International Individual consultancy to develop business model for case management and referral mechanism in support of social protection programme delivery in Rwanda , UNICEF Rwanda, 3 Months

UNICEF Rwanda Country Office is looking for a qualified International Consultancy to develop business model for case management and referral mechanism in support of social protection programme delivery in Rwanda . The consultancy is for a period of 3 months.

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1.    Background 

Rwanda’s core social protection schemes include Direct Support provided by the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), The Genocide Survivor’s Assistance Fund (FARG) and Rwanda Demobilisation and Re-integration commission (RDRC) and the VUP Public Works. A range of impact evaluations and studies provide strong evidence that these programmes are contributing positively to the achievement of sustained graduation from extreme poverty. For example, EICV4 shows us that Direct Support is helping lift around 70% of households in Ubudehe Category 1 with no labour capacity out of extreme poverty while other impact evaluations have shown significant increases in household assets and food security.  Similarly, evaluations of the VUP Public Works scheme have recorded a 20% increase in food consumption as well as increases in asset holdings among participant households.

As result, the extreme poverty in Rwanda has fallen from 40% in 2000/1 to 16.3% in 2014. However, despite this progress, 1.8m people remain below the extreme (consumption) poverty line. A similar number are categorized as Ubudehe Category 1- 446,000 households through Ubudehe categorization of all households in Rwanda. Individuals in such households have consumption levels of less than RWF 105,000 per year per capita – RWF 287 per day.

The government of Rwanda aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2020 and achieve an extreme poverty rate of below 9% by 2018. In order to achieve these demanding targets, there is a need to ensure that policies and programmes are put in place to effectively promote graduation out of extreme poverty.

Sustainable graduation therefore necessitates significant increases in household consumption/incomes and attainment of a level of resilience to shocks through diversification of livelihood activities, accumulation of productive assets and building of human and social capital. For many households such a transformation can only be achieved through the provision of extensive support in the form of social protection, productive asset grants, skills training and knowledge transfer, access to finance, coaching and facilitated access to economic opportunities etc. In addition,  access to basic services such as health care, education, childcare, water, sanitation, electricity and other social care services as well as access to markets is critical for maximizing household productivity and resilience.

In order to ensure access to a number of above-mentioned measures and programmes, the GoR is continuously adjusting the design and delivery of the core social protection programmes. In line with this objective, the GoR recently introduced minimum package for graduation (MPG) with VUP programme as the foundation program to implement MPG program. MPG has proximity advisory services referred to as MPG caseworkers (abahwituzi b’amajyambere) as one of the components of the design features to act as catalysts for graduation.  This workforce was introduced in response to observations that staff capacity in social protection at sector level was too constrained to enable staff to regularly engage with VUP beneficiaries either individually or in small groups, and that additional support was required to ensure that beneficiaries were fully aware of and accessing both their social protection entitlements and other appropriate services.  Thus, the caseworker system was introduced to facilitate MPG beneficiary households have one-to-one and small group support to raise the awareness of such households and facilitate them to access other existing services appropriate to their needs. Apart from the case worker proximity advisory services, there are a number of workforces supporting delivery of services in sectors that are complementary and linked with social protection, including but not limited to:

• Friends of the Family (FoFs)
•  Farmer Promoters (FPs) and Farmer Field School Facilitators (FFSFs)
• Livestock Volunteers (LVs)
• Business Development Advisers (BDAs)
• Community health workers

Despite Rwanda’s significant progress made in recent years to strengthen social welfare and social protection systems that address multiple vulnerabilities of poor and vulnerable households in a coordinated and coherent fashion, it has been noted that in many instances case management systems that can ensure vulnerable households are being adequately assessed, referred to effective services and duly followed-up are incipient, fragile or non-existent. The established cadres of volunteers are mainly managed directly by the responsible ministries or institutions and to some extent by the local governments (village, cell, sector and districts) with no formal arrangements at village, cell, sector and or district level for managing and referring cases between different cadres of volunteers; and none of the volunteers has received required training or tools to assist them with such cross-referral. 

In an effort to strengthen the existing social protection delivery mechanisms and social welfare services that ensure vulnerable households including those with children receive timely, cost-effective, context-sensitive and quality services that respond to their multiple vulnerabilities, UNICEF, seeks to contribute to  development of a referral and case management system that will create interlinkages among existing community workforces with a view of establishing more harmonised and coordinated proximity advisory services for social protection.

2.    Purpose of the study 

To assess potentials and develop options for strong referral mechanisms and case management systems which are essential in ensuring that extremely poor and vulnerable households, and children in these households are effectively identified, their needs correctly assessed and that they receive cross-sectoral support until there has been a positive outcome linked to identified vulnerabilities. The intention is to create a framework within which all sectors playing a role in meeting the needs of extremely poor/vulnerable households communicate and act together, so that the dynamic, multidimensional and complex nature of family vulnerabilities is addressed.

3. Objectives and aims of the study 

To develop options for an effective and integrated case management and referral systems which will support the increase in access by extremely poor/vulnerable households with children to a comprehensive package of social protection interventions and available services, such as agriculture, health, nutrition, education, ECD and income generation.

 Specific objectives of the study:

1. Develop a case management system and referral mechanism business model
2. Conduct a diagnosis  of the existing systems of case management and referral and or fine tune existing tools or develop appropriate tools for use by case workers and local government officials;
3. Develop implementation plan for the approved business model.

4.    Scope and Focus of the Study 

The study is to result in the analysis to inform national programme design. The study will include stakeholders at national and decentralized level. The data collection to inform the study will be implemented in selected geographic locations. The study will focus on establishing baseline information on the potentials to introduce case management and referral between social protection and other social sectors at community level in support of redefining and expanding the established proximity case worker model under VUP programme. The study will focus on the social protection proximity case workers as a starting point to establish referral with selected other workforces at community level (e.g. community health workers, friend of the family farmer promoters, livestock volunteers and business development advisors).

5. Methodological Approach & Process, Expected Deliverables 

The consultant will be expected to undertake a series of activities to implement deliverables under this TOR, including:  

a.)  Development of an Inception Report, which will be informed by relevant literature review, results of already implemented analysis, and VUP programme priorities. The inception report will outline the detailed methodology, a combination of literature review and qualitative methods, including interviews and focus group discussions and action plan to implement the assignment.

b.) Conduct a diagnosis of the existing system of case management and referral and/or fine tune the existing tools or develop appropriate tools for use by case workers and local government officials:

 In order to identify the most effective case management and referral mechanism model, an initial assessment (or diagnostic) is needed to establish the current status of existing structures, mechanisms, tools, processes and resources. The Consultant will develop tools for diagnosis, informed by existing international standards and best practices, to guide this assessment process.

The tools will be ideally based on a ‘capability index’ and a ‘readiness index’ (each based on a set of criteria or standards) that will allow to assess/analyse the following:

• The scope of conceptual and statutory frameworks underpinning the  operation of selected community workforces with a view of potential harmonization;
• The existing system of the social protection proximity workers, including: Selection process and criteria; organization modalities (groups and cooperatives), coordination and management; reporting structure; referral system; evaluation of performance, remunneration and reporting; identification of relevant tools; review of services offered and linkage with other proximity workers; capacity building of SP case workers; 
• Existing mechanisms of accountability (e.g. procedures, guidelines, job descriptions, incentive systems, and management mechanisms) governing different workforces;
• Existing mechanisms to monitor and assess performance, including quality of interventions and their impact on vulnerable households and /or children;
• Proportion and profile of existing and required human resources dedicated to the referral and case management systems;
• Existing capacity development initiatives aimed at strengthening effectiveness of workforces in place;
• Levels of existing inter-sectorial coordination supporting referral and case management. This component will focus on  interaction and coordination among existing workforces at community level, and the existing and potential incentives for their collaboration;
• Existing linkages between informal (e.g. CSOs) and formal service provision and potentials to strengthen coordination and harmonization at community level;
• Existing information management processes,  including protocols and information/data flow pathways that may hinder or facilitate case referrals and follow-up across different sectors;
• Levels of application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) throughout the existing case management and referral processes;

• Financial resources required and currently committed to the implementation of the selected workforces.

The readiness toolkit will be based on the readiness and capability indexes but will go further in including a set of user guidelines, templates and/or checklists that will guide the process of system assessment in practice. To produce the tools and analysis, the consultant will be expected to:

• Collect and review relevant literature related to case management experiences in other countries, which will inform and be a part of the consultancy inception report;
• Undertake  consultations with key government and their partners  who are working on social protection; as well as undertake consultations with key government partners in other social sectors linked with Social Protection
• Prepare and carry-out missions to some few districts or sectors to undertake situational assessments utilizing the readiness toolkit. These missions should include field visits to the locations where case workers proximity advisory services are taking place, interviews with key stakeholders including community leaders where relevant, other workforces supporting services in the sectors (for example Community Health Workers, and Friends of the Family, among others), NGO’s (mainly those with a formal partnership agreement with the government), analysis of the flow of information between the different levels of the system and its different actors, etc. Mission days required will be proposed in the methodology which is part of the inception report.  

 c.) Development of a case management and referral mechanism business model

Based on the analysis, the consultant will develop a case management and referral mechanism business model that is adapted to the initiatives and programmes already in place. The consultant will develop a business case to guide the social protection sector in incrementally working towards strengthening the case management of individual households within the context of: the existing VUP programme design; revised operational model for SP proximity workers; available and planned workforces; and existing case-loads.  The business model should also propose tools to support establishment of the effective referral between the SP core services and the complementary services at community level. These tools can include, but are not limited to harmonization of job descriptions, incentives mechanism, and management/coordination modalities in order for the VUP to strengthen effectiveness and efficiencies considering the context in which it operates.

In order to develop the business model, the consultant will be expected to hold a wide range of consultations with critical social protection stakeholders across ministries and institutions as well as social protection donors, since the developed model will be validated by the wider social protection sector working group.

 d.) Development of the implementation plan for the approved model:

Once the case management and referral mechanism business model is finalized, the consultant will be expected to develop an implementation plan which at least:

• Outlines the actions, inputs and adjustments progressively required to implement the proposed case management and referral mechanism business model.

• Spells out the financial resources required to implement the model. 

6. Work relationships 

The consultant will work under the daily supervision of the UNICEF Rwanda country office (Chief of Social Policy and Research), who will oversee the implementation of the assignment, ensure relevant cross-sectoral collaboration and timely delivery of the expected deliverables.  The consultant will also work in close cooperation with LODA and in consultation with the main social protection stakeholders to harmonize the consultancy activities with other sector initiatives.

 7. Stakeholder Participation
Key stakeholders include UNICEF/Social Policy and Research team, MINALOC/LODA, MINISANTE, MIGEPROF, MINAGRI, and MINICOM representatives and others key implementing partners like DFID, World Bank etc. The key stakeholders group will have an oversight function in relation to planning and design of the study, provision of technical inputs and guidelines to inform the study and review/approval of the main deliverables specified in the TOR. The final report will be approved by the Social Protection working group. 

UNICEF Rwanda will be responsible for selection of the consultant who will carry out the Study. The Study will be managed by UNICEF/Social Policy and Research Section. The management of the study will involve drafting the terms of reference, initiating selection process, liaison between the consultant and other stakeholders, as well as quality assurance of the reports and tools. 

8. Ethical Consideration/confidentiality 

Adequate measures should be taken to ensure that the process responds to quality and ethical requirements as per UNICEF Procedure on Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation and Data Collection and Analysis. As per United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Standard and Norms, and in particular adhering to Rwandan standards and norms, the consultant should be sensitive to beliefs, manners and customs and act with integrity and honesty in relationships with all stakeholders. Furthermore, consultant should protect the anonymity and confidentiality of individual information. The consultants should respect the confidentiality of the information which is being handled during the assignment. The consultant is allowed to use documents and information provided only for the tasks related to the terms of reference of this evaluation. The study data will be used only for the purpose of this study. 

9. Qualifications and requirements 

The International Consultant should have: 

• MA degree or PhD in Public Policy, Public Health, Economics, Gender and Development Studies, Social Development, Sociology or other relevant fields
• At least 15 years with proven experience in the fields of social protection, social development,  policy and strategy development, research and policy analysis
• Good understanding of Rwandan context an asset, in particular of social protection sector in Rwanda
• Strong analytical and writing skills
• Ability to produce deliverables in due time and with quality standards
• Fluency in written and oral English - French will be an added asset

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills 

10. Terms and conditions 

• Period: September – November 2017 for the estimate number of estimated 40 days (the consultant is expected to propose the actual and appropriate duration based on the assessment of the work assignment).
• Travel arrangements: if the (international) consultant is not based in Rwanda, UNICEF will provide airfare ticket by the most direct flight in economy class in accordance with current rules and regulations.
• On-field (in-country) transport and travel costs: UNICEF will provide on-field (in-country) transport and DSA as per UNICEF rules and regulations. The consultant will be responsible for organizing field visits, logistical support related to data collection, and organizing meeting with different stakeholders. UNICEF Rwanda will facilitate the consultant to access relevant information at country level and facilitate in convening a meeting for the social protection working group.
• Payment conditions and currency: Payments will be made based on deliverables (in $USD).
• UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.

• All materials developed by the consultant will remain the copyright of UNICEF and that UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in future. 

11.Supervision

The study will be supervised by Chief, Social Policy and Research and with close guidance from the Social Policy Research Specialist and Social Protection Specialist. The consultant will work closely with identified development partners and government stakeholders. 

12. How to apply

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a Letter of interest and the proposed lump sum fee in US$ for the consultancy (The lump sum should include the consultancy fees ( Daily/Monthly), living allowances and travel cost). CV, UN Personal History Form (P11) (which can be downloaded from: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc) and references from previous consultancies emailed to UNICEF Country Office. In their Letter of Interest, candidates should highlight the name of the consultancy, previous work experience relevant to the assignment, the attributes that make them suitable, their proposed approach to the assignment.

Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.