TERMS OF REFERENCE (INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT)
| Consultancy Title | Business Management and Entrepreneurship Training Consultancy |
| Project Name | Catalyzing Quality Sustainable and Replicable Daycare Services in Lesotho Project |
| Location | Maseru and Remote (depending on the country of origin) |
| Contract duration | January – June 2023 (6 Months) |
| Deadline | 25 November 2022 |
CRS Background
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health and nutrition, WASH, agriculture and food security, livelihoods, education (ECD), microfinance, peacebuilding and Integrated Catchment Management (ICM).
Child Care Background in Lesotho
The first years of a child’s life are key for their growth and development. To achieve optimal development, children need adequate nutrition, good health, safe environments, early brain stimulation, supportive parenting, and developmentally appropriate early learning opportunities. For the children of Lesotho factory workers attending day care centers – opportunities for quality early childhood development are limited. More than 75% of Lesotho’s factory workers are women who are often single mothers cut off from traditional extended family networks who normally assist with child-care. Factory workers typically have limited education and earn an average of $146 per month for a 12-hour workday. In these conditions, they have few options but to turn to unregulated and precarious day care services. The most factory dense areas in Lesotho are the Thetsane and Maputsoe areas in the Maseru and Leribe districts, respectively.
An assessment conducted by CRS in 2020 on 50 project supported day care centres in Maputsoe industrial area revealed that 58% met standards for nutrition and 40% for health, safety and hygiene. A child protection survey conducted by CRS in 2019 among 80 day care centres in Maputsoe and Thetsane, revealed that 27.5% of children have experienced abuse with the most common type of abuse being physical abuse at 73%. The low statistics of abuse cases amongst children in day care centres is alluded to non-reporting of child protection incidents which is largely threatening child protection in Lesotho.
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Lesotho has been working to improve the quality of ECD since 2011, initially through the Whose Child is This Project (funded by Better Way Foundation) and from October 2018, the privately funded Strengthening Care in Early Childhood project. To date CRS ECD programming has reached over 6,000 children and their caregivers and 66-day care centres.
Despite the CRS investments challenges persists in most day care centres in the country. Many children in Lesotho fail to attain their age-appropriate developmental milestones due poor-quality childcare resulting from poor child stimulation by caregivers, poor child nutrition practices by the caregivers, and poor infrastructure for optimal child development outcomes, learning and child-safety. Poor quality child-care services can also be attributed to lack of monitoring and oversight by the government. The national day care center guidelines are in place but they have not yet been endorsed by the government.
Project Summary: Catalyzing Quality Sustainable and Replicable Daycare Services in Lesotho will transform the quality of care at 30 daycare centers in Maputsoe and Thetsane industrial settlements in the Maseru and Leribe Districts, resulting in improved nutrition, health, safety and developmental outcomes for children 0-4 years through an affordable and replicable model of quality daycare services. Core project components include:
- Enhancing quality daycare through improved infrastructure and training of daycare center providers to provide age-appropriate stimulation and play-based learning; support proper child nutrition and hygiene practices; and provide childcare that meets national guidelines.
- Linking daycare centers with village health workers for immunization status verification, malnutrition screening and referral, if necessary.
- Developing a replicable business model that allows daycare providers to offer affordable, quality services while earning a living wage.
- Supporting parents to pay for care through the establishment of Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC).
- Promoting adoption of national daycare center guidelines informed by the global nurturing care framework, ensure centers’ compliance, and promote government support of centers to improve quality and access through engagement and advocacy with Lesotho Government stakeholders.
Assignment Purpose: The purpose of this consultancy assignment is to develop business management training manuals, administrative and financial management tools (including record keeping and reporting), develop overall project management tools and conduct training with the project management team. All the material should be relevant and contextualized to Lesotho ordinary daycare centers.
Detailed Tasks: Major activities to be completed by the consultant are listed below.
- Compile inception report articulating how the above-mentioned tasks will be be undertaken including the Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP).
- Conduct a needs assessment to assess daycare caregivers’ business management (financial and administrative), entrepreneurship skills and background to identify critical gaps and inform most appropriate approaches,
- Develop caregivers’ business management and entrepreneurship training manual, which will be used to facilitate the trainings with the daycare center caregivers,
- Develop administrative, record keeping and financial management tools, practices and monitoring and reporting templates to ensure the viability of the daycare businesses,
- Provide the training to the project team (project manager and the business management technical advisor) on the project materials developed,
- Support the project team to facilitate few initial caregivers’ trainings,
- Compile the final report which will include at minimum the key tasks completed, successes, challenges, lessons learned, best practices and business management and entrepreneurship framework
Deliverables and Time Frame
- Inception Report – 1 week
- Needs Assessment Report – 1.5 Months
- Training Manuals, financial and administrative tools, monitoring and reporting templates – 1.5 Months
- Project Team Trainings – 2 Weeks
- Caregivers Training Support – the consultant will be expected to support the project team to facilitate at least few initial trainings – 5 days
- Final Report – 2 Months
NB: Please note that the overall duration of this consultancy will be 6 months.
Qualifications and Requirements: the minimum academic qualifications and relevant experience related requirements are articulated below.
- The consultant will hold Master’s Degree in Business Administration or Management, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Economics, Finance or any related field,
- The consultant will have at least 10 years experience supporting set-up and management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Southern and Eastern Africa. Previous experience in Lesotho doing similar assignment will be an advantage,
- The consultant will have experience developing business training manuals,
- The consultant will have experience developing and delivering trainings to service-type entrepreneurs,
- The consultant will have experience conducting business needs assessments,
- The consultant must also demonstrate strong writing skills in English, have a strong client focus, and have excellent communication, team coordination, and applied training skills.
SUBMISSION: Interested candidates should submit their Resume and Cover Letter, no later than 25th November 2022 at 14:00 hrs. by email to [email protected] with the subject line: INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT: Catalyzing Quality Sustainable and Replicable Daycare Services. HARD COPY APPLICATIONS NOT ACCEPTED. ONLY SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED.
Please be advised that CRS requires its staff and stakeholders to treat all people with dignity and respect and to actively prevent harassment, abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Further, all successful candidates will be subject to a comprehensive background check, and their personal/professional references will be asked to evaluate their behaviors related to the above safeguarding-related topics.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.