The African Center for Early Childhood Development (AfC-ECD) hereby invites qualified and experienced firms to undertake this multi-regional study.

Invitation for Expression of Interests for Local Bidders to Conduct Multi-Region Study of Indigenous Child-rearing Practices

Assignment: Consultancy services to study indigenous child-rearing practices of children under seven years of age in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa Administration, and four scale-up regions: Amhara Region, Central Ethiopia Region, Oromia Region, and Sidama Region.

Procurement Reference No: AfC-ECD/BIG WIN /NCB/PC02/2026

The African Center for Early Childhood Development (AfC-ECD) is a government-established organization (Addis Ababa City Administration Regulation No. 177/2024) mandated to advance Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Addis Ababa and contribute to ECD progress across Ethiopia and Africa. AfC-ECD works to ensure that every child receives nurturing care and holistic developmental support during the early years.

Ethiopia possesses rich and diverse indigenous child-rearing practices shaped by cultural, religious, and community values. However, these practices remain insufficiently documented and systematically analyzed, particularly in relation to contemporary ECD programming and pre-primary education. Understanding indigenous caregiving systems-including attitudes toward pregnancy, birth, nurturing, early learning, discipline, gender roles, and community participation is essential for designing culturally responsive and contextually grounded ECD interventions.

The study aims to analyze, interpret, and document indigenous child-rearing practices across selected regions and generate actionable recommendations to inform policy, curriculum development, parenting programs, and teacher preparation initiatives. AfC-ECD hereby invites qualified and experienced firms to undertake this multi-regional study.

Tasks and deliverables

Phase I

•         Submit Inception Report including:

o   A comprehensive literature review with summary of indigenous practices regarding child-rearing and schooling, aligned with global, African and national contexts

o   Data Collection Instruments-Survey questionnaires, FGD, KII protocols etc

o   Data Collection Route Plan (geographic mapping of fieldwork, sample lists)

o   Data Analysis Plan (detailing how data will be processed, coded, analysed, and presented)

Phase II

•         Preliminary Report (draft with findings for review)

Phase III

•         Comprehensive Final Report - including:

o   Executive summary

o   Detailed findings (by region, theme)

o   Policy and programming recommendations

o   Policy Brief (for decision-makers)

•         PowerPoint Presentation of key findings to be used in a validation workshop with AFC-ECD and key stakeholders

•         Raw, clean and identified data set with code book (ensuring data confidentiality as per ethics protocols) Compiled community feedback and validation notes (from workshop and field validation)

•         Data storage and confidentiality assurance: documentation of how data has been stored, access controlled, and how child safeguarding has been maintained throughout the process

Qualifications

The team should comprise specialists across relevant disciplines, including but not limited to: Social Anthropology, Sociology or Social Work; Developmental Psychology; Statistics (with strong qualitative and quantitative data management skills); Education; Public Health; and Gender and Inclusion.

•         The Team Leader should hold a PhD and have proven experience in large-scale studies of early childhood or indigenous child-rearing practices.

•         Other team members should hold a minimum of MA/MSC with relevant professional experience.

•         Inclusion of female professionals in the team is preferable to ensure

•         gender-sensitive approaches.

•         Applicants must submit CVs and portfolios of previous work (particularly in early childhood or indigenous child-rearing knowledge and practice).

•         Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis skills

•         Proven experience in similar research projects.

Timeline

•         The assignment is expected to be completed within 60 days of the contract signing date, subject to the agreement with AfC-ECD.

•         All interested eligible consultants are requested to submit their EOI with all completed documents in a sealed envelope using the address mentioned below.

Deadline for submission of EOI documents: Ten consecutive days from the date of this public announcement/advertisement

Contact Address

•         African Center for Early Childhood Development (AfC-ECD)

•         Ethio-China Road, Kirkos Sub-city, Woreda 03, ESHAL Building, 2nd Floor, Office 2-01

•         Email: info@afcecd.org

•         Cell Phone: 0912441796; P.O. Box 146/1084, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

 If you have any question, please contact Dr. Sintayehu Abate at Sintayehu.Abate@afcecd.org

N.B. This is only a Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI). No need to present financial proposal in this EOI. Companies that are shortlisted through this process will receive the full bidding document and will be invited to compete for the assignment evaluated both by technical and financial proposals later.

African Center for Early Childhood Development