Jordan: Mid term Evaluation Consultant

Project Title

Improved Learning Environment for Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi children and youth as contribution to social cohesion

· Background information

Since 2012, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Jordan, with funding support from various related agencies and donors, has been responding to the humanitarian crisis in the wake of the war in Syria, which has led to a huge number of displaced populations, including over 650,000 officially registered Syrian refugees into Jordan, in addition to refugees from other countries in the region such as Iraq.

Jordan has opened its doors to Syrian refugees and has guaranteed every Syrian child access to an education. They are doing this through “double shifts,” where Jordanian students attend school in the morning and Syrian refugees attend the same schools in the afternoon. This has doubled the pressure on the school system and the school buildings themselves. In addition, there are thousands of Iraqi refugee children in the country, and the majority of them are not attending school. Since 2013, LWF Jordan has been active in the rehabilitation and construction efforts in Jordanian schools. From 2013 to 2016, LWF Jordan constructed 77 classrooms and seven washrooms, and 28 schools were rehabilitated. This work was done in 41 schools across Jordan.

LWF Jordan is partnering with the Ministry of Education to support their objective to provide quality education to all children, including refugees and Jordanians. Since 2016, the Ministry of Education has engaged LWF Jordan in two 4-year projects[1] to improve the learning environment for girls and boys attending selected public schools in Irbid, Zarqa and Mafraq governorates.

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LWF Jordan has been implementing the 4 years’ project entitled ‘Improved Learning Environment for Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi children and youth as contribution to social cohesion’ funded by the Bread for the World (BfdW) since 2016, with the first year being devoted primarily to preparation of project implementation. The overall goal is to contribute to an improved learning environment for Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi children and youth in selected communities in Zarqa and Amman governorates as contribution to social cohesion. This is sought achieved through the following objectives: 1) Improved psychosocial and physical environment and practices in targeted public schools in field directorates in Amman and Zarqa governorates; 2) Improved access to formal education for refugee children and youth and 3) Syrian and Iraqi refugee school drop-outs have been empowered to re-enter the formal education system or, alternatively, to consider alternative career choices. A key lesson learned from the previous projects is that, while rehabilitation of physical infrastructure is an important factor in improving access to education, investment in training and related activities targeted at teachers, pupils and the wider community, including parents, is essential to ensure that the quality of the physical infrastructure is upheld and contributes to an overall enhancement of the learning environment.

This Terms of Reference document describes the project in brief and the requirements for a Mid-termEvaluation of this project by an external evaluator.

· OBJECTIVES and Expected results

OverallObjective:

To provide an external midterm evaluation of the effectiveness, efficiency, relevancy, timeliness impact and sustanability of the project as according to OECD – DAC criteria for the evaluation of humanitarian action

The goal of the evaluation is to obtain an objective, critical, readable, and transparent analysis of the progress made with the intervention. The analysis should contain recommendations on improvement actions and on future courses of action. The evaluation should be a document that can function as a learning tool for the LWF Jordan, the project donor, National and Local Authorities (Ministry of Education, Directorates of Education), local communities and other relevant stakeholders.

The specific objectives of the mid-term evaluation are:

· To assess the appropriateness of the project actions with respect to the humanitarian crisis and protection in the project area.

· To evaluate the performance and achievements of the project against the plans laid out in the approved project document and determine the degree to which each of the individual objectives and indicators of the project were achieved and what humanitarian impact these achievements have had so far and will have in future.

· Assess the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability.

· To extract the lessons that can be learned from the project, provide recommendation for improvements and for further engagements.

· Determine what lasting impact the project may have achieved.

The OECD – DAC Criteria for the evaluation of humanitarian action will be used for the evaluation, together with relevant Sphere standards (including Standards Common to all Sectors) and other relevant technical standards to be finalized during the planning of the evaluation.

Specific Evaluation Questions

1) To which extend does the project live up to the humanitarian accountability principles, in particular in relation to the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) Commitment 3 (Humanitarian response strengthens local capacities and avoids negative effects.), Commitment 4 (Humanitarian response is based on communication, participation and feedback.) and Commitment 5 (Complaints are welcomed and addressed)?

2) To which extent is the project rights-based?

Participation: Have rights-holders participated in project design, implementation and this evaluation?

Accountability: Has the project made its commitments clear to the rights-holders, e.g. by disseminating budgets?

Non-discrimination: Has the project taken specific steps to include vulnerable groups?

Empowerment: Has the project made the rights-holders more capable of claiming their rights?

Linking: Are the specific local and global human rights mechanisms relevant to the project identified?

3) Does the project contribute to achieving the programme goal?

A) Has the project contributed to the programme goal “contribute to an improved learning environment for Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi children and youth in selected communities in Zarqa and Amman governorates as contribution to social cohesion”? And to which extent?

B) What are the specific factors and key activities that have contributed and are going to contribute to achievement and non-achievement of the project objectives?

4) Does the project fulfil OECD DAC’s criteria?

Relevance

• Are the activities and the project goal still relevant in relation to the needs and priorities of the intended rights-holders?
• Are the project activities and outputs relevant to achieve the project objectives?

Effectiveness

• Is the project on good track to achieve its objectives and indicators?
• Have the planned or expected results been achieved, including whether the intended population was reached?

Efficiency

• Have the objectives been achieved in an financially viable manner?
• Are the investment and recurrent costs justified?
• Could the same results have been achieved with fewer resources?

Impact

• What positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects are likely to be produced by the project, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended?
• What are the leverage effects of the project’s expected results?

Sustainability

· What is the probability of long-term benefits?

· Will the intended benefits continue when development cooperation is terminated?

· Is local ownership established?

· METHODOLOGY

For the purpose of accomplishing his/her tasks, the evaluator will consider the following methodology:

· An initial and final debriefing between the evaluator, the LWF Jordan Programme Staff and the (Geneva-based) Regional Program Coordinator for the Middle East.

· Review of the main reference documents (including but not limited to):

• Project proposal, baseline, progress reports submitted to the donor, reports from monitoring visits by the programme staff, project records (work plans, internal reports, minutes of the meetings, monitoring data), PMER mission reports

• Review of other relevant documents from other institutions working in the same field and target areas.

· Data collection and analysis

The Evaluater will use participatory evaluation methods for every aspect of the assignment. He/she is expected to collect an appropriate range of data related to the project objectives, expected results and indicators. This includes (but is not limited to):

• Primary data:

• Semi-structured and structured interviews with direct and indirect beneficiaries and key informants, inclduing2-3 days of field visit to project sites

• Focus group discussion with beneficiaries and surveys via questionnaires.The questionnaires should be tested before the field application.

• Interviews with key staff members

• Interviews with local authorities;

• Interviews with project staff;

• meetings with MoE and DoE representatives

• meeting with Related Organisation / donor representative.

• Secondary data: including analysis of Education working group/ Protection working group data, official statistics and/or any other relevant statistical data

A discussion on the evaluation methodology shall take place before starting the evaluation focusing the targets of the evaluation, accountability, participation and selection.

· timing, logisitics and facilities

The evaluation will be for fourteen 14 days starting on the 23^rd of September 2018 with the following draft work plan:

Day 1,2: Preparation/ reading documents

Day 3,4: Briefing and planning with team and partners/ continue preparations

Day 5,6,7: Field visit and meetings

Day 8,9,10: Report writing Draft

Day 11,12: Debriefing with team and partners/ MoE

Day 13,14: finalizing the report

LWF Jordan office will provide:

1. The evaluator/ team leader with background information about the project and any available related document to assist the evaluator in undertaking the evaluation
2. The full project proposal (and all accompanying documents) including the interim report
3. All relevant project records, including correspondence, monitoring and evaluation forms, project notes and minutes, needs assessments, baseline data surveys if available, etc.

The evaluator will provide:

1. An overall midterm evaluation report submitted in English, based on the specific objectives of the mission.
2. Highlight critical issues that LWF Jordan needs to take care of during the further implementation of the project.
3. Identify challenges and lessons learned.
4. Recommendations for LWF and project stakeholders to build on their strengths and achievements to overcome their challenges, identifying any continuing gaps or challenges that have not been addressed.

· reporting

The evaluation report should be submitted following the style 1-3-25:

· One page of main messages (Introduction)

· Three-page executive summary

· Present findings in no more than 25 pages.

· Lessons learned

· Conclusion and recommendations

· Add annexes as needed

· QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

The external evaluator should have the following qualifications at a minimum:

· The Evaluator should affirm that s/he understands the precise nature of the final deliverable (the Evaluation Report itself) and must provide two (2) recent work/writing samples. These work/writing samples will be carefully evaluated as a part of the candidate selection process.

· MA degree highly desirable with specific knowledge of Education/multi sectoral humanitarian aid/ developmental approaches. The ideal consultant should have at least 5 to 7 years of relevant experience in Educational Impact Assessment and/or from a relief and development agency.

· Relevant geographical experience from the Middle East.

· Significant field experience in the evaluation of humanitarian/development projects.

· Noticeable experience in undertaking similar project evaluations. including in evaluating UNICEF/ EU funded projects.

· Knowledge of gender issues & deficits within women rights facing women.

· Knowledge of child protection policies.

· Excellent verbal/written communication skills & strong report writing skills.

· Experience in demonstrating achievement of project indicators in a LFA approach.

· Fluent English language writing ability.

· Ability to work under pressure meeting deadlines and producing agreed upon deliverables.

TERMS OF PAYMENT

The evaluation including logistical arrangements will be managed by the LWF Jordan office in coordination with the evaluator. The LWF Education Project Manager will assist the evaluator through arranging necessary meetings. It is expected that the evaluator will use his/her own laptop/computer and software. Transportation and accommodation in Jordan during the visits/ meetings will be facilitated by LWF Jordan.

The payments will be made according to the following schedule:

• 100% after submission and acceptance of final report

Payments will be processed within 30 days of the approval of the final evaluation report date.

Duties and Taxes

The consultants will pay all duties and taxes levied by the home country at any stage during the execution of the work.

However, if specified in the local law of the beneficiary country that it is the contracting authority responsibility to acquire tax receipts and deduction at source proofs from the contractor for the acquired service, the contracting authority shall do so. Otherwise contracting authority shall act upon the local law.

[1] In addition to the project proposed for this mid-term evaluation, the Canadian Government via Canadian Lutheran World Relief supports a similar 4-year project implemented by LWF Jordan, though with a more substantial physical rehabilitation component, targeting schools in Irbid governorate.

If you are interested in applying for this Consultancy, please send your quotation including Resume, Cover letter and a detailed proposed methodology to: info.jor@lwfdws.org, and kindly include “External midterm Evaluation project- BfdW” in the subject line.

This consulting agreement is a national agreement; expat resident in the country are welcome to apply.