Consultancy for the Development of a Mortality Survey and Surveillance Toolkit(s)

BACKGROUND ON THE SAVE THE CHILDREN MORTALITY INITIATIVE

The Mortality Estimation and Surveillance Initiative aims to strengthen the effectiveness of humanitarian public health programming by increasing the timely collection, use, and uptake of mortality estimation data amongst humanitarian public health actors to improve outcomes and save lives. The Initiative is coordinated by Save the Children (SC), in partnership with IMPACT Initiatives and Evidence for Change (E4C). The Initiative’s governance will consist of operational national and international NGOs, academia, donors and UN agencies to ensure global coordination and technical quality. Accurate mortality data is critical to understanding the scale and severity of humanitarian crises, guiding evidence-based response, informing life-saving programming and ensuring the most effective allocation of scarce resources. Without mortality data, the effectiveness of humanitarian programming cannot be fully understood or measured. Despite this, mortality estimation is often underused due to a lack of feasible tools, limited technical capacity, and insufficient operational support. Over the 24-month period, the Initiative will develop and pilot a practical, context-appropriate mortality survey and surveillance toolkit, to support health actors to implement and use mortality data to improve their programs. We will also implement a Localization and National Engagement Strategy to ensure tools are grounded in end-user needs and foster greater local ownership, as well as develop a Roadmap (Strategic Framework) outlining the long-term vision for the Initiative. Beyond the implementation period, the Initiative aims to institutionalize mortality estimation in humanitarian practice in the long term, scaling technical support, and diversifying its funding for sustained impact. The overall objective is to ensure that timely, accurate mortality data becomes a routine part of humanitarian decision-making, ultimately leading to more effective, targeted, and cost-effective responses.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Save the Children/IMPACT will contract a consultant to complete a Mortality Survey and Surveillance Toolkit, which is intended to be hosted on the Mortality Estimation Initiative platform as a global good for any stakeholder needing to access or utilize them. In the development of this toolkit, it is expected to be aligned with the strategic, operational, and technical aims of this initiative and therefore final outputs will require validation from the various governance structures of the initiative, including the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG), National Advisory Group (NAG), and Technical Advisory Group (TAG). The consultant will be expected to work through the TAG Task Team structures and report to the TAG regularly on its progress. Through the Task Team, the consultant may make use and coordinate other technical volunteers or expertise that may be available to them to complete the work. The design approach of the toolkit should focus on simplicity and operational relevancy for mortality estimation, with a focus on utilization in low-resource settings where possible and production of reliable and timely information for decision making for operational actors. The toolkit may rely on other external resources as needed. The core deliverables are expected to be 2/5 delivered in four main stages with the completeness of deliverables evaluated by IMPACT Initiatives prior to approving payments. General technical expectations are described below:

Stage 1 – Initial Consultations and Toolkit Outline: This initial stage should involve holding initial consultations with key members of the SAG, NAG, and TAG to gather design considerations, mapping pre-existing resources, and then finalizing an outline of the needed materials.

- Deliverable #1 – Finalized Toolkit Outline. This outline should layout all planned components of the toolkit and describe how it will incorporate key design considerations from initial consultations. This document is not intended to describe the decision-making process of when to select surveys or surveillance methods, but once a selection has been made this is intended to focus on how to implement those methods. Final content to be agreed upon with the TAG co-chairs.

- Deliverable #2 – First draft technical guidance document outline. This outline should layout the main sections and content of the technical guidance document to be developed, as agreed upon with the TAG co-chairs and wider TAG. The document should be at minimum including comprehensive outline of surveys and surveillance methodologies, planning, contextualizing tools, sampling, minimum standards for cleaning and processing, analysis and interpretation, reporting and dissemination, etc. Final content to be agreed upon with the TAG co-chairs.

Stage 2 – Draft Toolkit Package #1: This second stage should involve creating first drafts of the main technical guidance document.

- Deliverable #2 – First draft of technical guidance document. This is intended to be the core technical reference used for designing, planning, implementing, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting on mortality survey or surveillance data in this toolkit.

- Deliverable #3 – Draft concept note and technical protocol documents. This is intended to be template resources for adaption for the end user to mobilize resources and design their surveys or surveillance activities.

- Deliverable #4 – Draft data collection tools. These are the core data collection tools with the core and supplemental indicators and questions available for the mortality survey and surveillance toolkit. To be prepared in both paper format and XLSFORM format.

- Deliverable #5 – Draft analysis resources. These are the core resources for end users to clean, process, and produce analyses from their mortality survey and surveillance data. Two versions of resources should exist: one based on Excel, and one based on the statistical software R. Resources based on R should be user friendly and incorporate basic user interfaces to facilitate the processing and analysis of mortality survey and surveillance data.

Stage 3 – Draft Toolkit Package #2

- Deliverable #6 – Second draft technical guidance document. A second version of the technical guidance document should be prepared for an additional round of review by the Initiative governance structures.

- Deliverable #7 – Draft Reporting Templates. These are the core recommended reporting templates for the reporting of mortality survey and surveillance results, including templates for preliminary powerpoints, short form technical reports, and factsheets.

- Deliverable #8 – Draft Survey/Surveillance Manager Training Materials. These are the higher level set of training materials on the methodology, design and contextualization, analysis and reporting for the mortality survey and surveillance toolkit. For program managers or survey/surveillance managers. This should minimally include a training outline, powerpoint slides, and associated resources.

- Deliverable #9 – Draft Enumerator Training Materials. These are the set of training materials for enumerators implementing mortality surveys and surveillance using this toolkit. This should minimally 3/5 include a training outline, powerpoint slides, and associated resources.

Stage 4 – Final Toolkit Package

- Deliverable #10: Final Toolkit Package. This should be the final package of all toolkit materials to be validated by the SAG, NAG, and TAG. This version of the toolkit will be later piloted by the initiative and may undergo further revisions after piloting.

The resulting toolkit and associated resources are intended to be a public good and are developed on behalf of the Mortality Estimation Initiative led by Save the Children, IMPACT and E4C. All products will be licensed under Creative Commons and made available for users via a website created by the Mortality Estimation Initiative.

BACKGROUND ON THE SAVE THE CHILDREN MORTALITY INITIATIVE

The Mortality Estimation and Surveillance Initiative aims to strengthen the effectiveness of humanitarian public health programming by increasing the timely collection, use, and uptake of mortality estimation data amongst humanitarian public health actors to improve outcomes and save lives. The Initiative is coordinated by Save the Children (SC), in partnership with IMPACT Initiatives and Evidence for Change (E4C). The Initiative’s governance will consist of operational national and international NGOs, academia, donors and UN agencies to ensure global coordination and technical quality. Accurate mortality data is critical to understanding the scale and severity of humanitarian crises, guiding evidence-based response, informing life-saving programming and ensuring the most effective allocation of scarce resources. Without mortality data, the effectiveness of humanitarian programming cannot be fully understood or measured. Despite this, mortality estimation is often underused due to a lack of feasible tools, limited technical capacity, and insufficient operational support. Over the 24-month period, the Initiative will develop and pilot a practical, context-appropriate mortality survey and surveillance toolkit, to support health actors to implement and use mortality data to improve their programs. We will also implement a Localization and National Engagement Strategy to ensure tools are grounded in end-user needs and foster greater local ownership, as well as develop a Roadmap (Strategic Framework) outlining the long-term vision for the Initiative. Beyond the implementation period, the Initiative aims to institutionalize mortality estimation in humanitarian practice in the long term, scaling technical support, and diversifying its funding for sustained impact. The overall objective is to ensure that timely, accurate mortality data becomes a routine part of humanitarian decision-making, ultimately leading to more effective, targeted, and cost-effective responses.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Save the Children/IMPACT will contract a consultant to complete a Mortality Survey and Surveillance Toolkit, which is intended to be hosted on the Mortality Estimation Initiative platform as a global good for any stakeholder needing to access or utilize them. In the development of this toolkit, it is expected to be aligned with the strategic, operational, and technical aims of this initiative and therefore final outputs will require validation from the various governance structures of the initiative, including the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG), National Advisory Group (NAG), and Technical Advisory Group (TAG). The consultant will be expected to work through the TAG Task Team structures and report to the TAG regularly on its progress. Through the Task Team, the consultant may make use and coordinate other technical volunteers or expertise that may be available to them to complete the work. The design approach of the toolkit should focus on simplicity and operational relevancy for mortality estimation, with a focus on utilization in low-resource settings where possible and production of reliable and timely information for decision making for operational actors. The toolkit may rely on other external resources as needed. The core deliverables are expected to be 2/5 delivered in four main stages with the completeness of deliverables evaluated by IMPACT Initiatives prior to approving payments. General technical expectations are described below:

Stage 1 – Initial Consultations and Toolkit Outline: This initial stage should involve holding initial consultations with key members of the SAG, NAG, and TAG to gather design considerations, mapping pre-existing resources, and then finalizing an outline of the needed materials.

- Deliverable #1 – Finalized Toolkit Outline. This outline should layout all planned components of the toolkit and describe how it will incorporate key design considerations from initial consultations. This document is not intended to describe the decision-making process of when to select surveys or surveillance methods, but once a selection has been made this is intended to focus on how to implement those methods. Final content to be agreed upon with the TAG co-chairs.

- Deliverable #2 – First draft technical guidance document outline. This outline should layout the main sections and content of the technical guidance document to be developed, as agreed upon with the TAG co-chairs and wider TAG. The document should be at minimum including comprehensive outline of surveys and surveillance methodologies, planning, contextualizing tools, sampling, minimum standards for cleaning and processing, analysis and interpretation, reporting and dissemination, etc. Final content to be agreed upon with the TAG co-chairs.

Stage 2 – Draft Toolkit Package #1: This second stage should involve creating first drafts of the main technical guidance document.

- Deliverable #2 – First draft of technical guidance document. This is intended to be the core technical reference used for designing, planning, implementing, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting on mortality survey or surveillance data in this toolkit.

- Deliverable #3 – Draft concept note and technical protocol documents. This is intended to be template resources for adaption for the end user to mobilize resources and design their surveys or surveillance activities.

- Deliverable #4 – Draft data collection tools. These are the core data collection tools with the core and supplemental indicators and questions available for the mortality survey and surveillance toolkit. To be prepared in both paper format and XLSFORM format.

- Deliverable #5 – Draft analysis resources. These are the core resources for end users to clean, process, and produce analyses from their mortality survey and surveillance data. Two versions of resources should exist: one based on Excel, and one based on the statistical software R. Resources based on R should be user friendly and incorporate basic user interfaces to facilitate the processing and analysis of mortality survey and surveillance data.

Stage 3 – Draft Toolkit Package #2

- Deliverable #6 – Second draft technical guidance document. A second version of the technical guidance document should be prepared for an additional round of review by the Initiative governance structures.

- Deliverable #7 – Draft Reporting Templates. These are the core recommended reporting templates for the reporting of mortality survey and surveillance results, including templates for preliminary powerpoints, short form technical reports, and factsheets.

- Deliverable #8 – Draft Survey/Surveillance Manager Training Materials. These are the higher level set of training materials on the methodology, design and contextualization, analysis and reporting for the mortality survey and surveillance toolkit. For program managers or survey/surveillance managers. This should minimally include a training outline, powerpoint slides, and associated resources.

- Deliverable #9 – Draft Enumerator Training Materials. These are the set of training materials for enumerators implementing mortality surveys and surveillance using this toolkit. This should minimally 3/5 include a training outline, powerpoint slides, and associated resources.

Stage 4 – Final Toolkit Package

- Deliverable #10: Final Toolkit Package. This should be the final package of all toolkit materials to be validated by the SAG, NAG, and TAG. This version of the toolkit will be later piloted by the initiative and may undergo further revisions after piloting.

The resulting toolkit and associated resources are intended to be a public good and are developed on behalf of the Mortality Estimation Initiative led by Save the Children, IMPACT and E4C. All products will be licensed under Creative Commons and made available for users via a website created by the Mortality Estimation Initiative.