AFD project mid-term evaluator (Re-advertised)

Consultancy - Terms of Reference (TOR)

AFD project mid-term evaluation

1. CONTEXT AND PROJECT BACKGROUND

Founded in 1994, La Chaîne de l’Espoir (CDE) is an international NGO headquartered in Paris, France. Its mission is to strengthen healthcare systems and provide to everyone, especially children, equal chances and opportunities of survival and development.

CDE is currently active in thirty (30) countries with a global approach, mainly focusing on children, mothers and disadvantaged communities. Find our activities briefly elaborated as follows:

• Prevention and screening from an early age, particularly through school health programs.
• Care and surgery to meet the most urgent needs of children and their mothers.
• Training and transfer of skills to local teams (capacity building) thanks to our international network of experts in all areas of surgery.
• Construction and equipment of hospital facilities adapted to local needs.

CDE has been implementing humanitarian activities in Lebanon since 2005, working through local partners, in order to provide access to medico-surgical care to children suffering from cardiac pathologies and orthopedics disabilities. Late 2020, CDE eventually opened its mission in Lebanon to respond to growing needs due to the significant deterioration of the situation. Since then, CDE is implementing activities related to the tertiary healthcare, including several aspects such as the strengthening of the healthcare system, early detection of congenital orthopedics disorders, psychosocial support, etc. – via direct and indirect implementation.

2. PROJECT SUMMARY

Title: Strengthening of the health system’s actors for the prevention, screening and treatment of children suffering from Congenital Orthopedic Disorders (COD) in Lebanon

Duration:  1^st March 2021 - 29^th February 2024 (36 months)

Donor : Agence Française de Development (AFD)

Location: Beirut, Mount Lebanon, North, Akkar, Beqaa and South.

Partners: 2 local partners

Suppliers: 6 hospitals across Lebanon and 2 assistive devices suppliers in Beirut

Overall objective: Contribute to improving the health and well-being of the population living in Lebanon by strengthening the system and the capacities of health actors mobilized in the prevention, screening and management of ailments​

Specific objective 1: Promote the efforts of the Lebanese health system’ actors to rationalize and improve the quality of services, the capacities of service providers and communities in the prevention, screening and management of CODs.

Activity 1: To collect and analyze COD data

Activity 2: To develop a COD referential guide (to train paramedical staff)

Activity 3: To extend the COD referral network

Activity 4: To sensitize actors from the Lebanese health system as regards COD

Activity 5: To train Lebanese health system’s actors as regards COD

Specific objective 2: Promote access to quality medical and surgical care, including screening, diagnosis, follow-up, rehabilitation, psychosocial support for vulnerable children with disabilities related to CODs, as well as the necessary support for caregivers during perioperative care.

Activity 1: To identify vulnerable children suffering from COD

Activity 2: To provide medico-surgical treatment, following diagnosis, to vulnerable children suffering from COD

Activity 3: To financially and technically accompany families of the children suffering from COD benefiting from treatment

Activity 4: To ensure an individual and group psychosocial support to the families of the children suffering from COD benefiting from treatment

• All the activities listed above will be ongoing during the time of the evaluation

3. MID-TERM EVALUATION: GENERAL OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic, objective and comprehensive assessment of the above-mentioned project, its design, implementation, results through 2 main axis, with a particular focus on access, accountability, gender/disability inclusion, ethics and protection mainstreaming:

The evaluation should provide information that is credible and useful.

MANAGEMENT

Access, Accountability, Gender/Disability inclusion, Ethics and Protection mainstreaming where relevant

Relevance

To which extent the designed activities meet the beneficiaries need

Should the project design and methodology be
modified to improve its relevance in the second half of the project? If so, how?

Effectiveness

Are the medical criteria and surgical codes agreed on respected throughout the project implementation?

To which level are the implemented activities compatible with the objectives and results agreed in the project proposal (logical frame work) – including monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning

Efficiency

Have resources (funds, human resources, time, expertise, etc.) been allocated strategically to achieve outcomes?

STAKEHOLDERS

Partnership

Are the partnerships adequate to the project (partners’ added value, complementarity of expertise, area coverage, networks, etc.)?

Are partners’ expertise optimized at their most?

Is there an adequate and timely coordination between CDE and its partners

Participation

Are communities timely involved in the design, implementation and feedback mechanism of the project?

Are other key actors (incl. partners) given appropriate access to participation (design, implementation, feedback mechanism)?

Coordination & Collaboration

CDE is part of effective coordination mechanisms (with authorities, other humanitarian actors, etc.)

The coordination mechanisms are exploited for CDE to ensure an adequate response with appropriate synergies

Does the coordination contributes to avoiding duplication of assistance and gaps?

CDE ensures appropriate collaboration with suppliers (especially hospitals and assistive devices companies) and surgeons

Localization

Are the capacities and systems of national and local actors to respond in the future strengthened through the project?

4. MID-TERM EVALUATION: METHODOLOGY

The mid-term evaluation should take place from 2^nd January 2023 until 31^st March 2023. The evaluation should cover the activities that took place since the start of the project till February 2023 using the following methodology (to be further fine-tuned with the evaluator):

• Desk review of the project documents (convention, reports, log frame, activity planning, tools and SOPs. etc.).
• Meetings with CDE staff
• Observations of CDE’s way to work
• Meetings with CDE partners
• Meetings with CDE suppliers
• Field visits to activities
• Interviews with key suppliers’ personnel from hospitals and assistive devices suppliers
• Check on the project progress by checking the monthly report, the interim report submitted to the donor.
• Interviews with randomly selected beneficiaries from CDE database.
• Meetings with the project stakeholders in the country (incl. humanitarian coordination, authorities, etc.)

• The detailed methodology and workplan as fine-tuned after selection of the evaluator and made jointly with CDE, shall be validated by CDE.
• All the above will be done in coordination with the partners and with prior notification to beneficiaries.

5. MID-TERM EVALUATION: EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

• Deliverable 1 (December 2022): An inception report (detailed methodology and final workplan) due one week after the start of the consultancy.
• Deliverable 2 (February 2023): A preliminary results reports – max 4 pages
• Deliverable 3 (March 2023): A structured and thorough report describing 1) the methodology, 2) an executive summary along, 3) the detailed outcomes of the mid-term evaluation and 4) operational recommendations for improving each of the criteria evaluated. max 20 pages

The final report should include the following:

1. Table of content
2. Executive summary
3. The content of the report:

1. Project background
2. Evaluation background
3. Methodology
4. Main findings

1. Conclusion
2. Lessons learnt and recommendations
3. Appendixes

• Deliverable 4 (March 2023): a live restitution supported by a Powerpoint

Principles underpinning the approach to the evaluation are:

• Impartiality and independence of the evaluation process from the programming and implementation functions.
• Credibility of the evaluation, through use of appropriately skilled and independent expert and
  the transparency of the evaluation process, including wide dissemination of results.
• Usefulness of the evaluation findings and recommendations, through timely presentation of
  relevant, clear and concise information.

6. PROFILE OF THE EVALUATOR

• Familiar with the Lebanese context and its health system
• Experience working as an evaluator
• Strong knowledge and practical experience pertaining to access, accountability, gender/disability inclusion and protection mainstreaming
• Experience working with non-governmental organizations
• Fluent in Arabic, Fluent in English or French
• Excellent communication and writing skills
• Strong methodic and structured approach
• Administrative capacity to work in Lebanon
• In capacity to perform numerous field visits across Lebanon