Feasibility Study in Armenia At Sign of Hope

Organisation

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.

www.hoffnungszeichen.de, www.sign-of-hope.org

Position

Feasibility Study Consultant

Type of Contract

Short-Term Consultancy

Location

Home-based with field mission travel to Yerevan, Kotayk, Aragatsotn, Tavush or Shirak (Armenia)

Relevant languages

English, Armenian

Application Deadline

October 22, 2024

Starting Date

November 4, 2024

Project Title

Promotion of professional qualifications, entrepreneur-ship and integration of displaced persons in Armenia

Total Project Budget

868.836 EURO (to be approved)

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. (SoH) is announcing an open tender procedure for consultancy services for a Feasibility Study in Armenia.

Background and Organisational Setting

SoH is a Christian motivated organisation for Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance and Development Cooperation. From its base in Constance, Germany, SoH is committed to helping those in distress and exploited people worldwide.

This feasibility study is commissioned, prior to project implementation, under the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) budget for development projects run by private organisations.

SoH will be the private German executing agency and the contracting party, with Development Principles being the local implementing partner.

The planned project will be designed to promote long-term growth and positive socio-economic change in the region, particularly through the integration of displaced persons from Nagorno-Karabakh into the local community. To achieve this, the project will provide support for successful business start-ups and enhance the entrepreneurial skills of 410 adults (at least 50% of whom are displaced people). It will also build and strengthen economic resilience and social cohesion. Through tailored training programs, participants will be educated in areas such as business development, financial management, and marketing to improve their job prospects and foster economic self-sufficiency. Additionally, the project aims to strengthen economic resilience and social cohesion within the community. Overall, the project will contribute to stabilising the economic and social structures of the affected regions and stimulate sustainable development.

Feasibility Study Objectives

The purpose of the feasibility study is to provide SoH with a sound basis for developing a complete project concept, by identifying project prerequisites, opportunities and risks. This process includes an assessment of the feasibility of the proposed project intervention to assess if it can plausibly achieve planned objectives given existing contextual realities.

This feasibility study will verify the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the proposed project intervention. The study will provide concrete and practical recommendations that will assist with the finalization of project design elements, including the logframe, risk analysis, problem analysis, and stakeholder analysis.

The study will support the project quality assurance measures implemented by SoH and contribute to the decision-making process regarding the funding of the proposed project activities.

As part of the feasibility study, analyses and recommendations should address various considerations, including but not limited to:

• The potential need for age restrictions for participants;
• The optimal balance between displaced Armenians and local beneficiaries to uphold the “do no harm” principle;
• The appropriateness of geographic limitations in the selection of regions;
• An evaluation of current educational interventions and their effectiveness;
• The challenges faced by young people in Armenia and possible solutions;
• The skills required by regional companies and how training programs can address these needs;
• The overall state of entrepreneurship in the region, along with associated needs and challenges.

Duties and Responsibilities

The selected Consultant will work in close cooperation with the responsible SoH Officer and the local implementing partner.

The duties and responsibilities of the Consultant will include:

• Develop a work plan outlining the proposed research methodology, geographical coverage, and schedule to conduct the feasibility study,
• Carry out a project site visit to the project location to conduct research, collect data and establish contact with the local implementing partner, potential beneficiaries and relevant project stakeholders,
• Review existing policies and structures, government development strategies as well as relevant studies and research projects that could serve as a basis for the feasibility study,
• Identify relevant project stakeholders at various levels (local, district and national if applicable), including local governing bodies, academia and industry as well as lessons learned and best practises of similar on-going and implemented projects relevant to the project,
• Evaluate all available data and sources providing background information on identified issues, the problem analysis as well as the selected intervention to address identified needs (baseline data with focus on the qualitative analysis),
• Assess the proposed activities, as well as their timing and required financial resources.
• Develop a detailed and clear Theory of Change that demonstrates how the proposed intervention will contribute to improving the wellbeing of the target group.
• Develop a detailed project logframe, including SMART indicators for the project objectives and results, listing the required activities and necessary resources.
• Conduct a “Do-no-harm” analysis, identifying potential risks and providing recommendations on how to mitigate any harm or conflicts that may arise during project implementation.
• Carry out a gender mainstreaming analysis, identifying risks and proposing measures to ensure gender equality in all aspects of project design and implementation.
• Examine institutional, technical, staffing and financial capacities of the selected implementing partner, as well as its relationship with the target group. Based on the findings, determine if there are areas in which capacities of the local implementing partner need to be developed,
• Review main governmental and non-governmental stakeholders with a purpose to see if there is a potential overlap or conflict of interest as well as opportunities for coordination with the aim of creating synergies and new cooperation partnerships,
• Examine the identified target group for the planned project, its needs and role in the broader social context as well as the relevance of the planned project activities for addressing their needs,
• Identify potential obstacles and alternatives to overcome the foreseen challenges,
• Review and analyse all available project design elements and draft documents related to the project concept, if necessary,
• Critically review the planned project in terms of OECD/DAC criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability (please see www.oecd.org/development/evaluation/daccriteriaforevaluatingdevelopmentassistance.htm),
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses in terms of planning, management, implementation and monitoring of the project,
• Evaluate sustainability measures,
• Identify cross-cutting issues addressed through the project, including gender equality, human rights, marginalised groups, inclusion, and other issues,
• Identify risks and weaknesses and make recommendations for the successful completion of the project.
• Prepare a report containing the findings on the above items, specific recommendations for the project concept with a view to planning and implementing foreseen project activities.

Expected Deliverables

The feasibility study will produce the following deliverables:

• An inception report, including the proposed methodology and data collection tools, table of content and a timeline of research activities (inception report) prior to the site visit to the project location,
• a summary containing a brief overview and the main findings of the study,
• a comprehensive report of a maximum of 30 pages, including a detailed logframe, with practical recommendations and relevant annexes
• a review of the main project design elements and provision of concrete recommendations for improvement,
• an analysis of the institutional structure required for project implementation, stipulating the roles and responsibilities of staff members involved, a detailed problem analysis, a stakeholder analysis, a revision of the target group, an analysis of the potential risks and recommendations on how to mitigate these risks, a schedule of project activities, a financial plan (planning budget), a detailed project logframe with SMART indicators for the project objective and results listing related activities and required resources,
• a “Do-no-harm analysis” including recommendations on how to mitigate potential harm and conflict situations that can potentially arise during or as a result of the project activities
• a Gender mainstreaming analysis identifying potential risks and recommendations to ensure gender equality in all aspects of the project design and implementation.

A template will be provided to serve as a guide and suggested structure for the final report.

Process/Timeframe

A total duration of the assignment is up to 20 working days within the period of November 4 to November 29, 2024.

A planning meeting with local partner Development Principles,

handover of relevant documents 1 day

Initial document review and preparing inception report 3 days

Sharing inception report with SoH and Development Principles 1 day

Data collection site visit to a project location 5 days

Data analysis, draft report with annexes, presenting to SoH 5 days

Incorporating received feedback and finalising the report 5 days

Qualifications and Experience

Essential:

• Minimum of 5 years of project evaluation and/or implementation experience in the result-based management framework
• Proven experience of conducting feasibility studies, evaluations and other research projects
• Technical and methodological knowledge to conduct research projects and formulate conclusions based on a solid methodology, assessing projects for relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of projects
• Experience working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and partnered projects
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Fluency in Armenian

Desirable:

• Experience in the relevant field
• Professional familiarity with the project country/region
• Practical experience of working for or evaluating BMZ-funded projects

Academic Background

An advanced level university degree (Masters’ degree or equivalent) in social sciences, public administration, international development studies, law or other relevant field. A first-level university degree in combination with additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted.

The Consultant is to be independent and impartial with no liabilities to any other organisation or government entity regarding this evaluation.