Reposting: Request For Consultancy Proposal For Assessment Of The Women Can Do It Project

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) – Lebanon is looking for a consultant to conduct an assessment within the framework of its project “Women Can Do It!” The project is managed by NPA and funded by the Norwegian Union of Municipalities and General Employees. The project aims to enhance the participation of Palestinian and Lebanese women in political and public life in their respective communities.   The overall objective of the assessment is to assess to what extent NPA and its partners have achieved the project outcomes and provide recommendations regarding how to enhance the effectiveness of this project based on current needs.  1. About NPA: Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) is a humanitarian organization rooted in the Norwegian Labor Movement. We work with International Development Partnerships, Humanitarian Disarmament, Rescue Service and First Aid, and Asylum and Integration. NPA works in 39 countries around the world and has more than 12000 members in Norway and 2400 staff worldwide. NPA Lebanon is currently implementing Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and Humanitarian Disarmament Projects throughout Lebanon, including the Palestinian camps and gatherings.  2.  General Background of the project to be assessed: Women Can Do It (WCDI) is a collaboration program between Norwegian Labor Party’s-Women Network, Norwegian People’s Aid and local partner organizations. Since 2007, the Women Can Do It project has been implemented in Lebanon in coordination with Palestinian and Lebanese local unions and organizations. The project is based on the manual “WDCI”. The overall objective of WCDI project is to empower and encourage the leaders/members of NGOs, women’s organizations and women groups in Lebanon, including the Palestinian community in order to increase women’s participation in their respective societies especially in politics. Since its implementation, more than one thousand women have been participating in the different WCDI activities. Up to 2014, the project was directly implemented by NPA, in addition to some activities implemented by partners. After that, the project was implemented with partnership with 2 local organizations. During the past four years, the project contributed in equipping a number of women with training skills and enabled them to organize and deliver local workshops in their respective communities. In addition, thanks to the efforts of WCDI partners, they were able to provide a space for women to participate in existing political structure such as Camps Popular Committees, and to develop women committees that can coordinate with the stakeholders/political structure in their respective communities.   Project related goals: Increased political skills and motivation for a substantial number of women to encourage them to participate in public and political life. Improved women’s influence and role in politics and public life. Enhanced training skills for women who are part of this project.   Project related activities: Training of trainers on topics related to Leadership, CEDAW, UN Resolution 1325, Advocacy and Campaigning, Communication, etc. Local workshops delivered by WCDI trainers Experience sharing seminar Local actions such as interactive theaters and  public events Advanced training workshop for women members in Camps Popular Committees    3. Scope of the Assessment / Services to be provided: The overall task for the consultant is to address:   Effectiveness: Assess the project performance (partners) and results matched the proposal as well as NPA international WCDI project. Assess the efficiency and relevance of the project activities and examine whether the applied activities fits the objective of the project. Document the deficits, challenges, gaps, best practices, success and lessons learned of the project activities. Provide a basis for decision making on the continuation of particular project components, with recommendations for any necessary amendments and improvements for project.   The assessment will specifically focus on the following:   Questions to be answered: Effectiveness: To what extent is the program capable to attain the expected goals? To what extent did the project contribute to enhance Palestinian women’s rights and participation conditions? What are the main strengths and shortages in the project, activities and partners?   Relevance: Has any changes in the political context significantly affected any of the premises for the project? To what extent is the Women Can Do It relevant for the target groups and our goals? Are the applied activities relevant to the needs of the women? Is the project design and activities relevant to meet the objectives of NPA Women’s Rights program?   Coherence and Coordination: How was the project implementation process managed by NPA and partners? How was the coordination between NPA and partners in implementing the project? To what extent did the project components complement each other? Are the program activities coherent, despite having different partners? Did the project foster cooperation between partners and existing political structure to empower the role of women? To what extent has the project contributed to strengthen the capacity of Palestinian women’s organizations?   Other questions can also be added by consultant in coordination with NPA program team.   4. Recipients: The primary recipients of this assessment includes:   The Development department in NPA-Head Office, the WCDI advisor in NPA-Head Office, NPA Country Director, the Program Manager in NPA-Lebanon and the Program Coordinator. NPA WCDI partners, the participants and other organizations who were involved in this project. Stakeholders such as Camps Popular Committees.   5. Assessment Methodology: The guiding principles for conducting the assessment should include: participatory, culturally sensitive, transparency, committed to building capacity, affirmative and positive while honest and productively critical, and valuing knowledge and approaches from within the context. The consultant should use a simple and practical methodological framework of work by using scientific methods and tools. The consultant will develop the methodology and tools of the assessment in consultation with NPA team. The assessment methodology and data collection tools will need approval from NPA Programs Manager.   Information gathering interviews: Perform (and document – recorded and signed) interviews with partners’ directors, managers, participants, trainers and any relevant other stakeholder. In addition, interviews should be done with NPA team in Beirut and if needed in Oslo. In case it is suitable, the evaluator may choose to contact any political party, officials and representatives of the popular committees through NPA only.  It is also important that these interviews respect the legal rights of the interviewee as well as the rights to inspection. 6. Location: This assessment will take place in Lebanon, specifically in Palestinian camps.   7.  Deliverables: The consultant is expected to submit a final report of the assessment in addition to 2 pages summary. The report should strictly be written in English language and should not exceed 10-15 pages (excluding annexes). It should be submitted hard copy and electronically in a MS-Word document. It shall include: Executive Summary of key findings and recommendations; Assessment findings, analysis and conclusions with associated evidence and data clearly illustrated. Use of tables, graphs, quotes, photo, and stories to illustrate findings and conclusions is encouraged; Make recommendations on how to sustain the efforts toward this project. Provide constructive recommendation on how Women organizations, working in the field of empowering Palestinian women in participating in their communities, should work. Recommendations for the next actions, which should be practical and linked directly to conclusions; and Appendices, including methodology and assessment tools, list of interviewees, questionnaire, and brief biography of evaluator. 8. Logistical Support: NPA will provide preparatory and logistical assistance to the consultant, including: Background materials (project proposal, periodic reports, existing assessment s, etc.) Contact information of partners and other stakeholders Arrange the visits to field and partners (including transport, appointments, accommodation etc.)   9. Desired Qualifications and Competencies:   Proven experience in undertaken assessments / field work in development project assessment s, training, research, consultancy and the mentioned topics. PHD or master degree in a relevant field of study with proven track of reports/consultancies and/or publishing. Be familiar with the political and human right situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, specifically situation of Women’s rights Excellent written and spoken Arabic language skills.    As part of the proposal, we require a brief CV of the consultant/team of consultants that will conduct this service. This summary will highlight any relevant experience or expertise in these fields including publication list, CV, division of tasks among the team members and the percentage of work contribution for each member (if applicable).   The proposal must include context analysis, assessment methodology, action plan and budget.     10. Contract Period:    Dates Action 1 November 2017 – 8 November 2017 Submission of proposals 8 November 2017 –  10 November 2017 Scanning of proposals and meeting applicants 14 November 2017 Agreement signature 14 November 2017 – 5 December 2017 Implementation of the research 12 December 2017 Submission of the first draft of the report 20 December 2017 Submission of the final report   Periodical meetings will take place between NPA focal point and the consultant during the period of the project. Adjustment of dates might be negotiated between NPA and the consultants.   11. Budget: Max USD 7,000. Please note that this amount must cover any taxes that may apply. Please also note that price is a selection criteria.  The tender will be evaluated and selected based on the following criteria: The Qualifications of the Research Team/Researcher 20 % The Quality of the Proposal -          Understanding of the Requirements (10 %) -          Analytical Approach (20 %) -          Training Techniques (20 %) -          Implementation Plan (10 %) 60 % The Price 20 % Total 100 %     A proposal, a corresponding budget, and the data requested should be sent to rfplebanon@npaid.org and farahk@npaid.org no later than 8 November 2017.