Back Program Evaluation Consultant (Re-advertised)

background

The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) is an international operating non-governmental organization serving and protecting uprooted people – refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants –regardless of faith, race, ethnicity or nationality. ICMC advocates for rights-based policies and durable solutions directly and through a worldwide network of member bishops conferences, and alongside government and non-governmental partners. The organization is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

ICMC has been operational in the Middle East since 2002, implementing humanitarian assistance programs in support of refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. In Jordan, ICMC’s country office is based in Amman with two field operations offices in Irbid and Mafraq, each of which has a dedicated community protection center. Currently, ICMC is providing humanitarian and development assistance to refugees and host communities in Jordan with funding support from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM).

The BPRM-funded program titled “Protection, Education, Livelihoods and Humanitarian Assistance for Refugees and Vulnerable Host Communities in Jordan” aims “To improve the protective environment and promote increased resilience and well-being for vulnerable refugees and host community members in Jordan.” The program is implemented across northern and central Jordan, namely Irbid, Mafraq, Zarqa, Jerash, Ajloun, Madaba, Balqa, and Amman. ICMC’s program is designed to meet the unique needs of women, men, girls and boys and mainstreams principles of gender and age equality and inclusion of people with disabilities. The program team engages directly with the local communities to implement its activities and deliver assistance, and routinely incorporates feedback from its project participants to improve the quality of the overall program.

The multi-sector program has six primary objectives:

1) Protection: Strengthen the resilience of crisis-affected populations to manage the psychosocial impact of forced and protracted displacement, reduce reliance on negative coping mechanisms, and become key actors in their own protection;

2) Child Protection: Girls and boys receive sustained psychosocial support through targeted child protection activities;

3) Education: Improve access to educational services by providing supplies and informal education

4) Livelihoods: Enable vulnerable individuals to participate in income generating activities through the provision of livelihoods support;

5) Shelter: Provide improved access to adequate shelter with basic facilities;

6) Core Relief Items and Cash Assistance: Enhance the capacity of vulnerable households to meet their daily needs by improving knowledge, access to services, and promoting personal hygiene, health and dignity.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES AND PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION: ICMC is recruiting a qualified and experienced consultant to conduct a formative evaluation of its multi-sector intervention. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the achievements and quality of the program, the impact on project participants, and overall relevance and effectiveness of the intervention, providing concrete recommendations to ICMC on areas of improvement that can be applied for the coming 2-3 year programming. The evaluation should specifically focus on both the design and implementation of the program, being technically accurate with sufficient information acquired through data collection, analysis and interpretation methods.

Scope of the Evaluation:

The consultant will be expected to carry out the evaluation in relation to the below themes and categories.

Program Relevance

• Relevance of the program objectives and activities to the needs of the country, target groups and program participants and the expectations of relevant stakeholders
• Complementarity of the program to other actions in the field
• Ability of the program management to adjust the program to changing contexts in the given sectors

Progress made towards the achievement of results

• Fulfilment of the program objectives and indicators against program timeframe
• Reasons for delays in achieving program objectives and results (if applicable)

Program impact on target groups and program participants

• Impact of the program on target groups, participants and other local stakeholders
• Contribution of the program to achievement of relevant humanitarian response plans (e.g Jordan Response Plan, Regional Refugee and Resilience plan)
• Level of community participation and involvement

Efficiency

• How well the various activities transformed the available resources (Human, financial, technical and support services) into the intended outputs and objectives
• Identify best-practices, main challenges and lessons learned

Program management and organization

• Effectiveness of ICMC internal program monitoring mechanisms
• Level of coordination with the local government and international and national organizations to ensure complementarity, efficient referral pathways and prevent duplication
• Effectivity and effectiveness of the data management controls
• Quality of the standards operational procedures in place and their effective implementation
• Cross-sector coordination within the different programs’ components

Cross-cutting issues

The consultant is requested to evaluate how the following cross-cutting issues are integrated or mainstreamed through the implementation of the action:

• Gender, age, and ability mainstreaming
• Inclusion of specific vulnerable groups needs
• Beneficiary interaction and accountability, including established monitoring, evaluation and accountability processes

Sustainability and replication prospects

• Long term effects of the program on the needs of affected people
• Program’s added value in terms of local capacity and reinforcing positive coping strategies

Methodology:

The consultant will be expected to utilize a participatory research methodology, drawing on a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to collect the data for the evaluation. Specifically, the evaluation must include, but is not limited to the following:

· Literature review of the context analysis and related interventions in the program areas (locations and sectors);

· Statistical analysis of ICMC outreach database;

· Review of ICMC data collection and evaluation tools;

· Focus group discussions with a range of project participants and members of the local communities (representative of gender, age, ability, nationality, and geography)

· Semi-structured interviews with project participants through home visits;

· Semi-structured interviews with core program staff;

· Semi-structured interviews with local partners with whom ICMC regularly implements activities.

· Field visits to project areas (Mafraq and Irbid) and field observations.

Stakeholders, including ICMC staff and program participants, as well as local partners, should be meaningfully involved in the evaluation process. The evaluation should be based on the Core Humanitarian Standards and BPRM standard indicators and must adhere to the ‘Do No Harm’ principle at all stages. Tools and the specific methodological approach will be discussed and agreed upon between ICMC and the consultant.

Management:

The consultant will report to the Program Manager and to the Program Development and Quality Manager and is expected to work closely with the relevant field teams to ensure the success of the evaluation. The consultant shall keep the ICMC team regularly informed on progress and key issues arising that may require additional direction or suggestions for other key informants or reference materials. The consultant is expected to begin the duties and responsibilities of the role by the first week of March 2020.

Expected Results and Deliverables:

· An inception report with a detailed evaluation work plan, including time for review of existing internal tools and processes (following the desk review) due: second week of March;

· Power point presentation of the main findings and recommendations to be delivered in person at the Amman country office by the fourth week of March to the senior management team, including staff from the Jordan operation and HQ in Geneva;

· A first draft of the evaluation report due by the first week of April circulated to senior management for comments;

· A final evaluation report, (of at least 15 pages and inclusive of comments from senior management) due by the second week of April. The final evaluation report should represent an analytical and user-friendly report detailing key findings, lessons learnt and best practices as well as clear, forward-looking recommendations. The report shall be drafted in English.

Accountability:

· Strictly follow the ICMC internal procedures and guidelines, including data protection and confidentiality.

· Ensure impartiality and independence, reflecting the views of all key stakeholders.

· Ensure accountability to all program stakeholders, especially participants, giving due consideration to gender, age and special needs of affected populations, making sure that the most marginalised and vulnerable persons have a voice in the process.

· The successful applicant will be subject to a background check in accordance with the local labor law due to the direct contact with vulnerable communities.

Required Qualifications:

· Proficiency in both professional English and Arabic;

· At least three years of experience in program evaluation including collecting data through both quantitative and qualitative tools such as interviews, surveys and focus group discussions;

· Demonstrated ability to write high quality, methodologically sound and analytical papers in English;

· Experience working with international organizations;

· Expertise in protection, gender, age and disability mainstreaming;

· Experience evaluating protection, livelihoods and basic needs programs is an asset;

· Solid communication skills, cultural awareness and sensitivity;

· Proven ability to work with people from various social and professional backgrounds; (international staff, local staff, community leaders, adults and children, men and women);

· Knowledge of the Middle East context, specifically Jordan, is an asset