Consultancy: Mid-term review of the She Leads project in Lebanon - Plan International

1.About the commissioning office

Since 2017, Plan International has been working in partnership with local, national, and international organizations to strengthen capacities and address the needs of Lebanese and refugee children in Lebanon. With a focus on adolescent girls and young women, Plan International Lebanon implements projects in the sectors of Child Protection, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Education, Youth Economic Empowerment, and Participation. The organization also promotes gender equality by addressing the root causes of discrimination against girls and young women. Since its establishment in Lebanon, Plan International has been using a partnership model that allows for the capacity building of local actors and civil society strengthening in various areas including Tripoli, Akkar, Bekaa, South, and Beirut & Mount-Lebanon.

2. Background/Context

The She Leads project is a 5-year project, which is a joint strategic partnership between Plan International Netherlands, Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands (DCI-ECPAT), African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), and Terre des Hommes Netherlands (TdH-NL). She Leads brings together child rights organizations, feminist/women’s rights organizations, and groups led by girls and young women (GYW-led groups) and aims to increase sustained influence of girls and young women (GYW) on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions. Geographically, She Leads focuses on East Africa (Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya), the Sahel (Mali) West Africa (Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia) and the Middle East (Lebanon, Jordan). In addition to programming in these countries, a considerable part of the programming is done at Middle East and Pan-Africa regional and global level, targeting institutions and stakeholders at these levels.

In order to achieve the aim to increase sustained influence of girls and young women (GYW) on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms in formal and informal institutions she leads works through 3 interrelated domains (outcome areas): (1) the enhancement of collective action of GYW in a gender-responsive civil society (civil society domain), (2) supported by increased acceptance of positive social gender norms (socio-cultural domain) and (3) enabling meaningful participation of GYW in decision-making by political institutions (institutional domain).

In order to achieve success in the above three domains following are our key strategies:

• Funding and resourcing girl-led/young feminist organizations, collective action, and activism;

• Data-driven and evidence-based advocacy & research;

• Catalyzing the growth and strength of social movements and collective action for girls’ rights;

• Media influencing & advocacy;

• Advocating for girls access to international institutions and human rights mechanisms;

• Capacity strengthening support and joint-learning between civil society organizations (CSOs), girl-led groups and young feminist organizations.

3.  Objectives & Methodology

Objectives

The She Leads partnership in Lebanon, led by Plan International, seeks an external evaluator for completing its Midterm evaluation. The MTR in general comprises 3 components across all 9 countries and 3 regional networks of She Leads. These 3 components are:

1. an evaluation of existing project data at outcome and output level basket indicators (conducted locally and externally);
2. an evaluation of the performance indicators evaluating the relationship of the consortium with its key constituency the GYWs (data collected by GYWs feeding into the report of external consultant);
3. an evaluation of the key strategies implemented by the consortium (coordinated centrally by She Leads desk in the Netherlands);

This consultancy focuses on the mid-term review at country level, under component 1, which will address the following specific objectives:

1. Asses programmatic progress made on output and outcome level basket indicators;
2. Review and analysis of the changes in context, risks and mitigation policies;
3. Identify strengths and weaknesses in the consortium performance (cross-cutting indicators), based on insights from data collected from the GYW involved in the programme;
4. Based on the above, develop recommendations for annual plan 2024 and for future programming

The network consists of Plan International Lebanon, Defense for Children International Lebanon (DCI), Dar Al Amal (DAA) and Terre des Hommes Italy in partnership with its partner Amel Association (implementing for Plan International Lebanon), and KAFA (implementing for Terre des Hommes Italy), and work in South Lebanon, Beirut, Mount Lebanon and Tripoli.

Methodology

The evaluation process will build on existing documents, plans, and data collected. This includes monitoring reports, annual plans and reports, activity reports, previously harvested outcomes. The central consortium desk will provide the necessary support and orientation to the selected consultant and will share the tools for the primary data collection to be adapted to the context as relevant. The aim of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which She Leads has contributed to the change envisaged in its inception phase and how the partnership can continue to do so sustainably for the selected outcomes.

The She Leads consortium is committed to ensuring that the rights of those involved in data collection or analysis are respected and protected, in accordance with ethical research principles. The proposal should clarify how they will guarantee the ethics and protection of children in the data collection process. In particular, the consultants should explain how the adequate, safe and non-discriminatory participation of all stakeholders will be ensured and how special attention will be paid to the needs of children and other vulnerable groups. The consultants should also explain how they will ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of the participants.

Secondary and primary data collection are to be adopted during this evaluation where the latter focuses on qualitative methods only:

• Desk review on project data to consolidate measurements of outcome and output level indicators
• Primary data collection, using qualitative methods, in the form of:

• FGDs with girls, young women to capture the relevance and benefit of the project activities implemented by the different network partners;
• KIIs with partners and consortium members to explore the coordination mechanism, risk mitigation and adaptation to context.

Users

Key audience for these reports is the network teams including GYW groups, the consortium desk, the global steering committee, the Global GYW Board and other She Leads GYW network advisory bodies and all involved Country, Regional and National offices (Cos, ROs and NOs).

4.  Deliverables and Timeline  

Key Deliverables and timeline

List key deliverables expected from the consultant(s) during the process such as;

• An inception Report including:

• an updated timeline as discussed with the Network
• detailed methodology, including draft sampling methodology and size;
• consent forms for any primary data collection;
• drafted methods for data analysis;
• brief justification of the methods and techniques used (including relevant underlying values and assumptions/ theories) with a justification of the selections made (e.g. of persons interviewed).

• Data collection (this involves facilitating sessions on context and risk analysis, TOC review, KIIs/FGDs where necessary)
• Data review and analysis (additional data collection if necessary, review and analysis of data collected)
• First draft of the report (including findings and recommendations)
• Validation workshop
• Final consolidated report (English and French where necessary), a (youth friendly) summary document containing main findings and recommendations
• Anonymized primary data sets

Note: In the event that there is a change or additional deliverables during the contract period, an addendum to the contract must be agreed and signed.  The change/additional deliverables must be in line with the initial scope of the project.

5.  Budget

Please use the table in the attached TOR above to provide us with your financial offer, based on the number of days assigned for each deliverable, also, please don’t forget to add all other miscellaneous costs, including transportation, stationaery, etc.

Withholding taxes apply for freelancers if the consultant fails to provide Plan International with an invoice that includes the Ministry of Finance number (MOF) for the profession, as well as a copy of the MOF certificate. The service provider must apply withholding tax at the applicable rates in accordance with Lebanese laws and regulations.

6.   Expected qualifications of Consultant

The She Leads Lebanon network wants to contract an external evaluator to conduct this mid-term review.

 The successful application will consist of one or more key personnel within the evaluation team who meet desired criteria such as the following:

1. 1. Masters in social sciences;
   2. Proven track record in the evaluation with specific attention to Multi Year and multi-country Program, with a focus on gender programming;
   3. At least three years’ experience (preferably with evaluations) in the development sector and proven expertise in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis for evaluations, and use of mixed methodologies for research including outcome harvesting.
   4. Knowledge of human rights, gender, gender-transformative approach, lobbying and advocacy, intersectionality, youth agency, meaningful youth participation, inclusivity, civil society and civic space, youth-inclusive policymaking and legislation and collaborative programming;
   5. Ability to work independently, take initiative and respond appropriately to constructive feedback;
   6. Experience in sharing and discussing review findings with clients, in-country partners and stakeholders, especially with youth-led and girls and young women led groups and organizations;
   7. Full working proficiency in English and full proficiency in Arabic

7. Contact 

For any queries, please send your questions to [email protected]  before 4^th  of March 2023.

8. List of documents to be submitted with the Request for Proposal (RFP)

Interested parties can apply for this consultancy until the 4^th of March 2023.

Your proposal should include the following:

1. Your CV entailing relevant experience and contact details
2. A brief on your track record on evaluation of partnerships with broad thematic focus. Experience in evaluation of programmes with core values of MYIP, gender transformation, and safeguarding is an advantage.
3. A proposed technical offer and workplan for the assignment including understanding of purpose and methodology
4. A proposed budget – daily fees per team member and number of hours spent on the evaluation, clear demarcation of costs for in-country activities and other desk-based research.

All consultants/applicant are required to agree and adhere to Plan International’s Non-Staff Code of Conduct (Annex) 

9. Submission of offer

Please send your application to Plan International [email protected]  before March 4, 2023 referencing “Mid-term review of the She Leads project in Lebanon - Plan International in Lebanon” in the subject line and including support documents as outlined.

10. Evaluation of offers

Shortlisted suppliers may be invited to discuss their proposals in more detail at Plan’s discretion.

Plan International, at its sole discretion, will select the successful supplier.

Plan international shall be free to:

• Accept the whole, or part only, of any submission
• Accept none of the proposals
• Republish this Request for Quotations

Plan International reserves the right to keep confidential the circumstances that have been considered for the selection of the offers.

Part of the evaluation process may include a presentation from the supplier.

Value for money is very important to Plan International, as every additional USD saved is money that we can use on our humanitarian and development work throughout the world.

Plan International may award multiple contracts and all contracts will be non-exclusive.

11. Contract & Payment terms

Please note that, if successful, Plan International’s standard terms of payment are 30 days after the end of the month of receipt of invoice, or after acceptance of the Goods/Services/Works, if later.

(Include Consultants Contract Terms and Conditions) – Annex

12. Plan International’s Ethical & Environmental Statement

The supplier should establish environmental standards and good practices that follow the principles of ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems, and in particular to ensure compliance with environmental legislation

13. Clarifications

The onus is on the invited individual/companies to ensure that its offer is complete and meets Plan International’s requirements. Failure to comply may lead to the offer being rejected. Please therefore ensure that you read this document carefully and answer fully all questions asked.