Evaluation of the initiative “Support to strengthen capacity to deliver high quality Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Eastern and Southern Africa” at Plan International

Terms of reference

Evaluation of the initiative “Support to strengthen capacity to deliver high quality Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Eastern and Southern Africa”

About Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And its girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 75 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries. Read more about Plan International’s Global Strategy: 100 Million Reasons at https://plan-international.org/organisation/strategy

About the 18+ MEESA Centre of Excellence on Ending Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy

The 18+ Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Ending Child Marriage, and Teenage Pregnancy is Plan International’s regional hub for ending Child, Early, and Forced Marriages and Unions (CEFMU) programmes as well as a shared service providing expertise for programming and evidence-based influencing to end CEFMU and unintended adolescent pregnancies in Eastern and Southern Africa. The CoE implements multi– country ending CEFMU porgrammes and mobilises expertise from a network of internal and external professionals to provide support that enables Country Offices and partner organisations in Eastern and Southern Africa to design and implement programmes, influencing strategies that address CEFMU and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The CoE was established in 2018 and is hosted by Plan International Zambia.

Plan International’s work on SRHR

Plan’s work on SRHR has been developing for a decade or so, and is underpinned by a gender-transformative approach aiming to tackle root causes of gender inequality and shifting unequal power relations that shape the prevailing social and gender norms that control girls’ sexuality. SRHR has been prioritized by a high number of Plan International’s country offices in recent years, with exciting work underway in all regions where we work.

Our key investment areas for SRHR are:

Supporting access to comprehensive sexuality education and dialogue that enables adolescents to explore values and attitudes, and build skills and coping mechanisms regarding sex and sexuality
Strengthening quality adolescent- and gender-responsive SRHR services
Strengthening support for adolescent girls and young women most-at-risk
Child, early and forced marriage and unions and female genital mutilation/cutting

Plan International’s approach to Comprehensive Sexuality Education

To support Plan International and partner staff, educators and implementers in formal and non-formal settings to deliver effective and quality Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), Plan International has developed a series of CSE standards and topics tables. The standards are based upon international evidence and good practice. They also uphold a set of principles, including a comprehensive, human rights-based, gender transformative, inclusive and sex-positive approach towards the sexuality, sexual development and (sexual) relationships of children, adolescents, and young people. The standards seek to ensure 1) quality in CSE programme content, 2) effective delivery of CSE, and 3) how to create an enabling environment for CSE and young people’s SRHR. The standards are accompanied by a Topics Table, outlining learning objectives per age group.

Project objectives

In 2019/2020, the 18+ CoE in MEESA started a multi-country, two-year, initiative to strengthen Plan International’s internal capacity to deliver high quality CSE in Eastern and Southern Africa. The initiative focus on five countries in the region, namely Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe, supporting staff in understanding and applying the global CSE standards and guidance.

The initiative had the following objectives:

To build staff programming capacities in Comprehensive sexuality education in MEESA
To strengthen boys SRHR components of Champions of Change for Gender Equality & Girls Rights
To influence SRHR & CSE policies and legislative environments at regional and national levels

The project outcome was as follows: “Plan staff in MEESA have capacities to design and deliver effective CSE programmes that enable children, adolescents and youth to have the knowledge, attitudes and skills to support themselves and their peers to make autonomous and healthy decisions around their bodies, sexuality and relationships; challenge stigma, discrimination and negative norms including related to harmful practices and other forms of GBV”.

Purpose of the End of Project Evaluation (EoP)

The overall aim of this evaluation is to assess the performance of the project and capture project achievements, challenges and promising practices to inform future projects.

The project evaluation will follow the OECD DAC criteria and include assessments of:

Relevance: The extent to which the interventions and approaches were suited to the priorities and policies of the adolescents and young people the project is targeting.
Effectiveness: The extent to which, and the reasons behind, the achievement (or not) of the project or programme’s objectives, and whether these led to intended/unintended (positive or negative) consequences for anybody involved or affected by the interventions, particularly for adolescents.
Efficiency: The extent to which financial resources were used economically (value for money), potentially including cost-benefit ratios and alternative programming approaches.
Sustainability: The probability of continued long-term benefits to the target populations beyond the project. This might include the resource and capacity of partners or beneficiaries to continue the intervention after phase out.

It should also explore:

Lessons learnt and recommendations for the future, including unexpected outcomes.
Adaptation: how well did the initiative adapt to new circumstances such as the Covid-19 pandemic

Suggested questions to be addressed in EOP

To what extent did the programme strengthen the capacity of staff on CSE implementation in the targeted countries?
To what extent was the programme supporting in-country scale up and piloting of CSE initiatives or how can this be enhanced in future interventions? Any examples of in-country CSE activities that have taken place following the CSE trainings? For example, are there examples of whether the project has supported country-level initiatives to improve the content, delivery or enabling environment for CSE in communities?
To what extent has the project supported young people (regional youth movements) on CSE, and particularly on CSE influencing?
Did the programme successfully build community level capacity on CSE, and if so, how?
How did the programme contribute to influencing SRHR & CSE policies and legislative environments at regional and national levels?
What could have been done differently to achieve the results/impact?
To what extent has the programme aligned with other Plan regional and country-level activities and priorities?
What are the results, lessons learnt and best practices from the work with Champions of Change (including contextualization efforts)?
How did Covid-19 impact the project and how can future similar interventions be more resilient and adaptable to meet these challenges?

Key tasks and methodology

The data collection approach should include a mixed method design, integrating both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection in order to inform project indicators. The consultant(s) shall develop appropriate tools for data collection with different stakeholders as outlined in this TOR. When developing the tools for data collection they shall aim to use child friendly, age-appropriate approaches. It is further expected that the consultant(s) will develop a detailed methodology for data collection, data management and analysis in their proposal to answer the evaluation questions. The methods would include, but not be limited to:

An inception meeting with representatives from the 18+CoE, Plan Sweden, and possibly representatives from other Plan offices, to discuss scope and focus of the consultancy
Desk review of background documents (project proposal, project reports)
Key informant interviews (e.g. with Plan International staff, Civil Society Organizations, including youth-led organisations).

Ethics and Child Protection

In accordance with Ethical MERL Framework and our Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy, Plan International is committed to actively safeguarding children from harm and ensuring children’s rights to protection are fully realized. Plan takes seriously the commitment to promote child safe practices and protect children from harm, abuse, neglect and any form of exploitation as they come into contact with Plan supported interventions. In addition, we will take positive action to prevent child abusers from becoming involved with Plan in any way and take stringent measures against any Plan Staff and/or Associate who abuses a child. Our decisions and actions in response to child protection concerns will be guided by the principle of ‘the best interests of the child’. As such, the EOP must ensure appropriate, safe, non-discriminatory participation; a process of free and un-coerced consent and withdrawal; confidentiality and anonymity of participants. The EOP team shall provide a statement within their proposal on how they will ensure ethics and child protection in the process of data collection and visits. This must also include consideration of any risks related to the study and how these will be mitigated. The consultant(s) shall comply with Plan International Global Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy and other required policies. The consultant(s) and all related staff must sign the Safeguarding Policy as part of the contract and commit to adhere to it during the course of the contract period.

Users of the Evaluation

The results of the EOP will afford the users a better understanding of (i) the progress the project has made during the implementation period and (ii) the lessons learnt that will be applied in future and similar interventions. The main users of the evaluation are:

Plan International staff – including country level project staff and management from the targeted countries, 18+ COE, Plan International Sweden, Plan’s SRHR Technical Team as well as other SRHR and IQE staff to ensure that the findings will feed into the greater knowledge of CSE within Plan International
Partner organisations working on CSE in the targeted countries, including youth-led groups that have been engaged through the project

Participant selection and recruitment

Depending on the proposed design, the Consultant(s) may want to engage participants from the impact group, if COVID-19 restrictions allow. Informed consent for the evaluation will need to be obtained from eligible participants who agree to participate. Written consent will be sought from all participants, however those participants who give consent but are disinclined to sign the consent form will be given the option to have the facilitator certify that verbal consent was granted. Any focus group discussions will also require informed consent from all participants prior to taking notes or recording. The consultant(s) will be required to clearly explain to each potential participant in the FGDs that agreement to be recorded during the group discussion is a requirement for participation and that they can refuse to participate if they do not want to be recorded. Snowballing may be used, whereby a small number of additional informants will be approached if they are identified as having key information that would be useful for the evaluation.

Key Deliverables

At a minimum, key deliverables and services should include:

Inception Report including:

An updated timeline
An evaluation matrix
Detailed methodology, including draft sampling methodology and size;
Draft data collection tools;
Ethical considerations;
Consent forms for any primary data collection;
Methods for data analysis;
Brief justification of the methods and techniques used, including relevant underlying values and assumptions/theories, with a justification of the selections made (e.g. of persons interviewed).

Final Evaluation Report:

Maximum 10 page report plus an executive summary
Final Sampling methodology, including unit of sampling, sampling frame and size
Final Data Collection Tools
Cleaned Data (including data files (e.g. Excel, SPSS), transcripts of qualitative data syntax/ code books etc.)
Completed Consent Forms
Presentation of findings to Plan International through webinar that includes background, objectives, methodology, key findings and relevant recommendations

Timeline and budget

The evaluation should be conducted, and final report submitted, by 31 December 2021. Two rounds of feedback from Plan International on the report should be considered in the timeline. The selected consultant must submit the final invoice by end of December (more details to be specified in consultancy agreement). The work will be desk-based and the consultant(s) will not be required to travel but will be expected to participate in calls and consult Plan International staff and partners during the process. The cost for the full assignment cannot exceed 10,000 Euros (including VAT, taxes, insurance, and all other costs).

Ethics and child protection

Throughout the process, compliance with Plan International’s Global Policy: Safeguarding Children and Young People and Plan’s MERL Standard and MERL Policy must be assured at all times.

In accordance with Plan’s MERL Standard and Plan’s MERL Policy, the research must ensure: appropriate, safe, non-discriminatory participation; a process of free and un-coerced consent and withdrawal; confidentiality and anonymity of participants. The consultants are required to provide a statement within their proposal on how they will ensure ethics and child protection in the research process. Ethical approval is required before this research commences. This is anticipated to be achieved through the internal Plan International Ethics Review Team and is expected to take up to four weeks.

Qualifications

The consultant(s) must have a varied mix of skills and competencies and must have undertaken similar work in the region in the last five years. The successful consultant or team of consultants must have the following qualifications:

Strong technical knowledge and practical experience of evaluating programmes on SRHR, particularly in relation to evidence and expertise on Comprehensive Sexuality Education for children, adolescents and youth.
Strong research and analytical skills, including demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods.
Excellent writing and communication skills
Fluency in English required
Proven experience in carrying out development research, including evaluation studies
Minimum of five years of experience in coordinating and administering evaluations/ baseline/end line studies, preferably for international non-governmental organizations or multilateral agencies and multi-country studies.
Demonstrated experience with remote data collection.
Ability to produce high quality work under scheduled timeframes.
Experience with cross-cutting issues such as gender, inclusion as well as awareness on child protection and child rights issues.

Applications

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects:

A cover letter outlining how you meet the consultant specifications, including relevant previous experience
CVs of the consultant(s) who will carry out the work
Detailed technical proposal clearly demonstrating a thorough understanding of this ToR and including proposed methodology, data entry and management. Team composition and level of effort of each proposed team member, if applicable.
A clear and elaborate work plan outline the major activities involved and a proposed timeframe detailing activities.
Names and contact information of two references who can be contacted regarding previous relevant experience
A copy of a previous report of similar work undertaken on end of project evaluation or end line study
Ethics and child safeguarding approaches, including any identified risks and associated mitigation strategies.
Police Certificate of Good Conduct
A financial proposal with a detailed breakdown of costs for the evaluation
Itemized consultancy fees/costs
Itemized administrative expenses
Validity period of quotations
Expected payment plan and method
Copy of registration certificate, VAT and other relevant documents.
In the case of a firm, full names, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and contact person of the firm/company; date of registration, registration number, copy of registration certificate and VAT certificate; names of directors/proprietors.

Tender submission requirements

The technical and financial proposals will be sent in the same document in sealed envelopes or electronically clearly marked. “CSE Strengthening Project’’ and addressed to:

The Procurement

Plan International Zambia

Plot 87/A Kabulonga Road

Lusaka, Zambia

Please send your applications to PlanZamtenders@plan-international.org cc: Wendy.Chileshe@plan-international.org Closing date for submission of the application package is 17:00hrs, 2 Deceember 2021. Only successful bidders will be notified and Plan International reserves the right to reject any of the bids.

Contact

For any queries on the evaluation, please contact Wendy Chileshe at wendy.chileshe@plan-international.org.