GAC Final Evaluation Consultant

Monitoring & Evaluation

Job Description

Organizational and program background

The International Rescue Committee (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 regain control of their future. The IRC Yemen began its programs in October 2012 and currently operates in the country’s South and North through direct programming and local partnerships.

The country program operates in Aden, Abyan, Lahj, Al Dhale’e and Shabwa, Hodeidah, and Sana'a governorates and continues to assist the affected population through:

Provision of Primary health care services that includes treatment of minor ailments, provision of essential drugs and equipment. Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI), reproductive health, nutrition, water, and sanitation to more than a quarter-million people.

• Provision of food security assistance to assist people to meet their basic needs.

• Delivering essential drugs and medical supplies to hospitals.

• Improving access to education for out-of-school children.

With funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the IRC is implementing a twenty-month project that aims at reducing the morbidity and mortality of conflict-affected populations in Amanat al Asimah through integrated Primary health care (PHC) & Reproductive Health (RH) response. The project is expected to reach a total of 93,716 vulnerable individuals (37,562 males and 56,154 females), including women of childbearing age, children under the age of 5, the elderly, people with disabilities, and special needs, people with NCDs including mental health problems, and marginalized communities.

Below are the expected intermediate outcomes of the project:

• Intermediate Outcome 1: Children and adults are protected from and treated for the consequences of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

• Intermediate Outcome 2: Women and adolescent girls are protected from and treated for complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

The project provides essential health services to women, adolescent girls, and children identified as the most at risk of morbidity and death. It also delivers malnutrition treatment in five targeted health facilities (HFs), comprehensive primary health care services in six HFs, and three Basic emergency obstetric & neonatal care (BEmONC) centers. The services provided in these facilities include the prevention and treatment of communicable and non-communicable diseases, including mental health conditions, provision of comprehensive reproductive health services, including facilitation of referrals for children under five years with Severe Acute Malnutrition and medical complications. At the community level, the IRC works with community health volunteers (CHVs) who help deliver health promotive and preventive messages to communities, including community disease surveillance.

Rationale and Purpose

The primary purpose of the evaluation is to assess the completeness and effectiveness of the project

deliverables, and achievements realized, and take stock of the positive and negative changes brought about as a result of the project. The evaluation's information and recommendations will inform the IRC and GAC of the existing gaps and possibly better program design and implementation. As such, the Consultant is expected to provide information about success factors and recommendations for improvement areas.

Specific Objectives of the Evaluation

• Assess the program’s impact since its inception in May 2021 and the validity of the theory of change.

• Identify lessons learned and good practices and provide recommendations.

• To determine the extent the project achieved its objectives and outcomes as described in the project logframe.

• To determine the extent the project generated significant positive or negative, intended or unintended effects in the target population.

Evaluation Criteria and Questions

The following questions, among others, should be addressed:

• To what extent has the project protected and treated Children and adults from the consequences of communicable and non-communicable diseases?

• To what extent has the project protected and treated Women and adolescent girls from complications of pregnancy and childbirth?

• To what extent were the set project outcomes and intermediate outcomes met, and what internal and external factors influenced the achievement or non-achievement of those outcomes?

• Did the project demonstrate an excellent Value for Money (VfM) approach?

• What were the project's intended and unintended positive and negative impacts as perceived by targeted communities?

Scope of consultancy

The Consultant(s) will design an appropriate evaluation methodology based on their understanding of the expectations of the terms of reference. The evaluation will be conducted remotely, and no data will be collected from the clients or government stakeholders. Instead, the Consultant is expected to conduct extensive document reviews, meetings with IRC staff, and possibly a learning meeting. The evaluation should be utilization-focused as IRC intends to use the findings to inform current and future programming. The technical proposals should provide a detailed methodology for this assignment. Key activities should include, but are not limited to:

• Drafting data collection tools

• Developing the data collection methodology

• Developing the data analysis plan

• Conducting a learning meeting with IRC staff

• Presenting evaluation findings to IRC staff

• Production of the evaluation report

Reporting Arrangements

• The Consultant will report to the MEAL Coordinator.

• The Consultant will also closely collaborate with the Evaluations and Learning Manager, Head of Health and Nutrition, and the Health Coordinator.

Duration of assignment

The consultancy should not last more than 35 working days and should be carried out within October and November 2022.

Deliverables:

1. The Consultant will produce and submit an inception report detailing the evaluation schedule, design and methodology, tools, and instruments to be used in this evaluation within five days after signing the contract/agreement. The inception report will be submitted to IRC for review and presented virtually for feedback. IRC will approve the final inception report after submission before allowing any activities to continue.

2. The Consultant will produce and submit a draft evaluation report for review and virtually present it to IRC for comments and validation. The outline for this delivery could be as agreed in the inception report and should meet the evaluation objectives as indicated in this TOR.

3. The Consultant will develop a final report, incorporating feedback from IRC. The Consultant is accountable for maintaining the requirements for the content, format, and length of the final report, overall quality, and agreed timelines. The final report should incorporate all comments from IRC.

Intended Users

The intended users for the evaluation will be:

• The health team based in Yemen.

• All interested parties in IRC, including the Senior Management Team, MEAL Department, Grants Management, Health Technical Coordinator, and Advisors.

• Representatives of GAC as the donor that has funded the project.

Evaluation Roles and Responsibilities

IRC will:

• Facilitate engagement with the health staff and other key stakeholders.

• Provide all necessary program documents and contacts of relevant stakeholders.

• Review the Consultant's proposal, tools, and evaluation report.

The Consultant will:

• Be responsible for all aspects of the entire evaluation process, including evaluation preparation, data collection, analysis, and report writing.

• Be responsible for paying any tax or other fees related to this assignment.

• Be responsible for their working tools such as computer and data analysis software.

• Ensure the highest research ethical standards and transparency are upheld during the evaluation.

• Ensure that the time scheduled is adhered to.

• Ensure that the consultancy fee covers ALL the consultancy-related costs, including internet costs, communication, etc.

• Abide by IRC Yemen working days, i.e., Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, and ensure all communication is done during those weekdays.

REQUIREMENTS

This consultancy is open to individual consultants only.

• A qualification in Medicine, Public Health, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Research, Statistics, or any other Health related field is required.

• Experience in designing, planning, and conducting evaluations using experimental or quasi-experimental design approaches.

• Significant experience in carrying out evaluations in Yemen or similar contexts.

• Excellent skills in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.

• Excellent skills in data analysis software such as SPSS or STATA (for quantitative data analysis) and ATLAS.ti, NVivo for qualitative data analysis.

• Excellent organizing, facilitating, presentation, and communication skills, including good report writing in English.

• Ability to communicate in English required, including advanced English writing abilities.

• Good knowledge/experience in PHC, Nutrition, and SRH will be an added advantage.

• Experience in conducting remote evaluations will be a plus.

• At least two years of hands-on experience in conducting baseline and endline survey assessments, research, midterm reviews and evaluations of similar nature.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested applicants who meet the required profile are invited to submit an application in English. The application package should include:

• Cover letter outlining relevant experience and skills against qualifications listed.

• Brief Technical Proposal detailing the methodology for the evaluation and a work plan.

• CVs of proposed consultant.

• Provide a sample report(s) of similar work conducted previously – the client’s name may be redacted. IRC will only use the sample reports for purposes of identification of a consultant for this assignment.

• Financial proposal showing the total evaluation cost.

EVALUATION AND AWARD OF CONSULTANCY

IRC will evaluate the proposals and award the assignment based on technical and financial soundness and feasibility. IRC reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal received without giving reasons and is not bound to accept the lowest, the highest, or any bidder

The payment schedule will be determined between IRC and the selected consultant based on the financial proposal.

Qualifications

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 10 months ago - Source: rescue.org