External Evaluator for the EUTF Project (Final Evaluation) 225 views0 applications

1. Background and Context

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC)[1] has been operational in West Africa since 1998. DRC’s aim is to contribute to the peace and stabilization, protection and promotion of durable solutions to crisis affected populations in the region. The overall strategic objective of the programme is to support peace and stabilization, protect and promote durable solutions to conflict affected populations in Nigeria, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinee, and Mali on the basis of humanitarian principles and fundamental human rights.

In 2015, DRC opened a new country programme in Nigeria responding to the huge humanitarian needs and challenges in the Northeast of Nigeria. Nigeria’s Northeast is currently experiencing a significant humanitarian crisis, which has been the result of the ongoing-armed conflict between Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs) and the Nigerian military in the Northeast. The conflict in Nigeria has caused displacement and human suffering on a massive scale. Since the onset of the conflict in 2009, it is estimated that more than 27,000 people have been killed and hundreds of women and girls abducted. [2]According to the Nigeria 2019 – 2021 Humanitarian Response Strategy the humanitarian crisis in north-east Nigeria continues as hostilities between Nigerian security forces and non-state armed groups enter their tenth year. Civilians still bear the brunt of the conflict that has resulted in widespread displacement, lack of protection, destroyed infrastructure and collapsed basic services. In 2019, 7.1 million people (2.3 million girls, 1.9 million boys, 1.6 million women and 1.3 million men) are in need of humanitarian assistance in and 1.8 million people remain internally displaced. Considerable assistance has mitigated the risk of famine; however, this improvement in the situation is extremely fragile. Millions are vulnerable to severe food insecurity as any disruption of the food pipeline may cause people to again slip below emergency thresholds. Humanitarian aid has also not adequately addressed the underlying vulnerabilities nor facilitated durable solutions for the approximate 1.6 million people who have returned to or closer to their homes and attempted to begin to rebuild their lives.

2. Objectives of the Project

Since 2016, DRC has been implementing a project with funding from EU Trust Fund to support IDPs and host communities in Borno and Adamawa States of Nigeria. The overall objective of EUTF project is to promote stability and resilience among those affected by displacement in North-eastern Nigeria, in particular in Borno and Adamawa states.

The Specific Objectives are:

I. Improving community resilience and socio-economic recovery of 4,100 people by providing support to IDPs and host communities to better meet their basic needs and cope with future shocks

II. Empowering at-risk youth by strengthening 14,400 young IDPs’ skills and preference for peaceful and constructive behaviour, resilience to negative influences and access to alternative legitimate livelihood opportunities

III. Support 86,400 people through enhancing community safety and conflict mediation capacities by developing 18 IDP and host communities’ abilities to implement their own community safety plans and to call on a network of community-based conflict mediators to resolve disputes peacefully

IV. Positive behavioural change among 21,600 people related to mines, ERW and IEDs resulting in a reduction of casualties

3. Objectives and Scope of the Evaluation

The general objective of this evaluation is to ascertain the relevance of assistance and if reached the targeted people in a timely, efficient and effective manner and measure the achievements and impact of the specific objectives of the project for all components – Livelihoods, Armed Violence Reduction and Risk Education. The evaluation also aims to understand project’s sustainability, document best practices and lessons learnt and have specific recommendations to improve future programming.

During the course of the evaluation process, protection and gender concerns should be addressed in line with the DRC Policies. All data should be sex-disaggregated and different needs of women, youth and men and of vulnerable groups targeted by the project should be considered. The evaluation should assess if project was implemented in accordance with the Do No Harm and protection was mainstreamed and see if communities/beneficiaries were adequately involved throughout the project.

The specific objectives of this evaluation are to assess the implementation of EUTF funded project from the following perspectives:

· To ascertain the relevance and appropriateness of the project to the priorities of the target populations

· To determine if the end results (outcomes) of the projects whereas achieved and if the modalities were appropriate for the intervention.

· To examine contextual changes and challenges that impacted project implementation and identify lessons learned for future programming

· To provide concrete, actionable recommendations for future strategic and operational development of the Livelihoods, Arm Violence Reduction and Risk Education sectors.

To achieve these objectives, evaluation study questions will be developed and agreed between the external evaluator and the Evaluation Manager/Steering Committee during the inception phase.

4. Existing information sources

It is essential that the evaluation builds on the following existing sources of information:

• Previous monitoring and evaluation reports;
• Existing data collected over the project cycle – including assessment reports, monitoring, and evaluation processes (specifically post-activity monitoring of qualitative and quantitative indicators);
• Secondary data and trend analysis from the broader Nigerian humanitarian response, specifically quantitative gaps in terms of timely and coherent response delivery as well as qualitative aspects relating to needs being met in an appropriate manner.

5. Methodology, deliverables, and timeline

The Evaluators will work with DRC to expand upon the ToRs as required and develop the final evaluation questionnaire. The evaluation should include a mixed methodology approach comprising of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The methods suggested can include (but are not limited to) document review, household surveys, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions.

It is proposed that the external evaluator be contracted for up to 30 working days. The external evaluator is responsible for the timely delivery of the following evaluation products:

• An Inception Report (maximum 5 pages): Based on the documentation review and report of the data analyst, the report will outline the evaluator’s understanding of the evaluation and expectations, any limitations to the study, along with a concrete action plan for undertaking the evaluation – including methodology (specifying how data will be collected to meet evaluation objectives), timelines for all deliverables and report template

• A presentation of the major findings and recommendations of the evaluation to internal stakeholders (to take place immediately upon concluding the fieldwork and prior to departure from Nigeria);

• A Draft Report (maximum 50 pages with an Executive Summary of no more than 5 pages) clearly articulating key findings, conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations for concrete actions to be taken in the design and implementation of similar project in Nigeria. The Evaluation Manager/Steering Committee will provide feedback and comment within 7 days of receiving the report.

• A Final Report that incorporates comments from the Evaluation Manager and Evaluation Steering Committee, alongside a response matrix detailing how each comment was handled in the revising of the draft report (delivered within 7 days of receiving Evaluation Steering Committee’s feedback on Draft Report).

The evaluation must be undertaken and completed within the period between 01 to 31 March 2019 (final report to be submitted).

6. Management and reporting

DRC Nigeria will establish an Evaluation Steering Committee to oversee, support, and provide ongoing feedback to the evaluation team. The external evaluator will be hosted by the DRC Nigeria Programme Development and Quality Unit and managed by the Quality Assurance Manager, on behalf of the Evaluation Steering Committee.

It is proposed that the Evaluation Steering Committee be made up of the following:

· DRC Nigeria Quality Assurance Manager

• DRC Nigeria MEAL Coordinator;
• DRC Nigeria Livelihoods Coordinator.
• DRC Nigeria AVR Manager
• DRC Nigeria MRE Manager

It is to be noted that the ownership of all deliverable and data of the evaluation remain the property of DRC and the Donor and any kind of information related to this evaluation are not to be shared or published.

7. Logistics and procedures

DRC Nigeria will support the evaluation through the following:

• Compilation of background documentation and relevant data;
• Scheduling and providing logistics support for initial interviews and inception work planning;
• Scheduling and provision of all logistics/accommodation requirements for the duration of the fieldwork;
• Weekly meetings with the Evaluation Manager and/or Evaluation Steering Committee;
• Scheduling and provision of logistics support for the review workshop;
• Rapid review and commenting on outputs and deliverables.

8. Required skills and qualifications

· Advanced university degree or equivalent in Humanitarian/Development Studies, Social Sciences, Research or other fields related to the provision of humanitarian assistance.

· At least 05 years of relevant experience and proven expertise in the humanitarian sector, with significant experience in assessment and monitoring, data analysis, research and evaluation – including prior experience conducting project and programme reviews and evaluations. (preferably in the relevant sectors of Livelihood, Armed Violence Reduction and Mine Risk Education).

· Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills.

· Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision.

· Strong analytical and synthesis skills.

· Excellent command in written and spoken English.