Somalia: CONSULTANCY FOR THE FINAL EVALUATION FOR BASIC AND SUSTAINABLE WASH FOR THE MDG’S IN PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA

Terms of Reference - Consultancy for the Final Evaluation for Basic and Sustainable WASH for the MDG’s in Puntland State of Somalia.

Organizational Background

CARE International had been operating in Somalia since 1981 in delivering humanitarian service to the most vulnerable members in the community. CARE currently works through three main programs: the Rural Women program supports poor, rural women and girls in addressing long term underlying causes of poverty and vulnerability as well as social, cultural, political and economic obstacles towards positive change. The program helps women and girls imprve their economic status, access education and support them to play a greater role in local leadership and conflict resolution. The Urban Youth program focuses on job creation and livelihood opportunities for poor youth through interventions such as secondary education, vocational training, small business development and microfinance. The Emergency program provides direct humanitarian relief to victims of drought and conflict in Somalia/Somaliland.

Position Summary

CARE International is seeking a consultant competent and specialized in water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and capacity building, to evaluate the Basic Sustainable WASH for the MDG’s in Puntland State of Somalia (EC WASH) covering Mudug, Nugal and Karkar regions in Puntland. The consultancy is for a period of 20 days, beginning 15^thNovember 2015 and will include desk review, field data collection and data analysis, and preparation of a final report. The consultant is expected to present the findings to the program staff at field and Nairobi level.

Project Summary

The EC WASH Project started in June 2011 and ended in August 2015 and was implemented by CARE International in Mudug, Karkar and Nugaal regions of Puntland State of Somalia. The main focus of the project was increased access to safe drinking water, sanitary facilities, improved hygiene practices and strengthen the capacity of Non State Actors (NSAs), Government line Ministry, Puntland State Agency for Water, Energy and Natural Resource (PSAWEN) and partners through trainings. The main aim of the project was to achieve improved health and well-being contributing to stability and sustainable development of Puntland State of Somalia. The project used Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives to increase access to sustainable water to the communities in 8 locations and supported others through increasing the storage capacity at household and communal level through construction of water storage structures (berkads). In increasing access to sanitary facilities and improved hygiene practices, the program provided facilities to households, schools and health centers. In addition, radio programs were used to air hygiene and sanitation messages coupled with Training of Trainers (TOT’s) trainings by the Ministry of Health, Department of Public Health to conduct additional hygiene campaigns and interactive meetings at village level.

Through consultancies, tailored trainings on project cycle management, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), geophysical survey, water service provision and operations and maintenance (O&M) trainings were given to PSAWEN, Ministry of Health (MOH) and technical staff of the PPP companies for sustainability. CARE International technical staffs also provided support to the partners like PSAWEN, MOH and local NGO’s for better delivery of services to the community.The specific objective for CARE’s EC WASH project was to have an expansion of sustainable environmental services (WASH) for 16 selected peri-urban and rural communities in Garowe, Gardho, Goldogob districts and Ba’adweyne area of Galkayo district.

The expected results of the project are as follows:

· Result 1: Sustainable access to safe drinking water increased for 103,214 people in 16 communities in Garowe, Qardo, Goldogob and Ba’adweyne districts with emphasis on vulnerable, often women headed households.

· Result 2: Sustainable access to basic sanitation facilities increased for 3,000 people in Garowe, Qardo, Goldogob and Ba’adweyne districts.

· Result 3: By the end of the project period the target population in 16 communities in rural and peri-urban areas of Garowe, Qardo, Goldogob and Ba’adweyne districts demonstrate improved hygiene practices.

· Result 4: Improved capacity of local government, non-state actors (NSA) and communities for coordination, management and maintenance of WASH services in Karkaar, Nugaal and Mudug regions.

Objectives of the Assignment

The specific objectives of the final evaluation are:

· To undertake an independent and comprehensive evaluation with a view to provide evidence-based information on the EC WASH project performance against set indicators, as well as progress against the MDG’s (4, 5, 6 and 7).

· To assess the extent of project’s efficiency, effectiveness, appropriateness/relevance, and short-term intended and unintended impacts.

· To document lessons learnt and provide recommendations on how to improve programming of similar interventions in future in Somalia.

Indicators:

Result 1 indicators:

· 25% increase against baseline in number of households in project area with access to 20l/c/d safe water within 1km of household from an improved water source at project close.

· 20% increase in the nr of households where the total coliform levels in sampled households are below 10 counts of coliforms per 100ml of drinking water sampled in storage containers at the household level.

Result 2 indicators:

· 75% of provided latrines/slabs are used on daily basis and are properly maintained by the users/owners (total 3,000 HH latrine users, 36,000 users of school/mosque/market latrines)

Result 3 indicators:

· 25% increase against baseline of the population in 16-targeted communities that demonstrate all of 4 key hygiene practices on a daily basis (1) proper hand washing practices, 2) use of latrines, 3) use of water from protected sources, 4) proper water storage).

Result 4 indicators:

· 75% of the new peri-urban/town kiosks function effectively and with clearly agreed O&M roles and responsibilities and operational cost recovery systems.

· SWOT analysis at end of project with PSAWEN and MOH indicate significant progress for 65% of targeted capacity gaps in the training/development plan.

· Ownership and O&M arrangements clearly agreed for 85% of rural water sources & mosque/market/school latrines supported.

The assessment will also help determine the impact the project has made on the main target communities, in terms of improved hygiene practices and increased access to safe drinking water and increased access to sanitary facilities. The final evaluation will also gauge the level of community and other stakeholder participation and ownership of the implementation process including the identification of the intended and unintended outcomes, best practices and lessons learned as well as challenges arising from programme implementation. In addition, the evaluation will come up with conclusions and recommendations on the way forward for future programming.

Scope of Work

The EC WASH project’s final evaluation will be done through visits to project sites in Mudug, Nugaal and Karkar regions of Puntland State in northern Somalia. Indirect data collection will be done through extensive literature review; direct data collection will be done through an extensive HH survey and organized meetings with partners, as well as local authorities and community members in each village.

Specific guided areas of focus for CARE International are as follows:

1. Appropriateness/ Relevance

· The evaluation must report back on the appropriateness of this particular intervention in meeting the objectives.

· The extent to which the project planning, design and implementation was relevant to the delivery of the expected interventions.

· Were the activities developed necessary and were the way they were implemented appropriate to the local culture and context and aligned with national and local policies and priorities and the needs of the intended beneficiaries?.

2. Coherence

· Was the project coherent?

· Do the activities complement one another?

· Does a success in one activity increase the potential success of another activity?

3. Coverage

· Evaluate the coverage of the project.

· Is the coverage too small to have an impact or is it too large that the benefits are spread too thin to have an impact?

· How has the coverage affected other aspects of the project such as monitoring?

4. Effectiveness

· How well did the project design meet the objectives and extent to which the objectives were achieved?

· Were the activities implemented well and what was the change brought about by the project?

· Could there have been better ways of implementation that may have led to improved outcomes?

· To what extent did the external assumptions in the proposal hold true and how well were the mitigating measures put into use?

5. Efficiency

· Evaluate the involvement of stakeholders in the design of projects and identification of gender equalities and women’ empowerment support areas.

· How realistic is the potential sustainability of the infrastructures constructed and groups supported.

· Evaluate the gender balance in relation to beneficiary participation and benefits.

· Evaluate the efficiency of working with local stakeholders, including government bodies.

6. Impact signs

· To what extent did the project intervention, including both intended and unintended results, contribute to reaching the project impact?

· Determine the impacts of the project activities to improved health, hygiene and stability.

· Assess the impact signs of project activities on gender and vulnerable groups and especially its impact in addressing the needs of women and children.

· Evaluate the impact signs on conflict mitigation as a result of the project design.

· Assess the potential sustainability of infrastructures under the public private partnerships.

7. Sustainability

· Evaluate the design of the project in relation to sustainability and replicability

· Evaluate whether the project activities implemented will live beyond the life of the project period and continue to contribute to improving the target regions

· Efficiency of activities geared at sustainability (e.g. skills training and improved capacity of PSAWEN/MOH).

· Level of ownership of the project by the community and local authorities and their commitment to continue to support the project.

8.Lessons Learnt

· Identify lessons learnt and best practices from project interventions

· Identify challenges faced and mitigating solutions

· Provide suggestions for improvement for similar future programming

· Give recommendations of general and specific nature which are useful to CARE International for the planning, preparation and implementation of Integrated WASH, gender equalities projects in future.

Deliverables

· Initial work plan and proposal for study (including study methodology and process of data collection, including sampling methodology)

· Final work plans and data collection tools for approval prior to fieldwork in Mudug, Nugal and Karkar. A work plan for this assignment should be developed in relation to the methodology suggested by the consultant, and the number of days set for this assignment. This will include a one-day briefing on the findings to get input from project and programme staff, as well as build consensus around the recommendations. Fieldwork cannot commence before explicit approval of the plans and tools by CARE.

· Interim evaluation report with preliminary analysis and observations, submitted for feedback and comments.

· Presentation on the main findings of the draft evaluation report for final consensus building to the field program team

· Final Evaluation Report in English (2 hard copies and a soft copy on CD ROM in MS word and PDF format).

DeliverableDays 1. Methodology, including work plan and draft data collection tools 1-3 days 2. Tested final data collection tools 4^th day3. Draft report, including all annexes (see below) 13^th day4. Presentation of findings and recommendations to CARE and partners 14^th day5. The consultant, upon completion of the assignment will, verify findings with key stakeholders 17^th day6. Final report, including all annexes (see below) 20^th day

The draft and final report will not exceed 25 pages and have the following structure:

1. Executive Summary (max. 2 pages)
2. Introduction.
3. Methodology, including sampling.
4. Analysis and findings of the study (using graphs where possible to depict the change as compared to the start of the project).
5. Conclusions, recommendations and best practices.
6. Annexes

a. Performance indicator tracking table reflecting the status on each indicator against target and previous results

b. Relevant maps and photographs of the study areas, if any

c. Bibliography of consulted secondary sources

d. Finalized data collection tools (in English and Somali)

e. List of key informants

f. Raw data in an agreed format (FGD notes as well as the database with HH survey responses)

The report will be written in English.

Methodology

The methodology will be further defined by the consultant (in the proposal) and revised at the outset of the consultancy. The elements in the methodology are to include direct and indirect data collection, analysis and cross-referencing, formulating recommendations and lessons learnt. To the extent possible, field data should be collected using participatory appraisal techniques. District local authorities, elders, women groups, youth groups, minorities and other community members, as well as government partners from the respective line Ministries should be included. It is envisaged that the methodology used during this final evaluation will include, but not be limited to, the following:

· Literature review of existing documents and review of context e.g. monitoring reports, existing data, previous projects etc.

· Interviews with government agencies and other stakeholders (PSAWEN and MOH)

· Field visits in the implementation areas for sampling, data collection and observations

· Conduct structured household interviews with sampled project stakeholders

· Focus group discussions and interviews with field staff and with sample beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries ensuring men and women are both adequately represented

· Reflection and feedback sessions with CARE International field staff and other key informants

· Field observations for triangulation of information

· Data analysis and validation of findings

· Report writing and debriefing with project and Nairobi management teams

The consultant shall adhere to the “Do No Harm” principle and any other humanitarian principles. The consultant will be required to follow CARE Somalia’s security advice.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

· Technical experience and expertise

· Quality of proposal

· Cost-effectiveness of proposal

The consultant shall ensure at all times the confidentiality of data, respect the privacy of all individuals concerned and make all data collected available to CARE in a usable format.

Qualification Profile

· A Postgraduate degree in water, sanitation and hygiene related course or background on public health.

· At least five years of hands on experience in conducting assessments; end line and impact evaluations.

· Experienced in evaluating public private partnership-based projects.

· Experience leading project evaluations/mid-term reviews is essential

· Ability to assess/review critically the project activities and results

· Experience in the use of participatory appraisal techniques in data collection

· Previous work experience in Somalia and knowledge of Somali culture is essential.

Application Process

Applications should be submitted by 10th November 2015. The selection committee will review all applications as they arrive. All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described above, and those unable to meet these requirements will not be considered.

Each application package should include the following:

· An application letter addressing the selection criteria including how the firm’s/group’s previous experience matches the consultancy objectives as well as the interest for the position. It should also indicate the candidate’s availability.

· A comprehensive technical and financial proposal for the consultancy assignment with methodology. The financial proposal does not have to include accommodation and living costs and travel and transportation costs.

· An updated CV including relevant work experience and qualifications of all team members

· A sample of a recently written report for a similar assignment

· Contact details of 3 references.

All applications should be sent to somconsultants@care.org with the subject line**: “**CONSULTANCY FOR THE FINAL EVALUATION FOR BASIC AND SUSTAINABLE WASH FOR THE MDG’S IN PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA**”**latest by Tuesday 10^th Nov 2015 by 5pm. All applications after this date will not be considered.

All applications should be sent to somconsultants@care.org with the subject line**: “**CONSULTANCY FOR THE FINAL EVALUATION FOR BASIC AND SUSTAINABLE WASH FOR THE MDG’S IN PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA**”**latest by Tuesday 10^th Nov 2015 by 5pm. All applications after this date will not be considered.