CHAPTER 1: UNDERSTANDING OF THE ASSIGNMENT

1.1 Background:
Since 1973, Cordaid (former ICCO Cooperation) Bangladesh has provided technical assistance on
various programs, including food and nutrition security, economic empowerment, and disaster
management. Cordaid is an international organization whose mission is to end poverty and
injustice in the global south in partnership with enterprising people.
SONGO is a consortium project of EUR 9 million, funded by the European Union (EU) and
implemented by Cordaid (former ICCO Cooperation), BoP Innovation Center (BoPInc), Max
Foundation, and RDRS Bangladesh. Cordaid is leading in implementing the EU-funded "Sustained
Opportunities for Nutrition Governance (SONGO) project," which aims to improve maternal and
child nutrition in Kurigram and Gaibandha districts. The project aims to ensure food and Nutrition
Security for women and children with better feeding/care practices and improved safe/hygiene
environments.
EU's objective in their food and nutrition-security related program, which includes the SONGO, a
five years-long project, is to implement innovative, resilient, and scalable nutrition governance
and pro-poor models at the local level, which are validated and aligned with national policies:

1. Improved household nutrition and health behaviors

2. Increase the use of quality nutrition and health services by women and children
3. Improved access to diverse and nutrient-rich foods by women and children
4. The accelerated roll-out of the Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan through strengthened local
governance.

SONGO emphasizes the importance of sustained governance as a primary outcome and a

precondition to achieve other outcomes that are based on three interlinked pillars or pathways (as
per the UNICEF Conceptual Framework on Under nutrition and used in the 2008 & 2013 Lancet
Series):

• HH food and nutrition security (including availability, economic access, and use of food)
• Feeding and caregiving resources and practices (including maternal, HH, and community
levels)
• Access to and use of health services as well as a safe and hygienic environment (i.e., food,
care, and health)

The project will implement in 18 unions in under 6 Upazilas where 3 UPZs in Kurigram District
and 3 UPZs in Gaibandha District, Rangpur Division with direct beneficiaries of 135,000
households. The project will work for strengthening the local nutrition governance mechanism at
Upazila level in which 95,000 adult women of reproductive age (85% of HHs); All 53,000 children
under 5 (CU5) with a special focus on the 25,000 under 2 (CU2); 100% (80,000) of adolescent
girls and boys (age group 10-19); All 90,000 male adults permanently residing in the target area;
45,000 of the poor and extreme poor HHs. The providers of goods and services (public and private
sector). Indirect beneficiaries include people living in the surrounding areas and access to
improved markets and services.

Even if the availability and accessibility of nutritious and safe food at the household level is a
prerequisite for improved nutrition, it does not necessarily result in increased nutrition among all
household members. Inadequate nutrition, health, and WASH-related information, attitudes, and
behaviors, as well as intra-HH dynamics, frequently hamper the improvement of nutrition. The
extent to which women have access to and control over productive resources, time, education, and
social support networks determines their nutritional condition and the type of care they offer for
their children and the remainder of the HH, according to the available evidence. The nutritional
status of a woman before and throughout pregnancy has a direct influence on the growth and
nutritional status of her child. Malnutrition raises the risk of low birth weight and stunted growth
in children. To address child undernutrition comprehensively, the Action will deploy nutrition-
specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions using a life-cycle approach to offer the appropriate
services and messages to the appropriate individuals at the appropriate time. The implementation
will involve a Social and Behavior Change (SBC) strategy, employing multiple approaches
ranging from interpersonal communication (such as health worker counseling) through
mainstream media (such as radio campaigns).
Furthermore, SONGO will ensure nutrition governance by facilitating accountability,
transparency, and participation mechanisms. To address child undernutrition in Northern
Bangladesh over the next five years, SONGO will employ nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive
interventions to deliver the right services and messages to the right person at the right time. The
approach is based on proven and evolving experiences taking into account the importance of
preconditions to address, e.g., dimensions of availability and access to food, and the required
synergy between interventions and actors at various levels.
1.2 Objective of the Assignment:
The project's main objective is to improve maternal and child nutrition in Gaibandha and Kurigram
districts of Northwest Bangladesh.
1.3 Scope of the Assignment:

• Adhere to data collection tools and guidelines from the consultant(s) and understand them
correctly, including but not limited to FANTA III, BBS - HIES, BDHS, WHO, SDG, MICS
assessment methodologies in detail.
• To prepare data collection plan and share with SONGO team for seeking
suggestions/feedback and field test the data collection tools/instrument/application
 • Recruit enumerators/field investigators and supervisors to address gender and Organize
training of the enumerators, including a day for field practice, with a strong focus on correct
methodology, survey protocols, avoiding bias
• Pre-testing the data collection tools with the respondents before finalization
• To share data cleaning and analysis plan with SONGO PMEL team for finalization
• To measure the present status of outcome and output level indicators as agreed to report
annually to donor and incidental analytics;
• To clean data and analyze it as per the data analysis plan and share it with the SONGO
PMEL team
• Prepare the final tabular report with descriptive statistics in English and submit to SONGO
• To measure the effectiveness of the specific interventions that have been implemented in
this fiscal year;
• To identify the improvement area for project activities implementation and the potential
recommendation/solution/alternatives to overcome the same.
• Based on the findings, provide specific data-driven recommendations on what needs to be
emphasized for the project's remaining period to reach the objectives and ensure
sustainability.
• To prepare and submit a cleaned data set and brief summary report to SONGO

1.4 Methodology of the Assignment:

➢ Site details, surroundings and documents

The area and neighborhood analysis evaluate the proposed development's local economy, and
the area analysis focuses on the social, economic, governmental, and environmental forces.
The chosen consultant should review the project documents and communicate in detail with
the SONGO PMEL team to clearly understand the assignment.

➢ Preparation of Inception Report

After reviewing the project documents and communication, an inception report will be
prepared and submitted to the concerned authority. This inception report will be analyzed for
further upgradation.
➢ Preparation of data collection plan and methodologies

The consulting firm/consultant(s) will design detailed methods, tools, and work plans in close
consultation with the SONGO PMEL team. The consultancy firm will prepare the data
collection plan and methods and share them with the SONGO team to seek
suggestions/feedback and field test the data collection tools/instrument/application.
➢ Training of Enumerators/Field Investigator and Supervisors

The firm will conduct enumerator training, including a day of field practice, emphasizing
correct methods, survey protocols and avoiding bias.

➢ Data collection

The consultancy firm will pre-test the data collection tools with the respondents before
finalization. Interview schedule/questionnaire for household data collection and FGD, KIIs
which will be revised by SONGO team before applying for data collection. After that, the firm
will collect data from primary and reliable secondary sources. The study should utilize mixed
methodologies (quantitative and qualitative), information gathered from both primary and
secondary sources and successes from similar initiatives and circumstances. The primary data
collection method will include in-depth interviews for capacity assessment with pregnant
women, children 0-5 months, children 6-23 months and children 24-59 months, face-to-face
interviews with governmental organizations and focus group discussions with beneficiaries
and non-beneficiaries and key informant interviews with local people, government officials,
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), private company and other key stakeholders. Further
information will be collected through meetings with staff, UDCC members, UNCC members,
and DNCC members. The consulting firm or consultant will collect the information using
online data gathering tools. Throughout the collecting process, the SONGO PMEL team must
access outputs (ideally in xls format) to ensure quality and provide quick feedback to the
consulting team.

➢ Share Clean data and Data analysis

The data cleaning and analysis plan will be shared with SONGO PMEL team for finalization.
After the completion, the clean data and data analysis will be submitted to the concerned
authority for feedback and finalization.

➢ Preparation of Final Tabular Report

After accumulating all those clean data and data analysis, a final tabular report with descriptive
statistics in English and submit to SONGO.

➢ Submission of Data and Brief report

The consultancy firm will identify the improvement area for project activities implementation
and the potential recommendation/solution/alternatives to overcome the same and provide
specific data-driven recommendations on what needs to be emphasized for the remaining
project period to reach the objectives and ensure sustainability in the brief report. Lastly,
incorporating all the corrections and requirements from the concerned authority, the cleaned
data set and brief summary report will be submitted to SONGO.