call for project Evaluation consultant

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Project Evaluation Consultant
Duration: 10 weeks

Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision is of no benefit to women and girls. Rather, it harms women and girls in many ways by interfering with the natural function of their bodies.

PROJECT BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the partial or complete removal of parts or all of the external female genitalia for non-medical purposes. About 200,000,000 women and girls have been mutilated globally with approximately 10% (20,000,000) of that population residing in Nigeria alone. If nothing is done, the figures are projected to increase by 2030 [SMF2] . [AH3] In Nigeria, reported examples of the short-term consequences of FGM include severe pain, trauma, and hemorrhage for survivors which may lead to urinary tract infections, shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, death in severe cases, loss of sexual drive, and birth complications among others. These negative consequences limit the possibilities of women and girls who are survivors.

As an age-long cultural practice across different communities in Nigeria, FGM continues to thrive on the morals of culture protection or religion, and this culture is upheld by men who are custodians of authority in the largely patriarchal communities, and older women, who are keepers of culture. To put an end to this act of human rights violation, the Federal government of Nigeria passed the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act in 2015 which banned the practice of FGM. The VAPP Act has since then been adopted in many states across Nigeria including our project states. In addition, each of our project states has enacted laws at the state level to support the ban of FGM practice. Perpetrators are liable to pay a fine, serve a jail term, or both.

To change this narrative, HACEY Health Initiative started a multi-year project in 2020, in partnership with the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, to protect women and girls from Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states in Southwest Nigeria from FGM by December 2022.

Since its initiation, the Stop Cut project has worked with actors across Oyo, Ekiti, and Osun states including public sector workers, political leaders, policymakers, civil society organizations, media agencies, and community leaders, to increase the advocacy for the abandonment of FGM and the enforcement of FGM laws to protect women and girls from the harmful traditional practice that violates basic human rights of women and girls

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Project Name: Stop Cut Project

Start Date and End Date: January 2020 – December 2022

Project implementation status: ongoing

Geographical areas of the project: Oyo state, Ekiti state, and Osun state

Specific form of violence addressed by the project: Female genital mutilation

Project Goal

Women and girls in Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states in Southwest Nigeria are protected from female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) by December 2022

Project Outputs

1.1 Civil society organizations, media government, and citizens have increased knowledge of the prevalence and contributory factors of FGM/C
1.2 Information on existing FGM/C policies and laws and gaps therein is available to Civil Society Organizations, media, and citizens
1.3 Governments and policymakers in project states are engaged on implementing FGM/C laws.

2.1 The End FGM Alliance has increased knowledge of existing FGM/C national and state policies and laws
2.2 All members of the End FGM Alliance have increased capacity on reportage of FGM/C practices and enforcement of laws
2.3 The End FGM Alliance is increasingly engaged in advocacy visits with policymakers and state actors toward ending FGM/C practices

3.1 Citizens in communities across project states are sensitized on FGM/C policies and laws during sensitization campaign against FGM/C practices
3.2 Community gatekeepers receive information on FGM/C policies, laws, and risks, in project states
3.3 Traditional and digital media is engaged on FGM/C related matters (practice, prevention, laws, and policies)

4.1 HACEY Health Initiative has put in place mechanisms to improve institutional resilience to crisis including COVID-19, which ensures the stability of projects and sustainability of the organizations in the longer term
4.2 HACEY Health Initiative has improved knowledge, skills and capacities to maintain or adapt EVAW/G interventions and reach the most vulnerable women and girls while responding to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or other crisis

Project Expected Outcomes

Outcome 1: civil society organizations, Media, government and citizens use evidence-based data and information on prevalence, contributory factors and level of policy on ending FGM/C in project states.

Outcome 2: The End FGM Alliance more effectively advocate for the enforcement of FGM/C policies in project state

Outcome 3: Citizens in project states have positive behavioural change regarding FGM/C practices

Outcome 4: HACEY Health Initiative is institutionally strengthened to sustainably respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and other crisis whilst maintaining or adapting existing interventions to EVAW/G especially FGM/C with a focus on the most vulnerable women and girls

Key Partners

The StopCut project has, in the last three years, worked with stakeholders both at the high policy and community levels. These include traditional leaders, community influencers, and opinion leaders. At the policy level, the key partners include staff members of the state ministries of health, education, women’s affairs, and justice. The project also worked with media agencies, including TV stations, Radio stations, social media influencers and bloggers.

PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the performance of the project and capture project achievements, challenges, and best practices to inform future similar programming. It will also review the recommendations of the project Mid Term Formative Evaluation (MTFE) and assess the extent to which these were implemented. The evaluation will also ensure accountability towards United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UNTF) Trust Fund ) as a donor, and the beneficiaries of the program, and to the project partners. On the other hand, it offers a learning aspect for all stakeholders. The evaluation will also identify key lessons learned, challenges and the flexibility of the program to adapt and respond to end FGM/C in Nigeria

EVALUATION OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

Evaluation Objective:

The consultant will conduct an evaluation survey for the Stop Cut project. The objectives of the end-line evaluation survey include:

  1. To evaluate the effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, sustainability, knowledge generation and impact of the entire StopCut project, 20th 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022 in protecting women and girls from FGM in the project state
  2. To identify key lessons and promising or emerging good practices in protecting women and girls from FGM, for learning purposes
  3. To review the recommendations of the project Mid Term Formative Evaluation (MTFE) and assess the extent to which these were implemented in the project life cycle.

Scope of Evaluation:

Over a period of 10 weeks, the consultant will lead the collection, analysis, and reporting of quantitative and qualitative data from women and girls, as well as community leaders, media personnel, CSOs, government workers, and law enforcement officers across the 12 project local government areas in Oyo, Osun, and Ekiti states. Samples for the evaluation of the intervention will be drawn from the 4 LGAs in each project state while 2 other LGAs will be selected in each state as control LGAs. Sample participants will be drawn as a representation of the project beneficiaries.

Required competencies

  • The team lead should have a minimum master’s degree in any related field with a minimum of 7 – 10 years of experience specific to monitoring and evaluation
  • Desirable – Experience in conducting outcome and impact evaluation
  • The consultant must demonstrate a high level of integrity and ability to handle confidential issues
  • Must be independent of any organizations that have been involved in designing, executing, managing, or advising any aspect of the project that is the subject of the evaluation and any other UN Trust Fund-funded projects.
  • Must demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment
  • The consultant must have specific evaluation experiences around ending violence against women and girls
  • In-depth experience and knowledge of the country’s progress towards eliminating FGM are required
  • Must have experience with program design and theory of change, gender-responsive evaluation, participatory approaches, and stakeholder engagement
  • The ideal candidate must have proficient fluency in English. A good command of the Yoruba language is desirable.

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND QUESTIONS

  1. Efficiency: to which extent was the best value-for-money obtained (results delivered vs resources expended)
  2. Effectiveness: To what extent were the project objectives achieved? What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
  3. Impact: What are the positive and negative changes produced by the project’s interventions (direct and indirect)? What has happened as a result of the project? What real difference has the activity made to beneficiaries? Have outputs been achieved? And if so, to what extent have outcomes been achieved?
  4. Sustainability: local ownership of the results and the likely ability of project-supported interventions to continue to deliver benefits for an extended period of time after completion. Assess the project’s role in influencing wider policy at the state and national levels.
  5. Lessons learned: the evaluation will also document the innovations and lessons learned from the project. This includes an analysis of what has worked and what has not as well as observations related to the project design, management and operation.
  6. Recommendations: Considering the progress made this far, what could be future steps for Government and Development Partners to consider to put an end to FGM/C? What could be further improved if UNTF, HACEY, or any other agency implements a similar project in the near future?
  7. Relevance: to what extent do the achieved results of the StopCut project continue to be relevant to the needs of women and girls in the project state?

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND QUESTIONS

  1. Efficiency: to which extent was the best value-for-money obtained (results delivered vs resources expended)
  2. Effectiveness: To what extent were the project objectives achieved? What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
  3. Impact: What are the positive and negative changes produced by the project’s interventions (direct and indirect)? What has happened as a result of the project? What real difference has the activity made to beneficiaries? Have outputs been achieved? And if so, to what extent have outcomes been achieved?
  4. Sustainability: local ownership of the results and the likely ability of project-supported interventions to continue to deliver benefits for an extended period of time after completion. Assess the project’s role in influencing wider policy at the state and national levels.
  5. Lessons learned: the evaluation will also document the innovations and lessons learned from the project. This includes an analysis of what has worked and what has not as well as observations related to the project design, management and operation.
  6. Recommendations: Considering the progress made this far, what could be future steps for Government and Development Partners to consider to put an end to FGM/C? What could be further improved if UNTF, HACEY, or any other agency implements a similar project in the near future?
  7. Relevance: to what extent do the achieved results of the StopCut project continue to be relevant to the needs of women and girls in the project state?

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY

The evaluation will use a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to collect quantitative and qualitative data from residents of project communities, using interviewer-administered questionnaires and a focus group discussion (FGD) guide. Under the supervision of the Management, the consultant will deliver on the following tasks in assuring the proper assessment of all components of the Stop Cut project:

Desk Phase:

Development of a study protocol and data collection instrument

Submission of protocol to an Ethics Review Board (ERB) for ethical approval

Field Work

  • Recruitment and training of research assistants
  • Pretest of the data collection instrument
  • Development of final data collection instrument
  • Collection of study data

Documentation

  • Analysis of study data
  • Development of draft evaluation report
  • Development of draft manuscript and learning papers

Deliverables:

The deliverables for this task include:

  • Cleaned data sets (including qualitative text transcripts if applicable)
  • The Draft Evaluation Report will be presented for review and feedback to develop the final evaluation report
  • Policy Action Brief for different stakeholders who have participated in the Stop Cut project based on the Evaluation Report.
  • Draft manuscript for publication
  • PowerPoint presentation of the survey report
  • One learning paper on ending FGM

Duration

The entire exercise is expected to be completed in 12 weeks from the date of contract approval

Consultant Qualifications and Experience

  • The team lead should have a minimum of master’s degree in any related field with a minimum of 7 – 10 years’ experience specific to monitoring and evaluation
  • Desirable – Experience in conducting outcome and impact evaluation
  • The consultant must demonstrate a high level of integrity and ability to handle confidential issues

Arbitration:

Any dispute related to the implementation of this agreement shall be submitted to arbitration in accordance with the extant arbitration laws of Nigeria. All materials developed, data, and reports generated under this consultancy will be treated with topmost confidentiality and remain the intellectual property of the employer

Application:

Send the following document to [email protected] by 2.00pm on Wednesday November 30th, 2022.

  • CV
  • Work Profile
  • Approach to this task (1 page workplan)
  • Budget

APPLICATION

Send the following document to [email protected] by 2.00 PM on Friday, 23rd December 2022

  • CV
  • Work Profile
  • At least 1 sample report of a previous evaluation conducted
  • Approach to this task (1- page workplan)
  • Expected remuneration

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