Widows and Orphans Empowerment Organisation (WEWE) a Non-Governmental human development Organisation 

POSITION : Consultant - Mid Term Evaluation of WEWE-LOPIN 2 Project

Objectives of the Evaluation

• Following two and a half years of intervention, WEWE plans to conduct a mid-term evaluation of the Local Partners Initiative (LOPIN 2) project in order to assess its progress against targets, and evaluate management and coordination process.
• For the purpose of objectivity the mid-term evaluation will be led by an external consultant who has no prior commitment or contribution to the implementation of LOPIN 2 Project. The evaluation is expected to take place between July and September, 2017.
• The goal of the evaluation is to assess both the processes, strategies and outcomes of the project, collect robust evidence and document lessons learnt to inform necessary course direction.
• This mid-term evaluation will cover all aspects of project implementation including institutional, administrative, organizational, and technical aspects which may have an impact on the performance of the project.

Objectives
This midterm evaluation will address the following key evaluation objectives and develop recommendations based on the findings:

• Evaluate the extent to which the LOPIN 2 project has met its stated objectives, including meeting goals and outcome indicators for child and household well-being, health, economic, nutrition, gender and parenting outcomes, and systems strengthening.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of LOPIN 2 Community Volunteers (CVs) in delivering services to beneficiaries (caregivers and OVC).
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) approach in strengthening the economy of the enrolled households through savings and investment.
• Measure the current levels of household savings in the households with OVCs
• Evaluate how LOPIN 2 has contributed to caregivers’ ability to care for OVC through various capacity building activities.
• Evaluate if and how LOPIN 2’s organization development strategies have improved the visibility and viability of our partner organizations.
• Document project achievements, best practices, and lessons learned, identify what worked well and why and what did not work and why.
• Recommend improvements for LOPIN 2’s long-term strategies for OVC programs, focusing on project management, achieving quality, accountability and to replicate similar approach in other states in Nigeria.
• Recommend what can be done differently to achieve more effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact?

Mid-Term Evaluation Questions
The Midterm evaluation will respond to the following questions:

Relevance:

• To what extent were the objectives of the LOPIN 2 project VALID in response to the needs of the COMMUNITY in the project target areas?
• To what extent were the objectives of the LOPIN 2 project met in response to the needs of the CSOs/IAs in the project target areas?
• Have the planned programme activities and outputs been consistent with the progress on overall goal and objectives?
• Have the planned programme activities and outputs been consistent with the intended impacts and effects on the improved livelihoods of OVC and their caregivers/households?

Effectiveness:

• How effective has the Improvement Science methodology been embedded in the intervention communities, and how effective has the Improvement Science methodology been in improving the Quality of Life of Orphans and Vulnerable Children?
• To what extent are the objectives likely to be achieved by the end of the project?
• What are the causes of successes and/or failures or delays in outcomes?
• To what extent did the services provided cause changes to household economy, stability and improved welfare? What factors were responsible for these changes?
• How was learning from various forums incorporated into supportive supervision of civil society organization partners?
• How effective were the various project activities to improve household welfare and livelihood for OVC?
• How well did the project team engage with different stakeholders and partner organizations to achieve effectiveness and sustainability of project activities?

Efficiency:

• How efficient (timeliness, cost-effectiveness) was the project in achieving the desired project outcomes?
• Were project objectives and activities achieved on time on the LOPIN 2 Project?
• Have the most efficient approaches been used to achieve project Outputs and Outcomes?

Impact:

• What real difference has implementation of the project activities made in the lives of the beneficiaries?
• What were the key lasting changes achieved by the project particularly for Caregivers and OVC?
• Did the capacity building of Community Volunteers lead to changes in practice and improvement in the quality of care the caregivers were provided, what evidence do we have and what evidence can we gather to demonstrate this?

Coherence:

• To what extent have LOPIN 2 interventions been coordinated with the efforts of different stakeholders including OVC TWGs, Child Protection Committees (CPCs), VSLA groups, AOON, SMWASD?
• What internal coordination problems did the project team face and how were they addressed?
• What was the project level biggest achievement to demonstrate effective coordination? How can we improve coordination?

Sustainability:

• To what extent can the benefits of the LOPIN 2 project for beneficiaries continue after the project funding ceases?
• To what extent can the stakeholders be able to continue with implementation of the project activities?
• Which community structures had their capacity built to enhance sustainability?
• To what extent have the Community Improvement Teams (CIT) ensured sustainability?

Desired Methodology
While the evaluation design will be left at the discretion of the consultant, we anticipate that the proposed evaluation activities may include both Qualitative and Quantitative methods, emphasizing, but not be restricted to, a combination of some of the following methods:

• Review of baseline findings/results
• Review of Cost Effectiveness Analysis study
• Interviews with project staff;
• Review of project documentation;
• Review of project logic (proposal);
• Review of success stories
• Review of monitoring and other process documentation such as annual and self-assessment reports;
• Collection of information from participating agencies
• Interviews with several actors/stakeholders of the project, including (but not limited to) partners, Community Leaders, CIT, SMWASD, Religious Groups and others as agreed;

Outputs and Deliverables
The following specific outputs are expected:

An Inception Report:

• Study Protocol
• Ethical Approval for midterm evaluation (This can be obtained from the different state Ministries of Health or from the National Health Ethics Research (NHREC) of the Federal Ministry of Health).
• Data collection tools, including whether any existing tools from other organizations will be adapted or used.
• All data collected (both raw and aggregated) on USB Drive. The data sets should be in an appropriate format (SPSS, Excel, and Word) and should be submitted together with the final evaluation report
• All qualitative data (paper and electronic), analysis results should be submitted along with the final report; these should include the type of qualitative data to be collected and what software will be used to analyze such data
• A draft evaluation report
• A Final draft evaluation report including community case studies and recommendations to WEWE.
• PowerPoint presentation, summarizing the key findings from the evaluation submitted together with the final evaluation report. This will be expected latest two weeks after end of data analysis.
• Document project achievements, best practices, and lessons learnt (i.e. what worked well and why and what did not work and why).

Submission of Response:

• To be considered for award of contract under these Terms of Reference (ToR), please provide a detailed description of respondent’s capabilities, experience, and qualifications relevant to the work described in this ToR.
• Following receipt of your application, WEWE will send out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to select shortlisted applicants for full proposal.

Qualification

• A Master's Degree in Public Health, Statistics, or in relevant Social Sciences
• Experience in evaluation of projects working in the development sector.
• Experience with knowledge management and organizational change processes.
• Experience in Health, OVC or Child Protection programming in a developing country.
• 15 years’ experience in administering surveys, conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis, collecting data and producing quality baseline and end line reports preferably for international non-profit organizations; previous work in OVC will be an added advantage.

How To Apply
Interested individuals and or research organizations should send in their applications and detailed CV's to "The Chief of Party, LOPIN 2 Project," via:procurement@weweng.org