Somalia: Terms of Reference FOR EVALUATION OF PROJECT: “Promoting child rights in Koodbuur district, Hargeisa, Somaliland”

1. INTRODUCTION

SOS Children's Villages is a non-governmental social development organisation that has been active in the field of children's rights and committed to children's needs and concerns since 1948.

SOS Children’s Villages Somaliland (SOS SX) and SOS Children’s Villages Denmark (SOS DK) have implemented the project “*Promoting child rights in Koodbuur district, Hargeisa, Somaliland”* which has been funded by the Danish Development Agency’s (DANIDA) Civil Society Fund (CISU). The project period is April 2013 – June 2016 and has a budget of 2.381.886 DKK equivalent to 416.130 USD.

SOS was established in Somaliland in 1999 when SOS started its first operations in the region. Currently SOS SX implements more than 10 different projects ranging from education, protection and health interventions. SOS DK was established in 1964 as a non-commercial Danish foundation. Since then SOS DK has supported children in the fulfilment of children’s rights with a strong focus on orphans and vulnerable children at risk of losing their families. SOS DK has been supporting the work of SOS SX since 2008.

a) Context of the project (political, natural, etc.):

Somaliland is located in the north-western region of Somalia, and unilaterally declared independence from Somalia in 1991, which marked the end of a 10-year war between the Somaliland National Movement and the government of Siad Barre. The formation of an interim government was based on a home-grown, clan-based reconciliation process. Though internationally unrecognized, the Somaliland government comprises an Executive President, a Cabinet and a bicameral Parliament composed of the House of Elders and the House of Representatives. A Constitution, adopted in 2001 through a public referendum, began the transformation of a ‘clan democracy’ system into a multi-party democracy. It establishes the judiciary as an independent branch of the Government, and stipulates the formation of regional and local governments. Somaliland has held a series of national democratic elections.

The war of independence left 50.000 dead and devastated all government institutions. The education sector in Somaliland is still recovering from the consequences of the war, which destroyed many schools. The Somaliland education system is characterised by huge challenges that embody matters of access, quality, resources and management. The average gross enrolment rate in the primary is only 46%, whereof boys constitute about 57%, while the girls only make up 40%. The quality of education defined as teachers‘ qualifications and support, pedagogy, learning materials and leadership and school management including parental and community participation is extremely low. There are curriculum gaps and shortcomings, especially the syllabuses, unacceptably little access to text books, limited availability of human resources, inadequately governed, supplied and equipped schools, low teacher motivation, partly resultant upon inadequate remuneration.

The project is implemented in an urban environment in the Koodbuur District of Hargeisa, and the targeted schools were chosen based on the poor conditions marked by overcrowded classrooms, lack of qualified teachers, lack of desks and chairs and sanitary conditions.

b) Project Overview:

The project promotes children's rights in the Koodbuur district of Hargeisa, Somaliland. The project has aimed at increasing the knowledge and awareness about children's rights; especially the right to education, while building capacity in four local public primary schools and surrounding communities.

The project objective has been to enhance the quality of teaching and improve the retention of students, especially girls, who are under-represented in the student population and more prone to drop out. The project has built capacity of 124 teachers, 4 school management and community education committees (36 individuals) who have been trained in children's rights, educational, administrative and organizational tools. A focus has been child protection and reduction of corporal punishment in the classrooms as well as intra-student conflicts. Children have been involved through child rights groups and activities in the schools and in the community. Parents have been involved through meetings with teachers and local campaigns.

The immediate objectives and indicators of the project are listed below to give an indication of scope and size of the project. They have later been modified in the midterm review.

Immediate objectives

Indicators

1. By September 2015, School Management Committees (SMC), school management and at least 100 teachers have increased capacity to plan and deliver quality primary education in four (4) schools in Koodbuur District, Hargeisa.

· SMC and SM meet on regularly basis and follow established procedures

· SM has developed administrative skills and are actively pursuing a strategy to improve quality primary education

2.By September 2015, children, parents, teachers and local stakeholders have increased awareness and acceptance of child rights in Koodbuur District

· # of teachers trained on child rights and protection

· SMC and SM organised meetings with parents to discuss child rights issues

· # of children organised in child right groups who meet regularly and plan activities

· Student attendance has increased and student attend school more regularly

· Incident book procedures are in place and followed and books show fewer incidents of conflicts and corporal punishment

· Parents feel more informed and express this at meetings and during monitoring activities

1. By September 2015, enrolment and retention of girls has increased by 20% in four (4) schools in Koodbuur District

· Barriers for girls to access education are reduced

· Girls have easier access to attend school

· Dropout rates for girls are reduced by 30%

c) Timing of the evaluation

The evaluation will take place between 10^th April to 10^th May 2016. Selected timings are set to correspond with the end of the operation which is June 2016.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE EVALUATION

2.1. Overall objective

The overall objective of this evaluation will be to determine the outcomes and results of the project.

2.2. Expected outcomes

§ To assess the impact and effectiveness of the activities implemented Promoting child rights in Koodbuur district, Hargeisa, Somaliland”

§ To evaluate the relevance and efficiency of the project in relation to beneficiaries, cost and timeframe of the project.

§ To document the current figures of the Objectively Verifiable Indicators as found in the log frame.

§ To assess the sustainability and local ownership of the intervention’s achievements.

To document the outcomes of the project with special emphasis on the results the programme has had on: Children’s access to education in the project area, child protection in the schools and children’s engagement and participation in school affairs

§ To provide commentary on the overall programme design, the intervention logic and an analysis of the strategy and methodology used.

§ To critically examine the logframe and verifiable indicators found in the original proposal and provide post-programme figures along with a narrative explaining the reasons for under/over performance achievement.

§ To identify and describe major unintended outcomes of the project, positive as well as negative.

§ To draw conclusions, make recommendations and state lessons learnt for future strategy and improvements in implementation of the programme.

§ To provide commentary on the current political, social and cultural factors impacting the implementation of the programme.

3. WORK PLAN

The evaluation will be carried out in 3 stages:

Stage 1:

Undertake a 2-day desk study analysing all documents regarding the operation, context. These documents will be presented to the consultant who will then use the information to plan for the field study. At this stage, preparations for the field evaluation exercise will be finalized: key informants will be identified, resources will be mobilised and a final version of terms of reference and timetable for the field visit will be confirmed.

Stage 2:

At this stage, the consultant will hold preliminary discussions and interviews with key informants from SOS SX national office staff. The field work will consist of 10 day’s work interviewing target group, beneficiaries, partners and local authorities. Following the field work, a one-day workshop should be convened to discuss observations and findings of the evaluation with all the key informants. During this time, key statistics will also be gathered from the adequate sources so as to provide figures for the Objectively Verifiable Indicators found in the logframe.

Stage 3:

This is the debriefing stage and submission of findings including recommendations and conclusions.

• A face-to-face debriefing with the project staff and key stakeholders of the project before drafting of the evaluation begins.
• The first draft report(s) should be submitted by electronic transmission in accordance with the report format given below to SOS DK and SOS SX, no later than 10 workdays after the consultant's return from the field
• The final draft will be submitted to SOS SX and SOS DK no later than 10 workdays after the feedback from SOS DK and SOS SX based on the first draft of the report.

4. REPORT

4.1 The evaluation will result in the drawing up of evaluation report written in a straightforward manner, in English, of a maximum length of 20 pages including the Executive Summary, which should appear at the beginning of the report.

4.2 The report format appearing below must be strictly adhered to:

• Cover page

→ Title of the evaluation report:

→ Country, Programme Name

→ Date of the evaluation

→ Name of the consultant

• Table of contents

• Executive Summary:

A tightly drafted, succinct and freestanding Executive Summary is an essential component. It should be short, no more than two pages. It should focus on the key purpose or issues of the evaluation, outline the main points of the analysis, and clearly indicate the main conclusions, lessons learned and specific recommendations. Cross-references should be made to the corresponding page or paragraph numbers in the main text.

The structure of the Executive

Summary must be as follows:

→ Evaluated action

→ Date of the evaluation

→ Consultant’s name

→ Purpose & methodology

→ Main conclusions: These conclusions should refer to the main evaluation criteria and cross-cutting issues dealt with by the consultant and set out under the purpose of evaluation of the terms of reference.

→ Recommendations

→ Lessons learned

§ Main body of the report:

The main body of the report shall refer to the points listed under desired results. In-depth technical analysis of each intervention will be provided as an annex to the main report. It shall elaborate, although not necessarily in the same order or following the same structure, the elements included in the Executive Summary. It will include references to the methodology used for the evaluation and the context of the project. In particular, for each key conclusion there should be a corresponding recommendation. Recommendations should be as realistic, operational and pragmatic as possible; that is, they should take careful account of the circumstances currently prevailing in the context of the project, and of the resources available for implementation, both locally and internationally (16 pages maximum).

• Annexes

→ Terms of Reference;

→ List of persons interviewed and sites visited;

→ Map of the areas covered by the operations financed under the project

→ Abbreviations.

4.3 All confidential information shall be presented in a separate annex.

4.4. An electronic copy of each report (CD-ROM or flash disk having the report in Word format) including all annexes must be submitted together with the final reports' hard copies.

5. REQUIRED SKILLS FOR THE CONSULTANTS

5.1. Evaluation will be done by a team of experts with experience in the field of education, children’s participation and protection with experience of working and understanding Somali context, including Somali language. The consultant/s should have strong writing skills and have 5 to 10 years of experience working in the field. For gender sensitivity issues a female member of the team, will be regarded an asset.

5.2. The members of the team will work in close co-ordination with the SOS Children’s Villages team in Hargeisa, Somaliland. One of them will be designated Team Leader and will have the added responsibility of the overall co-ordination of the mission with the support of the local Project Coordinator. The Team Leader will also be responsible for the elaboration of the Executive summary report and of the final coherence of the report, both in terms of content and presentation.

5.3. The criteria that will be used for selection are as follows:

5.3.1 Method: The proposed method for evaluating the impact of the programme is suitable.

5.3.2 Timetable/work plan: The timetable/work plan are realistic and meet the needs of the programme

5.3.3 Cost: The cost of the proposal given the availability of data, analysis, method, and other aspects of the proposal are reasonable and feasible.

5.3.4 Experience: The level of training and experience of the consultants in undertaking evaluations and recommendations from organizations for which the consultant(s) have worked previously.

5.4. Proposals should include details on data use, indicators of impact, method, and strategy for institutional analysis, work plan, costs, and CV of the consultant.

6. EVALUATION DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

Scope of the evaluation

The relevant duty bearers – Ministry of Education at District level and school principals - and rights holders (children and their families) in the area should be interviewed. Note that children should be involved in the evaluation as a holistic process and not only as informants.

The consultant should conduct focus group discussions (FDGs) with:

• Students at the four schools, given the focus on increased enrolment and retention of girls and Somali culture at least some FDGs should be conducted with girls exclusively.
• Students organised in Child Rights Clubs at the four schools.
• Members of Community Education Committees at the four schools.
• Teachers at the four schools.

The consultant should conduct key informant interviews with:

• Key staff at SOS SX.

• Principals at the four schools.

• Local representatives of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

The consultant should retrieve and review local data at the schools to assess the objectively verifiable indicators.

Presentation of the results

The consultant is expected to produce a consolidated, quality report, which documents the good practices and lessons learnt; differentiating findings, conclusions and recommendations. In addition to the report the consultancy shall submit data on methodology used, list of people interviewed /met etc.

SOS Children’s Villages will conduct the dissemination of the findings and lessons learnt, which means the consultancy shall have no exclusive copyright of the report.

7. ORGANISATION, ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The consultant will be contracted by and report to SOS Children’s Villages Somaliland. An advisory group consisting of representatives from SOS Children’s Villages Denmark and Somaliland will support and oversee the evaluation. The Project Coordinator, Protection Officer , institutional Partnership manager and field staff from SOS SX and one Programme Manager from SOS DK will act as the advisory group. SOS Children’s Villages Somaliland will provide the documents mentioned under Available Documentation. SOS SX will also provide technical assistance (e.g. make in-country travel arrangements, assist in making appointments, assist in finalizing the programme, avail any other documents and information needed etc.).

8. AVAILABLE DOCUMENTATION

The following documents will be availed for and utilized by the consultancy

• Project documents and logical frameworks
• Annual implementation reports
• Midterm review
• Training reports

9. TIMETABLE

The evaluation will be conducted within one month and final report prepared over a period of 2 weeks after the evaluation. The report should be submitted later until 23^rd May 2016

Activity

Date/time

Output

Remarks

Signing contract with consultant

Contract

Payment of 1^st instalment

Review of the background material

Understanding of the project intervention logic, main activities and challenges

Coordination meeting

Common understanding on the process, expected outputs and possible review of deliverables

Field work

FDGs (children, teachers and CECs) and interviews with key informants school principals, SOS SX field staff, and representatives of MoE.

Presentation of findings / feedback forum

Draft report

Written report

Payment 2nd instalment

Editing and incorporating final comments

Final report

Written report (approved by all stakeholders)

Payment 3rd instalment

Please submit your application by e-mail to (procurement@sossomalia.org) with the following documents:

• Brief outline of the proposed evaluation process including methodology, management arrangements and more exact timeline

• Key evaluation questions

• CVs of all involved consultants (maximum 3 pages per CV – with references)

• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for further enquiry and details.