Project Title
Reinforcing Jordan’s Capabilities at the Eastern Borders
Donor Agency
European Union, Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP)
Project duration
1st June 2019 – 30 November 2020, 18 months
Budget
6 M EUR
Period covered by the evaluation
1st June 2019 – 15 March 2020
Date of Evaluation
22 March – 16 April 2020
1. Rationale for evaluation
This project aims at enhancing Jordanian authorities’ ability to quickly react to any humanitarian crisis or security threat at the Eastern borders (Iraqi as well as Syrian) and to improve the sustainability of civil-military operations in the area, by building a multi-purpose hub in Ruweishid, the first Jordanian city on the way to Amman after the Karamah border crossing point with Iraq.
Given the very limited capacities of the current Border Guard Forces facilities in Ruwaishid, this hub will constitute a multi-agency logistical and administrative center. It will serve as a much needed rear support base both to the Karamah-Trebil border crossing point and to the overall Eastern border control system and operations.
The project is delegated to Expertise France, which will work in close cooperation with other stakeholders involved in EU’s efforts to reinforce Jordan’s capacities on the Eastern and Northern borders (IOM, UNODC and ICMPD) and within a broader coordinated border management approach.
Expertise France has been implementing this project since June 2019. It is funded by the European Union through the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) for a total amount of 6 M EUR. The mid-term evaluation is planned at the 9th month of implementation. The evaluation will be conducted to review the project performance. The findings and recommendations of the evaluation will enhance learning within Expertise France implementation team in Amman and among key stakeholders, Jordan Armed Forces and other national security and safety agencies, and help guide the project team in adjusting the project’s approach and scope for implementation during the project’s remaining period.
2. Project background and brief
Contextual backing
This action will be critical to enhance Jordan’s resilience and ability to address the multi-faceted threats and unexpected challenges it currently faces, which are hampering a resumption of a healthy national and transborder economy. It will usefully complement the IcSP project at the Karameh-Trebil border-crossing point and the ongoing IcSP-funded intervention at the Northeastern border, and will constitute a first building block to a coordinated border management approach, in line with the 2016-2018/2018-2020 Partnership Priorities.
Project brief
This multi-purpose logistical and administrative facility will reinforce Ruwaishid as a second-line support center for military, law enforcement, customs and civil defense operations in the Mafraq area and the Karamah-Trebil border crossing point, allowing for:
Ø the resuming of secure and normal cross-border traffic at the Jordanian-Iraqi border and the progressive economic development of this region, which has been deeply affected by the closure of the border;
Ø better responsiveness and coordination of all Jordanian security, law enforcement and military agencies to security threats at the Eastern borders with Syria and Iraq and any potential humanitarian crisis at the Northeastern border with Syria;
Ø the provision of basic services in an area where civilian means of service provision are not available or grossly insufficient: the hub would directly serve local populations along with civilian, security and military personnel, notably through the infirmary, the vehicle maintenance facility and water supplies and possibly an enhanced Civil Defense post;
Ø the enhancement of security and law enforcement agencies’ ability to operate in a more sustainable and coordinated way in this area, creating the conditions for the reactivation of the border traffic and local and transborder economy: the Public Security Directorate, the Civil Defense, the JAF, as well as the Customs and the General Intelligence Directorate, will be offered (i) a space where they store their supplies (equipment, water, food, etc.), (ii) undergo trainings and joint or coordinated exercises, exchange experience and information, and (iii) office spaces for liaison officers and a joint operations room, thus paving the way for a sustainable self-appropriation of civil-military coordination mechanisms and coordinated border management approach.
This action constitutes a pilot project that will, starting from a practical and logistical approach, pave the way for deeper coordination between security, law enforcement and military agencies and provide a solid tool for broader coordinated border management activities. It addresses a specific need identified by the Jordanian government. It will serve as a first step to build a bridge between the current response and the objective to build a coordinated border management approach, in line with the 2016-2018/2018-2020 Partnership Priorities and plans under the European Neighborhood Instrument as well as the regional EuropAid programs (DG DevCo).
The total area of the hub is about 40 ha and aims at welcoming buildings and on a full time basis up to 300 pax. Short-term visitors – both civilians and military – are also expected.
This hub also aims at reducing costs, increasing the efficiency of the services at the governorate level by concentrating its efforts and workforce in one place and reducing sharply response time
Rationale
Achievements AS OF 01/2020
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
Improve the coordination of civil-military operations in the Eastern part of Jordan.
Result 1
A multi-purpose logistical hub is built and equipped and ready to be used by the Jordanian authorities.
Opening and assessment of tenders to select the works company and the project management support company
Preparation of the first stone ceremony
Result 2
Jordanian authorities are able to manage the logistical hub and lead maintenance and logistics works.
Contract signed for the study visit in France (phase1)
Call for tenders launched for trainings on logistics and civil-military in Jordan (phase 2 and phase 3)
Result 3
Jordanian authorities capabilities in planning and coordination related to border control and crisis management are enhanced.
Management arrangements
The EF project team in Amman, Jordan is responsible for the overall implementation of the project. The project is managed by a field project coordinator based in Amman, assisted by an administrative associate and a reporting and monitoring & evaluation officer. A project manager is based in Paris as well as a project assistance for back-stopping work, providing administrative and financial support.
Implementation arrangements
The project works closely with the beneficiaries: Jordan Armed Forces (Housing Department and Cooperation Department) and security agencies such as Police Security Department (PSD), GID (General Intelligence Directorate), Civil Defense, Customs and Gendarmerie. EF is also supported when needed by the French Embassy.
A Steering Committee (SC) was established to promote successful implementation of the project. The major responsibilities of the SC include: approval of workplans, decisions on the scope of project implementation, activities and budget, address major issues arising from project implementation.
3. Purpose, Scope and Clients of the Evaluation
Purpose
The purpose of this mid-term evaluation is to ensure that progress and results of the project are monitored, analyzed, understood, communicated and acted upon in a timely, efficient and result-oriented manner by a comprehensive assessment of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project intervention. In particular, it services three main purpose:
1) It will assess progress towards project objectives and results, identify key challenges and any factors that may have affected the project and its implementation. It will present an objective assessment of the extent to which the project responds to the needs of the national partners; their commitment to the realization of the projects objectives and their capacity to deliver on these.
2) The evaluation findings and suggestions will inform the adjustments of the project’s strategy and plan in the second half of the project life, and contribute to knowledge development of EF team and project stakeholders.
3) Suggest and draft friendly user tools to monitor both aspects of the project: construction (logistical hub) and capacity building on logistics and civil military cooperation (trainings).
Scope
The evaluation will cover the period from June 2019 to March 2020, to create an accurate and comprehensive picture of the project implementation, generating findings on evaluation criteria and documenting good practices and lessons learned.
Clients
The clients and users of this mid-term evaluation include EF project team, management and experts, EF headquarters, project manager and upper management, donor, European Union, and partners.
4. Evaluation criteria and questions
The evaluation will examine the project implementation against the hereunder criteria by addressing the following questions. The evaluator will develop a more detailed analytical framework of questions and sub-questions to carry out the evaluation. Therefore, this questionnaire is not final and the selected evaluator should review this list with EF team.
Relevance and strategic fit of the project
To what extent the project objectives and outcomes are relevant to the needs of the beneficiaries?
Were project methodologies and approaches in line with partners’ capacities and expectations?
To what extent have the project’s action so far contributed to improving the coordination of civil-military operations in the Eastern part of Jordan?
Should the project design and methodology be modified to improve its relevance in the second half of the project? If so, how?
Project progress and effectiveness
To what extent has the project been making progress towards the planned objectives and outcomes?
What have been achieved so far?
What are the major constraints so far?
How can be explained the delay in delivery?
Have the project approaches appropriately matched the capacity of the project partners for their action?
What measures are required to improve the capacity of the project partners in the second half of the project?
Efficiency of resource use
Effectiveness of management arrangements (including monitoring and evaluation)
Has the project receive adequate political, technical and administrative support?
Was there a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities by all parties involved?
How effective is communication between the project team, EF headquarters, partners and donor?
Sustainability and Impact of the project
How effectively has the project built necessary capacity of people and institutions? How effectively has the project built national ownership and capacity?
How likely the project will achieve its objectives in the second half of the project and what elements need to be taken into account to ensure sustainability of outcomes?
5. Methodology
The evaluation will be carried out in a participatory manner to ensure the involvement of key stakeholders in particular national project partners and the donor, in all phases of the evaluation, including preparation, field visits, report preparation and dissemination.
The evaluation will be carried out between March 22 and March 30, with a final report being available by April 10 2020. Given the two months delay already recorded, activities will just have started in March, the evaluator will therefore focus on the process rather than the first outcomes. If a no cost extension is granted by the donor, the evaluation will take place in April, that will give more opportunity to the evaluator to focus on the first outcomes (construction & equipment, and trainings).
The following method will be used as a minimum to collect information:
Desk review: Review and analysis of documents related to the project, including:
· Project documents: DoA (Document of Action), logical framework, workplan and budget, MoU between EF and JAF, Statement of needs from JAF, M&E plan and M&E tracker (Bi-monthly Information Reporting Note), etc.
· Periodic Progress Reports submitted to the donor: inception report, two pager bi-monthly notes and interim report.
· Project outputs: evaluation of cooperation between JAF and agencies, trainings assessment, construction works tendering process, etc.
· Any relevant documents such as advancement notes, etc.
The desk review will allow the evaluator to make initial findings that in turn may point to additional or fine-tuned questions.
Field visits and interviews:
A first list of interviewees will be handled to the evaluator before starting the evaluation. The evaluator will undertake group/individual discussions with:
EF project staff in Amman;
Remote interviews with Paris HQ (project manager, and assistant manager);
Experts (construction and training);
French Embassy;
EU staff members;
Jordan Armed Forces and other security agencies.
The evaluator may also participate in the project activities (workshops, coordination meetings, training, etc.), to gain more understanding of the project. A visit to the construction can be organized if needed be.
6. Main outputs
The main outputs of the evaluation will be comprised of:
· Refined evaluation questions
Upon review of the available documents and an initial discussion, the evaluator will develop a detailed analytical framework of questions and sub-questions, based on the evaluation questions defined in this ToRs, and consistent with Results-Based monitoring framework.
· Evaluation report
The evaluation report should be comprised of at least the following chapters:
Title page
Table of contents
Executive summary
Body of the report:
a. Project background
b. Evaluation background
c. Methodology
d. Main findings
e. Coordination and communication assessment
Conclusions
Lessons learnt and emerging good practices
Recommendations
Appendices
The main evaluation report should be concise and not exceed 25 pages, excluding annexes (supporting data and details can be included in annexes).
· A Power-Point presentation with the preliminary findings and recommendations to be presented with EF and key stakeholders group
All draft and final outputs, including supporting documents, analytical reports and raw data should be provided in electronic version compatible with WORD for windows. Ownership of the data from the evaluation rests jointly with EF and EF consultants. The copyright of the evaluation report will rest exclusively with EF. Key stakeholders can make appropriate use of the evaluation report in line with the original purpose and with appropriate acknowledgement.
7. Management arrangements and work plan
Management arrangements
The evaluation manager will be the reporting and M&E officer, based in Amman. He will ensure the evaluation takes place according to the ToRs and select the evaluator for the approval of the field project coordinator.
The evaluation manager will facilitate the visiting project of the evaluator for meetings and interviews and ensure that EF constituents and all relevant stakeholders are consulted throughout the evaluation process. The project team in Amman and the HQ in Paris will handle all contractual arrangements with the evaluator and provide any logistical and other assistance as may be required.
The evaluation manager will provide the necessary support to the evaluator and discuss any technical, methodological or organizational matter that may arise. The evaluator will be responsible for delivering the above evaluation outputs using a combination of methods mentioned here above. The evaluator should have experience with conducting international evaluations. He/She will have a proven record in the evaluation of similar civil-military cooperation projects. Experience in the fields of security, defense and military cooperation is an advantage. Experience in evaluating EU-IcSP projects will be considered as an advantage. Proficiency in English is mandatory and proficiency in French and Arabic will be preferred.
Time frame and work plan: cf job descrition
Degrees & Qualifications
• Bachelor or master degree in a relevant discipline
• At least 5 years of experience in evaluating international cooperation projects
• Experience in evaluating EU, IcSP projects is an advantage
• Proficiency in French and / or Arabic is a plus
Further information
· Mission area: Amman, Jordan
· Duration: 11 working days
· Starting date: 22/03/2020
This vacancy is archived.