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 implementation 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 issues affecting the youths’ interests in vocational training programs as well as identifying challenges in obtaining gainful employment including developing profitable small business, in the project catchment areas. This study is also justified by challenges encountered in implementing the youth component of the project aims at allowing youths to obtain decent work opportunities to empower targeted households and reduce their reliance on child labor. This in-depth look at the issues affecting youth empowerment will contribute to produce knowledge that can support the project’s sustainability strategy and guide future related development actions.
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.

I. OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY

The main purposes of this study are:
1. Understand the characteristics of the operational context, such as the socioeconomic dynamics of the targeted areas, that affect youth ability to obtain decent work opportunities.
2. To examine challenges and existing opportunities to youth employment and entrepreneurship, including obtaining market-based vocational training.

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

• What are the decent work opportunities that are available to youth in the targeted communities?
• In each targeted community, what proportion of youth seeking decent work opportunities are able to access it?
• What are the barriers to obtain decent work opportunities in the targeted areas? The study should test for both demand (e.g., education, information, access, etc.) and supply-side (e.g., number of opportunities, availability of credit markets, etc.) barriers.
• What are the challenges and opportunities that the project has encountered in working with youths?
• For youth who are able to obtain decent work opportunities, what are the factors that led to successful access?
• To what extent have the delivery of vocational trainings, life skills and entrepreneurship trainings been effective in allowing youths to obtaining decent work or developing their own income generating activities?
The proposal should explain how it will integrate gender considerations throughout the study design, implementation and reporting.

II. GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
This study will be carried out in the North and the North-East departments, specifically in the communes and communal sections with the most active economic dynamics. The targeted areas are listed below:

List of the targeted areas
Department Communes
North: Cap haïtien - Limbe - Limonade

North East: Ouanaminthe - Trou du Nord - Fort Liberté



III. THE STUDY METHODOLOGY

Approach
This study approach will be qualitative and participatory. Qualitative information will be obtained through field visits, interviews and focus groups as appropriate. It is expected that beneficiary youths, local entrepreneurs, representatives of vocational/technical schools, project staff and any other necessary key informants will be contacted as part of the study participants list. In addition, a desk review can be made to the extent possible to support certain assertions and provide appropriate information on local context.
While this study approach will be conducted by an independent contractor, assistance will be provided to the contractor to support the process of data collection that include the provision of the list of beneficiary youths, contacting key participants and field accompaniment as appropriate.
Data Collection Methodology
The methods to collect should include projects documents review, desk review and interviews (key informants’ interviews or/and Focus group discussions as appropriate). In addition, the contractor is expected to include in his technical offer a question matrix which outlines and justifies the source of data from where the Contractor plans to collect information for each TOR question. The method to access study participants should also presented in a way to minimize potential bias, this will help the evaluator to allocate time in the field, ensure all possible avenues for data triangulation and to clearly note how study findings are to be derived.
Data Analysis Processes and Methods
The contractor will capture preliminary findings, conclusions, and recommendations in an Excel-based matrix that categorizes analysis by evaluation question. The matrix will organize findings by key themes that arise from the interviews. The matrix should: a) ensures that the contractor prepares a systematic and thorough response to each evaluation question, b) identifies gaps where additional clarification or analysis may be necessary, and c) serves as the basis for developing the study report. Analytical triangulation approaches will be used as part of the ET’s development of findings and conclusions. Triangulation will enable the contractor to cross-verify and cross-validate the findings that emerge from various data sources. The ET will use several data analysis methods to identify key finding from the collected data, as well as to draw conclusions. The analysis methods will include, among other factors, gender analysis.

IV. 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 techniques including participant recruitment and selection, research instruments, training plan for facilitators as appropriate, consent forms for key informants, parental or guardian permission and assent for children aged 15-17 if any.
3. An electronic copy of the draft report in both English and French which must include, but is not limited to the following sections:
a. Table of contents
b. List of acronyms
c. Executive Summary;
d. Study Objectives and Methodology
e. Study Questions
i. Answers to each of the evaluation questions, with supporting evidence included
ii. Findings, Recommendations and Conclusions
1. Findings – the facts, with supporting evidence
2. Conclusions – interpretation of the facts, including criteria for judgments
3. Key Recommendations
iii. Annexes - including list of participants; tables of demographic characteristics of participants, documents reviewed; interviews/meetings/site visits; TOR; etc.

4. 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.

V. HUMAN SUBJECT STUDY REQUIREMENTS

The training for facilitators (if any) should include a thematic on the protection of human subjects during research, and proposals for the study should include a plan for the protection of human subjects. Adult and youths’ interviews should include clear explanation of study’s objectives, potential risks of participation, be non-invasive and all answers must be kept confidential.
Participants should not be paid for participation in the study. 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. If participant is a child ( aged 15-17 years old), he/she should not be interviewed without guardian’s permission. The contractor will explain to the youth, in particular, in simple language, the general purpose of the research, the contents of the interview, and the interviewing process, in order to obtain consent before proceeding with the interview.

VI. SCHEDULE
The total study duration is three 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 (methodology and data analysis plan and reporting)
• Final data collection instruments (interview guide and others) and a plan to identify and select participants
Data Collection • Data collection plan
• Daily Progress Reports
• Final data collection report
Information proccessing and reporting • Qualitative information: full audios, transcriptions and analysis matrix.
• List of reliable sources consulted (included in biography)
• Final Report

I. CONSULTANT REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

The Contractor or firm should fulfill the following conditions:
• Must have at minimum a Master’s degree in political science, public health, anthropology. community development, economics, or relevant social sciences or humanities fields.
• Have at a minimum previous working experiences in the North, North East regions and preferably have undertaken research in youth development areas.
• Should have been registered with the appropriate ministry for a minimum of 2 years.
• Should have experiences in designing and implementing rigorous qualitative research during the last two years.


The contractor staff:

The team will consist of the main contractor who will be responsible for developing the methodology in consultation with CRS and USDOL; directly conducting interviews (or assisted by strong facilitators) and coordinating data collection processes; analysis of the evaluation material gathered; submitting the initial findings of the study to stakeholders ( CRS, USDOL and implementing partners) one week following the data collection phase and preparing the final report and responding to stakeholder feedback.
As appropriate, members of the project staff may support the team in mobilizing study participants. Those persons will not be involved in the interviews.

I. APPLICATION INFORMATION

Interested Contractor should send a technical and financial proposal, describing the consultant’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 youth employment in the North and North-East departments to the office of Catholic Relief Services, #1, Delmas 81, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. and by email to: christelle.clerveaux@crs.org

The offer must include:
• Technical and financial offer, including the total amount offered in USD.
• The budget should detail the human resources, material costs, travel expenses and fees.
• Include the resumé of key personnel
• Proposed methodology and work plan to be developed, including schedule, sampling approach including type of participants to be interviewed, number of interviews or FDG per category of participants, method to access participants and a description of category of questions for each category of participants.
• Overall methodological research design, including, training plan for supporting staff.
• Data collection plan
• Data analysis approach
• 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.

christelle.clerveaux@crs.org

I. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The offer will be evaluated based on the quality and cost of the proposal, considering the following criteria:

Evaluation criteria Score
Previous experience in undertaking qualitative research and experience in conducting research in the North, North East departments 20
Qualification of Contractor 30
Proposed methodology and work plan 30
Budget proposal 20
Total 100

II. PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Payments will be made upon the following schedule unless otherwise negotiated with CRS:

Deliverables Payment
Preparatory Activities • Work plan and schedule
• Research protocol (methodology and data analysis plan and reporting)
• Final data collection instruments (interview guide and any necessary instruments) and a plan to identify and select participants 20%
Data collection, processing and analysis • Draft of final report and supported files (transcriptions, full audio and analysis matrix) 40%
Reporting • Final study Report and presentation 40%


Only the retained firms ( Proposals) will be contacted for the next steps.