TERMS OF REFERENCE

HIRING A CONSULTANT TO CONDUCT TO CONDUCT RAPID ENDLINE SURVEY ON KEY RESULTS IN TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES REGARDING SOCIAL NORMS, UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR AND PRACTICES AMONG ADOLESCENTS

1. Overview

YWCA Rwanda, in partnership with UNICEF (funded by the Government of Japan), has implemented the project “Improving Adolescents’ Health and Well-Being” in Kirehe and Nyamagabe districts, reaching over 40,000 adolescents and young people. The project targets vulnerable adolescents aged 10–19, including teen mothers, out-of-school youth, youth from humanitarian settings, street children, orphans, and school dropouts. The project aims to improve access to comprehensive healthcare and promote positive behaviors, life skills, and resilience among adolescents at high risk of HIV infection, teenage pregnancy, sexual exploitation and abuse, and malnutrition.

In addition, the project empowers upper primary school girls in five districts by providing age-appropriate information, knowledge, and life skills on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), HIV, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and disease outbreak prevention practices, while fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment.

Project excepted results

• Communities demonstrate improved awareness, knowledge, attitudes and support inclusive programmes for adolescents' health (including mental health), nutrition and well-being.
• Health care providers, community health workers and other social service providers are providing quality, comprehensive and inclusive adolescent-friendly health services (including mental health, HIV, SRHR, nutrition and child protection).
• Vulnerable adolescents have improved knowledge, skills and self-efficacy to adopt positive behaviours and are accessing quality and inclusive health and nutrition services in and out of school, including in refugee settings through multiple platforms (peer education, digital, community mobilisation).
• Vulnerable adolescents have developed competencies in livelihood, financial literacy, vocational knowledge, and entrepreneurship, and are linked with initiatives promoting economic empowerment.
• Upper primary girls gain life skills, knowledge, and decision-making confidence through strengthened school clubs, enabling them to make informed health, education, and well-being choices, and improving school retention.

Justification:

A baseline assessment was conducted by YWCA; however, the endline assessment is needed to measure the interventions impact and progress over time. This rapid end-line assessment, employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, will evaluate changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among in-school girls and out-of-school adolescents, including teen mothers, with focus on economic empowerment. Additionally, it will assess the effectiveness of interventions on social norms, health-seeking behaviors, life skills, and school retention, particularly in schools with upper primary girls.

Objectives:

The assessment aims to:

• Assess key changes in social norms, behaviors, and practices influencing HIV prevention, health-seeking, and life skills among adolescents and upper primary girls.
• Understand socio-cultural, household, and community barriers and facilitators influencing adoption of positive behaviors, school retention, and service utilization.
• Measure the effectiveness of peer networks, mentorship, and school-based interventions for adolescents and upper primary girls.
• Evaluate the impact of empowerment interventions on health knowledge, life skills, school participation, economic engagement, and self-efficacy.
• Generate actionable recommendations to strengthen social behavior change communication strategies, life skills programs, and support for adolescent-friendly services.

Scope of work

The consultant will:

• Develop assessment methodology and tools that integrate modules for out-of-school adolescents and teen mothers (health, SRHR, HIV, GBV, nutrition, protection, livelihood, and entrepreneurship).
• Upper primary school girls (life skills, SRHR, HIV, SGBV, disease prevention, school engagement, and inclusive learning).
• Conduct data collection using quantitative surveys with representative samples of out-of-school adolescents, teen mothers, and upper primary girls.
• Qualitative methods including focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), and participant observation.
• Data analysis and reporting compare endline findings to baseline where available.
• Disaggregate findings by age, gender, school status, and program component.
• Present preliminary findings for validation and produce final report, PowerPoint presentation, and recommendations brief for program improvement.

Methodology:

• The assessment will use mixed methods which will be designed to capture explicit as well as implicit data, actions as well as words, and uncover both what is said as well as what is not said. Proposed methods will include participant observation in communities and households and informal interviews with caregivers, both girls and boys.
• Key informant interviews will also be used as triangulation to find out if behaviours or beliefs that are observed are more individual or shared. Interviews should also be used to gather more data on behaviour changes and practices. Interview guide will be developed based on the findings from participant observations. Key informants can include parents, youths/adolescents (boys and girls), religious leaders, service providers at health centers (who could be well versed with the notion of reproductive health discussions taboos and beliefs in a traditional Rwanda), community health workers, local authorities namely, sector social affairs officer etc.
• The data collection will be carried out in sampled sectors of Kirehe and Nyamagabe districts. The consultant must develop an inception report that clearly articulates the approach to conducting this end line assessment first before delve into the details of the rapid assessment.
• Add on few schools in at least two districts as sampling of upper primary girls.
• Tools for surveys and interview guides must include measurable indicators for:
• Knowledge, attitudes, and practices on SRHR, HIV, SGBV, nutrition, mental health, and disease prevention.
• Life skills, decision-making confidence, school engagement, and participation in empowerment activities.
• Livelihood, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship skills for out-of-school adolescents and teen mothers.

Description of the assessment

Deliverables

• Inception report detailing methodology and integration of all modules, including measurable indicators.
• Data collection tools for all target groups.
• Draft and final analysis report with well-articulated actionable findings disaggregated by age, gender, school status, and program component.
• PowerPoint presentation summarizing findings.
• Recommendations brief for improving social behavior change strategies, life skills programs, school retention, and adolescent-friendly services.
• Peer review paper
• Development of assessment methodologies
• Data collection tools
• Data analysis
• Compilation of the report
• Presentation of the preliminary report to YWCA team for comments or inputs
• Power point presentation of the end line assessment findings.
• A brief paper of the findings and recommendations on how to use them to inform our social behaviour change communication strategies.

Duration of the assessment

This assessment will be conducted within 20 days.

Consultant profile and requirements

The minimum qualifications, skills, and experience required are:

• Proven Experience in assessment related to Social Behaviour Change interventions for HIV prevention, Mental health and health seeking behaviour,
• Master’s degree in public health or social sciences with at least 3 years’ experience or Bachelors' degrees with at least 5 years professional experience.
• Fluency in Kinyarwanda and English is required;
• Not presenting any restriction of timework forecast by YWCA, and is ready to hand over the final report on time.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION

• A motivation letter addressed to the YWCA Executive Director
• Current detailed CV of the key consultant(s) involved in the assignment with copies of their degrees/certificates;
• Detailed proforma invoice of estimated budget showing the cost to carry out this assessment;
• Valid tax clearance certificates from Rwanda Revenue Authority,
• Proof of similar assignments previously performed is an added advantage;
• Any other documents stated in the requirements above.

All interested and qualified consultants are invited to submit their bid documents accompanied by all above specified documents to info@ywca.rw. Applications should be submitted not later than 15^th October, 2025 with a subject “Consultancy of adolescents’ health and well-being project in Kirehe and Nyamagabe”.