Consultancy Service to conduct Mid-term Evaluation of a project “Empowered Persons with disabilities in an Inclusive and Resilient Community

Consultancy Service to conduct Mid-term Evaluation of a project “Empowered Persons with disabilities in an Inclusive and Resilient Community” 

(AX: 24568)

(11 October 2021)

1.0 Background

Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) with support from Danish Red Cross has been implementing a project entitled “Empowered Persons with Disabilities in an Inclusive Community" from 1st September 2019 – 31st August 2022.

The project aims to empower Persons with Disabilities (PWD) & support their family, community, and institutions to become more inclusive. The project has four outputs: Output 1: Self-confidence of persons with disabilities and their capacity to position themselves as active members of their families are strengthened. Output 2: Meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in their communities is increased. Output 3: An enabling environment allowing persons with disabilities to fully exercise their rights is fostered. Output 4: Local authorities and communities (including Self Help Groups) have increased awareness and capacity to take actions towards community resilience through a multi-hazard and Disability Inclusion approach in Disaster Risk Management.

The project is being implemented in Dordi Rural Municipality, Lamjung and Rishing Rural Municipality Tanahu.This project is led by Gender Diversity and Inclusion (GESI) Department, NRCS. However, output 4 (also known as DiDRR output) is led by the Disaster Management (DM), NRCS.  The expertise and ownership of the output 4 is the responsibility of DM department where GESI department provides the other coordination facilitation and other required support for the activity's execution. DM department has appointed a DM officer responsible for output 4 but the project coordinator is from GESI department. DM officer works under two line-management, EPIC project coordinator and DM director. So, this project is a cross department project. So, proper coordination, expertise support at right time and clear communication from HQ to field team is very important part of the project management. The relationship and understanding between two department as well as  project coordinator and DM officer is also equally important. 

The programme is supported by a consortium of Hong Kong Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, Austrian Red Cross and Finnish Red Cross. The programme implementation began in September 2019 and the baseline was conducted in January 2020. Immediately after the baseline Nepal faced severe Covid-19 restrictions causing significant delays and challenges in the activity's implementation.

2.0  Purpose, Objectives and Scope

2.1 Purpose

The mid-term evaluation has been initiated by Danish Red Cross and Nepal Red Cross as a follow up on the programme baseline survey completed in January 2020.  The main purpose of this mid-term evaluation is to find out:a) relevance of the project intervention and approaches/strategies(b) issues or problems in designing, implementation and management, and c)project progress status and identify any adjustments that may enhance project performance to achieve the project results.  

2.2   Objectives

The objectives of the review are:

• to assess the extent to which the project is on track to achieve the expected results as per the agreed indicators and timelines 
• to provide lessons learnt and clear recommendations on how to proceed to achieve the project objectives and results
• to assess the appropriateness of the execution and implementation modalities/approachese.g., working with family/care takers, Self Help Group (SHG) leading the project activities, household visit schedule, and level of information provided by the CW, PSS service by outsourcing, feedback mechanism, etc. 
• to assess the level of inclusivity of the key stakeholders, e.g.,direct beneficiaries (person with disability, caretaker/family members, SHG) and analyze the nature and extent of their participation, by gender& ethnicity. Also identify the areas to improve for the meaningful participation of the vulnerable groups within the target group.
• to assess if there is adequate government commitment to the project that contributes to sustainability of project results and suggest possible measures that can be used to increase the authority's commitment

2.3   Scope

The mid -term-evaluation will be covering both of the rural municipalities where the project is being implement, namely Dordi Rural Municipality, Lamjung and Rishing Rural Municipality in Tanahu. Themid -term-evaluation will focus on three outputs output1, output 2 and output 3 because output 4 was started only on March 2021.

2.4  Questions

Relevance

• To what extent was the project designed in line with needs and priorities of the target groups? 
• To what extent are the results in line with government priorities and policies?
• To what extent does the project contribute to DRC’s country and global strategy?

Effectiveness

• To what extent is the project on track to reaching its objectives through delivering its outputs? Please assess if activities are feasible in terms of reaching agreed outputs and objectives within the current project time frame. 

Efficiency

• To what extent are the project on track to reach its expected results within schedule and with an efficient use of resources? The estimate should be based on a comprehensive analysis. 
• To what extent are the quantity and quality of project inputs reasonable relative to the target outputs
• To what extent are local expertise (by gender) and indigenous technologies and resources used?
• Is the coordination and collaboration with other stakeholders sufficient in scope and quality to avoid resource duplication?

Management and Partnership

• How is the target group involved in the project planning, execution, and monitoring?
• To what extent are the partnerships with stakeholders and local government established and maintained
• To what extent is the project team receiving relevant support(i.e.DRC CO team, NRCSHQ; HQ team from partner and other department)? How's the coordination collaboration between the two departments (DM Department and GESI Department) and sectoral experts? Are the communication & reporting channels clear?

Sustainability of the programme

How are the exit strategies/sustainability plans considered?  

To what extent are the exit strategies/sustainability plans realistic and feasible?

Which other stakeholders are engage in taking forward the objectives and to what degree are they committed?

Are there any signs of a potential contribution to the enabling environment or to the broader development context (i.e., institutional, socio-political, economic, and environmental)?

Inclusiveness and Right based approach 

• How are the inclusive strategies designed and used in different phases of the project?  
• To what extent are right based approach are used and effective to meet the project objective? 
• How is the community engagement and accountability (CEA) mechanisms established and used in the project? 
• Is there any possibility of potential collaboration with other right based organizations or government units to contribute to sustainability of the project outcome?

How is the project in-line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 who explicitly highlight the disability inclusive development, empowerment of person with disability and disability inclusive DRR activities.

3. Methodology

The mid -term-evaluation shall be carried out in collaboration with NRCS and DRC. The mid -term-evaluation will involve a combination of methods:

• Desk study of relevant project documents and reports.
• Interviews: focus group discussion with ward, rural municipality, SHG committee, persons with disability, family members/caretakers and members of the community. Field observation and success stories method will also be used.
• Interviews and focus group discussions with NRCS HQ, district chapter's staff and volunteers, project team, a consultancy working for PSS service and DRC CO.
• Field visit (10 days) to Dordi Rural Municipality (Lamjung) and Rishing Rural Municipality (Tanahu) and NRCS Lamjung and Tanahu district chapters. 
• Debriefing meeting with discussion of initial findings with NRCS, DRC CO and consortium partners. 

The detailed mid-term evaluation design will be defined by the consultant; however, the following should be considered: 

• Sampling method is to be decided by the consultant, as long asthe final sample to be evaluated on includes SHG & sub-SHG, persons with disability and their family members, PSS service providing consultancy, wards and municipality, district chapters, project staff, community people. 
• Data collection methods and tools are to be decided by the consultant, in consultation with the DRC country office focal person (s). 
• The assessment team should visit a representative number of beneficiaries in the selected communities
• The consultant is expected to develop checklist for the mid-term evaluation. 

The team composition and roles and responsibilities of each team member will be defined by the consultant; however, the following should be considered: 

• The study team will consist of at least two people as core members and enumerators. 
• The team will be gender balanced and ideally the team leader or one of the team members should be female. If one of them is a person with disability, it will be added value.
• An NRCS project staff will join with each study team and will be responsible for coordination and liaison activities as mentioned in the below "Roles & responsibilities Section"

The draft report will be distributed to NRCS and DRC for comments and further discussion. After receiving the comments, the consultant finalizes the report and submits to  DRC CO.

Note: In case of any extreme unavoidable crisis that prohibits field travel, face to face meetings and small gatherings (such as worsening coronavirus outbreak, road blockage due to landslides etc) the consultant and DRC will discuss and revise these above preferred evaluation methods. 

4.  Roles & Responsibilities

The mid -term-evaluation team will be led by the external consultant in close collaboration with DRC and NRCS. 

DRC Country Office shall be responsible to: 

• DRC’s Senior Programme and Livelihood Officer will closely work with the mid -term-evaluation team lead by the Consultant 
• DRC Programme Manager will be involved as support for the organisation and the debriefings.
• Arrange logistics (transportation, accommodation, appointments), &linking with NRCS focal person
• Providing feedback on inception report, tools to be used for mid -term-evaluation
• Make payments in Nepali Rupees as per the signed contract 
• Design and organize the debriefing session on preliminary findings

Consultant shall be responsible to: 

• Lead the mid -term-evaluationteam and overall process 
• Lead the mid -term-evaluation process; preparation phase (inception report, tools development, sampling methodology), data collection & analysis phase and reporting 
• Conduct a debriefing presentation summarising the findings and recommendations of the mid -term-evaluation a remote briefing to DRC Co, consortium partners and NRCS team for the suggestions and feedback.
• Prepare and submit the first draft report and second draft report after compiling the comments obtained in first draft report
• Submit final report to DRC CO
• Work closely with project staff (NRCS& DRC CO) to ensure success of the exercise

NRCS project team:

• Prepare field mobilization plan, select the locations, interviewees, and participants for FGD, success story 
• Logistical preparation for field work, arrange related interview schedules, access to documents for review, and other needs as requested by the mid -term-evaluation team.
• Provide all information and documents requested by the research team 
• Liaise with local authorities, target groups (SHG, person with disabilities, family members/caretakers, PSS consultancy) and other external stakeholders as per the inception report of the consultant/consultancy
• Provide any additional support as needed
• Coordinate and communicate with DRC CO as necessary

5.  Deliverables & Schedule

The assignment should be able to get started on27 December 2021 and completed by 10 February 2022.

Schedule: The review will take place in December 2021, January & February 2022and last up to 25 working days, including maximum 10 days in the field (4 days in each RMand two travel days). Few adjustments could be possible in timeframe. This will be agreed in joint consultation DRC CO and the national consultant. 

6.   Skills & Qualifications

• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in designing and conducting development project evaluations and mid -term-evaluation.
• Evidence of successfully conducted at least five mid -term-evaluation/final evaluation of right based projects/programmes will be considered as added value 
• Mid -term-evaluation or final evaluation of inclusion and/or empowerment project for vulnerable groups (person with disability, women etc) with international organizations will be considered as added value. 
• Proven track record of conducting qualitative research/assessment/study including the development of interview schedules and qualitative data as well as quantitative data analysis, especially in development context & right based projects
• Strong analytical skills and ability to clearly synthesize and present findings, draw practical conclusions, make recommendations and to prepare well-written reports in a timely manner.
• Project evaluation/ review experiences within the Red Cross Movement will be considered as an asset. 
• Master’s degree in international development, social science, disaster management, or other relevant field

7.  Available Data & Documentation

• Project document: Project Description, Log frame
• Project progress reports and annual reports 
• Data protection policy (DRC)
• Project base line report 
• Situation assessment report used to design the projects

8.  Financial Proposal 

The consultant is asked to submit a budget proposal outlining the costs for working days (fee), along with a tentative work plan including the working days for the main activities and milestones. Submit a financial proposal in NPR, with detailed breakdown of cost and its related activity including all applicable tax/vat. 

In your financial proposal please mention clearly about the terms of payment including bank details:

Bank Name:

Account Name:

Account Name: 

Branch

9.  Per diem & Travel allowance: The Danish Red Cross will cover all travel & accommodation cost as per actual basis & food-max NPR1200per person per day as per DRC-CO policy for the field visit.

10.  How to apply: 

Interested individual and organization should submit the following documents to Ms Aliza Baidya at aliza.baidya@ifrc.org latest by 05 December 2021,

• Acknowledgement of ToR. (Please attach the signed copy of these Terms of Reference with your offer)
• Latest tax clearance certificate.
• VAT registration is mandatory and need to submit VAT registration certificate.
• Submit a technical proposal and timeline demonstrating a thorough understanding of this ToR. 
• A financial proposal. Please be informed that the technical and financial proposal must be submitted as two separate documents. 
• Organizational profile
• Team composition and their CV. Only include the ones who will be directly involved in this project. 
• Relevant work samples in line with skills and qualifications mentioned under clause 6.
• Tentative work plan, including working days for main activities and milestones (e.g. using a Gantt chart).

Applications that are incomplete in any respect and applications submitted after deadline will not be considered.

We thank you in advance for understanding that only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the next step in the application process.