End Line Evaluation Consultant (Kabul, Afghanistan)

1. Background and Rationale

The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and frequent disasters contribute to a wave of population displacement and disruption in the provision of basic services. In 2017 – 2018, the number of armed clashes increased to the highest number in a decade, forcing 445,335 individuals to flee their homes, adding to the unprecedented influx of over 650,000 returnees from Pakistan and Iran in 2016. To inform the design of this project, in April 2018, Save the Children (SC) conducted a rapid multi sectorial needs assessment in six districts of Balkh and Kunduz provinces with high numbers of IDPs and returnees. Key findings of the assessment include: – An overall lack of access to primary health and nutrition care services, psychosocial support and management of SGBV; – Unemployment and underemployment; and – Lack of parents’ knowledge and communities’ perception and the tolerance towards child rights violation.

With funding support from BMZ, SC has been implementing a two year integrated health, nutrition, livelihood and child protection project (1 December 2019 – 30 November 2020) in Nahri Shahi and Dehdadi districts of Balkh province, and Kunduz city and Imam Sahib districts of Kunduz province.  The overall goal of the project is to improve the health and nutrition status, livelihood opportunities, and protective environment amongst IDPs and returnees. Specifically the project aims to a) increase equitable access to and utilization of health and nutrition services amongst vulnerable populations particularly women, girls and boys b) improve livelihood opportunities for marginalized IDPs and returnees in targeted areas and c) increase access to and utilization of equitable child protection services for IDP and returnee girls and boys.

SC now seeks the services of a consultant with proven experience in the areas of health, livelihood and child protection to assess the overall impact of the project intervention on the targeted beneficiaries, specifically tracking the realization of the intermediate and immediate outcomes, and the delivery of project outputs as a measure of program efficiency and effectiveness. The end of project evaluation will generate well documented findings, lessons learned and recommendations which will be shared with the donor and key stakeholders, and used by SC to guide and inspire future similar projects in Afghanistan

Description of Project/Assignment

The end of project evaluation will be conducted in two provinces (Kunduz and Balkh) of Afghanistan using community participatory approaches which will comprise desk review, field visits for data collection of interviews beneficiaries and stakeholders.  The consultant will review existing secondary data, project documents (including baseline) and any studies done in the fields of health/nutrition, livelihood and child protection in the targeted provinces. The involvement of key stakeholders and institutions both at the government and community levels are essential as they are key collaborators in delivering the project activities. And where possible, the consultant should safely consult children during evaluation process.

Target populations

The end of project evaluation will be conducted in each targeted area combining household interviews with key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and document reviews. Fieldwork will focus on:

Targeted Health/Nutrition’ MHTs and Child Protection Action Network settings at provincial level;
Local leaders and community members who were involved in the process,
Relevant government authorities and other stakeholders including Provincial Public Health Directorates, BPHS implementing NGOs, DoRR, DoLSA, ANDMA and other relevant stakeholders; and
In households; men, women, men, girls and boys will be targeted through FGDs/KIIs to give their views on how the projected impacted their lives.

2. Purpose, Objectives and Use

The purpose of the end of project evaluation is to generate well documented findings, lessons learned and recommendations which will be shared with the donor and key stakeholders, and used by Save the Children and partners for future programming. The final evaluation is designed to achieve the below objectives:

To inform about project relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability in the target communities.
To document positive and negative changes that have been observed in the life of beneficiaries.  
Generate learning (positive and negative) and good practices in implementing the project that could be applied in future projects/programs,
Based on the findings of the evaluation, make specific recommendations for future programming in Afghanistan.

3. Scope of Work

Project Evaluation Criteria and Questions

Review Criteria

The evaluation should strictly consider but not limit to the dimensions below. Based on the dimensions, the evaluation consultants are required to clearly state how they will assess the dimensions, including a proposition of the relevant questions.

Effectiveness
Sustainability
Efficiency Relevance/Appropriateness
Coordination / Coherence
Impact

Review Questions

The following are potential questions the evaluation could answer, this is not a definitive list, and the evaluation consultant should formulate their own key evaluation questions in collaboration with SC staff, in light of evaluating the project against its goal and objectives.

Effectiveness

To what extend did the project achieve its set out objectives (To be assessed along with the baseline and endline results)?
To what extent were the delivery modalities of the project effective in achieving the set-out objectives?
How has COVID-19 affected the achievement of project objectives?
How effectively did the project address the access barriers of the beneficiaries, particularly women and girls, to primary and reproductive health?

How effective was the capacity building program, tools used for IGAs, provision of grant and the overall approach in livelihood support for project beneficiaries? Have the trained beneficiaries been successfully integrated in the labour market (employment) or taken up self-employment?

Are the selected business types and their respective business modules designed in response to the needs of market?
Has there been sufficient consideration to the needs of women and limitations they face in the society while setting up appropriate micro businesses?
To what extent the vocational trainings lead to improved confidence of youth in mastering different skills and their improved chances for employability (disaggregated by gender)?
What was the quality of CFS activity implementation, including recreational and psychosocial support provision to boys and girls in targeted communities having a clear focus on staff capacity to safely identify and refer child protection cases to appropriate and specialized service providers for case registration and follow-up
How effective were awareness raising materials and modalities for information dissemination by staff to reach girls and boys attending CFSs on child protection issues, including child rights, protection from abuse and exploitation and how to report violence. Were materials child-friendly and accessible to all children, regardless age and ability (physical, emotional and cognitive)?
How effective were community dialogues targeting IDP and returnee communities by engaging men and boys in addressing child protection issues and gender norms that drive the issues? 
Role of the implementing organization and partner set up between SC and OHPM

Sustainability

What are the mechanisms created by the project to sustain its achievements at the project end?
To what extent the micro businesses are currently stable and what is their likelihood of sustaining competition and external shocks overtime?
How much the vocational trainings have led to employability or future career or academic pathways and are these occupations lucrative (disaggregated by gender)?
What are the agreed actions to ensure access of the targeted beneficiates to health and nutrition services following the project phase out?

Efficiency

Has the project achieved the intended outputs and outcomes in the most cost-efficient manner?

Would other approaches have been more efficient and still ensured success?
Does the project offer better value for money within the context in terms of its impact?

Relevance/Appropriateness

In what ways did the project promote accountability to beneficiaries to ensure meaningful participation in its activities?
Was the design of the project most appropriate and relevant to promote the integrated livelihood, health and child protection strategies?
How did the project ensure gender and protection mainstreaming?
Were the type of businesses and vocational training programs selected based on the needs of beneficiaries?
Was the design of vocational training programs, its overall strategy and other inputs sufficient to achieve the intended result for girls and boys “Youth sustained commenced income generating activities”?

Coordination / Coherence

To what extent has this project been implemented in harmony with other similar projects within the targeted communities, and partners such as DoLSA?
What was the quality of coordination and support provided by SC to CDC and CPAN members to improve knowledge of child protection concerns and appropriate measures to address them.

Impact

What are the key short-term and long-term changes produced by project, positive or negative and what are the key factors behind these changes in health, livelihood and child protection?
Has the capacity of beneficiary households to cope with economic shocks and stresses improved and are they able sustain their assets in long term as a result of commenced income generation activities?
Have the livelihood activities positively impacted the life of children and women? Please elaborate.
Did the vocational training and micro business support reduce vulnerability of youth women, and men and how satisfied are they?
Did the intervention contribute to the reduction of inequality and marginalization within targeted communities?
(How) has the project contributed to integrating IDP and returnee population in host communities?

4. Process/Methodology

The consultant will develop the evaluation methodology and submit during the technical proposal submission. The methodology will be finalized in consultation with SC Technical and MEAL team during inception phase. Such a methodology should define an appropriate sample size and specsify mechanisms that will be adopted to avoid selection bias. The consultant is expected to write an inception report following review of literature and reference documents using the guidance format provided by SC.  

As a minimum, the evaluation process will include the following key steps: 

Review of relevant literature related to the project (c.f. list of reference materials) and drafting an inception report.
Application of appropriate data collection tools (e.g. questionnaire, checklist etc) for Interviews and focus group discussion;  
Data analysis and Evaluation Report writing; and
Presentation of key evaluation findings;

5. Outputs and Deliverables

Technical and Financial Proposal (at EoI stage)
An inception report with a work plan, detailed final methodology and data collection tools after incorporating feedback from SC staff
Draft report
Final report (data set for quantitative and qualitative data attached if relevant), annexed with case stories (one story from each of three SO) and an annex of the comparative baseline and end line assessment results and log frame targets.
Maximum of two pages of evaluation summary report and one paged annex rapid catch indicators and values/figures.
Debrief with program and management staff
A power point presentation that includes a summary of the evaluation report (including process, findings and recommendations).

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard. 

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

•             No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday

•             All children learn from a quality basic education and that,

•             Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children.  We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

SCI – Afghanistan

 Save the Children has worked in Afghanistan since 1976. Our way of working close to people and on their own terms has enabled us to deliver lasting change to tens of thousands of children in the country. The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child is the basis of our work.

We are helping children get a better education, we make it possible for more boys and girls to attend school, we help children protect themselves and influence their own conditions. We work with families, communities and health workers in homes, clinics and hospitals to promote basic health in order to save lives of children and mothers

. Expert profile of the Evaluation Team

Lead consultant conducting the assessment should have;

A minimum of Master Degree – in development studies, public health social sciences  statistics, research or other related field,
Strong statistical knowledge, especially sampling and data analysis,
Experience conducting baseline and end line assessment in similar programs for reputable organizations
Knowledge and experience in working in Afghanistan or similar settings
Knowledge of various data collection methodologies and sampling methodologies, 
In-depth experience in conducting focus group discussions with various stakeholders – men, women and children,
Significant previous experience in conducting evaluations in the area of health, nutrition, livelihood and child rights governance at community level.
Experience of participatory methodologies pertaining specifically to child participation, 
Extensive knowledge of Results Based Management.
Excellent technical report writing skills
Significant skills and experience in project monitoring and evaluation.

7. Tentative Timetable

The total duration of the evaluation will be subject to proposal by the evaluation consultant within the budget available. This assignment is, however, anticipated to be completed within six (6) weeks. The first draft of the report should be submitted in the 1st week of April 2021 and there will be one to two weeks for SC technical review, another two weeks for evaluation consultant (contractor) to response and address the comments/questions (back and forth) and the final report must be submitted and approved by midApril 2021.

8. Management of the Evaluation

The following roles should be considered (subject to further discussions during the inception phase):

Training data collection teams
Overseeing data collection
Data entry/analysis
Travel
Developing processes and tools
Translation/interpreters
Producing the deliverables above

Expressions of interest are requested from suitably qualified candidates and addressing the following:

An outline of the proposed methodology to complete the assignment.
Response to the criteria as set out in the ‘consultant requirements.
Consultant daily rate.
Examples of at least one similar reports or studies produced in English, and for which the consultant is sole or lead author.
Details of three professional referees.
Consultant qualifications.

 Expressions of interest that do not cover these requirements will not be considered

Qualified applicants are highly encouraged to apply for the position by sending the below documents mentioning the position title and vacancy number (20-098) in the subject of their email before closing date 09 January 2021

   * Letter of Interest and Update CV as a single document
   * SCI application form:  http://www.acbar.org/upload/1572430756959.docx
 

Save the Children International provides an equal employment opportunity and does not ask for money at any stage of recruitment.
We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse

Submission Email
afg.recruitment@savethechildren.org