Cordaid
Cordaid Afghanistan
Terms of Reference for the final evaluation of the Afghanistan Joint Response 2022-2023 by the Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA)
Section 1: Introduction
Dutch Relief Alliance overview
The Afghanistan Joint Response is part of the mechanism of the Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA). The DRA is an alliance of 14 Dutch aid organisations, that was set up in 2005 to increase the effectiveness of Dutch humanitarian assistance by the Dutch Minister for International Trade and Development Cooperation. This was done in response to the challenges of the humanitarian system and the growing gap between humanitarian needs and humanitarian funding. The DRA responds to chronic crises as well as acute crises, for which they receive funding from Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The main objectives of the Dutch Relief Alliance are to deliver effective, efficient, relevant and timely humanitarian aid through collaboration to more beneficiaries in a better way. DRA partners implement Joint Responses (JRs) to address protracted crises enabling capacity strengthening, localisation and investment in community resilience.
The Afghanistan Joint Response
The current Afghanistan Joint Response (AFJR) runs from 1st of January 2022 until the 31st of December 2023. The Joint Response is implemented by 5 international and 3 national organisations: Cordaid (lead) together with RRAA (Rural Rehabilitation Association for Afghanistan) and OHW (Organization of Human Welfare), Save the Children, Stichting Vluchteling / Intersos, Terre des Hommes together with YVO (Your Voice Organization), and World Vision. The AFJR is providing humanitarian assistance in Herat, Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces, in selected districts. These provinces were selected based on the highest needs, and the capacity of the DRA partners. The assistance is targeting the most vulnerable, food insecure population, who are provided with multi-sectoral assistance, with a focus on Food Security & Livelihoods, WASH, Health/Nutrition and Multi-Purpose Cash; throughout all activities protection is mainstreamed. After the start of the project, additional funding was received to improve monitoring and evaluation systems as well as to improve the knowledge on humanitarian principles within communities and amongst local authorities. Other cross-cutting themes are localisation, accountability to affected population and disability inclusion. Given the context of Afghanistan, there is also a special focus on gender (inclusion of women and girls at all levels of the AFJR).
The Joint Response is set up in such a way that partners collaborate and learn from each other, which is the overall approach of the DRA towards humanitarian assistance.
Section I1: Evaluation details
Purpose and scope of the evaluation of the Joint response
The evaluation, should include the following objectives:
Objective 1: Performance / achievements of the AFJR: The evaluation report will assess the overall performance of the AFJR against selected OECD-DAC criteria and the Core Humanitarian Standards, ensuring accountability towards the Dutch Government, the Dutch public and the targeted population within the scope of the program. It should be noted that the consolidated final logframe with project results on indicator level will only be available towards the end of March 2024, and therefore might not be relevant for this evaluation; therefore evaluation will focus on the period from start until end of Q3 (Dept ’23), for which monitoring data will be made available..
Effectiveness:
- To what extent and how have the planned results of AFJR (according to project plan, including logframe) been reached?
- What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the response objectives?
Efficiency:
- Was the process of achieving results efficient? To what extent has the AFJR been implemented in a timely manner?
- To what extent has the joint response model of collaboration (with national and international partners) led to cost-effectiveness?
- How has the collaboration between AFJR partners impacted reaching the affected population? Is there any substantial anecdotal evidence of how this is done?
Relevance/ appropriateness:
- How relevant have the activities of the AFJR been in addressing humanitarian needs in Afghanistan?
- Are affected people satisfied with the interventions?
- To what extent was the AFJR able to adapt and provide appropriate response to context changes and evolving needs and capacities, and the priorities of the people, taking into account the specific needs of the most vulnerable groups, including women, children and disabled?
- To what extent and how was protection mainstreamed across the program activities?
- Which attempts were/are being made to ensure participation of affected population in identifying the needs?
- How were the communities involved in assessments, planning, implementation & monitoring of the program?
- How, if so, is this involvement influencing decisions on the activities that are implemented and how they are done?
- How satisfied are affected people with their level of involvement, with the information they receive on project activities and their ability to provide feedback and get a response?
Sustainability:
- To what extent do the benefits of the intervention continue, or are likely to continue?
- To what extent does the intervention reflect and consider factors which have a major influence on sustainability, i.e. economic, ecological, social and cultural aspects?
- What are the contributing factors and constraints that require attention in order to improve prospects of sustainability of the project outcomes?
- (How) Have localization efforts contributed to sustainability of project activities?
Impact:
- Have there been any unexpected positive or negative side-effects on affected populations as a result of the assistance provided by the AFJR?
- How has the AFJR impacted the lives of the affected population in sustaining their lives through life-saving humanitarian assistance?
Objective 2: Collaboration and learning in the AFJR: The evaluation report will assess to what extent the collaboration between AFJR partners contributed to the delivery of effective, efficient, relevant and timely assistance to the affected populations, and how have different stakeholders benefited from the collaboration in AFJR. What generated collaborative impact and what didn’t?
Learning:
- To what extent has the AFJR collaborative way of working facilitated peer-learning between AFJR partners?
- How have activities to increase learning affected delivery of humanitarian assistance by the AFJR (local) partners? Is there any substantial anecdotal evidence of this?
- Did partners make any changes to their programming as a result of learning activities, leading to better program quality? Please provide concrete examples.
Complementarity and harmonization:
- To what extent were the activities of the AFJR organisations complementary to the work of other stakeholders, prevented duplication, and contributed to the larger humanitarian response activities in the country?
- Is there any substantial (anecdotal) evidence of how collaboration between AFJR partners, specifically related to complementarity, has led to positive impact on the lives of beneficiaries?
Localization (capacity strengthening of local NGO’s and/or Government):
- How did the AFJR partners work together with local authorities, and how did this change throughout the project?
- To what extent and how did local partners feel empowered / felt ownership in the design and implementation of the AFJR programme? What factors played a role in this? How has the role of the co-leadership of the AFJR increased decision-making powers and ownership of the national AFJR partners?
Cross-cutting themes:
- How have cross cutting issues, including gender, age, and disability, been addressed in the AFJR, and how does this compare to the project proposal?
Lessons learned and recommendations, that could improve the next program cycle of the Afghanistan Joint Response should be collected as well during the evaluation of the above topics/questions.
Methodology
The evaluation will be carried out in a transparent and participatory manner by involving relevant stakeholders (AFJR partners, affected population, cluster representatives, authorities and community elders).The methodology will be developed by the consultant(s) as well as all relevant tools, based upon this ToR, and presented in the inception report (using as well an evaluation matrix).
The evaluation should include fieldwork, security permitting, to verify achievements of objectives in thematic areas. The evaluation design should include a creative, participatory methodology to collect several significant stories of change among the affected population and other stakeholders.
It is also suggested to consider as a minimum:
- Desk study and review of all relevant program documentation and monitoring data
- Key Informant Interviews with key stakeholders (Project teams, senior officials of national and international partners, Cluster leads, local authorities and UN agencies)
- Questionnaire for AFJR partner staff
- Focus Group discussions with target population and staff
The use of creative or participative qualitative methods (to eg. draw out and document learnings) is welcomed. The evaluation should be inclusive taking into account gender, age, disability, and other vulnerability considerations, sensitive of social norms and practices, and be considered of ethical data collection.
Roles and responsibilities
Consultant
AFJR lead organisation
AFJR partners
- Prepares an inception report, detailing the methodology, stakeholders to be interviewed, tools to be developed, time frame for the evaluation and budget
- Prepares ToR and participates in consultant selection process;
- Provides documentation and background information to the consultant; provides feedback to the deliverables.
- Holds the overall management responsibility of the evaluation, including designing and carrying out the evaluation (data collection and analysis), drafting the final report and debriefing the project team and key stakeholders.
- Read and provide comments on the inception report including the proposed research methodology, the information gathering techniques and the suggested target sites.
- Arranges necessary logistical and security arrangements to receive data collection team. This includes organizing and providing a security briefing upon arrival. The JR lead organization however makes final decision on security-related matters;
- Liaise with Cordaid staff throughout the process, providing weekly updates and seeking their input and advice where necessary. Request approval in case of deviation from budget, and for miscellaneous costs.
- Is the key contact person for the consultant, and provides guidance throughout all phases of execution, facilitation of the field work, reviewing and approving all deliverables, and facilitating access to any documentation (or any person) deemed relevant to the evaluation process.
- Informs key staff, crisis-affected people and other relevant stakeholders of the upcoming visit;
- Sign Cordaid code of conduct Policy and abide by the terms and conditions thereof.
4. Leads and coordinates the evaluation; makes documentation available from coordination level.
- Ensures key staff, crisis-affected people and other relevant stakeholders are available for participating in interviews and focus group discussions
Deliverables
The consultant is expected to lead, accomplish and submit the following deliverables within the agreed timeframe and budget:
- An inception report, which will serve as an agreement between parties on how the evaluation will be conducted. Items to address:
- Understanding of the issues and questions raised in the ToR
- Data sources; how to assess the questions in the ToR.
- Research methodology using an evaluation matrix (addressing research questions and methodology used)
- Team composition
- Schedule of activities and travel (timeline)
- Detailed budget
- Appropriate validated draft data collection tools (e.g. methodological guidelines, group interview questions).
- Mainstreaming gender considerations during the evaluation
- Risk analysis and mitigation approaches
- Access & insecurity scenarios analysis and data collection contingencies
- A max 30 page draft and final report (in MS Office and PDF for final version), excluding annexes, in English, in the following format at a minimum, to be submitted to Cordaid.
Details in the full ToR.
- (Online) Feedback and verification workshop for AFJR Partners in Kabul (and online for partner representatives in NL).
Indicative timescales
Assignment is to be executed in December 2023 and January 2024 (exact dates to be confirmed with contracted party).
Qualifications and experience
Interested experts/consultancies are required to provide CVs detailing the experience with similar type of assignments completed in the past.
Required expertise:
- Academic degree in relevant field of study;
- Demonstrated experience in humanitarian response and knowledge of humanitarian standards (CHS, Sphere, Code of Conduct);
- Demonstrated experience in leading evaluations of humanitarian response programs, and evaluating consortia/joint responses;
- Working experience in Afghanistan / proven knowledge of the local context;
- Demonstrated experience with quantitative and qualitative research, data base management and statistical data analysis;
- Ability to assess and further develop a conceptual evaluation tool;
- Relevant subject matter knowledge and experience regarding the thematic areas of the AFJR;
- Proven record of communicating with affected population.
- Language Proficiency: Proficiency in English and the ability to produce good quality written documents in English is a mandatory requirement of this assignment.
- Security training certificate (max 2 years old)
Contract and budget
Cordaid will provide a consultancy contract to the lead consultant; the consultant shall adhere to the Cordaid Code of Conduct. A maximum budget of EUR 30,000 (Incl VAT) is available for this evaluation. The consultant will submit a cost proposal with the Expression of Interest; this should include all costs related to this evaluation, including salaries, meal cost of the consultant/consulting company personnel, stationary, printing, transportation, accommodation and any other direct or indirect costs related to the performance of this assignment. The consultant is also responsible for providing and covering the costs of any medical, insurance and evacuation needs of their personnel. Cordaid will not be responsible for covering any expenses that may be incurred as a result of any type of accident or any type of security incident nor will Cordaid be liable in any way for any injury or death due to any cause incurred by any of the consultant’s personnel. Expression of Interest will be evaluated based upon cost effectiveness, as well as technical quality. Payment will be done in 3 tranches: 30% advance payment, 40% with the draft report, 30% after successful completion of the assignment, and comprehensive, qualitative and satisfactory reports are submitted to Cordaid. The payment methodology will be further agreed by the winning consultant and Cordaid.
How to apply
Application proces
Based on the full ToR, interested parties are requested to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) explaining their comprehension of the proposed consultancy, and how they would approach this assignment with a summary of their methodology, especially in terms of how the party plans to meet the objectives. The application should include a team composition with lead consultant and experienced assistant(s).
The Expression of Interest should include:
• The technical proposal (not exceeding 10 pages) that responds to the asks of this ToR. The technical proposal should contain a clear outline of the research methodology (quantitative and qualitative methods), data collection and analysis techniques (and alternatives in case of lack of access), a tentative work plan with clearly defined milestones to achieve within the given timeline, including as well a financial proposal.
• Company profile and CV’s of all proposed team member
• At least one sample of similar previous work
• Two references, to be attached as annex to the technical proposal.
Please note that incomplete EoI’s will not be assessed.
To receive the full ToR, please send an email to: [email protected]
All proposals should be sent latest by 15 October 2023 to: [email protected] and [email protected]. Questions regarding this ToR, including planning and budget, can be addressed to the before