Bangladesh: Terms of Reference: Mid-term External Project Evaluation Consultancy "Growing Together! Project"

1.Background

1.1 About Humanity & Inclusion

Handicap International which runs program under its operating name Humanity and Inclusion(hereafter referred to as HI) is an independent and impartial international aid organisation working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Working alongside people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our action and testimony are focused on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions and promoting respect for their dignity and their fundamental rights. HI is currently implementing projects in almost 50 countries worldwide, including Thailand.

1.2 Context in which the project takes place

Growing Together! project is implemented in refugee camps and internal displacement settings in Bangladesh, Thailand and Pakistan. The project is directly implemented by country teams in each location and in addition counts with a regional coordination unit based in Thailand.

Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in South Asia with one of the highest densities of population in the world – 160 million. Since 1991-92, close to one million refugees from Myanmar's northern Rakhine State of the Muslim ethnic minority, commonly referred to as the Rohingya, have sought protection in south-east Bangladesh (Cox’s Bazar district). The last influx, with more than 700,000 arrivals from August 2017, has created more pressure on resources and increasing humanitarian needs. Refugees remain in a chronic emergency situation due to long-term challenges to find a durable solution to their status in Myanmar and Bangladesh and therefore require continuous humanitarian assistance. The host Bangladeshi communities are also affected by the presence of a large refugee population living in the region. In addition, this coastal region is continuously dealing with the impacts of natural disasters, mostly cyclones and flooding, during which meagre assets of the local population are damaged or destroyed.

HI has been working in Bangladesh since 1997, with a focus on creating sustainable changes in terms of ensuring rights and inclusion of people with disabilities in society. In Cox Bazar’s district, HI has a strong knowledge and experience in chronic emergency response. Thanks to three projects implemented before the crisis, HI is providing services in rehabilitation, protection and PSS, with an inclusive mainstreaming approach to refugees and host population.

Pakistan has important strategic endowments and development potential. However, Pakistan faces significant economic, governance and security challenges to achieve durable development outcomes. The persistence of conflict in the border areas and security challenges throughout the country affects all aspects of life in Pakistan and impedes development. There is a new Government in place since mid-2018, however the overall security situation still needs improvement. There are restrictions to media reporting in country. Another important development in 2018 is the government decision to merge the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) with KP, raising hopes that such merger would aid the multi-sectorial development of this conflict affected border region. The relationship with neighboring countries, in particular with Afghanistan and India, is complex due to unresolved border issues such as dispute over Kashmir territory or militant groups crossing to/from Pakistan. Afghan/Pakistan border is also subject to thousands of migrant & refugee movements. There still remains over 1 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Pakistan remains one of the lowest performers in the south Asia region on human development indicators, especially in education and stunting. Infant and under five mortality rates present a similar dynamic. Gender disparities persist in education, health and all economic sectors. Pakistan has one of the lowest female labor force participation rates in the region.

Thailand is part of the regional Myanmar-Thailand program which was created in 2016 with the merge of 2 existing missions. Setting up cross border initiatives and integrate the coming return of refugees from Thailand to Myanmar is at the heart of the regional strategy. In Thailand, HI started working in 1984 and first focused its actions on the delivery of mobility and assistive devices to Thai and Burmese ERW victims. Thailand has a long-standing history in receiving refugees from neighbouring countries even though it is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and does not have a formal national asylum framework. Myanmar refugees have been hosted on the Thai-Myanmar border for over three decades; currently, about 90,000 refugees live in nine temporary shelters. Camp management is controlled by the Thai authorities, in collaboration with locally appointed refugee committees. 13 NGOs that are gathered under the Committee for the Coordination of Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT) are providing services within the camps. In light of the political movements in Myanmar since early 2012 through the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement and the general elections in late 2015, a platform for further dialogue on voluntary repatriation between key stakeholders led to the start of the facilitation of voluntary return. Although this process is still very slow, CCSDPT members are coordinating closely to timely react on all known scenarios. The political situation in Thailand has also shifted in 2014. While there is no change in refugee policy, the military is now enforcing existing regulations and specifically confinement to camp.

1.4 The project to be evaluated

Project name: Growing Together!

Project Goal : Enable children with disabilities and other vulnerable children (age 0-12) to develop their full potential on an equal basis with other children and acquire fundamental educational and social skills through inclusive play, arts, games, sport, culture, and early years’ education in displacement settings in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand.

Location: Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand

Target groups (Beneficiaries)

· 3,968 children with disabilities and other vulnerable children in early childhood (50% girls and at least 25% with disabilities).

· Parents of children under 5 years old.

· 4,968 children with disabilities and other vulnerable children of primary school age (50% boys/girls, at least 20% with disabilities).

· 91 local child-development service providers.

Partner:

· Pakistan: CHIP

· Bangladesh: MUKTI

· Thailand: Karen Women Organization (KWO), Karen Refugee Committee Education Entity (KRCEE).

Funding: The project is financed by IKEA Foundation.

Start date: June 2016

Length of the project : 48 months

1.5 Justification for calling upon a Consultant/External Evaluator

The Growing Together! (GT) project ends on the 31^st May 2020, and currently midway through the project the aim is to conduct a mid-term external evaluation to measure and analyse the progress towards the achievement of outcomes, objectives and effects of the intervention, against the program performance indicators, and the project’s immediate and mid-term effects. As well as and based on the findings, to provide recommendations aiming to support the adjustment of the project approaches and interventions according to the needs of the population and towards the sustainability and long-term effectiveness of the project activities[1]. The evaluation is key in the process of developing and ensuring quality standards of the Growing Together! activities implemented in the 3 countries and those led by the regional team, in light of HI’s project quality framework. By analyzing the actions implemented so far, their outcomes and the objectives so far reached, it will enable HI to make more relevant decisions about the approaches to adapt and the actions to implement in the remaining implementation time.

2. SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE EVALUATION

The objective of the mid-term evaluation is to measure and analyze the achievement of outcomes and objectives against the program performance indicators, project’s immediate and midterm effects, as well as all aspects of the project according to HI’s project quality framework, with a practical emphasis on a quality analysis of the results (and if possible changes) achieved and on the identification of good practices and lessons learned.

The expected outcomes are:

· A participatory external mid-term evaluation is conducted on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, change, sustainability, capacity, participation, ethics, cooperation and synergies of the action;

· Good practices, lessons learned and recommendations of the project are identified, so corrective measures can be undertaken if needed;

· Evaluate the strengths, weakness, challenges and opportunities of the GT project in the countries of intervention and for the regional coordination;

· Examine cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, resilience and extrapolate lessons learnt;

2.3 Evaluation grid

The consultant(s) will articulate their analysis around a set of evaluation questions and indicators as presented in the evaluation grid below in line with HI;s project quality framework. These questions are not exhaustive and will be reviewed by the consultant during the desk phase. Any substantial change needs to be agreed with HI and reflected in the Inception Report. The following criteria should be looked into, though other criteria can be suggested by the evaluator:

Please go on :https://www.coordinationsud.org/appel-offre/terms-of-reference-mid-term-external-project-evaluation-consultancy-growing-together-project/ to see the list of criteria expected.

The evaluator should also identify, any examples of good practices, which HI, as a key global player on disability and social inclusion in developing countries can disseminate. These may include tools, publications, lessons learned, training materials, management practices etc. The evaluator should explain why this is considered a good practice and make suggestions on their wider applicability.

3. METHODOLOGY

The exact methodology should be proposed by the consultants in their applications.

The evaluation should consider the opinions of the different targeted actors and compare their views and perceptions on the progress made by the project.

The methodology should include but not be limited to quantitative data. The sampling techniques and target groups will be developed by the consultant, as well as any protocol. The consultant will adopt a mixed approach where s/he will apply qualitative and quantitative methods. In order to calculate sample for acquiring quantitative information, the consultant should ensure 95 % confidence level and 5% of margin of error. Sampling should exhibit appropriate representation of target population (women, men, girls and boys as well as inclusion of impairments).

The technical feedback on the tools and the inception and final report will be delivered by the Regional Program Coordinator, the Regional M&E Officer and the Regional Technical Coordinator.

The mission will consist in:

1. Desk phase, during which the consultant will:

· Review existing project documents and every other relevant document;

· On this basis, develop the inception report (including evaluation protocol based on the evaluation grid presented above including number of interviews and meetings; data collection tools: questionnaires, focus group guide and semi structured interviews guide, work plan including the list of stakeholders to meet during the field phase);

· Adjust the evaluation grid if needed;

Prepare the surveyors training and materials if applicable.

· Coordinate with the country teams the translation of the tools from English to Karen, Burmese, Urdu and Bangla;

These elements will be combined in an inception report. HI team will validate the inception report.

2.Field phase (steps/methodology to be detailed by the consultant)

This includes the collection of primary data through Key Informants Interviews and Focus Group Discussions at field level.

Note: The consultant should have a Plan B for gathering this information in Pakistan, in case due to security/visa restrictions the consultant cannot travel and directly gather the data.

3.A reporting phase during which the consultant will:

· Write a preliminary report on findings, analysis and recommendations;

· Organise a debriefing workshop with HI GT Regional team, in Thailand at the end of consultancy to present the findings (Power Point presentation) with the aim of exchanging and sharing feedback;

· Submit the preliminary report to get comments and feedback from HI team within 5 working days;

· Submission of a final survey report to HI of 50-pages maximum including Annexes.

4. DELIVERABLES

· Produce an inception report in English, including all proposed tools (protocol: sample size, data processing and rating systems), to be introduced at the end of the desk phase. The inception report and tools will have to be validated prior launching the field phase.

· Organize a restitution workshop to GT Regional. A PowerPoint presentation will be produced by the consultant, including:

I. Key points from draft report outlined;

II. A detailed explanation of the methodology and tools used and timeframe;

III. A preliminary analysis of findings/results of the survey;

IV. Recommendations addressing each of the project’s components.

· A Preliminary report incorporating the feedback from the debriefing workshop.

· A final report (50 pages maximum; incl. Annexes) in English within 1 week after completing field data collection. HI will provide comments within 5 working days for the consultant to finalise/adjust the report. The final report should be divided into the following sections:

• Executive summary (2-3 pages);

• Introduction to the context (1-2 pages);

• Evaluation methodology, including selection and sampling methods, and mention any constraints and challenges encountered, and strategies used to overcome them (3 pages);

• Detailed key findings and conclusions presented per criteria and including case studies and lessons learned (15 pages)

• Recommendations (3 pages)

• Annexes – all data collection tools;

• Database;

• List of persons met during the evaluation process and salient points of the meetings.

All reports will be delivered in English and the report will be introduced in soft copy.

Within the report confidentiality will be respected when representing personal information. A consent form needs to be used prior taking any photo, any inclusion of pictures of children will have the statement within the document…. “All names & information about the location of children and family privacy in conformity with HI Child Protection Policy”

NB: For reasons of confidentiality, the evaluation report remains the intellectual property of HI exclusively.

6. TIMELINE

The evaluation mission is expected to start on the 14th January 2019. The deadline for the submission of the final evaluation report is the 3^rd March 2019 the latest including HI validation. The evaluation mission will be planned in accordance with the project team (HI and partners) and dependent on activities planned for the proposed timeframe.

7. PROFILE OF THE CONSULTANT

The evaluation can be carried out by an expert or a team of experts/ support staff.

If a team of experts is selected, the evaluation will be put under the responsibility of one team leader chosen among the team of experts. This person will ensure all communication with HI Thailand office and will be the sole responsible for managing the organization of the evaluation.

The expert or team of experts should combine the following skills, experience and knowledge:

Required

· Written and spoken English;

· Proven experience in external project evaluations and in program development/ design, program management & implementation, monitoring & evaluation;

· Experience in project impact evaluation;

· Knowledge about data collection and data analysis tools/methods used for five DAC-OECD evaluation criteria.

· Background in disability -inclusion, preferably with a working knowledge on child development.

· Good knowledge of MS office and specially MS Excel;

· Proven experience in data analysis and reporting;

· Experience in conducting participatory (qualitative and quantitative) evaluation techniques;

· Experience in refugee and IDPs contexts.

· Experience working in conservative cultural contexts.

Preferred

· Experience on child protection, child participation, inclusive education, early child development and early year education for children is an asset;

· Background in vulnerable/ marginalized groups preferably with a working knowledge on child development.

· Experience working with Non-Governmental Organizations; experience working with HI is an asset;

· Cross cultural & field-based experience in developing contexts

· Experience working in countries of intervention (Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan) is an asset;

· Knowledge of local language(s) is an asset.

8. FORMALITIES

Proposals from interested consultant(s) should include:

1. Letter of expression of interests (compulsory);

2. Curriculum vitae (compulsory) detailing the consultant’s experience on impact evaluations and disability work; reference of previous assignments done or sample of work accomplished;

3. Technical proposal (compulsory) including the evaluation design and methodology, data collection and analysis, activities e.g. development of protocols and tools, and confirmed timeline (suggested timeline attached) considering contextual limitations (see enclosed below);

4. Financial proposal (compulsory) for the external evaluation. All costs related to the evaluation without exceptions should be figured into the financial plan of the consultant, including consultancy fees, domestic and international travel if needed, visa, accommodation, interpreters, data entry, logistics, etc. (transportation to the refugee shelters will be provided by HI);

Note: No per diem will be paid to the consultant(s). Also, international travel days will not be considered as working days and will not be paid.

The consultant will be responsible for its own security in all three countries, HI will not cover any insurance fee during the consultancy period.

1. Registration certificate copy (compulsory);

2. 3 references of which 2 should be from a previous project evaluation experience;

3. List of relevant documents requested for the contractual process in case of selection (Passport, insurance, fiscal registration…).

NOTE - Camp/ field visit limitations:

· The consultant will need to comply with HI security regulations of each country. A security briefing will be provided by the security focal point of each country before arrival to the country or upon arrival.

· It is suggested that the consultant take a suitable amount of cash before living to the areas of activities implementation.

Thailand:

· No entry to the camps without camp-pass permission;

· No camp visit during Bank Holidays;

· No work/interviews on the weekends at the temporary shelter level;

· Mae La is 45 minutes from Mae Sot; Umpiem Mai and Nu Po camps are about 2 and 6 hours from Mae Sot (main HI office in Thailand)- accommodation at Umpang (mid-way for both camps).

· Ban Mae Suring and Ban Mae Na Soi are 6 hours for MST by land. The consultant will stay in Ma Hong Son in a hotel. There are direct flights from Bangkok to Mae Hong Son.

Pakistan:

· No entry to the target area (Peshawar and Nowshera) without No Objection Certificate (NOC), permission from Home Department, which is granted once the Visa is issued; the documents should be submitted at least one month before the visit to home department for the NOC to visit field areas in Peshawar.

· Activities can be only implemented from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm;

· No work / interview on the weekends;

· Respect to local cultural norms and standards and follow the local dress code in the field;

· In-case if the consultant is a male, he should always by accompanied by HI women staff during data collection.

· Separate group meetings with women, men, boy and girls as per local culture;

· Peshawar is 2.5 hours from Islamabad, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) office;

· Peshawar target area (Lala Kalay) is 1 hour from Peshawar, while Nowshera Jalozai target area is 1.5 hour from Peshawar.

· Mobility in Peshawar is limited due to security reasons.

Bangladesh

· Activities can only be implemented from 8: 30 am until 4:30 pm;

· No entry to the camps without camp-pass permission;

· No work / interview on the weekends;

· Travel time from Dhaka towards Cox’s Bazar by air is 50 minutes;

· Travel from Cox’s Bazar to Ukhiya by car is about 45 minutes;

· Travel from Cox’s Bazar to Kutupalong and Teknaf host community is about 1.5 hour by car.

Evaluation of the proposals/ applications will be made through a selection committee in 2 phases:

· Administrative selection: checking for completeness of application (all 7 items listed above).

· Technical selection: criteria to select the best application will be based on the quality of the technical proposal, competitive financial proposal, human resources skills and previous experiences, demonstrated expertise of the applicant.

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration for technical selection.

The deadline for submission of proposals is 9^th of December 2018 at midnight Thailand time.

Proposals should be submitted to the following email: gtrecruitment@thailand-hi.org

Only candidates who passed the administrative selection will be taken into consideration for the technical assessment and they will be afterwards notified of the final decision. Selected applicants may be invited for a (phone/skype) interview.

HI reserves the right to contact the applicants for further information before the final selection of the selection committee.

“Humanity & Inclusionis committed to protect the rights of the children and opposes to all forms of child exploitation and child abuse. HI contractors must commit to protect children against exploitation and abuse”.