Eradty Baseline Data Collection

Project Stakeholders

Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD): a local donor foundation established in 2001 with an endowment from the Sawiris Family, since its establishment, SFSD focused on addressing the most pressing issues facing the most marginalized Egyptians such as poverty, unemployment, provision of health services, and little access to quality education. Over the past 18 years, SFSD has succeeded in funding and delivering programs aimed at achieving comprehensive and sustainable development, in partnership with the governmental and private sectors, as well as civil society. This has resulted in the creation of thousands of job opportunities, availing quality education, and providing access to basic services for more than 280,000 beneficiaries. The geographical coverage of the foundation includes 24 governorates, with a focus on the most remote marginalized villages.

Shabab Masr NGO: The Youth of Egypt Association for Community Development was founded in 2012 in Fayoum Governorate to serve the local community and promote its development. The association’s mission is to achieve a broad range of national, social, and cultural objectives by contributing to the provision of social and humanitarian services and enhancing human capacity within the scope of available resources and approved programs.

The association is committed to maintaining continuous and effective collaboration with all relevant government bodies and institutions involved in development and collective action. It actively participates in advancing Egypt’s national and developmental goals. The association provides support to all segments of society, with a particular focus on marginalized groups, including the poor, people with disabilities, and youth. Through its initiatives, the association seeks to integrate beneficiaries into social development efforts, ensuring they fully benefit from its programs, while fostering strong community ties across all social groups.

Additionally, the association offers a variety of training programs designed to equip young people with the practical, scientific, cultural, and technical skills they need to succeed. These programs aim to nurture their talents, broaden their skill sets, and help them realize their aspirations and future ambitions.

 

About the Project

In Egypt, people with disabilities make up more than 10%, or about 15 million, of the country’s population. Many of them are severely marginalized; they face daily struggles with transportation and lack of access to public services such as health and education. People with disabilities are often stigmatized and discriminated, which compromises employment opportunities and negatively affects the mental health of the individuals and their families.(Institute of Development Studies, 2018).  Although strategies and national policies have been formulated to ensure equal educational opportunities for children with disabilities, poor households consider education less important for disabled children; only 2% of students with disabilities actually attend school, which affects their future employability (Kassab et al., 2018).

In the governorates of Upper Egypt, the situation is even more difficult, as many people with disabilities have fewer opportunities to find adequate professional, financial and psychological support. Many employers do not provide the necessary accommodations for persons with disabilities and an inclusive work environment, reflecting a lack of confidence in their abilities, which negatively affects the employment rate of persons with disabilities. Self-employment could be an interesting alternative to wage employment thereby circumventing the problem of hesitancy among employers to hire people with disabilities but disabled people are often also compromised in their ability to get loans or find financial resources otherwise to start their own business. Disabled people thus face multiple challenges simultaneously and typically face much higher risks of getting  trapped in a vicious cycle where lack of education and work opportunities worsen their  already precarious socio-economic and psychological state.

A better understanding on how to improve social and economic inclusion of the disabled poor is therefore imperative to promote sustainable and inclusive development in Egypt and elsewhere. Thus, an impact evaluation will be done in collaboration with Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) as an integral part of Eradty project with two main objectives:  i) measure the effectiveness of direct social assistance programs, i.e. are zero-interest loans effective in promoting (self) employment and improving socio-economic outcomes and wellbeing of disabled persons and their families. ii) comparing low- and high- costs psychological interventions that may generate differences in take-up rates, retention, spillovers, decay time of results, and ultimately their relative cost-effectiveness.

 

Objective

SFSD is seeking to engage a professional data collection firm to conduct baseline data collection on project beneficiaries and their network members in Fayoum Governorate. The selected firm will be responsible for designing and implementing an effective strategy to ensure high-quality data collection. To maximize the response rate and encourage participation, the firm is expected to provide appropriate incentives to survey respondents, ensuring the successful administration of the questionnaire.

 

Geographical Scope of Work

SFSD and Shabab Masr is implementing the project all over El Fayoum governorate 8 districts:

  • Youssef El Seddik
  • Ibshway
  • Senorus
  • Tamia
  • El Fayoum
  • El Shawshna
  • Sanhour

 

Expected Outputs

Deliverables of the consultancy include the following:

  • Obtain any necessary government approvals for the research project from CAPMAS as well as security approvals and any other relevant approvals.
  • Data collection of baseline survey for 10800 beneficiaries (including three network members of the beneficiaries) in the target governorates.
  • Conduct back‐checks and verification for 25% of the implemented surveys.
  • A clean, verified dataset in the agreed format (e.g., Excel, CSV, or database format) along with a data dictionary.
  • Biweekly check-in meetings with JPAL ,SFSD and the NGO.
  • Monthly reports about progress of the work.

 

The expected time to conduct the task

The baseline study will be conducted on several batches, thus the baseline data collection is expected to be completed along 36 months with possibility for extension.

 

Task Management

The consulting firm will be reporting to the Project team leader at Shabab Masr. A biweekly check-in meeting should be arranged between JPAL, SFSD, Shabab Masr and the consultancy firm.

SFSD has the right to supervise the data collection process as they see fit, in addition to sharing a list of individuals that were part of the sample used in the data collection process. Finally, the data collection firm is fully responsible to ensure that the research and data collection process is following Research Protocols | IPA (poverty-action.org)

 

Timeline

Task Deadline
Signing contract  Jan 2025
Applying for CAPMAS Approval Jan 2025
Enumerator training Feb 2025
Pilot surveys Feb 2025
Data collection Feb 2025

 

Confidentiality and Record of Right

All materials, reports, and other documents produced by the consulting firm under this consultancy will be the sole property of SFSD. The consulting firm will maintain a high level of confidentiality with external actors/stakeholders, concerning all the materials and reports produced under the consultancy. For any use of the produced materials/reports/documents, other than for the purpose of the projects, the consulting firm must receive consent from SFSD in writing. The consulting firm must abide by Egyptian law regarding data collection.

 

Selection Criteria of Consulting firms

  1. Experience in working with economic empowerment programs especially targeting people with disabilities
  2. Experience engaging in data collection related to  impact evaluations
  1. Explicit descriptions and evidence of high levels of Data Quality Assurance
  2. Value for money.

 

Team Structure

We expect a team consists of several field supervisors, each field supervisor oversea 4 to 5 enumerators, in addition to a field manager and quality controller to which the supervisor reports.

Responsibilities of Field Manager:

  • Develop work plans and schedules for field activities in coordination with the project team.
  • Liaise with stakeholders, such as local authorities, community leaders, or project partners, to ensure smooth fieldwork operations.
  • Monitor staff performance, provide feedback, and ensure adherence to ethical and professional standards.
  • Arrange transportation, accommodations, and supplies for field teams.
  • Ensure fieldwork complies with ethical guidelines, including obtaining informed consent from participant.

 

Responsibilities of Field Supervisors:

  • Manage and provide day-to-day oversight of field enumerators, data collectors, or program.
  • Ensure adherence to data collection protocols, including proper use of tools (e.g., tablets, forms) and following standard operating procedures.
  • Conduct spot checks on field staff to verify the accuracy and completeness of collected data.
  • Submit timely and accurate reports on field activities, including documentation of issues or deviations.
  • Address operational issues such as respondent unavailability, access problems, or technical issues with data collection tools.
  • Provide ongoing coaching and guidance to field staff to improve their performance.

 

Responsibilities of Quality Controller:

  • Oversee and monitor field operations to ensure compliance with project protocols and standards.
  • Validate the accuracy and completeness of data collected by field teams.
  • Monitor team adherence to ethical and procedural guidelines, including obtaining informed consent.
  • Revisit a subset of respondents to verify the authenticity and accuracy of collected data (back-checks).
  • Train field staff on quality standards, data collection protocols, and ethical guidelines.

 

Responsibilities of Enumerators:

  • Conduct surveys, interviews, or focus group discussions with respondents as per the project guidelines.
  • Explain the purpose of the survey clearly and obtain informed consent from respondents.
  • Accurately record responses without bias or alterations.
  • Follow prescribed skip patterns, question logic, and response codes.
  • Confirm completion of all sections of the questionnaire before concluding the interview

 

Data Management

The Data Collection Firm will be responsible for establishing and maintaining a robust data management process to ensure the accuracy, security, and integrity of the data collected during the baseline survey. The specific tasks include:

  • Utilize reliable digital tools (e.g., tablets, mobile applications) for data entry to minimize errors and enable real-time monitoring.
  • Ensure tools are pre-tested and configured to meet the project’s requirements, including logic checks and skip patterns
  • Implement automated or manual backup processes to prevent data loss.
  • Maintain secure, encrypted storage for all collected data during fieldwork.
  • Establish and execute data cleaning processes, including identifying and resolving inconsistencies, outliers, and duplicates.
  • Perform validation checks, including back-checks and spot checks, to verify data authenticity.
  • Provide daily updates on data collection progress, including flagged issues and their resolutions.
  • Deliver a clean, verified dataset in the agreed format (e.g., Excel, CSV, or database format) along with a data dictionary

 

Deliverables to the Research Team

Deliverables include the following:

  • Data collected
  • Quality checks
  • Legal permit(s) for data collection
  • Monthly reports about progress of the work
  • A final process report

Sawiris Foundation's Core Values

Respect – Equality – Trustworthiness – Cooperation – Team Work.

How to Apply

  • To apply for this consultancy, submit a separately technical and financial proposal, along with the CVs of each team member to (eval-proposals@sawirisfoundation.org)
  • In the subject line of the email, please write: Eradty Baseline Survey – Firm Name.
  • The deadline for receiving offers is 11 Jan, 2025.
  • The financial offer should be submitted in Egyptian currency, including all expenses and relevant taxes.
  • Late submissions will not be considered.
  • All official documents of the firm must be sent (Commercial Register, Tax Register).
  • Consultancy firms should have more than three years of experience in data collection and DQA.
  • Any questions can be sent directly to (eval-proposals@sawirisfoundation.org) no later than 4 Jan, 2025.
[DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_SOCIAL_ICONS]