Purpose: RFP for Community Service as a Pathway to Work (CSPW) Program Monitoring Database Development and Maintenance

Issuance Date: March 3, 2024

Deadline for Submissions: March 15, 2024

Introduction

Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs Ethiopia (CCP-Ethiopia) is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) in order to invite responses from qualified vendors to design and implement a database and program monitoring system, as well as provide ongoing maintenance and monitoring, in order to support the Community Service as a Pathway to Work (CPSW) program in Ethiopia.

Background

With funding from the Mastercard Foundation, the CCP-Ethiopia is implementing the CSPW Program in 60 districts of Amhara, Oromia, Southwest Ethiopia, and Central Ethiopia regions in collaboration with the Youth Network for Sustainable Development (YNSD). The program, to be implemented for five years, contributes to the vision of the Foundations Young Africa Works initiative, which is to see young Ethiopians having equal opportunities to dream and prosper, access dignified and fulfilling work, and contribute to the countrys overall development. Overall, CSPW aims to provide community service (CS) opportunities and for 500,000 youth ages 18 34 (70% women and 10% marginalized youth). Of this overall cohort of youth, CCP is expected to reach 40% (n=200,000 cumulatively). Each year, the CCP program will enroll and serve a new cohort of 50,000 youth. The design of CSPW is to equip young people with essential skills and characteristics such as self-efficacy, leadership, and business development, and link them to sources of capital to help them transition to work. At least 40% of the young people who engage in CS are expected to transition to dignified and fulfilling work either through self or wage employment. To monitor the engagement and progress of the young individuals who enroll in the program, it is necessary to develop an interactive database and system to track individuals enrolled in the program as well as key performance indicators, outputs and outcomes to use in programmatic adaptations and decision making.

Program Implementation Strategies

To implement the project, CCP is working closely with existing Woreda Implementation Teams (WITs) and the Kebele Implementation Teams (KITs) in each of the project woredas. The WIT consists of representatives from relevant government sectors, including the Woreda Labor and Skills Office, Woreda Women and Children Affairs Office, Woreda Youth and Sport Office, and Woreda Social Affairs Office. Similarly, the Kebele Implementation Team (KIT) includes the Kebele Manager, the One-Stop Service Center Staff, and youth leaders who are recruited by the KIT.

The KIT is responsible for recruiting youth leaders, conducting dialogue sessions with the youth on CS, registering youth interested in CS and collecting the information for their profiles, and coordinating, supporting, and monitoring CS activities. Meanwhile, the WIT is responsible for monitoring the recruitment of youth leaders, facilitating pre-CS orientations for registered young people, following up on CS engagement, organizing reflection sessions with enrolled youth, and coordinating the provision of entrepreneurship and business development trainings.

In implementing CSPW, CCP operates through two cluster coordination offices located in Jimma and Bahir Dar, which oversee all programming in their respective regions, These coordination offices have dedicated monitoring and evaluation (M&E) officers who facilitate the monitoring and evaluation processes of the program including data entry of the youth profiles and service data. Additionally, CCP has a dedicated country team based in Addis Ababa that includes a Research, Monitoring and Evaluation (RM&E) team that provides overall technical guidance to the cluster offices, and facilitates the design and implementation of guidelines and tools to ensure effective project implementation. Each cohort of youth is expected to engage in CS for 4 to 6 months after which they will transition to working in their field of interest. Once a cohort of youth is transitioned to work, new youth will be recruited.

Data Collection Tools and Database Components:

The data collected for this database will come from four data sources (see below) and will be merged into the system using a unique identification code (UIC). This identification code will be developed by combining components of an individuals personal information. For example, personal information may include the letters in their first and last names, mothers maiden name, birthday, phone numbers, etc. The details of this UIC are currently being finalized.

The data sources include the following:

1. Youth registration for community service: This form captures key information about the young people who are interested in registering for the program. This form includes personally identifiable information. Access to these data should be restricted to only key members of the M&E team. To capture these data, youth leaders will register young people in their respective catchment areas. The registration will capture basic profiles of young people including their physical address, educational level and area of study, work experience, support needs, interests, disability status, and other pertinent information. Youth leaders will register this information in the paper-based registration book and submit the data to the WIT. The WIT will compile and submit all data to the CCP M&E officer at the cluster office. The M&E officer in the cluster office is then responsible for entering these data into the database.

2. Youth engagement in community service tracking and reporting form: Throughout the program implementation process, youth leaders will document youth participation in CS on a paper-based weekly tracking and reporting form. On this form, the youth leader will register duration of each of young persons participation in CS. These data will be used to produce monthly progress reports. The reports will include prioritized variables such as participant UIC, type of CS, number of youths engaged in CS disaggregated by sex, challenges faced during CS and any workarounds adapted to overcome the challenges, change stories, and estimated number of communities benefiting from the CS.

3. Project training documentation form: Youth leaders will document youth participation in training programs using this form, which will collect variables including participant UIC, training type, training location, youth leader name, date of training, etc. This information will be initially captured on paper and then entered electronically into the database.

4. Reach and recall assessments: On a regular basis, CSPW will randomly select a sample of youth who they will call and ask a series of questions about their participation in the program and their professional development. These data will be collected in the KOBO Collect or Open Data Kit system and will need to be merged into the overall database. Once a participant has been interviewed in the reach and recall assessment, he or she will no longer be eligible for participation in a future reach and recall assessment.

Other forms as needed: Any additional forms will be developed to include the UIC for each participant so that they can be linked into the database.

The cluster coordination office will receive data from WITs, and KITs through paper based and electronic data collection systems. The cluster coordination offices will enter and digitize all data and will manage the program central database. Furthermore, the central database is expected to capture all project data that include a list of participants in project supported trainings, workshops, pause and reflect sessions, and review meetings, and others.

Key Features of the database and monitoring system

Preparation and Submission of Proposals

CCP-Ethiopia requests proposals from consultants, organizations, or firms based in Ethiopia, who have a renewed business license, and have contextual knowledge and experience in the country. Applicants must have the appropriate infrastructure in place to enable the design, development, and launch of the system within the timeframe of this RFP.

All proposals should include the following components, numbered for ease of reference:

1. Introduction and Background

Applicants should summarize their understanding of RFP and the needs of CSPW as well as the proposed scope of work.

2. Organizational/Consultant Capacity & Team Composition

This section should describe the applicants capacity to manage (technically, administratively, and financially) the range of activities under the scope of work, and to deliver results within the specified period. The description should include information about structural, administrative, and technical resources of the applicant (core staff, software, computers, office space, technical skills, etc.) to support the proposed work.

Please include the CV(s) for the lead developer(s), demonstrating experience leading similar projects, who will be responsible for the technical design and training for this database. These CVs should be included as an Appendix.

3. Organizational/Consultant Experience

This section should describe the quality and extent of previous institutional experience in database design and management in Ethiopia. The past performance of the Applicant will be evaluated based on implementation of recent (within the last 5 years) and relevant activities and should include the following for at least 2 prior awards:

o Name and address of the organization(s) for which the work was performed

o Current telephone number and e-mail address of representative of the organization for which the work was performed

o Brief description of the program.

4. Technical Approach

This section should address the following, based on this RFP and the initial system description outlined above:

o Overall process of system development including how collaboration with the CCP will work including initial strategy sessions with CCP and CSPW partners, technical design and development, pre-testing, rollout, scale-up and ongoing support.

o Detailed timeline for the development of the system, broken down by activity including key milestones as well as specific plans and approaches on how to engage with CSPW staff.

o Technical specifications of the system, including software to be used and platform specifications as well as recommended equipment/devices needed

to operate the system.

o Flowchart of how the system will work.

The technical approach will be evaluated on the overall merit, innovation, and feasibility of what is proposed.

5. Budget

This section should provide a detailed, itemized budget in a spreadsheet and a budget justification narrative of no more than two pages.

Budget costs should be grouped into the following categories:

Staff Costs

Database Storage/Hosting

Software Costs

Any Ongoing Maintenance Costs

Itemized Administrative Costs

Any Additional Costs to complete the SOW

The budget costs should be submitted in a table with the following columns

Line-Item Description

Quantity and Unit of Measurement

Unit Cost

Total Cost in local currency

Total Cost in US dollars (Assuming 56.4715 Ethiopian Birr to 1 USD exchange rate, per Commercial Bank of Ethiopian, dated Mar 1st, 2024)

Note: The grand total cost for the entire SOW must be included as well.

The budget should correspond with the venders proposal and align with the SOW. The budget narrative should include justification for all unit costs and unit numbers.

6. Eligibility Documentation

All bidders must show their eligibility to participate in this procurement by providing copies of the following documents:

o Legal Certificate of Incorporation.

o Tax Identification Certification

7. Appendices

Any additional information that the applicants deem important can be provided as appendices, as needed.