Call for Consultant - Midline Evaluation

“Promotion of a gender equal and equitable society with and for women and youth in Lebanon”

Terms of Reference (TOR)

Mid-term Evaluation Consultant

About ABAAD

ABAAD – Resource Centre for Gender Equality is a UN ECOSOC accredited organization that aims to achieve gender equality as an essential condition to sustainable social and economic development in the MENA region. ABAAD advocates for the development and implementation of policies and laws that enhance women’s effective participation, through a rights-based approach that would bring about tangible change to gender justice. With the purpose of ending gender-based violence, ABAAD adopts a holistic care approach to provide protection and support services to GBV survivors/right holders during times of peace, war and disasters since 2011.

About the project

The “Promotion of a gender equal and equitable society with and for women and youth in Lebanon” is a three-years project funded by The European Regional Development and Protection Program for Jordan and Lebanon (RDPP III) in the Middle East. The project’s strategic goal is to establish societies that ensure gender equality and are free of violence, centring efforts on women and girls in all their diversity. By advocating for gender equality, the aim is to effect systemic changes that tackle root causes of discrimination, sexism, and harmful norms that obstruct access to rights based on gender.

Women and girls in their diversity are not only the recipients of these efforts but also active participants in shaping this transformation. The understanding of diversity acknowledges that women and girls possess intersecting identities that affect their societal positions and access to rights and power.

This strategic objective will be achieved through lobbying, advocacy, and the strengthening of civil society, all guided by a gender-transformative approach (GTA). The GTA focuses on these key components: Amplifying the voices of women and youth, Enhancing the role of young men as allies in this transformation, promoting human rights and the agency of women and girls, Analysing and countering harmful norms and unequal power relations.

Overall Scope of the consultancy

In line with ABAAD’s accountability principle towards the beneficiaries and the donor – The European Regional Development and Protection Program for Jordan and Lebanon (RDPP III) - ABAAD is seeking an external evaluator to conduct a mid-term evaluation of the overall project progress and results against the objectives and indicators of achievement.

The evaluation will assess the impact, effectiveness, and sustainability of the project; explore the key factors that have contributed to the achieving or not of the intended results; and determine the extent to which the project contributed to empowering communities, influencing policy makers, and capacitating national institutions on gender transformative approaches.

The evaluation exercise is intended to inform ABAAD and RDPP about the project’s impact on the direct and indirect beneficiaries of the project within their respective communities, programme recommendation and lessons learned.

Project Strategic Objective:

Advocacy for gender equality is strengthened at local and national levels and women and children enjoy a more gender equal, enabling, and protective environment.

Long Term Outcomes:

Long Term Outcome 1: Community members are mobilized to advocate for gender equality. 

Long Term Outcome 2: Decision makers and key leaders are progressively embracing, modifying, and enacting policies and laws that support gender equality.

Long Term Outcome 3: National institutions have increased capabilities in gender transformative and inclusive GBV response through capacity strengthening.

Areas of implementation:

North: Tripoli;

South: Tyre;

Mount Lebanon: Furn Chebbak; Choueifat

Bekaa: Baalbek; Arsal; Labweh; Zahle

Evaluation Questions:

Referencing and adopting from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) evaluation criteria, the evaluation seeks to answer the following questions while focusing on relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability and coherence.

1. Relevance

• To what extent does the project align with the priorities of ABAAD, RDPP III, and national/regional gender equality frameworks (e.g., LCRP, SDG 5, SDG 17)?
• How well does the project respond to the needs of women, girls, men, and youth in targeted communities, considering intersectional vulnerabilities (e.g., refugee vs. host communities)?
• Have any emerging needs or contextual changes (economic crisis, political instability, legal reforms) affected the relevance of the project interventions?
• How well does the project complement existing gender equality initiatives by governmental and non-governmental actors in Lebanon?

2. Effectiveness

• To what extent have the project’s long-term outcomes (community mobilization, policy influence, institutional capacity strengthening) progressed against the targets set in the results framework?
• How effective have the gender-transformative approaches been in shifting community attitudes toward GBV prevention and gender equality?
• To what extent have decision-makers and key leaders adopted, modified, or enacted gender-responsive policies and laws?
• How well has the project engaged and mobilized men and boys as allies in addressing harmful gender norms?
• Have there been any unforeseen challenges affecting implementation, and how have they been addressed?

3. Efficiency

• How efficiently have financial and human resources been allocated and utilized to achieve project outputs and outcomes?
• Has the project been implemented according to the planned timeline, and if not, what factors contributed to delays or acceleration?
• How cost-effective have the key interventions (training programs, advocacy campaigns, community mobilization activities) been in achieving intended results?
• Are the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) processes providing timely and useful data for decision-making and adaptive management?
• To what extent has the project leveraged partnerships (e.g., with NCLW, CRDP, municipalities) to maximize efficiency and avoid duplication of efforts?
• How well are the community group members committed?

4. Impact

• What measurable changes in attitudes, behaviours, and institutional policies related to gender equality and GBV prevention can be observed at this stage of the project?
• What evidence is there that women and girls have increased agency and leadership in advocating for their rights at the community level?
• Has the project contributed to improved institutional responses to GBV among key stakeholders, such as ISF, municipalities, and CSOs?
• To what extent has public awareness and discourse on gender equality changed due to the advocacy campaigns and community mobilization efforts?
• What unintended positive or negative impacts (if any) have emerged because of the project’s interventions?

5. Sustainability

• How likely is it that project interventions, such as community-led gender advocacy groups and municipal gender action plans, will continue beyond the project’s lifespan?
• What mechanisms have been put in place to institutionalize gender-responsive policies and practices within national and local government structures?
• To what extent has the project strengthened the capacity of CSOs and local institutions to sustain gender equality initiatives independently?
• Are beneficiaries (women, youth, men, and key stakeholders) demonstrating ownership of project interventions, and how can their engagement be sustained post-project?
• What additional support or policy measures are needed to ensure long-term impact and sustainability of the project outcomes?

6. Coherence

• How well is the project aligned with and contributing to national and international commitments on gender equality (e.g., CEDAW, UNSCR 1325, LCRP, RDPP priorities)?
• To what extent does the project complement and reinforce the efforts of other actors working on gender equality, GBV prevention, and women’s empowerment in Lebanon?
• Are there any gaps or overlaps between this project and other ongoing gender-focused programs in Lebanon?
• How effectively has ABAAD coordinated with key governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to ensure synergies and avoid duplication?

Deliverables

Mid Term evaluation

The following deliverables are expected as outputs of, mid-term and final evaluation process:

• Inception Report
• Desk review, which will include current project documents and mid-term evaluation findings
• Review the tools used for data collection for the baseline evaluation and amend/change where relevant
• Design and develop evaluation frameworks for mid-term evaluation, including methodologies, sampling strategies, data collection tools, and data analysis plans.
• Conduct fieldwork to collect qualitative and quantitative data as per the agreed-upon methodologies for both evaluations.
• Analyse collected data, identifying trends, challenges, and areas of improvement.
• Prepare comprehensive evaluation report, including executive summaries, methodologies, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and annexes of data collection tools and data sets.
• Report against the outcome indicators

Timeline

By June 2025

• Launching the process

By August 2025

• Final Mid-term Evaluation report

Skills required

• Extensive experience in conducting monitoring and evaluation exercises;
• Extensive experience in research – both qualitative and quantitative;
• Experience working in the humanitarian and development sectors – particularly engaging with local communities and national institutions (experience working with youth is desirable);
• Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the local context in Lebanon;
• Excellent communication skills in English and Arabic;
• Applicant must have experience working in culturally sensitive contexts;
• Proven experience of conducting similar assignments, including in conflict and post-conflict contexts;
• Excellent report writing and analytical skills, including proven ability to form concise, actionable recommendations.