Request for Proposal:

 

Evaluation of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Program in Six Districts of West Bengal 2006 to 2020

 I.                 Introduction

International Justice Mission (IJM) is a global organization that protects people in poverty from violence.IJM partners with local authorities to rescue victims of violence,bringcriminalstojustice,restoresurvivors,andstrengthenjusticesystems. IJMcombatshuman trafficking,propertygrabbing,sexualviolence and other forms of violence,workingin20communitiesthroughoutSouthand Southeast Asia, Africaand LatinAmerica.  In all cases, IJM’s model is to collaborate with government partners to remove victims from exploitation and prosecute perpetrators of the crime

II.            Context

IJMhasbeen operatinginIndiaforover20yearstocombat Sex Trafficking of minors andBondedLabour. Sex trafficking is a component of human trafficking in which the victims are used for prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation[1]. Sex trafficking is punishableunder Article 23 of the Constitution of India, Immoral Traffic PreventionAct (ITPA), Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and Indian Penal Code(IPC).

III.        Project Background

IJM Kolkata has been working with the state governmentsince 2006 in Kolkata Municipal Corporation,Hoogly, Howrah, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and East Mednipur districtsof West Bengalto combatsex trafficking.The initial phase (2006-2016) of IJM Kolkata’s work was focused on collaborative casework in the project areas wherein IJM Kolkata worked alongside the Criminal Justice System to rescue minors, ensure perpetrator accountability and provide immediate and long-termrehabilitation to survivors of sex trafficking.

The second phase (2017-2020) ofIJM Kolkata’s work was focused on strengthening the Criminal Justice System in Kolkata. Thekeystrategies employed were capacity building of implementors, survivor empowerment, media awareness,coalition building and partnerships and supported the existing agencies such as Child Welfare Committees/Commissions in the fight against human trafficking.

After 14 years of our work, IJM Kolkata feels the need to evaluate the projects implemented thus far. TheEvaluation shouldassessthe relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability and impact of the projectswith a focus on three domains critical to IJM’s Theory of Change namely changes in the prevalence of minors, deterrence in crime and functioning of the Criminal Justice System.

IJM Kolkata callsforapplicationsfrom potential Evaluating Agency tocompleteanEndofProgramEvaluationin2021.The evaluation will be focused to understand and build an evidence of the successes and generate learning. These successes and learning would be critical as we plan to expand and improve our interventions in the coming years.

The findings of the Evaluation report will be shared with IJM staff, IJM management, government and non-government stakeholders through internal and external dissemination events.

IV.         Evaluation Schedule

IJMplansto selectanevaluationteamandfinalizethe evaluationconsultancycontractbyJanuary 2021.Thecontractisscheduledtobecompleted,includingpresentationofthefinalreportno later thanDecember 2021.

The end-of-program evaluation will be divided into six phases:

Phase1:Inception(Feb 2021- April 2021)–Thisphaseincludesaprogramorientation andseriesofplanning meetingsbetweentheevaluationteamandIJM,aswellasadeskreviewof allprogramdocuments.Attheendofthisphase,theevaluationteamwillpresentaninception reportdetailingtheirunderstandingoftheRFP,theproposedmethodologicalapproach,work scheduleand timeline.Additionally, the TOC pathway should be developed, a workshop to be held on the commissioning of an Evaluation followed by refinement of Evaluation Questions.

Phase2:Tools and methodology (May 2021)- TheconsultantalongwithIJM finalizeonthemethodology and tools fortheevaluation

Phase 3: Data collection (June 2021 – July 2021)- Conductfield visits and stakeholder interviews

Phase4:Analysis and draft reports(October 2021- November 2021)-Presentationof preliminaryfindings, follow up interviews andpreparation ofdraftevaluationreport

Phase  5: Report  finalization : (November  2021)-  Finalization  and presentation oftheevaluationreport, including an IJM Management responseif needed.

Phase 6: Dissemination: (December 2021) :Share the findings of the Evaluation with IJM staff, IJM management, Government and non- government stakeholders.

V.              Team composition and required skills and experience.

IJM requires an evaluation team with experience of undertaking national and international projects.Theteamshouldhaveprovenexperienceofundertakinglargescaleprogram/project evaluations at national and State level in especially human trafficking related projects/programs. Agencies that have conducted studies on human trafficking related programs will be given preference. The multi-disciplinary team with commanding knowledge of Indian Constitution, functioning of public justice systems and application of Indian laws specific to human trafficking and sex-trafficking is required, added with  an understanding of government schemesspecific to sex trafficking, psychological well-being of victimsand criminology will be preferred. In house capacity for tools design, data collection, data management and analysis should bepresent.Confidentiality of data andadherence toIJM’s child protection policy should be maintained. The project lead will be the main point of contact. S/he will be representative of the evaluation team and will be responsible for executing all the deliverables of the contract.

VI Request for proposal timeline

Institutions who show interest will be sent a detailed RFP and should submit their applicationsonorbeforeDecember 18^TH,2020 IndianStandardTime.

The application should contain:

• Cover letter with qualification, experience and competence of institution for this specific evaluation, including past reportsproduced.
• Resume package containing resumes for all teammembers.
• Proposed evaluation methodology. The final study methodology will be finalized after the institution is hired, oriented and understands IJM’s program and available data.
• Financial proposal with breakdown of the evaluation cost, travel, per diem and other costs.

Completed applications as well as requests for clarifications or questions should be submitted in PDFandemailedwiththesubjectline“ProposalforEvaluationofthe Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Program in Six Districts of West Bengal”to:

Pasang Bhutia (pbhutia@ijm.org)

Glory Murthy(gmurthy@ijm.org )

The main proposal should not exceed 15 pages.The guidelines to prepare the proposal is as follows.

1. Executive summary of the proposal including contents and page numbers (within 1 page)
2. Brief Description of the Evaluation Agency (a brief introduction of the organisation, location, structure, and previous experience of conducting evaluation studies - the reports of previous works can go as annexure 1. This should not exceed 1 page).
3. Proposed list of Key members on Evaluation team (briefly explain the team members and their Specific Experience with Legal Systems or Law Enforcement, or with dealing with Issues of Trauma ­- provide 2 page resumes of each member in Annexure 2, and Specific Experience of team members with evaluation studies. This should be within 2 pages)
4. Proposed Methodology Plan for the Evaluation (in this section include evaluation methods proposed, suggestions for sampling methods, analysis of data with rationale for suggestions, ethical considerations. This section should be within 8 pages)
5. Suggested timeline for the study (give a detailed action plan from the start to end of the study with timelines within 1 pages)

Sl.No

Name of the activity

Timeline

Brief note on activity

1. 
   Quality control mechanisms (explain the quality control measures to ensure the study is delivering what it intended. This should be in half a page)
2. Anticipated constraints and risks in conducting the study and proposed mitigation plans for the same (explain the constraints and risks anticipated while conducting the study and the plans to manage the same in half a page)
3. Proposed budget and breakdown (this section is for overall budget as well as the break-up of the same. It should consist of detailed breakdown of the cost such as manpower with level of effort, travel with per diem, materials and supplies, equipment, and overhead charges if any. This should be in 1 page).

Sl.No	Item name (break down the details of manpower with Level of effort, travel and per-diem, materials and supplies, overhead charges if any)	Amount (budgeted amount for the item)	Narrative (explain the amount breakup and should match with timeline, proof of exp details, any other notes pertaining to the item cost)

Application Review and Decision Timeline:

December 7^th-December 11^th, 2020: Opportunityfor Clarificationand Questions

December 18^th, 2020:ApplicationDeadline

January 4^th- January 15^th, 2021: ApplicationReview and Schedulingof Interviews

January 18^th- January 22^nd, 2021: Interviews (presentation)

January 25^th - January 29^th, 2021: ReferenceChecks

January 31^st, 2021: Decisionof Award