Terms of Reference (ToRs) for a Consultancy to Conduct an External Evaluations of Projects at InformAction

Areas of Implementation

Country - Kenya

Regions

Western Field Base, Kisii Field Base (South Nyanza), Mombasa Field Base (Coast), Isiolo Field Base (North Eastern), Nyeri Field Base (Central Kenya), Bomet Field Base (South Rift)

Counties

Kisumu, Vihiga, Kakamega, Bungoma

Kisii, Nyamira,

Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi,

Isiolo, Meru, Laikipia

Nyeri, Kirinyaga

Bomet, Kericho

The organization is looking for a consultant who can undertake an external evaluation for the following key projects:

PROJECT NO : KEN-14/0009

PROJECT NAME : A Vision for Change: Mobilizing Communities in the Counties for Accountability, the goal of the project was to promote active participation in the democratic process, and engender use of non-violent accountability mechanisms within Kenya’s newly devolved structures – particularly in marginalized and conflict affected areas. This involves fighting impunity at a local and national level. It means mobilizing ordinary people in the counties, and encouraging Civil Society Organization (CSO) leaders to work cooperatively on the ground in the regions.**

PERIOD : 1 year

STATUS : Closed

PROJECT NO : KEN-17/0001

PROJECT NAME : IFA's project: ‘Building constitutional people power for credible elections 2016-2018’- the project sought to strengthen Kenya as a sustainable, unified, democratic nation. Using film, debate and community action, IFA enlightens communities of their rights under the 2010 constitution, and supports them to demand the responsive and accountable governance they are entitled to

This project sought to use the election period to entrench the role of ordinary people in the counties in governance and accountability by empowering them to play active, non-violent roles in the electoral process to hold leaders accountable. The project was a build-up on IFA’s ongoing work in the counties, and IFA’s experiences monitoring and working with grassroots communities in the 2013 general elections. The program adopted new approaches to monitoring and documentation during the election cycle, focusing on public participation at the county level.

PERIOD : 2 years

STATUS : closed

PROJECT NO. : KEN 2063/KEN- 17/0015

PROJECT NAME: Empowering Communities for Accountable Governance and Expansion of Democratic Space- The goal of the project was to develop an empowered citizenry base at the grassroots, who actively act as oversight watchdogs over the performance of their leaders. The project aimed at educating the ordinary citizens on their rights such as rights to social services, participation in the formulation of county budgets and plans among other things as contained in the constitution and other relevant statutes to empower them with the knowledge base to hold their leaders to account for their actions, for example, giving a progress card in relation to planned activities as outlined in the County Integrated Development Plan, identify undemocratic actions from state actors for example, clamping down on protests thus impeding on freedom of association and expression, and resist attempts to curtail their democratic space. This resistance could be through community action teams’ (CATs) peaceful demonstrations, and public petitions among other homegrown solutions.

PERIOD : 2 years

STATUS : Ongoing

PROJECT NO : KEN 2063/KEN- 17/0015

PROJECT NAME : Support to prevention measures against of spread of Covid – 19 in focus areas- the project is aimed at reducing the spread of Covid 19 among rural and marginalized communities.

PERIOD : 1 year

STATUS : Ongoing

PURPOSE

• Identify results achieved by IFA projects supported and funded by the embassy, and assess the extent to which they contributed to the intended objectives
• Assess how Norwegian funded programs are linked to programs supported by other donors and govt/local authorities’ programs with similar objectives.
• Assess relevance to the current context
• Make recommendations for IFA on areas of engagement and sustainability of the organization
• An indication of governance and donor perspectives

Key programme documents:

• Grant agreement
• Annual work plan and budgets
• Quarterly narrative reports & financial reports
• Project audit reports
• Baseline survey report
• Project proposal
• Governance documents **1. SCOPE

The review shall cover the period of the four agreements outlined in the table above. Project components that have been ongoing throughout both agreement periods will be prioritized. The review will focus on the following review questions:

a) Relevance to current contexts

• Is the project relevance in relation to current key human rights issues in the country?

b) Effectiveness

• What are the key results achieved by InformAction through the embassy grants?
• To what extent did the projects achieve their objective(s)?
• Have there been any unintended effects of the project, positive or negative? Has there been negative consequences on cross-cutting issues of human rights, gender, environment, and anti-corruption?
• How are these programs linked to other programs run by InformAction?
• Where objectives are aligned to authorities’ mandates, how are these programs linked to them?

c) Sustainability

• How has the project approach contributed to sustainability after the exit of IFA?

d) Governance and donor perspectives

• Assess whether the instruments governing the board fulfil common standards for good governance
• Governance perspectives from different stakeholders including past and present board members and management
• Partnership perspectives of key past and present donors

APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

The consultant shall gather information from a variety of stakeholders, including, but not limited to management and staff at IFA and beneficiaries of the project. Other donors funding the organizations and other national and international organizations with knowledge of IFA will also be contacted.

1. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS:

The organization of the fieldwork and methods of data collection and analysis will be informed by the Terms of Reference and more specifically by the specific objectives of the review. The general evaluation approach shall be hinged on triangulation of data sources, methods, and tools in obtaining data that form the basis of the findings to be presented in the report. Primary data shall be collected from a wide spectrum of project stakeholders.

2. QUALITY STANDARDS

The consultant shall strive to back findings and conclusions by reference to evidence. The representativeness of findings will be commented on

IFA will be allowed to comment on factual errors in the report before the final submission. The consultant shall apply ethical standards related to matters such as confidentiality of informants, sensitivity regarding the handling of information and respect towards staff and beneficiaries of the program.CONSULTANT TERMS

IFA shall be responsible for selecting the consultant in line with procurement guidelines in part III of the agreement and submit to the embassy for approval. The formal contract shall be between IFA and the consultant.

The consultant is expected to quote for professional fee. IFA shall cover all costs for travel and meetings pertaining to this research.

DELIVERABLES

i) Report. It shall include a section on Summary of findings and recommendations and the following annexes attached to the main report.

Annex 1: List of informants

Annex 2: Written sources of information

Annex 3: Terms of Reference (ToR) for the review

Annex 4: Methodology; data collection and analysis with the following clearly described:

• Sampling Strategy
• Sample counties
• Selection of the respondents
• Data Collection Methods
• Data Analysis

REQUIRED QUALIFICATION AND SKILLS

The consultant is expected to work with a high degree of independence coupled with proactive planning and a collaborative approach for the involvement of all key stakeholders.

Qualifications and experience requirements:

1. At least a bachelor’s degree in social science, community development, project management, research, and communication or a related subject, or an equivalent
2. Proven experience in evaluation of NGO donor funded projects. Experience in evaluation of Norwegian funded projects is an added advantage.
3. At least five years of working experience in M&E related issues and/or development context

Desirable attributes:

1. Formal training in monitoring and evaluation will be an added advantage
2. Good management and co-ordination skills, and experience on technical project implementation
3. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
4. Strong analytical skills including analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data
5. Excellent organizational and time management skills required to meet deadlines

TIME FRAME

The consultancy will take approximately 30 working days.

Expected start date is 26th April 2021.