Terms of Reference: Independent Consultant, Resilient Livelihoods Programme Evaluation

Organisation Overview:

Mission Statement: “To work towards ensuring that the poorest and the most vulnerable in our world and those affected by humanitarian crises have access to the fundamental rights of life, including, but not limited to: adequate shelter, food, water and sanitation, healthcare and education”.

GOAL is an international humanitarian organisation founded in Ireland in 1977. GOAL is currently implementing emergency response and development programming in 15 countries across South America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

In South Sudan, GOAL provides primary health care, nutrition services, WASH, and livelihoods support in Upper Nile State, Warrap State, and the Abyei Administrative Area.

Programme Overview:

“Fostering resilience, asset development and livelihood expansion for crisis-affected populations”is a three-year European Commission (EC) funded project aimed atcontributing to increased food security and increasingincome generating options for crisis-affected populations in Warrap State and the Abyei Administrative Area.These aims are being addressed through three programmatic areas: 1) increasing agricultural production of staple and vegetable crops; 2) improving literacy, numeracy and business skills of women; and, 3) providing opportunities for communities to improve savings and access to credit.

Specifically, programme activities include but are not limited to:

  • Establishing and training staple crop and vegetable farmer groups for improved agricultural techniques and increased yields;
  • Supporting households with children who have received treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) with vegetable micro-gardening initiatives;
  • Direct distribution of farminginputs and establishment of seed and tool fairs;
  • Introducing innovative agricultural technologies demonstration farms and ‘innovative farmer’ extension work;
  • Developing tree nurseries and encouraging farmer-to-nursery linkages;
  • Building capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF) extension staff;
  • Formation of REFLECT (Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques) women’s circles to improve literacy, numeracy andbusiness skills;
  • Establishing and supporting of community level savings and loans schemes, within targeted groups in order to contribute to a diversification of income sources.

Consultancy Objectives:

In arriving at lessons learned, the consultant will be responsible for identifying the programme’s successes and shortcomings in all stages of programmes design and delivery. Specifically, the evaluation should evaluate each programme activity as they relate to:

Relevance: Analyse the appropriateness of the project design, strategies and approaches in the light of the operational context, the timeliness of the response and its adaptation to the livelihoods security situations.

Effectiveness: Analyse the extent to which the project results and objectives as stated in the programme proposal have been achieved. This should include an analysis of programme implementation strategies employed to reach desired results.

Efficiency: Analyse how economically the programmeresources wereused to achieve expected results, both in reaching overall programme objectives and day-to-day tasks.

Sustainability: Assess the extent to which the project interventions took into consideration longer term needs of the target population and to what extent programme results will be sustainable after programme closure.

Coverage and Target: Assess the extent to which the planned coverage and targets were achieved, their appropriateness to the local context, and implications of retargeting that has taken place over the course of implementation.

In summary, the programme evaluation should focus on assessing the quality of the current programme, while – based on the findings of the above – generate a section of key lessons learned and best practices thatmake realistic and feasible recommendationsfor improving humanitarian assistance while strengthening local disaster preparedness response capacity and overall community resilience for in Twic and Agok,and other similar contexts in South Sudan.

Purpose of Evaluation

The primary purpose of this evaluation is to provide GOAL with valuable lessons learned to improve ongoing programme implementation as well as future livelihoods programming.

To have external and independent structured presentation of the project outputs and impact of the EU-funded project (name) implemented in Twic and Agok Counties and draw key learning in order to inform future project design to achieve the mutual objectives of GOAL and EC in the project area.

Specific Objectives

  • Assess the extent to which the project achieved its objectives with special emphasis on the outcomes and impact and/or most significant changes attributable to the project.
  • To assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, reporting and sustainability of the PCR project
To make key observations, draw conclusions and make recommendations to inform future interventions
Assess the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the project strategy with special emphasis on:
  • Community needs at the time of project identification.
  • Results as articulated in the project log frame
  • Cross cutting issues of Gender, etc.
  • Capacity building of target groups and its relevance to project implementation.
  • The external environment (context) within which the programme was operational and its influence on project successes and/or failures.
  • Assess the efficacy of processes of beneficiary engagement against best practices in the sector
  • Assess project efficiency in utilisation of mobilised and committed resources in the implementation of the project and procurement of project inputs.
  • Assess synergy with other GOAL supported projects in this geographic area and make recommendation aimed at achieving the Sudan program synergy objective.
  • Assess the project sustainability at various levels (target groups/ households, Local Government (Agriculture department and Project Steering Committee) Authority with focus on technical, financial, institutional sustainability.
  • Assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the project monitoring and evaluation system with special focus on GOAL’s monitoring tools and how these could be strengthened in future projects.
  • Assess the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of networking and/or coordination with other actors in the sector within Twic and Agok counties.
  • Assess the overall impact of the action, negative or positive and made recommendations for future interventions.
  • Assess the suitability of approaches used and their effectiveness and impact and multiplier effects on services delivering. Special attention should be paid to REFLEX, VSLA and Animal Traction and other extension approaches

Methodology:

The evaluation will combineadesk review of programme documentation and primary research to be conducted in Twic County, Warrap State and in communities surrounding Agok, Abyei Administrative Area (specific villages to be covered in the evaluation will be agreed upon with the programme team before commencing the study). The precise methodology will be agreed upon between the consultant and GOAL before evaluation activities commence, with the methodological outline provided by the consultant as per this tender a starting point.

The evaluation design should consider ex-post and ex-ante project scenario to assess impact of project. Communities/ groups that have received project support should be purposively sampled for the study to ensure adequate representation of social strata. Á combination of appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis should be employed including but not limited to:

  • Direct observation of the conditions of beneficiaries for evidence of project support.
  • Photographs of household and children who have been beneficiaries of project.
  • Documentation of case studies of women as well as men whose lives have been impacted by the project.
  • Use of Participatory Learning Action/Participation Rural Appraisal techniques such as mapping, community meetings, Focus Group Discussions with specified groups including children; Venn diagrams, ranking scores, etc
  • Semi structured interviews
  • Key informant interviews held with local authorities and other relevant persons at field level.

GOAL shall provide a copy of the project proposal, budget, contract, interim and final project reports plus any other technical documentation deemed essential for effective evaluation of the project:

The consultant is expected to use diverse methods in obtaining required qualitative and quantitative data. The methods should be as participatory as possible and feasible within the time frame. These methods could include:

a)Literature review

The consultant is expected to review the following project documents and reports as a way of familiarizing himself/herself with the project and to assess the extent to which project outputs have been achieved:

  • GOAL’s Strategic Plan for South Sudan
  • Project Documents including: Narrative Proposal, log frame, work plan, budget, Procurement plan
  • Project narrative and financial reports including: Quarterly reports/updates, Interim/ annual reports, Inception Rider, Monitoring and Mid-Term Evaluation Reports

b)Field Visit.

  • The consultant will be expected to visit the project sites and conduct interviews with project beneficiaries, Local government authority, project staff, and other agencies operating in the project area. GOAL expects the exercise to be as participatory as possible using techniques appropriate techniques/ approaches.

c)Sampling techniques

  • The consultant is expected to use purposive sampling or any other appropriate sampling methods to obtain a fair view of the project information as articulated in this TOR. Additional information will be provided to aid in the final selection of areas to visit when the contract is awarded.

d)Data collection methods.

  • Participatory approaches in data collection will be employed throughout the evaluation. An open atmosphere that can also accommodate unexpected information and critical remarks should be created by the team. The evaluation is expected to suggest data collection methods that provide both quantitative and qualitative information. It is critical that information is triangulated in order to increase the validity of findings. Possible methods include in-depth interviews, focused group discussions and questionnaires in collecting information. The time frame and costs should be a key consideration in the selection of data collection methods.

e)Dissemination of findings

  • The consultant is expected to debrief GOAL, and its partners on the evaluation findings. Upon obtaining feedback from the team, he/she will finalise and submit a final report to GOAL.

Scope of the Evaluation

The evaluation shall be limited to assessing the project’s impact in the two counties (Twic and Agok) where the intervention was made.

Evaluation Results and Reporting Format

A comprehensive final evaluation report not more than 30 pages (without appendices), fully addressing all the specific objectives outlined above and should address all the components mentioned in the final report section below.

Deliverables

The consultant will be responsible for three key deliverables:

  1. Inception Report: The Inception Report will detail the agreed upon methodologies to be employed in the evaluation to achieve the objectives outlined above. The Inception Report should also include the finalisedactivity plan and a structural outline of the final evaluation report. The inception report should be shared and approved by GOALbefore commencement of the data collection and analysis.
  2. Draft Report: TheDraft Report, in addition to addressing the aforementioned consultancy objectives, the report mustcontain: an introduction including programme summary and purpose of evaluation; a detailed methodology (including limitations); key findings (covering both document review and primary research);recommendations; a conclusion; and, annexes.Annexes should include, at minimum: the consultant’s expression of interest, the evaluation budget, field sites visited, and a list of key informants. A soft copy of the Draft Report will be shared with relevant programme staff within 10 days of completing field site visits. The Draft Report is to be no more than 30 pages, excluding cover pages and annexes.
  3. Final Report: TheFinal Report (maximum 30 pages, excluding cover pages and annexes) with photos and infographics should be submitted toGOAL nolater than oneweek afterthe consultant has received feedback from all relevant programme staff on the Draft Report. It should be submitted via email to the relevant programme staff.

The final report should include but not be limited to the following points:

  • A quantitative review of the extent to which GOAL has achieved the indicators and targets set forward in the project proposal documents (to include a review of supporting documents)
  • A qualitative review of GOAL’s achievements, preferably conducted by the collection of a variety of case stories, conducting focus group discussions and a semi-formal post-distribution utilisation survey
  • Analysis of enabling and disabling factors and how they have impacted project implementation
  • Evidence-based recommendations for future Livelihoods and Resilience-building project implementation in comparable contexts

The aforementioned deliverables will be accompanied by regular communication with and feedback to the Programme Team.

Please note that a partial payment hold-back will be in effect until a final report has been approved by Assistant Country Director Programmes theGOAL South Sudan Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Coordinator.

Schedule:

The terminal evaluation will commence in late May 2015 and is anticipated to take 25 days from commencement of evaluation activities, providing for 14 days of primary data collection.

Reporting:

The consultant will be working primarily with the Programme Support Officer, in consultation with field-site Programme Managers and the MEAL Coordinator.

Essential Qualifications:

  • Minimum Master’s Degree in social sciences including economic development, rural development and agriculture studies or related subjects and, experience in disaster management
  • At least 5 years’ experience working in the development /humanitarian sector
  • Good knowledge of livelihood projects with previous experience in implementing food security and rural livelihoods programmes in humanitarian and conflict contexts especially in the HORN of Africa and Greater East Africa Region.
  • Rich blend of linking relief rehabilitation and development programming including livelihood analysis and intervention strategy development, food security, education, microenterprise skills development, use of REFELX and other PRA tools amongst other.
  • Proven experience in evaluating EC-funded humanitarian programmes, ideally in the area of livelihoods and food security;
  • Three or more similar evaluation exercises with EC-funded development programmes (Or Previous solid experience of evaluating complex integrated livelihoods and food security projects within a humanitarian contexts.)

Desirable Qualifications:

  • Demonstrated experience of and willingness to work in an environment with unpredictable security situation.
  • Excellent English language writing and presentational skill, especially in writing project evaluation reports
  • Good knowledge of EC evaluation guideline and GOAL programming would be an asset.
  • Previous experience in South Sudan and GOAL is an asset
  • Experience working in South Sudan, especially in Warrap State and/or the AbyeiAdministrativeArea is an asset

How to Apply:

Candidates should submit the following documentation to Emebet Zerihun:

  • A detailed expression of interest that includes a brief summary of previous evaluation experience, a description of the approach to the evaluation,and a rough methodological outline (2-4 pages);
  • A work/activity plan (1 page maximum);
  • A Curriculum Vitae;
  • A detailed budget;
  • Two samples of past evaluations;
  • Two referees for programme evaluation work completed in the last year

Please note that GOAL will provide transport and accommodation during the data collection period. The consultant is expected to meet the cost for meals and any other relevant expenses.

This Request for Proposals will close at 5pm UTC (+3:00) onFriday May 15th. Any applications submitted after this time will not be considered.

We thank all applicants for their interest, but only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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