TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)
Development of a Standardised WASH BCC Tool – UL4BC India Package
By Welthungerhilfe India
1. BACKGROUND
Welthungerhilfe (WHH) is one of Germany's largest private aid agencies. In South Asia, over the past 60 years, WHH has supported over 1500 rural development projects through local partner organizations contributing towards combating poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. Our approach is to work as partners and support local organizations in improving living conditions of vulnerable people in a sustainable way.
Viva con Agua (VcA) is an international community campaigning for ‘Water for All, All for Water’ with support from its 10000+ volunteers. Through its non-profit foundation and numerous social businesses, the community works to provide access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene to vulnerable communities across the world. VcA has developed Universal Languages of Sports, Music, and Arts for Behaviour Change (UL4BC) approach to activate and inspire people to be an agent of social change. For the past 10 years UL4BC programmes are being implemented in various countries of Africa and Asia, including in India, with exceptional on-ground results.
This RFP is for a Viva con Agua and Welthungerhilfe co-funded WASH Programme, called Universal Languages for Behaviour Change (UL4BC), which is being implemented in Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh by local NGO partners- Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan and Samarthan- Centre for Development. The UL4BC programme is a systems-oriented Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) approach that leverages universal languages such as sport, art, music, and participatory platforms to activate social and emotional drivers of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) behaviours.
Implemented between 2022–2025 in 16 villages and 16 government schools in Bundelkhand (Madhya Pradesh), UL4BC has been associated with improvements in key WASH-related behaviours, including handwashing practices, school participation, and community engagement in WASH activities. However, systematic evidence on behavioural drivers, long-term sustainability, and scalability across diverse implementation contexts remains limited.
Aligned with Viva con Agua’s Lighthouse WASH approach—which emphasises systems strengthening, institutional embedding, lifecycle sustainability, and evidence-led adaptive management—Phase II (2026 onwards) aims to scale UL4BC through the development of a standardised, evidence-informed “UL4BC India Package”.
This package will be aligned with Viva con Agua’s Results-Based Framework (RBF), ensuring that all tools and processes contribute to measurable behavioural, psychosocial, and governance outcomes, and are compatible with rigorous evaluation approaches, including quasi-experimental designs.
To achieve this, Welthungerhilfe seek to engage an experienced external academic or development sector expert/agency.
2. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The purpose of this assignment is to develop a practical, field-ready, and modular UL4BC India Package that is scalable, replicable, and aligned with government systems.
The UL4BC India Package is expected to be implemented across multiple contexts, including:
- Government schools
- Rural communities (village-level platforms)
- Block and district-level systems
The package should be designed for scalability across states, including low-resource settings, and aligned with government frameworks such as SBM-G, JJM, and school governance systems.
The expected outputs include:
- Standardised yet adaptable across contexts
- Aligned with government systems (SBM-G, JJM, school governance)
- Anchored in outcome-level behaviour change
- Compatible with rigorous monitoring and evaluation frameworks
This assignment must result in a usable operational package, not a theoretical framework.
DURATION
Estimated duration: 3-4 months
This includes pilot testing of tools and modules in at least two programme villages to assess feasibility and usability before finalisation.
7. PROFILE OF CONSULTANT/AGENCY
- Expertise in behaviour change science and WASH systems
- Experience with India’s public systems (SBM, JJM, education systems)
- Proven experience in developing operational toolkits/manuals
- Strong MEL and systems-thinking capabilities
8. HOW TO APPLY
Required Documents:
- Technical proposal (approach, methodology, team structure, timelines). specifying the overall approach to the execution of the contract; the services to be provided; the experience of the applicant in similar assignments; and their proposed team with time commitment.
- Financial proposal (itemised costing) including each service’s per-unit cost.
- Relevant experience, references, and CVs
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.