TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultancy Services to Conduct the Rwanda WASH Sector Performance Review for FY 2025/2026 using the Building Blocks Assessment Tool, Review Implementation of the Water and Sanitation Sector Strategic Plan 2024–2029, and update the WASH Sector Five-Year Multi-Year Action Plan 2024–2029.

1. Background and Rationale

The Government of Rwanda, through the Ministry of Infrastructure, adopted the Water and Sanitation Policy (2023) and the Water and Sanitation Sector Strategic Plan (WATSAN SSP) 2024–2029. The SSP provides the sector framework for universal and sustainable access to safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene services and aligns sector priorities with Vision 2050, the Second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), Sustainable Development Goal 6, and Rwanda’s climate-resilience commitments.

The WATSAN SSP identifies two core goals: universal access to improved drinking water services and increased access to sanitation and hygiene services for improved well-being. It includes annual targets, an implementation plan, responsible institutions, means of verification, and costed strategic interventions. The plan emphasizes infrastructure expansion and rehabilitation, reliable service delivery, reduced non-revenue water, sanitation and wastewater management, climate resilience, resource mobilization, institutional capacity, monitoring, and accountability.

The sector has previously applied a systems-strengthening approach using the WASH building blocks assessment tool. Under the Isoko y’Ubuzima Project, support to national sector institutions included sector performance reviews, revising and developing multi-year action plans, stakeholder consultations, and national reflection processes. 

Water For People is an international non-profit organization that aims to improve access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene education in developing countries. Water For People works locally, nationally, and globally to influence governments’ water and sanitation policies to serve the interests of the needy. The Water For People program in Rwanda began in 2008, with an overall objective to help all communities, schools, and healthcare facilities gain access to sustainable water and sanitation services, and hygiene behavior change in Rulindo, Kicukiro, Gicumbi, Karongi, Nyamagabe, and Gisagara Districts.

Water For People has continuously worked in partnership with the Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA), WASAC, and other WASH sector institutions in Rwanda to strengthen the systems required for sustainable, inclusive and resilient water, sanitation and hygiene services. This support has included technical assistance and facilitation for sector performance monitoring, WASH systems and building blocks assessments, strategic and multi-year planning, sector coordination and reflection processes, water quality, sustainable service delivery, and WASH financing and resource mobilization. Building on this longstanding collaboration and its Everyone Forever systems-strengthening approach, Water For People will provide the financial resources required for the consultancy services described in these Terms of Reference and will work with MININFRA, WASAC and other relevant sector stakeholders to support effective technical oversight, stakeholder engagement and delivery of the agreed outputs.

Two years into the 2024–2029 SSP period, a structured FY 2025/2026 review is required to determine progress against annual and end-period targets, assess how sector systems are enabling or constraining results, review implementation arrangements and responsibilities, identify bottlenecks and risks, and update the sector multi-year action plan for the remaining period through 2028/2029. The assignment will provide an evidence-based platform for Government and WASH stakeholders to agree on practical solutions, priority actions, financing requirements, responsibilities, and monitoring arrangements.

2. Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of the consultancy is to support the Government of Rwanda to monitor and review WASH sector performance for FY 2025/2026 in terms of both sector systems and WASH service delivery; assess implementation of the WATSAN SSP 2024–2029 and its implementation plan; clarify and discuss roles, responsibilities and accountability; identify implementation bottlenecks and emerging challenges; facilitate agreement on solutions; and update the prioritized, sequenced and costed WASH Sector Multi-Year Action Plan 2024–2029.

3. Objectives

3.1 Overall objective

To conduct an integrated Rwanda WASH sector performance review for FY 2025/2026 using the WASH building blocks assessment tool, review implementation of the WATSAN SSP 2024–2029, and update the WASH Sector Five-Year Multi-Year Action Plan 2024–2029 based on evidence, stakeholder commitments, implementation realities and emerging priorities.

3.2 Specific objectives

• Assess FY 2025/2026 WASH sector performance, covering both systems strengthening and delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services.
• Review progress against the WATSAN SSP 2024–2029 results framework, annual targets (including those implemented by WASH Partners, namely Water for People, World Vision, WaterAid, Water Access Rwanda, UNICEF, Living Water and MLFM), strategic interventions, implementation plan and financing provisions, with particular attention to FY 2024/2025 and FY 2025/2026 milestones.
• Collect lessons learnt from the two years of NST2 and WATSAN SSP interventions
• Assess each WASH system building block, document evidence, apply the agreed scoring criteria, compare findings with previous assessments where comparable, and identify priority system gaps.
• Review the adequacy and functionality of implementation arrangements, including roles, responsibilities, coordination mechanisms, reporting lines, data flows, accountability and decision-making processes.
• Identify institutional, technical, financial, capacity, data, environmental, climate, inclusion and service-delivery bottlenecks affecting implementation.
• Facilitate sector dialogue/workshop to validate findings, analyze root causes, identify practical solutions and agree on corrective and acceleration measures.
• Review the status of implementation of interventions (actions) in the existing 2024–2029 multi-year action plan, distinguishing completed, ongoing, delayed, not started, superseded and newly required actions.
• Update the multi-year action plan for the remaining SSP period, with prioritized and sequenced actions, annual milestones, responsible and supporting institutions, costs, financing status and gaps, risks, dependencies, and monitoring indicators.
• Capture commitments from other Government institutions, districts, civil society and the private sector, as applicable.
• Produce concise, decision-oriented reports and presentation materials for validation, management action and subsequent sector monitoring.

4. Scope of Work

The consultant shall undertake the following interrelated workstreams. The assignment shall cover the national WASH sector and shall use sub-sector, institutional and subnational evidence where required to establish performance and explain bottlenecks.

4.1 Inception, document review and assessment framework

• Conduct an inception meeting with the Ministry of Infrastructure and the assignment steering/technical team to confirm scope, stakeholders, deliverables, quality assurance arrangements and schedule.
• Review of the following, but not limited to:

• WATSAN SSP 2024–2029, its M&E matrix, implementation plan and costing;
• The Water and Sanitation Policy (2023) and its implementation plan; 
• NST2; 
• Relevant Joint Sector Review documentation; WASH MIS and administrative data; 
• WASH sector budgets and expenditure information; partner reports; 
• previous building blocks and sector performance assessments and the existing multi-year action plan; 
• and other agreed evidence.

• Prepare an inception report containing the analytical framework, detailed methodology, evidence matrix, consultation plan, data-request list, work plan, quality assurance process, and templates for scoring and action planning.
• Agree on definitions, reference periods, indicator calculations, data sources, evidence-quality criteria and the process for reconciling inconsistent data.

4.2 FY 2025/2026 WASH sector performance review

• Assess progress in water supply, sanitation and hygiene service delivery against FY 2025/2026 targets and relevant baselines, disaggregating results where reliable data permit.
• Examine achievements, shortfalls, trends, geographic or population disparities, quality and reliability of services, sustainability considerations, climate resilience, inclusion, and the factors explaining performance.
• Assess implementation of major strategic interventions, including water-production and distribution capacity, network construction and rehabilitation, non-functional systems, non-revenue water, productive-use institutions, household water access, sanitation and hygiene access, sewerage and faecal sludge treatment, and solid waste management, as applicable to the verified data.
• Assess the adequacy, timeliness, consistency and use of sector monitoring data and document material data gaps or limitations.
• Prepare a performance dashboard that presents indicator, baseline, FY 2025/2026 target, verified result, variance, status, explanatory factors, data source, data-quality note, and responsible institution.

4.3 WASH building blocks assessment

Using the same broad participatory approach applied in previous assessments, the consultant shall assess the agreed WASH systems building blocks. At inception, the consultant and Government shall confirm terminology and detailed sub-indicators to maintain comparability with previous reviews. The assessment is expected to cover the following nine areas:

• Compile a documented evidence base and conduct stakeholder scoring using the agreed scoring scale and facilitation protocol.
• Compare scores with previous assessments only where methodology and indicators are sufficiently comparable; clearly explain changes in methods or evidence.
• For each building block, identify strengths, gaps, root causes, priority actions, lead/support institutions, dependencies and monitoring measures.
• Present both the score and the underlying narrative so that numerical results are not interpreted without supporting evidence.

4.4 Review of WATSAN SSP 2024–2029 implementation

• Map SSP goals, outcomes, indicators and strategic interventions to annual implementation activities, budgets, responsible institutions and means of verification.
• Assess implementation performance for FY 2024/2025 and FY 2025/2026, including physical progress, financial progress where available, timeliness, quality, functionality and sustainability.
• Review whether institutional roles and responsibilities are sufficiently clear, accepted, resourced and executed; identify overlaps, gaps, coordination failures and unresolved accountability issues.
• Review bottlenecks affecting planned interventions and analyze their root causes, consequences and interdependencies.
• Assess major assumptions, risks and mitigation measures, including technical, financial, climate/environmental and capacity risks.
• Recommend corrective actions, acceleration measures, sequencing changes and revisions needed in the implementation plan, while preserving approved strategic direction unless evidence supports a proposed adjustment.
• Document inconsistencies, missing baselines or targets, duplicated indicators, unclear units, and data gaps requiring Government decision or technical correction.

4.5 National reflection and consultation process

• Conduct targeted key informant interviews and technical consultations with relevant ministries, agencies, utilities, districts, development partners, NGOs, civil society, private operators, research institutions and other agreed stakeholders.
• Prepare and co-facilitate a national WASH reflection workshop that reviews performance evidence, SSP implementation, building blocks findings, roles and bottlenecks, and proposed solutions.
• Use structured plenary and working-group sessions organized around service-delivery priorities and/or building blocks, with clear questions, evidence packs, rapporteurs and action-capture templates.
• Document stakeholder feedback, areas of agreement and disagreement, decisions, commitments, unresolved issues and required follow-up.
• Provide workshop materials, presentations, scoring sheets, attendance records and a concise reflection workshop report.

4.6 Update of the WASH Sector Multi-Year Action Plan 2024–2029

• Review each existing action and record implementation status, evidence of progress, remaining work, bottlenecks, financing status, and decision to retain, revise, merge, close, defer or replace it.
• Update the action plan for the remaining SSP period through FY 2028/2029, ensuring direct linkage to SSP outcomes, indicators and strategic interventions and to prioritized building-block gaps.
• Define clear actions, outputs, annual milestones, lead and supporting institutions, estimated cost, secured and potential funding, financing gap, dependencies, risks, and means of verification.
• Prioritize actions using transparent criteria such as contribution to service-delivery results, urgency, feasibility, equity, climate resilience, statutory obligation, dependency, and value for money.
• Distinguish short-term corrective actions from medium-term system reforms and capital-investment requirements.
• Prepare a management-ready implementation and monitoring matrix, including a streamlined dashboard for periodic follow-up by the Sector Working Group and relevant Technical Working Groups.
• Ensure that all costs and financing commitments are clearly sourced, validated by responsible institutions where possible, and not presented as confirmed when they are indicative or unfunded.

5. Key Evaluation and Review Questions

1. What progress was achieved against FY 2025/2026 WATSAN SSP targets, and what explains over- or under-performance?
2. To what extent are sector systems enabling sustainable, inclusive, reliable and climate-resilient WASH services?
3. What has changed in each building block since the previous assessment, and what evidence supports that change?
4. Are the SSP implementation plan, annual activities and budgets sufficiently aligned and sequenced?
5. Are institutional roles, responsibilities, coordination and accountability arrangements clear and functioning?
6. What are the most consequential bottlenecks, their root causes and their impact on service delivery?
7. Which corrective measures can be implemented immediately, and which require policy, institutional, financing or capacity reforms?
8. What lessons can be learnt in the report for future improvement in the sector 
9. What actions in the 2024–2029 multi-year action plan should be completed, revised, merged, deferred, closed or newly introduced?
10. What resources are required, what is financed, what financing gaps remain, and who is responsible for mobilization and delivery?
11. What monitoring, verification and learning arrangements will enable Government and partners to track agreed actions and adapt implementation?

6. Methodology

The methodology shall remain substantially consistent with previous sector performance and building blocks assessments so that the process is familiar, participatory and, where technically valid, comparable. The consultant may refine tools to reflect the approved WATSAN SSP 2024–2029, the FY 2025/2026 review period and identified data-quality needs, but shall explain and agree any material methodological changes during inception.

7. Deliverables and Indicative Level of Effort

The assignment is expected to require up to 20 working days over an indicative period of approximately two months. The final schedule and payment tranches shall be agreed during contracting. All deliverables shall be submitted in English in editable Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats, together with clean PDF versions where requested.

All deliverables shall be subject to technical review and written approval by the designated Government authority. Payment shall follow approval of the corresponding deliverable. The contracting authority may adjust the level of effort or payment distribution without changing the agreed outputs.

8. Required Structure of the Main Reports

8.1 Integrated sector performance and SSP implementation review report

• Executive summary and decision points
• Background, scope and methodology
• Data sources, quality and limitations
• FY 2025/2026 WASH service-delivery performance dashboard and analysis
• Building blocks findings, evidence, scores and priority gaps
• WATSAN SSP implementation performance against targets and interventions
• Institutional roles, coordination, accountability and implementation bottlenecks
• Financing, expenditure and resource-mobilization findings, subject to available verified data
• Cross-cutting findings on equity, inclusion, climate resilience, sustainability and learning
• Prioritized solutions, corrective actions and recommendations
• Conclusions and management action summary
• Annexes: evidence matrix, consultation list, assessment tools, detailed indicator tables and workshop outputs

8.2 Updated WASH Sector Multi-Year Action Plan 2024–2029

9. Management, Coordination and Quality Assurance

• The consultancy will be managed by the Ministry of Infrastructure through the WASH Sector Secretariat Coordinator and a small steering/technical team representing other relevant stakeholders.
• The consultant shall maintain a decision log, data-request tracker, consultation log, comment-response matrix and version-control register.
• Government shall facilitate access to relevant documentation, data and stakeholders, subject to applicable authorization and confidentiality requirements.
• Key methods, scoring criteria, preliminary findings, draft reports and the updated action plan shall be reviewed through agreed technical checkpoints.
• The consultant shall be responsible for internal quality assurance, consistency of figures across products, accurate referencing, editorial quality and timely incorporation of consolidated comments.
• Where evidence cannot be validated, the consultant shall clearly label the finding, explain the limitation and avoid presenting estimates or stakeholder statements as verified facts.

10. Consultant Qualifications and Experience

• At least a Master’s degree in water and sanitation, civil/environmental engineering, public policy, economics, development studies, monitoring and evaluation, public finance, institutional development or a closely related field.
• At least 10 years of relevant professional experience, including substantial experience in WASH sector systems strengthening, sector performance assessment, strategic planning or programme review.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Rwanda’s WASH institutional, policy, service-delivery and financing context; experience working with Government and sector coordination mechanisms is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated experience applying WASH systems or building blocks assessment tools and facilitating evidence-based multi-stakeholder scoring and prioritization exercises.
• Proven experience reviewing sector strategies, results frameworks, implementation plans, institutional responsibilities, budgets and performance data.
• Experience preparing prioritized and costed multi-year action plans, implementation matrices and management dashboards.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, including data-quality assessment, triangulation and synthesis of complex evidence.
• Excellent facilitation, stakeholder engagement, report-writing and presentation skills, including engagement with senior Government officials and development partners.
• Excellent written and spoken English. Working knowledge of Kinyarwanda is a strong advantage.
• For a team proposal, the team shall collectively demonstrate the above qualifications and identify a team leader with overall accountability for quality and delivery.

11. Proposal Submission Requirements

• Technical proposal demonstrating understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, work plan, team composition and quality assurance approach.
• Financial proposal in Rwandan Francs with professional fees, reimbursable costs and applicable taxes clearly separated.
• Curriculum vitae of proposed consultant(s) and allocation of level of effort.
• At least three examples of comparable assignments, with client, scope, period and contactable reference where available.
• Relevant experience demonstrated by at least one approved writing sample or redacted report demonstrating sector assessment and action-planning capability.
• Disclosure of actual or potential conflicts of interest.

12. Evaluation Criteria

The contracting authority may refine the evaluation criteria in accordance with its procurement rules.

13. Ethical, Confidentiality and Ownership Provisions

• The consultant shall maintain confidentiality of non-public information and use data solely for this assignment.
• All primary and secondary information shall be handled in accordance with applicable Government and contracting-organization requirements.
• Informed consent shall be obtained for interviews where required, and comments shall not be attributed without authorization.
• All deliverables, tools, cleaned datasets and materials produced under the consultancy shall become the property of the contracting authority unless otherwise specified in the contract.
• The consultant shall disclose conflicts of interest and shall not misrepresent, fabricate, or selectively omit material evidence.

14. Financial evaluation 

Following the technical evaluation, only bidders who score 80% or higher will advance to the financial evaluation stage. At this stage, financial proposals will be assessed, and the bidder with the lowest price will be selected. Financial proposals must be password-protected, and passwords will only be requested from bidders who qualify for the financial evaluation. 

Note: Any arithmetic error in the financial report will result in an automatic disqualification.

The selected bidder will be contractually required to comply with Water For People’s Vendor Code of Conduct https://www.waterforpeople.org/Vendor-Code-of-Conduct and will be required to deliver a Conflict-of-Interest Certificate prior to execution of the contract. The Conflict-of-Interest Certificate requires the disclosure of any potential or actual conflicts of interest with Water For People employees or their relatives, including past, current, or proposed business transactions, employment or offers of employment, or certain gifts or entertainment. Water For People will evaluate any disclosures of conflicts of interest; if Water For People determines it cannot waive or mitigate the conflict of interest, it will result in the disqualification of the selected proposer.

15. Copyrights

Copyright of all material on assignment will be retained by Water For People in Rwanda.

16. Rights reserved

• Water For People reserves the right to cancel the entire procurement process without incurring any liability whatsoever. 
• Water For People reserves the right to amend any segment of the ToRs before the announcement of selected candidates.
• Water For People also reserves the right to remove one or more of the services from consideration for this contract should the evaluation show that it is in WFP’s best interest to do so.
• Water For People also may, at its discretion, issue a separate contract for any service or groups of services included in these ToRs. Water For People may negotiate a compensation package and additional provisions to the contract awarded under these ToRs.
• Water For People reserves the right to debrief the applicants after the completion of the process due to the expected high volume of applications to avoid the compromise of the process.

17. How to apply

If you feel qualified and interested in the assignment, please send your documents (including the technical and financial proposals as two separate attachments in a single e-mail) to: rwprocurement@waterforpeople.org no later than 13th September 2026 with the following subject: “Consultancy Services to Conduct the Rwanda WASH Sector Performance Review for FY 2025/2026 using the Building Blocks Assessment Tool, Review Implementation of the Water and Sanitation Sector Strategic Plan 2024–2029, and update the WASH Sector Five-Year Multi-Year Action Plan 2024–2029”. 

Done at Kigali, on September 4th, 2026
 

Eugene DUSINGIZUMUREMYI

Country Director