Evaluation of the SOS CV Zambia Grieg Gender Challenge Programme

Evaluation of the SOS CV Zambia Grieg Gender Challenge Programme

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Introduction

These Terms of Reference (TOR) serve as a Request for Proposals from individual consultants who are interested in conducting an impact evaluation of the GRIEG GENDER CHALLENGE PROGRAMME implemented by SOS-Children’s Villages Zambia.

SOS Children’s Villages- Zambia   is a non-governmental social development organization that is active in the field of children’s rights and committed to children’s needs and concerns since 1996.

The main programme focus areas in Zambia are:-

Child care for children that have lost parental support in a range of care models which include Kinship care; Social and economic empowerment of families to enhance quality of  care and protection of children; empowerment of  young people focusing on coaching, mentorship and training  to increase  employability and entrepreneurial skills; advocacy for children, including promotion of child participation.

2. Context of the project

SOS CV Zambia implemented the GRIEG GENDER CHALLENGE PROGRAMME in Lusaka, Livingstone, Kitwe and Chipata districts, with a focus on needy peri-urban and urban communities where unemployment levels are very high, and families lack capacity to meet socio-economic requirements of children. The programme addressed factors that hindered the continued attendance and retention of girls in school such as negative cultural practices and traditions, low value placed on the education of girls, teenage pregnancies and poverty among care givers particularly in female headed households.

Collaborating partners for the project included government departments such as community development, Maternal and child health, schools, community mother groups, community development committees etc.

3. Purpose of the evaluation

The project evaluation seeks to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of mechanisms of implementing the project by examining a number of factors including the national policy context within which the project is implemented. The evaluation will make a review of all other policy frameworks and seek to examine how the GRIEG GENDER CHALLENGE PROGRAMME contributed to the results that policy frameworks (like the revised 2014 National Gender Policy) have set out to achieve, particularly in the areas of gender equality, poverty reduction, inclusive participation of women, social change and decreased vulnerability to HIV and GBV. An evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness will also examine the cost effectiveness of implementation, monitoring systems, programme delivery, results achievement, and contribution to changes.

4. Parameters of the project evaluation

The evaluation will probe and assess the extent to the project supported the SOS CV Zambia’s commitment to gender equality amongst boys, girls and adults. Cognizant of national policy provisions, and the need for empowerment of girls and women in communities, the evaluation will recognize the disadvantages that females face in important areas of life such as health and education.

The evaluation will assess the Grieg Gender Challenge project contribution to national efforts to advance gender equality and empowerment of women as well determining the role the project played in the “Leave No one behind” campaign.

The evaluation will examine the main activities of the Grieg Gender Challenge project seeks congruence between activities and desired outcomes. Main activities included i) entrepreneurship skills development ii) sexual and reproductive health education iii) strengthening the knowledge and capacity of care givers iv) male participation in addressing negative cultural practices and attitudes iv) advocacy v) improving sanitation facilities for girls in partner schools.

5. Objectives of the evaluation

5.1. Overall objective

The overall objective of this evaluation will be to assess how the efficiency and effectiveness of mechanisms of implementing the project determined the impact of the GRIEG GENDER CHALLENGE programme on boys and girls; women and men in beneficiary communities.

5.2. Specific objectives

• To assess the effectiveness of the Grieg Gender Challenge Programme approaches and structures in meeting the intended project objectives
• To assess programming, and determine how well the project delivered against expectations of the donors, other stakeholders and needs of community, as well as determining if there were any unintended value-add outcomes met by the project.
• To determine if the project design is the most effective and efficient way of delivering the project results.
• To evaluate the efficiency of the programme in relation to beneficiaries, cost and timeframe of the programme.
• To assess and document the extent to which the current project indicators were verifiable and quantifiable.
• To make recommendations for improving future interventions and adapting the organization’s strategic initiatives.

6. SCOPE OF EVALUATION

The evaluation should give in-depth analysis on achievements, challenges, and lessons learnt. It will cover key institutional capacity, strategies, stakeholder perceptions, collaborative approaches, and relevance of networking.

The evaluation will assess the SOS CV structure, capacity and test relevance of the Grieg Gender Challenge Programme to children, families and communities. In relation to the SOS strategies the evaluation will also review sharing of information among stakeholders who would have worked with the Grieg Gender Challenge Programme

7. APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

The approach and methods will be developed by the consultants in consultation with the SOS team. Given the evaluative nature of this assignment, due care against skewed analysis will be expected, which rationalizes that there should be substantial qualitative analysis that is adequately descriptive of all evaluation findings. Where applicable, quantitative analysis should provide empirical balance, data validation and verification to support evaluation findings. Among others the evaluation will use:

• An evaluation design that builds on the project objectives, scope and evaluation questions.
• Approaches for data validation, verification, and analysis (interpretation, types of data sets, units of analysis, data collection techniques and instruments)
• List of other information sources gathered, and making them available to SOS, which include (but not limited to) organizational documents, and reports.

8. Assignment process.

The consultants will outline key stages of the evaluation, which at a minimum will include:

Stage 1. Inception stage at which there will be consultation with SOS teams to review the scope, methodology, and work-plan (this will be part of the consultant’s proposal)

Stage 2. Three (3) day desk study analyzing all documents regarding the operation, context, previous operations, and partners involved in the implementation of the programme.

Stage 3. Development of instruments which will outline the interview guide for the qualitative information collection and the questionnaire for quantitative data collection.

Stage 4. Review of instruments developed with SOS teams the interview guide and questionnaire developed for qualitative and quantitative purposes, respectively, will be discussed, reviewed and signed off.

Stage 5. Information and data collection using techniques stipulated by the consultants and agreed upon, including preliminary discussions and interviews with key informants from SOS CV Zambia national office staff and key programme implementers.

Stage 6. Draft report preparation and debriefing workshop to present findings for comments and validation. The first draft report(s) should be submitted by electronic transmission in accordance with the report format given below to SOS CV-Zambia no later than 7 (seven) calendar days after the consultant’s return from the field

Stage 7. Final report preparation and submission to SOS. The final draft will be submitted to SOS CV-Zambia no later than 14 (fourteen) calendar days after the return of the consultants from the field and should incorporate the comments made by SOS CV-Zambia based on the first draft of the report.

9. Desired results

The evaluation will provide the following results

Information on how effective the Grieg Gender Challenge Programme has been in implementing activities stipulated in the work-plan. Document the impact of the programme with special emphasis on the social changes (attitudes, perceptions) the programme has had on girls, women and communities. Provide narratives and qualitative interpretation of trends and changes (positive and/or negative variances) in the verifiable indicators presented in the original proposal. Thus, it will examine the baselines and compare against post-programme indicators.  Provide an analysis of achievements, strengths, weaknesses and challenges of the Grieg Gender Challenge Programme.

Information on unintended/emergent activities and results and what strategies have been discarded or changed and why.

Provide commentary on the current political, social and cultural factors impacting the implementation of the programme.

Provide an analysis of the critical success factors for effective and efficient integration of the Grieg Gender Challenge Programme in the SOS CV Zambia’s mainstream Programmes.

Draw conclusions, make recommendations and state lessons learnt for future strategy and improvements in implementation of the programme. Recommendations on how SOS CV Zambia will build on its strengths and achievements to overcome the weaknesses and challenges, if any, duly identified in the Grieg Gender Challenge Programme

Recommendations for innovations that may capture perception oriented impact and enhancing knowledge building for purposes of learning and sharing.

10.  EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND KEY DELIVERABLES

10.1. ASSIGNMENT PRIORITIES

• This exercise is prioritized as a vehicle for future strategic integrations and programme building of similar Programmes or replications thereof.
• A focus on recommendations of the value proposition of the Grieg Gender Challenge Programme is sought

10.2. DELIVERABLES

• Inception report that includes methodology, work plan and budget
• A comprehensive GRIEG GENDER CHALLENGE evaluation report written in a straightforward manner of a maximum length of 18 pages including the Executive Summary. The report format appearing below must be strictly adhered to:

Cover page

• Title of the evaluation report:
• Country, Programme Name
• Date of the evaluation
• Name of the consultant

Table of contents

Executive Summary:

A tightly drafted, succinct and freestanding Executive Summary is an essential component. It should be short, no more than two pages. It should focus on the key purpose or issues of the evaluation, outline the main points of the analysis, and clearly indicate the main conclusions, lessons learned and specific recommendations. Cross-references should be made to the corresponding page or paragraph numbers in the main text.

The structure of the Executive

Summary must be as follows:

• Evaluated action
• Date of the evaluation
• Consultant’s name
• Purpose & methodology
• Main conclusions: These conclusions should refer to the main evaluation criteria and cross-cutting issues dealt with by the consultant and set out under the purpose of evaluation of the terms of reference.
• Recommendations
• Lessons learned

Main body of the report:

The report should be clear, concise and able to communicate to diverse audiences. The main body of the report shall refer to the points listed under desired results. In-depth technical analysis of each intervention will be provided as an annex to the main report. It shall elaborate, although not necessarily in the same order or following the same structure, the elements included in the Executive Summary. It will include references to the methodology used for the evaluation and the context of the project. In particular, for each key conclusion there should be a corresponding recommendation. It is critical that the report clarifies the evaluation methodology, rationale for the methodology choices and limitations of the assignment. Recommendations should be as realistic, operational and pragmatic as possible; that is, they should take careful account of the circumstances currently prevailing in the context of the project, and of the resources available for implementation, both locally and internationally (16 pages maximum).

Annexes

• Terms of Reference;
• List of persons interviewed and sites visited;
• Map of the areas covered by the operations financed under the project
• Abbreviations.

4.1 All confidential information shall be presented in a separate annex.

4.4. An electronic copy of each report (CD-ROM or flash disk having the report in Word format) including all annexes must be submitted together with the final reports’ hard copies.

11. Proposed timeframe

The evaluation exercise is expected to be completed within one month, and final report prepared over a period of 2 weeks after the evaluation. The commencement date for the assignment shall be 30th April 2019 and completion shall be 30th May 2019 including submission of final report to the Fund.

12. The budget

The consultant will submit an indicative budget breakdown, which shall be subject to review and approval. The budget structure shall be activity based, presenting time frames proposed for each of the evaluation stages/activities and stipulating levels of effort for each of the team members towards each of the stages/activities. Equally, logistics, consultative meetings, and reimbursable should be costed against levels of efforts for each of the consultants.

13. Task management, reporting and other relations

SOS CV Zambia will oversee the execution of this evaluation and will coordinate the day to day evaluation exercise. As part of the key communication principles, all reporting will be submitted to SOS CV Zambia. All administrative and technical enquiries should also be directed to the Gender Advisor at SOS CV Zambia.

14. Consultants profile (required skills).

• Evaluation will be done by a team of experts with experience in impact project evaluations (Desirable Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation or similar qualification with more than 5 years’ experience carrying out project evaluation)
• The members of the team will work in close co-ordination of SOS CV Zambia. The Team Leader will have the added responsibility of the overall co-ordination of the assignment, and the final coherence of the report, both in terms of content and presentation.

15.  Selection criteria

The criteria that will be used for selection are as follows:

• Method: The proposed method for evaluating the impact of the programme is suitable.
• Timetable/work plan: The timetable/work plan are realistic and meet the needs of the programme
• Cost: The cost of the proposal given the availability of data, analysis, method, and other aspects of the proposal are reasonable and feasible.
• Experience: The level of training and experience of the consultants in undertaking impact evaluations and samples of evaluations previously undertaken.
• Proposals should include details on data use, indicators of impact, method, and strategy for institutional analysis, work plan, costs, and CV of the consultant.

16.  Submissions

Proposals should be submitted to Elastol Lungu – [email protected] by no later than 17th April 2019