Consultant - External Project Evaluation

- Introduction and Background

Women Now for Development Lebanon (WND) is a feminist, women-led NGO committed to advancing the political, social, and economic participation of women in Syrian and host communities. WND-Lebanon operates two Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS) in the Bekaa region, reaching thousands of women and girls annually.

Misereor is the German Catholic aid organisation for development cooperation. Together with its local partners, Misereor supports human beings of every faith and culture. The overall goal of its work with partners in countries of the global south is to contribute to sustainable development by promoting projects that are directed towards the poor. Financial support for these projects is made available by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the German Catholic Central Agency for Development Aid (KZE) and by private donors.

This evaluation has been initiated by Misereor as the evaluation of the project is mandatory according to agreements with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The project to be evaluated is:

“Building psych-social resilience for women and adolescent girls in Bekaa” (project no. 311-900-1097 ZG)

Goal:

The project contributes to strengthening women and girls in Bekaa area in such a way that they can build their own networks, assert themselves in their families and, if necessary, seek help.

Specific Objective 1:

• Confidence and coping skills of women and adolescent girls are strengthened and newly gained coping skills are used in everyday life.

Indicators:

• 100% of participants in psychosocial protection activities attend at least 75% of the sessions (means of verification: list of participants).
• 60% of regular participants in psycho-social protection activities use the newly acquired coping skills in their daily live (means of verification: online survey 3 months after the training).
• 70% of regular participants in psycho-social protection activities have been able to build a better relation within their families (means of verification: survey or focus group discussion, 3 months after the training).

Specific Objective 2:

• Women, adolescent girls and people from their community (families, friends and relatives) are aware of health and social issues.

Indicators:

• 30% of participants have attended at least 2 out of 4 awareness sessions (means of verification: quarterly data base).
• 70% of regular participants in the awareness sessions have greater awareness for health matters (means of verification: survey or focus group discussion, 3 months after the training).
• 17 out of 25 field visits show an increased level of awareness for health and social matters within the households (awareness is assessed by means of open conversations and specific questions with a scoring system from 0 to 5; developed from the early marriage campaign tool).

Planned activities are:

• Individual psycho-social support sessions (counselling) or one-to-one consultations for 120 women and adolescent girls with a psychologist or a social worker to speak about problems in a safe and trusting space (on average 8 sessions per case).
• Group psycho-social support sessions for 480 participants (240 women, 240 adolescent girls) as well as focus group sessions for 160 participants (80 women, 80 adolescent girls).
• Awareness sessions: 64 sessions for a total of 640 participants (320 women and 320 adolescent girls aged 16-18).
• Health awareness sessions: series of 12 sessions on health issues for 10 participants each over the course of 4 months.

While the main focus of the evaluation shall be put on the actual funding phase, it shall also consider achievements within the former funding cycle, i.e. the project “Building Psycho-Social Resilience for Women, Girls and Children in Majdel Anjar, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon” (project no. 311-900-1087 ZG).

- Objectives of the Evaluation

The aim of the evaluation is to obtain an external and independent assessment of the project. Along the OECD/DAC criteria for evaluation (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, outcomes and impacts, efficiency, sustainability), it will examine what has been achieved and in which areas adjustments might be necessary. These findings and recommendations will assist in planning a next phase of the project.

- Questions to be answered by the Evaluation

The evaluation questions have been developed along the OECD/DAC criteria for evaluation, and are grouped accordingly.

Relevance:

The extent to which project objectives and design respond to the needs, priorities and policies of the target groups and of the organisation responsible for the project and its partner organisations, and continue to do so if circumstances change.

• Which are the target groups of the project? How have the participating women and young adolescents been selected?
• Is the project approach appropriate with a view to improving – either directly or indirectly – the life situation of the participants and their families? What is the effects logic adopted by the project?
• What framework conditions are important for the project? To what extent have they been taken into account?
• In case they changed: To what extent are the initial objectives and the design of the project still appropriate?
• How have the evolving socio-economic and security conditions in Bekaa shaped the psychosocial needs of women and adolescent girls, and to what extent has the project adapted to these shifts?

Coherence:

The compatibility of the project with other interventions in a country, sector or institution.

• Internal: What synergies and links exist between the project and other interventions implemented by WND, i.e. the empowerment programmes?
• External: In what respects is the project consistent with the interventions of other actors in the same context and are these harmonised?

Effectiveness:

The extent to which a project achieved, or is expected to achieve, its objectives (as laid out in the project agreement), including differential results across target groups.

• To what extent were the objectives achieved or are they likely to be achieved?
• Which activities and outputs made a particularly important contribution to the achievement of objectives and which were not so important?
• How many women and young adolescents were reached through the project and how does this compare with the planned number? Were the initial objectives realistic?
• What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives and outputs?

Efficiency:

The extent to which a project delivers or is likely to deliver results in an economic and timely way.

• Was the project implemented cost-consciously?
• On what parameters is this assessment based (e.g. costs per project output: costs per training course or trainee)?
• Were the results achieved within an appropriate timeframe? Were adjustments made, e.g. due to changed conditions?
• How well does the organisation perform? Does WND have an appropriate PME system?

Effects (outcomes and impacts):

The positive and negative changes produced by a project at a higher level. The evaluation should focus on both intended and unintended outcomes and impacts.

• What exactly has changed for the women and young adolescents and their families? The focus here should be on social, economic, changes with special consideration given to gender aspects.
• To what extent can the changes be attributed to the project activities? Have external factors also contributed to the changes?
• Did the effects logic adopted in the project plans prove effective? If not, where are there deviations?
• Have the psychosocial support activities contributed to shifts in community perceptions regarding mental health and agency of women and girls, and how have these shifts manifested?

Sustainability:

The extent to which the net benefits of the project continue, or are likely to continue. Benefits are intended to be socially, environmentally, economically and technologically sustainable. The review is also intended to include institutional aspects.

• To what extent are the benefits of the project likely to continue?
• What are the major factors that may influence the achievement or non-achievement of the sustainability of the project?
• What role do risks, potential conflicts of interest and resilience play in this context?

- Methodology

A set of varied and adapted methods is to be applied (taking a gender-sensitive approach) that focuses on quantitative and qualitative aspects in the following steps of the evaluation:

• Prior to field work: document review, preparation of interview guidelines, assessment of the available regional and technical analyses and data, preparation or implementation of quantitative surveys...
• During field work: kick-off workshop, additional document review, participant observation, qualitative interviews (open, semi-structured), focus group discussions, context analyses, interviews with key persons, debriefing workshop ...
• After the field work: report writing, commenting the report by Women Now for Development Lebanon and Misereor, debriefing with Women Now for Development Lebanon and Misereor

- Organisation of the Mission

The evaluation shall be carried out by a team of two evaluators, one commissioned by Women Now for Development Lebanon and a second one commissioned by Misereor.

Women Now for Development Lebanon and Misereor will provide the evaluation team all necessary information and documents to carry out the evaluation. During the field work Women Now for Development Lebanon will provide logistical support.

The tentative schedule of the evaluation is:

• Preparatory activities: to be decided
• Field work: to be decided, duration 2 weeks end of August/ beginning of September 2025
• Submission of the (draft) report: 3 weeks after the field visit
• Debriefing: 2 weeks after submission of the draft report

- Qualifications of the Consultant

• Advanced degree in Social Sciences, Psychology, Gender Studies, International Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in evaluating development or humanitarian projects, particularly those focused on psychosocial support, gender-based violence (GBV), women and girls' empowerment, or community-based protection.
• Demonstrated experience in applying OECD/DAC evaluation criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, outcomes/impact, and sustainability).
• Proven expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methods, including survey design, focus group facilitation, stakeholder interviews, and participatory evaluation tools.
• Knowledge of Middle Eastern context, particularly Lebanon or similar fragile/conflict-affected settings, with preference for experience in the Bekaa region.
• Proven ability to adopt a gender-sensitive, feminist, and culturally appropriate approach in evaluation.
• Strong skills in data analysis, synthesis, and report writing with ability to produce clear, actionable findings and recommendations.
• Fluency in English is required. Arabic language skills are highly desirable.

• Experience working with or evaluating the work of women-led organizations or feminist organizations.

The consultant must adhere to ethical standards in research and evaluation, including safeguarding principles and informed consent processes, particularly when engaging women and adolescent girls as participants.

- Reporting and Supervision:

Evaluation reports submitted to Misereor should meet a number of requirements. Some of these are binding; others can be adapted to the corresponding situation. These requirements are listed in the document “Minimum requirements to be met by evaluation reports for projects funded by Misereor/German Catholic Agency for Development Aid (KZE)”.

The following questions should be clarified in the Terms of Reference:

• The report will be written by the evaluation team, which agrees on the division of work
• The report expected to have 20 -30 pages (without annexes)