Process Evaluation Consultant

   Timeframe:    1st July 2015 to 15th August 2015    Locations:    Lebanon (Akkar, Bekaa, Mount Lebanon, South and Tripoli Governorates)    Consortium partners:    Save the Children (lead agency), ACTED, CARE, IRC, Solidarités International, World Vision International    Objective    Evaluate the performance of the LCC in achieving the following objectives:   Standardize the cash programs of six agencies and produce a range of tools and SOP's to be used in future programs.   Ensure complementarily of programming between agencies.   Create an organizational structure and composition suitable to effectively and efficiently distribute cash. OVERVIEW AND RATIONALE FOR CONSORTIUM APPROACH Over three years into the Syrian crisis in Lebanon, cash assistance has proven to be an effective modality for delivering humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable refugees and Lebanese citizens in Lebanon. Humanitarian agencies have used cash or vouchers to support refugees and vulnerable Lebanese with rent, education, health, food and shelter. Building on the success of using cash in this way, and learning from the challenges of past approaches, Lebanon Cash Consortium formed to support vulnerable refugees and Lebanese with multipurpose cash assistance in monthly payments. The Consortium approach aims to harmonize cash assistance provided by various agencies, reducing differences in targeting processes, consolidating various sectoral payments into a single payment, cutting the number of card types from two to one and instituting comprehensive analysis of households needs in place of the previous sectoral analysis. Although coordination has been active in the Inter-Agency Cash Working Group, the LCC goes a step further bringing harmonized programming across its member agencies. This move has been intended to deliver greater efficiency and more coherence due to a centralized mechanism to channel funds, common tools and timelines and economies of scale. The current pilot phase of project will also build out the monitoring tools and information management systems, giving the consortium approach the potential for considerable scalability. Technically, the consortium leverages the expertise and on the ground presence of six leading humanitarian agencies, each with a history of cash programming and with current active programs in many thematic areas. These aspects are expected to contribute to better joined-up programming, leading to improved outcomes through streamlined and thorough referral mechanisms. The members of the consortium are ACTED, CARE, IRC, Save the Children International, Solidarités  International and World Vision International. These agencies have joined in a partnership governed by a funding agreement and guided by a steering committee with formal roles and responsibilities and a technical working group. The LCC is led by a Chief of Party from Save the Children. PILOT PHASE OF CASH CONSORTIUM AND THE ROLE OF IRC From December 2014 to April 2015 the Cash Consortium is piloting the joint delivery of multipurpose cash assistance, reaching approximately 3,800 refugees across the whole of Lebanon. During this pilot, IRC will be responsible for the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) function, including, developing data collection tools and analysis plans for both quantitative and qualitative data collection, and leading the Process Evaluation. Through the Process Evaluation the LCC is interested in understanding more about how the systems, coordination, structure and outputs of the consortium contributed to the programme outputs. These findings will help the LCC adjust its operating methodology and improve its tools for the 2nd phase of the project which has been funded by ECHO with an increase across the six agencies to x000 beneficiary households. OVERVIEW OF CONSULTANCY To this end, the IRC is seeking a consultant to conduct a Process Evaluation of the pilot phase of the LCC Cash Distribution. The evaluation, using mixed methods detailed below, should cover the following objectives of the LCC: 1. Standardize the cash programs of six agencies and produce a range of tools and SOP's to be used in future programs. 2. Ensure complementarities of programming between agencies. 3. Create an organizational structure and composition suitable to effectively and efficiently distribute cash. More detailed questions to direct enquiries and potential sources of information will be made available to the consultant and is available on request. The consultant will report to IRC’s M&E Manager for the LCC, and will work with the LCC’s lead agency (Save the Children) and other consortium members as needed. METHODOLOGIES The LCC propose that the consultant use mixed methods in completing this assignment. Individual subjects and groups can be approached with interviews and focus group discussions, while data generated by the project, residing in LCC agencies, WFP and UNHCR, will demand analysis using quantitative methods. TASKS AND DELIVERABLES The consultant that the LCC hires will be required to produce a draft evaluation report, a final evaluation report, an executive summary/highlights document and a PowerPoint presentation of findings. The evaluation report should have the following structure: Title page, table of contents, executive summary, list of acronyms, description of the program and any changes, description of the evaluation methodology, main findings, recommendations for program improvement, annexes (notes from interviews, raw materials). The PowerPoint presentation should include program overview, methodology, main findings and recommendations. All deliverables must be approved by the IRC M&E Manager for the LCC before being considered final. TIMEFRAME Twenty-three days is allotted for the completion of these pieces of work. This will comprise of a: Home-based review period (2 days), Lebanon visit (9 days), including, interviews and data collection, field visit, Home-based completion of the draft report (5 days) Home-based completion of the final report (5 days) Home-based completion of the presentation and summary document (2 days) All times include weekends. This timeframe may be adjusted depending on the number of consultants participating in the process. The consultancy will start on the 1st July and the final outputs should be completed by the 15th of August. CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS The LCC seeks a consultant with the following minimum qualifications At least five years of proven experience leading research and/or evaluating programmes. Proven experience in quantitative data management and processing; English fluency; Prior experience working with NGOs in the humanitarian sector in Lebanon is a strong advantage. APPLICATION AND SELECTION To apply for this consultancy, please submit: Cover letter outlining how your training, expertise and experience align with the desired qualifications of the consultancy. Your CV. An example of your work, such as the report from a previous evaluation. A brief summary of how you would approach the evaluation and what methods you would use. Your daily rate