Project Evaluator

Project Summary:

Project Name

Regrowth: Supporting durable socio-economic resilience amongst Syrian refugee and host Lebanese communities in Lebanon

Project Outcome

Refugee and host community households in Lebanon have improved livelihoods opportunities and are socio-economically resilient

Project Location

Akkar and Mount Lebanon

Project Duration

January 1st 2017 – June 30th 2018

 BACKGROUND:

In coordination with local, national and international partners the IRC proposes to target 1,404 vulnerable refugee and host community members in Akkar and Mt Lebanon, in order to increase access to employment, self-employment and reduce socio-economic hardships associated with the Syria Crisis. Building on existing operational capacities, the IRC will implement an evidence-based comprehensive bundle of livelihoods services that are complementary in design and delivery, including vocational and on-the job training, employment support services and micro-enterprise support. Additional complementary legal support services will also be provided in order to address barriers to socio-economic resilience. It is expected that, in line with the Regional Development and Protection Programme (RDPP) Strategy, this project will advance affected populations’ access to durable solutions and socio-economic development in Lebanon.

There are multiple humanitarian responders in Lebanon, which allows IRC to limit its geographical scope to areas with high unemployment, focusing on the North and Mount Lebanon. Continuing a traditional humanitarian response strategy of delivering only short term assistance to meet basic needs is unsustainable in the fifth year of an increasingly protracted crisis, with an IRC study finding that overall cash assistance to refugees was ultimately insufficient to meet basic needs. As a result, IRC focuses its attention on improving access to regular and sustainable income earning opportunities, through market-relevant skills’ building, business development and market strengthening, self-employment creation, job matching and legal support, extending these services equally to refugees and to the host communities affected by the influx.

The IRC delivers its economic support to vulnerable populations via its Economic Recovery and Development program (ERD) and has been funded for implementation by the RDPP for a period of 18 months.

EVALUATION GOALS and OBJECTIVES

Goals of the Evaluation:

The evaluation will serve the purpose of

1. Assessing the project’s implementation
2. Measuring the achievements of the program’s outcomes
3. Generating recommendations to guide future programming

As such, the project evaluator is expected to:

1. Evaluate and validate project achievement of implementation targets and milestones reached
2. Examine the effectiveness of the project in terms of its purpose and intended outcomes
3. Evaluate the relevance of the project’s strategy with respect to the target populations’ needs
4. Examine the impact the project had on IRC’s clients
5. Evaluate the sustainability of IRC’s project with respect to:
   1. IRC’s delivery of vocational, soft skills and on-the-job training
   2. IRC’s provision of business development support and access to capital via its microfinance institution partner
6. Suggest strategic  recommendations that can be used by IRC –and specifically ERD- in the future programs

PROJECT’S LOGFRAME

Annexed to the ToRs

METHODOLOGY

The evaluator will be closely working with IRC‘s ERD department for facilitated access to project documents, verification sources, activity progress reports and other documents as needed.

Additionally, the evaluator will be having access to IRC’s beneficiaries as needed, respecting IRC’s guidelines when engaging with beneficiaries.

The IRC encourages the evaluator to include both quantitative and qualitative approaches when conducting the project’s evaluation, including but not limited to: key informant interviews, focus group discussions and data analysis on IRC’s M&E collected data for both baseline and endline surveying.

Data sources include IRC’s registered clients, served clients both with cash and non-cash services, supported entrepreneurs both with cash and non-cash services, ERD’s Microfinance partner, field staff, field supervisors and managers, Akkar field coordinator, ERD’s senior management and IRC’s departments’ heads or focal points should those be relevant to the needs of the evaluation.

DELIVERABLES:

1. Workplan with timeline for the proposed evaluation steps
2. Final evaluation report in English to include:
   • Title page
   • Table of contents
   • Executive summary
   • List of acronyms and abbreviations
   • Description of the project including any major changes occurring since the design
   • Description of the evaluation methodology
   • Main findings based on the listed evaluation goals and objectives in section 2 of the ToRs
   • Best practices and lessons learnt throughout the project
   • Recommendations for project improvement
3. Powerpoint presentation in English to be shared with ERD summarizing the findings and recommendations of the evaluation
4. Annexes:
   • Copies of all tools used in the evaluation
   • Transcripts of KIIs and FGDs conducted
   • Indicator summary sheet reflected targets versus actual achievements

PROPOSED TIMELINE:

Timeframe

Description

Man-days

August 27 – August 31

Collection and review of the action’s documents

1 day

FGDs with ERD clients

3 days

September 3^rd – September 14th

KIIs with ERD, IRC staff and ERD’s partner

2 days

Analysis of ERD’s data sources and quantitative M&E data

2 days

Transcription of FGDs & KIIs

1 day

September 17^th – September 21st

Report writing and PowerPoint presentation

3 days

QUALIFICATIONS:

• At least 5 years of proven experience in similar studies and in using various research methodologies and data analysis
• Previus evaluation experience of Livelihoods projects
• Prfessional experience in the design and implementation of outcome and impact evaluations
• Proven knowledge and experience in applying participatory research methods and tools
• Advanced degree in relevant field (e.g. Social Sciences, Economics, or any related technical field)
• Good understanding of the Syrian Crisis (specifically the Syrian Crisis in Lebanon) and Humanitarian Standards
• Familiarity with civil society and NGO engagement
• Ability to work on tight schedules with minimal supervision
• Excellent spoken and written English and Arabic

MANAGEMENT AND LOGISTICS:

The evaluator will be working under the direct supervision of ERD’s M&E Manager with support from IRC’s MEAL Advisor. The final evaluation will be presented to ERD’s Senior Management.

The project evaluator will be supported to work from Ashrafieh or Mkalles, as per the needs, and will be expected to conduct at least two field visits to each IRC’s li