Mid-Term Review Consultant At Christian Aid

Christian Aid is partnering with others to end poverty in Africa. At the heart of this vision is transformation of the lives of people who live in poverty, empowering them to have a brighter future. In 20 countries across the continent, we manage a wide range of programmes that have a positive impact on the lives of millions, and while we've achieved some incredible results, there's still a lot we can do.

Which is why we are looking for a dynamic and highly skilled individual to lead the Nigeria country team in delivering this exciting programme, and achieving ever greater levels of impact and transformation with our partners, allies and donors.

You could be working for a multi-national company or feel your ambition and entrepreneurial flair are being stifled by a traditional NGO environment. Either way, this is a once-in-a- lifetime chance to use your talent for mobilising people and resources, and make a very real difference to those living in poverty.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Mid-Term Review Consultant

Terms of Reference for Independent Consultant for V2P Project Mid-Term Evaluation
September - October 2014
Contract type: Short-term consultancy
Programme/Team: V2P Project, Governance team
Location: Anambra State, Nigeria
Period: 20 days
Contact: Talatu Aliyu [email protected]
GSM : 08035930713

Background
Christian Aid Nigeria (CA) is implementing a DFID-funded governance programme ‘Voice to the People’ (V2P) which will deliver strong results in the area of community-driven accountability in Anambra State. The project is being delivered by four local partners based in Anambra State, two national level partners and CA, who together have significant expertise in governance approaches, gender programming, civic engagement in elections, and power analysis. The lead partner at the state level, JDPC Onitsha, is a highly respected and well-connected faith-based organisation, with a proven track record in engagement with government and elections work in Anambra State. V2P is an expansion of JDPC Onitsha’s Power to the People (DFID-funded Governance and Transparency Fund) programme, which established community and civil society networks in Anambra State to promote just and accountable governance. Community-Based Monitors in target areas/communities have worked with their authorities to bring improvements to service delivery in 10 communities in Anambra. V2P is being implemented in 48 communities, supported by coordinated national and state level advocacy.

The programme rationale is to address the urgent need to meet the high levels of vulnerability and poverty which persist in Nigeria due to poor governance and ineffective service delivery, through addressing the low capacity of poor and marginalised citizens, especially rural adolescent girls and women. It will do this by empowering civil society actors to know and claim their rights, to better engage in local and state level decision-making processes and to hold leaders accountable.

Project Goal:
The overall goal of V2P is: ‘Improved social, economic and political well-being and better quality services’ across Anambra State by the end of 2015. The specific outcome of this programme, which directly targets 48 communities across 12 LGAs in Anambra State, is: ‘Communities are effectively holding duty bearers to account, leading to improved responsiveness and service delivery, supported by evidence-based learning and advocacy’.

Objective of the Mid-Term Evaluation:

• Identify the main achievements and progress of the V2P project;
• Determine the programme’s progress against the impact, outcomes and outputs outlined in the V2P logical framework;
• Identify possible challenges and risks faced by the project and suggest mitigating strategies to overcome them;
• Review the performance of the V2P project partners and their overall project management;
• Make recommendations to improve the management and effectiveness of the project in its second phase, and to inform the design and management structures of future similar programmes.

Anticipated changes of the V2P Project:
1.) The emergence of a skilled and effective marginalised groups, communities and civil society who are able to demand their rights.
2.) Institutionalized interaction and dialogue opportunities between civil society and state structures; and activities promoting election engagement.
3.) Improved awareness among poor and marginalised groups of their rights and to hold their duty bearers to account, and increased confidence and skills gained amongst these groups to demand these rights from local government.
4.) Increased participation and representation of women and adolescent girls in formal and informal decision making structures in Anambra state.
5.) Improved linkages and networking between partners and other donor development programme to increase learning, information dissemination and improved consensus building and advocacy skills with which to influence policy makers.

Scope and Focus of this evaluation:

• The purpose of this evaluation is to evaluate and assess the progress and achievements of the V2P project at mid-point and to provide recommendations to guide the remaining implementation period of the project. The project location is 48 communities in 12 LGAs of Anambra state.
• The evaluation should consider the following areas of learning:
• What difference has the project made to people’s lives (what, who, where, when)?
• To what degree have project outcomes been achieved? Have there been any unexpected outcomes?
• Who has benefitted (women, men, youth, vulnerable groups) and in what ways?
• Are those changes (outcomes) relevant to people’s needs? Are they likely to be sustainable in the long term?
• Have there been any changes to policies, practices and attitudes of decision and policy makers to benefit the project’s target groups? What, if any, shifts or changes in power relations or levels of empowerment have resulted?
• To what extent has the project contributed to the achievement of improved social, economic and political well-being, and better quality services across the 12 V2P targeted LGAs in Anambra State?
• To what extent has the achievement of the changes/outcomes been influenced by external context and other factors?
• How has this project made this difference?

Approaches used by the project and implementing organisations:

• How has the overall theory of change for this project been applied by partners to deliver results in the project? Has it been effective in bringing about lasting change so far and has it been kept up to date and ‘live’?
• How useful has the systematic application of power analysis been in the programme so far? Were there any gaps?
• What have been the most effective methodologies and approaches the organisations (V2P partners) used to bring about changes to people’s lives? What has worked and what has not?
• What lessons have been learned? What policy and/or advocacy briefings have resulted? Who have they been shared with? How effectively have the policy and advocacy elements of this project been managed at different levels (local to national)?
• How effective has the M&E framework been and how successfully has it developed and changed over the first stage of the programme? How has this contributed to understanding outcomes and change?
• How effective have the project’s management by Christian Aid been at this point?
• How effective has Christian Aid’s monitoring and learning systems of the project helped or hindered the delivery of lasting change?
• How effective is Christian Aid’s financial systems been towards the delivery of a lasting change to the V2P project.
• Has the project been cost effective? Is the project representing good value for money (DFID and CA definitions) at this mid-term stage?

Methodology:

• We require a participatory methodology, whereby the work engages all key stakeholders, including Christian Aid Governance team who should be provided with an opportunity to provide input and comment to the consultant at an early stage and towards the end of the review.
• The methodology should combine a wide range of methods (e.g. quantitative, qualitative, and participatory), simple analytical tools and information sources to allow triangulation of information and ensure impartiality and balanced feedback. In particular, all key stakeholders should be consulted to ensure a comprehensive understanding of diverse perspectives on issues, performance, results and level of literacy among targeted stakeholders at rural level. Power analysis methods should be used in the evaluation where possible.

The evaluation activities should include;

• A field visit to at least 8/48 V2P project sites
• Organize feedback circles with institutions supported by the project including COMEN and WIG/Idiakacho
• Visit to partners offices to share in progress and lessons learnt
• Visit identified duty bearers and State /LG Officials to ascertain level of compliance and acceptance.

Quality Assurance:

• The consultant is responsible to ensure data validity, consistency and accuracy and to submit reports written in good Standard English.
• If these standards are not met, the consultant will, at his/her own expense, make the necessary amendments to bring thereports to the required standards.

Deliverables:
Evaluation plan/Schedules
Draft Report and review
Final Evaluation Report

• The report should be clear and simply written, free of jargon. The main body of the report should not exceed 30 pages and should include an executive summary and recommendations. Technical details should be confined to appendices, which should also include a list of informants and the consultant’s work schedule.
• Background information should only be included when it is directly relevant to the report’s analysis and conclusions.
• The report’s authors should support their analysis of a project’s achievements with relevant data and state how this has been sourced. Recommendations should also include details as to how they might be implemented.
• We expect the report to include guidance on the process by which findings will be shared and discussed with all stakeholders including those who are benefitting from the project and how any resulting changes in the report will be included.

Skills and Competencies:
Christian Aid is looking for consultants with a strong record in conducting evaluations. The consultant will need respect and credibility within the field, excellent knowledge of monitoring and evaluation in theory and practice, and a good understanding of governance work. The consultant should have the following skills and competencies:

• Demonstrable experience of producing high-quality, credible evaluations (examples required).
• Demonstrable experience of working with/evaluating NGO work.
• Demonstrable knowledge of citizen’s rights-duty bearers’ issues.
• Demonstrable experience with participatory methodologies and understanding of power analysis.
• Ability to write concise, readable and analytical reports and understanding of public communications.
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English.
• Good working knowledge of Igbo language would be an asset.

Tenders/bids:
Christian Aid invites proposals from organisations, or individuals, with the experience and skills described above. Tenders should include:
1.) A cover letter introducing the evaluator/organisation and how the skills and competencies described above are met, with concrete examples.
2.) A 2-page outline of the proposed evaluation process and methodology.
3.) At least a 3-page CV.
4.) One recent example of a previous evaluation.
Lines of Reporting/Position in team:
Consultant will work closely with and report to CA M&E Officer.

Timeline for deliverables:
1) Draft report: by 13th October, 2014. The draft report should include initial findings, conclusions and recommendations.
2) Final report: 17th October, 2014.

Budget and terms of engagement:

• Christian Aid will cover for the necessary accommodation and transportation costs incurred by the consultant according to our in-country rates where necessary. All other costs incurred will be covered from the consultancy fee. Daily fee rate of N50, 000 shall be paid per day based on an approved itinerary.
• 5% withholding tax will be deducted at source from the total cost of the consultancy fee. 60% of the consultancy fee will be paid when the contract is signed, and the balance paid on receipt of the submission of an acceptable mid-term final report.

How To Apply:
Interested consultants or firm should submit a proposal to Christian Aid Nigeria Country office by 2.00pm on 11th September, 2014 through: [email protected] and MUST copy: [email protected]
Closing date for submission of expression of interest is 11th September, 2014.