Consultant:Evaluation of "Livelihood and Empowerment project"

Oxfam in Nepal

Oxfam has been working in Nepal since the early 1980s undertaking various development initiatives addressing the poverty and injustice faced by women and other socially and economically excluded groups. The level of Oxfam's engagement increased substantially after restoration of democracy in 1990 as it became easier for civil society to work in the new political environment. Over the years, Oxfam has worked in partnership with local civil society organisations and the government to promote rural livelihoods, and vulnerable communities' resilience to climatic shocks and disasters. It has also significantly contributed to empowering community people, especially women, to; negotiate with people in power, influence decision making processes, claim rights and essential services to which they are entitled, demand accountability on the part of duty bearers and engage larger masses in advocacy efforts. Oxfam also worked closely with UNHCR in providing assistance to Bhutanese refugees during the 1990s. Oxfam and its long term programme partners believe that the underlying structural causes and drivers of poverty must be addressed if improvements in peoples's lives are to be broad and lasting. Poverty is not one-dimensional; nor is it purely local in its causes and solutions. Therefore, Oxfam's work addresses not only material and technical change, but also the related economic, social, institutional and policy changes which are necessary to end poverty and achieve development and wellbeing. The Oxfam Nepal Vision is: The people of Nepal are empowered and work together to attain a life of dignity with justice and equal rights for all. The Overall Nepal Programme Goal is: to improve the well being of vulnerable people through strengthening their participation in development and governance processes and reducing poverty and suffering.

Details / requirements:

Terms of Reference (TOR) for consultants 

Evaluation of “Livelihood and Empowerment project” in Udayapur District

Project Rational and Scope:

This Livelihood and Empowerment Programme (LEP) works closely with local NGOs on natural resource management, sustainable livelihood and food security, women’s empowerment, disaster risk management and advocacy targeting the socially, economically and geographically excluded, deprived and vulnerable communities in the western and eastern regions to achieve its goal. The project is ongoing in 41 VDCs of 6 districts and Udaypur is one of the program districts

LEP model of change envisages a strategy of formation and building stronger farmers groups and cooperatives at the village development Level (VDC) to undertake different interventions on vulnerability reduction, sustainable and resilient livelihood and community and women empowerment. These sustaining community institutions could coordinate with and mobilize resources from government and other service providers, even after the project support exit from the VDCs, to improve the living standard and wellbeing of their members and society. These community organizations have strong linkages and coordination with line agencies to access essential services like education, public health, humanitarian support at the time of disaster. Such stronger community institutions also enable the community to have more bargaining power in negotiation with government and market players. LEP expects to reach at the sustainable level in 4-5 years of its intervention and later the community institutions will have the capacity to take charge of the development work and sustain the impacts.

The evaluation will cover the project activities in 9 VDCs (Chaudandi, Hadiya, Jogidaha, Katunjebabala, Triugamunicipality-5, Saune, Siddipur, Sundarpur and Beltar of Udayapur district. As the project is an ongoing, the consultant will need to work closely with the partner and communities to assess the past achievement as well as the current status.

The project has been supporting 5,331 Households.

Objectives of the evaluation

 The evaluation exercise is intended to be a systematic learning exercise for Oxfam and SWOG following a participatory approach involving community members and local stakeholders. It will be structured to generate and share experiences and practical knowledge, and will identify and document lessons learned and make recommendations to improve design and implementation of the programme.

The evaluation will capture the status of following results through quantitative and qualitative indicators;

Ø  Status of food and income security of the target community

Ø  Empowerment and institutionalization of the target community with focus on women ensuring access to resources and services and influencing development process in favor of poor, smallholders and excluded community.

Ø  Capacity of the community  to cope up with physical and social vulnerability 

Ø  To assess the capacity, work approaches and effectiveness of the implementing partner

Ø   To identify key lessons and recommendations relevant for Oxfam and SWOGs work as well as making strategic choices/directions for future programming.

3. Deliverable (i.e. what exactly the consultant is required to deliver at the end of the project):

The final deliverable of the evaluation exercise is a written report in English presenting the key findings and recommendations. In addition, it will include a table of contents, an executive summary that can be used as a document in its own right, and annexes (e.g. TOR, list of interviewees, interview guides or questionnaires, itinerary, lists of abbreviations and of documents consulted).

 The format of the report should be proposed by the consultant, which will be finalized by the consultant together with Oxfam team. One laser printed original copy of the final report should be submitted by the consultant to Oxfam, along with an electronic copy in CD with the text, tables, and graphs of the report in Word and Excel respectively, copies of the raw data collected during the study should also be submitted to Oxfam. The e-copy of photographs during project sites visits need to give concern staff of Oxfam. It is suggested that the consultant incorporate action quality photographs in the appropriate sections of the report. Consultant shall make a presentation to the Oxfam team, partners and national stakeholders as per Oxfam’s requirement.

3.1 Products expected from the Evaluation

·         Inception Report, Two Power point presentation (1st draft and final draft), Draft Evaluation Report, Final Evaluation Report, and Documentation of Lesson Learnt.

·         A finalized model for Final Evaluation including evaluation methodology, tested checklist, sample final questionnaires and proposed timelines for undertaking the evaluation

  • Strong human stories, success stories, testimonies, negative effects and pictures and meeting minutes to support the analysis and evidence.

4 Key evaluation Questions

The consultant is suggested to follow the framework set out in Table 1 which outlines seven (7) key categories of analysis: Impact & Outcomes, Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Gender, Implementing partner’s capacity and added value, Lessons & Recommendations.

Table 1: Synthesis framework

Evaluation Criteria

Key Questions

Sub Questions

1.      Impact and Outcomes

What significant results have been achieved by the programs on food and income security, community and women empowerment and vulnerability reduction?

 

To what extent are these results deemed to be sustainable?

1.      What significant changes in the lives of poor men and women has the programme contributed to?

2.      How far has the programme gone towards the attainment women and community empowerment?

3.      What significant impact the program has achieved in vulnerability reduction of women and community?

4.      What changes in policies, practices, ideas and beliefs has the programme contributed to?

5.      To what extent does the evidence provided establish that results are attributable to the programme and its interventions? Is attribution based on an assessment of adequacy, plausibility or probability?

6.      Who are the male and female beneficiaries affected by this result, how many were affected and how were they affected?

7.      Were the results intended or unintended?

8.      Were the results direct or indirect results of Oxfam programming?

 

Sustainability

9.      How durable are the reported results or changes?

10.  What factors were identified as contributing to sustainability of results?

11.  Were some types of results deemed to be more sustainable than others?

12.  Did the nature of beneficiary involvement (in the design, implementation and monitoring of the program) affect the sustainability of results in any way?

2.      Relevance

To what extent is the relevance of a programme identified as having affected results achievement?

1.      What was the relevance of the programme to male and female beneficiaries, implementing partners, other funding partners?

2.      How appropriate were the objectives to the needs and capacities of the target beneficiaries/ institutions?

3.      How and to what extent did the target beneficiaries and partner agencies participate in programme design, implementation, M&E?

4.      Did the design of the programme continue to be relevant to all stakeholders (identified above) over the course of the programme?

5.      How responsive was the programme to changes in external context and to the emergent challenges?

3.      Effectiveness

What factors – internal and external to the programme - have influenced the achievement of results?

 

How do these factors differ depending on the programme’s technical sector/theme?

1.      To what extent has the programme achieved its stated objectives and targets?

2.      To what extent has beneficiary participation in program design and implementation affected the achievement of results?

3.      What activities/strategies did not achieve the intended results?

4.      What factors – internal and external -- caused the problems or shortfalls?

5.      Were the problems identified as risks at the planning stage or did they emerge during implementation?

6.      Which of these factors (and new ones, if any) are likely to continue to influence performance in the future?  

4.      Efficiency/Cost effectiveness

To what extent is the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of an intervention identified as having affected results achievement?

1.      Was the programme delivered in a timely manner and did it affect results achievement?

2.      How efficiently have our resource been used? How cost-effective have the interventions been?

3.      Is the relationship between input of resources and results achieved appropriate and justifiable? Are there any alternatives for achieving the same results with less inputs/funds?

4.      Has accountability been demonstrated, to whom and how?

5.      Gender

To what extent are gender issues identified as having affected results achievement?

1.      How has the equity between men and women and other groups changed as a result of the intervention?

2.      Were women and men affected differently by results?

3.      Were there distinct factors that specifically affected programme focused on gender and/or women?

4.      To what extent were considerations on gender mainstreamed into the programme cycle (assessment-design-implementation-monitoring), and did this affect and/or contribute to results achievement?

6.      Implementing partner’s capacity and added value

How did the partner’s capacity and expertise contrite to the results achieved?

 

1.      Did the distinct expertise, capacities or networks of the partner contribute to results achievement?

2.      Did the working relationship between OHK and its partner contribute to and/or affect results achievement?

7.      Lessons and recommendation

What were the programmes’ main challenges and strengths?

 

What have we learned and has this learning been shared amongst ourselves and with others?

What lessons can we draw in terms of:

1.      Overall strategy in pursuit of Oxfam’s mission; choice of aims; activities and methodologies.

2.      Activities, (For programmes & advocacy: include lessons about our model of change; programme approach; partner relationships)

3.      Organizational capacity, structure and competencies

4.      Process and planning format

5.      Effective, efficient and strategic use of resources

6.      Risks and assumptions

 

5. Methodologies

For the assignment, an evaluation team will be formed comprising SWOG representative and led by the consultant. They will apply diverse methods, take into consideration different perspectives, and work with diverse sources of information and stakeholders. Data collection and sharing of the analysis will be highly participatory engaging the partner and community members so as to enhance the ownership and potential learning benefits for all key stakeholders.

 The evaluation methodology will be proposed by the evaluation team and validated by Oxfam, which should:

-     Clearly outline the design of the whole exercise, specifying the approach to addressing the purposes of the task,

-       Determine the qualitative and quantitative instruments and methods for collecting the needed, information (e.g. interviews, observations, focus groups, literature, surveys, ratings, knowledge tests, site visits, etc.) including the sample of key informants to be interviewed; preferably, systems approaches such as appreciative inquiry and outcome mapping will be applied,

-       Ensure that findings are triangulated and addressed by multiple methods and data,

-       Schedule for information collection and specify who will be responsible for making the information available,

-       Outline the approaches for analysis and interpretation of data.

6. Tentative work plan and time line

The whole process should include the following phases:

-      Phase 1: December, 2015  

Work plan development; form the evaluation team; develop the plan and strategy for evaluation and capture learning;

-      Phase 2: January- 10 

 Participatory data collection and analysis in the VDCs: gathering and analysing additional data to fulfil the task, and facilitating key learning with beneficiaries, partners, key stakeholders and key Oxfam staff.

-      Phase 3: January 15-28

 Data analysis and report writing: Upon completion of the work in field, the evaluation team will analyse the data gathered and obtain more information as needed from partners and Oxfam staff. A validation workshop should be held to discuss and triangular preliminary findings. The consultant will submit a draft and a final report.

6. Management of the program

The Programme Coordinator- Food Security and Livelihood under FEJ programme of Oxfam in Nepal assisted by the Programme Coordinator-LEP will manage the process from Oxfam’s side and facilitate contact between the consultant and key stakeholders.

7. Minimum Qualifications/Selection criteria of the consultants

The consultant must offer the following demonstrated experience, knowledge and competencies: 

-          Recent experience with livelihood, natural resource management, disaster preparedness, institutional development and knowledge of mainstreaming gender equality into policies/programming/development; knowledge of gender related strategies in like organizations

-          Qualification: at least Master degree with 10 years experience

-      Hands on and practical experience in the evaluation of development programs following acceptable  methodologies and standards

-      Facilitation skills, particularly design of stakeholder consultations exercises

-      Strong understanding of data collection and analysis skills

-      Excellent written communication skills in English

-      Computer literacy with specific regard to Word, Excel and Power Point

-      An understanding of local culture context is a must

-      Consultant should have PAN, Company registration, VAT registration and Tax Clearance certificates

9. Requested documents and information

The Consultant should complete and submit the following documents with his/her proposal:

  1. Proposal along with finance submission duly completed and signed by the consultant;
  2. Methodology to be drawn up, including the outline programme;
  3. C.V. highlighting the consultant’s experience in the specific field of the services and his/her specific experience in the country/region where the task are to be performed;

The Consultant should also provide all relevant information; documents and references, which give evidence of his/her qualifications to carry out the task.

The Consultant whose proposal is accepted shall provide, if so requested by the Contracting Authority, copies of academic qualifications and employers’ certificates or references proving his/her education, professional experience and language proficiency.

10. Confidentiality

During the performance of the assignment or at any time after expiry or termination of the agreement, the Consultant shall not disclose to any person or otherwise make use of any confidential information which he/she has obtained or may obtain in the course of the study relating to partner organization/Oxfam, the respondents or otherwise.

 Interested  firms are requested to send their proposal clearly mentioning the title of assignment in their email subject line  by 3 December 2015 via mail to recruitment_nepal@oxfam.org.uk

 

 

Overview

Category Consulting & Professional Services
Openings 1
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Posted Date 19 Nov, 2015
Apply Before 03 Dec, 2015
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