Somalia: MID TERM EVALUATION - FOUNDATION FOR PEACE

Organization: CARE
Country: Somalia
Closing date: 15 Jun 2014

FOUNDATION FOR PEACE – NORTHERN SOMALIA

MID TERM EVALUATION TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)

a)Background

The Foundation for Peace (FFP) project is a peacebuilding project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (MoFA). The project is designed to tackle some of the key underlying causes that inhibit human security and sustainable development in Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen, which CARE identifies as at high risk of violent conflicts, exacerbated by weak governance and a lack of tangible peace dividends. The Somalia program works in the Sool and Sanaag regions in Northern Somalia focusing on actively preventing and resolving resource-based conflicts, increasing women’s active and meaningful participation in village committees and strengthening the economic position of women in communities. The project is implemented in 36 villages in the following four districts: Ainabo, El-Afweyn, Erigavo and Bo’ame.

CARE Nederland is implementing the FFP project in collaboration with CARE Somalia/Somaliland and in partnership with four local organizations:

· Nagaad Women Network

· We are Women Activists (WAWA)

· Candlelight for Health, Education and Environment

· Horn of Africa Voluntary Youth Committee (HAVOYOCO)

The project’s overall objective is to contribute to stabilization and structural poverty reduction in Northern Somalia through direct peacebuilding interventions and by improving the social and economic position of women in the Sool and Sanaag regions by the end of the project.

The project will directly contribute to four outcomes and underlying outputs as outlined below:

Intervention logicIndicator Outcome 1:Civil Society Organizations in 36 targeted villages in Sool and Sanaag are actively preventing and resolving resource-based conflicts by the end of the project. 1.a 20% reduction in the number of conflicts as compared to previous year 1.b The number of conflicts resolved through the mediation of 36 peace committees supported by our 4 partner organizations.Output 1.1:36 Peace committees in 36 target villages are established and enabled to resolve resource-based conflicts by the end of the project 1.1 a. Each of the 36 peace committees has undertaken a conflict mapping 1.1 b. The number of initiatives to resolve conflicts undertaken by the 36 peace committeesOutput 1.2:29,800 people in 36 target communities of Sool and Sanaag have increased their understanding on the prevention and resolution of violent conflicts by the end of the project 1.2 a. In each of the 36 target communities at least 3 peace education campaigns have been undertaken 1.2 b. 60% of the target groups identify an appropriate mechanism for the peaceful resolution of conflict by the end of the project.Output 1.3:36 Peace Committee - Working Groups are established at village level and/or enabled to link traditional and formal conflict resolution mechanisms by the end of the project. 1.3 a. In each of the targeted communities at least one meeting is held with traditional authorities to enhance understanding of policies such as those related to natural resource management. 1.3 b. At least 10 initiatives are undertaken to formulate joint traditional and formal conflict resolution interventionsOutcome 2:A total of 110 women in Sool and Sanaag are active and meaningful members of the village committees in 36 target villages (about 3 per village committee) by the end of the project. 2.a At least 25% of seats in village committees held by women. 2.b Increase of 40% in the # of women who report that women council members are raising concerns facing women in village committeeOutput 2.1:A total of 6 dialogue initiatives led by women members of village development committees in each of the 36 targeted villages have enabled them to influence- decision on women needs at the village level making by the end of the project 2.1 6 dialogue initiatives in each of the 36 targeted communities are led by womenOutput 2.2:110 women members of village development committees in Sool and Sanaag have strengthened their advocacy, communication, and negotiation skills by the end of the project. 2.2 At least 60% of women trained by the project report improved knowledge of advocacy, communication and negotiation skillsOutcome 3:A total of 1080 rural women (30 per each of the 36 targeted villages) of Sool and Sanaag have strengthened their economic position, creating peace dividend by the end of the project. 3. 40% increase of women participants reporting that their economic position has improvedOutput 3.1:540 out of 1,080 women targeted for participation in cash for work infrastructural development activities have accessed the labor market by the end of the project 3.1 540 women access labor market by the end of the project.Output 3.2:540 out of 1,080 women targeted with our vocational/business training activities in 36 villages are capable of starting their small businesses by the end of the project 3.2 a. At least 540 women have started a small business by end of project 3.2 b. 60% of the target women demonstrate improved knowledge of small business management by the end of the second yearOutput 3.3540 out of 1,080 women targeted with our vocational/business training activities are successfully involved in Village Saving and Loans Associations (VSLAs) and are implementing income generating activities by the end of the project 3.3 a. 110 VSLA established comprising at least 50% of women 3.3 b. 360 women who have received business/vocational training are implementing IGAs. 3.3 c. % of IGA activities that generate a profit by the end of project. (target yet to be defined)

b)Objectives of the evaluation

The mid-term evaluation is meant to assess whether the project is on course based on its original plan. The evaluation shall be a ‘formative’ one whereby full participation of the project staff and stakeholders is emphasised in order to enhance and improve the project performance and output. CARE shall hire an external consultant for 21 days to carry out the mid-term evaluation.

The project’s mid-term evaluation is a part of the agreement with the MoFA. The mid-term evaluation will verify the progress achieved by the project against the baseline and come up with any possible re-orientation of the project after determination of the relevancy of the current project strategy. The purpose of the mid-term evaluation is primarily:

  1. To provide evidence-based information on the performance of the project against the intervention logic and existing project and program indicators to date;
  2. To independently assess the project’s efficiency, effectiveness, appropriateness/relevance, sustainability and (short-term) intended and unintended changes, outcomes and/or impacts of the project to date, particularly in relation to women empowerment;
  3. To document lessons learned and provide evidence-based recommendations to improve program design/strategies and improve future programming;

At the end of the evaluation, the external consultant shall produce a report and present it to CARE.

d) Scope of Evaluation

The mid-term evaluation should cover the implementation period from July 1, 2012 – start of mid-term evaluation. While the main emphasis of the mid-term evaluation should be on measuring outcomes and sustainability, the evaluation should also cover the project concept and design, implementation and output results. The evaluation should include findings, lessons learned and recommendations.

The geographical scope of the evaluation is Ainabo, El-Afweyn, Erigavo and Bo’ame districts in the Sool and Sanaag regions of Northern Somalia.

As mentioned earlier, the evaluation is a formative study aimed at improving project performance.During this mid-term evaluation, emphasis should be placed on an assessment of the areas where improvement is required and how this can be done within the remaining project period. The main issues that the evaluation should address include:

Anassessmentof the achievements of the project so far against log frame indicators and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) criteria

Relevance

The consultant should look at the design of the project and assess the extent to which the stated project objectives address the identified problems or real needs.

· Are the objectives and outcomes really relevant to addressing underlying causes of the identified problems?

· Are the implementation strategies formulated still appropriate?

· Theory of Change: How relevant and effective is the project’s Theory of Change, and were the project’s assumptions correct? In other words, do the outputs contribute to the achievement of the outcomes and subsequently, do the outcomes contribute to achieving the overall objective? In order to do so the consultant will analyze:

o the existence and type of conflicts as well as trends that can be observed in this regard;

o the process of local decision making and the extent to which different actors and population groups are involved; and

o the livelihood situation and to what extent project interventions have contributed to creating more peace dividend.

· To review the effectiveness and relevance of the selection criteria for project locations and project participants.

Efficiency

· Analyse the quality of day-to-day management (adequacy of project budget, management of personnel, project properties, communication, relation management with elders, community leaders, other development partners, etc)

· Are the costs (human resources, time, energy, money, materials) proportionate to the benefits?

· Local capacity building: How far the project was able to strengthen communities, government, women groups in coordination with other agencies implementing similar projects and provide suggestions to further improve their capacities.

· Review if the technical design and quality of activities undertaken is appropriate and adequate.

· Review the partnership arrangements with the local NGO partners

· Review and assess the quality of the project monitoring and evaluation system

Effectiveness

· Assess whether the project participants (communities and local partner NGOs) perceive that the planned benefits have been delivered and received.

· Assess the appropriateness of the indicators (OVI’s) including any changes made to these OVI’s during the course of project implementation.

· Assess the robustness of the monitoring protocol and approaches in quantitative and qualitative data collection & compilation by project staff based on the log frame indicators.

· Which were the strengths in the project strategies/interventions? Which are the weak points?

Outcomes and Impact

· To assess progress against the planned overall objectives and against the logframe indicators;

· To assess the impact of the project on the existence of conflict;

· To assess to what extent the project has progressed in strengthening the capacity of community-based organizations and institutions, as well as linkages to higher levels of decision making;

· To analyse the project approach to gender and its impact on gender equity and related issues;

· To assess possible intended or unintended outcomes and impact.

· What changes have been brought about by the project?

Sustainability

· Ownership of objectives and achievements: to what extent were the stakeholders consulted and involved in defining the objectives, the selection process for activities and project participants, implementation, monitoring and evaluation?

· Institutional capacity: Assess the degree of commitment of stakeholders (including local partner NGOs and community-based organizations and institutions), the measures taken to strengthen their capacity and suggest improvements for the future.

· To document lessons learned by the project so far. What are the lessons learned and how can this knowledge be used for the remaining project period? Which were the best practises?

· To analyse the capacity building component of the project including appropriateness of training methods and suitability of messages and curriculum.

· To assess the effectiveness of measures taken to ensure project achievements are not lost and provide suggestions for improving the sustainability of the project.

· To assess the economic and financial sustainability of the interventions.

Additional questions to be addressed:

· What key improvements are needed in order to be more effective, more efficient, relevant and increase program impact?

e) Methodology

The consultant shall use mixed methods including desk review, key informant interview , sample survey, and observation using simple but numerically sensitive tools to collect data. The sample size must be statistically representative of the population. The analysis will involve statistical and content analysis using appropriate packages as deemed fit by the consultant. The analysis among others should show trends and should be disaggregated by gender and age (to the extent possible). Unless otherwise necessary, the consultant shall use the sampling techniques consistent with the baseline for comparability with baseline performance and target. The FFP project is part of the Vulnerable Rural Women Program. In consultation with the Program Coordinator the consultant will include relevant program-level indicators from the Vulnerable Rural Women Program Strategy to measure the extent to which the project is contributing to strategic objectives.

f) Tasks

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

  1. Conduct meetings with key project staff of CARE, partners and/or the embassy of the Netherlands
  2. Design the evaluation, including data collection tools for the project and relevant program indicators (including translation into Somali) and sampling technique and size.
  3. Conduct desk reviews of secondary information and project documents including the project proposal (including logframe), implementation and M&E plans of the project, donor regulations, project financing agreements, project baseline survey, progress and financial reports, existing data collection and monitoring tools and any other relevant documents.
  4. Obtain feedback on data collection tools from key CARE and partner staff and finalize draft data collection tools to be tested
  5. Train enumerators who will pre-test the data collection tools. If necessary, make final adjustments to data collection tools in consultation with CARE.
  6. Collect data from a representative sample of individuals from the target groups and key stakeholders, including partner NGOs, district authorities, elders, village committees, and women’s groups through e.g. household questionnaires, key informant interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
  7. Assess progress on and quality of implemented project activities
  8. Data processing (data entry, verification and analysis);
  9. Report writing and submission of first draft report
  10. Presentation of findings and recommendations to and validation by key stakeholders
  11. Finalize the report incorporating feedback and submission of final report.

There should be adequate women representation and participation throughout the data collection process. Where necessary, especially in rural areas, focus group discussions should be conducted separately for men and women.

g) Deliverables

The consultants will produce the following specific deliverables after signing the contract. The consult will provide regular briefings to CARE and will report his/her preliminary findings before leaving the field.

DeliverableDays 1. Methodology, including work plan and draft data collection tools 3 days 2. Training of enumerators and finalization of tested data collection tools 2 day 3. Draft report, including all annexes (see below) 12 days 4. Presentation of findings and recommendations to CARE, partners and/or other key stakeholders for verification 1 day 5. Final report, including all annexes (see below) 3 days

The draft and final report will have the following structure:

  1. Executive Summary (max. 2 pages)
  2. Introduction.
  3. Methodology, including sampling.
  4. Analysis and findings of the study.
  5. Conclusions, recommendations, lessons learned and best practices.
  6. Annexes

a. Performance indicator tracking table reflecting the status on each indicator against target and previous results, if any

b. Revised logframe (if necessary), including biannual benchmarks for the project duration

c. Relevant maps and photographs of the study areas

d. Bibliography of consulted secondary sources

e. Finalized data collection tools (in English and Somali)

f. List of key informants

g. Raw data in an agreed format

The report will be written in English.

The consultant needs to produce three hard copies of all deliverables. The final report will also be provided in electronic copy (both PDF and MS Word format).

h) Expertise required

The evaluator should be an experienced and independent consultant with the following expertise:

· Advanced university degree in International Development, Social Sciences or any other related field with a minimum of 5 years of professional in international development and project evaluation.

· Previous professional experience in (Northern) Somalia is desired;

· Excellent understanding of peacebuilding, local governance, socio-economic development and gender issues.

· Demonstrated experience in community development and community targeting

· Have an understanding of operating conditions in an insecure environment

· Demonstrated experience in assessments and/or evaluations of interventions using participatory methods such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA).

· Advanced analytical and report writing skills.

· Be willing to travel extensively in the working areas of the project.

· Fluent in English (both reading and writing).

· Understanding of the Somali language is an advantage

i) Work plan and Time schedule

The consultancy is expected to take place in the months of June-July 2014 in a total of 21 working days, including preparation, evaluation design, field work, report writing and presentation of findings and recommendations to CARE, partners and external stakeholders.

j) Guiding Principles and Values

The consultant shall adhere to the “Do No Harm” principle and any other humanitarian principles. The consultant will be required to follow CARE Somalia’s security advice.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

· Technical experience and expertise

· Quality of proposal

· Cost-effectiveness of proposal

The consultant shall ensure at all times the confidentiality of data, respect the privacy of all individuals concerned and make all data collected available to CARE in a usable format.

k) Terms and Conditions:

Reporting structure and management lines:The consultant will report directly to CARE Nederland’s Program Officer based in Hargeisa/Nairobi. Additionally, the consultant will closely coordinate with CARE Somalia/Somaliland’s team in-country.

Logistics: The consultant’s travel from base to the field and back after the end of the contract (including airport tax), food, and accommodation will be covered and arranged by CARE.


How to apply:

The deadline for submission of applications of June 15, 2014. All applications should include the following:

  • Cover letter(maximum 1 page) stating the candidate’s availability during the months of June-August 2014 andupdated CV’sof all study team members, includingthree referenceswith contact details
  • Technical proposal:Which should include (i) brief explanation about the Consultant with particular emphasis on previous experience in this kind of work; (ii) profile of the Consultant to be involved in undertaking the evaluation, (iii) Understanding of the TOR and the task to be accomplished, (iv) draft work and plan
  • Financial Proposal: Which should include consultancy fees but excluding: accommodation and living costs; transport cost; stationeries, and supplies needed for data collection; and costs related to other persons that will take part from consortium partners and government authorities during survey process, workshops.
  • Interested consultants or firms should submit their applications to: consultants@som.care.org . Please indicate “FFP MID-TERM EVALUATION” as the subject heading.
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