Final Project Evaluation

Terms of Reference

Final Project Evaluation - Lebanon

Drosos Foundation is looking for an evaluation consultant to conduct an evaluation of the project “Improving knowledge of health care providers in harm reduction and sexual health” in Lebanon.

Implementing Organisation: Marsa Sexual Health Centre (Marsa)

Project Start: March 1, 2016

Project Duration: 3 years

Location: Beirut, Lebanon

For this mandate, Drosos Foundation seeks to hire an evaluator to design, plan and conduct an evaluation of this three-year project. The terms of reference and details of the mandate are outlined in the document below.

The evaluation is planned to start in September, 2018.

Introduction

The partner of the project:

Marsa Sexual Health Centre (Marsa) was officially launched in 2011 with the aim of providing harm reduction services to the community, with a focus on HIV testing. Marsa has since then grown into a well-visited, successful clinic, performing the highest number of rapid tests for HIV in Lebanon. Their services include medical, social and psychological consultations as well as awareness campaigns and research to ensure that information, resources, support, and services of the highest quality regarding sexuality are available and accessible to all. Drosos Foundation first worked with Marsa in 2012 and has since played a key role in building and strengthening the organization.

Donor/Financial Partner: Drosos Foundation

Drosos Foundation is committed to enabling disadvantaged people to live a life of dignity. Together with partner organisations, it develops and supports projects that have a direct bearing on the effective and sustainable improvement of living conditions, and seeks, wherever it is involved, a long-term impact.

Drosos Foundation focuses on the development of life skills of disadvantaged children, young people and young adults through promoting creativity and economic independence. It is convinced that life and technical skills are key elements in personal development as they empower individuals to take control of their lives and make a positive contribution within their community.

Drosos Foundation was established in Switzerland in 2003. It owes its existence to a private endowment and is acknowledged as a non-profit organisation. It is ideologically, politically and religiously independent. The Foundation is active in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia as well as in Switzerland and in the eastern parts of Germany.

Summary of the Project and Focus of the Evaluation

Marsa’s current project “Improving knowledge of health care providers in harm reduction and sexual health” is the second project supported by Drosos Foundation. Designed as a follow-up to the first project (2012 – 2015), it aims to further improve the quality and capacity of Marsa’s services. This includes extending services to reach more marginalized beneficiaries (e.g. non-injectable drug users, transgender population) by offering counseling and testing for HIV, Hepatitis B+C, or other sexually transmitted diseases, and providing psychological services or medical treatment. It also includes raising public awareness about HIV prevention and safe sex through research and awareness campaigns.

The project also tackles the lack of a professional harm reduction approach to sexual health education in the university curricula of health care providers. A new curriculum targeting faculty staff and medical and nursing students has thus been introduced by Marsa to improve their knowledge on substance use, sexual health and sexual rights, to better treat patients in a non-discriminatory way. A certified Marsa training course for practicing health care providers from medical institutions across Lebanon was also added to the project, focusing on harm reduction and building knowledge on sexual health.

Finally, the project aims at strengthening Marsa’s professional capacity further to improve management services and formalize funding strategies. Building on the collaboration between Marsa and Drosos Foundation since 2012, this component capitalizes on Marsa’s development into a leading health clinic in Lebanon to build long-term sustainability.

The evaluation will focus on providing only a general overview of the effectiveness and impact of the current project. More importantly, however, the evaluation should work on assessing Marsa’s relevance as an organization in the Lebanese context and how this has changed since the beginning of the partnership with Drosos in 2012. Additionally, the sustainability of the centre, both in terms of its financing and its services will be an important objective of this evaluation.

Evaluation Purpose and Objectives

Specifically, the evaluation should focus on the following:

Assess the sustainability and growth potential of Marsa sexual health centre

Are there specific aspects of Marsa’s work that have been particularly important to the successful development of the organization?

What are their strengths and weaknesses (financial, structural etc.)?

What is their level of financial sustainability; to what extent is the funding of the clinic’s services secured, and from what sources?

What impact has the move to a new area of Beirut had on the target group?

Does the clinic and its services have potential for growth/scaling-up? How/why?

Recommendations for improving sustainability of the centre.

Assess the funding and local environment:

How did the context for HIV and harm reduction funding develop over the last years and what is its outlook?

To what extent has the political and social context impacted on Marsa's growth?

Assess Marsa’s relevance in regards to:

The primary target group(s)

Awareness raising in Lebanon on harm reduction and sexual health

The academic community in Lebanon and internationally

Assess the project “Improving knowledge of health care providers in harm reduction and sexual health”

Provide a brief overview of the extent that the objectives of the project were reached?

How/to what extent have project activities been beneficial to the target group(s)?

Were there any unexpected achievements or challenges, and how did they effect the project’s results?

Methodology

The evaluation shall be participatory. The methodological approach will be designed by the evaluator in coordination with Marsa and Drosos Foundation in order to adapt to the requirements and purposes of this assignment, and will include:

Preparation and preliminary desk study: The evaluator shall study the project documents, the narrative and financial reports to Drosos Foundation and any other document that might be relevant and provided by Marsa and/or Drosos Foundation.

Evaluation Plan: The evaluator shall present a detailed evaluation plan to Marsa and Drosos Foundation 2 weeks after the start of the mandate. The plan shall cover the following aspects:

Identification of respondents to survey and participants in focus group discussions

Identification of individuals to be interviewed

Design of questions for interviews, focus group, and/or surveys.

Timeline

Project visit: The evaluator is expected to spend several days with Marsa staff and relevant stakeholders to collect qualitative and quantitative data.

A workshop with Marsa at the end of the evaluation period to share findings and recommendations.

Responsibilities and qualifications required

The evaluator, or the evaluation team, is responsible for his/her own logistical arrangements as well as organising meetings and interviews with the support from the project partner.

The evaluator(s) should have the following qualifications:

Previous professional and/or academic experience in sexual health/harm reduction.

Experience in organizational development and/or knowledge in fundraising and financial strategy development of civil society organisations, if possible working in health

Knowledge of the social/cultural context in Lebanon.

Extensive knowledge of participatory monitoring and evaluation methodologies and approaches.

Excellent communication skills in English (Arabic is an advantage)

Demonstrated analytical, communication and report writing skills.

Proven track record to deliver high quality reports and on time.

Excellent interviewing skills.

Deliverables and Schedule

The evaluation shall take place between September and October according to the tentative schedule below.

The offer should include an outline of the methodology, a comprehensive work plan with deliverables and detailed budget for the mandate as well as CV and competences of the evaluator.

September 2018: 

Start of contract

Desk review of project document, reports and other relevant documents review by evaluator(s)

Evaluation design, development of draft tools and elaboration of process methodology

Work plan

Mid-September: 

Interviews with stakeholders

15 October:

Development of draft report

Finalization of draft evaluation report and summary

Workshop with Marsa

Draft report for comment.

31 October:

Final report

The final Evaluation Report in English submitted by 31 October 2019 should include the following (max 30 pages + annexes):

Executive Summary

Introduction

Presentation of findings

Overall assessment (including SWOT analysis)

Recommendations

Conclusions

Annexes: A list of consulted stakeholders, key documents, the ToR, surveys, etc.

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