LEARNING PARTNER

LEARNING PARTNER

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR RECRUITMENT OF A FIRM AS A LEARNING PARTNER FOR EARLY YEARS COUNT UGANDA

EYC|RFP 01- LEARNING PARTNER|MARCH 2025

Background

Early Years Count Uganda (EYC) is a young independent, national non-governmental organization dedicated to elevating early childhood as a critical window of opportunity. Our mission is to ensure that the most disadvantaged families provide a good start for their children, thereby enabling every child in Uganda to achieve their full development potential.

EYC positions itself as a unique partner, playing a key role in creating systemic shifts within the Early Childhood Development (ECD) space. The organisation is committed to promoting equitable access to quality early childhood development services for all children, through the use of a systems thinking approach; catalysed by evidence building, collaboration, Policy influencing and advocacy to strengthen the early childhood development ecosystem.

EYC aims to play the role of a system catalyst in the ECD sector in Uganda. In 2024, EYC has embarked on the implementation of its inaugural Organisational Strategy for 2024–2026. The strategy is driven by a vision to catalyse transformative progress in overcoming the systemic barriers to ECD in Uganda and centered around four main objectives that guide the organization’s efforts over the next three years;

  1. To contribute towards improved ECD policy implementation through evidence-based advocacy and strategic communication.
  2. To support the generation and use of data for evidence, learning and innovation to inform policies and programmes that shape the ECD agenda.
  3. To develop strategic and collaborative partnerships that promote shared objectives in the ECD sub-sector
  4. To enhance the institutional capacity of EYC to become a recognized ECD thought leader with fit-for-purpose skills and experience to deliver its mission.

In the first year of implementation, EYC has taken deliberate and strategic steps to strengthen stakeholder coordination, provision of Technical Assistance to improve collaboration, and support to Government entities in the development and implementation of policies and guidelines. There has been some progress in key focus areas including policy influencing and support towards the ECCE policy within the Ministry of Education and Sports, the positioning of ECD in NDP IV and review of the National Girls Education policy, among others. It has also supported the building of the National ECD CSO Network which is aimed at improving coordination among ECD civil society players, as well initiation as of the ECD Local Government Scorecard initiative to address policy implementation challenges at the subnational level. The scorecard serves as a valuable tool for problem-solving within the ECD sector and strengthens the capacity of Local Governments (LGs) to effectively carry out their mandated roles. These and other initiatives being implemented by EYC in the first of the strategy are fundamental in supporting systems strengthening within the ECD subsector.

The Opportunity and Rationale

As EYC enters its second year of implementing the strategy, it should sustain efforts towards the key priorities outlined in the plan. The momentum built thus far requires ongoing attention through consistent focus on key workstreams and the strategic use of available opportunities to advance the subsector. This will necessitate strengthened support and a renewed emphasis on the specific objectives building off year one achievements, partnerships, strategic opportunities and the learnings.

One of the key priorities is to have a learning partner integrated into our programme implementation as a thought partner to support EYC to reflect on what is or what is not working, and inform necessary adjustments to our programmes. It is also to strengthen its Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning function this year, aligned to EYC’s unique programme, roles and needs to track the progress and outcomes of programmes.

The learning partner will enable EYC to innovate and adapt on a consistent basis, generate evidence about what works and what doesn’t for both internal and external learning, base forward looking decisions on robust and real time evidence and ultimately achieve greater impact.

Scope of Work

The scope of work includes the following:

Supporting Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

  • Finalizing the Design and Implementing EYC M&E Framework: Help develop robust M&E system aligned to the EYC strategy to define what success looks like, track progress, measure outcomes, and assess impact.

  • Feedback Loops: Ensure that findings from EYC M&E activities are fed back into the programme for continuous improvement.

  • Produce regular (quarterly) learning reports, case studies, and success stories including developing a learning plan as necessary.

Facilitating Learning and Knowledge Sharing

  • Documentation and Analysis: Capturing lessons being learned, best practices, and challenges throughout the implementation of EYC interventions including sharing insights and findings.

  • Identify the enablers and barriers that may affect the achievement of the targeted outcomes

  • Documenting best practices and success stories which are then shared with the wider ecosystem including with donors, other organisations and the broader ECD sector community to replicate successful approaches.

Promoting Adaptive Management

  • Encouraging Reflection: Facilitate regular reflection sessions to assess what is working, what isn’t, and why.

  • Offer constructive feedback and challenge assumptions to improve programme design and implementation.

  • Supporting Decision-Making: Provide evidence-based recommendations to inform strategic decisions and adjustments to initiatives, interventions and proposed approaches. This also includes advise on responding to the changing ECD context and how the EYC role transitions.

  • Assess the strategic relevance and additionality or contribution of EYC’s work (including the coherence of the different interventions and their collective impact) on ECD system strengthening and fostering collaboration.

Developing and implementing an EYC learning agenda:

  • Co-creating a learning agenda that includes a set of questions addressing the critical EYC knowledge gaps impeding informed design and implementation decisions,

Fostering Innovation

  • Identifying Opportunities: Encourage the exploration of innovative approaches and advisory on solutions to address systemic challenges in ECD.

  • Piloting New Ideas: Support the testing and scaling of innovative practices that demonstrate potential for impact.

  • Support towards EYC becoming a data driven organisation, able to put data and evidence into the hands of drivers of change in the ECD sector.

Independent Assessment:

Provide an unbiased evaluation of EYC programme’s effectiveness and impact.

Methodology and Approach

The methodology and approach will involve methods including (but not limited to) deep dives; case studies; trends analysis, client user surveys, among others as deemed relevant. The applicant may propose other nimble and flexible approaches provided such methods will help in addressing key learning questions.

Key Timeline

The assignment will commence in early April and finalize in Decemberer 2025 with possibility for renewal in 2026.

7. Content and Format of Proposal

Interested applicants should submit technical and financial proposals describing their understanding of the opportunity, approach to each task, schedule, and experience. This will include but not limited to;

Technical Proposal

  • The background information about the applicant, nature of the organisation, your institutional priorities and portfolio, and how they align with the EOI objectives.
  • Experience and Expertise; the expertise available within the organization and enclose short CVs of key experts/ staff with a focus on relevant learning support they are proposed to provide.
  • Approach and Methodology: the approach and methodology you would apply in the proposed learning partnership
  • Activities to be undertaken throughout the learning partnership including deliverables.
  • The consultant’s comments or suggestions on the TORs and appreciation of the assignment.
  • A summary of your experience in similar assignments;

Financial Proposal

Please present the indicative cost of the learning support incl. daily rates for the experts and facilitators, and any other cost applicable to the proposal (in Ugx and USD)

Criteria, Qqualifications and competencies

  • Experience (at least 5 years) in key EYC’s thematic areas including Early Childhood Development and the ECD eco-system, system strengthening, policy analysis and advocacy, collaborations and strategic partnerships, systems building and policy implementation.
  • Strong experience of working with CSOs including National level actors, alliances within the fields of ECD, systems strengthening, policy and advocacy.
  • Demonstrated expertise through analysis and research in Early Childhood Development.
  • Capacity to facilitate organisational development and action learning in a civil society context, and facilitate collaboration between diverse stakeholder groups.
  • Experience in identifying and assessing lessons learned and applying strategic learning approaches, and translating into outputs for uptake.
  • Demonstrated experience in the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to facilitate learning activities, and in communicating research results and analysis to a diverse audience of practitioners and decision-makers.
  • Expertise and experience in deploying the Learning Partner Approach (or similar methods) in program review and implementation.
  • Expertise in designing, implementing, and using appropriate and effective MEL systems to facilitate learning and improve programs.
  • Experience in Pertinent and practical approaches to knowledge transfer and capacity building.

Application Process

Interested companies, firms, organisations or individuals should submit their proposals by email to harriet.nantongo@eycuganda.org and info@eycuganda.org not later than 28/03/2025.

Deadline for applications is March 28th , 2025

It’s an incredible opportunity to reshape our future

– if we change their present

Be apart of Us

MENU

MENU