Terms of Reference (ToR)

End line Assessment of
Facilities and Households under project
‘SWAGAT’– A FIRST 1000 DAYS
INITIATIVE Phiringia Block, Kandhamal
District, Odisha  

Issued by: Bal Raksha Bharat (Save the Children)

I. Introduction of Bal Raksha Bharat (Also known as Save the Children) : Bal Raksha Bharat, also known as Save the Children India, has been a transformative force in India since 2004. Our unwavering commitment to youth empowerment and skill development has impacted over 10,000 adolescents and young individuals in the last three years. We've not only linked more than 5,000 youth to meaningful employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Our innovative, customized models serve the most marginalized youths, equipped with modules spanning life skills, financial and digital literacy. We have forged crucial partnerships with vocational institutes, Non-Banking Financial Companies, HR agencies, and government bodies to enable skilling. Our strengths encompass youth empowerment, large-scale livelihood programs, innovation, and government engagement. With a presence in 19 states and 3 Union Territories, technical and operational excellence in skilling, livelihood and entrepreneurship development as well as a vast network of youth and partners, Bal Raksha Bharat has the capacity to impact the lives of 170,000 youth across India in the next few years.

II. Project’s Background:  Bal Raksha Bharat with support from DBS worked towards improving the quality of promotive, preventive, and curative MNCHN health care services at the primary health care level and thereby contributing to improve maternal, child health and nutrition (MCHN) outcomes focusing on 1000 days journey.

The 1,000 days between pregnancy and a child's 2nd birthday is the most critical time for a positive impact on a child's cognitive and physical development. The health and well-being of a pregnant and lactating woman are directly connected to the growth and health of her infant. The right nutrition for the mother and for the child during this time can have a profound impact on the child's growth and development and reduce disease risk, as well as protect the mother's health. Undernutrition during pregnancy, affecting foetal growth, is a major determinant of stunting and can lead to consequences such as obesity and nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases in adulthood.

Focusing multi-sectoral nutrition efforts on evidence-informed interventions targeting this critical window can have lasting implications across the lifecycle. The combination of good health and reduced disease risk for both mothers and their children can also have a powerful, lasting effect on a country's prosperity. While the primary objective of the First 1,000 Days approach to nutrition is to reduce child malnutrition rates, particularly chronic undernutrition in the form of stunting, interventions are facilitated through mothers in terms of promoting healthy behaviors such as exclusive breast-feeding and attention to her nutritional status during pregnancy and lactation. Though these interventions were facilitated through women, women’s health indicators are rarely tracked and measured, which represents a missed opportunity to strengthen the evidence base for associations between maternal nutrition and women’s health outcomes.

Bal Raksha Bharat will work in collaboration with the National Health Mission, Health Directorate, and ICDS department for project implementation involving Health Care Workers (HCWs), Front Line Workers (FLWs), caregivers, the community, and Children. All the activities will be undertaken in consultation with District and Taluk health officials to ensure the quality and participation of all Government Medical personnel in the process.

The overall aim is to set up a primary healthcare model in Phiringia Block of Kandhamal district, Odisha that can be replicated across other blocks, districts & states to provide quality MCH services. Among the broad set of high-impact interventions, Bal Raksha Bharat will provide a specific focus on demonstrating at-scale improvements in the services of Primary Health care Centres, and health & wellness centres related to maternal, new-born, child health, and nutrition.

Proposed Activities:

1. Facility Readiness: Assessment of healthcare facilities' readiness to provide ANC, PNC & essential newborn care services focusing on accessibility, including the availability of essential supplies and equipment for ANC
2. Capacity building of health staff & ICDS based on training needs identified from baseline study focussing on areas including antenatal, Kangaroo Mother Care, postnatal, child health, and maternal nutrition care, Home based new born care
3. Strengthen quality of services delivered during Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition days (VHSNDs) on Government guidelines for conducting VHSND are in place
4. Improve quality and coverage of home-based postnatal care for mother/new born care
5. Strengthening patient feedback mechanisms through surveys to assess the quality of care from the perspective of pregnant women
6. Development & deployment of Communication material on Respectful maternity care and on gender sensitive and responsive health facility along with training of health facility staff
7. Conducting health education sessions on MNCHN care: Orientation of mothers and family members (including fathers & mother in laws) on basic health, hygiene, and undernutrition issues on a regular basis
8. Screening of women and children for common medical problems and nutrition status utilizing different community platforms, and health camps
9. Ensuring comprehensive health assessment of pregnant women
10. Linking of beneficiaries with nearby AWCs and PHCs for regular MNCHN services and identified HRP with mapped referral units
11. Develop evidence-based SBCC strategy and tools for increasing awareness and careseeking for MNCHN services
12. Facilitate community mobilization through Mother committees/Jan Arogya Samitis (JAS), health talks, demonstrations camps, wellness days, use of media and young champions on MNCHN care
13. Support local health officials in organizing important health events like Breastfeeding Week, New-born Week, Global Handwashing Day, IDCF and SAANS campaigns, Nutrition Maah, etc

III. GEOGRAPHY:
State: Odisha, District: Kandhamal, Block: Phiringia, State: Odisha, District: Kandhamal ,Block: Phiringia, No of GP: 24, No. of Villages: 423, Household: 12,455. Population: 53,570,Male: 26,113, Female: 27,457, SC/AAM- 22, PHC-4, CHC -1, VHSND point:174, ASHA-161, ANM-22, AWW- 174, CHO-22, MOIC-1

Proposal Submission Protocol

The     Application       should      be      addressed      to      “NAME      Pintu      Kumar.” (email:k.pintu@balrakshabharat.org) with cc to “NAME-Avijeet Bhadra.” (email: avijeet.bhadra@balrakshabharat.org) and “NAME Subrata Basu (email:b.subrata@balrakshabharat.org)  and       Tanvi    Chauhan       (email: tanvi.chauhan@balrakshabharat.org) by 25^th Feb 2026. 

The subject line of the e-mail should read: “Application for End line Study for ‘SWAGAT’– A FIRST 1000 DAYS INITIATIVE Phiringia Block, Kandhamal District, Odisha”.

The following set of documents required to be enclosed as part of application.

• Brief proposal (which includes providing the technical specifications like study design justifying its appropriateness, estimate of the study design, sample size, data quality assurance, ethical measures and proposed timeframe to be taken/ adherence to Save the Children’s Child Protection Policy). 
• Experience of similar assignments with weblinks /softcopy of report available in public domain
• Earlier Experience with BRB/ Save the Children, India 
• Financial proposal (budget breakup). -Refer Annexure 1
• Capability document of the organization (in case the applicant is an agency)
• CVs of the core team members (PI and Co-investigators) involved in the assignment. 
• Team structure 
• Copy of PAN and GST Certificate etc.
• Details of 2 agencies / references (to be contacted upon request)

Kindly note that any application received beyond 25^th February 2026 will not be taken into consideration. If you request additional information, we would endeavour to provide information expeditiously, but any delay in providing such information should not be considered a reason for extending the submission date of your proposal.

For any query you may write to avijeet.bhadra@balrakshabharat.org with cc to k.pintu@balrakshabharat.org

Only short-listed consultant / organizations will receive an acknowledgment and will be called for personal interactions. Consultants who do not hear from us within two weeks may assume that their application has not been successful.

For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.

Download Attachment: Terms of Reference for End line SWAGAT.pdf