Terms of Reference for hiring a survey firm/academic institution/individual consultant to develop Two Learning Papers under USAID Thailand CTIP Activity

Background

As a source, transit, and destination country, Thailand faces multiple manifestations of trafficking in persons (TIP). TIP in Thailand is fueled by demand for low-skilled labor in sectors such as agriculture and fishing, domestic work, and construction, and is enabled by deep-rooted social discrimination, as well as a lack of regulation or enforcement. Following the successful conclusion of the initial five-year implementation period (September 18, 2017 – September 17, 2022), USAID Thailand CTIP received a five-year extension of the activity (September 18, 2022 – September 17, 2027) to aim to reduce TIP and better protect the rights of trafficked persons in Thailand by reducing demand and incentives for using trafficked labor, empowering at-risk populations to safeguard their rights, and strengthening protection systems for survivors.

USAID Thailand CTIP activity has built real-time learning and adaptation and ensures lessons learned are captured and documented while ensuring that overall activity outputs are aligned with the USAID/Regional Development Mission for Asia RDMA) strategy. The USAID Thailand CTIP activity  learning strategy is described as a “double-loop learning,” which not only aims to resolve a particular problem within a static set of assumptions or “results framework,” but also “requires reflection on our own assumptions and conceptualization of the problem itself, including our own role in it.” This strategy aligns with the activity’s dynamically changing operating context, which requires reflective practices and iterative programming. This approach requires adequately addressing both operational-technical level needs (i.e., are we doing it right?) as well as Theory of Change-level questions (i.e., are we doing the right thing?).

Winrock International invites qualified survey firms/academic institutions/individual consultants to lead the development of two learning papers for the activity.

Objectives

USAID Thailand CTIP activity developed seven learning papers in Phase 1 (September 2017- September 2022) and used this learning to adapt and design activities in the extension phase. The series of learning papers proposed in the extension phase is to synthesize and document lessons learned in both the Private Sector and Social and Behavior Change Communication activities and inform future activity design and actions.

The USAID Thailand CTIP activity seeks to award a contract to an experienced survey firm/academic institution/individual consultant who will be responsible for the following

Develop two learning papers and provide recommendations for future actions for the activity. These questions should be looked at for overall TIP and specific to Agriculture, Construction, Fisheries, and Domestic sectors, therefore that will be insightful for USAID Thailand CTIP activity. Both questions should also be analyzed in the context of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion and Forced Criminality in TIP.

• Learning paper one:
  • How effective are awareness-raising and behavior-change interventions that target i) those considered vulnerable to trafficking, and ii) those that work with vulnerable groups (e.g., RTG, PSE, NGOs)?
  • What kind of challenges are in SBCC in TIP when it comes to gender and social inclusion? And what are the key recommendations that address these challenges?
• Learning paper two:
  • What is the role that private sector supply chain regulation can have in changing employer behavior (behavior activity may target include: ethical recruitment and behaviors on the ILO forced labor indicators) and MSMEs down the supply chain and addressing the issues related to vulnerable migrants? What are the existing mechanisms that the private sector has implemented within its supply chain to mitigate human rights risks?
  • What are the key challenges for the private sector to have governance in their supply chain, particularly in labor rights, trafficking in persons, forced labor, child labor, and good labor practices?
  • How can CTIP organizations engage the private sector to ensure access to grievance mechanisms and remediation for workers?
  • How is gender and social inclusion important to the private sector? How can the private sector be incentivized for inclusion? What are the key challenges in incorporating gender and social inclusion into the private sector?

• Present results online and offline in agreement with the USAID Thailand CTIP activity. 

Note: Broad learning questions are mentioned above, therefore survey firms/academic institutions/individual consultants further need to break down each learning question in their technical proposal with key proxy research questions. This will allow for adjusting the research questions and identifying the specific areas for research. This will also clarify if any research is ongoing on the identified key research questions and allow survey firms/academic institutions/individual consultants to think through the methodology.

Methodology

The USAID Thailand CTIP activity has two learning papers of up to 10-15 pages in length, including data visualizations and other graphics. Winrock International has provided suggested methods for each learning question and bidders should provide a research approach with key research questions and a rationale for the selected methods. The successful survey firms/individual consultants/academic institutions will be provided access to activity documentation and data and should propose additional data collection as needed. Research design should account for overlap among respondents and reduce repeatedly contacting the same respondent for multiple purposes when possible. A final research approach will be approved by Winrock International and agreed upon with the successful firms/individual consultants/academic institutions. In addition to the research design, bidders should include a description of a similar type of publication and learnings to develop the publication.

The learning questions explored and documented in depth through these learning papers are below. USAID Thailand CTIP will provide the successful survey firms/individual consultants/academic institutions with all information on activities relevant to these topics as well as results to date.

Roles and Responsibilities

The below list may be expanded after discussion with the successful survey firms/individual consultants/academic institutions and internally once the activity is live.

• Complete desk review of all relevant documentation including activity proposal, learning agenda, and previous Social and Behavior Change Communication and Private Sector Engagement activities’ related documents of USAID Thailand CTIP activity. Study other relevant documents from different sources to support the learning question.
• Develop and obtain approval on inception reports, and research guiding questions for e.g., Key Informant Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, Case studies etc., research methodology, and data management processes. Note: Guiding questions should be piloted before finalizing. The input of piloting the guiding questions should be documented and shared with Winrock International. The interviewers should be trained using final guiding questions.
• Utilize key definitions and constructs provided by Winrock International in the research instruments (if any).
• Complete Winrock International ethical training.
• Uphold ethical behavior and do no harm that includes obtaining proper consent and assent during data collection, treating respondents with respect and sensitivity,  maintaining confidentiality and plans for the protection of human subjects (including provision for review by an institutional review board / ethical review board (IRB or ERB)..
• Recruit and train other team members for data collection and development of learning papers (if necessary).
• Perform systematic analysis of the qualitative data i.e., Key Informant Interviews, and Focus Group Discussion transcripts.
• Prepare the draft outline for learning papers in collaboration with Winrock.
• Complete a draft of both learning papers that Winrock will review. This process may take multiple rounds of review and revision until all feedback from Winrock International and USAID is addressed and incorporated into the final draft.
• Facilitate a one-day learning workshop/debriefing session to present the draft findings of the review to the USAID Thailand CTIP Staff and other stakeholders, to gather feedback on the findings, and build consensus on recommendations.
• Complete both final learning papers after the learning/debriefing workshop within the agreed timeline below.
• Present learning papers findings to a wider audience; and
• At the end of the research, submit the following items:

• Qualitative data for learning papers, transcriptions of all qualitative data, and all codes used for analyzing qualitative data.
• Cleaned data and coding should be submitted in the form of Excel for learning papers (if applicable)
• Draft Learning Papers
• Final presentation
• Final Learning Papers

Eligible Applicants

This solicitation is open to all survey firms/individual consultants/academic institutions who have extensive experience in developing and publishing learning papers. To be eligible for funding, survey firms/ individual consultants / academic institutions must comply with the following conditions:

• Be legally registered or otherwise authorized to conduct business in the applicant’s country or countries of operation.
• Previous experience with USAID-funded activities (preferred) and familiarity with TIP will be a strong plus.
• Demonstrated track record of leading the development of papers with excellent qualitative and quantitative techniques with qualitative data analysis.
• Proven experience in Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) and developing and publishing high-quality learning papers in English.
• Demonstrate competency to read, write and speak English and preferably Thai fluently.
• Proven ability to work and produce high-quality deliverables under tight deadlines and confidentiality.

Payment Schedule and Deliverables

To Apply

Interested survey firms/individual consultants/academic institutions should submit an electronic technical and cost proposal in separate files. A technical proposal should include an organization profile to reflect their capacity to undertake the development of learning papers, CVs of researchers specifically highlighting similar work experience, research methodology, samples of relevant past work, contact information for references, and a work plan.

Submission Deadlines

Proposals must be received no later than 5:00 PM ICT on Wednesday, May 10, 2024.  Late submissions will not be accepted.  All proposals are to be submitted following the guidelines mentioned above. Telephone requests will not be honored. The receipt time for electronic submissions is when the proposals are received by Winrock’s Internet Server. Winrock International may request additional documentation after the abovementioned deadline.

Proposals may be withdrawn by written notice via email received at any time before an award is made. Proposals may be withdrawn in person by an organization or its authorized representative if the representative’s identity is made known and the representative signs a receipt for the proposals before the award is made.

Submission Delivery Address

The delivery address to be used for all submissions is below. Please do not send files in ZIP format and the email subject must state: “Development of Two Learning Papers under USAID TCTIP activity”.

Email:  TCTIP.recruitment@winrock.org