JOB Vacancy Announcement #: (3397)
Job Title: Consultancy for Final External Project Evaluation-LEARN
Application deadline: 10.08.2020
Other Information’s:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
CVs should be in English Language and in Word or PDF format.
Job Requirements:
Job Description:
This Expression of Interest solicitation is open to all eligible consultants, in accordance with SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL procedures.
Background
The LEARN Consortium is a partnership between four (4) International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs). A two-year program (10/2018 – 9/2020) funded through a Cooperative Agreement by the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), it leverages the respective expertise from the four implementing partners to deliver Health, Shelter and WASH services to 540,000 of the most vulnerable conflict-affected men, women and children across North-East Syria (NES). To address the needs of the main activities being implemented are related to the rehabilitation and running of Primary Health Centers (PHCs), emergency WASH (water distribution and rehabilitation of water infrastructure), private shelter repairs and distribution of essential kits (new arrivals, hygiene, shelter, winterization; in-kind or through cash-for-kits). The program incorporates a Rapid Response Mechanism and protection is mainstreamed throughout. LEARN’s aim is an integrated and harmonized, multi-sectoral approach which. The four implementing partners are based in NES, Erbil and Amman, and implement throughout NES.
Purpose
The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the overall success of project outcomes, measuring the effectiveness of partner-specific as well as integrated interventions. The evaluation findings will be disseminated for use by the LEARN partner organizations, the donor and other relevant stakeholders such as working groups, local authorities and communities.
The objectives of the External Evaluation are:
- to assess program’s effects on direct beneficiaries
- to identify key aspects of consortium effectiveness
- to draw lessons and provide actionable recommendations for follow-on LEARN intervention
Scope: The evaluation will assess all components of the project in all areas of intervention (Deir-ez-Zor, Aleppo, Ar-Raqqa and Al-Hasakeh governorates). Specific geographic coverage and locations will however be identified based on security and access considerations. Differentiation between results in different implementation areas for similar activities and modalities should be captured. The evaluation study will look at the period of program performance, i.e. October 2018 – September 2020. Special attention should be paid to protection mainstreaming and gender sensitive approaches (specifically inclusion and access of women to all project activities).
Key Evaluation Questions
The following evaluation questions represent the broad scope of the final evaluation. The questions will be further discussed and reviewed in cooperation with the selected evaluation consultant.
1.Have the project strategy/approaches adapted well to the changing context and needs of target beneficiaries and stakeholders? How well has the consortium worked with local institutions?
2.What needs of the affected population have been best or least met? What are the most significant changes, positive or negative, identified by beneficiaries and local stakeholders?
3.Does an integrated program help improve beneficiaries’ health and hygiene practices, quality of life?
4.Did different groups of beneficiaries feel safe and treated with dignity when accessing services/assistance provided or supported by LEARN? Did the intervention do any harm?
5.How did LEARN leverage consortium for improved effectiveness and efficiency (e.g. in logistics, procurement, BOQs, information management, accountability, RRM)?
Methods
Primary approach is to choose methods that suit conditions on the ground and provide flexibility for evaluators to change methods based on changing context and access. In the absence of a rigorously defined counterfactual that would be needed for evaluation on impact, the final evaluation will be conducted as performance evaluation using qualitative methods: document review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and direct observations. Quantitative data collected in the course of routine monitoring and endline data collected by the partners should be incorporated into the analysis. The evaluation will make use of before-after comparisons especially for assessing the improvement of practices related hygiene promotion, reproductive and maternal health, nutrition practices and living conditions.
The methodological approach will be outlined by the evaluator in the evaluation proposal – indicating expected scope regarding locations and interviews – and refined in detail in the inception report. While proposing the methods for data collection, consultant(s) needs to consider the COVID-19 related situation. The proposed data collection methods should be to a maximum extent statistically representative, but the safety of both enumerators and respondents is a priority consideration. Given the uncertainties while accessing the project areas for non-locals, consulting team must include local staff and design the tools for remote data collection where required.
Document Review
- Relevant secondary literature, such as working groups or other agency reports
- Project documents – such as proposal, budget, etc.
- Project MEAL documents and data – baseline, endline, internal monitoring, third-party monitoring and progress reports, Indicator Tracking Tables
Primary Data Collection
- Key informant interviews with CMU and project staff of each partner
- Key informant interviews with beneficiary representatives, local officials, medical staff, WASH authorities, other local stakeholders
- Focus group discussions with project beneficiaries (identified distinctly for each result), separately capturing the perspectives of different demographic groups (especially IDPs/returnees, male/female, older/younger)
- Observations of field locations and infrastructure rehabilitated with LEARN funding
- Case studies – one case study mandatory, more than one preferred. Topics of interest for case studies will be provided to evaluation team during the planning stage. At the same time LEARN will appreciate ideas brought by evaluation consultant/team
Budget and payment schedule
50% Following the signing of the Contract on Evaluation Services
30% After the draft evaluation report has been submitted and approved
20% After the final version of the final evaluation report and the evaluation data has been received and approved
LEARN will require specific and data-supported answers to each of the agreed evaluation questions or strong justification why the data could not be obtained. Justification of data unavailability must be communicated by the evaluator without delay as soon as it becomes apparent and approved by LEARN. Failure to do so can result in decreasing the consultant’s remuneration.
Advertiser :Confidential غير معلن
Duty Station: based in Erbil, NES and Amman
How to Apply:
SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL invites consultants to apply for the provision of services as described above. Interested consultants must submit a Cover Letter outlining their financial offer (daily rate with clarifications on other cost covering expectations), proposal to meet the ToR, scheduling and CVs of key evaluation team members (Lead evaluator, Sector experts) providing information on their capacity and experience showing that they are qualified for the services.
A short list of consultants will be established after the call for expressions of interest and the consultation will follow the rules and procedures of SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL for the use of Consultants. The interest shown by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of SOLIDARITES INTERNATIONAL for inclusion in the short list.
Please submit your application to:
Solidarités International office:
Or send by email to: : dcop@learnconsortium.org and meal.spe@learnconsortium.org with the following subject FINAL_EXTERNAL_PROJECT_EVALUATION_CONSULTANCY
Final date for applications: 10th of August 2020
Consultancy entities/companies if any, are preferable for applying
Only selected candidates will be contacted for the next steps of the recruitment process.
NB: a functioning phone number is mandatory for the Organization to be able to contact the shortlisted candidates.
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