Background

Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze, S.A. (Fonkoze Financial Services or SFF) is a Haitian microfinance institution that was established to provide capital and financial services to disadvantaged and low-income segments of society expanding the financial services work introduced by Fondasyon Kole Zepòl (the Foundation) in 1994. Today, SFF offers a full range of financial services including micro and small business loans, savings products, international and domestic money transfer services, currency exchange services, mobile money services, payroll services, among others. To date, SFF serves nearly 200,000 clients including 70,000 mainly female borrowers through a network of 44 offices and 2,330 credit centers located throughout Haiti’s ten departments. The Foundation provides development services alongside and in partnership with SFF to strengthen the capacity of underserved communities to access and use financial services more effectively, improve their livelihoods, and create prosperity.
Under USAID Prime Cooperative Agreement AID-521-F-15-00021, the Foundation is implementing the Apwòch Kominotè pou Asenisman Total (AKAT) program to protect human dignity and reduce the incidence of diseases linked to a deficit of personal and /or community hygiene. The three year program launched in October 2015 in collaboration with UNICEF and DINEPA seeks to end open defecation and to address problems related to poor sanitation. The program aimed at working with 7,500 households and 37,500 persons engaged in constructing and upholding Open Defecation Free (ODF) spaces with the expectation that 150 credit centers chiefs in SFF branches located in the South and GrandAnse departments would be involved in identifying interested communities and participating in the process. The Foundation aims to fulfill a critical program milestone in producing its final report and it is against this background that this ToR has been developed.

Project Objective





The objective of this project is to support the ALFA (Education) team in evaluating the effect of the project on participating communities and households and the sustainability thereof. Fonkoze seeks particularly to document:


1. The effect of the AKAT project on community dynamics (for example collaboration – problem solving skills – conflict resolution skills or not, etc.)


2. Percentage of latrines and hand washing stations which are still in operation.


3. Evidence of sustainability (or lack thereof), for example number of new latrines that were built, number of latrines still in use with hygienic standards, using the same latrines, etc.


Fonkoze seeks the services of a social research consultant(s) with funding support from the Foundation through the AKAT program to undertake an assessment and draft the technical report for the Foundation/AKAT program.





Scope of Work





The consultant(s) will complete an assessment and will be required for that aim, to undertake field trips to the south of Haiti to interview individual households and conduct focus groups. The project is envisioned with the following discreet phases:


1. Review relevant documents and interview key staff in Port-au-Prince: The consultant(s) will gather information to understand the mission and vision of the Foundation, the project’s objectives and the quantitative data available on its achievements, the methodology that was used and the way the Foundation managed the project. Interviews will particularly be conducted with the Foundation’s executive director, the Alfa Program Director, the Social Impact Department Director and the ACAT field team leader.


2. Prepare field research: The consultant(s) will then prepare the field research by producing:


a. A document describing the number and types of households and community representatives the consultant will want to interview, as well as the number of focus groups the consultant wants to conduct, and the type of participants envisaged for each of them. These households and communities should be chosen amongst the 34 communities the AKAT team worked with in 2017.


b. An interview guide for individual interviews and a discussion guide for the focus groups.


These documents will be discussed with the Alfa Program Director, the Social Impact Department Director and team representatives and finalized based on their feedback.


3. The consultant will then conduct the field research by implementing the number of focus groups and individual interviews as agreed. The Consultant will ensure the recording or note taking for the interviews. Fonkoze will ensure transport and the project team will plan the meetings and organize the logistics of the meetings


4. The consultant will produce a draft report and present this to the ALFA Program Director, the Social Impact Department Director and teams. (s)he will finalize the report based on their feedback.





The main deliverables should be as follows:





- Proficient in reading, writing and speaking in Creole and English


- A document in Creole describing the sample of people to be interviewed and the number of focus groups to be conducted as well as the profile of the participants. The AKAT team will use this document to prepare the meetings.


- Interview guides for individual households and for focus groups.


- A draft report and presentation including the main findings of the research;


- A final report including:


i. A brief overview of the AKAT project


ii. A description of the methodology used for the research and of the various activities implemented by the consultant;


iii. The results of the research addressing particularly the objectives of this research;


iv. A discussion of these results particularly comparing to other WASH and or AKAT interventions in Haiti or elsewhere.

rchampagne@fonkoze.org, lcamille@fonkoze.org