Lead Evaluator- Mid Term At AWO International

Background

AWO International was founded in 1998 as a professional association for development cooperation and humanitarian action within the framework of the German welfare organization “Arbeiterwohlfart” (AWO). It draws on the expertise and experience of AWO in Germany, which has been an integral part of the German welfare state since the last century.

In close cooperation with local non-governmental organizations in Central America, East Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, AWO International is working to ensure that disadvantaged people sustainability improve their living conditions. The organization has a special approach in its development projects, which aims at the “Enhancement of Social Structures.” Its goal is to set up and strengthen the social structures wherein the people are interacting. To achieve this, AWO International and its partner organizations concentrate their efforts on providing organizational development and supporting civil society networks at the local and regional level.

The Regional Office in Southeast Asia (RO SEA) is implementing the Regional Program on “Combatting Human Trafficking and Promoting Safe Migration in the Philippine, Indonesia and Malaysia” with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The program started in 2018 and was extended until 2023. The overall objective is to capacitate marginalized communities in rural and urban areas and protect them against unsafe migration and human trafficking. The program also works to improve their access to development opportunities and help them secure their livelihoods through self-determined processes and structures. For the planned Mid-Term-Evaluation 5 out of 10 current partnership projects in the framework of the Regional Project shall be evaluated as listed below:

1. Advocacy for Indonesian Migrant Workers / ADBMI (Indonesia): Scaling Up Community Based Initiative for Migrant Workers’ Early Protection in their Villages in East Lombok

2. Center for Migrant Advocacy, Inc. (Philippines): Building Rights-Based and Resilient Social Structures for Migrant Workers and Their Families

3. Mindanao Migrants Center for Empowering Actions, Inc. (Philippines): Engaging Migrant Workers and Families in Social Structures towards Promoting Safe and Regular Migration

4. OND Hesed Foundation, Inc. (Philippines): Reducing the risk of trafficking in persons (and forced labour) in Fishing Communities through the Strengthening of Social Structures

5. Institute for Education Development, Social, Religious, and Cultural Studies / INFEST (Indonesia): Activating Migrant Worker Community-Based Organization for Public Service Enhancement and Socio-economic Improvement in East Java and Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

These 5 partners have participated in the program since 2018 or for almost 5 years and are scheduled to continue for the upcoming funding period until 2024.

Purpose

The purpose of the mid-term evaluation is to draw lessons from the implementation of the individual projects and assess whether the project goals and objectives remain relevant. The evaluation will further assess the extent to which the projects are on track in terms of reaching their targets and objectives and provide recommendations for improvement.

Firstly, the evaluation will review the progress of the selected projects in terms of the DAC criteria relevance and effectiveness, and the sustainability of the intended outcomes.”

It will test underlying assumptions about the projects contribution to the broader developmental impact.

More specifically, the evaluation results would contribute to:

• improving project performance and organizational learning of AWO International and its partners,

• enhancing the effectiveness of planning and management by AWO International and its partners for the current phase and a future extension of the program,

• strengthening the accountability towards beneficiaries and stakeholders by incorporating recommendations and lessons learned,

• the conceptualization and development of the next phase of the program and the overall program strategy.

The mid-term evaluation shall look at the projects’ relevance in relation to AWO International’s work in the “Enhancement of Social Structures” which is a cooperation strategy espoused by AWO International aiming to strengthen self-help capacity and initiative of communities and marginalized groups, and encourage participation in social and economic development. It should further analyze the progress in sustainably strengthening the organizational and technical capacity of the partner organizations and the supported social structures.

The evaluation shall integrate gender equality and other non-discrimination approaches as cross-cutting issues into its methodology and deliverables. It shall assess the application of a rights-based approach as well as potential and status of mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into the program’s concept.

Lastly, the evaluation shall make reference to the overall impact of CoViD-19 on the members of the social structures, the partner organizations, and on project implementation progress. In this, it shall assess the relevance and effectiveness of the mitigation measures taken by the AWO International Regional Office and its partner organizations as response.

Role

The Consultant or Lead Evaluator will develop and recommend the most adequate evaluation design and methodology for data collection and data analysis. The consultant will provide technical inputs on the development of tools and facilitate surveys, interviews and focus group discussions etc., virtually, and face-to-face.

S/he shall be recruited internationally and will be working in tandem with local counterparts . The division of tasks and responsibilities shall be decided among the tandems in the inception phase. The consultant will take the leading role and act as the responsible focal person on behalf of her/his team to AWO RO SEA, during the whole evaluation.

The recruitment of the Philippines and the Indonesia counterpart will be the responsibility of AWO International. Recommendations from the Lead Evaluator on the composition of the tandems can be considered.

Scope

The scope of the evaluation will encompass all planning, monitoring and implementation activities of the projects for the period from January 2021 to the end of June 2022. The evaluation covers all 5 individual projects in selected geographic areas where activities were and currently are being implemented.

The evaluation shall have a total assignment period of no more than 43 days:

– 7 days preparation phase (review of project and framework documents, inception report)

– 22 days field phase inclusive of travel between partners’ implementation areas and AWO Intl. Manila

– 11 days reporting phase (initial findings, evaluation report and recommendations, de-briefing notes for all partners) – 3 days international travel (for international consultant if required)

Field visit is from 27 July- 23 August 2022.

Profile of the Lead Evaluator

• Advanced University degree in Development Studies, International (Asian) Studies, Migration Studies, Community Development, Statistics, Social Sciences, or related field.

• At least ten (10) years proven experience in evaluation of development programs and projects. • At least five (5) years experience in engaging with Community-Based and Civil Society Organizations (CBOs).

• Substantial knowledge in migration and trafficking issues.

• Knowledge of the country context (Philippines, Indonesia, to some extent Malaysia). • Excellent qualitative and quantitative research skills, and analytical and report-writing skills.

• Proficient in English, preferably with working knowledge in German, Bisaya or Bahasa Indonesia.

The Lead Evaluator will respect the confidentiality of AWO International’s and its local partners’ data and information made available to her/him during this evaluation. Documents and data sets produced in the course of his/her assignment can be used for the tasks under this ToR. S/he is to sign a confidentiality agreement along with the contract of service