SOS Children’s Villages Tanzania
TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToR)
Mid-term evaluation of the women empowerment and child rights Programme in Mufindi, Tanzania.
Background of the project
The women Empowerment and Child Rights Programme is a four year programme that is directly being implemented in Mufindi by SOS Children’s Villages-Tanzania with the technical support from SOS Finland who are the Lead-Applicant. The programme is being funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Finland. The key development problem that the programme seeks to resolve is poverty reduction. Gender equality, women`s empowerment and child rights are key factors in this. The intervention seeks to improve the welfare of children by promoting gender equality and women’s development at the household, community and state level.
The project is designed to reach 250 vulnerable women and about 1000 children. The project has been engaging key implementing partners that include CBOs, micro finance institutions, local authorities and service providers who contribute to women empowerment, child protection and community development in Mufindi. The project had aimed to reach the following results by 2020:
1) Build the capacities of targeted vulnerable women through skills and knowledge development,
2) Strengthen the functional capacity and responsiveness of Community Based Organisations and local structures towards promoting womens empowerment and child rights,
3) Strengthen the institutional capacity of local authorities (health, education, legal, employment) to remove institutional discriminatory factors that perpetuate gender inequality and violence against women, girls and boys and
4) Strengthen learning and knowledge exchange mechanisms among major womens empowerment and child protection actors in Iringa region for better protection and access to social services for poor women and vulnerable children. The activities to reach these results are wide-ranging and are found in the attached logical framework.
The project is implemented as a partnership between SOS Finland, SOS Tanzania and the regional office of East and South Africa of SOS International. The partners have cooperated since 2014 when they planned a family and community strengthening program in Iringa. SOS Tanzanias strength is that it is an extremely experienced and respected national NGO and has almost 30 years of experience in working with vulnerable children, families and communities in Tanzania. SOS Finlands strength is experience in project management, donor compliance, monitoring and capacity building. At the local level, the main project partners are CBOs, local authorities and service providers.
Study Area and the target population
The midterm evaluation survey is expected to be implemented where the project is being implemented. Therefore, the areas where the study will take place is Mufindi District in 10 villages where the project is being implemented. Target population that the project worked with and the study team will interact includes;
- Women
- Children
- Community members
- CBO
- Financial institutions
- Government officials
Scope of the evaluation
The evaluation will examine the results achieved by the project. It will explore policy and programmatic changes achieved by the project in Mufindi District as well as impact on targets beneficiaries i.e. Women and Children from the perspective of responsiveness of Community Based Organisations and local structures towards promoting women`s empowerment and child rights. It is expected that the evaluation will cover all project locations.
The Evaluation is expected to;
1) To measure level of knowledge and skills of Vulnerable Women as a result of capacity building triggered by the project
2) To measure degree of responsiveness of Community Based Organisations and local structures towards promoting womens empowerment and child rights
3) To measure Strength and capacity of local authorities (health, education, legal, employment) to remove institutional discriminatory factors that perpetuate gender inequality and violence against women, girls and boys
4) Assess Strength of learning and knowledge exchange mechanisms among major womens empowerment and child protection actors in Iringa region for better protection and access to social services for poor women and vulnerable children
In additional to that the consultant (s) will ensure every indicator is measured as assessed as per log frame that will be provided as one among the project documents. This will help to inform the extent to which the above objectives have been met
Purpose of the Evaluation
The main purpose of the mid-term evaluation is to assess whether the overall activities and results of the project are on track in terms of achieving the objectives that have been set and to learn as well to improve the ongoing work for the remaining two years of the Women Empowerment and Child Rights (WECR). The mid-term evaluation should lay the ground for the final evaluation of the WECR Programme in December 2020.
Areas of inquiry/ Evaluation
Main areas of inquiry/Evaluation
Project results and impact: An analysis of which degree the WECR Project is on their way to achieving the objectives set for the individual project as a whole. Has the project had any unexpected or negative impact so far? To be more specific, the Consultant(s) will use the five criteria set out by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to conduct the evaluation. The five evaluation criteria are: Relevance; Effectiveness; Efficiency; Impact and Sustainability. For each of the criteria, the Consultant(s) will get specific information on the project’s performance from beneficiaries, partners and stakeholders. Below is the specific information that should be collected under each criterion. The Consultant(s) will examine the extent to which the project is suited to the priorities of the target groups along the following lines:
Efficiency:
Are the resources spent in the programme appropriate to the achievements? When evaluating the efficiency of this project, it is useful to consider the following questions:
• Were activities cost-efficient?
• Were project’s resources managed in a transparent and accountable manner?
• How flexible was the project in adapting to changing needs?
• Were objectives achieved on time?
• Was the project implemented in the most efficient way compared to alternatives?
• How did the project co-ordinate with other similar interventions to encourage synergy and avoid overlaps?
Effectiveness
A measure of the extent to which a program attains its objectives. In evaluating the effectiveness of a programme, it is useful to consider the following questions:
• To what extent were the objectives achieved / are likely to be achieved?
• What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
• Have all planned target groups access to or are using project results available so far?
• Are there any factors which prevent target groups accessing the results/services?
• To what extent has the project adapted or is able to adapt to changing external conditions (risks and assumptions) in order to ensure benefits for the target groups?
Relevance:
Is the programme addressing urgent problems or issues that will make a difference to the lives of women and children in terms of access to and enjoyment of their rights? During evaluating the relevance of this a project, it is useful to consider the following questions:
• Have the activities and outputs of the projects been consistent with the overall goals and attainment of its objectives?
• Were the activities and outputs of the projects consistent with the impacts and effects?
• Are the overall project objectives relevant to the specific needs of the population in the project area?
• To what extent are the objectives of the programme still valid?
• Are the activities and outputs of the programme consistent with the intended impacts and effects?
Result/Impact
The Consultant(s) will examine if the project demonstrated impact, i.e. the positive and negative changes produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. This involves the main impacts and effects resulting from the activity on the local social, economic, environmental and other development indicators. The examination should be concerned with both intended and unintended results and must also include the positive and negative impact of external factors, such as changes in terms of trade and financial conditions.
When evaluating the impact of a programme or a project, it is useful to consider the following questions:
• What has happened as a result of the programme or project?
• What real difference has the activity made to the beneficiaries?
• How many people have been affected?
• Did the project take timely measures for mitigating the unplanned negative impacts? What was the result?
Sustainability
The Consultant(s) will examine if the project has factored in sustainability when working with beneficiaries, partners and stakeholders. The following will be explored:
• Have the projects resulted in leveraging of knowledge and interventions to ensure sustainable impact for young people?
• Are the relevant authorities able to afford maintenance or replacement of the services introduced by the project?
• Is there a financial/ economic phase-out strategy? If so, how likely is it to be implemented beyond the project life?
• What are the other major factors that have influenced the achievement and non-achievement of sustainability of the projects?
Additional area of inquiry/Evaluation (issues to be taken into consideration)
• The partners’ role to ensure project sustainability: The degree to which the WECR projects are integrated in the work of the implementing partners in general and whether the projects contribute positively to the partners’ work including the current plans for sustainability of project results.
• Partnerships: To what extent have SOS’s strategies and tactics have been engaged and influence key stakeholders, including partners and other actors working on the issue, been effective?
• Gender: To what extent the project seeks to resolve Gender equality and women`s empowerment obstacles.. By promoting gender equality and women’s development at the household, community and state level the project seeks also improve child welfare.
• Administration of the WECR Programme: An analysis of WECR’s overall coordination of the Programme and the cooperation between the WECR and the individual projects in the programme.
Proposed Methodology
The consultant is invited to propose and present a plan for how this can be done in practice, he/she should finding a methodology that is participatory and enables smooth execution of this midterm evaluation survey. The consultant will design a methodology that is suitable and acceptable for conducting scientific enquiry, using relevant evaluation methods and techniques. However, this may be discussed and agreed by the evaluator and SOS Tanzania with the aim of ensuring that every possible source of important document is consulted. The evaluation shall be carried out through analysis of available project documents and other documents considered necessary by the Consultant. To ensure the methodology is participatory, interviews shall be carried out with, but not limited to project beneficiaries, representatives of the organization, strategic partners, and other relevant stakeholders. This evaluation will involve methodological triangulation of both qualitative (In-depth interviews and focus group discussions) and quantitative (Interviews) approaches.
The consultant will prepare or adopt appropriate tools. These proposed methods include:
a. Desk study
Desk review of secondary data at project, district, regional and national level will be conducted.
b. Field based data collection
• Conducting focus group discussions with project beneficiaries
• Conduct exit interviews with project beneficiaries.
• Conduct structured and semi-structured questions with direct benefiting of the project
• Conduct of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with district and regional representatives, key partners, government officials,
Resources Available:
The consultant will have available the following documents:
At Programme level: Partnership Agreement, Various Programme Reports (annual, Semi-Annual and Quarterly reports), Logical Framework/ Results framework, monitoring reports, internal and external evaluations and Audit reports.
Relevant project staff as well as programme staff will be available for interviews remotely or in person depending on the methodology employed by the consultant.
Target Audience
• The partners in the WECR Programme (Mufindi District Council, Mafinga Town Council, CBOs, NGOs etc)
• Programme beneficiaries ( women and children);
• National Office Staff (Finance, Programme, IPD and M&E);
• Any other respondent that the evaluator may find relevant.
Expected Outputs
• An evaluation plan
• Full final review and evaluation report in English, including recommendations and an executive summary of maximum three pages to stand alone.
• A fact sheet that entails the summary of the findings against each result areas of this project
• Recommendations on how to improve any identified weaknesses in the above mentioned areas of inquiry.
• A power point presentation of the findings, and recommendations that will be presented to the staffs and later to the stakeholders.
• A sheet of raw data that have been used to generate the findings of the study as well as a input sheet (Do file ) that has been used as a work book during analysis of the findings
• The evaluator has elaborated the mid-term evaluation in a way that makes it possible for the final evaluation of the WECR Programme in 2020 to build on its methodology and analysis.
• A final presentation of the findings to the PSA ( SOS Finland and SOS Tanzania) after accommodating inputs and comments from stakeholders and SOS technical staffs
Provisional Timeline
Deadline for submitting tender to SOS Tanzania 23rd May 2019
Contract signed between consultant and the SOS Tanzania 5th June 2019
Consultant’s review 12th June 2019
Draft report completed 30th June 2019
Presentation of draft to SOS Finland 10th July 2019
Final report completed and submitted 20th June 2019
Required Competences
• Demonstrable experience of producing high quality, credible evaluations or reviews (examples required)
• Familiarity with different methodologies for evaluation and review
• Demonstrable experience with participatory methodologies and empowerment practices
• Demonstrable experience of working with/evaluating NGOs and experience of management in decentralised structures.
• Familiarity with child rights is an asset
• Ability to write concise, readable and analytical reports
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
How to apply
Please include the following information in your tender:
• A cover letter explaining how you meet the criteria for the position
• A broad evaluation plan- not more than 2 pages, with tentative budget plan attached
• Proof of previous evaluations or related work carried out
• One example of a previous evaluation
Tenders should be submitted to our offices indicated in below address two weeks after this advertisement.
SOS Children’s Villages Tanzania,
White Star Tower (Ground Floor)
Kiko Avenue, Mikocheni
Tel: +255 (0) 22 2701075/55
Selection of the consultant(s) is expected to be finalised by 30th May 2019.
Posted 10/05/19 – 30/05/19
Source: Mwananchi
