TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR END OF PROJECT EVALUATION FOR THE RIGHTS BASED APPROACH TO CHILD PROTECTION AND EDUCATION PROGRAM IN GARISSA COUNTY.
Summary
Purpose: The primary purpose of the end term evaluation is to provide a concise assessment of the achievement of the project against project objectives, outcomes and outputs. The EPE will gauge the performance of the project against other evaluation criteria and as detailed in this TOR so as to cover both the quantitative and qualitative approaches of evaluations.
Partners: Womankind Kenya and Eriks Development Partners
Estimated Duration: 20 working days
Geographical Location: Garissa township, Hulugho and Lagdera Sub-counties in Garissa County.
Target respondents: project beneficiaries, local leadership, County leadership, community members and stakeholders within targeted locations, project staff as well as Eriks Development Partners representatives.
Deliverables: Inception report, data collection tools, data sets, draft report, presentations and final report
Methodology: Mixed methods which include: Documents review, Key Informants Interview with key stakeholders, interviews with community members, FGDs and observations.
Evaluation Management Team: WomanKind Kenya MEAL unit, program team representatives and ERIKS representatives.
Background
Garissa County is one of the 47 counties in Kenya, located in the North Eastern part of the country. The county has a population of about 699,534, (375,985 M, 323,549 F) people (Garissa CIDP, 2015), a majority of whom are nomadic pastoralists, however, about 16% of the population live a more sedentary lifestyle and have embraced agriculture as a means of livelihood (Garissa CIDP, 2015).
A majority of children in the county are unable to access basic amenities that facilitate their well-being in regards to access to education, only 42% of school going age are able to access primary education. More than half of the children are out of school (County Director of Education – Garissa).
Child rights violations in the county are very rampant. Most of the violations are not reported to authorities for legal action. Propensity to child marriage in the region is very high which is associated with high drop-out rates at 17% for girls in schools, girls are considered source of income to poor families through dowry payments. This has affected retention and transition of girls in education especially after attaining the age 15years. The dominant culture in the county is Somali which is patriarchal in nature, adults especially men are final decision makers in the community, the paternalistic management of children issues have resulted children voices not to be heard.
Children are affected by the calamities; these are man-made and natural disasters that affect the community lifestyle and wellbeing. Populations are prone to droughts; floods and ethnic skirmishes that directly affect their economic status where children and women are the most affected.
The community have weak or lacks very strong informal and formal structures for child protection as well as for advocacy engagement with duty bearers.
Project Background Information
Womankind Kenya in partnership with ERIKS development partners is seeking a consultant to conduct an End Project Evaluation in Garissa County. The project “Watoto Wetu Project” was implemented by Womankind Kenya from January 2016 to December 2018 in Garissa county within 3 sub counties of: – Garissa township, Hulugho and Lagdera Sub-counties, this was preceded by a similar programme implemented in 2013 to 2015. The consultant is expected to showcase the project impact with relevant supportive data and elaborations citing interventions and results on the areas of Child protection; access to basic education, formal & informal child protection structures and networks for advocacy and provide a comprehensive report.
Project objectives
The general objective of the project was to establish and strengthen the community and government structures and institutions in child rights service delivery.
The project specific objectives have been:
To enhance access and retention to basic education by 15%, in the 30 target schools in the 3 sub-counties of Garissa County;
To Strengthen formal and informal child protection structures to facilitate enjoyment of child rights in 3 target sub-counties in Garissa; and
To promote networking that responds to the needs and challenges on rights for the pastoralist child in Garissa.
Evaluation Purpose and Scope
The broad objective of the End Term Evaluation is to find out the extent to which the program achieved its objectives as per the set indicators.
The specific objectives of the evaluation will be:
Assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project in relation to the objectives (and supporting outputs) set out in the Programme Document
Deduce key lessons learnt the target geographical area; and.
Develop a set of key recommendations regarding child protection rights in the targeted geographical areas.
The Evaluation will also Harvest project outcomes and provide detailed contextual information and analysis on attitudes, knowledge and behaviour changes of communities and stakeholders in Garissa County relating child protection, with regards to project interventions
Evaluation Design
Assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the project design in as far as bringing about maximum benefits for children.
Key Evaluation Questions
Effectiveness
Establish the extent to which the project realized its objectives in light of the project’s expected results and their indicators
To what extent were the project expected results achieved (outputs and outcomes)?
What changes as reported by the community/stakeholders has the project contributed to in terms of children and education rights? (Positive, negative, expected and unexpected)
Efficiency
Assess the extent to which the project results were efficiently delivered in regard to the implementation strategies that were used.
Were all activities done within the budget? If there were any significant variances (whether early or late, over or under expenditure), what caused them?
Were all the activities carried out and in a timely manner? If not, why?
How did the efficiency affect the effectiveness of the project?
To what extent was there value for money in the project? Has the project done enough with the funds available or could things have been done differently in order to achieve higher value for money?
Impact
Establish changes (intended and unintended) in the lives of children and the people in their immediate environment (parent’s, community members, leaders) that happened as a result of the project.
Are there factors that impede the achievement of the overall goal as reflected in the Project Proposal?
What are the unintended positive and negative impacts of the implementation of the project?
What measures have been and can be taken to eliminate or reduce the negative impacts?
Relevance
Assess the extent to which the project’s objectives were consistent with the priorities of the needs of the children in Garissa. Generally, an assessment of the project theory of change. In addition, assess whether the funding is consistent with local needs, priorities and possibilities, including those of local partners.
Were the interventions designed, planned and implemented to meet the needs and priorities of the target group?
To what extent were the project interventions consistent with Womankind and the government of Kenya strategic direction.
To what extent do the community members think that the project respected their culture/religion/daily routines/community calendars etc. and how did that affect the project uptake?
Sustainability
Analyse the sustainability mechanisms established by the project which includes strengthening local delivery mechanisms within the target districts among others and make necessary recommendations on how they should be linked with existing programmes and the development framework in Garissa.
What sustainability measures were put in place – institutional/financial/technical?
What tendencies to sustaining the results or the initiated activities can be seen?
To what extent have socio-cultural factors affected uptake of project interventions? And what measures have been/should be taken to address the same?
Documentation and Recommendations
Document lessons learnt and good practices that could be incorporated into the wider child protection and education programming for children in Garissa and make recommendations on how the project’s impact, effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and sustainability could have been better for program learning purposes.
Evaluation Methodology
The end of project evaluation shall employ the cross sectional study design using mixed methods approach of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The objective is to meaningfully provide comparable statistics to document any changes amongst target beneficiaries. The consultant can propose further methods of sampling, data collection and analysis to the evaluation management team. The detailed methodology will be developed by the consultant after the discussion during the inception meeting and in close communication with evaluation management team. The Evaluation design will include:
Desk research: The purpose of the desk research is to review and conceptualize the existing situation of project intervention; existing policies on Child protection and institutional capacity. Policy environment and implementation of children rights alongside Public Knowledge and practices on Children rights.
Consultative meetings with key stakeholders Consultations are aimed at identifying awareness levels on Children Rights and Child protection, Community knowledge and practice, child safe spaces, strategies and the approaches used to promote Children Rights and Established community Child Protection structures.
Risk analysis, Sustainability, and capacity assessment in the targeted communities or areas: This is intended to provide information on progressive and sustained community structures established by the project and enhanced linkages with relevant stakeholders for effective child protection strategies and referral pathways.
Validation Workshops to present the draft report to Womankind Kenya and partners: The purpose is to share and discuss the findings of the study with partners (Children Department/WOKIKE/County Governments/ Garissa Civil Society Network) and seek their feedback and input before the final report is done.
Scope of Work
It is expected the research consultancy will involve the following tasks:
Meet with Project Management team and other staff for initial briefing and discussion of TOR;
Review project documentation (proposal, log frame, theory of change etc.) and existing evidence;
Conduct a comprehensive data collection from the targeted beneficiaries and identified stakeholders;
Prepare a detailed inception report and work plan for the baseline, and discuss schedule with Womankind Kenya; and
Design data collection instruments, including questionnaires and all data entry processes, and qualitative tools adapted for different target groups as appropriate
Outputs/Deliverables
Specific outputs of the consultancy will be:
Detailed inception report and work plan;
Data collection methodology, including sampling strategy and data collection tools;
Training and capacity building on data collection & research ethics for enumerators and project staff;
Data analysis of quantitative and qualitative data;
Draft(s) evaluation report;
Final evaluation report;
A ‘user-friendly’ summary of End of Project Evaluation report to aid sharing of key findings
Evaluation Quality & Ethical Standards
The consultant shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the Evaluation is designed and conducted to respect and protect the rights and welfare of the people and communities involved and to ensure that the Evaluation is technically accurate and reliable, is conducted in a transparent and impartial manner, and contributes to organizational learning and accountability. Therefore, the Evaluation team shall be required to adhere to the Evaluation standards and applicable practices.
Utility: Evaluations must be useful;
Feasibility: Evaluations must be realistic, diplomatic, and managed in a sensible, cost effective manner;
Ethics & Legality: Evaluations must be conducted in an ethical and legal manner, with particular regard for the welfare of those involved in and affected by the Evaluation;
Impartiality & Independence: Evaluations should be impartial, providing a comprehensive and unbiased Evaluation that takes into account the views of all stakeholders;
Transparency: Evaluation activities should reflect an attitude of openness and transparency;
Accuracy: Evaluations should be technically accurate, providing sufficient information about the data collection, analysis, and interpretation methods so that its worth or merit can be determined;
Participation: Stakeholders should be consulted and meaningfully involved in the Evaluation process when feasible and appropriate;
Collaboration: Collaboration between key operating partners in the Evaluation process improves the legitimacy and utility of the Evaluation.
Time frame
We anticipate that the contracted work will take up to 20 working days and will be completed by 8th September 2019, during which time the consultant must have submitted all the deliverables agreed upon in section 8.0. Submitted proposals should outline expected days allocated and for each stage of the process. Deadlines will be mutually agreed and incorporated into the final contract. The consultant should be ready to start the assignment in August 2019. The consultant should be ready to present an inception report to Womankind Kenya within 5 days after signing the contract, detailing the methodology for conducting the evaluation, sample size selection methodology, detailed work plan (key activities & actual number of days plus an itemised budget) and data collection tools.
Qualifications and Experience for consultants
Successful evaluation research partner will have a solid track record on the criteria below, with examples of evidence for each.
General criteria
Demonstrable expertise on child rights
Thematic expertise on child rights violations & child led advocacy
Geographic expertise in Garissa County preferably
A financial proposal that offers good value for money and that maximizes potential efficiencies to deliver the outputs within budget
Technical criteria
Have more than three years proven research/evaluation experience including at least conducting of 5 similar summative evaluations in humanitarian and development settings;
Experience in participatory methodologies in the targeted areas;
High level of professionalism and an ability to work independently and in high-pressure situations under tight deadlines;
Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
Experience in qualitative methods and analysis, participatory research, action research;
Experience in project monitoring and evaluation systems, including those using participatory approaches and ‘hard to measure’ indicators (i.e. empowerment, governance, well-being, etc.);
Evidence of strong downward accountability mechanisms used with project stakeholders/ participants to actively share results and learning;
Evidence of use of ethical considerations and methodological measures for conducting research with children;
The lead consultant must have strong analytical skills and ability to clearly synthesize and present findings, draw practical conclusions, make recommendations and to prepare timely well-written reports;
Availability for the period indicated; and
The team shall make all efforts to be gender inclusive.
