Final Evaluation GBV, Coordination Integrated Health, Nutrition, Livelihoods, Protection Response

Job Description

Background

The IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. IRC was founded in 1933 through the advice of Albert Einstein to respond to the needs of people vulnerable to conflict around the world. Since then, it has expanded and evolved to become one of the world’s leading humanitarian organisations. In 2016, more than 26 million people benefited from IRC programs and those of its partner organizations.

In line with USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) guidelines and the 2021 South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), the International Rescue Committee (IRC) received a one-year (2021/2022) grant to implement a project titled “Strengthening Gender-based Violence (GBV) Response Coordination, and Integrated Health, Nutrition, Livelihoods, and Protection Response in South Sudan” to support 11,862 vulnerable households (HHs) including 7,948 female headed HHs in the counties of Koch (2,373 HHs), Panyijiar (5,931 HHs), and Juba (3,558 HHs) in four key sectors: Protection, Health, Nutrition, and Economic Recovery and Market Systems (ERMS). A total of 71,172 individual beneficiaries to be supported on the basis that one HH consists of six persons. Through promotion and cluster’s coordination, the project aims to save lives of conflict-affected, food-insecure IDPs and vulnerable host community populations in South Sudan through scaling up access to primary health care, nutrition, child protection and GBV prevention and response services, GBV sub-cluster coordination (countrywide), and enhance their quality of life through improved food security, purchasing power, and livelihoods opportunities.

Project Purpose:

The purpose of the project is to save the lives of conflict-affected, food-insecure IDPs and vulnerable host community populations in South Sudan through scaling up access to primary healthcare, nutrition, child protection and GBV prevention and response services, GBV sub-cluster coordination (countrywide), and enhance their quality of life through improved food security, purchasing power, and livelihoods opportunities. Key sectors of the proposed project include Protection, Health, Nutrition, and ERMS and their respective purposes include:

1. Protection: Increase the safety of people in their communities and provide support when they experience harm through improved coordination of prevention and mitigation activities of GBV and child protection services across South Sudan.

2. Health: Improve the primary health care of vulnerable host and IDP populations through increasing access to lifesaving health services.

3. Nutrition: To reduce mortality and morbidity associated with malnutrition in children 0-59 months in IDPs and host communities through increased access and quality of nutrition services in Panyijiar and Koch.

4. ERMS: Scale-up livelihoods protection and restoration through provision of alternative income and market and resilience strengthening support for conflict and disaster affected people in Panyijiar County, Unity State.

Project Objectives:

The project objective was to provide the following multi-sector intervention that strengthened the humanitarian response in South Sudan as:

1. Strengthen and increasing coordination and multi-sectoral responses according to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Guidelines for GBV interventions in humanitarian settings through enhance expertise, improve knowledge sharing and avoid duplication in aid delivery, the IRC actively leads and participates in key coordination/inter-agency meetings in Payinjiar, including the Health, Nutrition, Food Security and Protection sectors, to ensure problems are collectively identified and addressed. 2. Provide critical GBV prevention and response services for the IDP communities in the POC sites at the UN House in Juba and integrated life-saving gender-based violence, and child protection services to Protect conflict-affected children from abuse, exploitation and neglect, and response services when they experience harm in Panyijiar. 3. Provide integrated life-saving health and nutrition services to the famine-prone IDP and host-community populations in Panyijar and Koch Counties, to strengthen the service delivery at community level, IRC to provide health education and referral linkages to static facilities through CHWs and CNVs attached to the mobile teams. 4. Enhance livelihoods protection and restoration through provision of alternative income and market strengthening support for conflict and disaster affected people in Panyijiar County, Unity State.

In line with the GBV Coordination Handbook, for this project GBV sub cluster was to continue to build the capacity of the 15 GBV Sub cluster field coordinators to support gap analysis in GBV interventions, monitor GBV programs, build capacities of partners in the field, and coordination at the field level. They also be supported to conduct monthly GBV coordination meetings in person or virtually due to COVID-19, and national level updated.

The GBV prevention and response interventions targeted women, girls, men, and boys at IDP and host communities in Juba IDP camps (Mahad, Juba Way Station), Panyijiar, and Koch, sought to ensure access to timely and safe services for GBV survivors which included lifesaving GBV case management and psychosocial support (PSS) services at the women and girls’ safe spaces and guided by the survivor-centered approach across all the project locations. The case workers worked closely with the IRC child protection team for child survivors’ comprehensive support, and with the IRC Health team for the survivors in need of medical support including clinical management of rape. In addition, vulnerable women were referred to the ERD team for livelihood support, and to the Nutrition program for additional support based on the needs identified at the safe spaces. Continuously determined barriers to access of GBV services through strengthening of community-based functional referral pathways, in addition to continuous consultation with the women, girls, men and boys through focus group discussions to ensure such barriers were addressed through collaborative advocacy with different sectors.

The Child protection program provided case management service including family tracing and reunification to vulnerable children at-risk of or that experienced family separation, neglect, abuse or exploitation. Screening has been conducted through health/nutrition facilities and mobile teams by trained caseworkers. Caregivers were trained on parenting skills training focused on the reduction of harsh or violent practices, empathetic communication to improve child-caregiver interaction, and support practices to develop the child’s cognitive, social and emotional skills with a focus on caregivers that have children suffering from chronic malnutrition. The project has also built the capacity of the community-based child protection mechanism committee members.

The Health response component determined to deliver life-saving health and nutrition services to IDPs and host communities, properly respond to the most pressing needs of the populations in Koch and Panyijar County while addressing the complexities posed by recurrent climatic shocks, limited infrastructure, and ongoing security factors that continue to drive displacement in South Sudan. Rapid response mobile clinics are flexible and ideal for short-term high impact response activities to ensure that displaced and hard to reach populations are able to access critical health services. Linkages with existing health systems, through the efforts of CHD Directors and Officers will ensure that vulnerable populations have access to continued, quality health services provision (preventive, curative and referrals). In response to COVID-19 which has restricted access and contact with health facilities, the project’s mobile approach brings essential health services directly to populations.

The Nutrition interventions aimed to reduce morbidity and mortality rates of children under-five years and PLWs due to malnutrition while reducing the vulnerability and risk of acute malnutrition among children. In Panyijar County, 11,945 children under-five years and 2,837 PLWs suffering from acute malnutrition received life-saving nutritional interventions in 2020. To ensure that Children and PLW are not suffering from acute malnutrition, timely detection referrals and timely provision of appropriate nutritional treatment is needed. Therefore, the IRC will scale up nutrition responses to increases accessibility particularly in hard-to-reach areas and utilize mobile approaches to ensure the provision of nutrition services.

The ERMS strengthening designed to enhance livelihoods protection and restoration through provision of alternative income and market strengthening support for conflict and disaster-affected people in Panyijiar County, Unity State. This was pursued through a) facilitating Cash for works activities linked to Nyal Market, b) conducting business and life skills trainings to women and youths and supporting them re-start and or expand their business, and c) facilitate establishment of village savings and loans association groups (VSLAs) to engage in weekly resource pooling for emergencies and to enhance meeting basic needs. These interventions were also integrated with other community engagement activities such as community client feedback mechanisms, spousal group discussion series geared towards promoting inclusive financial decision making at household level and weekly engagement of Nyal market actors (buyers and traders) to collect data on market dynamics and prices.

Objectives of Endline Study:

The IRC is looking for a consultant (or team of consultants) to carry out an end of project evaluation for the evaluation and learning component for this program. This endline study is to test and determine whether the interventions and objectives of the project were achieved at its end.

The objectives of the evaluation include:

- To evaluate the achievements of the project activities in relation to the goal, objectives, results, and targets. - To evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the interventions to achieve activity outcomes. - To identify best practices, lessons learned, strengths, and challenges in the activity design, including the Log Frame, and implementation for achieving project achievements.

Scope of the study and Locations:

The evaluation locations will be Juba County (Juba POC, and GBV Cluster interventions), Panyijiar County (Health and Nutrition, Child protection and Livelihood’s interventions) and Koch County (Health, Women Protection and Empowerment (WPE) and Nutrition). The main outcome of interest of the endline study will be to measure the extent of increased access to services through GBV Cluster coordination and their contributions to conflict prevention, women protection and empowerment outcomes and progress outcomes that were derived through the health and nutrition interventions.

The end line study scope methodology will include.

Document review of project documents including Logical framework for the project design and reports.

Instrument development in English and orient the supervisors and field workers for the study.

Facilitate and supervise data collection within quantitative and qualitative frameworks for the study.

Consultations with relevant stakeholders at sector, national, and state levels

Analyze data and report preparation.

Ensure that lessons learned, problems and good practices are documented throughout the process inception report with the final research design.

Drafting report with relevant endline indicator achievement figures with factsheet and ensure that they are of good quality.

A presentation kit of main results highlighting important analysis and trends and updating the results framework.

Incorporating feedback/comments and finalization of report

Deliverables

The consultant will be responsible to deliver the following:

1. Inception report detailing the evaluation design, work plan and instruments to be used.

2. Draft endline report submitted for review and comments.

3. Final endline report that incorporates all comments from both Technical Coordinators and Technical Advisors.

Qualifications

Study Duration

The endline study is expected to take a maximum of 35 working days including field work and report compilation period. The evaluation will be covered from June to August 2022.

Payment

Payment upon receipt of invoice and completion of deliverables (first tranche 30%: deliverable 1, second tranche 30%: deliverable 2 and third tranche 40%: deliverable 3). All costs of deployment to Juba and field locations in Panyijiar are to be covered under the fee. The consultant is expected to arrange for his/her own accommodation and transportation in Juba. IRC will support in booking UNHAS flight to Panyijiar and Koch.

Qualifications

- Advanced University degree (Master or PhD Level) in Sociology, Social Sciences, Evaluation, Socio-Economic Studies, Development Economics or another related field. - Minimum of 5 years of relevant practical evaluation experience within three or more of the following areas: participatory methods; qualitative methods; social network analyses; social accountability; conflict prevention and peacebuilding; community participation and/or empowerment. - Demonstrated publication record of evaluations on related topics. - Demonstrated excellent analytical, writing and reporting skills, with a focus on accessible, actionable, practitioner-focused reporting. - Prior work experience in South Sudan is a strong asset. - Familiarity with humanitarian and conflict-affected settings - Fluency in written and spoken English required. - Ability and willingness to travel to implementation sites in South Sudan (pending approval from IRC security, based on security situation)

How to apply

Applicants submit:

- CVs of proposed consultant. - Cover letter outlining relevant experience and skills against qualifications listed. - Brief 5-page methodology on how to carry out the evaluation including a work plan and a COVID-19 Pandemic adaptation plan. - Summary budget to complete contract, including: 1) use of the estimated total number of days required; 2) daily rates for consultant(s); Data collection requirements for enumerators if any and 3) travel and accommodation costs during assignment.