Re-advertised- Call for Tenders for an External Evaluator for the Project Entitled "Responding to women at risk/victims/survivors of gender-based violence (GBV)"

1. OVERVIEW:
Project duration: two years extending from 1st of July 2020 till 30th of June 2022

Organization background:
KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation is a Lebanese, non-profit, non-political, civil society organization committed to the achievement of gender-equality and non-discrimination, and the advancement of the human rights of women and children. KAFA’s mission is to work towards eradicating all forms of gender-based violence and exploitation of women and children through advocating for legal reform and change of policies and practices, influencing public opinion, and empowering women and children. The principles of KAFA are those of the universality of human rights and the participation and inclusion of marginalized people in all its endeavours.
KAFA has four main units: family violence; child protection; exploitation and trafficking in women; & the Support Centres in Beirut and in the Bekaa where this project is been carried out. The Support Centers at KAFA provides holistic case management services to women and children including social, psychological, and legal services. The SC also provides different programs and services that focus on creating and sustaining positive change for victims and their families.

Project Funding:
The project is financed by Brot fur die Welt.

2. PROJECT OVERVIEW:
The project entitled “Responding to women at risk/victims/survivors of Gender Based Violence” aims at enhancing the situation of women and girls towards gender equality and women rights in Lebanon. Specific objectives are (1) women and children victims of GBV using direct support services at KAFA will be supported and protected and (2) Trained KAFA staff use the acquired skills and knowledge to provide improved support to survivors of violence.
Main activities: KAFA will provide beneficiaries with; psychological assistance services; legal aid services including legal consultations, court representations, and forensic reports. KAFA will also enhance the capacities of the staff through the provision of coaching sessions and individual therapeutic sessions.

3. PURPOSE AND USE OF EVALUATION:
The purpose of this external evaluation is to two leveled: (1) to assess the level of achievement towards the project’s indicators, outcomes, outputs and possible long-term impacts as well as provide recommendations for future programming and (2) to review the organizational structure and projects’ alignment with the organizational strategy.
The evaluation will provide an external independent assessment of the project performance against the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria of Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Sustainability, Impact, and Coherence.

This evaluation will also help KAFA to appraise the project, document lessons learnt, plan for the new proposal phase, and the follow up actions for this project and beyond. It will also guide the organization in decision making and in developing its programs and services with focus on creating and sustaining positive changes for GBV victims and their families.

4. SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION:
This evaluation will cover the project implementation period extending from 1st of July 2020 till 30th of June 2021. The project will be implemented at the support center at KAFA.
The following points will serve as the basis for the evaluation which are clustered under the categories of the standardized OECD-DAC evaluation criteria:
a. Relevance:

• To what extent does the project approach with its objectives and design respond adequately to the beneficiaries needs?
• As an organization, are we following the right approach?
• To what extent are the project objectives aligned to the organization’s mission as per our strategy?
• To what extent was the project approach adequately designed?
• What role is the restrictive legislation playing for the rights of the beneficiaries?

b. Efficiency:

• Is the distribution of roles and tasks across the organization efficient?
• Were the activities of the project implemented cost-efficient?
• Did the project employ a sufficient and appropriate use of resources?
• Were deployed resources adequate in relation to the achieved results and effects?

c. Effectiveness:

• Are the organizational processes effective?
• Is there evidence that the anticipated results from the project are being achieved?
• Is the project achieving the planned outputs and outcomes in a timely manner?
• To what extent has the project generated positive changes?
• Was the project effective and delivered in a timely manner (according to beneficiaries)?

d. Impact:

• How the beneficiaries perceive KAFA’s work?
• Did the project achieve the intended impacts?
• What is the impact of the project/ to what extent has the project generated significant positive or negative intended or unintended impact?
• What are the short term vs. long term effects of the project’s activities?
• To what extent did the project succeed in creating and sustaining positive change for victims and help them gain control of their lives?
• Did the project succeed in equipping KAFA staff with needed knowledge and self-preservation skills and techniques?

e. Coherence:

• To what extent is the project compatible with other projects in the country, sector, or institution?
• To what extent do other projects support or undermine the approach?
• What can be stated about the internal coherence (links with other projects by same actor, and consistency with standards followed by same actor)?
• What can be stated about the external coherence (consistency with other actors’ projects in same context)?/ What can be stated about co-operations with other actors?

f. Sustainability:

• To what extent are the organization’s interventions sustainable?
• How likely will the benefits of the project continue after donor funding has ceased?
• To what extent are the organization’s interventions sustainable? What promotes continuity?
• Are the skills gained by the beneficiaries and the project team sustainable?
• Will the positive effects of the development intervention continue beyond the end of the project period on both the individual and the community levels?

5. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY
The evaluation process should be conducted in a consultative and participatory approach in close collaboration with KAFA team. The consultant should be using a mixed methodology combining both primary and secondary data, quantitative and qualitative data collection tools that would allow him/her to assess the overall impact of the project. The consultant will be doing field visits to project sites, meetings with the staff, and project beneficiaries. Review methods will include review of existing documents, general observations, surveys, Key Informant Interviews (KII), and focus group discussions (FGD). The consultant is expected to develop the appropriate methodology and tools that would best capture the objectives of the evaluation. Such a methodology should be outlined in an inception report submitted after contract signature.

6. RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES:
The consultant will be doing the responsibilities and outputs:

• Meeting with KAFA team
• Doing needed desk-based research
• Develop an inception report
• Conduct the field phase with participation of all relevant target groups/ collect and compile data
• Present findings to KAFA team
• Submit a draft report of findings, integrate comments of KAFA and then submit a final report that includes all discussed points.

The following deliverables are expected:

• An Inception report that will include the evaluation plan, methodology, and data collection tools. It should also include work plan with a tentative/ proposed schedule of field visits/ data collection.
• A draft evaluation report: this report will be examined on the basis of the OECD/ DAC Evaluation Quality Standards and discussed with KAFA on this basis, comments will be made on the rough draft before it is returned to the expert.
• A workshop presenting the main findings and discussing recommendations
• A Final report: The final report will take into account the comments on the rough draft about the entire evaluation process and all results and recommendations.

7. QUALIFICATIONS OF THE EVALUATOR
Candidates are expected to possess the following key qualifications:

• University degree in social sciences or relevant fields
• At least five years of experience in conducting external evaluations in Lebanon, preferably with experience in GBV projects.
• Familiarity with and has technical knowledge about key themes such as Gender, Protection and Psychosocial Support
• Acquaintance with participatory methodologies and best ways to implement them (participatory evaluation)
• Has writing and verbal skills in both English and Arabic i.e. previous experience writing evaluation reports to a high standard in English
• Female applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and professionalism