World Vision International – Jordan:

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Position: Midterm Evaluation Consultant (external)

Summary

World Vision is seeking an external consultant to undertake a midterm review/evaluation for the project titled “Facilitating Assistance to Syria Together (FAST)“implemented through a consortium with Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), Relief International (RI), CARE International and Mercy Corps (MC) in Idleb and Aleppo governorates with funding from OFDA between 1 October 2018 – 30 September 2020. The main objective of the evaluation is to assess progress (compared with baseline values) and lesson learning particularly effectiveness,[1] efficiency[2] and coverage of the interventions applied in this grant to address the needs in target communities. Further, specific questions around Humanitarian Accountability will also be explored particularly satisfaction levels and equitable opportunities for participation.

Background information

With the Syria Crisis now in its eighth year, civilians continue to bear the brunt of a conflict marked by unparalleled suffering, destruction and disregard for human life. 11.7 million people require humanitarian assistance (OCHA Crisis report, Syrian Arab Republic: Humanitarian Update No.5 29 August 2019), including over 2 million people in hard-to-reach areas, where they are exposed to grave protection threats. Among conflict-affected communities, life-threatening needs continue to grow. Neighboring countries have restricted the admission of people fleeing Syria, leaving hundreds of thousands of people stranded in deplorable conditions on their borders. In some cases, these populations are beyond the reach of humanitarian actors.

World Vision (WV) and its consortium members Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), Relief International (RI), CARE International and Mercy Corps (MC) had secured funding from USAID/OFDA for the Facilitating Assistance to Syria Together (FAST) program, a two-year humanitarian response in the northwest governorates of Idleb and Aleppo. FAST program provides a multi-sector, gender-sensitive humanitarian operations. Over the life of the award, new emergencies are responded to through FAST’s tested Rapid Response Mechanism which launches mobile response operations within 4 days. FAST’s health and nutrition actors, SAMS and RI, prioritized the reduction of morbidity and mortality through improved access to quality-health care (primary and secondary health facilities, mobile clinics) and nutrition services by working directly with health directorates in 28 OFDA-identified priority health facilities. WASH activities focused on the provision of WASH NFIs and improving access to WASH facilities through water system and sanitation facility repairs. Currently serving as NWS’s WASH co-cluster lead, CARE provided technical oversight and leadership to FAST’s WASH activities while also steering the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) to assess, analyze and trigger humanitarian response by all consortium members. Under Mercy Corps technical leadership, FAST’s shelter assistance improve safety, ease suffering and protect dignity through the provision of NFIs and emergency shelter rehabilitations. As the prime applicant, WV leveraged its consortium’s strengths (e.g. technical leadership, operational experience, financial resources) to provide coordinated assistance to conflict-affected communities, especially the newly displaced. World Vision provided overall leadership to Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning, Protection Mainstreaming, Child Safeguarding, PSEA and ensure the coordination of the FAST consortium while also implementing in the WASH and Shelter sectors.

Evaluation purpose, questions and intended usage

The main objective of the evaluation is to assess progress (compared with baseline values) and lesson learning particularly effectiveness,[3] efficiency[4] and coverage of the interventions applied in this grant to address the needs in target communities. Further, specific questions around Humanitarian Accountability will also be explored particularly satisfaction levels and equitable opportunities for participation.

The evaluation will be based on the criteria listed below and overarching questions. The criteria, as they relate to achieving the outcomes and goal of the project, will also serve as the main framework for presenting the evaluation findings. The proposed midterm review criteria are:

1. Effectiveness- To what extent is the FAST project on track in addressing acute health, nutrition, shelter, settlements and WASH needs for conflict-affected communities and supporting a rapid response mobilization mechanism for newly displaced populations through a responsive and coordinated multi-sectoral response in NWS?

2. Coverage– How well has the program addressed the differing needs of men, women, boys, girls, older people, people with disability and other vulnerable groups in terms of timeliness, scope and quality of response?

1. Efficiency– How did the consortium management structure effectively support the implementation of the FAST project? / What are the strengths, benefits and best practices of implementing the FAST project through a consortium model? How can relationships within the FAST consortium be improved in terms of partnership, collaboration, communication and decision-making?

4. Humanitarian Accountability- How have the satisfaction levels of FAST beneficiaries with multi-sectoral programming levels changed since the baseline? / Do all groups within affected communities (including the most vulnerable and marginalized) feel they have equitable opportunities to participate in decisions about the response that affect them?

Developing the analytical framework, i.e. refining and operationalizing the questions posted above, will be done in close cooperation between World Vision FAST consortium management and the consultant.

The evaluation will be used to:

· Support accountability of the implementing partners vis-à-vis the donor on the outcomes of the Action and the usage of the funds provided through the provision of the evaluation report.

· Support learning between the implementing partners on the management of their cooperation through the process of the evaluation and the discussion of the evaluation results.

Evaluation target audiences

The targeted audiences for this evaluation are:

· OFDA

· World Vision US

· FAST Consortium partners

o Relief International (RI)

o Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS)

o CARE International

o Mercy Crops (MC)

o World Vision International in Syria

Methodology

External consultant to develop and design the midterm methodology. It is envisioned that the process will follow phase approach: 1. Completion of desk review; 2. Primary/additional data collection; 3. Analyses and Interpretation of findings and 4. Reporting and dissemination.

It is suggested that mixed methods approach will be used. The report should triangulate data from primary and secondary sources. The primary data are from quantitative and qualitative sources that provide information from various beneficiary perspectives; the secondary data will be drawn from a review of key project documents. The proposed methodological approach and the tools will be developed in close cooperation between World Vision and the consultant and include field testing with a sample set of beneficiaries.

Timeline
The timeline is expected to be as follows:

· 9 Dec 2019 – 13 Jan 2020: Finalization of analytical framework, methodological approach, sampling aspects, primary data collection tools/ Desk review completed – Total 10 workdays chargeable for the task.

· 16-31 Jan 2020: Primary data collection (including obtaining government permissions and training enumerators) and data cleaning – Total 5 workdays chargeable for this task.

· 3-28 Feb 2020: Analyses and Report writing/Synthesis and dissemination workshop. Total 15 workdays chargeable for this task.

· 31 March 2020: Report review, feedback and finalization. Total 15 workdays chargeable for this task.

Total 45 workdays chargeable for the above mentioned tasks.

Expected outputs and deliverables

The evaluation consultancy should result in the following outputs and deliverables:

1. Inception meetings to finalize scope of work, expectations, process / work plan, and brief on logistics and technical aspects

2. Final analytical framework, methodological approach including required secondary sources from the project, approach to sampling, primary data collection tools

3. Review final training plan for enumerators to implement primary data collection

4. Review and analyze raw data (all data sets in excel, notes from KIIs and FGDs)

5. Plan and develop key findings and recommendations dissemination workshops with various stakeholders for review and finalization of evaluation findings.

6. Draft & final evaluation report and summary fact sheet. The consultant will produce a draft report to be submitted to WVI on the agreed date for review. A final report (MS Word, Excel files, PDF), including feedback from WVI reflected in, will then be submitted to WVI. The report needs to follow the provided template / guidance.

All deliverables (except for the evaluation report) need to be provided in English and Arabic as where appropriate. The evaluation report needs to be provided only in English.

Profile of the evaluation consultancy

The consultant must have proven expertise and experience in fragile context (especially Syria), social research, working in health, WASH, shelter and protection programming in humanitarian emergency responses, and be able to work with the evaluation inputs from North West Syria following the required procedures and in the required languages.

Proof of these is to be provided by submitting, together with the application:

· An overview of relevant works

· Working samples

· Contact details for references

· Consultant CV.

Requirements in detail:

Have excellent team leading skills, with the ability to work with a varied team.

· Have expertise and experience in Evaluation, social science research, including mixed methods and notably quantitative and qualitative primary data collection methods

· Have expertise and experience in research, monitoring and evaluation in humanitarian emergency response contexts, preferably related to the Syria crisis, as well as related technical standards

· Have expertise with fragile context programming/adaptive management

· Have a good understanding of the Syria crisis, particularly North West Syria

· Have permission to work, travel and undertake primary data collection in the project target locations and be able to do so in the language of the primary target groups (Arabic)

· Have proven experience in conducting participatory qualitative and quantitative evaluation studies with superior analytical skills

· Have a good knowledge of data collection software (such as Kobo, SMAP) and statistical packages (such as SPSS)

· Have excellent report writing skills

· Have excellent written and spoken English and Arabic

· Hold a minimum educational qualification equivalent to a master´s degree in a relevant field.

Application

The consultant should submit a proposal comprising the following:

· A technical proposal which indicates how the consultant is going to undertake the activities highlighted in the ToR, with clear methodology, including types of data collection tools and analysis

· A capacity statement detailing the consultant´s ability to deliver a quality evaluation report within the given timeframe, including an overview of relevant work and technical experience

· At least 2 samples of previous relevant works undertaken, including at least 1 evaluation report that was 100% led by the lead consultant

· Contact details for 2 references for similar assignments done not more than 2 years ago

· CVs of the consultant

· A financial budget with explanations about the line items

· Any appendices the consultant sees as relevant to the application.

[1] The degree to which to program produced its intended consequences

[2] The degree to which the leadership, services and program systems functioned to enable successful programming

[3] The degree to which to program produced its intended consequences

[4] The degree to which the leadership, support services and program systems functioned to enable successful programming

For more information, please click on the below link;

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