Needed Evaluator in Protection

Call for Evaluator in Protection

Background Caritas Germany

Caritas Germany is a catholic relief organization dedicated to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by man-made and natural disasters worldwide. From our headquarter in Freiburg, Germany, we support approximately 680 projects each year in both sudden-onset and protracted crises across 78 countries. In our humanitarian assistance, we trust in the experience and expertise of our local partners as a matter of principle. For decades, we have invested in capacity-building of local partners. Our localized approach enables us to deliver sustainable humanitarian assistance and preparedness work that contributes towards promoting equality and reconciliation.

In cooperation with our local partner Caritas Jordan we are looking for a qualified Evaluator in Protection (see ToRs below).

Terms of Reference

Mid-term Evaluation:

Analyzing the design and implementation of the ‘Cash for Protection’ activity within Caritas Jordan’s humanitarian aid programme

1. Project Information

Project Title:

“Ensuring the basic needs of vulnerable groups through multi-purpose cash, primary health care services and psychosocial activities in Jordan, 2019-2021.”

Project Number:

P. 313-2018-009; AA S09-31-321.50 SYR 14/19

Project Period:

01.05.2019 – 31.12.2021

Project Evaluation Period:

01.05.2019 – 31.03.2020**

Overall Budget:

3.368.000 EUR

Project Donors:

German Federal Foreign Office; Caritas Germany

Project Partner:

Caritas Jordan

2. Background information and Context

Jordan is one of the countries most strongly affected by the ongoing war in Syria, with 654.692 registered Syrian refugees as of January 2020. In cooperation with is local partner Caritas Jordan, Caritas Germany has provided assistance to Syrian refugees in non-camp urban settings as well as to vulnerable host communities since the beginning of the crisis. Caritas Jordan runs social and health centers throughout the country, covering the northern governorates (Irbid, Mafraq, Zarqa, Ajloun, Jerash), the central governorates (Balqa, Amman) as well as the southern governorates of Madaba and Kerak. The assistance provided through Caritas covers a variety of sectors and includes Cash Assistance, health services (both primary and secondary), educational services, counseling services as well as livelihood activities.

In 2020, the humanitarian needs among the refugees in Jordan continue to remain high. After years of displacement and with livelihood opportunities being limited, many families have exhausted their resources and are struggling to cover their basic needs. This leads to an increase in a variety protection risks for the refugees. Vulnerable families do not have sufficient resources to react to sudden economic shocks or health emergencies. With accumulating debts, many households are facing eviction from their shelters or detention due to unpaid bills. Some households resort to negative coping strategies such as early marriage and child labour in order to cover their survival needs.

Since May 2019, Caritas has been implementing a project with funds of the German Federal Foreign Office which aims to contribute to an improvement of the social protection and health status of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians in Jordan. Until December 2021, the project will reach approx. 18.000 persons, 70% Syrian refugees in non-camp urban settings and 30% vulnerable Jordanians.

The project has the following objectives:

Objective 1: The survival needs of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians are covered.

Outputs: 621 vulnerable HH benefit from monthly MPC Transfers; 1.171 beneficiaries benefit from a one-time unrestricted Winterization payment

Objective 2: Immediate protection risks of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians are reduced.

Outputs: 617 beneficiaries can respond to their immediate emergency needs through an un-restricted and one-time cash payment and accompanying case management

Objective 3: Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians effectively use psychosocial coping-strategies

in dealing with their stressful life situation.

Outputs: 1.621 Beneficiaries have increased their knowledge on psychosocial coping-skills through MHPSS-sessions

Objective 4: Primary Health Care needs of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians are covered.

Outputs: At least 10.000 beneficiaries have received quality primary health care services.

In order to achieve objective 2, Caritas has designed an activity named “Cash for Protection”. The activity focuses on individuals or households who have experienced a socio-economic shock leading to an increased risk of protection. This includes, but is not limited to, the following incidents: The sudden loss of a primary income earner (for example due to health emergency); loss of assets, e.g. due to fire or flooding; new arrival in Jordan; detention or threat of detention; experience or risk of SGBV/domestic violence or abuse; child abuse or child at risk and eviction or threat of eviction. The cases receive a one-time emergency cash payment of 250 JD in combination with case management services in order to mitigate the immediate projection risk. Until the end of 2021 Caritas is intending to provide a total of 617 beneficiaries with Cash for Protection.

3. Objective and Scope of the Evaluation

This mid-term evaluation focuses exclusively on project objective 2.

The objective of the evaluation is to obtain a systematic and objective assessment of the Cash for Protection Activity, including its design, implementation and results. Since “Cash for Protection” is a relatively new concept not only for Caritas, but also for the humanitarian community in general, the first project year was considered a pilot phase. During this period, the activities were tested with a target group of 67 beneficiaries. This pilot phase is now to be evaluated in order to identify possible needs for adaptation of the intervention, both in design and implementation (referring to Caritas Jordan’s SOPs for Cash for Protection and their application).

The evaluation will cover the period from 1.5.2019-31.03.2020.

The main purpose of the evaluation is learning. The results are to be used by Caritas Jordan and Caritas Germany to improve the quality of the activity. It is therefore expected that the evaluation report provides clear recommendations on possible adaptations regarding design and implementation of the Cash for Protection activity.

4. Evaluation Criteria and Key Evaluation Questions

The evaluation is to focus on the following DAC criteria:

*Relevance/Appropriateness**:*

• To what extent does the activity meet the needs of vulnerable persons under specific protection risks?
• To what extent are the differing needs of women and men, boys and girls, older persons and persons with disability adequately taken into account?

Effectiveness

• To what extent does the intervention achieve the expected outcome (a reduction of the immediate protection risk)?
• What are factors (internal and external) hindering the achievement of the outcome, what are factors supporting the achievement of the outcome?
• Is the activity designed and implemented in an adequate way to achieve the intended outcome? What steps can be taken to increase the effectiveness of the activity, both in terms of design and implementation?

Sub-Questions regarding design and implementation:

• SOPs: Is the activity implemented according to the SOPs?
• Beneficiary Selection: Are we reaching the right people? Is the process of beneficiary selection designed in an adequate way to identify beneficiaries according to the eligibility criteria? Are the selection criteria applied adequately? How can the process of selection be improved both in terms of optimal targeting and efficiency?
• Design of the services: Is the combination of cash assistance and counseling support appropriate to achieve the intended outcome? Is the one-time payment of 250 JD adequate to respond to the emergency need of the beneficiary? Is the Case Management that the beneficiaries receive adequate (Assessment, House Visit, Referral)?
• Beneficiary Referral: How effective is the referral system at Caritas Jordan? Are adequate referral pathways in place? Did beneficiaries receive referral relevant to their needs? Were they able to access the services they were referred to?
• Timeliness: Are the activities delivered in time to prevent or mitigate the protection risk?
• Downward Accountability: Did the target group receive adequate information about the “Cash for Protection” activity (selection criteria; included services; time-frame of the assistance)? Are adequate feedback and complaints mechanisms in place?
• Monitoring: Are the monitoring tools and processes adequate to measure the effectiveness of the intervention?

Efficiency:

• How economically were resources converted into results? Was the project implemented in the most efficient way (in terms of time and resource allocation, planning, coordination, and communication)?
• In which areas are potentials to increase efficiency?

Impact:

• Which effects did the activity have on the beneficiaries (intended/un-intended, positive/negative)?
• Were there any unintended increases in protection risks?

*Coordination**:*

• Is Caritas sufficiently coordinating with other actors in the field?
• In which areas is further coordination needed and to what extent?

5. Approach and Methodology

The evaluation will adopt a participatory and transparent approach using internal and external stakeholders. The evaluation process, as well as the final results should be gender-sensitive and human-rights-based. The evaluator will use mixed methods that are able to appropriately address the primary evaluation questions, as well as properly support its derivative conclusion and recommendation.

The evaluation methods to be used may include, but are not limited to:

• Review of project documentation, reports and literature (Desk Research)
• Consultative meetings with staff, management and key stakeholders
• Review and analysis of existing Monitoring Data; additional collection of quantitative data if necessary in order to answer key evaluation questions
• Key informant interviews with beneficiaries, staff members and other stakeholders.

(Semi-)structured Interviews with beneficiaries are a must and should be supported by interview protocols and the list of respondents. The exact sample size should be proposed by the evaluator and discussed together with Caritas Jordan and Caritas Germany before the start of the evaluation.

6. Deliverables

i. Inception Report: An inception report will be submitted by the evaluating consultant in order to demonstrate his understanding and planning of the evaluation, which will be reviewed and discussed in cooperation with Caritas Jordan and Caritas Germany. The inception report should

• an evaluation matrix (including the final evaluation questions and indicators);
• the overall evaluation design and methodology with a detailed description of the data collection methods and data analysis techniques,
• a proposed timeframe for the activities and deliverables. The evaluator is free to suggest additional methodological framework for the evaluation.
• highlight any reservations regarding the feasibility

The inception report of the evaluation should not exceed 10-15 pages.

If the inception report contains proposed changes regarding the methodology or the TORs of the evaluation, these are subject to the written agreement of Caritas Germany and Caritas Jordan.

ii. Validation Workshop: A workshop should be conducted in the field to present the findings of the evaluation to key staff.

iii. Draft Report: The Draft Report should be presented to Caritas Germany’s desk officer after the field work has been concluded, and should incorporate comments supplied by Caritas Germany and its partner organizations.

iv. Final Report: The final report serves to illustrate the relevant evidence corresponding with the evaluation issues, questions and criteria listed in the Terms of Reference. The report should take all aspects reviewed in the validation workshop and Caritas’ comments on the draft report into consideration and is subject to approval of Caritas. The report should include an executive summary.

The final report should not exceed 30 pages (excluding annexes).

7. Timeframe for Deliverables

The evaluation is to be carried out in April/May 2020 (exact timeframe and dates to be discussed). The timeline for the activities consists of the following phases:

Preparation Phase: 3 days

§ Analysis of relevant project documents as well as further research

§ Exchange with Caritas Jordan and Caritas Germany

§ Preparation of inception report

Field Phase: 5 days

§ Briefing with Caritas Jordan, Caritas Germany and other relevant actors in Amman, Jordan

§ Data Collection

§ Validation meeting involving Caritas Jordan and Caritas Germany

Synthesis Phase: 4 days

§ Analysis of findings and preparation of draft evaluation report

§ Revision of draft report to integrate comments and feedback from Caritas Jordan and Caritas Germany.

The evaluator should present a detailed work plan and timeframe of all activities including the relevant resource allocation.

The deadlines for each of the deliverables will be set before the start of the evaluation.

8. Roles and Responsibilities

Caritas Jordan is responsible for organizing and facilitating the logistics in Jordan. Caritas Jordan and Caritas Germany will provide access to all relevant project documents.

The consultant will be working under and reporting to the Caritas Germany desk officer and Caritas Germany’s Advisor for Humanitarian Assistance during the evaluation phase.

9. Guiding Principles & Donor concepts

The consultant is to conduct the evaluation in accordance with the principles outlined in the “Caritas Internationalis management standards” document[1], the “Caritas Code of conduct”, Caritas “Safeguarding Policy” as well as the “Guidelines on Combating Fraud and Corruption in the Project Work of Caritas Germany”[2].

The evaluator must take all required steps to ensure that the evaluation is designed and conducted to respect and protect the rights and welfare of the people and the communities of which they are members, as well as to ensure that the evaluation is technically accurate, reliable, and legitimate, and conducted in a transparent and impartial manner. Moreover, the evaluation should ideally contribute to organizational learning and accountability.

10. Professional Qualification and Experience

The evaluation consultant should meet the following required skills and competence profile:

• A university degree at post-graduate level or an equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience
• extensive experience in conducting evaluations and a proven record in delivering professional results (verifiable list of evaluations conducted in the past is required)
• In-depth knowledge and experience in MHPSS and Protection Programming (e.g. Child Protection, SGBV, Case Management)
• Strong analytical skills and ability to clearly synthesize and present findings, draw practical conclusions, make recommendations and prepare well-written reports in a timely manner
• Extensive experience in qualitative and/or quantitative data collection and data analysis techniques
• Fluency in written and spoken English, ideally in conjunction with good skills in spoken Arabic
• Regional experience in the Middle East
• Good understanding and appropriate sensitivity in regards to different cultures and traditions

11. Terms of Payment

The evaluator is to receive payment from Caritas Germany in different installments, details will be explained bilaterally