Somalia: CONSULTANCY FOR END PROJECT EVALUATION

Background

International Rescue Committee has been in Somalia since 2008 to respond to humanitarian crisis that affected the lives of thousands of people in the Galkacyo Mudug Region of central Somalia. IRC expanded geographically in late 2010 to the capital of Somalia Mogadishu, Garowe and Galgadud and expanded programmatically in Livelihood, Health and GBV sectors to help the internal displaced people who fled from clan conflict and poor host community. The IRC interventions in Mudug, Nugaal and Bari regions consists to provide humanitarian assistance of 12 IDP sites and poor host communities with the aim to improving the coordination and efficiency of aid delivery and food security activities complementing the site interventions.

Various donors (OFDA, ECHO, and DFID & UNICEF) have been co-funding IRC’s emergency programme since its inception in 2008. The overall aim of interventions was to facilitate an appropriate level of humanitarian response to reduce the vulnerability of thousands of conflict-affected IDPs in 12 camps in Galkacyo town and poor host communities in the regions stated above. This was to be achieved through improved site management of IDP settlements and effective coordination and delivery of humanitarian activities, distribution of Hygiene kits, and improvement of water supply, CLTS projects and the protection of the environment.

The Purpose of the Evaluation.

The main purpose of the evaluation is to assess the extent to which the project achieved its objectives and draw relevant lessons and recommendations, with the aim to informing the future direction of the project. The evaluation will in particularly assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and impact of the intervention in improving the humanitarian situation of the target IDPs in the 12 sites and emergency response to the conflict and drought affected communities at the intervention sites in the rural areas. Installation of Solar powered system to four boreholes, Minor borehole rehabilitations, Berkad rehabilitations, Water trucking, Latrines constructed by the targeted communities through CLTS approach.

Key Aspects to Evaluate
The evaluation should specifically focus on the following areas

Effectiveness

• Examine the project progress and achievements against results with reference to the project log-frames as set out in the project proposal document taking into consideration the project assumptions and risks.
• Assess the contribution of the project to enhancing the delivery of humanitarian assistance and services to the displaced and conflict affected families in 12 IDP camps and poor host communities of Mudug, Nugaal & Bari regions.
• Using the Guide to the HAP standard, evaluate the extent to which the project strived to realize humanitarian accountability and quality management.
• Examine the effectiveness and outcome of community trainings
• The evaluation will document what has worked well /not worked well and why.

Appropriateness & Relevance

• Study the appropriateness of the project design in respect to the core problems identified in the project document, defined needs and priorities and the activities, purposes and results, while taking into account the physical and socio-economic environment in which the project operated.
• Examine the process used by the project to identify target groups
• Assess the extent to which the equality of access to project resources was addressed
• Suggest how can the overall design of the project be improved to better meet the needs and priorities of the target populations

Efficiency, Cost-effectiveness and Timeliness:

• Closely look at the efficiency of project implementation considering timing, cost effectiveness, targeting, technical solutions and community involvement.
• To what extent the provision of project inputs contributed to the effectiveness of the intervention? How effective were the project activities undertaken? Impact
• To what extent the project contributed to changing the lives of the target populations (both positive/negative outcomes and impact) in relation to objectives set out in the project proposal.
• Assess the contribution of the project to the target communities’ well-being and livelihood situation; how change come about; how much of the change can be attributed to the projects’ interventions as opposed to other external factors.

Mainstreaming

• The evaluation will examine where IRC Somalia is at in relation to the mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues and approaches. The focus will be on Gender and equality, HIV and AIDS and humanitarian accountability.

Anticipated Outputs.

• Written evaluation report with clear recommendations that are sufficiently valid and reliable based on evaluation findings and analysis. (Three hard copies plus an electronic copy in Adobe Acrobat and MS Word on CD of the final report).
• Evaluations are opportunities for learning and should feed into the design of new programmes. The evaluation should therefore document the lessons learned during the project period
• Suggestions on how future projects could be improved and be made cost-effective and sustainable.
• Identification of assumptions and opportunities for development of future projects.

Methodology of the evaluation

The evaluator is expected to undertake rigorous evaluation through the application of participatory approaches in order to solicit empirical data that draws the experience and understanding of the various project stakeholders. Existing project documents and reports will be shared with the evaluator to facilitate completion of the tasks.

Key participatory approaches to be used will include but not limited to: focus group discussions (FGDs), Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) techniques and the “impact chain analysis” tool.

Experience and competences

• Experience in designing and managing humanitarian projects.
• Previous participatory evaluation experience.
• Clear familiarity with current best practices and tools in the field of humanitarian and development.
• Excellent reporting and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Fluent in English, both written and verbal.
• Preferable Somali speaking/understanding.

Proposed time-frame and location.

The proposed time-frame of the evaluation will be two weeks (14 days in country) commencing 1st of March and ending 14th March,2017. This includes in country travel days, travel permit arrangements, field visits and desk works. The consultant will be based in South Galkacyo but will travel to Garowe and work with the project teams in both sites.

Within two weeks, the consultant is expected to complete the following activities:

• Evaluation implementation plan agreed with the Programme team
• Field visits and discussions with various stakeholders
• Staff meetings
• Data analysis and report drafting
• Presentation of the summary of findings and analysis of the evaluation report

Reporting relationships

The evaluator will work to the Deputy Country Director of Programs –and will closely work with Environmental Health /WASH Coordinator. EH Coordinator will arrange the details of the evaluation work plan and time schedule for the assignment’s duration in accordance with the Terms of Reference. First draft report should be due on mid-March for initial feedback and final report due at the 3rd week of March, 2017.

Contractual issues

The IRC and the evaluator/consultancy agency will enter into a contract highlighting the terms and conditions of the consultancy including payment modes – based the agreed fee rates. The evaluator’s travel costs (to and from - and within Somalia (Mudug, Nugal & Bari regions) and accommodation will be provided by the IRC.

If you feel you/your organization fit the required profile and are available for the assignment, please submit a short technical proposal providing detailed budget breakdown, along with brief technical bio data of the core team members and evidence of similar work undertaken recently. Submit via email to ircsomaliajobs@rescue.org. Please include the name and telephone number of the person who will be the contact person for the Application.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.