Third Party Evaluation of a Project funded by JPF in Yemen (JPF-YMN-22-003) At Japan Platform

The Japan Platform (hereinafter referred to as “JPF”) is an international emergency humanitarian aid organization which offers the most effective and prompt emergency aid in response to humanitarian needs, focusing on issues of refugees and natural disasters. JPF conducts such aid through a tripartite cooperation system where NGOs, business communities, and the government of Japan work in close cooperation, based on equal partnership, and making the most of the respective sectors’ characteristics and resources.

JPF serves as an intermediary support organization providing various types of assistance to member NGOs in Japan to deliver quick and comprehensive aid on their own. JPF has supported aid activities of 44 member NGOs, each with its own set of diverse strengths. It has delivered humanitarian assistance to 55 nations and regions about 1,500 project, with a total financial contribution of 60 billion yen. JPF has built a strong reputation based on trust by promoting cooperation among private sectors and NGOs and by accurately reporting all of its activities. Please find attached JPF Information Leaflet as Annex 1. More information on JPF can be found at http://www.japanplatform.org/E/.

As part of JPF’s mandate, JPF has been carrying on emergency humanitarian assistance because of the conflict that started in March 2015 which has intensified with the external interventions that have added fuel to the fighting between government and those allied to the Houthi rebel movement. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee has declared the Level 3 emergency response, placing this crisis at the severest level of humanitarian crises happening in the world today.

JPF emergency humanitarian assistance program focusing on protection, education, food and NFI distribution, provision of safe water, improvement on malnutrition, and other life-saving & sustaining actions, along with its member NGOs, intended to meet the most desperate needs among the people in Yemen who have been affected by the conflict.

The purpose of this request for proposals (RFP) is to solicit competitive offers for the provision of Third-party project evaluation services for ongoing 1 JPF project which is being funded by JPF and implemented by member NGO in Taiz, Yemen.

JPF seeks to contract a TPM entity to accurately capture information, verify activities and analyse data on these project activities. JPF will use the outcome of this evaluation to improve the current and future projects and programme. The evaluation reports will be made available to public as a part of JPF’s activity to ensure accountability to the donor and public.

The purpose of this evaluation is to evaluate selected project against the program and project goals as well as the OECD DAC evaluation criteria and the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), and draw recommendations and lessons learnt for the implementing NGO’s future project and JPF’s program strategy.

The Scope of Evaluation includes, but not limited to followings;

1. Conduct the output to purpose review, validating the efficient delivery of intended outputs and ascertaining if and how they led to the intended outcome as per the purpose statement (in line with OECD DAC criteria of efficiency, effectiveness and coherence).To what extent has the project facilitated access of school children and communities to improved water supply/sanitation services and improved hygiene behaviors?

   To what extent has the project contributed to improved protection mechanisms for vulnerable children through the establishment of child protection committee, strengthening capacity of school social workers and implementation of community-led trainings.

2. Assess the level of satisfaction of beneficiaries (disaggregated by gender) with the changes brought by the project. Seek feedback from relevant stakeholders on the project interventions (in line with OECD DAC criteria of effectiveness).
3. Assess the contributions of the project to Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2021 and JPF’s program goals, particularly in terms of the following objectives (in line with OECD DAC criteria of impact and relevance); Preventing disease outbreaks among the most vulnerable by providing safe and dignified health and WASH assistance and services and maintaining essential infrastructure in areas of highest risk. Mitigate protection risks and facilitate redress for girls and boys, especially the displaced and most vulnerable civilians through building their resilience, humanitarian assistance, specialized protection service
4. Assess the level of participation of, and accountability to the crisis affected people, particularly children and women, in the project related decision making and assess how effectively the project strengthened a sense of ownership, capacity and systems among key local actors (in line with CHS Commitment 4 and Localization).
5. Assess the likelihood of sustainability of the project interventions, specifically the continued engagement of school social workers / community hygiene volunteers, child protection committees (CPC), Children Clubs and water management committee (in line with OECD DAC criteria of sustainability)?
6. Draw lessons learnt from the evaluation for the implementing NGO, JPF and other JPF member agencies active in Yemen. Recommendations for the implementing NGO on the project design, implementation and stakeholder engagement. Replicable lessons learnt on gender mainstreaming, behavior change communications, inter-sectoral programming that are of broader relevance beyond this project. Recommendations for JPF on the program priorities. Areas for further discussion between JPF and its member agencies on the localization agenda.

Scope of Services

The TPE entity should have access to the project locations and should process all required permissions from the authorities prior to the implementation of the field work. Moreover, the selected contractor, and in particular the assigned team, is typically expected to be competent and have proven experience in the following;

• Desk review of the implementing partner’s project documents; including but not limited to approved project proposal, project log frame, needs assessments, beneficiary selection criteria, latest project progress report and any other relevant document.
• Sample selection methodologies; a. Beneficiary surveys to verify that; b. HHs received the proposed service or input;
• Measure project outcomes;
• Key indicators as defined in the proposal and relevant clusters
• Project Site visits and verification of project activities
• In depth interviews with beneficiaries to collect success stories
• Key Informant Interview with stakeholders
• Focus Group Discussions
• Country and sector context analysis