External Evaluation Consultant

External Evaluation Consultant for

Promoting Harmony and Building Development Bridges in Lebanon

1.  INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Lebanese reality, as is the case in many developing countries, is nowadays affected by the lack of adequate opportunities that can promote tolerance and encourage mutual understanding and dialogue with other cultures. Since the onset of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Lebanon has endured the arrival and settlement of an unprecedented number of refugees, swelling the pre-conflict population by around one quarter, and representing the world’s highest number of refugees per capita (European Commission). This is in addition to the already settled Palestinian refugees registered by UNRWA in Lebanon.

Even before the crisis in Syria broke out, the poverty levels in Lebanon were reportedly high. The living conditions became even worse with the influx of the Syrian refugees. The lack of resources and unsupportive regulations has increased the sense of competition and resentment between the refugees and the host community on one hand and between the old refugees and the new refugees on the other hand.

Noting the rising conflicts and the weak national structures available to deal with them, ARCPA/ AL-JANA, with the support of Bread for the World – Protestant Development Service, is implementing a three-year project extending between January 2017 and June 2020 with the aim of contributing to bridging development gaps and promoting tolerance, social cohesion, and access to rights among marginalized communities in Lebanon, and notably the Palestinian refugee community. The project responds to the current situation through complementary interventions that include two main components:

     a.  A Networking and Capacity Building Intervention that includes meetings for the Janana network, capacity building workshops, and outreach library services.

     b.  An Active Learning Intervention that includes the annual Janana Spring Festival.

2.  PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION

ARCPA/ AL-JANA aims to contract a consultant to conduct a mid-term review with two main aims:

     a.  Review the organizational structure, operational efficiency, and program/ project coherence and alignment to the organizational strategy 

     b.  Review the project supported by Bftw

The main purpose of the evaluation should be documenting lessons learned and providing key findings and recommendations.

Such findings should indicate the strengths and weaknesses of the organization in general and the supported project in specific, and emphasize lessons learned to be carried forward. 

3.  SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION AND KEY QUESTIONS

The evaluation will rely on the OECD DAC criteria to answer the following non-exhaustive list of evaluation questions:

3.1  Relevance

On the Organizational Level:

• To what extent are the strategic goals aligned with the organization’s mission?
• To what extent are the organization’s projects/ programs aligned with its overall strategy?

On the Project Level:

• To what extent is the project aligned with the needs of the beneficiaries?
• To what extent is the project aligned with ARCPA/ AL-JANA’s strategy?

3.2  Effectiveness

On the Organizational Level:

• Is the current organizational structure effective?
• How id decision making distributed across the organization? To what extent is the currently adopted process effective?

On the Project Level:

• Are the project’s activities being achieved?
• Do we foresee that all project activities will be achieved?
• How was the selection of the beneficiaries to be done?

3.3  Efficiency 

On the Organizational Level:

• How are tasks distributed across the organization? Is such distribution efficient and minimizes resource waste?

On the Project Level:

• Will the objectives be achieved in an economically viable manner?
• To what extent are the resources used adequately to achieve the set results?

3.4  Sustainability 

On the Organizational Level:

• Are the organization’s overall interventions sustainable?
• What efforts are being exerted and what structures are present to secure organizational sustainability?

On the Project Level:

• Do the changes being introduced by the project have a lasting effect?
• Will the positive effects continue beyond the end of the project?

3.5  Impact

On the Organizational Level:

• How is the organization perceived by key stakeholders in terms of its influence on its context?

On the Project Level:

• Will the project contribute to the attainment of the overall development goal set in the proposal?
• What positive and negative chances have occurred so far?

4.  EVALUATION DESIGN/ METHODS

The evaluation will utilize an integrated and participatory approach when investigating the five OECD-DAC criteria outlined above. Stakeholders to be involved include ARCPA/ AL-JANA’s team, beneficiaries, partner organizations, and trainers. Different techniques should be used for the collection of information and the respective analysis, encompassing:

• Review of key project documents (proposal, progress reports, minutes of meeting, activity evaluations…) and development of guidelines
• Meeting with key staff, including members of the board as well as project coordinators
• The organization of focus groups and interviews with various stokeholds
• Triangulation, qualitative analysis, and presentation of findings 
• … (others?)

5.  PROCESS OF THE EVALUATION/ TIME FRAME

The evaluation is planned to extend over the months of February/March 2019.  

An inception report should be submitted three weeks following commencement, detailing the methodology to be adopted, mapping stakeholders to be consulted, and presenting a detailed time-line.

A first draft report should be submitted by April 10, 2019. A meeting shall be held with the Consultant one week after report submission to discuss main findings. Following, ARCPA shall present its written feedback. Based on the feedback, the Consultant is to produce a second and final version of the report within one week.

The final version of the evaluation report should be submitted no later than end of April 2019.

6.  EXPECTED PRODUCTS

The evaluator is expected to submit the following deliverables:

• Inception report
• First draft of the final report
• Final report
• Presentation of key findings

All documents shall be submitted in English.

7.  KEY QUALIFICAITONS OF THE EVALUATORS

The evaluator should be experienced and intendent, with at least the following expertise:

• Advanced university degree in International Development, Social Sciences, or related field;
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in OECD-DAC evaluation standards and results-based management, as well as participatory methodologies;
• Working knowledge of the local context;
• Willingness and ability to conduct field visits to Palestinian refugee camps across Lebanon;
• Demonstrated and strong analytical, communication, and report writing skills;
• Proficiency in English and Arabic.

A team of evaluators with complementary skills may apply as well.

8.  HOW TO APPLY

Two offers shall be submitted separately by email in two pdf attachments; a technical offer and a financial offer.

The technical offer shall include a short explanation and justification of the methods to be deployed, the CV of the consultant/ team, and the proposed time-frame.

The financial offer shall be all-inclusive, providing for costs such as transportation, taxes, and fees. This offer shall be valid for a period of 30 days.