Mid-Term Evaluation of the Project- Consulyancy

Mid-Term Evaluation of the Project “Strengthened access to education and Livelihoods and Enhanced Reintegration and Community Cohesion in Areas Affected by Displacement and Returns”

Duty Station of the Consultancy: Homebased assignment with travel for data collection to Westen Bahr El Gazhal and Warrap, South Sudan

Duration of Consultancy: 40—Working days

Nature of the consultancy: Conduct a mid term review of the project by developing appropriate methodologies, tools and the techniques for collecting data and presenting recommendations and lessons learnt for the review of the project strategy, objectives, outputs and activities for the remainder of the project duration.

Project context and scope:

International Organization for Migration (IOM) was awarded a 36-month grant titled “Strengthened Access to Education and Livelihoods and Enhanced Reintegration and Community Cohesion in Areas Affected by Displacement and Returns” by the European Union Delegation (EUD). The project is being jointly implemented by IOM, WFP, and UNICEF in Western Bahr El Ghazal and Warrap states of South Sudan. The project is at a mid-point currently and this review aims to measure progress toward the objectives and aims to generate lessons and recommendation for the reminder of the project.

The overall objective of the project is “Sustainable reintegration, community cohesion, livelihoods, and access to education and critical services for areas affected by displacement are strengthened”. It aims to address critical concerns related to access to livelihoods and services, as well as social cohesion, in areas affected by displacement and insecurity. The collaboration between IOM, UNICEF, and WFP seeks to strengthen social well-being and livelihoods, promote stability and cohesion, and provide educational opportunities for children, young people, and adult learners. The components of the project are designed to be interconnected and mutually reinforcing, recognizing the importance of education and livelihoods for peacebuilding and social cohesion. The project aims to support returnees, IDPs and host communities and has three important outcomes: 1) Strengthened access to quality education and learning for children and young people aged 6 to 17 as well as adult learners that lack formal education and qualification with a focus on gender equality. 2) Strengthened resilience of households and communities to food insecurity and other shocks and stressors through gender-

responsive and tailored livelihood and community-driven infrastructure interventions. 3) Enhanced social cohesion, reconciliation and capacity building on advocacy fo civil society organisations will be prioritised through capacity building/development process.

The purpose of this midterm evaluation is to review the progress, achievements, challenges, lessons learned and propose recommendations to inform IOM, project partners and the donor for any improvement or adjustment for the remaining project implementation period. As of July 2024, the project is at the midpoint juncture and this mid-term evaluation will focus on the following aspects: 1) Evaluate the project using criteria’s such as relevance, effectiveness, coherence, efficiency, sustainability, impact, and cross-cutting issues to inform the implementing partners, the project management team and the donor. 2) Document lessons learned during the first half of the project implementation to inform of the project’s second half and beyond. 3) Draw key findings and lessons learned and propose improvement and adjustment needed to ensure that the project remains relevant to the needs of the target groups in the remaining period of implementation.

The evaluation will be conducted in Western Bahr El Ghazal and Warrap states of South Sudan where the project is being implemented. The evaluation will cover the entire implementation timeframe of the project from December 2022 up to the mid-point of the project June 2024.The evaluation will cover activities such as school based activities such as Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), and School Management Committees (SMCs), students on primary school activities and school feeding, Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) activity, customary law review activity, peacebuilding and social cohesion activities youth and women will be targeted, GBV protection activities and asset creation livelihood activities implemented in Warrap and Western bahr El Ghazal by WFP.

This mid-term evaluation will use the OECD-DAC criteria framework as it is deemed as appropriate to the developmental nature of the initiative and its focus on education, livelihoods, peacebuilding and social cohesion. While all the evaluation criteria in the OECD-DAC framework should be covered, the evaluator will elaborate in the Inception Report on the limitations and constraints of the planned assessment with respect to each criterion, identifying also the ones on which the analysis will focus more intensively. Moreover, cross-cutting issues (rights-based approach, gender and non-discrimination, climate change, and visibility) shall be evaluated throughout the different evaluation criteria as relevant.

The evaluator is expected to define the evaluation questions based on the desk analysis and their own understanding of the project. The revised list of evaluation questions will be included in the Inception Report, alongside an elaboration on how the list was improved and why. The Inception Report will also include a detailed evaluation matrix. The Evaluation report will also include succinct answers to each evaluation questions in a dedicated section of the document. For each short answer, the evaluator will provide references to the related findings discussed in the main body of the report.

The evaluator is expected to define a detailed methodology for this mid-term evaluation in the Inception Report, including the data collection instruments to be used, sample quotas and sampling guidelines, and analytical approaches. It is required that appropriate methods are used in the context of this mid-term evaluation, including Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus group Discussion (FGD), in addition to review and analysis of secondary sources. The evaluator is expected to provide a detailed sampling plan for KIIs and FGDs.

Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing:

This consultancy is commissioned by IOM’s Transition and Recovery Unit funded by European Union. Under Peacebuilding, Transition and Development, IOM South Sudan implements programming on Housing, Land and Property issues, Transition and Recovery, Transhumance conflict prevention, Community-based violence reduction, livelihoods & resilience programming, and Community development and Migration Management.

Tangible and measurable outputs of the work assignment

Under the supervision of the Transition and Recovery Unit (TRU) M&E Officer, the consultant is expected to complete the deliverables as described below. The assignment is anticipated to happen between August and September 2024; the actual timeline will be provided in due course before the finalization of the consultancy contract agreement.

First deliverable—Inception Report. Review the project result framework, baseline reports, mid-term evaluation ToR and develop inception report in IOM template. The inception report should provide clear methodology to be used including the research methods to use, evaluation matrix, sampling strategy, detailed workplan and the tools to use for the data collection.

Second deliverable—Prepare and share power point presentation based on data collected and conduct validation and dissemination of the findings of the mid-term evaluation. This meeting will be conducted with staff from IOM, UNICEF, WFP and implementing partners. The meeting will provide additional inputs and an opportunity to validate the findings captured during the field exercise. The consultant will prepare a presentation, discuss the findings and receive feedback.

Third Deliverable—Share the final mid-term evaluation report in IOM template. The consultant will analyze both the qualitative and quantitative data and write a detailed mid-term evaluation report covering the evaluation criteria. In addition, the report shall provide a table summary of evaluation questions and answers, as well as an evaluation scorecard. The final report will reflect feedback received during the validation and dissemination meeting.

Fourth deliverable—Share the mid-term evaluation learning brief and management response with recommendations from the final report. The consultant shall use the appropriate IOM templates that will be shared by the M&E.

Performance indicators for the evaluation of results

The consultant contracted to undertale this activity will be evaluated based on the below indicators:

• Quality of the inception report: Inception report submitted clearly describes the objectives, purpose, matrix, workplan and tools.
• Thorough validation and dissemination of the mid-term evaluation findings and Share a comprehensive Powere Point Presentation
• Comprehensive and clear final mid-term evaluation report with indepth analysis of data.
• Succinct and clear evaluation brief report in IOM template.
• Management response document populated with the final recommendations from the evaluation.

Education, Experience and/or skills required

Education and Experience

• Post-graduate qualifications in peacebuilding, migration, social sciences, law or related disciplines.

• At least five years of professional experience in leading mid-term or final evaluation of similar or related projects, programmes, and policies in international and regional organizations.

• Previous experience of delivering similar assignments in South Sudan or other similar contexts is advantageous.

  Required skills

• Demonstrable technical experience and/or knowledge of resilience and peacebuilding programmes.

• Experience and/or knowledge of the organizations of the UN Common System.

• Knowledge of the rule of law, peacebuilding, education, livelihoods and gender mainstreaming.

• Knowledge of various evaluation approaches and designs relevant for this evaluation, including especially Theory of change-based evaluation.

• Excellent data analysis capacity, survey design, facilitation, interviewing, and report writing skills.

• Ability to prepare and present evaluation results in a manner that increases the likelihood that they will be used and accepted by a diverse group of stakeholders.

• Experience with synthesizing information generated through an evaluation to produce findings that are linked to the data collected.

• Ability to engage stakeholders in an evaluation process based on shared priorities, including meeting facilitation, presentation, conflict resolution, and negotiation skills.

• Ability to understand the context of a program and how it affects program planning, implementation, outcomes, and even the evaluation.

• Fluency in English required and knowledge of Arabic prefered.

  Travel required (Yes/NO)

• Yes to the project areas, Western bahr El Ghazal and Warrap states of South Sudan.

  Competencies

  Values

• Inclusion and respect for diversity: respects and promotes individual and cultural differences; encourages diversity and inclusion wherever possible.

• Integrity and transparency: maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.

• Professionalism: demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.

  Core Competencies – behavioural indicators

• Teamwork: develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.

• Delivering results: produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner; is action-oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.

• Managing and sharing knowledge: continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.

• Accountability: takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own action and delegated work.

• Communication: encourages and contributes to clear and open communication; explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.