1.    Background information

Kabgayi Eye Unit is one of the departments in Kabgayi Hospital located in Muhanga District. Kabgayi hospital is a Catholic Hospital (owned by the Catholic Diocese of Kabgayi) that works in partnership with the Rwandan Ministry of Health.

Initiated in 1993 by Kabgayi Diocese in partnership with CBM, Kabgayi Eye Unit receives and cares for patients from all over the country and neighboring countries (Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo). Due to its enormous contribution in the implementation of the national plan of blindness prevention, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health in 2012 qualified it as national Referral Centre in Eye Care.

With the support of CBM, Kabgayi has established a new 3 years’ project that started in October 2020 targeting the population of Muhanga District with the focus of improving access to inclusive and comprehensive eye care and community services for people with visual impairment during and after COVID-19 in Muhanga District. The project targets around 319,965 people (Male 49% and female 51%) including people with different types of disability (physical impairment, visual impairment, albinism, hearing impairment, mental health, little people) which represent 3,8 %, i.e. 10,539 people (5,520 male and 5,059 female) of the total population (Housing census disability 2012), 66 staff of KEU (clinical and administrative staff), 25,050 eye patients receiving treatment at KEU including 4,500 surgeries and 1,800 spectacles distributed.

In order to measure and continuously improve the performance of the project implementation and to check the achievement of the project objectives at the end of the project, Kabgayi Eye unit aims to conduct a baseline survey on access to inclusive and comprehensive eye care and community services by people with visual impairment and other disabilities in Muhanga District, Southern Province.

2.    Objectives of the baseline

2.1. Overall objective of the baseline

The overall objective of the baseline survey is to collect qualitative and quantitative data after eight months of the project implementation to be used during the project monitoring and evaluation processes within 12 sectors of Muhanga District.

2.2    Specific objectives

• To make a situational analysis on the following:
  • Accessibility to eye care services by children and adults with eye problems from KEU geographic catchment area,
  • Capacity of Kabgayi Eye Unit personnel and beneficiaries to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the project geographic area,
  • Collaboration between Kabgayi Eye Unit and community based organisation in promoting socio-economic inclusion of people with visual impairment,
• To identify challenges faced by persons with disabilities from Muhanga District regarding their access to eye care services,
• To assess the community integration and participation of people with disabilities including access to education for children from Muhanga District after eye treatment
• To recommend on roles of KEU, community actors, OPDs and other service providers in their responsibility to facilitate inclusion, remove barriers, advocacy and follow-up of adequate use of assistive devices.

3.    Scope and focus of the assignment 

 The consultant will lead the baseline survey in Muhanga District, Southern Province.

The baseline survey is expected to be performed until 31^st August 2021 when the final report will be submitted. The details and schedule are mentioned in the following sections.

The following tasks are assigned:  

• Submit an inception report for discussion detailing the methodology, literature review and timeframe to conduct the baseline survey with necessary tools to be used for data collection;
• To analyze collected data and produce a baseline report responding to the specific objectives;
• Prepare the draft of the baseline report including recommendations and present it for validation by the project stakeholders and donors;
• Finalize the baseline report by integrating the comments provided by the project stakeholders and donors;
• Submit the final report to Kabgayi on a date specified below.

4.    Baseline Survey Methodology 

 To conduct this assessment, methodological approach requires more different methods and techniques including quantitative and qualitative methods. The data will be collected also from the use of Washington Group SSQ in Kabgayi. The consultant will use documentation, questionnaire, interviews with key district authorities such as Mayor or Vice Mayor in Charge of Social affairs, District Disabilities Mainstreaming Officer and NCPD District Coordinators, DPOs representatives, Directors of Health and Education, Executive secretary of sectors, head of health centers, project beneficiaries and any other relevant key informants. Focus group discussions and observation will be used for data collection in addition to other methods the consultant judges deemed necessary.

5. Reporting and Timeline 

The consultant shall report to Kabgayi Eye Unit during the duration of the assignment not exceeding 30 calendar days. Interested consultant should be flexible and available to respect the proposed time line.

5.    Qualifications, Experience and Skills

• PhD degree or Master’s degree in Social Sciences, community or international development, economic and social development related studies, Organisational Development or related fields.
• Proven experience in the field of Disability, Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID), Health services, Livelihood or Socio-economic development related programmes evaluation.
• Proven records in research and consultancy services of at least 5 years in providing high quality projects baseline surveys.
• Technical expertise in the field of eye care services is an asset
• Proficiency in written and spoken English

6. Application process 

 Interested consultants should submit the following:

• Technical proposal including the capacity of the consultant(s) with evidence documents (profile, CVs and certificates of good service completion, documents for similar works carried out by the consultant(s), the profiles (see No 5) and methodology describing how they intend to undertake this assignment.

• Separate financial proposal for this assignment.

The applicants should submit their documents to kabgeye@gmail.com not later than 28^th July at 16:00 Pm.

 Done at Kabgayi on 21^th July 2021

Dr TUYISABE Theophile

Head of Kabgayi Eye Unit