Menstrual Health & Hygiene
Terms of Reference for Message Development
1. INTRODUCTION
CARE International is one of the world’s leading multi-mandate aid agencies, fighting poverty and injustice in over 80 countries around the world and helping 65 million people each year to find routes out of poverty, with a specific focus on empowerment of women and girls. CARE contributes to lasting impact at scale in poverty eradication, social justice, and support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gender equality (SDG 4 & 5) sits at the heart of our programmatic ambitions and radiates through our work.
CARE International has launched a new vision for 2030 which outlines that Women’s Economic Justice (WEJ) is one of CARE’s six priority impact areas. By 2030, we will measurably change lives across multiple impact areas. CARE strives for a world that is equal for all genders. Gender equality is an important goal in its own right. Additionally, we cannot eradicate poverty and achieve social justice while gender inequality persists. Discrimination against women has negative implications for global security and development, economic performance, food security, health, climate adaptation, and the environment, governance, and stability. Our 2030 Goal is that 50 million people of all genders experience greater gender equality (particularly eliminating GBV, and increasing women’s and girls’ voices, leadership, and education).
CARE started working in Ethiopia in 1984 in response to severe drought and famine that devastated the population and claimed the lives of nearly one million people. Since then, the organization’s activities have expanded to address the root causes of poverty and vulnerability. Our programs focus on the areas of livelihoods and food security, sexual and reproductive health and nutrition, emergency preparedness and response, water and sanitation, and governance. Our programs particularly support women and girls in rural and urban areas. As part of CARE Ethiopia’s development of a focused and long-term program approach to poverty, the country office targets three groups of people: pastoralist girls, chronically food-insecure rural women, and poor young girls living in cities and urban areas.
The purpose of this assignment is to engage a consultancy firm to develop messages, images, and campaign strategy for the Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management Project that will be implemented in Adama town and the surrounding peri-urban kebeles. This assignment will be done based on the assessment reports (Assessment report Pillar 1 and 2), other literature reviews and in consultation with the message development group that will be established by the Project.
2. CONTEXT
Menstruation is an essential part of a woman's life. However, menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) remains a big taboo in many cultures and has been consistently overlooked, underestimated, and underfunded especially in middle and low-income countries. Increasing knowledge and promoting best practices on MHH can have a significant impact on education, health, early pregnancy, and gender equality, thereby increasing the likelihood of young women actively contributing to the economic growth and political stability of their countries. Although a universal aspect of women’s lives, one that affects most women and girls monthly for most of their lives, menstruation as a phenomenon is shrouded with shame, taboos, ignorance, and secrecy. For Ethiopian women and girls, it means having to manage practically, dealing with discomfort and pain, as well as facing cultural – particularly religious-restrictions. Social norms link family honour with virginity and, still in many communities, marriage with puberty. At the same time, both urban and rural poverty translate into problems of affordability of products and lack of access to water and improved latrines as well as weak waste management systems.
The French Development Agency (AFD), in partnership with the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and BNP Paribas is financing a Development Impact Bond (DIB) on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management (MHH) interventions in Ethiopia to empower women and girls and improve their place in society. The DIB is a three-year program that focuses on Adama town and surrounding peri-urban kebeles in the Oromia Region. CARE Ethiopia is leading the program which will be implemented primarily by PRO PRIDE, a local NGO.
The program will be implemented in urban and peri-urban communities of the administrative town of Adama, Oromia region. The population targeted by the DIB will be girls (aged 7-18), women (aged 19-49), boys, and men. The impact groups that the program is most keenly targeting are women and girls in schools, universities, and industrial parks as well as young women not in those categories and living in peri-urban areas and those accessing health clinics.
The Programme activities are categorized into three pillars/expected outcomes.
Pillar 1: Awareness-raising and advocacy activities to improve MHH knowledge among communities, change beliefs about menstruation and create demand for products, including:
Pillar 2: Production and distribution activities to strengthen the local supply of a variety of MHH products that meet different needs, including:
Pillar 3: Water and sanitation infrastructure activities to improve the access to and utilization of MHH-friendly, sustainable facilities in schools, include:
Linked to the Pillar 1 and 2 expected outcomes mentioned above, the program plans to run a social marketing campaign throughout the implementation period that addresses both awareness-raising and demand creation. The campaign will be through the media and social media as well as directly with the community, to address fear, shame and taboos and increase knowledge of MHH issues among women, girls, men, and boys. It is to also create, activate and increase their awareness of healthy MHH practices and the demand for products and facilities that allow women and girls dignity, reduced their stress, improve their health and increase their engagement in school, and work.
With regard to women and girls, the campaign will be twofold. One is to create awareness that there are several healthy[3] options for menstruation products, that there is a product adapted to each woman (flow level, price, accessibility, acceptability), and the other is to increase demand for all types of products across the board, as the campaigns will not support a specific brand.
The underlying message for the whole community will be that it is acceptable to talk about menstruation, as opinion leaders will take up the message. The campaign is about gender transformation[4] – it will contribute to moving women and girls from a period of fear and shame with men and boys oblivious or humiliating women girls, to a period of confidence and pride by women and girls with men and boys showing understanding and support.
To this effect, the program conducted detailed awareness/demand assessments and context analyses and generated a thorough understanding of the MHH knowledge, attitudes, and practices of women and girls, and the knowledge and attitude of boys and men toward menstruation in Adama town and the peripheries (See Assessment 1). Also, analyzed the overall MHH economy and the current supply chain in sanitary products, opportunities, and threats in a growing market. (See Assessment 2).
3. PURPOSE
The purpose of this assignment is to engage a consultancy firm to develop messages, images, and campaign strategy based on the assessment reports (Assessment report Pillar 1 and 2) and other literature reviews on MHH that will be implemented in Adama town and the surrounding peri-urban kebeles. The consultancy firm is also expected to include recommendations for message transmission methods, channels, and frequency of message modification.
4. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The objective of this assignment is to develop 1) messages (one key motto and a chain of messages) in, Amharic, Oromiffa and English that are simple, catchy, consistent, and appropriate to the local context; 2) images and 3) campaign strategy for awareness-raising and demand creation on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management.
The Consulting firm is also expected to suggest and come up with details of methodology including the following steps.
The consulting firm should provide
6. DELIVERABLES
The key deliverables include:
7. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF TEAM
The required qualifications and experience of the consulting team include:
8. TIMELINE
8.1. The timeframe of the assignment and the deliverables are as follows:
S/No |
Deliverables |
Submission time | Days |
1. | Inception report | After the signing of the agreement | 10 |
2. | 1st Draft of the report with the developed motto, messages and images | After approval of the inception report | 28 |
3. | Presentation of the draft and final report | After being evaluated by the team | 2 |
4 | Final report along with the one motto, messages (minimum of 10 messages -on 3-knolwdge, 3 attitude, and 3 practice), images (minimum of 10 images – 1 per message) all in high resolution, and campaign strategy in hard and soft copy. | After feedback given by CARE | 20 |
| Total |
| 60 |
8.2. Submission Deadline and Process
The deadline to submit the proposal is 15 August 2022.
Applications (technical and financial separately) should be submitted as follows:
1) Two hard copies (one original and one copy) delivered to CARE Ethiopia, Procurement Unit, Addis Ababa, around 22 Mazoria, behind Lex Plaza building, next to Ha’Geez Cultural Restaurant. The original and the copy should be clearly marked.
2) Samples of images and messages previously developed should be submitted with technical/proposal for quality evaluation
3) Bidders who fit the proposal and samples submitted will be qualified for the financial opening
Please direct any questions about the grant or application process to the CARE Procurement team at +2511-6-183294.
9. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF CONSULTING FIRM
CARE Ethiopia is looking for a licensed consulting firm having a minimum of 5 years of experience in conducting similar products. The consultancy firm and its members should fulfill the following requirement.
10. BID ASSESSMENT
CARE Ethiopia will score bids based on the technical proposal (80%) and financial proposal (20 %). The first three firms/consultants with the highest technical points will be considered for the next round where the financial proposal will be assessed. The proposal with the highest combined technical and financial score will be selected. CARE Ethiopia has the right to negotiate, and the final bid selection made by CARE Ethiopia is final. When errors are made in the calculation of the lumpsum costs or total price in the financial proposal submitted by the bidder, the unit prices shall prevail, and the lumpsum costs and the total price shall be recalculated accordingly.
Technical
SN | Criteria | Points (100%) |
1 | Understanding of ToR | 10% |
2 | Detailed work plan (Activity, time, and budget) | 15% |
3 | Experience related to the assignment and with similar organizations/INGOs/NGOs | 35% |
4 | Team composition (should at least include experts in graphics designing, message and campaign strategy development) | 20% |
| Overall assessment | 80% |
Note: In person presentation can be done as part of evaluation if the document submitted is unsatisfactory.
Financial
SN | Criteria | Points (20%) |
1 | Budget realism and reasonableness | 15% |
2 | Bottom line price analysis | 5% |
| Overall assessment | 20% |
11. MODE OF PAYMENT
The payment will be done according to the following time frame/arrangement. The first installment (40% of the total cost) immediately after submission and acceptance of the inception report and the second installment (60% of the total cost) after satisfactory completion of the task and acceptance of the final report.
12. LOGISTICS AND SERVICES
CARE Ethiopia will not provide any logistical support throughout the assessment period including transportation, working offices, computers, printers, photocopy, etc. therefore, all required expenses fees for the assessment including logistics and payments for consultants, supervisors, etc. should be covered by the consulting firm, and hence included in the financial proposal.
13. OUTLINE OF THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL
The inception report should not exceed 15 pages, and it is mandatory that it should include the following:
14. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL
The financial offer should be broken down in detail as like the following format:
[1] Training of Trainers (or ‘ToT’) refers to a training approach where a selection of leaders are identified to take training upfront to cascade it down to required level
[2] Vouchers will cover 80 to 90% of the MHH kit producer’s cost. School girls will pay 10 to 20% of the product cost to collect the voucher (which serves as management fees for schools to reinvest in MHH). They can then redeem the vouchers in school/retail shops by paying a 10 to 20% mark up to the shops. The programme foresees one voucher per school girl over the 3 years, except for the poorest who can access two for free (no product/mark-up costs)
[3] It will underline that scraps of cloth are not a good option and can create health issues.
[4] Gender-transformative approaches, as defined by CARE, aim to move beyond individual self-improvement among women and toward transforming the power dynamics and structures that serve to reinforce gendered inequalities.
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