Terms of Reference for Midterm Evaluation
CHILD PROTECTION IN COCOA PLANTATION
June 2019
Project Summary
Type of evaluation
Mid Term External Evaluation
Name of the project
Child Protection in Cocoa Plantations – Project aimed at protecting children from the worst forms of labour, abuses and violence in cocoa-producing communities in the Nawa region
Implementers
Save the Children in Cote D’Ivoire, ORASUR
Project Start and End dates
01/06/2017- 31/05/2020
Project duration
3 years
Project locations:
Cote d’Ivoire, Nawa Region
Thematic areas
Child protection, Education, Livelihood and Nutrition
Donor
Ferrero/Save the Children Italy
Estimated beneficiaries
Total direct beneficiaries: 16.575 including 6.057 children
Total indirect beneficiaries: 33.150 including 12.114 children
Overall objective of the project
The general objective of the project is to contribute to the strengthening of child protection by the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, abuses and violence in the cocoa-producing communities in the Nawa region.
1 Project background
1.1 Save the Children operations in the Country
Save the Children in Cote D’Ivoire has been operational since 1996 with a wide portfolio of programs focusing on Child Protection, Education, Child Governance, Health and Nutrition. Looking at the past three years[1], Save the Children Côte d’Ivoire has operated as the leader organization for child protection covering the entire country. Save the Children Côte d’Ivoire has promoted education in the center and north-west regions of the country, integrating out of school children and leading the way in the implementation of the Literacy Boost and Numeracy Boost approaches in the country. Regarding health and nutrition, the organization reached national scales with projects aiming at scaling up the fight against malaria. Programs covered the areas of HIV AIDS, maternal and child health and introduced the ICCM. Through its child protection program, the organization has provided substantial support to migrant children and young workers in the center and north of the country and is making a strong contribution to the fight against the worst forms of child labor with the support of cocoa companies. Actions are being taken to address girls and women empowerment through VSLA and IGA in the south and center regions of the country. Finally, within child rights governance framework, Save the Children Côte d’Ivoire has been reinforcing CSO so that they can hold the government accountable for the implementation of international conventions. Save the Children Italy has been supporting the country office in its Child Protection, Child Right and Business Principles programming and Education portfolio, with a focus on migration
1.2 The collaboration with Ferrero
Since 2016, and the launch of a pilot project in the department of Soubré, Ferrero and Save the Children are working together for the protection of vulnerable children in cocoa growing communities. This project lasted 15 months (from March 2016 to May 2017) and aimed at:
- Implementing mechanisms for the protection of children in 10 communities in order to develop communities’ actions plans and to take initiatives to prevent the worst forms of child labor and exploitation in cocoa plantations.
- Improving the knowledge related to behaviour change of 860 people (310 adults and 550 children) in beneficiary communities, regarding child rights and protection, child labor, sexual abuse and exploitation.
- Responding to the specific needs (psychosocial, medical, education and assistance) of 550 children victims or at risk of harmful work , sexual abuse or exploitation in their families and communities.
This pilot project led to the implementation of the current “Project for the protection of children against the worst forms of labour, abuses and other violence in the cocoa-producing communities in the Nawa region”, which started in 2017 for a duration of 3 years (June 2017 – May 2020).
With an overall budget of 1.500.000 Euro, this project benefits 6.057 children (3.147 girls), aged 5 to 17, victims or at risk of the worst forms of labor and exploitation, in more than 20 communities, including in the 10 communities already involved in the pilot project.
1.3 Geographical area
The project targets:
- Ten communities in the department of Soubré, sub-prefectures of Grand Zattry, Soubré, Okrouyo, Liliyo often called “old communities” as they were already targeted by the pilot project.
- Ten communities in the sub-prefectures of Oupoyo (department of Méagui), Gueyo and Dabouyo (department of Gueyo), often called “new communities” because selected and targeted for the first time by the present project.
All the communities are found in Nawa Region, in the South Western part of Ivory Coast
1.4 Operational Context
SCI’ s Child protection initiatives in Cote d’Ivoire are in line with the Child Protection National Policy and its strategic axis, including the prevention, the assistance to victims of abuses and violence, the fight against impunity, and the enforcement of the Child Protection National Policy.
In addition, the project builds on the Ivorian government’s initiatives against the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector:
· Two investigations on child labour conducted in 2013-2014: 1) by the Ministry of Employment in partnership with the National Institute of Statistics and ILO 2) by the University of Tulane. The investigation of Tulane University focused specifically on Child Labour in Cocoa plantations.
· Order no° 2014-290 signed 21st May 2014 laying down rules implementing the Law n° 2010-272 of September 30th 2010. The Law forbids trafficking and worst forms of child labours and the Order ensures the prosecution of responsible for these crimes.
· Order no°2013-857 of December 19th 2013 institutionalizing a Child Parliament in Ivory Coast.
· Bilateral agreement with Burkina Faso signed on October 17th 2013 to fight child cross-border trafficking. This agreement built on the agreements signed by the Ivorian government with Mali (1st September 2000) and the multilateral agreement signed on 25th July 2005 to fight child trafficking in West Africa.
The project is also in line with the Cocoa Action, a strategy that aligns the world’s leading cocoa and chocolate companies, governments and key stakeholders on regional priority
issues in cocoa sustainability. In particular, it is coherent with its second pillar, focusing on “Community Development”, and the two related strands of actions: “access to education” and “child protection improvement and reduction of worst form of labour in cacao plantations”.
1.5 Brief description of the project
The «Project for the protection of children against the worst forms of labour, abuses and other violence in the cocoa producing communities in the Nawa region» aims at contributing to the strengthening of child protection by the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, abuses and violence in the cocoa-producing communities in the Nawa region.
The project has a logical framework which links the activities through the usual logical sequence of outputs, outcomes (specific objectives) and impact (overall objective). The activities contribute to 7 outputs, which in turn contribute to two specific objectives (see figure below):
Overall Objective
Contribute to the strengthening of child protection by the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, abuses and violence in the cocoa-producing communities in the Nawa region.
Specific Objective 1
Protect children (victims or at risks) against the worst forms of child labour, abuses and violence.
Specific Objective 2
Promote community development and create an environment conducive to the protection of children
Output 1.1
Formal and informal child protection mechanisms exist and are working
Output 1.2
Cases of worst forms of child labour, abuse and violence are identified, referred and receive holistic care
Output 1.3
Children victims or at risk of being victims of the worst forms of child labour, abuse and other violence, have access to Education
Output 2.1
The development of 20 communities is supported through support for the implementation of their Community Action Plans (CAPs)
Output 2.2
The 20 cocoa-producing communities are supported in the development of strategies to find alternatives to child labour
Output 2.3
Farmers cooperatives and cocoa companies are trained / reinforced and adopt behaviours more respectful for children’s rights principles
Output 2.4
The general public and the media in the region know about the worst forms of child labour, abuse and violence, and develop behaviours and activities more protective of children’s rights
The objectives are achieved along four main strands of action:
Child Protection
The project strengthens or fosters the establishment of Community-based Protection Systems such as Child Protection Committees and Children Groups. Communities are made aware of the worst forms of child labour and other violence and abuses against children: They are expected to take a lead in tracking and reporting child rights violations. Awareness raising activities include door-to-door activities as well as mass media campaigns.
Referral systems are established and strengthened to ensure a holistic and child focused case management as well as appropriate childcare. On one hand, Community-Based Protection Systems are expected to identify and refer the worst cases of child labour, abuses and violence to services providers (social services, health facilities …). On the other hand, social services and health facilities provide psychosocial and medical support to children victims of worst form of labour and other forms of abuses and violence.
After the development of a remediation matrix of worst cases of child labour, workshops and trainings on Best Interest of the child determination and Best Interest of the Child analysis are conducted with all the main actors involved in child protection (health facilities, social protection systems and judicial authorities). The objective of these activities is to identify the responsibilities of all actors concerned by the referral mechanism/case management in order to ensure accountability and a child centred effective response.
Education
Education is both a prevention and a response strategy to the worst forms of labour. The project is promoting education through:
a) Bridge classes: ensuring that out of school children catch up with regular education in communities where there is no formal school
b) Community schools: in communities where there is no formal school, community schools are established to fill the gap. Advocacy and awareness raising activities are carried out to ensure the progressive recognition of these structures by the Ministry of Education.
c) Formal schools: supported by the establishment/strengthening of School Management Committees (COGES), the involvement of parents in their children’s education and school management, literacy boost approach (training of teachers and community involvement to promote literacy activities also in children’ villages and at home)
Food Security and Livelihoods
The price of cocoa is highly volatile and thus increases the vulnerabilities of farmers who rely on the production of cocoa as main source of income. To respond to this recurrent risk, the ongoing project includes a study on livelihood components. The study aimed to identify companion cash crops as a complementing livelihood diversification strategy but also to tackle immediate constraints to the household cash flow of cocoa producers in periods when prices for cocoa is low. Taking in consideration the study which included a‘light’ version of a Market System Analysis (MSA) for cocoa – whereby all relevant core supply chains and larger market actors and institutions participated in a joint review of the cocoa sector – the decision was made to promote the production of two alternative companion crops: cassava and plantain. In addition, in order to respond to the lack of financial planning capacity observed the project includes the establishment of village saving and loans schemes (VSLA) associated with financial planning support. VSLA encourages in particular the participation of women
Community Development
The role of communities is crucial not only for child protection (as illustrated above) but also to identifying alternatives to child labour. The project mobilises, raises awareness and trains communities on how to identify and map needs as well as on how to elaborate plans of actions aiming at substituting child labour with adult manpower. Promoting livelihood
diversification, income management skills and access to credit are additional strategies to cope with poverty at household level. The project works with cooperatives to ensure they are aware about the many ways in which they may have contacts with children (in and outside the workplace) and they take clear responsibilities towards advancing children rights and preventing the worst form of child labour.
2 Objectives and Scope of evaluation
2.1 Objectives of the evaluation
As per the Ferrero and Save the Children Partnership Framework, this external midterm evaluation aims at:
- Assessing the extent to which project interventions are being effective in contributing to the achievement of the project specific objectives
- Documenting strengths and challenges of current implementation and draw recommendations on practical amendments to current activities or new activities to be added to strengthen the project and ensure its sustainability and long term outcomes[2]
- Refining the model of implementation in view of its possible replication and adding recommendations of general principles/actions for replication in different context but in the similar Cocoa related and CRBP context interventions
- Evaluating the enabling conditions and constraining factors stakeholders perceive could help / hinder project sustainability
Shall the evidence collected through the Mid Term Evaluation reveal the need of it, SC will share with Ferrero a “Review strategy”. Such review strategy may consist in proposed new or strengthened activities able to redirect the project (within the existing budget or with further budget is to be defined), in order to increase its effectiveness and sustainability. Any proposed amendment of the current proposal activities and duration will be shared with Ferrero in Q4 2019.
2.2 Scope of the evaluation
The evaluation will not cover the activities under output 2.2, the reason being that the activities under these stream have not been operating long enough to create sufficient evidence for the evaluation. Similarly, the evaluation will not cover the activities under output 2.4.
Audience of the evaluation
The main audience for the evaluation are SC, ORASUR staff and Ferrero. The evaluation findings will be used to improve project implementation (including the identification of
potential areas to be strengthened), and will inform the design of a possible next project’s phase.
3 Key Questions and sub-questions
The evaluation questions are structured according to the project’s thematic components. The evaluation findings should be reported against the evaluation questions.
Key Questions
Sub-questions
Education
- To what extent the promotion of access to education is preventing child labour?
Have the educational activities benefitted out of school children at risk and/or victims of WFCLs and how?
Is there any evident link between promotion of education opportunities and lower number of child labour cases?
- Is the project current strategy able to ensure the provision of quality education in supported education facilities in target communities?
What are the challenges and constraints to ensure quality of education and why?
- What are the factors that – within the project- influence positively and or negatively on children performance and school attendance?
Child protection
- How are outreach interventions at community level contributing to changed community knowledge, attitudes and behaviours about the worst form of child labour, and why?
What are the challenges and constraints to change social norms (related to child labour)?
- How effective the child protection mechanisms established or strengthened through the project are in protecting children?
- What are the successful factors and constraints to an active involvement of CP actors in WFCL and children abuses identification and reporting?
- What are the constrains for an effective case management?
- How best to work with child protection mechanisms established or strengthened through the project?
- Have accountability mechanisms been put in place at social centers and at other services providers and are they actively used by beneficiaries? If they are in place and actively used, do beneficiaries consider satisfactory the services received?[3]
- To what extent cocoa cooperatives have changed their attitudes and practices towards child protection and the worst forms of child labour following to their involvement in the project as a result of the project activities?
- Have the cooperatives adopted/applied principles 3,4,5 and 8 within Child Rights and Business Principles framework and how are they monitoring their implementation?
Community empowerment
- To what extent communities are actively engaged in CAPs implementation?
What are the constraints and enabling factors?
- Are Community Action Plans effective in preventing WFCL and other children abuses?
- To what extent the VSLAs project component has increased or is likely to increase investment in children at household level?
Others
- The evaluation should also ensure an analysis of how gender equity is account for in the project
- Has the project outcomes or results been equally represented both men and women?
- To what extent the results of the project are likely to continue after the end of the project and what are the aspects that, within the current project, foster sustainability
- Do the structures and systems in place have the capacity and competencies to continue existing beyond SC support? (if not, what recommendation to ensure their self sustainability?)
4 Evaluation Methodology
The evaluation primarily serves a learning function and therefore SC and ORASUR staff should be involved in the process, to ensure quality and uptake of findings.
The evaluation should draw on a number of data collection methods from both primary and secondary data sources and should consist of:
- Desk review of project documents and reports, including review and analysis of project monitoring data. A number of project related documents will be made available to the consultant. This could include, but it is not restricted to:
o The original project proposal document
o The final evaluation of the 2017 pilot project
o The baseline report
o Annual progress reports
o Annual project reviews[4]
o Other project-related documents[5]
- Development of an evaluation approach and data collection tools; this should include:
o The Evaluation Methodology
o Data collection tools
o Proposed sampling framework
o List of stakeholders to be consulted
o Data analysis plan
o Detailed time line and work plan
The above will have to be detailed in line with the prescribed scope and key objectives of the evaluation and will be presented by the evaluator in the inception report (see section 7 for more details on the inception report’ structure). The evaluator is expected to write the inception report following the desk review of project documents.
Qualitative collection methods seem to be appropriate to understand the perceptions of beneficiaries, other community members and stakeholders concerning the project’s effectiveness and how implementation can be improved to achieve the outcomes of interest. Qualitative collection methods may include KIIs, FGDs, Case Studies, Filed Observation etc. The evaluator should consider participatory methods to engage with children and community members in evaluation[6]. The evaluation methodology should consider safety and ethics considerations for engaging children in evaluation.
Information should be triangulated and validated and sampling should be done in consultation with SC Italy and project partners. Any limitations to obtaining and verification of data as well as to the methods and analysis should be stated clearly and notified ahead of time.
All questions are expected to be answered on the basis of supporting evidence from the above mentioned methods, and include case studies of children or adults, if possible, supporting such evidence.
5 Evaluation Management
The timeframe for the activities will be June 2019 – September 2019.
More details on activities and timeline are provided below.
Evaluation Timeline
What
Who is responsible
By when
Who is involved
Finalisation of Evaluation TOR review
Save Italy
21/06/2019
SC Ivory Coast; Ferrero
Closing date for submission of EoIs
Save Italy
07/07/2019
N/A
Selection of evaluation team and contracting
Save Italy
13/07/2019
SC Ivory Coast
Documentation review and submission of Inception report, including tools for data collection
Evaluation team
22/07/2019
SC Italy will make available all relevant project-related documents
Review and approval of Inception report and data collection tools
Save Italy
29/07/2019
SC Ivory Coast
Logistical arrangements (upon approval of inception report)
SC Italy and SC Ivory Coast
03/08/2019
Evaluation team
Coordination meeting Abidjan
Evaluation team
05/08/2019
SC Ivory Coast
Data collection
Evaluation team
06/08/2019 17/08/2019
SC Ivory Coast and ORASUR
Presentation of preliminary findings
Evaluation team
17/08/2019
SC Ivory Coast; ORASUR and Save Italy
First draft report of evaluation AND clean and anonymous data sets– for all collected data
Evaluation team
26/08/2019
N/A
Review of first draft report
Save Italy
02/09/2019
SC Ivory Coast; ORASUR
Final evaluation report AND synthesis in English AND power point presentation
Evaluation team
09/09/2019
N/A
Project team meeting to develop Evaluation Response
SC Ivory Coast
10/09/2019
Save Italy
Evaluation final report (together with response plan) posted on OneNet
SC Ivory Coast
10/09/2019
Save Italy, Ferrero
6 Expected deliverables
The following specific deliverables are expected to be shared with Save the Children (all the documents are expected to be delivered in French except when otherwise specified)
(i) An Inception report
The evaluation team is expected to submit an inception report no later than 29/07/2019.
The purpose of this report is to agree on the appropriateness and robustness of the methodology to be employed. The inception report provides the organization and the evaluators with an opportunity to verify that they share the same understanding about the evaluation products and clarify any misunderstanding at the outset.
The inception report will include: Objectives and key questions, the evaluation Methodology summarised in the Evaluation Matrix, data collection tools, sampling considerations, data analysis plan, timeline and logistics.
The report should reflect the team’s review of project documents and the gaps that the field work will fill. Field work will only commence once this report has been approved by Save Italy and implementing partners
(ii) A draft evaluation report
The draft evaluation report must be submitted to SC ITA no later than 43 calendar days since the start of the evaluation. The report should conform to a reporting format attached to this Terms of reference.
The draft report will be circulated by Save the Children to key stakeholders for comments. Feedback on the draft report will be shared back with the consultant no later than 7 working days after the first draft delivery date.
(iii) A Final evaluation report including recommendations
The final report of the evaluation, after integration of the various comment made, must be submitted by 09/09/2019. The evaluation report is an exclusive property of the Save the Children should not be released without its prior authorization. The final report will be available through Save the Children and will also be circulated to the country Programmes. Recommendation should be operational (propose a clear path of action for each of the areas assessed).
The final evaluation report should also include a list of the secondary sources used and a summary of the main findings and of the recommendations.
(iv) A synthesis of the evaluation report in English.
The synthesis report will focus on common findings, lessons, conclusion and recommendations to inform future design
(v) Clean and anonymous data sets– for all collected data (quantitative and qualitative).
The data sets should be in an appropriate format and will be submitted together with the draft evaluation report on 26/08/2019. All data deliver will be anonymous, so to avoid traceability of the respondents. The data is of Save the Children property and may not be distributed without its prior consent.
(vi) PowerPoint presentation in English
On submission of the final report, the team is expected to submit a PowerPoint presentation (maximum 15 slides), summarizing the methodology, challenges faced, key findings under each of the evaluation question and main recommendations. The presentation should be in English. This should be submitted together with the final report.
7 Evaluation team
The lead evaluator will have the following core competencies:
- Master’s Degree in social studies, International Development or any other related field
- Minimum 7 years of demonstrated expertise in carrying out evaluations, preferably in the areas of education, protection and livelihoods
- Experience/Knowledge of Children Rights and Business Principle’s (CRBP) Framework and/or International Standards on Children Rights and Business will be considered a strong asset
- Demonstrated experience of field level data collection with qualitative methods, including experience with participatory tools particularly with children and vulnerable groups highly desirable
- Excellent data analysis and analytical report writing skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in in French and capabilities to work in English
- Ability to communicate effectively to a range of different stakeholders
- Availability to travel to Ivory Coast and work in the project areas for the duration of the data collection.
- Experience working in Ivory Coast and in the project’s target areas highly desirable
- Experience of the INGO development sector
- Knowledge of gendered power relations
8 Submission guidelines
The evaluation will be conducted by an external evaluator or evaluation team, selected through competitive process. The evaluator or evaluation team will have to submit an Expression of Interest (see attached template) including CVs and a forecast of the number of days needed to conduct the evaluation and the consultancy fees by 07/07/2019. All submissions should be emailed to [email protected] with subject line indicating REF: EOI/CIV/2019
9 SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT
The following payments will be made to the consultant using and agreed mode of payment.
· Upon approval of inception report 20%
· Upon approval of first draft report: 30%
· Upon approval of final Report: 50%
10 Annexes
Annex 1. Expression of Interest Form
Annex 1. Expression of Interest form
Description: (Please mention Title of the Evaluation)
Closing date for submission of EoIs: 07th July 2019 – 11:00 p.m**
Section A. General Information
Name of applicant:
Contact Address:
Country:
Contact Phone: (+Area Code)
Email address (mandatory):
Applicant Status:
(Please tick one)
Private Individual
Private Company
less than 10 staff
Private Company
More than 10 staff
Other
Please Specify
If Private company or Other, Who will be leading this evaluation?
Kindly indicate the source of information for this EoI call:
Section B: State Qualifications & Prior experience
What are your skills and experience in the proposed area?
(if proposing working as a team, please clearly state the competencies of each team member (and how these are complementary) to be involved in this evaluation. (max. 250 words)
Please indicate 3 relevant baseline or evaluations studies you have undertaken, explaining what type of services you provided
Organisation to which services were provided
Value of programme evaluated in EUR
Year
Services offered e.g. Final Evaluation, Mid-term evaluation etc..
Reference person
Section C : Methodology to Address the Evaluation Requirements
Briefly explain the evaluation design you will adopt based on the key questions from the ToRs (Maximum 500 words)
Kindly indicate the estimated no. of days’ planned for conducting the evaluation
Type of Data collection
No of Days Required
i) Inception phase (including desk review)
ii) Data Collection
iii) Reporting
Section D: Proposed Budget/Costs
Total professional costs in EUR (excluding travel and accommodation expenses):
Section E: Please attach CVs
For any question related to this EoI template, please contact: Federica Fernandez at [email protected]
[1] 2019-21 Country Strategy Plan- Côte d’Ivoire
[2] Even if the project is at the end of its second year of implementation, an extension of the project may be considered to implement the above mentioned activities
[3] Here the consultant is expected to analyse the feedback and complaints received
[4] The Annual review report conducted in 2018 is available. The 2019 annual review is ongoing and the report will be available by the start of this evaluation
[5] The CAPs validated in the 20 communities; Relevant national Policies on Child Protection and Education; VSLA methodology documents; Child Protection Platforms’ and SOSTECI documentation; the in-depth study on child labour in new communities; the Analysis of the foundations of WFCL in the 20 communities
[6] There is a large range of participatory tools and methodologies and some of these have been specially designed for specific groups and can be easily adopted during focus group discussions.
How to apply:
Send CVs to [email protected]
More Information
- Job City Côte d'Ivoire
