Call for expression of interest

 Gender Sensitive Public Communication Project

Terms of Reference for a Final Evaluation

November 2017

Search for Common Ground Lebanon (Search) seeks to recruit a consultant to conduct a Final Evaluation
for its British Embassy funded project in Lebanon. The assessment should be completed by the 26th of March, 2018 (an extension might be considered depending on donor’s approval).

Search Lebanon invites all interested and qualified candidates to apply by submitting their resume,
letter of interest, tentative plan, and budget, clearly explaining how their experience meets desired
qualifications by the 27th of November 2017 through email to mortmans@sfcg.org.

 

1.                 Background

1.1.            Organization Overview

Search for Common Ground (Search) is a non-governmental organization working to transform the way societies deal with conflicts. We have acquired over 30 years of experience in peacebuilding and are based in 53 local offices worldwide. We strive to build sustainable peace for generations to come by working with all sides of a conflict, providing the tools needed to work together, and finding constructive solutions. While conflict is inevitable, violence is not! Our mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. Instead of tearing down an existing world, we focus on constructing a new one. We do this through a type of peacebuilding called “conflict transformation.” We shift the everyday interactions between hostile groups of people, so they can work together to build up their community, choosing joint problem-solving over violent means. Search first worked in Lebanon in 1996, and we opened up our office in Beirut in 2008. Since then, our activities and capacities have grown significantly. We rely on local staff as well as local partner organizations in order to ensure our work is culturally sensitive, sustainable and well-grounded in the Lebanese context.

For more information, visit www.sfcg.org and https://www.facebook.com/sfcg.lebanon.

 

1.2.            Intervention Summary

Search for Common Ground, in partnership with Abaad, is implementing a 10-month project scheduled to conclude in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for May 2018. The overall goal of the project is to promote women’s participation in politics through television drama more specifically to:

1. Strengthen the capacity of television professionals to produce gender sensitive programmes that promote women’s participation in politics.
2. Increase belief of television audiences in women’s political leadership capacity

 

2.                 The Final Evaluation

a.                  Assessment’s Objectives

Search is committed to conducting evaluations of its projects in order to maximise the effectiveness of our programming and engage in continuous improvement and learning within programmes and across the organisation.

The intended evaluation should be based on the OECD-DAC peace building Evaluation Criteria: relevance and effectiveness, investigating below set of questions, and utilizing and/or addressing the performance indicators described in the project document.

The final evaluation will also consist of a comparative assessment towards the baseline findings.  In particular, it will answer to specific questions/lines of inquiry that will be shared with the potential consultant(s).

In addition to the  lines of inquiry, the evaluation is expected to provide information on the key indicators as listed in the project logic and measured through the baseline.

 

b.                  Audience

The primary audience of the Final Evaluation will be Search and its partner Abaad. Recommendations should emerge from the study to inform current and future programming.

The secondary audience will be the donor, the British Embassy in Lebanon, as well the peacebuilding community at large, which will use the findings and recommendations to strengthen its current and future programming.

 

c.                   Methodology

 Approach

Search approach to evaluation is grounded in the guiding principles of our work: participatory, culturally sensitive, committed to building capacity, affirming and positive while honest and productively critical, and valuing knowledge and approaches from within the context. Search and the hired consultant(s) will agree upon a joint set of evaluation standards when negotiating the final contract of agreement.

The below principles should be taken into account:

• Inclusiveness—the methodology should include a wide range of viewpoints, specifically gender and age-sensitivity when applicable.
• Mixed-method approaches—both qualitative and quantitative methods need to be present in the methodology.
• Rigor of evidence—gathered information needs to be reliable and transparent
• Ethics—the methodology needs to consider ethics in order to insure that the evaluation is fully objective.

 

Methodology & Scope of Evaluation:

The evaluation will investigate two principal target groups: TV professionals and the Lebanese population/audience at large. The sample size should be adequate and representative of the target groups. In addition, the evaluation should employ both quantitative and qualitative participatory methods to establish the project baseline.

 It will draw on the following sources and data collection methods:

• Desk study review: Project documents and other relevant sources of data to complete the assessment.
• Key informant interviews: Interviews will be conducted to gather in depth information on key questions. The key informants could include TV professionals, women active in the political sphere, CSOs with similar programming objectives and others as appropriate.
• Focus group discussions (FGDs): FGDs with the Lebanese audience from two TV channels (LBC and Al Jadeed), one with men and one with women for each TV channel target audience to gather in depth information regarding the key questions described above.
• Population Survey: A country-wide representative survey (sample to be representative of the different segments of the Lebanese population across ages, gender, geographical location, socioeconomic divisions, political and religious divisions) to collect numerical information related to the study’s key questions.

 

2.                   Implementation Information                    

a.                   Final Evaluation Team

The consultant will work closely with Search Lebanon DM&E and Learning Manager who will be ensuring that all milestones are met. He/she will also act as focal point on all issues including logistics and will sign off on the final papers in consultation with the MENA Regional DME Specialist and with the final approval of the Lebanon Country Director.

b.                  Deliverables

• Within seven days from signing the contract, the consultant should submit an Inception report, which clearly defines the study background and methodology, including clear outlines for the focus group discussions, KII questions, survey questionnaires and research timeline with specific deadlines for each deliverable. The Inception report should also clearly explain the sampling methodology and sample size for the quantitative survey and a clear and logical number for the KIIs and FGDs. The Inception report and the data collection tools need formal approval from Search before starting the data collection in the field.
• A draft final evaluation report to be submitted within 10 days of completion of the data collection for review and comments from Search country team and the Regional DMEL specialist. The review and feedback of the report could be more than one round depending on the quality of the report and the extent to which the comments and suggestions from first round have been incorporated.
• A final evaluation report to be submitted after incorporating the comments of Search. The report should be written in English, 30-35 pages excluding annexes, and using the Baseline Template provided by Search, consisting of:

-         Cover page, Search will provide sample cover sheet for reference

-         Table of contents, list of acronyms, abbreviations and list of tables and charts.

-         Executive summary of key findings and recommendations – 3-4 pages

-    Background information and context analysis presented per key criteria with a brief description

-     methodology with clear explanation of sampling and limitations, participants’ selection and data analysis approach.

-     Research findings, analysis, with associated data presented, where appropriate in clear graphs or charts. The findings can include subsections for each research criteria.

-            Conclusion and Recommendations for future project implementation.

-            The recommendations should be framed according to each evaluation criteria.

-   Appendices should include the ToRs, collected data, detailed description of the methodology with research instruments, and list of participants.

• A Digest Assessment of no more than 10 pages to be shared with the wider target audience.
• Once the draft is submitted and reviewed, Search may decide based on the quality of the draft whether the consultant may be required to revise the draft, working closely with Search DM&E Manager as necessary.
• The report should be submitted electronically in a MS – Word document. The consultant is responsible for English editing of the final report which should be well formatted. The report will be credited to the evaluator and potentially placed in the public domain at the decision of Search.
• All handwritten and electronic transcripts of FGDs and KIIs, hard copies of survey questionnaires, photographs taken during the assessment and any equipment received from Search for the purpose of the study should be submitted to Search. Furthermore all information generated during the baseline study will be the sole property of Search and is subject to submission to Search along with the final report, prior to the end of the contract.

3.                   Deadlines

• Consultant recruitment deadline: December 8, 2017
• Deadline for finalising the Inception Report and data collection tools: December 15, 2017
• Deadline for finalising data collection: March 2, 2018
• Deadline for the draft report: March 12, 2018
• Deadline for the final deliverables: March 26, 2018

 

 4.                   Logistical Support

 Search Lebanon will provide the consultant with logistical support through:

•        Ensuring that the consultant receives key documents in a timely manner

•        Helping to set up the data collection needed arrangements

•        Arranging meetings with the project team and key staff

 

5.                   The Final Evaluation Consultant(s)                         

Consultant’s Qualifications

 Search Lebanon seeks an experienced consultant with the following qualifications:

•        Proficiency in Arabic and English.

•        Solid understanding of the Lebanese social and political contexts.

•   More than 5 years of experience in Media monitoring, marketing research or equivalent project evaluation and baseline expertise, including collecting and analysing data from interviews, surveys, FGDs, etc.

•    Solid knowledge and experience of women empowerment issues in Lebanon.   

•       Experience in working with international organisations.

•        Strong communication and writing skills.

•        Experience working with youth empowerment programming in the region.

•        Research and evaluation methods and data collection skills.

•        Ability to be flexible with time and work schedule.

•        Attention to detail and ability to meet tight deadlines.

•        Conflict resolution/peace building experience.