Terms of Reference (ToR): Project End Evaluation of The Inclusive Climate Resilient Community Development Project (IRDCN) in Nepal

Terms of Reference (ToR) for Project End Evaluation of

The Inclusive Climate Resilient Community Development Project (IRDCN) in Nepal

1. Background and Rationale: The Inclusive climate resilient community development project (IRDCN) aims to support to build inclusive and resilient communities in three Municipalities of Dhanusha: Janakpur sub metropolitan, Mithila Bihari Municipality and Aaurahi Rural Municipality. Project supports creating an enabling environment for people with disabilities through inclusive policies and practices at the community level. The Madesh is one of the least developed, and most marginalized with the lowest human development index, 0.51 as compared to 0.58 national average, if we see HDI across the gender, Madhesi women HDI is 21% lower than that of Madeshi male (NHDP, 2020). Similarly, health and education and other descent standard of living is least in Madhesh province.  Large disparity persists across gender, local group, ethnicity and marginalized community along with people with disabilities within province.

A number of policy and programmatic initiatives exist in Nepal to promote disability inclusion, poverty alleviation and increase social protection for people at vulnerable condition, however there is huge gap in their implementation and realization at individual level. So, this project has targeted to work with people with disabilities and their families and caretakers. People with disabilities are excluded from social, political, and economic spheres of development because of persistent negative belief, environmental and systemic barriers and less supportive mechanisms in family, society and government. IRDCN project was planned to promote people with disabilities’ meaningful engagement, participation in decisive role and to support to live dignified life as other member of community based on right guaranteed by Nepal constitution and disability act 2074 through community based inclusive development approach (CBID).

The project focuses on five key result areas: (1) increased knowledge and capacity for advocacy among persons with disabilities and their families; (2) improved access to inclusive education and health services; (3) participation in subsistence and income-generating activities by persons with disabilities and their families; (4) enhanced capacity of local governments, OPDs, and self-help groups (SHGs) on climate change adaptation; and (5) institutional strengthening and skills development of partners and OPDs for effective program delivery.

A total of 1,815 people with disabilities and their family members have actively participated in 48 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and the municipal level SHG Network, enhancing their collective voice and mutual support. Additionally, 350 people with disabilities were provided with livelihood support to promote economic empowerment and enable them to lead dignified, self-reliant lives.

LIFE Nepal as lead implementing agency in coordination and collaboration with Disable society Janakpur (DSJ) and local government has been implementing this project since July 2022 in Dhanusha.

Objective of the evaluation 

The evaluation's overall objective is to assess the project's outcomes to show evidence of its effectiveness, value for money (efficiency), impact and the likelihood of sustainability. It will also capture learning and draw recommendations to inform the next project phase.

Specifically, the evaluation aims to give an independent and comprehensive assessment of the project for accountability and learning purposes. The evaluation will assess the achievement of expected results against set target as per the logical framework, graduation assessment of livelihood supported participants, the implementation process, challenges and learning. 

Scope of the evaluation 

The evaluation will cover the project implementation period from July 2022 to June 2025. It covers the all-project municipality of Dhanusha district. The evaluation should assess the relevance, effectiveness, coherence, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the project interventions together with gender and social inclusion perspective. Project plan/Logframe, report, and other document produced by project will be used as a primary reference in assessing the process, outputs, and expected results. Evaluation is expected to carry out small survey among livelihood supported participants based on indicator of inclusive graduation criteria.  Furthermore, evaluation is expected to evaluate the different dimension of partnership between LIFE Nepal and Disable Society Janakpur (DSJ) to contribute the inclusive project implementation approach and how far project succeeded to support on organizational development of DSJ. Particularly, the evaluation should cover but not limited to the following areas.

Qualifications and Experience: The evaluation team should have:

• Master’s degree or higher academic degree related to Agriculture, social science, Rural Development or related field  
• Experience and knowledge of Climate Change Initiatives, and climate smart livelihood interventions.
• Proven experience on qualitative study design and evaluation methodology.
• Proven consultancy experience of at least 5 similar project evaluation/baseline studies with a record of providing high quality, creative and analytical report.
• Knowledge about local culture, policies, and laws to understand the situation for persons with disabilities in Madhesh province would be an added advantage.
• Lead evaluator or team member should have knowledge and experience on disability inclusion.
• Excellent report writing skills both in Nepali and English language.

The evaluator is expected to be medically insured during the time of service under this consultancy. LIFE Nepal will not take responsibility for any damage, injury, or loss in the framework of this evaluation.

Application Process: Interested evaluators or firms should submit:

• CVs of proposed team members 
• Detail of at least 3 similar end evaluations conducted.
• Organization profile with relevant experiences, 
• VAT/PAN registration.
• A copy of Tax clearance certificate
• Audit report of latest year (In case of firm)
• A copy of Company registration (In case of firm)
• Any other relevant documents.

Click on the link below for the detailed TOR

Link: TOR_Project End Evaluation_IRDCN Project

Deadline for Submission: 

Both individual and registered companies are requested to send their application to the email address at: irdcnproject.lifenepal@gmail.com. We would thus request the interested and qualified consultants to submit the required documents during office hours by 22 May, 2025.