Final Project Evaluation Consultant, North Africa

Contract type: Consultant 
Duration: Completed by 31 April 2024

INTRODUCTION

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is an independent not-for-profit organisation working to empower local voices on the frontline to drive positive change in areas of conflict, crisis or transition around the world. For over 30 years IWPR has been promoting reliable information and public debate to build more stable, just and inclusive societies.

Under this assignment, the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is seeking the services of a qualified evaluator to conduct a Program Final Evaluation of the 18-month USG-funded Under the Law Program (UtL).

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the performance and effectiveness of IWPR’s and partners’ programming thus far and to identify and describe the main lessons learned and suggest improvements for future programming

PROGRAM BACKGROUND

Through the USG-funded Under the Law project, IWPR aimed to strengthen the effectiveness of preeminent human rights CSOs to safely advocate for the legal protection of human rights defenders and therefore increase recognition of human rights.

• Objective 1: Strengthen the security awareness and self-protection capacity of CSO partners to safely promote the protection of human rights;
• Objective 2: Build connections and consensus between CSOs and affiliated policymakers on the current human rights landscape and prioritize points of entry for new legislation that will protect human rights defenders against abuse and violence; and
• Objective 3: Equip CSOs to advocate for draft legislation promoting the protection of human rights defenders against abuse and violence.

OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION

The overall objective of this evaluation is to provide the final review of the UtL project by assessing its performance according to the 6 OECD-DAC criteria (Impact, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Coherence, Relevance, Sustainability) and the initial evaluation questions outlined below:

Specifically, the evaluation should consider the strengths/successes and areas for development or limitation of the project.

• To what extent to which the project delivered its goals, objectives, and theory of change?
• To what extent, if at all, project intervention and outcome have contributed to advance inclusion
• and gender equity?
• To what extent local civil society partners involved in the project have improved their capacity to safely deliver impactful intervention? What are observable positive or negative changes in behavior, intended as changes in practices, relationships and norms or social norms among targeted stakeholders and beneficiaries? What is the likelihood of sustainability of the changes observed?
• What are the internal and external challenges encountered and how effectively have they been addressed by the implementers? What are good practices and successes that should be replicated and lessons learned to consider for future programming?

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

The evaluation methodology will be proposed by the consultant in his/her technical proposal and fully outlined in the inception report. The consultant should combine quantitative and qualitative approaches as necessary to adequately address the evaluation objectives and answer the different evaluation questions mentioned above. The evaluation should also assess the gender sensitivity of the project and whether the different needs of women and men were taken into consideration, this includes the collection of sex-disaggregated data. Preferred qualitative evaluation methodologies, largely utilised by IWPR are:

1. outcome harvesting - where the OH can’t be applied fully, the consultants will be asked to develop outcome statements for significant results achieved. The consultant(s) will be asked to update a qualitative evaluation database, store relevant impacts/outcomes, lessons learned, recommendations. The database will be available to conduct qualitative database analysis, consultants are welcomed to use it
2. most significant change technique - where the MSC can’t be rigorously applied the consultant(s) will be asked to capture impact stories of change for a selected number of project beneficiaries.

The consultant(s) will be asked to update a qualitative evaluation database, store relevant impacts/outcomes, lessons learned, recommendations. The database will be available to conduct qualitative database analysis, consultants are welcomed to use it.

DELIVERABLES

The evaluator(s) will deliver the following products to complete the assignment:

• Deliverable 1 Inception report Proposed plan and methodologies for the evaluation including proposed interview list of staff, partners, and beneficiaries and general timeline and case studies development methodology/focus. The inception report will have to be signed off by IWPR (Project manager and MEL Specialist) and Donor;
• Deliverable 2: Conduct online meetings, workshops with IWPR directors, program manager, field staff and other key stakeholders (beneficiaries, donor) to capture, document, triangulate results;
• Deliverable 3: Draft evaluation: submit to the evaluation committee a draft evaluation and related annexes that outline main findings with related evidence, including recommendations and lessons learned. Visualisations and case studies are encouraged;
• Deliverable 4 Final evaluation report and summary: in Word format, to be produced in English, should be a maximum of 30 pages (excluding annexes/attachments) and should include the following elements. Summary of the evaluation findings: 2 pages max with overview of overall achievements/performance and key actionable recommendations;
• Deliverable 4 Evaluation dataset A database (excel) with list of outcomes, significance, contribution and related categorization used for the analysis;
• Deliverable 5 Case studies Up to two case studies (2 pages max each) to support “scaling up of success”. Throughout the evaluation the consultant(s) will identify up to 2 successes (good practices, techniques, results etc) and, upon IWPR team confirmation, the consultant will document them, providing sufficient evidence and guidance to support uptake in new programming. Each case study should be 2 pages max.

TIMEFRAME & BUDGET

The consultancy should be completed by 31st of April 2024. Maximum budget for the consultancy is USD 8000.

ETHICS AND DATA PROTECTION

The assessment will be conducted in accordance with IWPR  policies on non-discrimination, conflict sensitivity, data protection, safeguarding and ethics. All relevant policies will be communicated to the consultant(s) with their contract. It is expected that the consultant(s) will demonstrate in their proposed methodology how they will address non-discrimination, data protection, safeguarding and ethics, and conflict and gender sensitivity.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

We are looking for a consultant/team of consultants/international or national consultancy firm meeting the following requirements:

• A minimum of a Master's degree in a relevant field (Social sciences and similar disciplines);
• At least 5 years of proven expertise in evaluating international development programs, in particular in conducting evaluations in the areas of human rights, peace-building, conflict and/or organisational governance; 
• Proven record of consultancies for external program final evaluation is required;
• Significant experience in coordination, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs;
• Demonstrated excellent analytical, writing and reporting skills;
• Proven expertise in conducting quantitative and qualitative research (data field data collection, validation, analysis a summary);
• Knowledge of the socio-cultural, economic and political context of the MENA region;
• Ability to manage the available time and resources and to work under tight deadlines;
• Understanding of donor requirements and independence from the parties involved;
• Ability to facilitate conversations with and relate to a variety of stakeholders;
• Experience conducting evaluations on gender-focused programmes and experience in the MENA region/conflict countries;
• Fluency in English with excellent verbal and written communication skills;
• Fluency in Arabic is required.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants interested in this tender may submit to IWPR the following:

1. A letter of interest (cover letter);
2. Up to two evaluation reports from a previous project of a similar nature (please upload together with letter of interest);
3. Up-to-date CVs of the proposed consultants for this evaluation;
4. Details of daily fee rate in USD.

Please note: shortlisted candidates will be expected to prepare a short evaluation proposal for this consultancy (maximum 5 pages) if selected for final consideration. This will include a technical proposal including the description of the methodology and a financial proposal (number of days and daily rate). Shortlisted candidates, from organisations for which the consultant or firm has carried out recent evaluations for similar projects.