Background
As an upper middle income country, Thailand has been experiencing the dual burden of under and over nutrition. Including a growth in a number of health and nutrition issues, usually associated with more developed countries. Over 70% of deaths are now from non-communicable diseases like heart attacks, cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes. This change is noticeable in the health and nutrition status of children and adolescents. Modern supermarkets and convenience stores now control about 50% or more of the food distribution and retailing system. This has led to an increasing availability of calorie dense foods, as well as foods higher in sugar, salt and oil than raw unprocessed foods. Poor diet and nutrition along with insufficient active play and physical activity has led to problems of obesity and other diet related diseases. Today, Thailand suffers from the second highest rate of obesity in Asia.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), Thailand has successfully dropped child malnutrition from 36 per cent to approximately 8.42 per cent within 30 years. Thailand’s success stemmed from an in-depth look at growth rates, nutritional education, supplementation of iron and vitamins, as well as a focus on health coverage. However, according to the Thailand Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2015-16, undertaken by UNICEF, National Statistical Office and the National Health Security Office, it was found that 1 in 10 children in Thailand are severely or moderately stunted and 15.3 per cent of children aged 1-14 years are obese. Acute malnutrition is a serious public health concern and is known to permanently damage the cognitive development of children which decreases their overall Intelligence Quotient (IQ). The 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017-2021) also states that “Thai people are deemed to be more likely to be affected by non-communicable diseases and premature death as a result of inappropriate consumption behaviors and a lack of adequate physical activity.” Only 23.2 per cent of Thai children and youth aged 6 to 17 years met the Physical Activity guidelines of 60 minutes daily. In general, it was found that girls were less active than boys. There are numerous programmes, both compulsory and voluntary, that the Royal Thai Government has initiated. However, there needs to be more support in terms of promoting nutrition knowledge among school staff, children and caretakers driving good habits around nutrition and physical activity.
To promote positive nutritional practices and physical activity among children, caretakers and communities in Thailand, Cargill, a global corporation, and Save the Children have entered a partnership. The “50 Healthy Schools” project will be implemented in Saraburi, Nakhon Rachasima and Lopburi Provinces. The project will be implemented, from September 2018 to February 2021, reaching 5,000 children, aged 7 to 12 years old. Together, and in partnership with local schools and the government, we will promote nutrition and physical activity, first in 12 existing Cargill-supported schools (6 in Saraburi, 6 in Nakhon Rachasima), so that they can be “model schools”, and then in 38 “cluster” schools in the vicinity of the existing schools. Our key objectives are to:
To achieve these objectives, the project will implement activities to:
For more details, please request for the project’s concept note and log-frame.
Consultancy Description
Save the Children is looking for a consultant to support a baseline survey in order to gather baseline information and data for the 50 Healthy Schools project. The data collection will take place in January 2019. We expect the consultant to work 5 days in Jan 2019 to adapt the evaluation tool to the local context, translate it into Thai, and test the tool. Additionally, the consultant is expected to work 7 days in March 2019 to analyze collected data against the project’s outcomes and output indicators and present findings in a narrative report with an expected length of approximately 20 pages.
Note that the consultant will NOT be requested to:
The consultant will work in close liaison with the project coordinator and technical advisor. The following is the outline of a suggested process; however, it would be expected that this would be further refined by the consultant. The research shall be undertaken based on Save the Children International requirements and must be in line with Save the Children’s ethical guidelines.
The project team is currently working with Save the Children School Health and Nutrition team to refine evaluation tools aimed at capturing Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) regarding nutrition and physical activity of a sample of 25-30 boys and girls per schools in a total of 12 schools across two sites (Saraburi and Nakhon Rachasima). The team will use the KAP survey as well as existing data collection tools (Focus Group discussion questionnaires, Key Informant Interviews forms and school environment mapping tool) developed during the project’s formative nutrition and physical activity assessment in September 2018. The consultant is expected to:
The consultant and the project team will travel to the field for one day to proceed to a first pilot evaluation in one school in Saraburi. After each data collection session (KAP survey, KII and school environment mapping), the consultant and the project team will share short reflections. Upon the testing, the consultant will edit and finalize the tools and share final recommendations before the data collection starts.
Data will be collected by the project and Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability (MEAL) teams using Kobo and transcripts (KII, school environment mapping). The consultant will be asked to analyze the data against project outcome and output indicators and deliver the following outputs:
Objectives and deliverables
|
Deliverables |
Timeframe: Start |
Deliver |
|
Survey tools (English) contextualized |
Jan 2019 – week 2 |
Jan 2019 – week 3 |
|
Survey tools translated into Thai |
Jan 2019 – week 2 |
Jan 2019 – week 3 |
|
Field visit to test survey tools |
Jan 2019 – week 4 |
|
|
Survey tools (English and Thai) edited and finalized following testing |
Jan 2019 – week 4 |
Jan 2019 – week 4 |
|
Feb 2019 – Data collection – consultant participation not required |
||
|
Clean raw dataset shared to Save the Children |
March 2019 – week 1 |
March 2019 – week 1 |
|
1st draft of the baseline narrative report to reflect data analysis |
March 2019 – week 1 |
March 2019 – week 2 |
|
2nd draft of the baseline report |
March 2019 – week 2 |
March 2019 – week 3 |
|
Presentation of research findings |
March 2019 – week 3 |
|
Management
The consultant will report to the “50 Healthy schools” Project Coordinator and will also work closely with the technical advisor. Save the Children will approve all plans and documents developed by the consultant.
Timeframe
Jan to March 2019 but the consultant is expected to be working only 12 full working days.
Budget
The applicant is requested to submit the proposal, work plan, and detailed budget (including estimated cost per day) with their application. The financial competitiveness of application will be considered in the selection process. All costs associated with delivery must be included, SCI will not pay for travel, per diem, translation, supplies, or any additional staff support time needed.
Qualifications
Required:
Thai applicant preferred but open to international applicants with Thai speaking competencies
Submission for the consultancy application
Submissions for the consultancy must address the TOR and include:
Close date for submission: 6 January 2018
Submissions should be addressed to: hr.thailand@savethechildren.org
Please indicate in the subject as "consultancy to support the 50 Healthy School baseline evaluation_(Name of candidate)”
Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.
"We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse"
Contact : Hr.thailand@savethechildren.org
