End Term Evaluation for HReH Initiative for Sub Saharan Africa at College of Ophthalmology of Eastern Central and Southern Africa

Final evaluation of a project entitled Strengthening Human Resources for Eye Health Initiative in Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya

Background:

In 2010 Sub Saharan Africa had an estimated 4.8 million people that were blind and a further 16.6 million had moderate to severe visual impairment. A major barrier to providing eye health for all is the critical shortage of eye health workers. There is a severe shortage of Human Resources in the health sector globally, with 57 countries facing a crisis. 36 of these countries are situated in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi and Uganda. Training more eye health workers alone will not ensure access to high-quality eye health services. There are systemic challenges within the health care training systems limiting their capacity to successfully produce broadly trained, skilled ophthalmologists capable of independent high-quality patient care, including faculty with limited subspecialty training, leadership and management skills.

Inspired and informed by the IAPB Africa HREH strategy, Orbis identified elements of the strategy that it could support and developed the ‘Human Resources for Eye Health Initiative’. It developed a collaborative partnership with the College of Ophthalmology of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (COECSA) and IAPB Africa to effectively roll out HREH strengthening in the Eastern and Southern Africa region.

In partnership with COECSA, and other key training partners, Orbis is leading the implementation of the project to enable quality eye health education for ophthalmic professionals, by focusing on two essential training tracks. The goal of the HREH Initiative is to strengthen the institutional capacity of key ophthalmic training institutions in East Africa to graduate quality eye health professionals. This project started in January 2016 in Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi and Uganda and will end in December 2020. Orbis International is seeking an external consultant to lead the final evaluation of this project.

Project goal: To strengthen the institutional capacity of key ophthalmic training institutions in East Africa to graduate quality eye health professionals.

Project Objectives:

To strengthen the structure of the residency training programs at five training institutions in line with the COESCA competency curriculum.

To develop and strengthen five sub-specialty training centers in East Africa to provide continual medical education to ophthalmic professionals in East Africa.

Purpose of the final evaluation:

The purpose of the final evaluation is to document the process of project design, implementation, and monitoring, and also to assess the effectiveness of the project and document best practices and lessons learned.

Key Evaluation Questions:

•     To what extent has the project succeeded in meeting each of its objectives?
•     How effectively and efficiently has the project been designed, implemented, monitored?
•     What have been the strengths, gaps/challenges, best practices and lessons learned of the project?
•     Has the project had other notable effects on institutions and individuals? These may be positive or negative, planned or not planned
•     Are there recommendations for scaling up this initiative (as a whole or portions of) to other countries or regions?

Evaluation Methodology:

The consultant is expected to design an appropriate methodology to answer the evaluation questions. The methodology and data collection tools will be finalized in consultation with relevant colleagues of Orbis International. Typically, the consultant is required to travel to project sites and have face-to-face discussions with various project stakeholders to gather required information. Due to COVID 19 related travel restrictions , the consultant will connect with stakeholders and project beneficiaries virtually. However, the proposed methodology and approach should include:

Review of Secondary data including but not limited to: the project proposal; performance monitoring plan, quarterly and annual progress reports; financial reports; medical/hospital data; event reports, case studies, mid-term review report, special assessments/surveys conducted and any other relevant documents.

Collect primary data via methods such as the following:

• Key Informant Interviews with partners focal points and management staff.
• In-depth interviews with the hospital staff (clinical and non-clinical) who received training under this project.
• Consultative meeting with Orbis staff who are related to this project.

Scope of work:

• This evaluation will cover the period January 2017 to December 2020, and the evaluator is expected to:
• • Prepare inception report outlining evaluation design and methodology (including data collection instruments, data organization and analysis, quality assurance…), detailed work plan, proposed report structure
• • Lead the evaluation team and collect, compile, and analyze the data
• • Produce draft and final evaluation reports not exceeding 40 pages, excluding annexes but including an Executive Summary of max 3 pages
• • Present findings to Orbis
• • Maintain regular communication with key contact person of Orbis International throughout the contract period
• • Prepare a power-point presentation of the main findings, conclusions and recommendations suitable for Orbis to use in presentations of the evaluation results to stakeholders

Proposed Timeline:

• This evaluation will take place during October 2020 – February 2021. Below are the milestones of this evaluation:
• Proposals received from interested consultants – by November 5, 2020
• Complete selection of consultant – by November 18, 2020
• Evaluation design and tools development – by November 30, 2020
• Complete data collection – by December 31, 2020
• Data analysis and processing and draft report submission – January 20, 2020
• Presentation of findings by consultant – by January 22, 2020
• Feedback on draft report from Orbis – by February 5, 2021
• Submission of final report – by February 15, 2021
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• Expected competencies of consultant:
• The consultant should have at least a master’s degree in the field of public health/medical professional/development studies/social science/other relevant discipline
• Experience in research and evaluation in health systems, public health, community health, community development and eye health care services
• Professional familiarity with hospital settings
• Strong methodological skills in the development and implementation of data collection tools, data management, and analysis and interpretation of results
• Excellent spoken English and report writing skills

Submission Checklist for Proposal:

The consultant will submit a detailed proposal. The proposal must describe the methodology, tools, and analysis plan in detail. The proposal should be divided into two parts i.e. technical and financial. The technical part will contain the following sections:

• Background
• Detailed evaluation methodology
• Detailed work plan/timeframe
• Detailed CV of the consultant including relevant experience
• Financial information: estimated cost for the evaluation in detail including the consultant’s daily rate