For over 90 years, Save the Children has been making a difference in children’s lives in more than 120 countries. We are the world’s largest independent child rights organization, underpinned by a vision in a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Our mission to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.
Project objectives FFO NEXUS is a 2-year (January 2020 – Dec 2021, and extended from January 2022 to September 2022. Additional 2 years of the project extension is also under progress) project designed to address the most pertaining challenges faced by the most vulnerable communities living in 7 regions in Somalia (Kismayo, Mogadishu, Adado Mudug, Sool, Sanaag, and Toghdeer). The project is funded by German Government, it has benefited a total of 562,000 under five children and 473,000 age between 6 to 14 years.
The program fund was utilized to implement the humanitarian priorities of Save the Children’s Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for Somalia (see CSP logframe in annex). The focus on this funding was on the humanitarian components. The program has two main goals
Goal 1-Children has a strong start in life. Under this goal I the project has benefited (562,000 Most Deprived Children age 0-5 It has benefited “Crisis affected children under five through improved access to timely and adequate health, nutrition, WASH and child protection services and their families can meet their basic food and non-food needs in times of crisis”)
Goal 2:- Children Have A Better Foundation for A Bright Future. Under this goal 473,000 Children (6–14yr) – “affected by crisis are protected and enjoy uninterrupted access to education”) of the CSP.
In addition, the funding also contributed to the cross-cutting goals on gender and local capacity building.
For children under five, SC provided mobile and facility-based health and nutrition services ensuring access to preventive and curative health service throughout the emergency period. To treat and prevent malnutrition, SC applied the Provision Community based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) and the promotion of optimal Infant & Young Child Feeding practices in emergencies (IYCF-E). Measures was complemented with rehabilitating climate resilient water sources for communities in crisis as well as unconditional cash transfers for families with children under five.
To ensure protection of children in crisis, SC set up child friendly spaces, provide psycho-social support and family tracing and reunification services and conduct child resilience and community sensitization sessions. To ensure uninterrupted access to education, schools in communities with high numbers of IDP and returnees received temporary financial and material support.
Save the Children implemented integrated Health, nutrition, WASH, education and child protection services and cash transfers for vulnerable children and families for crises affected by the drought and Covid-19 related crises in Somaliland/Somalia. Activities consisted of health and nutrition service, provision of water and hygiene kits and unconditional cash transfers to droughts affected households with malnourished children, so that they can be able to meet their immediate food and non-food needs
Geographic scope of the evaluation: The project was implemented in Southern States of Somalia (Kismayo, Mogadishu, and Adado), Puntland (Mudug region) and Somaliland (Sool, Sanaag, and Toghdeer); thus, the mid term evaluation will cover all the project regions.
- Purpose of Evaluation
The overall purpose of the midterm evaluation is to generate mid-term information about the performance of the project, to document lessons learned and provide recommendations for improvement if any. The mid-term evaluation is expected to provide information that enables SC and its partners to develop strategies to further improve project intervention.
To be more specific, the midterm evaluation is expected to generate information from all relevant project indicators. This will help Save the Children, partners and donors to assess and decide the progress of the project against the promised deliverables indicators aimed at reducing vulnerability of the community. The relevant indicators to be used for data collection are listed below (see annex):
Specific evaluation questions include:
The specific objective the mid term evaluation is to answer questions around the effectiveness and efficacy of the project implementation.
- To assess the program’s contribution to improved access to timely, inclusive and adequate health, nutrition, and WASH and child protection services for families with children under five years;
- To assess the extent to which the program has supported participants’ households to meet their basic food and non-food needs in times of crisis;
- To assess the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the program;
- To analyze the extent to which the project has enhanced application of a rights-based approach, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and participation of other socially vulnerable groups such as girls and children with disabilities;
- To assess the extent to which the project has contributed to improved access to education for all children aged 6-14 years disaggregated by disability, age and gender; and
- To document lessons learnt throughout the project life cycle and how can these be used to inform the remaining activities of the project.
- Scope and Focus of Evaluation
The mid-term evaluation will look at the following areas: Project management; project activities; engagement of government institutions, organizations of persons with disabilities and other relevant stakeholders. It will address the results achieved, the engagements made and capacities strengthened
The mid-term evaluation will employ the specific evaluation criteria for humanitarian action from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) to guide the study. Following DAC criteria and the below key questions shall allow assessing the achievement:
Objective
Key Questions
Relevance/Appropriateness
To assess the relevance of the project activities to the local context and to the needs of the target communities
- How appropriate has the program design and focus been to meet the intended objectives?
- How relevant have the project interventions been in reducing food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition, as well as associated diseases and promote long-term resilience?
- To what extent have beneficiaries (men, women, boys, and girls with and without disabilities), communities and families participated in project activities?
Effectiveness
To assess the progress made towards achieving the project’s objectives, outcomes and goal
- To what extent has the programme achieved its outputs, outcomes and goals?
- What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the program objectives?
- How effective were the strategies and tools used in the implementation of the program?
- How effective has the project been in responding to the needs of the beneficiaries, and what results were achieved?
- To what extent have our interventions/ approaches achieved, or are expected to achieve better care and support of children by caregivers and communities and improved knowledge of children to protect themselves and their peers from protection harms?
- What best program experiences/achievements (supported by evidence such as case studies, quotes, best practices, and so on) have been derived from the program?
- How effective the collaboration was between programme and support functions to deliver organizations humanitarian mandate in timely and effective manner?
Efficiency
To assess whether the resources (financial, human, and materials) have been used efficiently and effectively in addressing the needs of the target community?
- Were there more efficient ways/approaches and means of delivering more and better results (outputs and outcomes) with the available inputs?
- Were the interventions timely/were there any delays in the implementation of the program activities?
- Were the resources (funds, technical support from SCI, use of Save the Children common approaches, partnerships and divided roles & responsibilities between SCI and partners) used well?
Impact
To assess the potential impact of the project on the targeted communities
- What are the positive and negative, intended and unintended, changes produced by the project?
- What other actors and factors contributed to the observed impact?
- What real difference has the intervention made to the beneficiaries?
Sustainability
- To what extent are the benefits of the projects likely to be sustained after the completion of this project?
- Have capacities been strengthened at the individual and organizational levels including government institutions, organizations of persons with disabilities, staff and other community structures?
- How has the nexus integrated FFO and BMZ programming in target locations?
Lessons learnt and recommendations
- Are there lessons that have been documented from the program implementation?
- Based on the program implementation, what recommendations can be made to improve/support the design of similar interventions in future?
Cross Cutting Theme 1: Child participation
- Have children participated in the program?
- What added value has the participation of children brought to social and behaviour change on violence against children in the target families and communities?
- How did child participation increase/improve the self-protection of children against violence?
Cross Cutting Theme 2: Gender
- To what extent has the project been gender sensitive or transformative in design and implementation as per SCI Gender Equality guidance?
- What were the most successful action/ approaches in making gender transformative changes if any?
- To what extent has the project contributed to gender equality, the empowerment of girls and the realization of their rights?
- How did the project increase/improve reporting of SGBV cases and support to survivors of SGBV?
- Would the project’s gender relevant results be sustained after the intervention? And why?
The above questions serve as guidance and are not an exhaustive list. The consultant is expected to refine and explore further as deemed necessary.
- Evaluation Methodology
The evaluation will use mixed method approach that draws on both existing and new quantitative and qualitative data to answer the evaluation questions. A detailed methodology including sampling and data collection methods should be included in the technical proposal, which will be further improved in consultation with SC REALM Team.
The consultant will come up with detailed methodology in consideration of the information outlined in this ToR but proposed methods include but not limited to review of existing literature on the humanitarian situation in Somalia, project documents and other relevant literature, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, observations and a HH survey covering a sample of targeted beneficiaries disaggregated by disability, gender and age. The consultant will identify the sampling strategy which will be reviewed and approved by Save the Children. The sampling process should be systematic, representative and take into consideration the different target beneficiaries and locations.
Participatory, inclusive, gender sensitive and child-friendly methods that maximize the meaningful participation of children and their care givers will be imperative. The evaluators shall present an inception report detailing key survey questions; source of information/data; sampling procedures and the sample size, data collection method and tools, data analysis plan and a report structure. The inception report shall be refined in consultation with SC Somalia/Somaliland staff and approved before commencing data collection.
The evaluators will work with the respective technical specialists and teams in the field for FSL, WASH and Health/Nutrition as well as the MEAL team for technical and quality backstopping.
- SC Responsibilities
The SC Somalia will be responsible for the following:
- Ensure effective coordination of the evaluation logistics to support the consultants in undertaking their assignment.
- Review and Approve inception report
- Provide input into the tools developed, and evaluation design.
- Provide consultants with literature review materials/necessary documentations.
- Link consultants to relevant stakeholders
- Review analysis of the data collected prior to the documentation of the mid-term report
- Review draft report
- Approve and sign off mid-term report
- Consultant Responsibilities
The consultant will lead the process of:
- Study design, methodology, planning and quality control procedures;
- Recruiting and/or training enumerators in survey protocols, techniques and on the methods
- Reviewing existing literature to inform study designs, research questions, and development of sampling methodologies
- Finalizing work plan, questionnaire(s), KII & FGD guidelines
- The consultant will guide and provide required technical support to the field teams for carrying out interviews and gathering information from different stakeholders.
- The consultant will remain responsible for the entire study maintaining the highest-level standards and quality and for producing the final mid-term evaluation reports.
- Deliverables
The following outputs are expected from the consultant
- Work plan and Inception Report (with key parameters and indicators to be considered for the evaluation including methodology, key survey questions; source of information/data; sampling procedures and the sample size, data collection methods and tools, data analysis plan, reporting and all the tools)
- Both raw and cleaned data sets
- A comprehensive and well organized Mid-term Report complete with standard reporting formats, not more than 40 pages excluding preliminary and annexes
- A set of actionable and evidence-based recommendations
- Recommendations should consider the needs of specific stakeholder groups, and be relevant to the effective impact measurement of programme objectives and outcomes.
- The consultant will present findings/recommendations to key SC staff, program partners, and key stakeholders have a validation session report to supplement the Mid Term report.
- Management and Logistics
The consultant will be supervised by the Country MEAL Advisor. The consultant will be responsible for organizing logistical issues with limited facilitation from SCI and as per the consultancy agreement.
- Duration of the Assignment
The assignment will be 30 days inclusive of travels. The anticipated dates of the end line survey are November 20, 2021 – December, 20, 2022.
- Qualification
- Post graduate qualifications (MA level) in social science, particularly economics, Development studies, food security, public health or related fields
- Minimum of 10 years of demonstrated professional experience delivering Monitoring and Evaluations services
- Proven experience in conducting quality project Monitoring and Evaluation including Mid-term evaluation survey for multi-sectoral programs
- Proven experience in conducting evaluations for both humanitarian and development projects
- Experience in applying participatory, child-friendly, inclusive and gender sensitive tools especially when collecting data from children with and without disabilities, boys and girls of different ages.
- Knowledge of Save the Children and its internal processes will be beneficial but is not essential
- Knowledge and understanding of the social and cultural context of Somali people will be an asset.
- Solid analytical, result based planning, report writing, communication and diplomacy skills with ability to correlate different data sets to actionable conclusions.
- Proficiency in written English language (reports will be in English)
- Proven experience in providing quality technical reports
- Ability to make clear presentations and disseminate findings to both technical and nontechnical audience
- Payment Details
Payment will be in accordance with contract and the detailed budget breakdown as submitted through the proposal, and invoices will be expected from the consultant prior to payment
- Application Process
Interested and qualified consultants are expected to submit the following documents which will form part of the pre-selection recruitment process:
- Company Profile
- CVs of the consultants with at least three credible referees.
- Technical proposal, outlining an understanding and interpretation of the TOR and methodologies including sampling procedure, data collection, data analysis plan, quality assurance, management and tools to be used
- Detailed Work Plan
- Financial Proposal outlining consultant’s daily rates and break down of all other costs associated with the assignment. Proven samples of the previous similar work with INGOs and/or UN agencies preferably.
Professional Fee: The local consultant will come up with his/her own rate, which will be subject tonegotiation within the bounds of donor requirements and set standards of SC in Somalia/Somaliland. The local consultant is also required to estimate the logistical and data collection costs.
Application: Expression of interest should include:
- Technical proposal: brief explanation on the consultant’s previous experience in this kind ofwork, profile of the consultant, understanding on the TOR, the task to be accomplished and draft time plan on how the work will be done.
- Sample of previous work: The consultant will be expected to present previous sample of reports with similar work
- Financial proposal: the financial proposal should provide cost estimates for service rendered including enumerators, venue and stationary for training and (Daily Consultancy Fees)
- Tax and Insurance: The consultant shall be responsible for his/her income tax and/or insurance duringthe assignment.
- Save the children will not cover any travel related costs, as this service will be advertised locally.
Code of Conduct: Because Save the Children’s work is based on deeply held values and principles, it isessential that our commitment to children’s rights and humanitarian principles is supported and demonstrated by all members of staff. Save the Children’s Code of Conduct sets out the standards which all staff members must adhere to. The consultant is bound by the principles and conditions of Save the Children’s Code of Conduct.
A contract will be signed by the consultant before commencement of the action. The contract will detail terms and conditions of service, aspects on inputs and deliverables.
Consultancy Profile
- Higher university degree in relevant field
- Proven experience in conducting quality third part monitoring, baseline studies and assessing humanitarian programmes
- Thorough knowledge on the relevant thematic area and Somalia/Somaliland context
- Strong TVET, child rights and child protection programming skills (child participation skills an asset)
- English is essential; local language skills would be helpful.
Application Process
Interested and eligible local applicants can send their CVs along with their testimonials and at least two copies of reports of similar work.
Interested candidates shall submit their applications through [email protected] no latter than 8th October, 2022 at 5:00 PM (EAT Time)
