External evaluation of a gender equality project in the Gaza Strip At Terre des hommes

External evaluation

of a gender equality project in the Gaza Strip

Deadline: 19th May 2023

CONTEXT

Terre des hommes Lausanne (Tdh) opened its delegations in Palestine in 1973 and in Jordan in 2007. Since the end of 2019, both delegations have been gathered under one common entity, a Multi-Country Delegation (MCD). The main coordination office of the MDC is in Amman (Jordan) and there are 2 sub-offices (Jerusalem and Gaza) in addition to several others implementing venues through 15 national partners, including 10 partners in the Gaza Strip

The MCD comprises around 60 employees and 10 volunteers. All the volunteers and around 40 employees are in Jordan, mainly based in the North where most of the activities are implemented, and 20 employees are in Palestine, mainly based in Gaza where most of the activities are implemented currently.

The MCD annual budget is around 5.3 million USD, funded by AECID, BMZ, ECHO, UNOCHA, UNICEF, MEPI, UNWOMEN and Tdh funds. The part related to Palestine is CHF about 3 million, mainly funded by SDC, UNOCHA and UNICEF.

In both countries, Tdh implements a resilience-based approach aiming to strength the whole systems, communities, families/caregivers, and children following a socio-ecological model, including while working on policy development and capacity building with key national and local formal and informal actors.

Over the decades, Tdh – one of the Child Protection leading agencies in Jordan and Palestine – has developed specific expertise in Humanitarian response (Jordan and Palestine), Migration (Jordan), Access to Justice (A2J) (Jordan and Palestine), GBV and gender mainstreaming (Jordan and Palestine), and Child Labor (CL) programs (Jordan and Palestine) – via projects implemented through direct implementation – centers and mobile units – and recognized local partners, in close coordination with national and local authorities as relevant per program and intervention. More information available at https://www.tdh.ch/en/our-interventions/palestine.

The project to be evaluated can be sumerized as follows:

Title of the project: AGENCY, Action for gender equality, non-discrimination, civil society strengthening and youth empowerment

Inception Phase: 01.10.2020 – 31.01.2021

Main Phase 1: 08.02.2021 – 31.01.2024

Main focus: “Action for Gender Equality, Non-Discrimination, Civil Society Strengthening and Youth Empowerment”focuses on comprehensive GBV programming in the Gaza Strip provided by strengthened CSOs and CBOs partners. The key outputs of the main phase are:

  • Effective and sustainable protection services are provided through effective and comprehensive programming by supported CSOs/CBOs.
  • Relevant and effective services within the priority areas of the project are identified and delivered through the selected CSOs/CBOs having the technical and institutional capacities to respond to protection needs.
  • The protection needs of the communities are documented and advocacy tools towards the relevant local authorities (towards GBV/PwD) are developed.

Project stakeholders: Tdh implements the project through partnership agreements with 9 Palestinian NGOs working in the Gaza Strip.

OBJECTIVES OF THE EVALUATION

The objectives of this review are to enhance accountability (towards beneficiaries, the funding partner, other partners), learning and future directions in terms of next phase’s proposal to SDC. Additionally, the evaluation aims to assess the effectiveness and appropriateness of the selection process and methodology of the partners and the partners risk assessment conducted during the inception phase. The intended users are SDC, Tdh staff and partners.

SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION

The geographic scope is the Gaza Strip (five governorates). The selected consultant/s will be required to visit various sites of interventions.

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND QUESTIONS

The evaluation will follow six evaluation criteria – relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability, as defined by OECD DAC Network on Development Evaluation.[1]

The evaluation will inter alia answer the following questions:

Relevance

  • To what extent has the project adequately targeted the real needs of the target groups?
  • Have the beneficiaries’ priorities and needs changed over the last period?
  • Are certain priorities unaddressed despite the implementation of the programme?
  • How did the selected projects take part in advocacy on GBV in the Gaza Strip and beyond?
  • To what extent the selection methodology of the partners was effective?
    • What could be done to improve the future partners’ selection?
    • Within the context of Gaza, what could be done to improve the partners risk assessment?

Effectiveness

  • To what extent have the objectives set and the results expected been met?
  • In the perspective of the survivors, to what extent were the services provided of quality and useful for them to recover?
  • Were there any results, intended or not, resulting from the advocacy tools and activities implemented as part of the project?
  • What risks of bad side effects from the interventions might have emerged during the project and how the project teams and partners have managed to mitigate or prevent them?

Coherence

  • How well does the intervention fit within the aid structure in Gaza?
  • To what extent was the intervention compatible with other interventions in the area, sector or institution.
  • The extent to which other interventions (particularly policies) supported or undermined the intervention, and vice versa.
  • Were the partners active in any clusters and/or working groups?

Impact

  • To what extent has the project effectively benefited the most vulnerable people?
  • To what extent did projects effectively include the youth (for example young feminists) and other partners in their activities, taking into account the ladder of participation?
  • To what extent the project contributed to strengthening the capacity of the implementing partners?

Efficiency

  • Have resources been utilized in the best way (provide detailed analysis for up to three projects)?
  • What could be done to improve the efficiency of the project?

Sustainability

Tdh expects the consultant/s to come up with clear recommendations on the future shape of Gender Justice and GBV programming in Gaza and beyond. The evaluation should provide concrete recommendations for improvements ahead of a potential next phase and will provide for guidance towards an extension to the West Bank while preserving and deepening achievements in Gaza.

Tdh expects also from the consultant/s to propose a set of recommendations per partner, including a recommendation on whether to continue to work with partners, with detailed explanation of the reasons.

Are there other potential areas of interventions and activities (along with project indicators for a future monitoring and evaluation framework) that could be proposed?

METHODOLOGY

The Consultant/s will propose a methodology that addresses the evaluation main objectives. The methodology will be discussed with and approved by Tdh. The methodology could include data triangulation, entailing collecting quantitative and quantitative data. Tdh would like to stress the importance of participation at the field level.

Key informants will include but not limited to beneficiaries, SDC focal point, Gaza partners, Tdh Gaza Office, Tdh Delegation Jordan-Palestine, and Tdh Headquarters.

The consultant/s will be encouraged to devise a methodology that evaluates the performance of each partner across the project locations, while keeping track of overall performance of the project.

Ethical considerations will be given due weight at the time of selection and throughout implementation of the evaluation. These include respect for Tdh Child Safeguarding Policy, Safety and Security Policy and Anti-Fraud/Corruption Policy, Whistle Blowing Policy, gender equality policy, Covid19 policy. The methodology around the question of interviewing beneficiaries (including GBV survivors) will be given due weight in the selection of the consultant/s.

DELIVERABLES

The consultant/s will deliver:

  • An Inception report including presentation of the understanding of the ToR and of the assignment. The Inception report should include detailed methodology and tools, schedule and revised workplan
  • A summary of literature review (initial documentary analysis)
  • A debriefing and presentation of findings after the field trip
  • A preliminary report to be provided by the deadline below, and a final version 10 days after Tdh’s feedback.
  • A brief Presentation of findings to Tdh and SDC

The contents of the final report will include:

  • Executive summary (max. 1 page)
  • Narrative report (max. 40 pages)
  • Summary table with the main conclusions and recommendations (separate the short, medium and long term recommendations) and lessons learned.
  • Annexes: Containing the technical details of the evaluation, as well as the terms of reference, surveys protocols and questionnaires if any, protocols of interviews and observation, tables or graphics, persons and institutions contacted.

All documents will be written and produced in English.

KEY MILESTONES

Phase I Field work

From 1st to 10th June 2023: Field data collection and analysis.

Phase II*: Analysis & report writing*

15th July 2023: Preliminary report and Recommendations

July-August: Restitution to the project stakeholders as part of a joint analysis session. Integration of comments.

Phase II: Validation

The evaluation report should be validated and finalized by 20th August, at the latest.

31st August 2023/beginning of September: Final edited version of the report is produced and presented to project stakeholders and Tdh including to Head of MENA Region.

The consultant should undertake to integrate time for security briefing in the field into her or his schedule in addition to basic and coordinated debriefing. An online debriefing should also be incorporated in the planning following the field visit.

PROFILE OF THE CONSULTANT/s

The minimum requirements of the consultant/s are as follows:

Qualifications and skills:

  • Experience and expertise in evaluation and reviews of NGOs from an organizational /operational and financial perspective. The team leader will have the overall responsibility for the services. In addition to experience at senior level in evaluations and reviews, the Team Leader has to demonstrate experience in the management of complex projects as well as a track-record of successful coordination and team management.
  • Previous work and experience in comparable projects focused on GBV, inclusion and disability, Gender Equality, Non-Discrimination, Civil Society Strengthening and Youth Empowerment, support to vulnerable women and men, girls and boys through support and protection multi-sectorial services (economic, medical, psychosocial, cultural, security and shelter, case management, legal aid, etc.).
  • At least a master’s degree in a related field (e.g. Development, International Relations, Social sciences, Health, Psychology, Law; or, in its absence, equivalent professional experience of 5 years (in addition to the general professional experience duration mentioned below) in a relevant area.

General professional experience:

  • At least 5 years of experience in project assessments/evaluations
  • Previous experience in humanitarian & development project evaluation; Ability to travel and operate effectively in the field, in a tense environment;
  • Participatory assessments, in particular from a child and youth participation perspective;
  • Experience in interviewing children and GBV survivors;
  • Capacity to undertake basic financial analyses.

Soft skills:

  • Excellent communication skills, in particular, liaising with different stakeholders as evidenced by previous assignments;
  • Experience in the management of complex projects as well as a track-record of successful coordination and team management;
  • Strong capacity to quickly understand complex and changing circumstances as evidenced by previous assignments.

Language skills:

  • Excellent command of English (written and spoken), level C2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, or equivalent system required;
  • Good command of Arabic an asset.

BUDGET

The budget will be provided by the consultant/s in the context of the financial proposal.

Child Safeguarding Policy:

Tdh (including staff members, contractors, consultants) are committed to respect Tdh Risk Management Policies including: Child Safeguarding Policy, Safety and Security Policy and Anti-Fraud/Corruption Policy, Whistle Blowing Policy.

Due to an anticipated high number of applications, Tdh is not in a position to respond to every applicant individually.

[1] https://www.oecd.org/dac/evaluation/evaluation-criteria-flyer-2020.pdf

How to apply

TO APPLY:

Interested consultant(s)/ firms are expected to submit a detailed expression of interest comprising:

  • A cover letter demonstrating their understanding of the objective of the study and the Terms of Reference;
  • Technical offer that includes a preliminary detailed methodology (to be refined at end of Phase 1)
  • A financial offer with a detailed budget (fees, travel, other costs); Tdh will cover accommodation costs, ground transportation in West Bank and Gaza and translation costs if needed.
  • Updated CV(s) of the individual(s) who will undertake the consultancy.
  • An example of similar evaluations;
  • Contacts of 3 references.

Please write to pse.tenders@tdh.ch

Please include “AGENCY External Evaluation” in the subject line of the application email. Deadline for submission: 19th May 2023 (5 PM Gaza time).

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