adhere to comprehensive safeguarding protocols throughout the research process, particularly regarding girls’ safety and wellbeing. This process requires developing and signing a safeguarding agreement with the selected research agency and identifying a safeguarding focal point within this agency. Once the research process is underway, safeguarding on-boarding with the research agency will also take place to ensure all project staff carries out recruitment, fieldwork, and data management according to Girl Effect protocols.

In addition, all research activities will also comply with ethical requirements of Ethiopia, for example, screening/recruitment, payment of incentives to research participants, etc.

Intended Timeframe

• Terms of reference published: 4th March.
• Bidders to submit RFP questions in writing - 9th March
• Proposals received from agencies – 18th March
• Girl Effect respond to RFP Questions - 14th March
• Evaluation of proposals and negotiation with selected agency completed - 8th April
• Contracting process finalized by Girl Effect - 13th April
• Ethical Approval Process - 18th April - 10th May
• Training/ Onboarding of researchers - 11th - 12th May
• Piloting - 13th May
• Data collection - 16th May - 30th May
• Data delivery - 20th - 30th June

Who You Are

Key competencies across any proposed team for delivering this project are outlined below:

• Capacity to deliver all areas expected of this research from recruiting and training researchers, to leading the data collection process, transcribing data into English, ensuring quality assurance, and working in line with research ethics principles.
• Experience in conducting qualitative research methodologies in Ethiopia preferably in multiple regions
• Ability to work with communities in relevant local languages
• Excellent and demonstrated understanding of Safeguarding and ethical issues in research
• Excellent fieldwork supervision and data quality control strategies
• A fieldwork team with adequate gender balance to carry out this work
• Ability to conduct a risk assessment and mitigation plans for research
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstration of effectively managing relationships with research partners
• Exceptional communication and organizational skills
• Ability to respond to comments and questions in a timely, appropriate manner
• Experience in delivering outputs on time and on budget
• Ability to write clearly and concisely in English
• The reputation of the responding agencies and previous similar experiences will be taken into account.

Proposal submission

Qualified individuals are invited to submit a proposal that includes the following:

1. Qualification and experience of firm detailed narration with reference (Minimum 2) + CV of personnel (Minimum 2) and legal documents)
2. Thorough approach for undertaking this assignment underpinned by a demonstration of value for money
3. Previous experience in the similar assignment(s) in line with the ‘Who You Are’ section
4. A financial budget and work plan. N.B. The technical and financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents. Consideration will be given for value for money and cost-effectiveness on submitted proposals. The budget submitted alongside the technical proposal needs to be a detailed, itemized activity budget (not just the provision of daily rates and expenses).

Please include the following elements:

• Fees (consultant/researcher and field team day rates/days)
• Expenses
• Taxes
• Any other cost

The proposal structure should be as follows:

1. Letter of transmittal (in PDF format signed)
2. The technical proposal, as the methodology is already described above by Girl Effect, technical proposal should focus more on methodology detailing (the process), area selection, sample size, sampling, the detailed rationale of methodology and sampling timeline, quality control, risk management, safeguarding, and related logistical and management issues
3. Budget providing a detailed breakdown of costs by activity, daily rates, and expenses (including applicable taxes) as mentioned above -
4. Work plan with a timeline
5. Attached is a sample of previous similar work - a minimum of two (Details on the organization they worked with, study objective, scope, sample, methodology, fieldwork administration, and the like details)
6. Contact details of three professional contacts- recent (max 1 year) references (preferably NGOs, social enterprises or international development agencies). These will be contacted to obtain references.

Reporting

The consultant will report to Girl Effect’s Evidence Team (Function).

Evaluation Criteria

The criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are listed below:

• Demonstrate the capability and capacity to meet the requirements of this RFP - 10%
• Staff with relevant experience as demonstrated by references and the strength of the proposal - 10%
• Geographical experience in one of the research areas (Ethiopia) - 10%
• Evidence of a minimum of three contactable references - 5%
• Methodology and approach in implementing the project- 10%
• Clarity of work plan and specific project activities - 5%
• Demonstrated experience in carrying out research involving young girls and technology- 20%
• Value for money/proposed budget breakdown - 30%

GEE is not liable for any cost incurred during the preparation, submission, or negotiation of the award/contract. All submitted documentation and/or materials shall become and remain the property of GE.

Tax

Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regard to provisions of the Ethiopian tax legislation when developing their proposals.

Disclaimer

GE reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice, and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party. GE shall inform the ONLY successful applicant(s). The process of negotiation and signing of the contract with the successful applicant(s) will follow.

Equal Opportunities

Girl Effect is committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity, or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We are committed to building an organization that is increasingly representative of and works extensively with the communities that we serve. To this end, due regard will be paid to procuring consultancy service organizations and individuals with diverse professional, academic and cultural backgrounds.