The HALO Trust is seeking a consultant to lead on an impact assessment of its activities in Sri Lanka from the programme’s start in 2002 through the present. The complete Terms of Reference for the assessment is below.
Interested parties should submit the following to MEAL@halotrust.org by 15 November 2024:
- The primary investigator’s CV
- An outline of key research questions, and the initial plans for data collection, analysis, and the presentation of findings
- A timeline
- A budget
Previous work to demonstrate the experience of the research team may also be added as desired.
Specific Terms of Reference
Details of the Terms of Reference: Impact Assessment of The HALO Trust’s mine action activities in Sri Lanka (2002-2024)
Funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
Contracting Authority: The HALO Trust
Background
Relevant project background:
The HALO Trust (HALO) is seeking an impact assessment of its activities in Sri Lanka from the programme’s start in 2002 through the present. HALO’s core activities during that period are related to the clearance and disposal of explosive items left behind after more than 20 years of civil conflict. They include:
- Survey of land designed to determine what areas are contaminated with explosive items that need to be cleared, and to prioritise the areas with greatest impact
- Landmine and battle area clearance, aimed at making land safe to use and enabling IDP return
- Explosive ordnance disposal to prevent accidents from items left behind
- Explosive ordnance risk education to provide communities with information on how to identify areas or items that may be dangerous, and give strategies for reducing risks
As the country is nearing mine-impact free status, the HALO Sri Lanka programme is also now engaged in several activities for the professional development of staff to transition away from the mine action sector, as well as environmental projects to regenerate land post-conflict.
The intention of the impact assessment is to demonstrate the effects of HALO’s work at the household, community, and national levels. Ideally, the assessment will be primarily quantitative, drawing on supplemental qualitative data where needed. It will consider the effects of the work on economic development and peacebuilding in addition to its humanitarian impact.
Land cleared of mines and other ordnance in Sri Lanka is known to be used for residences, as agricultural land, for access routes, for businesses, and for significant public infrastructure including schools, a major railway line and the Jaffna railway station. In addition, clearance is thought to improve service provision in otherwise inaccessible areas, and to be a pre-condition for other investment. However, outside of the effects of clearance on individual households, little empirical evidence of the impact mine clearance has had on the country has been gathered.
The findings and recommendations from the assessment will be used both to tell the story of the impact of HALO’s work, and to provide guidance for delivery of other programmes.
The expected deliverables from the assessment include a hard copy report, a web-based report or dashboard of findings, and the presentation of the findings at an annual mine action conference. HALO also requests access to the raw, anonymised data following the data collection process.
The work to be assessed:
The focus of the impact assessment will be on HALO’s mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal in Sri Lanka from 2002 through the present.
If there are findings related to explosive ordnance risk education, environmental practices or projects, or staff development efforts that stem organically from the assessment of HALO’s core business, they may also be included but should not detract from the core focus.
In addition, for some research questions (e.g., those related to broader economic impact) the scope may be the impact of the Humanitarian Mine Action sector as a whole rather than trying to delineate HALO’s specific contribution.
Stakeholders of the Assessment:
The main stakeholders in this assessment are:
- The HALO Trust’s Sri Lanka Programme
- Community members where HALO Sri Lanka works and has worked in the past
- The Sri Lankan National Mine Action Authority
- Other Sri Lankan government authorities as deemed necessary by the assessment team
- HALO Trust HQ
Data collection and available information:
It is expected that there will be a data collection phase of the assessment, which may include household surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, or other methods deemed appropriate by the research team.
Existing data that will also be available to the researchers includes:
- HALO’s internal household survey
- Data collected by the government of Sri Lanka, including local demographics and economic indicators
- An internal research report on changes in land use post-clearance in Sri Lanka
- GIS and satellite data regarding the location and timelines of cleared minefields and other items of explosive ordnance
- The global Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA)
Selection process:
The researcher, or team of researchers, is invited to submit a proposal before 17:00 GMT 15 November 2024. The proposals must be submitted in digital form only, by emailing MEAL@halotrust.org. While there is no template for the proposal, the content should be presented in a clear and concise manner.
The proposal must include:
- the primary investigator’s CV
- an outline of key research questions, and the initial plans for data collection, analysis, and the presentation of findings
- a timeline
- a budget
- Previous work to demonstrate the experience of the research team can be added as an Annex.
A selection committee will select the proposals, with ranking based on the grid in Annex I.
Summary of the impact assessment:
Coverage
HALO’s Sri Lanka Programme, from 2002 – present. In situations where it is not possible to distinguish between HALO’s impact and that of the Humanitarian Mine Action sector as a whole (e.g., in determining the economic impact of clearance on a sub-national region or at country-level), the scope may extend beyond HALO’s work alone.
Geographic scope
While HALO has worked in minefields in 29 divisions of Sri Lanka, 96% of those minefields have been in just 15 divisions: Karachchi, Kopay, Chavakachcheri, Thunukkai, Maruthankerny, Pachchilaipalli, Tellipallai, Nallur, Poonakary, Manthai East, Maritimepattu, Sandilipay, Puthukkudiyiruppu, Kandavalai, and Jaffna. One third of the minefields completed to date have been in Karachchi alone.
Period to be assessed
2002 – Present
Deadline for proposals
15 November, 2024
Proposals sent to
MEAL@halotrust.org
Funding Dates
Funds available from 1 January 2025 until 31 December, 2025
Data Collection Dates
Ideal months for data collection are April-October, as rains make travel difficult other times of the year.
Report Deadlines
31 March 2025 – Inception Report
31 October 2025 – First Draft of the Final Report
1 December 2025 – Final Report Draft and web report is live
Objectives of the assessment:
The primary objective of the impact assessment is to have clearly and concisely presented empirical data from an independent organisation regarding the effects of HALO’s work. The data and findings should be quantitative when possible, leading to clear, meaningful statistics regarding the effects of mine action – or the projected cost of not having engaged in mine action – in Sri Lanka.
Ideally, the degree of impact related to all three sides of the triple nexus – humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding – will be explored and included.
Requested services:
Scope of the impact assessment:
The research questions underlying the assessment should be framed based on the triple nexus:
- What is the humanitarian impact of HALO’s work in Sri Lanka?
- What is the development impact of HALO’s work in Sri Lanka?
- What is the peacebuilding impact of HALO’s work in Sri Lanka?
- How do these three components complement each other through Humanitarian Mine Action?
- Have there been any negative impacts of HALO’s work on the communities? If yes, what are the recommendations for how to mitigate that negative impact in the future?
Where the researchers deem relevant, these questions should be addressed considering the effects at the individual, household, community, and/or national levels. The data should also be analysed for gendered results.
Note that, while some qualitative data will be needed to make the case, the focus of this research should be on gathering and presenting clear, meaningful statistics that illustrate the impact of HALO and the broader mine action sector’s work in Sri Lanka.
It is expected that more specific research questions and the approach to answering them will be developed following initial consultations and document analysis. An inception phase report will outline agreed upon final questions, indicators, and methods of measurement.
Phases of the assessment and required outputs:
The impact assessment will be carried out in five phases:
- Inception period – during which the precise research questions and anticipated methodology will be agreed and recorded in a report
- Desk assessment – analysis of existing data, including land use comparisons using GIS and satellite data, with summary of key findings presented to HALO
- Field research – Surveys, Key Informant Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, or other data collection as required to answer the key research questions. HALO would like access to the raw, anonymized data following the data collection process.
- Synthesis – Write up of findings into a final hard copy and web-based dashboard
- Presentation of findings at an annual mine action conference (e.g., the National Director’s Meeting or Intersessionals)
The outputs of each phase are to be submitted at the end of the corresponding phases as specified in the synoptic table below.
Synoptic Table:
The following table presents an overview of the key activities to be conducted within each phase and lists the outputs to be produced by the team as well as the key meetings with HALO and the evaluator(s).
Inception phase:
Key activities
• Initial document/data collection
• Background analysis
• Inception interviews
• Stakeholder analysis
• Review of the programme’s Theory of Change (based upon available documentation and interviews)
• Methodological design of the assessment (research questions, methods of data collection, and analysis plans)
Outputs and meetings
• Kick-off meeting with HALO and the researcher(s)
• Inception report
• Presentation of the Inception Report
Desk Phase
Key activities
• Secondary data analysis
• Interviews Identification of information gaps and of hypotheses to be tested in the field phase
• Methodological design of the Field Phase
Outputs and meetings
• Desk Note
• Presentation of key findings of the desk phase
Field Phase
Key activities
• Gathering of primary evidence with the use of interviews, focus groups, storytelling sessions, surveys etc.
• Data collection and analysis (linked to the hypotheses to be tested in the field and in view of filling the gaps, if defined during a desk phase)
Outputs and meetings
• Meetings at country level
• Presentation of key findings of the field phase
Synthesis Phase
Key activities
• Final analysis of findings (with focus on the Evaluation Questions)
• Formulation of the overall assessment, conclusions and recommendations
• Reporting
Outputs and meetings
• Draft Final Report [mandatory]
• Final Report [mandatory]
• Web-based dashboard of findings
Presentation Phase
Key activities
• Presentation of findings
Outputs and meetings
• Presentation
Expertise required:
It is up to the researcher(s) to decide the appropriate size of the team. The profile below presents the minimum requirements for the team leader.
Minimum requirements of Team Leader:
- Master’s Degree in a social science, international development or other relevant field to this sector or equivalent professional years of experience in the field (minimum 2 additional years to the number of years of experience requested below)
- 3 years of experience in the field of mine action, including monitoring and evaluation
- Demonstrable experience in conducting impact assessments
- Demonstrable experience using Google Earth or other satellite imagery
- Ability to manage a team and ensure quality of a team output
- Experience working in Sri Lanka is desirable
- At least 3 prior assignments as team leader in programme/project evaluations, with at least one in the specific field of mine action
HALO strongly recommends bidders partner with a Sri Lankan organisation to support with data collection. Bidders should mention their proposed partner(s) and should provide an overview of their relevant experience in the proposal.
Locations and Duration:
Starting period:
Provisional start of the assignment is January 2025.
Foreseen duration of the assignment:
It is up to the researcher(s) to plan the activities of the assignment. However, the deadline for the draft final report is 31 October 2025, and for the final report 1 December 2025.
Planning:
As part of the technical offer, the researcher(s) must provide a timetable detailing the time allocated to each phase and the planned activities.
It is recommended to plan the field visit to Sri Lanka in April or May, to be able to travel after rainy conditions hamper movements in country.
Location(s) of assignment:
The assignment of the researcher(s) will be home-based. At least one visit to Sri Lanka has to be included in the technical offer. HALO can support a visit with transport and arranging meetings. Travel costs, including costs like visa, flights, hotels, meals and per diems have to be covered by the budget in the technical offer.
Reporting
Content, timing and submission:
The final report of the impact assessment should at least consist of the following paragraphs.
Executive Summary
A short, tightly crafted, and free-standing Executive Summary. It should focus on the key findings of the assessment, outline the main analytical points, and clearly indicate the main conclusions and determined impact.
The main sections of the assessment report will be as follows:
Introduction
A description of the work HALO Sri Lanka has conducted, of the relevant county/region/sector background and of the assessment, providing the reader with sufficient methodological explanations to gauge the credibility of the conclusions and to acknowledge limitations or weaknesses, where relevant.
Research Questions and Findings
A section presenting the answers to the research questions, supported by a combination of quantitative and qualitative evidence.
Lessons learnt
Lessons learnt generalise findings and translate past experience into relevant knowledge that should support decision making, improve performance and promote the achievement of better results. Lessons learnt should be primarily directed to HALO.
Conclusions
This chapter contains the conclusions of the assessment, organised per the three components of the triple nexus. In order to allow clear communication of the assessment findings, a table organising the conclusions by order of importance can be presented, or a paragraph or section emphasizing the 3 or 4 major conclusions organised by order of importance, while avoiding being repetitive.
Recommendations
Recommendations for future or ongoing mine action programmes, based on the lessons identified in Sri Lanka, should be presented. Recommendations must be clustered and prioritised, and practical.
Annexes to the report
The report should include the following annexes:
- Details of the research methodology including sampling considerations, difficulties encountered and limitations, detail of tools and analyses
- Theories of Change – if applicable
- Relevant map(s) where HALO’s work and the assessment data collection took place
- List of persons/organisations consulted
- Literature and documentation consulted
- Other technical annexes (e.g. statistical analyses, tables of contents and figures, matrix of evidence, databases) as relevant
Language:
All reports will be submitted in English.
ANNEX I: Specific Technical Evaluation Criteria
Technical Evaluation Criteria
HALO selects the offer with the best value for money using an 80/20 weighting between technical quality and price.
Technical quality is evaluated on the basis of the following information:
Criteria (Max)
- Total score for Organisation and Methodology – 60
- Understanding of ToR and the aim of the services to be provided – 15
- Overall methodological approach, quality control approach, appropriate mix of tools and estimate of difficulties and challenges – 30
- Technical added value, backstopping and role of the involved members of the evaluator(s) – 5
- Organisation of tasks including timetable – 10
- Score for the expertise of the proposed team – 40
OVERALL TOTAL SCORE – 100
Technical Threshold
Any offer falling short of the technical threshold of 75 out of 100 points, is automatically rejected.
Interviews during the evaluation of the offers
During the evaluation process of the offers received, HALO reserves the right to interview by phone one or several members of the proposed researcher(s).
ANNEX II: Information that will be provided to the researcher(s), once the consultancy has started:
- HALO Sri Lanka’s programme strategies and theories of change
- Anonymised data from prior household assessments
- Anonymised data from prior risk education knowledge tests
- Prior internal and external impact assessments conducted on HALO Sri Lanka
- HALO’s GIS-team will support with providing GIS-maps detailing previously contaminated areas and land use over time
Note: The researcher(s) has to identify and obtain any other documents or data worth analysing, through independent research and during interviews with relevant informed parties and stakeholders.
How to apply
Selection process:
The researcher, or team of researchers, is invited to submit a proposal before 17:00 GMT 15 November 2024. The proposals must be submitted in digital form only, by emailing MEAL@halotrust.org. While there is no template for the proposal, the content should be presented in a clear and concise manner.