Consultany: Final Evaluation of Oxfam’s ‘Women Leadership Programme’

Terms of Reference for

Final Evaluation of Oxfam’s ‘Women Leadership Programme’

Project title: Women Leadership Programme

Geographical coverage: Nepal; Districts: Surkhet, Makwanpur and National level

Project lifespan: April 2014 – March 2018

1.Introduction

These are the Terms of Reference for the final evaluation of Women Leadership Programme (WLP) by OXFAM Great Britain.

About Oxfam

Oxfam is an international confederation of 17 organizations networked together in more than 90 countries, as part of a global movement for change, to build a future free from the injustice of poverty. Oxfam recognizes the universality and indivisibility of human rights and this forms the most basic framework for its work. It believes that all people are rights-holders and that human rights apply to all people equally; and that all duty-bearers, especially states, have an obligation to respect, protect, and fulfil these human rights. For more info: www.oxfam.org

2.Background

The primary focus of the project is on 1) empowerment of poor and marginalised women; 2) engaging men and in-laws in addressing gender issues, and 3) development of linkages of women’s groups and networks from local to national level advocacy forums to create a strong and broad base for shared learning, knowledge, solidarity and collective action. 4) Creating space for collaboration between right holders and duty bearers to build an environment of collaboration and cooperation; and focus on evidence-based advocacy generating evidence and good models, and using them as lobby and advocacy tools.

The project covers 10 VDCs of Surkhet and Makawanpur districts, and Kathmandu, especially for national level policy advocacy. It is implemented in partnership with Women’s Association for Marginalized Women (WAM), Surkhet, Women Skill Creation Centre (WOSCC) and PRERANA: Support Group for Participatory Development, Lalitpur.

Overall Impact: Improved local governance and gender relations in 10 VDCs of Surkhet and Makawanpur districts of Nepal

Project Outcome:

•Increased influence of poor and marginalised women in decision-making in 40 community level governance structures including the VDC level planning process and

•Improved gender relation in 70 % of the families of women directly supported by this project in 10 VDCs of Nepal.

3.Rationale and objective of the evaluation

The final evaluation is a requirement for the project as part of the Monitoring, Evaluation Accountability and Learning requirements. The main aim of the evaluation will be to systematically analyse the actual outcomes of the programme and its underlying working mechanisms against the proposed outcomes.

Specific objectives:

-Review the achievements reached under each outcome and underlying assumptions. This includes describing the process of how the changes in policies, practices, beliefs and actions have been achieved.

-Build institutional knowledge to inform the development of current and future programmes and projects identifying best practices, lessons learned and developing concrete recommendations.

-Assess the project’s accountability to different stakeholders.

4.Methodology

The following basic principles are expected to guide the further development of the methodology:

-Participation: Allow for the meaningful participation of Oxfam staff, partners and CDC member  in the evaluation process

-Gender Equality: The proposed approach should sufficiently consider the different ways in which women and men have been involved in and responded to the programme in two ways:

1)The evaluation should consider to what extent women as well as men were meaningfully included in programme activities and processes. This should include, among others: numbers women and men involved in activities; number of women in leadership positions; change in gender role improvement in skills and confidence among women to participate in WLP activities, influence stakeholders, and raise awareness in community and other actors; analysis of blocking and enabling factors to women’s involvement; inclusion and women’s rights issues in awareness-raising and advocacy initiatives.

2)The evaluation methodology should ensure the meaningful participation and inclusion of women as well as men in the evaluation process (e.g. focus group discussions, creation of safe spaces, careful monitoring of gender dynamics in mixed spaces, gender specific evaluation tools)

-Data triangulation: The evaluators will gather information through different complimentary sources (outcome harvesting, but also direct observations of WLP activities, key informant interviews, small survey data...)

Desk Review

•Document review of Oxfam documents, project proposal, baseline survey, quarterly and annual reports and other project-related publications.

Field Work

•One-to-one Interviews and focus group discussions with direct beneficiaries and local community members in general in two project districts.

•Consultation with partner project staff and Board members, key stakeholders including members of decision making structures, key staff of public service providers such as health post, CFUG, Drinking water, MAM, VDC/DDC, line agencies, Ward Citizen Forums etc. at both district and national level.

•Observation and analysis of local structures linked to the project such as sub/health post, schools, CFUG, MAM, selected decision making structures at the community

5.Scope of Evaluation

The evaluation will encompass the whole WLP programme in Nepal, from April 2014 up to March 2017. The evaluation will include a validation of the results as presented in the quarterly and annual reports of 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Key Questions of the Evaluation

The evaluation will be guided by the framework key questions (unexhautive) on its relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability.

Relevance

-To what extent did the project respond or aligned to the contextual needs and national priorities?

-Was the project design (activities, financial allocations, project management and execution, supervision and implementation support, and M&E arrangements) appropriate for achieving the project’s objectives and outcomes?

-Did the approach suit the priorities and needs of the diverse groups of young people and their communities? Was it inclusive enough for harder-to-reach youth?

-Was the project advocacy work at national and local level, relevant at the time of project implementation?

Efficiency

-What internal and external factors supported/affected the project implementation according to plan?

-Were financial and human resources appropriate, adequate, and efficiently organized?

-Were synergies with government interventions and other actors taken advantage of sufficiently where it could ensure better project performance?

Effectiveness

-What are the principal outcomes/contributions of the project?

-Which strategies proved to be effective or not? What anticipated and unanticipated factors have promoted or impeded the project’s progress?

-Was sufficient learning component included in the project MEAL system?

-Which internal and external factors have influenced the overall achievements of the programme (positive or negative)?

-What is the perceived added value of countries being part of a multi-country programme?

Sustainability

-Did the achieved outcomes lead to long-term improvements in the general environment for women (impact)?

-Are the exit and hand-over strategies adequate? What is the likelihood that the benefits of the programme are sustained upon its completion?

-Did the achieved outcomes lead to long-term improvements in the general environment for women (impact)?

Evaluation questions will be further fine-tuned throughout the process to ensure they respond to the specific information needs of our key stakeholders. Issues of gender equality should be taken into account when answering the evaluation questions. Particular consideration should be given to the different ways in which women and men have been involved in and responded to the programme.

6. Deliverables

The expected deliverables of the evaluation are as below:

-Inception report with along with the detailed timeline and methodology

-Finalised data collection tools

-Draft report

-A clear and concise final evaluation report, not exceeding 50 pages including executive summary, details of methodologies, findings from document review and field visit, comprehensive recommendations, case studies to support the findings, conclusions and appendices with inception report with final work plan, list of participants, interviewees, locations visited, documents reviewed interview notes, data worksheets etc.)

7.Qualification/Skills required

We are looking for a national team of two to three experienced evaluators with the following qualifications:

-At least  5 years of proven experience in the field of social research and evaluation research

-Proven knowledge and understanding of Women’s Rights, status of women in Nepal.

-Sound knowledge of the socio-political context of Nepal

-Proven professional analytical and writing skills

-Excellent communication, writing and presentation skills in both English and Nepali

-Knowledge of the work of Oxfam or other international NGOs desirable

8.Timeline

The assignment is expected to take approximately 20 working days to complete.

-Desk review is planned to take place from 1st March 2016 to 8th  March 2017

-Field visit should take place between 9th March 2017 and the 19th March 2017.

-Draft report should be submitted by 22th March 2017 and the final report based on comments and recommendations from Oxfam should be submitted by 25th March 2017

-Final Presentation – within 1 week of the submission of the final baseline survey report the results should be presented to Oxfam and selected stakeholders.

9. Budget Break Down

10. Basic documents required for the submission of proposal

In order to be considered for this assignment by Oxfam, following basic documents need to be submitted:

•Bio-data of key persons involving in this initiative

•Copy of documents/materials with evidence of engagement in and successful completion of similar initiatives in the past

•Copy of VAT registration certificate

•Latest tax clearance certificate

•Detailed contact address including telephone, mobile, fax, street and postal address, email etc.

•Copy of firm registration with updated renewal, details of founder members, copy of Article of Association & Memorandum and any other relevant documents

11. Response

The Consulting VAT Registered Individual/Firm should submit a proposal to Oxfam by 27 February 2017 via mail to recruitment_nepal@oxfam.org.uk , clearly mentioning the title of assignment in the email subject line with above mentioned documents attached:

Note: The interested Firms/Institutes will be kept in our roster of OXFAM for similar future consultancy requirement.

DISCLAIMER

Oxfam GB reserves the right to alter the dates of the timetable.

OXFAM GB may cancel or postpone the Call for Proposal but notice will be provided to bidder.

Oxfam GB does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any Call for Proposal.

Oxfam GB is in no way responsible for the cost of preparation of the Call for Proposal response