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Terms of References (ToR) for End of Project Evaluation

Project Title: Inclusion: Gender and Disability in Practice (in Lesotho and Uganda) (GADIP)
Project period: 01 January 2020 – 31 December 2023
Total budget: 1,875,000€ (80% from ADA, 20% from Diakonie/ Bread for the World)
Countries: Lesotho, Uganda, Austria
Project regions: 
Lesotho: Districts of Mohale‘shoek, Mafeteng, Maseru rural, Berea and Leribe;
Uganda: Karamoja region: Kotido and Moroto districts

Project Partners: Diakonie ACT Austria (DAA), Lesotho National Federation of the Organisations of the Disabled (LNFOD)
and National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU)
Funding: Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and DAA/Bread for the World 
ADA Project number: 1980-01/2020
Focus area: Gender equality and disability inclusion 
Career Categories: Monitoring and Evaluation
Relevant consultancy experience: 5-9 years
Job type: Consultancy

1. Context and background

The Austrian Development Agency (ADA)-co-funded framework programme “Inclusion: Gender and Disability in Practice (in Lesotho and Uganda) (GADIP)” is a collaboration between DAA, LNFOD and NUDIPU. The objective of GADIP is to strengthen capacities of partner organisations in Lesotho and Uganda to support the rights of women and girls with disabilities.

Diakonie ACT Austria (DAA) is a member of Diakonie Österreich, the umbrella organisation of all Diakonie organisations in Austria. DAA was founded in 2009 as successor of the department for development cooperation at the Evangelisches Hilfswerk in Österreich.
The organisation’s aim is to contribute to the international process of peace, justice, and protection of the environment, primarily through support of projects in developing countries and humanitarian aid. DAA runs two brands: Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe for humanitarian aid and Bread for the World for development assistance. 

Lesotho National Federation of Organisations of the Disabled (LNFOD) is an umbrella body of organisations dealing with disability in Lesotho founded in 1989. Since its foundation LNFOD has been working for inclusion of persons with disabilities in the Basotho society. 

The National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) is a national umbrella organisation of persons with disabilities established in 1987 to bring together all categories of disabilities to advocate with one common voice. 

The vision of NUDIPU is to achieve ”A Just and Fair Society where Persons with Disabilities live a Prosperous and Dignified Life“ while the mission is to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in a unified voice for improved livelihoods with new strategic focus of improving capacity of NUDIPU and Disabled Persons’ Organisations (DPOs) to deliver on their mandate.

The envisaged results and activities within the framework of GADIP are subsumed under the following four outcome areas: 

Outcome 1. Partner organisations in Lesotho and Uganda have gained capacities to integrate gender equality into their organisational structure and work, and share Gender and Disability knowledge internally and with relevant stakeholders.    

The programme has a major focus on building capacities of umbrella DPOs and their implementing member organisations. This programme aims at promoting the Gender and Disability mainstreaming approach within DPOs and beyond through capacity building and advocacy for policy changes needed to mainstream Gender and Disability. 

Outcome 2. By 2023 partner organisations in Uganda and Lesotho integrate gender aspects into their inclusive education work.

As education is one of the most important factors influencing livelihood outcomes for persons with disabilities and even more so for women with disabilities, the programme addresses this area through specific interventions. As in Lesotho the historic opportunity of the passing of the Inclusive Education Policy was seized (one major result of the advocacy work from the last framework programme), LNFOD closely supports and monitors its implementation by creating a conducive environment in schools among teachers and peer learners for inclusive and gender-sensitive education. In Uganda the intervention addresses the issue of lacking access to education through creating awareness among parents that disability is not inability and girls and boys with disabilities need education just like their peers without disability. 

Outcome 3. By 2023 women with disabilities in the programme regions have expanded their economic opportunities.

Based on the problem analysis that women with disabilities are especially affected by poverty and exclusion the partner organisations implement specific economic empowerment measures for women with disabilities. These measures address barriers of inclusion of persons with disabilities in accessing services such as self-inclusion due to low self-esteem, exclusion by other members, exclusion by service providers or livelihood programmes and exclusion by design. The goal is to enhance livelihoods of persons with disabilities through improved access to village savings and credit, services of microfinance institutions, business development services and livelihood programmes. 

Outcome 4. Persons with disabilities, local duty bearers and Justice, Law and Order (JLO) sector representatives in the programme regions are sensitized on gender-based violence against persons with disabilities.

This outcome aims at closing existing gaps concerning GBV affecting women and girls with disabilities.

As the problem analysis identified little awareness among duty bearers and JLO staff about women and girls with disabilities being affected by GBV and lack of knowledge on specific needs they might have, partners focus on raising their awareness and providing training in order to create an enabling environment for women with disabilities accessing services. Additionally, awareness among community members in programme regions on this issue was low, leading to lack of support – thus, awareness raising on GBV and disability in the programme regions was done through community meetings, trainings, documentaries and media. 

Finally, both in Lesotho as well as in Uganda women with disabilities are being supported to access legal services. The partners cooperate with existing legal service providers such as Women Empowerment NGOs and legal rights services by referring women with disabilities to them and providing these organisations with technical support for disability inclusion.

2. Purpose and objectives

Purposes: Beyond the project partners’ accountability requirements (1), there is a high interest in the evaluation findings to 2) learn from the pilot programmes and innovative approaches, in view or replication, and to share that knowledge within the organisations’ networks and communities of practice, as well as 3) to potentially scale up in next phase of the programme (evaluation findings as support for decision-making). 

The objectives of the evaluation are to assess the programme implementation and results, thus far, focusing on relevance, effectiveness, coherence and impact of the programme and provide actionable recommendations aligned with the evidence-based findings and conclusions. The evaluation will help identify gaps and lessons learned that can contribute to future programming, currently being designed and applied for. 

The intended users of this evaluation include DAA, LNFOD, and NUDIPU project staff and organisational leadership; ADA programme staff; partners interested in learnings from the pilot programme components (other NGOs, DPOs).

3. Scope 

The evaluation will cover the project from 01 January 2020 up to the data collection phase of the evaluation, near the end of the programme’s implementation. 

Stakeholders to participate in and benefit from the assignment:

• DAA, LNFOD, and NUDIPU project and organisation staff
• Representatives from ADA, Ugandan Ministry of Gender, Labour and social development, Basotho Ministry of gender, youth, sports and social development, Basotho Ministry of police through child gender protection unit, Basotho Ministry of local government and chieftainship through community leaders.
• Project beneficiaries and surrounding communities
• Other human rights and development actors in Uganda (FIDA Uganda, Karamoja Women Umbrella Organization, Lawyers without Boarders Karamoja and Sight savers International; Lesotho WLSA (Women and Law in Southern Africa), prosecutors, police, Basotho entreprise cooperation

The geographical scope of the assignment (to be discussed and further elaborated together with evaluation team):

Uganda:
Moroto district: Rupa, Nadunget, Moroto Municipality and Katikekile Subcounties, and  Kotido district: Panyangara, Kacheri, Kotido Municipality and Nakapelimoru subcounties;
Lesotho: 
Leribe district: Hlotse urban council and Maputsoe urban council; Berea district: Tebe-tebe community council, and Mafeteng district: Ramoetsana community council.

Evaluation Criteria: The evaluation will follow ADA and OECD/DAC norms and standards focusing on the following four areas of the OECD/DAC criteria detailed in the next section.

4. Evaluation Questions

Relevance

1.       How did the programme address needs of stakeholders and the target group (specific focus on capacity building and economic empowerment)?

2.      To what extent were the target areas well-chosen and relevant for the interventions? 

3.      How could the engagement of men and boys to advance gender equality be increased in future programmes? 

Effectiveness

4.      To what extent did the new pilot components (GBV, inclusive education in Uganda, saving groups in Lesotho) of the programme render the expected results, what learnings and recommendations can be given for future programmes in these areas of work?

5.      To what extent has the capacity of NUDIPU, District Unions (Moroto, Kotido and Dokolo DUs) and SAU in Uganda; of LNFOD and its DPOs in Lesotho; and of DAA in Austria, been strengthened to deliver on their mandate? 

Impact

6.     To what extent did the programme enhance institutionalisation of gender mainstreaming within the organisations of the three programme partners and local DPOs (advocacy, organisational culture)? Were there gaps in the process that need attending to in future?

7.     How did the programme contribute to improving the wellbeing of persons with disabilities in the respective programme regions? What is the impact of the economic-empowerment activities (economic empowerment funds, saving groups), do some activities yield better results than others?

Coherence

8.      How did the programme contribute towards increased coherence of interventions in the areas of GBV, education and economic empowerment? In which area could this be improved?

 

5. Design and approach 

The assignment should answer the above-mentioned evaluation questions through a combination of methods including a desk review and data collection in the field. It is expected that the evaluation utilizes mixed methods, including quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and applies an across-method triangulation approach to verify findings. Various forms of data collection, such as analysis of documents, structured interviews, semi-structured interviews face-to-face or by remote modalities, group discussions, surveys (online or in-person) can be used to answer the proposed evaluation questions. The choice of method for each question can be determined based on the respective expertise of the evaluator/s. 

a) Desk Study 
- Review the project’s history, locations, and implementation contexts;
- Review project documentation, such as the proposal, monitoring/site visit reports,       workshop and training documentations and project reports;
- Review evaluations of previous framework programmes (reg. Lesotho)
- Review publicly available similar project reports and national as well as regional documents on impairments and disabilities – particularly pertaining to Gender and Disability mainstreaming, GBV and disability, inclusive education and economic empowerment – by UN, NGOs, and other local and international organisations in Eastern and Southern Africa
b) Data collection in the field
Principles and quality standards: 

The Guidelines for Project and Programme Evaluations developed by ADA must be applied throughout this evaluation. 

Any data collection methods employed have to be conceptualized in an inclusive way ensuring full participation of persons with different types of impairments. This should also be considered at budgeting stage. All data must be disaggregated by sex, age, and disability.

Specific focus has to be given to ethical considerations and privacy when working with project participants who are survivors of gender-based violence.

Ethical guidelines provided for evaluators such as the UNEG Guidelines and the quality standards provided by OECD/DAC have to be followed throughout the assignment. 

6. Workplan

The consultants are expected to complete the assignment within 45 working days, including up to 15 days of field work (May 2023) divided between Uganda and Lesotho. 

TASK & DEADLINE/working days
Contract signature - By March 10 (1 working day)
Inception report including desk study - 7 working days
 Deadline for draft inception report - March 31
Feedback loop on inception report by partners and ADA By -  April 15
Final inception report - April 20 (2 working days)
Field data collection phase Uganda - 7 working days
Field data collection phase Lesotho -8 working days
Transcription and analysis of data - 10 working days
Writing up of evaluation report - 5 working days
Deadline for the draft report - May 31
Feedback partners and ADA - By June 15
Verification workshop with partners Uganda and Lesotho (online) - June 20 (2 working days)
Writing up of final report - June 30 (2 working days)
Presentation of final report - July 2023 (1 working day)

A precise timetable (by days) will be set by the evaluation team in coordination with DAA, LNFOD and NUDIPU, according to plans made and finalized with the inception report.

The inception report must follow the structure and content guidance of the ADA Guidelines for Programme and Project Evaluations, in particular Annex 5 (pp 46-47).

A draft of the final evaluation report [no less than 25 and no more than 40 pages, including a two-to-three-page executive summary with key findings and recommendations and excluding annexes and the results-assessment form (Annex 1)] will be submitted to DAA, LNFOD and NUDIPU no later than May 31, 2023. Findings and recommendations must be structured according to the evaluation questions. An outline of the final report structure should be agreed upon during the inception phase. At least the following must be included: cover page; result assessment form (as an annex); executive summary (should be included in the report and also as an independent document); background and objectives of the assignment; methodology (with mention of limitations, if any); summary of findings; analysis of findings addressing guiding questions; conclusions, good practices and lessons learned, and recommendations; and agenda of all activities carried out (annex).

The evaluation report, must follow the structure and content guidance of the ADA Guidelines for Programme and Project Evaluations, in particular Annex 6 (pp 48-50).

DAA, LNFOD and NUDIPU will coordinate with the evaluator on the review process, which should include a presentation of initial findings (following the field work and processing and analysis of the data), review and comments from project partners on the draft, revisions (as needed) by the evaluator, and review and comments from ADA on an updated draft, revisions (as needed) by the evaluator, and then final review of the report by DAA, LNFOD, NUDIPU, and ADA. The final report with all annexes must be submitted by June 30, and will be accepted, pending ADA’s final sign-off on the report by July 15, 2023. Submission of final report has to be both in soft and hard copy (2). If ADA is still not satisfied with the report, additional revisions could be required. An online presentation (including PowerPoint overview of the evaluation report) should be planned for DAA, LNFOD, NUDIPU, and other stakeholders in July 2023.

All documents should be submitted in English. If a Sesotho or Karamojong version (i.e., of survey questions) is provided, an accompanying version in English must be provided.

7. Evaluation management arrangements

The evaluation management lies with the respective focal persons in charge of MEAL in each organisation as contact person for the evaluator(s). The project management teams for GADIP programme as well as the ADA staff involved in the programme and ADA evaluation department (if requested) will form part of all feedback loops. The evaluation management will respect the ethical standards and guiding principles for evaluation as mandated by the respective donors.

8. Requirements for the evaluator(s)

To achieve the objectives of this evaluation, the consultancy team should consist of consultants with in-depth knowledge of each of the project countries (Uganda, Lesotho, Austria). The team should include experienced members with the following skills:
• A strong knowledge of disability inclusion, GBV and development issues.
• Experience with European-donor-funded projects and evaluations.
• Conducted at least three evaluations in the last five years ideally in the relevant field and region.
• Experience on projects and evaluations targeting persons with disabilities, experience specifically on projects targeting self-advocacy and intersectional discrimination.
• Experience with reasonable accommodation for persons with different types of disabilities.
• Experience on economic empowerment initiatives, inclusive education, and/or GBV.
• Experience in social science methods.
• Experience in project cycle management and preparing and analysing a theory of change.
• Cultural sensitivity.
• Preparedness to collect data in the sampled areas in Lesotho and Uganda.
• Ability to work within constraints that may arise due to COVID-19 (including experience with utilizing remote modalities, if necessary).
• Excellent communication skills, fluent in English and/or Sesotho.
• Excellent English writing skills.
• In case of team/group applications, a gender-balanced and diverse team is required.
• Evaluation management must respect ethical standards and guiding principles for evaluations, including impartiality and independence.
 9. Specifications for the Submission of Offers
Proposals Requested
Interested candidate(s) are expected to submit narrative and financial proposals via email to Diakonie ACT Austria.
Offers should include:
• Narrative: cover letter summarizing experience in relation to this ToR; the proposed methodology; planned, detailed schedule for the assignment; CV (of all proposed parties); writing sample from similar assignment; and three professional references with contact information.
• Financial (in euros): detailed budget, including fees (with daily fees and expenses), travel costs, and all other anticipated costs.
In review of proposals, the narrative will be weighted 70% of the total score while the financial proposal will be weighted 30%.
The budget available for this evaluation (inclusive of all costs, including, but not limited to: consultant fees, travel costs, personal assistance and translation (if needed) is maximum 35,000 euros.
Deadline for Offers
Offers should be submitted to Diakonie ACT Austria no later than February 28, at 16:30 CET time to oonagh.hayes@diakonie.at and simone.peter@diakonie.at
Only selected candidate(s) will be contacted.
 Annex 1: Results-Assessment Form for Mid-Term and Final Project Evaluations/Reviews – see page 53 of The ADA Guidelines for Project and Programme Evaluations