Project Location: Garowe (Puntland), Hargeisa (Somaliland) and Nairobi (Kenya)
Background to the Organisation
The project is a collaboration between the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) at the University of Hargeisa (UoH), the Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Research and Capacity Development (CPSRCD) at Puntland State University and the Rift Valley Institute (RVI). The overall aim of the collaboration is “to deliver high quality research by Somalis that will generate useful knowledge of the Somali regions and its communities and that will inform Somali and International development policy”.
PSU, founded in 1998 and registered as a university in 2004, offers two master’s degree programs in business administration and in development studies and a course in research methods as a cross cutting module. CPSRCD has participated in several social research and survey projects with external partners including UNDP, ILO, SIDA, the University of Sussex and development organizations.
Since it was founded in 2008 IPCS through diploma and master’s programs has been educating leaders including, but not limited to, customary authorities, members of parliament and members of civil society. IPCS regularly hosts talks by Somali and non-Somali academic researchers at the institute and regularly invites them to lecture on post-graduate courses.
RVI founded in 2001 conducts long-term research in Eastern and Central Africa. This has included an investigation of local Sudanese peace processes and political settlements, a study on armed groups in the Eastern DRC, land disputes in Mogadishu and the impact of war on Somali men. Capacity building of researchers is integrated into RVI research projects. Furthermore, for over 10 years RVI has run annual educational courses on the Sudans, the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Region and organizes bespoke courses on individual countries in the region.
Introduction to the project
Project objectives: The overall goal of the project is to deliver high quality research by Somalis and Somali institutions that will generate useful knowledge of the Somali regions and its communities and that will inform Somali and international development policy. The specific objectives of the project are;
To develop individual capacities for research through training in research methodologies, the provision of scholarships, and work placements in research projects
To develop competence in two Somali higher education institutes for training and research through investments in human resources, research resources and in equipment and facilities
To support the socio-economic development of Somali communities by enhancing local capacities for evidence based research to generate knowledge that will inform governance and development policies.
Project strategy
To achieve the objectives identified above the project has implemented the following set of activities;
Supported the development of existing, locally founded and managed Somali universities to deliver high quality training courses in social science research.Supported the development of specialist research and training centres specializing in peace and conflict studies and development studies.
Developed capacities for evidence based research that will inform Somali development policies and bring local knowledge to bear on international development policies.
Project outcomes and targets (summary with details are annexed in the log frame)
The project has three key outputs
Output 1: Somali university teachers, students, development practitioners and policy makers receive quality training in research methodology and are able to undertake and manage research
Output 2: Individual researchers have increased access to training and support for their research and career development
Output 3: Development of two specialist research centres in conflict and peace studies and development studies with the ability to produce high quality research on Somalis that can be accessed by a wide range of development actors.
Purpose of the evaluation
The purpose of the evaluation is to establish whether the project achieved its targets and goals and whether this has contributed or will contribute to long-term capacity improvement in research and training at the targeted institutions.
Scope of work
Period covered by the evaluation
The evaluation will cover the full period of project implementation from August 2015 and December 2017. The evaluation will assess all the activities of the project, including training in research, curriculum development, evidence-based research and institutional development.
Evaluation questions
Effectiveness: Effectiveness refers to the extent to which a development intervention has achieved its objectives, taking their relative importance into account:
To what extent has or will the investment likely achieve planned results? What difference will this make to the beneficiaries? Have any identified risks been addressed?
Were the institutional partnerships selected the most appropriate for attaining the investment objectives? Were all the required partners adequately engaged?
If gender and inclusion targets were set at the investment inception, what is the likelihood of the investment achieving these targets? If not, were there any significant achievements with regards to addressing gender and inclusion issues?
Were other crosscutting aspects such as Environment, Poverty and Climate Change taken into consideration during in design and implementation?
How well was the project managed with regards to project implementation, time management and quality assurance? Were there any successful approaches used to manage the project across all locations?
Relevance: Relevance is the extent to which a development intervention conforms to the needs and priorities of the target groups, the policies of recipient countries and donors and SSF strategy:
Has the investment been aligned with the needs and priorities of the government, other constituents, the target institutions and the focal beneficiaries?
Are the investments consistent with SSF Theory of Change? Are the investments consistent and complementary with activities supported by other donors?
Sustainability: Sustainability is the continuation or longevity of benefits (the continued impact) of the investment beyond the support from donors (SSF).
Is there any evidence that there will be sustainability of the investment outcomes and impact as well as institutional capacity beyond the project period?
Additionally:
A value for money analysis should be undertaken to the extent possible, as part of answering the cost- effective and efficiency related questions in the evaluation criteria. The evaluation should assess the extent to which the consortium put adequate measures in place to ensure cost-effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of the investment.
Is there any significant evidence to demonstrate that if the investment had not taken place, the results achieved or likely to be achieved would not have been attained?
Were there any examples of efforts to ensure value for money and cost-effectiveness?
What are the key lessons learned and recommendations that can be made for future investments within this area?
Methodology
The evaluation will use a mixed-method methodology combining both quantitative and qualitative methods and analysis to strengthen the reliability of data and the validity of the findings.
Data collection and analysis tools will include literature review of key project documents and reports, focus group discussions and semi structured interviews with beneficiaries, key informant interviews with project managers, consortium partners, trainers, and researchers. The evaluation will also collect case studies to illustrate challenges, achievements of the project.
Evaluation tasks and deliverables
The evaluators are expected to provide RVI with the following deliverables:
A detailed inception report with a work plan and proposed data collection tools to be delivered within fifteen (15) days after signing the contract. The inception report should describe the technical approach (and data collection tools) that will be used in the evaluation, including draft questions, and a detailed work plan.
A draft evaluation report of the evaluation to RVI and partners to review and comment on;
A revised and final evaluation report for the RVI and partners responding to comments from the project partners;.
The evaluation report shall be written in English, be of no more than 40 pages including an executive summary, but excluding annexes.
Annexes will include detailed information collected during field visits, such as focus discussion reports, summaries of interview sheets, summaries of responses to questionnaires and any case studies documented;
During the interviews and field visits, the evaluators will take photos at project sites and audio- record some of the interviews of the stakeholders that will be submitted along with the reports.
Proposed Evaluation Timeline
Activity
Inception report, programme document review, work plan and data collection tools developed (3 days)Early February 2018
Travel to the region to conduct data collection (12 days)Mid February 2018
First draft report to be shared with the partners for evaluation and input (7 days)28 February 2018
On-going communication with partners to finalise the external evaluation report (2 days)15 March 2018
Composition and Qualifications of the evaluation team
To ensure the independence of the evaluation, and the credibility of the findings, the evaluation will be conducted by external consultant identified through transparent selection processes. The team will have an appropriate balance of expertise in evaluation methodologies, relevant technical expertise and practical experience in conflict and fragile affected states. The team should ideally include an experienced Somali national. The evaluation team leader is expected to be an evaluation professional with at least 5 years’ experience leading and managing complex evaluation assignments, particularly relating to evaluation of training and research projects. The team should include members with skills in data collection, validation and analysis. Fluency in written English is essential.
