Evluator/consultant

Terms of Reference
Final Evaluation of EU and CAFOD-funded programme: Empowerment, Employment and Advocacy: Addressing Gender Inequality for Palestinian Women Refugees in Lebanon
I. Background
The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is the official development and humanitarian relief agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. CAFOD works with partners to combat poverty and injustice around the world. 
This programme has been developed in full consultation with Association Najdeh (AN) which has been a CAFOD partner for over 20 years.  AN is an NGO focusing on women’s empowerment and rights with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and is the lead agency in the Right to Work coalition, as well as the AISHA Arab Women’s Forum and the Palestinian Women’s Forum (PWF).  This project builds on previous work that CAFOD supported, including vocational training, education, combating violence against women and providing micro credit and social support to Palestinian refugees living in camps and gatherings across Lebanon. CAFOD worked with AN to analyse the problems facing the Palestinian refugee community, and identify objectives and results for this programme. 
This 3-year EU and CAFOD funded programme is implemented in 3 Palestinian refugee camps and 1 gathering, and has an overall budget of EUR579,248.  The overall objective is increased gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Palestinian refugee community of Lebanon. To achieve this, the programme sets out three specific objectives: 1) To increase women’s empowerment through providing women with access to skills training, employment and participation in decision making structures; 2) To combat negative gender stereotyping through advocacy work at national and local level and through awareness-raising on women’s rights and issues concerning domestic violence; 3) To build capacity, promote learning and information sharing within AN, CAFOD and through the gender networks AISHA and PWF. 
The timeframe of the current programme is from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013.  The period covered to date is to be evaluated.
 
II. Purpose of the Final Evaluation
The purpose of this Evaluation is to draw out learning, as well as provide an independent assessment and recommendations as follows:

Relating to specific objective 1, the consultant shall assess the impact of the vocational training and its related activities (including career counselling, gender-based violence workshops, personal and social support) and leadership development activities on the lives of the beneficiaries and their families, in order to evaluate whether and to what degree:

the vocational training and related activities were useful as an entry point to achieving positive social and economic changes in the lives of the beneficiaries and their families.
the awareness-raising activities created an enabling environment in which women can exercise greater involvement in decision making structures;
the programme effectively enabled the engagement of men.

The findings and recommendations from the evaluation will be reflected in the final report to the EU, and will also be shared and discussed within CAFOD and AN for future programme development in Lebanon.
The evaluation report will made public on CAFOD’s website as per CAFOD’s own Evaluation Policy.
III. Review Criteria
The project must be evaluated taking into account the following:
 
Relevance:  Did the programme achieve the specific objectives?  Were the specific objectives appropriate to the context and did the actions adequately address the needs of the target population?  Did the actions allow the programme to achieve the desired results?  Did the programme design and preparation allow for a logical and coherent programme?
 
Efficiency:  How well were the inputs transformed into results? Did the activities take place in a timely and cost effective manner, and where they of good quality?
 
Effectiveness:   Was the programme successful? What are the benefits to the beneficiaries and indirect beneficiaries?
 
Impact:  To what degree did the programme contribute to solving the problem identified?  To what degree has the programme changed attitudes and behaviours? What are the key learning points to be taken forward by each organisation?
 
Sustainability:  What is the likelihood of the beneficiaries continuing to enjoy the positive impact of this programme once the programme ends? 
 
Quality of partnerships:  What value has the CAFOD-AN partnership added to the programme?  How has the programme impacted the partnership approach to each organisation?  How could each of the partners collaborated differently so as to better support the achievement of the specific objectives?
 
Coordination:  How could the coordination amongst stakeholders (CAFOD, AN, EC, local authorities, beneficiary groups, government bodies) be improved?
 
Internal processes: Have CAFOD and AN’s organisational structures successfully accommodated the programme in reaching its objectives?   
 
IV. Methodology
An independent external consultant who will be managed by the Middle East Programme Manager at CAFOD, with the support of other colleagues where necessary will carry out the Final Evaluation.
The evaluation consultant will present their proposed methodology within their Expression of Interest.
Key programme documents including the action, logical framework, monitoring framework, mid-term review report, interim and progress reports as well as any studies undertaken during the programme period will be made available to the consultant.
 
CAFOD will arrange for necessary staff to meet with the evaluators.  The consultant will coordinate with AN staff to arrange field visits to selected project locations to meet with implementing partners, key stakeholders and beneficiaries of the programme activities. 
A participatory approach will be applied throughout and the quality of the evaluation process will be assessed against the 2013 BOND Monitoring and Evaluation guide.[1]
V. Outputs
The consultant will produce an evaluation report and will provide the raw data to CAFOD and AN.  The evaluation report (maximum 30 pages, excluding annexes) will include the following section headings: Executive summary; main text (including introduction and assessment of each criteria as above); conclusion and recommendations; annexes including contact details of evaluator and evaluation team, as well an explanation of the evaluation methodology and evaluation plan. 
VI. Evaluation consultant(s)
The consultants(s) must be suitably qualified and experienced.  The Evaluator and his/her team profile should include:

A strong track record in undertaking evaluations of programmes, ideally for EC-funded programmes.
Experience and understanding of partnership approaches to international development and advocacy.
Demonstrable experience or technical expertise in skill development and gender equality programmes.
A solid understanding of results-based monitoring and evaluation with experience of using mixed-methods approaches to assessing impact.
Demonstrable experience of participatory evaluation approaches.
A sound understanding of gender issues and challenges faced by the Palestinian refugee community in Lebanon.
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal. Ability to work fluently in English and Arabic is essential.
Consultants must not have a conflict of interest with the ongoing activities of CAFOD or AN.

 
VII. Resourcing

Fee for consultancy days (agreed by negotiation), including preparation, site visits, data analysis and report writing;
Reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.

 
VIII. Management Arrangements
The recruitment and initial briefing to the consultant(s) will be shared by CAFOD and Association Najdeh.  A bid committee made up of CAFOD and AN staff, as well as one external stakeholder, will be formed to assess the expressions of interest against criteria listed below in Section IX. 
 
CAFOD will provide logistical and administrative support as is possible from its offices in London, including supply of relevant documentation, and help with the organisation of initial meetings and interviews.  The consultant will be responsible for working with AN staff to arrange workshops and field visits ensuring all relevant stakeholders are available at the place and time agreed; the Consultant(s) will provide facilitation of workshops, meetings and field visits.
IX.  Selection Process
Expressions of Interest should be submitted presenting the consultant(s) proposed approach to conducting this evaluation, proposed number of days and fees, proposed methodologies and more generally how the requirements in the TOR will be met; these EoIs must be accompanied by relevant CVs. Contact details for at least two referees must also be provided.
Submitted Expressions of Interest will be reviewed and scored according to a) the criteria in section VI, b) the suitability of the project plan/method statement and c) value for money.
A final selection will be made by the bid committee following discussion with shortlisted consultant(s) and upon checking of references.
X. Summary Timeline

9/9-20/9

Circulation of TORs and Invitation To Tender

20/9

Closing date for Expressions of Interest (EOIs)

30/9-4/10

Discussions with short-listed consultants (based on EOIs) and selection

21/10-15/11

Document Review and Fieldwork

22/11

Submission of draft report and discussion with CAFOD & AN

29/11

Submission of Evaluation Report to Evaluation Manager

 
Please send your EOI by September 20, 2013 to CAFOD’s Middle East programme officer at: [email protected]