Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment: Engagement of Consulting firm for Project Monitoring

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(Consultancy Services – Firm Selection)

ENGAGEMENT OF CONSULTANCY FIRM FOR MONITORING & EVALUATION (M&E)

Date: Wednesday 6th July 2022

The proposed Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project aims to lay the foundation for a long-term engagement on adolescent girls’ education and empowerment.

The Federal Government has received a credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), for the implementation of the Adolescent Girls Initiatives for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project, in selected seven (7) states of the Federation viz; Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi and Plateau. AGILE Project seeks to improve adolescent girls' access to secondary education opportunities through a holistic and multi-sectoral approach to unlock binding demand and supply side constraints to girls' empowerment in seven states of Nigeria. The project will use secondary schools as a platform to empower girls through education, life skills, health education, GBV awareness and prevention, negotiation skills, self-agency, and digital literacy skills. It is a five-year (5) project, that will work with the Federal Government and support the participating states to improve secondary education opportunities among girls, and to achieve its objectives through targeted assistance following key project principles.

AGILE-supported interventions will reach about 182 Local Government Authorities (LGAs) of the participating states, and all public and Junior Secondary Schools (JSSs) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSSs), while prioritizing targeted areas that are poor and have the lowest secondary transition rates among girls in participating states. The AGILE project will benefit all adolescents (boys and girls) in public secondary schools (state/LGA, integrated Islamiya schools and community schools).

The Project has three components. The third component deals with Project Management and System Strengthening. Subcomponent 3.1: Is system strengthening for sustainability and Technical Assistance (TA). While subcomponent 3.2: is Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E).

Objectives of the Assignment

The general objective of this assignment is to appoint a consultant/firm/NGO who will support Plateau State in setting an enabling context for the Monitoring and Evaluation of the AGILE project and support routine monitoring activities to allow for periodic data collection data management reporting and learning on the AGILE Project.

Scope of the Assignment

To achieve the objectives, the selected consultant/firm/NGO will conduct the following duties.

• Produce the design and framework strategy to conduct monitoring of the AGILE project, including an assessment of existing capacities at the state and LGA level.
• Develop monitoring guidelines, including state and LGAs level institutional arrangements, organizational diagrams that reflect roles, responsibilities, and data flow that allow the SPIU and the selected consultant to organize their resources to effectively conduct routine monitoring of the AGILE project.
• Delivery of practical workshops with the state M&E personnel and other component-leads on methodologies to achieve an effective monitoring planning and implementation.
• Support the state in the planning and development stages of the implementation of a result chain for monitoring with a minimum goal of ensuring an efficient monitoring of the PDO and intermediate indicators included in the Results Framework.
• Support the state in the definition of ICT monitoring tools, development of data collection templates, and parameterization of the monitoring tools.
• Enhance capacity building on the use of ICT Monitoring tools at the state and LGAs level through a Training of Trainers approach.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly template reports in coordination with SPIU and NPCU.
• Support the state in the planning and implementation of a monitoring pilot, including coordination of teams, conducting data collection, data management, reporting, and learning.
• Support the government with the data management and data analysis stages of the monitoring pilot, by producing a pilot assessment report in a way that is useful and easy to draw lessons learnt for adjusting processes and scalability.
• Contribute to the government in effectively disseminating the result from the pilot assessment through cross-state workshops and events tailored to different stakeholder groups.
• Provide continuous support to the government to scale up routine monitoring activities, including technical assistance and also conducting data collection and other day-to-day monitoring activities.
• Provide special monitoring efforts to the allocation and implementation of SIG

Tasks/Activities and Responsibilities

1. Production of design and framework strategy,
2. Development of monitoring guidelines and reporting (monthly and quarterly) templates.
3. Delivery of practical workshops with the State M&E personnel to validate the framework strategy, monitoring guidelines, templates, ICT monitoring tools, and on M&E methodologies.
4. Development, with the SPIU, of the planning and implementation of a result chain for monitoring.
5. Development of data collection templates using the agreed ICT monitoring tools.
6. Delivery of practical workshops on the use of monitoring tools (ICT) at the state and LGA levels.
7. Support the state in planning a monitoring pilot and in conducting data collection.
8. Conduct, with the SPIU, the data management and analysis stages of the monitoring pilot and produce an assessment report.
9. Delivery of a workshop to present the monitoring pilot report, including lessons learnt for scaling up.
10. Conduct continuous routine monitoring activities, including:
    • Support the planning of monthly monitoring activities.
    • Provide technical assistance and capacity-building to use/adjust ICT monitoring tools.
    • Provide necessary manpower to conduct monitoring data collection, data management, and data analysis.
    • Produce monthly and quarterly monitoring reports.
    • Participate in monthly meetings with NPCU and the World Bank, if necessary.
    • Conduct other day-to-day monitoring activities, as required by the SPIU.

The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Plateau State now invites eligible consulting firms to indicate their interest in providing the above services. Interested consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services. The short listing criteria are (i) evidence showing the fields of specialty of the firm (consultant’s profile/brochures) (ii) evidence showing that the firm is a legal entity (certificate of registration), (iii) Description of similar assignments (i.e, consultant’s past projects that are similar in nature and experience in similar conditions. (iv) Availability of appropriate skills among staff and general qualifications. For each project performed the consultant shall provide the name and contact address of the client (office & e-mail address, and telephone number), date(s) of execution, name(s) of lead and associate firms and financing sources. 

A consulting firm will be selected in accordance with the Consultant’s Qualification Selection (CQS) procedure set out in the World Bank Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by the World Bank Borrowers, January 2011. Please visit www.worldbank.org.

Interested consulting firm/consortium may obtain further information (including detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment) at the address below between the working hours of 9:00am - 4:00pm, Mondays through Fridays excluding public holidays.

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Expression of interest must be delivered both in hard copy and soft copy in CD format to the address below in person, or by mail on or before Wednesday 20 th July 2022 between the working hours of 9.00am - 4.00pm, Mondays through Fridays excluding public holidays. 

The Project Coordinator

Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Plateau State Management Unit (SPIU),

Lilly of the Valley House,

Off Gold & Base Road, Shaka,

Jos- Plateau State

E-mail: plateauagile@gmail.com