I. BACKGROUND
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international relief and development agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS supports more than 100 million people in more than 100 countries in five continents. CRS works with local partners to promote human development by responding to major emergencies, fighting disease and poverty, and nurturing peaceful and just societies; and serve Catholics in the United States as they live their faith in solidarity with their brothers and sisters around the world. CRS’ World Headquarters is located in Baltimore, MD.
CRS, with funding provided by the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) seeks to reduce child labor and improve labor rights and working conditions in agriculture, including in the sugar sector, in Haiti through a comprehensive set of interventions that engages government, civil society, and the private sector in the protection of children and workers. Through integrated service centers, CRS will provide direct support services to project beneficiaries in the form of education, livelihoods, labor rights information, and referrals to government and NGO services to thousands of children and households engaged in child labor or exploitive working conditions. CRS will also strengthen the capacity of key governmental institutions to monitor and enforce labor laws and will support select partner businesses to implement social compliance systems, including in production supply chains. All of these measures will help vulnerable households to attain sustainable livelihoods free of child labor and exploitation. CRS will work closely with the Government of Haiti (GoH) to ensure that this program is well coordinated with national-level initiatives and supported by multiple ministries in a cross-sectorial approach.
After two years of implementing of the project, CRS, in an effort to fulfill the requirements of the Grant agreement with regards to mandated special studies, is interested in looking at the engagement of children in the fishing sector in the coastal communes of our implementation areas. This interest stemmed from conversations with local officials such as the previous Director of IBESR in the North and other local authorities as well as our implementing partners and community members in those areas, including school teachers who by most accounts are just as involved in the activity as their students. By most accounts, the fish of interest is generally the Eel, more precisely the newly hatched, commonly named the “glass eel”. This fish that is exported has been reported to be the object of a lucrative source of revenue for households in those related communities. The study would be an in-depth look at that particular industry and assess to what extent children are engaged generally and in particular project beneficiaries.

Project Objectives
CRS seeks to help households engaged in child labor and exploitive working conditions to attain sustainable livelihoods. CRS work toward this development objective in two ways:
1) Supporting targeted households to benefit from an integrated set of child protection and labor services and
2) Supporting government, private sector, and civil society to improve the protection of children.

II. OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY

Generally, the firm (Contractor) selected to conduct the survey is expected to:

Implement an area-based prevalence survey, integrating methods of quantitative and qualitative research to estimate the prevalence of child labor and hazardous work in the fishing sector. Provide context specific information on the socioeconomic dynamics of the targeted areas and assess the attitudes towards child labor, to understand the context in which potential child labor incidents may be occurring.

Specifically, the final report will include descriptive statistics and analysis addressing the following research questions:

• What is the prevalence of children engaged in economic activities, child labor, and hazardous child labor in the fishing sector in specific communes within the north and the north-east department? How many children are engaged in child labor and hazardous child labor in the production of specific fish goods?
• What are the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of working children and their families?
• What are the risk factors that increase a child’s likelihood of engaging in child labor?
• What are the schooling outcomes of working children, including but not limited to, barriers to education and the impacts of participation in the fishery on school attendance?
• Where do children work and what are the working conditions of children in the fishing sector?
• Are children working in the fishing sector exposed to hazardous conditions? Are children who are exposed to hazardous conditions more likely to report negative health outcomes (illness and/or injury)?
• Who are the actors involved and what are the stages of production that children are involved in the fishing supply chain?
• What are the parental and child attitudes towards children’s work and engagement in child labor in fishing activities?

The proposal should explain how it will integrate gender considerations throughout the household survey design, implementation and reporting. This will be evaluated as part of the Evaluation Methodology and Work plan criteria (see Section XI., Evaluation Criteria).

III. GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
The household survey will be carried out in the North and the North-East departments, specifically in the coastal communes and communal sections where significant fishing activities are observed. The targeted areas are listed below:

List of the targeted areas
Department Communes
North Borgne
Bas Limbé
Limonade (bord de mer)

North East
Caracol
Fort Liberté



IV. THE STUDY METHODOLOGY

This study will use mixed methods to answer the key research questions listed above. The Contractor is expected to fulfill responsibility for all aspects of the research process, including sampling design, questionnaire development, fieldwork training, data collection, data cleaning, and analysis, and report writing.
The study will be developed in different stages, starting with the initial activities, following the collection and processing of information, ending with the preparation of the final report. Each of these stages is composed by a list of activities, described below:
1. Initial activities:
1.1. Preparation of work plan and schedule.
1.2. Preparation of research protocol, including:
• research methodology, including definitions
• sampling plan
• identification of key stakeholders
• research instruments (quantitative and qualitative)
• training plan
• piloting plan
• enumerators and supervisors’ manuals
• storage and data security plan
• data analysis plan
• consent forms for study participants
• parental or guardian permission and assent for children under 18
• code of conduct with regards to protection of human subjects

1.3. Piloting activities for the validation of research instruments (quantitative and qualitative), with brief report on findings and adjustments in the questionnaires or sampling plan.
1.4 Finalized instruments (quantitative and qualitative).
1.5. Training of enumerators and supervisors.
1.6. Preparation of the data collection plan, including dates, teams and information quality control mechanisms. The data collection plan should indicate whether the dates of data collection are affected by seasonality or school holidays and if so, how adjustments will be made to minimize potential bias, as well as a hypothesized direction of potential bias.
The activities that the Contractor will perform at the initial stage of the study should consider the following:

Sampling Plan
Quantitative component: The Contractor will design a sampling plan that includes justification for the probabilistic sampling method to be used to produce estimates representative of the entire targeted area, including communes and communal sections. In detail, the sampling plan document should include all of the following elements:
• The equation, principal indicator and parameters used to derive the sample size, and calculations necessary for achieving robust estimates of child labor in the fishing sector. The sample size should be calculated using a margin of error equivalent to 2.5%.
• The number of households to be sampled to account for anticipated household non-response. The Contractor should indicate the percentage of anticipated non-response households.
• The type of sampling technique, including if stratification of the sample within the targeted areas will be used, (such as the selected communes and communal sections). The sampling strategy should explain the source of the information for the sampling frame and the approach to treat large properties with multiple households. The Contractor should discuss the reliability and date of the frame being referenced. A replacement strategy and fieldwork protocol must be proposed to handle cases where population distributions diverge from those indicated in the sampling frame.
• The inclusion criteria and selection approach must be agreed upon with the CRS Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist as well as the USDOL team. It is expected that all children between 5-17 years should be interviewed in the households selected for the survey.
Qualitative component: The Contractor will propose a plan to conduct the qualitative research that includes justification for the selection approach that can lead to obtaining comprehensive information on appropriate research questions (indicated above) with regards to the children participation in the fishing sector in targeted communes and communal sections. In detail, this plan for the qualitative research should include all of the following elements:
• The type of participants and the type of selection technique including justification.
• The methods of accessing (direct or indirect) participants to be interviewed to minimize potential bias.
• The number of interviews for each category of participants including justification.
• The place to conduct the interviews depending on the type of participants.
• The selection approach must be agreed upon with the CRS Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist as well as the USDOL team

Questionnaires: The quantitative study will use a household survey, directed to the head of household or spouse (or any other competent respondent of the household) and children in the household in or at risk of child labor. The key constructs that the Contractor must capture within the questionnaire are children’s engagement in economic activity (working children), child labor, hazardous work, and worst forms of child labor in the production of specific fish products. Indicators needed to construct these estimates include age of child, current and usual number of working hours per day and week, industry and occupations of work, and hazardous conditions or exposures. The Contractor must use pre-tested resources such as those developed by the International Labor Organization Statistical Information and Monitoring Program (SIMPOC) during instrument development. The child labor definitions and measurement framework must be based on national legislation and international definitions, which will be provided to the Contractor (See Annex A, Definitions). Occupation and activities measurement should be linked as consistently as possible to the International Standard Industrial Classification of Occupations (ISCO) and Industrial Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC).
The questionnaire should also include an informed consent statement for each respondent, as well as all materials needed to ensure adherence to research ethics protocols.
The qualitative study will consistent of semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire must focus on understanding the supply chain in fishery, the involvement of children at different stages of the chain and their working conditions. The qualitative aspect will also determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the interviewed stakeholders and head of households, toward children’s work and child labor. Results from the qualitative study should triangulate with trends from quantitative results; however, an explanation of the hypotheses to be explored through each question must be submitted as part of the initial activities. The design of the qualitative study – whether administered to individuals, as a module of the household survey, of conducted in focus group – will be proposed by the Contractor, with agreement by CRS and USDOL.
Enumerator and Supervisor Manuals: The Contractor will develop a field manual to be used as part of the training materials for survey enumerators and supervisors and serve as reference material for staff in the field conducting the survey. The manual should mainly describe the roles and responsibilities of the field staff and contain a detailed explanation of how to properly administer each question in the questionnaire, as well as how to obtain informed consent.

Selection and Training of enumerators: The Contractor will be responsible for recruiting enumerators for this study. The enumerators should have previous experience in conducting household surveys. Training of enumerators for this particular assignment should last for at least 2 days. It must be a comprehensive general training that will create a team environment and provide enumerators with the key concepts, methodology and instruments considered for the research design. The training program should be theoretical and practical, including practical exercises and field activities.
The Contractor will be responsible for:
• Developing training materials for the survey instruments, including supervisor and enumerator manuals, addressing the quantitative and qualitative components of the study
• Training supervisors and enumerators in survey protocols and the use of the survey instrument, and
• Create an exam to test potential enumerators' understanding of the questionnaire. A minimum score must be achieved for enumerators to be selected. If an insufficient number of enumerators reach the minimum level of understanding, the training must be continued. Results of the tests must be shared with the Project team.
The skills and experience of the enumerators that will apply to the quantitative questionnaires are different from those that will perform the qualitative research. Thus, the training materials and program has to be different, but considering the general guides mentioned above. Enumerators who will conduct the qualitative survey should have previous experience in conducting qualitative interviews (in depth-interviews and focus group discussions) and should at least be a university student in social sciences.
Pilot testing: The quantitative instrument should be piloted during enumerator training with a small number of households that are not included in the sampling frame. It is recommended that each enumeration team have the opportunity to carry out the survey with at least two households during the pilot testing phase. The qualitative instruments should be validated with stakeholders of communities not from the project area. A short piloting report should be prepared containing the results of this activity and explaining the changes required to the research instruments.
Data management and Analysis Plan: The Contractor will prepare a data treatment and analysis plan to convey the method of data entry (electronic data collection is highly required), the data validation process, and data storage and security protocols.
 Data quality assurance plan (including quality control procedures, data cleaning, software to be used);
 Indicator tabulation plan.
 Indication of which sub-groups by age and gender, according to child labor definitions, for which the Contractor will produced estimators;
 Any other planned data analyses.
 All variables must be labeled in a clear and consistent manner.
 Coding to construct working child, child labor, and hazardous work indicators.

2. Data collection should include:
2.1. Implementation of household survey.
2.2. Implementation of qualitative surveys.
2.3. Monitoring and quality control of data collected, using the electronic platform agreed.
2.4. Preparation of data collection report.

During the collection of information, the Contractor is responsible for monitoring field work to ensure adherence to data collection protocols, accordance with the data collecting plan approved, and to make adjustments when replacement sampling is needed. The monitoring activities in the field include:
 Registering all changes in the household selection and any unexpected events, difficulties or deviations, and any other notable occurrences present during the field work.
 Conducting timely and random quality checks on the field to ensure proper administration of field work and data collection.
 Confirming that surveying of all the households in enumeration areas has been completed and the completion of the quality control of the information.

The Contractor is responsible for presenting a weekly progress report and a final data collection report, including the topics mentioned above.

3. Data processing:
The Contractor is responsible for:
• Designing the data entry system
• Preparation of data entry manual (if not using electronic platform)
• Training of data entry staff
• Data quality control and cleaning
• Generating draft tables and graphs according to the analysis plan established
CRS recognizes there are several ways and methods to process data and will work closely with the Contractor to ensure timely and high-quality data management and for an efficient synchronization of all data collected and for implementing all required data accuracy checks.
The data entry program will be considered robust if it allows:
• The creation of unique IDs
• It allows to enter all fields from the physical questionnaire
• All fields have range/filters – to make sure the data is consistent. Inconsistencies must be checked with the supervisor. If the data are inconsistent, the Contractor will need to go back to the field in order to collect consistent data.
• Logic checks which cross reference different indicators;
• Data entry program includes labels for both variables and values.
The qualitative information obtained with the semi-structured interviews or focal groups should be recorded (audio) and transcript completely before systemizing on the analysis matrix. The audio recorded, the transcription and the analysis matrix should be delivered with the final report.
4. Preparation of Report:
4.1. Preparation of report with the study results.
4.2. Workshop for presenting and validating the results with Program staff.
4.3. Preparation of final report.

V. STUDY DELIVERABLES

CRS expects the Contractor to generate the following products during this study for the Project Let’s Work for Our Rights:
1. Approved work plan and schedule.
2. Approved research protocol including methodology, sampling plan, research instruments, training plan for enumerators and supervisors, piloting plan, enumerators and supervisors’ manuals, data analysis plan, consent forms for key informants, parental or guardian permission and assent for children under 18.
3. Approved brief report of findings and changes resulting from piloting activities;
4. Approved final survey tools, instruments, data analysis plan, consent, parental permission and assent forms and protocols used during the study.
5. Approved data collection plan and locations: dates, teams, supervision, etc.;
6. Approved data collection report.
7. Approved Data set, data dictionary/codebook, edit rules, and syntax for data analysis, including syntax for variable transformations - – two copies – preferably in Stata, in English/French:
a. De-identified raw data set;
b. Edit rules for cleaning data;
c. Data dictionary/code book;
d. Household identifiers linking adult and child responses;
e. Table of response rates – full, partial non-response, etc.
f. Data crosswalks that present which survey items were used to code variables for analysis;
g. Draft tables (dummy tables) to present findings from data analysis;
h. Syntax for all data analysis and variable transformation, with justifications and labels;
i. Final data set that includes cleaned data, sampling weights and all derived indicators;
j. The syntax that cleans the raw data, with justifications and labels.
k. Final report outlines, including report content, format and data presentation.
8. An electronic copy of the draft report in both English which must include, but is not limited to the following sections:
a. Executive Summary;
b. Background;
c. Definitions;
d. Objectives;
e. Survey Methodology (to include project/survey locations, sampling design and sample size; questionnaire design and development; training; field work; data entry and processing; data analysis; limitations to the study);
f. Results presented in narrative and tables/graphs showing clearly prevalence estimates for child labor in fishery disaggregated by coastal areas;
g. Conclusions and Recommendations;
h. Annexes (to include references, definitions of key constructs, tables and figures, questionnaires and other data collection instruments, training content for enumerators, piloting process and results, including contractor’s follow-up to adjust survey as needed, etc);
9. Two printed copies and an electronic copy of the final report in English and French, which takes into consideration input, feedback and comments on the draft report.

VI. HUMAN SUBJECT STUDY REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor should have staff trained in the protection of human subjects during research, and proposals for the study should include a plan for the protection of human subjects. Adult and child interviews should include clear explanation of study’s objectives, potential risks of participation, be non-invasive and all answers must be kept confidential. The Contractor should also have a written plan for dealing with cases of child labor or child abuse identified in the survey population. The surveyors or enumerators should be trained in how to cope with cases of abuse, including the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children where potentially relevant, as well as adverse events and problems as part of the interviewer training sessions.
Survey participants should not be paid for participation in the surveys. Participation in the research should be voluntary and confidential.
Consent and assent forms must be used, and the contents of consent/assent forms should be explained verbally before the start of the interview. A printed copy must be available. No child under 18 years of age will be interviewed without both caregiver and child agreeing to the child being interviewed. Caregivers will sign the consent form. Assent will be obtained verbally from children and recorded by the surveyors. Literate children will also sign the assent form. The surveyor will explain to the child in simple language the general purpose of the research, the contents of the interview, and the interviewing process.
It will also be explained to the child that participation is voluntary and confidential and that he/she may interrupt or discontinue the interview at any time. He/she may also skip questions or entire sections of the interview. The child may choose not to participate in the research even if the child's caregiver agrees to the child being interviewed. It will finally be explained that the child's responses will not be shared with any other person in the community, including the caregiver, at any point of time.
The research teams will record names and some geographic information including the name and location of the communes/communal sections, as well as contact information of relatives or neighbors. This will support higher response rates during the follow-up survey, and allow monitoring of the quality of the collected information. All identifying information will be kept confidential.

VII. SCHEDULE

The total study duration is four months ( upon approval of offer). The Contractor should propose the timing to achieve the following deliverables:

Stage Deliverable
Initial Activities
• Work plan and schedule
• Research protocol
• Pilot test and report
• Final survey tools, including questionnaire and sampling plan
Data Collection
• Data collection plan
• Weekly Progress Reports
• Final data collection report
Information proccessing and reporting
• Data entry program
• Completed Dataset with cleaned data
• Qualitative information: full audios, transcriptions and analysis matrix.
• Final Data Delivery Report

VIII. FIRM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

The Survey Firm: should fulfill the following conditions:
• The firm should have at a minimum previous working experiences in Haiti and have the capacity to make use of and improve upon existing internationally-recognized research methodologies and analysis.
• The firm should have been registered with the appropriate ministry for a minimum of 3 years.
• The firm should have experience in designing and implementing household surveys and qualitative research during the last three years.
• Good knowledge of the North, North East regions

Survey Team:
• The Study Team Leader: This individual will serve as team leader in a full-time position for the duration of the study. S/he will be the primary point of contact between CRS and the study team and have the responsibility for the overall completion of the final study report. This person must have a post graduate degree in development studies, development evaluation and management, or other relevant field of study, with minimum of 3 years of experience in handling household surveys, have excellent writing, organization and communication skills. In addition, must have a broad range of subject expertise and demonstrated experience in the areas of child protection, education and/or livelihoods.

• Technical specialist: The Contractor will be expected to involve sectorial experts in the areas of research, education, livelihoods, and/or child protection, as needed. These experts can either be external consultants engaged on a full- or part-time basis or members of the selected firm with the necessary skills.

• Field Manager: Degree in Economics, Statistics, or related social sciences fields and a minimum experience of three years in working with large household level surveys. Experience of working with other surveys where data is entered concurrently with the interview process preferred.

• Data Manager: This manager should have a degree in statistics, computer science or related field and experience managing large data base construction and quality control.

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APPLICATION INFORMATION

Interested firms should send a technical and financial proposal, describing the consultant/firm’s relevant experience and capacity to undertake the study. The proposed budget and technical proposal must be submitted in a sealed envelope indicating as Subject: CRS Study on Child Labor in fishery: to the office of Catholic Relief Services, #1, Delmas 81, Port-au-Prince, Haiti and by email to: mariegaetane.jean@crs.org
The offer must include:
• Technical and financial offer, including the total amount offered in USD.
• The budget should detail the human resources, including staff consultant, enumerators, material costs, travel expenses and fees.
• Include the resumé of key personnel
• Proposed methodology and work plan to be developed, including schedule, sampling plan and examples of data collection tools for both quantitative and qualitative components.
• Overall methodological research design, including, training plan for enumerator and supervisors, enumerator and supervisors’ manuals, piloting plan and field testing procedures.
• Sampling plan
• Data collection plan
• Plan for data storage and security
• Template of consent forms for key informants, Parental Permission Forms for parents and guardian, and Assent Forms for any children under 18, plan for protection of human subjects
• Pledge to grant full exclusivity to CRS and commit not to work for any other NGO/institution during the same period of time for the same services.

30/05/2018 à 17:00