Action for Choice Project Endline Evaluation Consultancy: SAYWHAT

Deadline: 4 May 2021

Reports to: Management

Location: Harare

Purpose

The purpose for this evaluation is to assess the progress made towards the achievement of the overall and specific objectives based on the project proposal, current data and direct observation; as well as to identify gaps and lessons learned.

This evaluation needs to be done so that the organization and the involved parties are able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Action for Choice model and its replicability and scalability in different contexts. At the heart of this will be an assessment of the Theory of Change underpinning the project. This will include the extent to which A4C has contributed to the overall goal of increasing access to and utilization of SRH services by young people in Zimbabwe. The evaluation will however be done in cognizant of the change in operational context that took place during the project life cycle, therefore, the evaluation will also assess the flexibility of the project to adapt and respond to the changes.

The results will be used for the improvement of the current and future programs that SAYWHAT is developing and to report to the Embassy of Sweden, thus, SAYWHAT and its partners will review the evaluation results just after the completion of the final evaluation.

Based on the evaluation results, decisions about how to improve SAYWHAT actions/projects aimed at increasing access to and utilization of SRH service by young people and evidence based advocacy will be taken.

Objectives of the evaluation

The overall objectives of the evaluation are: to evaluate the entire project in terms of effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, sustainability, scalability, replicability, coherence and impact, with a strong focus on assessing the results at the outcomes level and project goal; to analyze the information included in the endline which will be based on the design established for the baseline review and the selected indicators; to assess the flexibility of the project to adapt and respond to the changes in operational environment posed by humanitarian crisis such as COVID-19; to generate key lessons, identify promising practices for learning and propose potential actions which may be developed to amplify the project effects; to provide recommendations and best practices that may be used in current and future programming and strategy.

Description of task for consultant

This consultancy is to develop the evaluation methodology as well as conduct the final impact evaluation of the project. This consultancy will provide an assessment of the project implementation and identify and document best practices and lessons learnt. The evaluation will be based on the six (6) evaluation criteria of the OECD (Relevance, Impact, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Coherence (internal and external), and Sustainability) with special attention to learnings and making proposals which may support and improve future actions in the subject and regions.

Sample Size

The consultant will determine the appropriate sample sizes considering the geographical areas, targeted groups, and the homogeneity of the target population (See attached A4C concept Note for more project details).

Deliverables

To develop and share the Inception Report: The inception report provides SAYWHAT and consultant(s) with an opportunity to verify that they share the same understanding about the consultancy and clarify any misunderstanding at the outset. An inception report must be prepared by the consultant before going into the technical mission and full data collection stage. It must detail the consultant’s understanding of what is being evaluated and why, showing how each process will be developed and how each evaluation question will be answered by way of: proposed methods, proposed sources of data and data collection/analysis procedures. The inception report must include a proposed schedule of tasks, activities and deliverables, designating the person with the lead responsibility for each task or product.

To develop and deliver Debriefing/Presentation of the Results: Consultant(s) must develop and deliver a presentation to the responsible team. That presentation must include the preliminary thoughts as debriefing of the data collection process, therefore this must be done at the end of the data collection process.

To develop and share a Draft Evaluation Report: Consultant(s) must submit a draft report for review and comments by SAYWHAT and all parties appointed by SAYWHAT. The report needs to meet the minimum requirements specified in this TOR. SAYWHAT and its key stakeholders in the evaluation must review the draft evaluation report to ensure that the evaluation meets the required quality criteria.

To develop and share the Final Evaluation Report: Relevant comments from SAYWHAT and its key stakeholders must be well integrated in the final version, and the final report must meet the minimum requirements specified in this TOR.

Consultant(s) must accompany the final report with appropriate versions of the report in any appropriate format, for dissemination among various levels of Stakeholders.

Evaluation Ethics

The evaluation must be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UN Evaluation Group (UNEG) ‘Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation’

It is imperative for the consultant(s) to: Guarantee the safety of respondents and the research team; apply protocols to ensure anonymity and confidentiality of respondents if necessary; select and train her/his collaborators (if any) on ethical issues; provide referrals to SRH services and sources of support for young people that might ask for them during the data collection process; ensure compliance with legal codes governing areas such as provisions to collect and report data, particularly permissions needed to interview or obtain information about children and youth; store securely the collected information.

Skills and Experiences Required

SAYWHAT invites applications from consultants able to demonstrate the following skills, knowledge and experience. This consultancy is expected to be developed by a national or international consultant(s) (with support of a translator/interpreter if necessary). The senior evaluator will be responsible for undertaking the evaluation from start to finish and for managing the evaluation team (if any) under the supervision of the SAYWHAT Management while receiving support from M& E unit, for the data collection and analysis, as well as report drafting and finalization.

The qualifications and/or specialized knowledge/ experience required are: Evaluation experience at least 5 years in conducting external evaluations, with mixed-methods evaluation skills and having flexibility in using non-traditional and innovative evaluation methods; advanced degree in relevant disciplines such as Social Studies, Sociology or Monitoring &Evaluation or related disciplines; expertise in gender and human-rights based approaches to evaluation and issues of Sexual Reproductive Health among young people; strong leadership and management track record, as well as interpersonal and communication skills to help ensure that evaluation is understood and used; specific evaluation experiences in the areas of Sexual reproductive health especially in aspects related to SRH service uptake by young people; strong knowledge of qualitative and quantitative analysis; strong English report writing skills and a track record of producing high quality publications (at least one of them should be shared with SAYWHAT to verify the quality of her/his work); a strong commitment to delivering timely and high-quality results, i.e. credible evaluation and its report that can be used; knowledge about youth leadership approaches, accountability processes and advocacy; good interpersonal and communication skills in English, and an ability to express ideas and concepts concisely and clearly to ensure that the evaluation is understood and used.

Indicative Timeline of consultancy

This consultancy is planned to be completed in 10 weeks; from 30 April 2021 to 15 July 2021 .The detailed break-up of timelines will be discussed with the successful consultant during the induction meeting.