Consultancy_Promoting the Needs of Women in Conflict - Phase I/II Evaluation

MENA Regional Gender Justice Programme

Promoting the Needs of Women in Conflict - Phase I/II Evaluation

Terms of Reference

Background

Oxfam’s MENA Regional Gender Justice Programme is seeking a consultant or team of consultants to conduct a final evaluation of its UK Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) funded “Promoting the Needs of Women in Conflict in MENA”. The project’s first phase launched in 2016, with its second phase ending on March 31st, 2018. Focusing on the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) thematic pillar from Oxfam International’s MENA regional gender justice strategy, the project operates in Iraq, the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and Yemen, with the first phase covering the former two alone.

The project’s overall objective was to influence key decision makers to make them more aware of and responsive to the needs of women in conflict settings. Over the course of two phases, the project included the following strategies:

1. Working with 7 grassroots organizations (GRO) in Iraq and OPT through organizational capacity building and sub-granting to implement localized activities on promoting women’s needs (P1&2)
2. Working with 5 established women’s rights organizations (WRO) in Iraq, OPT, and Yemen to build strategic capacities on national, regional, and international influencing and to produce and disseminate policy and position papers to further the WPS agenda in their respective countries (P2)
3. Strengthening a coalition of WROs in Iraq headed by the Baghdad-based Al Amal organization (P1&2)
4. Production of a research report, “Now is the Time”, whose purpose is to influence key decision makers on the needs of women and WROs in Iraq, OPT, Yemen, and Egypt

The project also produced a baseline of WRO influencing capacities for its second phase and a case study on an Iraqi GRO partner, ‘Salam Al Rafidain’, at the end of its first phase.

Purpose

The purpose of the evaluation is to provide key learning on achievements and approaches (working on the grassroots level, working on the national level, and implementing influencing activities) for Oxfam, the donor, and partners and to measure the results of both phases of the project. Further, the evaluation will aim to identify relevant conflict-sensitive approaches (including design and processes), including but not limited to conflict-sensitive MEAL and indicators, and how these approaches can be used practically and effectively in similar future projects.

The findings will be used to derive lessons learnt and best practices in terms of WPS programming in the region, provide evidence of relevance and impact of addressing gender justice and women’s rights in conflict and fragile settings, and support Oxfam and partners’ advocacy efforts.

Methodology

Oxfam will recruit an external consultant to conduct a desk review of available project and related non-project documents (such as per-country conflict analyses, relevant research, etc.) and to collect primary and secondary data to evaluate the project. To reduce bias and to ensure accountability, the evaluation process will be as participatory as possible, involving relevant RGJP staff, country office staff, and partner staff in the development of the methodology/tools, questions, analysis, and recommendations.

The evaluation will utilize mixed methods with a focus on participatory, qualitative methodologies to answer the following questions, focusing mainly on the effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of the actions:

Impact

1. What impact and implications does the project have on influencing key decision makers to make them more aware of and responsive to the needs of women in conflict?

Effectiveness:

1. Which components of the project (WPS toolkit, policy papers, regional strategic meeting, attendance to global/regional events, regional exchange) were most effective in building the capacities of WROs on influencing on the national, regional, and international levels?
2. To what extent were the needs of GROs met through the project, particularly in relation to their organizational capacities (finance, project management, and MEAL)?
3. What results has the network headed by Al Amal in Iraq achieved over the project’s two phases?

Sustainability

1. Which elements of each of the components of the project can be sustained once Oxfam stops funding activities?
2. What recommendations can be made to improve sustainability, dissemination, and long-term viability of knowledge and evidence products produce through the project (e.g. WPS toolkit, ‘Now is the Time’ research)?

Conflict Sensitivity

1. What conflict-sensitive approaches can Oxfam include in similar projects in the future, including conflict-sensitive MEAL and potential conflict-sensitive indicators?

Tools

The consultant will collect secondary data from any relevant sources, including non-Oxfam sources, to ensure that the evaluation is well-rounded and based on available evidence. This will include a review of conflict-sensitive approaches utilized by the Oxfam country offices in

For its quantitative portion, the evaluation will adapt the project’s baseline tools to measure the influencing capacity of partner WROs. The evaluator will further develop tools to evaluate the impact, effectiveness, and sustainability of the project on both WRO and GRO partners and may also rely on results of pre-post test results for WRO partner staff and output reporting results from GRO partners. The quantitative section is expected to be limited in scope, focusing exclusively on partner staff rather than beneficiaries themselves.

For its qualitative portion, the evaluation will rely on a variety of tools to measure outcomes and answer evaluation questions, including:

• Interviews with staff (RGJP, Country Offices, GROs and WROs) to produce a learning document
• Review of project documents, consultations, and design
• Success stories produced by GRO partners
• Learnings from phase 1, including the produced case study

Results of the desk/secondary review and the quantitative and qualitative analyses will be collated to produce an overall evaluation of the project’s outcomes and recommendations on implementing conflict-sensitive projects in the future.

Timeline and logistics

The evaluation will take place in February-April 2018, with a deadline to submit a final draft of the evaluation report in the third week of April 2018.

While Oxfam understands that some difficulty may be faced in visiting specific project locations, the evaluator will be expected to meet with partner and Oxfam staff face-to-face where possible. Upon discussion and agreement with Oxfam, interviews may take place remotely where the evaluator would not be able to visit in person.

Expected Outputs

• Budget
• Desk review
• Inception report, including timeframe and workplan
• Tools and methodology
• First draft of report
• Final draft of report, including findings, best practices, lessons learned, and recommendations (no longer than 30 pages)

Consultant profile

Oxfam is looking for a consultant with strong record in conducting evaluations for Gender programmes.

Specific skills and competencies we seek include:

• Demonstrable experience of producing high-quality, credible evaluations (samples required)
• Experience of Mixed-Methods approaches to Development Evaluation;
• Demonstrable experience of working with/evaluating INGO work;
• Proven experience evaluating Gender Justice programmes;
• Knowledge of gender and women's rights, including familiarity with issues related to gender equality and legal protection;
• Familiarity with developments in Feminist Evaluation
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English and Arabic;
• Ability to write concise, readable and analytical reports and understanding of communication
• Willingness and ability to travel to Iraq and potentially the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The consultant will be provided with a full security briefing both before going into all countries and when arriving in the country.
• Knowledge of and experience with Women, Peace, and Security in the MENA region is an asset.

Applicants with the experience and skills described above are invited to submit the below:

• A CV for the consultant (or each consultant if more than one);
• A cover letter (max. 1 page) introducing the applicant’s experience and how the skills and competencies described above are met, with concrete examples. Please also use this cover letter to indicate availability;
• A brief outline of no more than 2 pages of the proposed process including methodology and arrangements;
• A one-page budget covering all major anticipated costs;
• One example of a previous similar task.

Applications missing any of the above listed documents will not be considered.