Field Data Collection Services in Turkey

1. Introduction

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental and non-profit organization founded in 1956 and working in over 30 countries in the world. DRC has been operating in the border areas of south-eastern Turkey (Hatay, Şanlıurfa, Kilis, and Kahramanmaraş) since 2013, with the aim to enhance the capacities and self-reliance of refugees and the affected host communities. As the conflict stretches on in Syria, DRC remains committed to developing long-term solutions that serve the needs of the 4 million displaced Syrians and other refugees and migrants currently living in Turkey.

DRC Turkey programs are focused on two main sectors: protection and economic recovery. In protection, DRC provides specialized case management for survivors of gender-based violence, legal support including access to documentation, individual protection assistance, psychosocial support (PSS), and awareness-raising activities. Furthermore, DRC supports the economic recovery and livelihoods of refugees and affected host communities through two core components: 1) strengthening employability of individuals through market-based skills training and linkages to wage employment opportunities; 2) business development services including provision of business skills training, running of business incubators, and supporting formalization of start-up enterprises and existing micro and small-sized enterprises. Throughout all of these activities, the need to assess the protection and economic situations of clients, and track clients’ progress through the stages of these activities is paramount.

2. Consultancy Objective

The overall objective of this consultancy is to hire an independent Turkey-based firm, company, or organization for field data collection services (in person or remote) in key program locations. The data will be collected through qualitative and quantitative data collection methods as per pre-defined tools for different protection and economic recovery projects implemented by DRC. The aim of the data collection is to measure the impact of its interventions. All data collection practices are subjected to carry out in line with the Turkish Data Protection Law (KVKK – Kişisel verileri koruma Kanunu) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

3. Coverage

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all work for this consultancy is expected to be conducted remotely, with ongoing re-evaluations based on future travel restrictions and work requirements. With the ease of COVID-19, data collection may take place in person through direct face-to-face interviews or in the form of focus group discussion.

4. Scope of work

4.1. Location

The scope of work includes field data collection periodically in DRC’s main program areas i.e. Hatay, Şanlıurfa, Kilis, and Kahramanmaraş. Field data collection may take place apart from these four areas in line with the DRC program expansion to other locations. Thus, it is expected that the service provider shall be able to provide support for data collection service wherever needed across Turkey. The following are key considerations related to the scope of data collection.

4.2. Timeliness

DRC expects to make a request for the data collection on a short notice period, i.e. 7 to 10 days, though DRC will make its best possible efforts to communicate well before the expected time. The actual data collection timeframe may vary and spread across weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly timelines. DRC will develop a work plan with the selected firm to schedule the data collection process smoothly.

4.3. Language

It is expected that data will be collected in three languages, i.e. English, Arabic, and Turkish, widely spoken by Syrian and international refugees/migrants and host communities.

4.4. Data Quality

Apart from critical ethical consideration (e.g. location, timeliness, and language, etc.), the data collection service provider will also be responsible for maintaining the data quality through minimum standards: (1) orienting and training of enumerators on basic data collection principles and ethics including data collection tools shared by DRC, (2) real-time monitoring to remove the anomalies and make corrections if needed, (3) providing the clean data after removing errors and translating the information of Arabic and Turkish text to English if needed.

Note: DRC will provide detailed notes or orientation for the service provider and will provide clarification and support if needed.

4.5. Multilingual team and availability of devices

DRC expects that potential service providers will have a multilingual[1] team of enumerators across Turkey that can be mobilized on short notice as needed or required. The service provider will also be required to manage devices, e.g. tablets or phones for mobile data collection or laptops for the web-based links. DRC will not provide any equipment support. Since the data will be collected through DRC’s recommended platforms or service, DRC will be responsible for any subscription fees.

5. Expected Consultancy Deliverables

The following deliverables are expected:

· Service provider will develop data protection protocols (in-person and remote data collection) and will share with DRC after signing the agreement;

· Service provider will update the work plan on a monthly/quarterly (or as an agreed timeframe) basis and will share with DRC;

· Service provider will share the clean data collection with DRC after every exercise or assigned task of data collection;

· Service provider will share a brief (up to 3 pages) task completion report after every assigned task of data collection to highlight the progress as agreed along with key issues and challenges.

6. Indicative Timeframe

The selected firm or consultant will be awarded a framework agreement for one year, commencing approximately on 15^th April 2021 and ending on 15^th March 2022. It is important to note that regardless of the one-year timeline, the actually required tasks may not take place across the year. The workload will depend on actual needs and there will be no minimum work guarantee.

Note: The timeline with key deliverables will be developed with the final selected firm or consultant.**

7. Responsibilities of DRC and Service Provider

During the process of data collection, the following will be the responsibilities of DRC and Service Provider.

7.1. Responsibilities of DRC

• DRC will be responsible for collecting explicit consent for the collection of personal data from intended participants for data collection.
  DRC will be responsible for designing and developing the tools for data collection.

• DRC will be responsible for configuring or authoring and testing the tools for mobile or web-based data collection platforms.

• DRC will share the final ready tool with the service provider.

• DRC will conduct training/orientation for the key focal points of the service provider.

• DRC will be responsible for determining the sampling and share the list of beneficiaries with contact details for data collection with the service provider.

• DRC will be available to provide all necessary technical assistance throughout the process as needed and appropriate.

7.2. Responsibilities of Service Provider

· Service Provider will be responsible for sharing the work plan for data collection in coordination with DRC.

· Service Provider will be responsible for ensuring that a multilingual team in the respective program area is available or as needed across Turkey in line with the need for program expansion.

· Service Providers will be responsible for conducting orientation for their respective enumerators.

· Service Provider will be responsible for providing equipment and other necessary technical support such as mobile phones, tablets, or laptops for online data collection to enumerators. **

· Service Provider will be responsible for the monitoring data collection and cleaning of raw data. **

· Service Provider will be responsible for providing translated and cleaned data to DRC. **

· Service Provider will be responsible for maintaining all necessary field data collection notes and will share with the DRC as needed and appropriate. **

· Service Providers will be responsible for collecting the data in line with KVKK and GDPR requirements to meet the necessary compliance and regulations.

· All the legal responsibilities (if any permission needed etc.) belong to the consultant/company to have outreach activities between the FWA term.

Note: This section provides a brief snapshot of key roles and responsibilities between DRC and Service Provider during the process of data collection; however, actual roles and responsibilities may slightly differ from the above-stated roles and responsibilities.

8. Payment

Overall bids will be evaluated based on technical and financial proposals demonstrating the value of money and a strong technical description. Payment will be tied to the submission of agreed deliverables stretched across the year. Tentatively, payment will be done after the successful submission of every assigned task at the end of each month based on an invoice indicating the number of days worked in the given month (depending on the task as agreed). Workload will depend on the needs and no minimum working days/hours guaranteed.

Cost to be included in the offer: All interested firms, companies, organizations, or service providers should include technical and non-technical costs (such as boarding and lodging, etc. only if needed) in their respective financial proposals considering the remote and in person data collection exercises. DRC will not be responsible for any boarding and lodging costs, and the actual cost may vary based on the agreed tasks.

Note: The proposed budget will be subjected to further discussion and negotiations.

9. Codes of Behavior

The data collection process will be directed by DRC to be in line with KVKK, GDPR, and other necessary regulations. Selected consultants or firms will be asked to sign and adhere to the DRC’s Code of Conduct.

10. Disclosure

Although free to discuss with the authorities anything relevant to the assignment, under the terms of reference, the service provider is not authorized to make any commitments on behalf of DRC. All data collected as part of this consultancy belongs to DRC and public dissemination of the data and evaluation products can only be done with the written consent of the DRC.

11. Bid Submission

Interested firms, companies, or service providers should submit the following:

· A cover letter of no more than 3 pages introducing the applicant’s profile and how the past experiences, skills, and competencies meet the expected qualifications, also detailing their relevance to the assignment with concrete examples. Please also use this cover letter to indicate the Applicants’ availability for the proposed period.

· An outline of no more than 5 pages of the proposed process including key considerations given in the scope of the assignment.

· At least 2 to 3 CVs of qualified individuals who will be leading or managing the assignment throughout the process.

· Minimum 2 referees (with phone number and email address) details or reference letter or feedback from previous clients.

· A quote for a daily consulting fee for an enumerator in EUR including technical and non-technical costs. (in-person data collection)

· A quote for a daily consulting fee for an enumerator in EUR including technical and non-technical cost. (remote data collection)

· A one-page budget of the offer, covering all major anticipated technical and non-technical costs;

· One to Two sample reports of previous similar work or relevant to this assignment

· Any documentation of being KVKK (Kişisel verileri koruma Kanunu) compliant is an advantage.

· A sample budget submission for an assignment of 10 days’ data collection from 100 beneficiaries (Location split: 25 in Hatay, 25 in Kahramanmaraş, 25 in Kilis, and 25 in Sanliurfa and Language split includes: 50 in Arabic and 50 in Turkish) as per described responsibilities in 7.2 section above.

Note: Technical cost is daily fees of involved enumerators and consultants (if any) and non-technical cost may include translation services etc. The budget offer should indicate if technical and non-technical cost is different for languages and areas respectively. Currently, data is expected to be collected largely in Arabic and Turkish in four areas i.e. Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Sanliurfa.

[1] English, Arabic, Turkish