External Evaluation for the Integrated Health, Nutrition, WASH and Agriculture and Food Security Program in Gedo, Hiiraan, Mudug and Banadir regions, 84 views1 applications

Mercy-USA for Aid and Development seeks to hire a consultant with the core responsibility of conducting a program evaluation for the Integrated Health, Nutrition, WASH and Agriculture and Food Security Program in El Wak district in Gedo region, Mahaas, Jalalaqsi and Buloburte districts in Hiiraan region, Kahda district in Banadir region and Hobyo district in Mudug region.

In the aftermath of drought and massive displacement, Somalia continues to suffer from unstable political, economic, social and environmental conditions. Somalia’s government institutions remain weak and unable to adequately meet the needs of its citizens. This, coupled with ongoing conflict and recurrent emergencies, has exposed communities to harmful shocks, leaving women and children particularly vulnerable. Mercy-USA, with funding from OFDA, implemented a 24-months emergency program to deliver humanitarian assistance. The evaluation will assess the outcome of the implemented activities and document any lessons learned.

The consultant will report directly to the Mercy-USA Program Manager and Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator. The consultant will also work in close consultation with other relevant Program staff. The security situation will be monitored keenly to ensure safe access for the evaluator to conduct the evaluation exercise to measure the impact of the project.

Program Goal:

To improve the quality of life and build household resilience for vulnerable populations in conflict-affected and vulnerable rural-pastoralist communities in Somalia through life-saving health and nutrition services, food security interventions and improved water and sanitation practices.

The main responsibility of the consultant will be to conduct an end of project evaluation of the program and, specifically, look into the following questions to meet the objectives of the evaluation:

1.1. Relevance and appropriateness

• To what extent were the selected strategies relevant and appropriate to the needs of the targeted beneficiaries?

• To what extent the project has taken into account people’s different needs according to age, gender and culture?

• Was the targeting criteria communicated and understood by all members within the community?

• To what extent were target communities involved in the needs assessment, design, and implementation of the project?

• Was the methodology used for the beneficiary selection appropriate and were communities involved in the process?

1.2. Quality and Effectiveness

• Did the project achieve what it set out to do?

• Were humanitarian standards met and humanitarian principles followed? (Sphere, HAP, Codes of conduct)?

• Were the interventions timely, appropriate and cost effective? Were the operational systems put in place effective in ensuring this?

• To what extent have the interventions contributed to improve the condition of targeted communities?

• How satisfied are the communities with the project?

• How well did the project mainstream/integrate gender, equality, protection, disaster risk reduction (DRR), capacity building and conflict/cultural sensitivities?

• Were the needs assessments, monitoring, evaluation systems and associated indicators appropriate?

• Did the responses contribute to reduce future vulnerabilities?

1.3. Efficiency

• To what extent were resources used efficiently to produce the intended outputs?

• How well were resources invested to efficiently achieve the intended results?

1.4. Outcome/Impact

• What were the intended and unintended impacts of the action of the project?

• To what extent were the beneficiaries able to adapt and maintain the knowledge acquired without further assistance?

METHODOLOGY

Evaluation Type

The type of evaluation used will be performance evaluations which will be used to address the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and appropriateness of the project.

Study Design

The study design to be used will be cross-sectional. This is an observational study that analyzes data collected from a population, or a representative subset, at a specific point in time.

Data Collection

A participatory and consultative approach of data collection will be used and both quantitative and qualitative data will be collected. The methodology will be developed in detail by the consultant and the evaluation will require data collection methods such as, but not limited to, review of key program documentation and data, household surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The consultant will develop all the tools necessary for data collection with the approval of Mercy-USA’s Program Manager and Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator before going to the field. The data collection will take place in the following phases:

• Secondary data review, with a thorough examination of available secondary documentation;

• Field visits to project sites and collection of primary information (quantitative and qualitative) including detailed discussions with a sample of target beneficiaries. This process should be participatory to the extent possible.

Expected Deliverables and Timeline

Final methodology and data collections tools approved and ready for use- 3 Days

Training of enumerators-4 Days

Data collection at field level- 7 days

Data analysis, interpretation and preparation of draft report- 10 Days

Dissemination meeting and presentation of summary findings to Mercy-USA and other stakeholders- 1 Day

Submission of final report (with data sets for both qualitative and quantitative data) that incorporates feedback from Mercy-USA and other stakeholders- 5 Days

Total- 30 Days

Expected Qualifications of the Consultant

• Health/Nutrition/Public Health background with a minimum of 3 years working experience in humanitarian/emergency settings.
• At least three years of hands on experience in conducting assessments, mid-term reviews and evaluations of humanitarian assistance projects. Experience as team-leader in project evaluations/mid-term reviews is essential.
• Familiar with issues related to Nutrition, Health, Agriculture and Food Security and WASH; experience in integrated evaluations is a plus.
• Good working knowledge of at least one statistical software package (Epi Info, Stata, SPSS, etc.), Excel and other MS-Office tools is necessary.
• Knowledge of and familiarity with different qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation tools and techniques. Strong knowledge and experience in survey design, implementation of surveys and statistical data analysis is required.
• Experience in the use of participatory appraisal techniques in data collection.
• Experience in developing and implementing gender sensitive evaluation methodologies.
• Ability to assess/review critically the project activities and results.
• Strong presentation and reporting skills.
• Knowledge of Somali language is a plus.
• Experience working with USAID grant-funded projects and familiar with USAID protocol, procedures and policies.

Ethical Considerations Evaluator/s will make clear to all participating stakeholders that they are under no obligation to participate in the evaluation study. All participants will be assured that there will be no negative consequences if they choose not to participate. Evaluator/s will obtain informed consent from the participants. In case the evaluation team does not understand participants’ first language, they will be along with an interpreter/s. Evaluation team will have to receive prior permission for taking and using visual still or moving images for specific purposes, i.e., for evaluation report and presentations. Evaluator/s will assure the participants’ anonymity and confidentiality and will ensure the visual data is protected and used for agreed purpose only