terms of reference

Researcher Baseline of We Belong # Status Project

About Plan International

We strive to advance children’s rights and equality for girls all over the world. As an independent development and humanitarian organisation, we work alongside children, young people, our supporters and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge. For over 80 years we have been building powerful partnerships for children, and we are active in over 75 countries.

Project Background

Stateless children and youth cannot equally enjoy economic, social and cultural rights. With the lack of legal status, stateless children and youth are only recognized in the education system as G-coded students. Although they are entitled to access education, barriers of restricted rights to travel out of their hometown provinces and no coverage under the National Health Insurance hinder them in living healthy and freely in the country. Moreover, they become vulnerable to exploitation due to challenges in their economic status. Stateless youth are not permitted to work, which pushes them into poverty and can eventually lead them into exploitation. Taking into account traditional beliefs on gender relations among ethnic minorities, boys are believed to be breadwinners, which leads to higher opportunities to education and training. Girls and young women are particularly vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) when combined with the lack of legal status as limited job opportunities force them to illegally migrate to look for jobs in a vulnerable position. Thus, we aim to protect stateless children and youth from CSEC, exploitation, and reduce poverty through youth economic empowerment.

Purpose of the Baseline

To measure the status of project indicators at the beginning of We belong # Status project. The results of this study will be used to describe the phenomenon in the target area of the project, and used to compare project performance at the end of the project. The followings are project indicators to be measured in which the baseline data will be collected.

Users of the Baseline

The baseline result will be directly benefit Plan International Thailand, Partners, CBOs, Community leaders/members and Government Staff as we can utilize the data analysis to develop and improve the project approaches/activities. Moreover, the baseline data would allow the relevant staff of the project to measure actual outcome against the indicators.

Methods for Data Collection and Analysis

This research has applied the methodology of Mixed Methodology in the research process. The Mixed Methodology research process is a process that integrates both quantitative and qualitative research methods in order to obtain comprehensive and complete information. The quality data collection process will be conducted by using primary and secondary data collection methods with the following methods;

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5.1 Scope of work/Sample Size

The WE BELONG # Status project are inplement in 8 communities in Chiang Mai:

Chiang Dao District: Tambon Muang Na (Municipality) and Chiang Dao
Chaiprakarn District: Sri Dong Yen
Fang District: Tambon Monpin, Wieng
Mae Ai District: Doi Laang

Method	Target Group/ Sample Size	Project Indicators
KAP Survey (Questionnaire)	Target Group: Children and Youth Sample Size: Overall at least 400 sampling. Applying stratified random sampling by size of school, population. Data should be disaggregated by sex, gender, provinces/district and target communities External consultants should provide descriptive information of sampling methodology in proposal	OCI 1.2 (A) Number and description of CBO initiatives in communities promoting children and young people's rights and gender equality
	Target Group: Community Leaders/Members Sample Size: Overall at least 400 sampling. Applying stratified random sampling by size of school, population. Data should be disaggregated by sex, gender, provinces/district and target communities External consultants should provide descriptive information of sampling methodology in proposal	OCI 1.2 (C) Increase of percentage for community members who understand, value and support youth-led activities
	Target Group: Teachers and government officials Sample Size: Overall at least 80% of final target teachers and government officials	OCI 2.2 Number of teachers and government officials who are able to provide information and facilitate the process for case approval OPI 2.1.1 Number of teachers trained in processing applications
Focus group discussion (FGD)	Target Group: Children and Youth Leaders/Members Sample Size: 2 FGD per community (for both leaders & community members)	OCI 1.2 (A) Number and description of CBO initiatives in communities promoting children and young people's rights and gender equality OPI 3.2.1 Number of national policy dialogue to resolve issue facing stateless children and youth during project period
	Target Group: Community Leaders/Members Sample Size: 2 FGD per community (for both leaders & community members)	OCI 1.2 (C) Increase of percentage for community members who understand, value and support youth-led activities
Key informant interview (KII)	Target Group: Government officials Sample Size: 1-2 government officials per district	OCI 2.2 Number of teachers and government officials who are able to provide information and facilitate the process for case approval OPI 2.1.2 Number of government officials supported approval processing applications on mobile clinic activity OPI 3.1.1 Number of decision making bodies that received information on G-Coded student's situation and recommendations from the influencing activity
	Target Group: Multi-stakeholder working groups/Provincial Networks Sample Size: 1-2 representative of multi-stakeholder working group/provincial Network	OPI2.2.1 Number of multi-stakeholders working groups on district level are formed and functional OPI 2.3.2 Number of provincial network's activity to discuss on the improvement of collaboration to process case approval OPI 2.3.3 Number and description of best practices resulted from multi-stakeholder collaboration

5.2 Participant selection and recruitment

External consultants should apply stratified random sampling to recruit and select participants. This process should be done with close consultation with MERL Team.

Key Deliverables

Deliverable	Format	Length	Due	Detail
Inception Report	MS-Word (English) PowerPoint (Thai)	10-15 pages	1^st week after contract signing	Inception Report are including MER safeguarding risk assessment
Draft Baseline Report	MS Word (English) PowerPoint (Thai)	25 – 50 pages	2-month after contract signing	PowerPoint version should be presented to Plan International Thailand to get feedback before final report
Final Baseline Report (including Executive Summary)	MS Word (English) PowerPoint (Thai)	25 – 50 pages	2 weeks after submission of draft baseline report	Executive summary should be provided in 2 languages both Thai & English
Final Data Collection Tools	Hard copy		End closed with final report	-
Cleaned Data (including transcripts)	MS Word /Excel		2-month after contract signing	return all hard copies of data collection tools to Plan International
Completed Consent Forms	Hard copy		End closed with final report
Other Communication Products for Dissemination	Poster version of finding in THA/ENG version	1 page of A3 size	End closed with final report

Timeline

Activity	Detail	Timeline
Inception Report	Development of Inception Report and MER safeguarding risk assessment	2^nd week of Jan 2021 (1-week after signing the contract)
	Inception Meeting	3^rd week of Jan 2021 (2-week after the signing of the contract)
	Finalization of Inception Report	3^rd week of Jan 2021 (2-week after the signing of the contract)
	Submission of Inception Report	3^rd week of Jan 2021 (2-week after the signing of the contract)
Data Collection and Analysis	Preparation for Data Collection Development of data collection tools Testing of data collection tools Field piloting Finalization of Tools Enumerator training	3^rd week of Jan 2021 (2-week after the signing of the contract)
	Field work to collect data/information	1^st week of Feb 2021 (4-week after the signing of the contract)
	Data entry, clearing and analysis	3^rd week of Feb 2021 (6-week after the signing of the contract)
Submission of the findings	Submission of the draft of the preliminary findings	1^st week of Mar 2021 (8-week after the signing of the contract)
Validation Meeting	Presentation of preliminary findings and validation of findings	2^nd week of Mar 2021 (9-week after the signing of the contract)
Submission of the final report	Submission of the final report and other deliverables	3^rd week of Mar 2021 (10-week after the signing of the contract)

Budget

9.1 Detailed Budget: The external consultant team shall provide detailed estimates of the budget including field staff, travel and preparation meeting cost, equipment including hardware & software, field trip for surveys and other related activities in proposal.

9.2 Table of payment schedule

Milestone	Detail	Amount to be Paid (%)	Expected Timeframe
Inception Report	Submission of Inception Report	40% of total budget	2-week after the signing of the contract
Draft Baseline Report	Submission of the draft of the preliminary findings	40% of total budget	8-week after the signing of the contract
Final Baseline Report (including Executive Summary)	Submission of the final report and other deliverables	20% of total budget	10-week after the signing of the contract

Expected Qualifications

The consultant should meet the following qualifications and experience:

Available full time during the period of the consultancy
Experience of research in the areas of legal status, gender, policy review.
A strong research background with adequate capacity to undertake qualitative and quantitative studies. Experience in baseline study is a requirement.
Proven data collection and analysis experience.
Proven report writing skills and publication record.
Demonstrated ability to write clearly and concisely in English.
Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to children’s rights, gender and ethical issues in research.

Applications

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects:

Detailed response to the TOR
Proposed methodology
Ethics and child safeguarding approaches, including any identified risks and associated mitigation strategies
Proposed timelines
CVs
Example of previous work
Detailed budget, including daily fee rates, expenses, etc.
Police Certificates of Good Conduct – especially where there is primary data collection

Please send your application to Plan International by e-mail to Khun Supornchai Nawataweeporn at supornchai.nawataweeporn@plan-international.org by 30 November 2020

Contact : supornchai.nawataweeporn@plan-international.org

นักวิจัย / Researcher