Consultant to carry out the Final Evaluation of the programme “Strengthening Civil Society to End Child Marriages in East and Southern Africa” At Plan International

Searching for consultant/ consultancy team to carry out the Final Evaluation of the programme “Strengthening Civil Society to End Child Marriages in East and Southern Africa”

1. About Plan International

We strive to advance children’s rights and equality for girls all over the world. As an independent development and humanitarian organisation, we work alongside children, young people, our supporters and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge. For over 80 years, we have been building powerful partnerships for children, and we are active in over 75 countries.

Plan International Germany (GNO), founded in 1989 and based in Hamburg, is supporting the implementation of development and humanitarian projects through sponsorship and grants projects. It is part of the global Plan International network and specialised among other priority areas on the promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in its’ partner countries of the Global South. In the East and Southern African Region, we are currently funding a multi-country programme to end Child and Early Forced Marriage in four countries, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with support sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and private funds.

Plan International Germany and the Plan Centre of Excellence 18+ (CoE), based within Plan Zambia are seeking one consultancy or consultant team to conduct the Final Evaluation jointly in all four countries plus the Plan International African Union Liaison & Plan Africa Programme Office (PAO). The consultancy or consultant team should be qualified and experienced in the sector of Child and Early Forced Marriage with a focus on community mobilization and youth empowerment to conduct the Final Evaluation of the project “Strengthening civil society to end child marriage in East and Southern Africa”.

2. Programme Background

The programme “Strengthening Civil Society to End Child Marriages in East and Southern Africa” has as its main objective to significantly reduce the occurrence of Child Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) and Early Pregnancy (EP). The main drivers of CEFM include religious practices, traditional practices, social norms and poverty. Added to that is the lack of information on SRHR leading to EP. The project engages young people and the traditional figures of authority to pursue the implementation of laws and where appropriate, to report cases where child marriage cases persist. The measures are being implemented by country offices of Plan International in close collaboration with the following not-for-profit independent partner organisations: Girls Empowerment Network (GENET) in Malawi, Women In Social Entrepreneurship (WISE) in Tanzania, and Simukai Child Protection Programme (Simukai) in Zimbabwe. In Zambia, Plan International is implementing the project without a local partner. The Plan Centre of Excellence 18+ (CoE), based within Plan Zambia is responsible for the regional coordination of the project and for implementing the activities at sub-regional level. The Plan International African Union Liaison & Plan Africa Programme Office (PAO), based in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia is implementing advocacy activities to exert political influence at regional level to contribute to policy change beneficial to ending CEFM and EP. Thus, the CoE, the four Plan Country Offices and local partners jointly implement project measures to create structures at all levels that will intensify the exchange of knowledge and exertion of political influence and to, eventually, achieve the objective of the programme. Regular programme calls with all offices involved aim to strengthen further coordination, cooperation and the exchange of experiences, lessons learnt and good practices to support one another.

The main donor of this programme is the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, having donated 75% of the total programme budget of 2,537,407 Euro. The official duration of the programme is three years from 1^st December 2018 until 31^st December 2021, with a no-cost extension until 30^th April 2022. Due to several administrative delays, the start of project activities was in June 2019.

The programme collaborates with around 50 traditional figures of authority at community level in each programme country. The other target group of the project are young people (approx. 70 per cent young women and 30 per cent young men) who participate directly in programme activities, and benefit from them. The direct numbers of the target groups are 50 traditional figures of authority, and 1,500 young people in each of the project countries.

The number of indirect beneficiaries of the programme includes the families of the young people concerned; because the participation and empowerment of the young people leads them to pass their knowledge on within their families. It is also expected that the peers of the participants are benefiting from the project, because they also indirectly build up knowledge thanks to the exchange of information with and knowledge acquired by the participants, and they will be motivated to act accordingly. As part of the work with the traditional figures of authority, it is expected that they transmit their commitment and the knowledge they have acquired to their communities, and motivate the people there to act and to end child marriage.

3. Evaluation Focus

3.1 Purpose of the Evaluation

One objective of this evaluation is accountability to the main donor, the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Another objective is learning from this programme to improve and build on good practices for potential future programmes.

The focus of this Final Evaluation will be:

1) To assess the majority of the programme indicators for the endline of the programme. Programme indicators have been collected internally as far as possible and necessary. The programme team has a reliable monitoring system. The external consultant will re-check the collected indicator values against the sources of verification and measure some of the not yet collected indicator values. A Baseline has been conducted at the start of the programme activities in each country by independent local consultants. A Mid-Term Review including the assessment of most of the indicators has been conducted between December 2020 and April 2021. The consultant(s) of this Final Evaluation shall compare the current indicator values at endline with the baseline and midline indicator values as far as possible.

2) To assess the six OECD-DAC evaluation criteria and answer corresponding evaluation questions.

A special focus will be on the criteria impact, sustainability and coherence. The criteria efficiency, relevance and effectiveness will be assessed in less depth but shall also be taken into account in the data collection.

3) To present and discuss the results of 1) and 2) with the programme team of the four implementing countries and relevant stakeholders in an Evaluation Workshop.**3.2. Evaluation Criteria and Questions**

If interested, the tender documents can be requested by e-mail from kirsten.ehrich@plan.de.

4 Users of the Evaluation

The Final Evaluation will be used by all Plan International offices involved and its’ local partner organisations. That is the Country Office of Plan International in Malawi, in Tanzania, in Zimbabwe and in Zambia plus the Plan International office in Germany and its local implementing partners Girls Empowerment Network (GENET) in Malawi, Women in Social Entrepreneurship (WISE) in Tanzania, and Simukai Child Protection Programme (Simukai) in Zimbabwe.

The Final Evaluation findings and recommendations will be shared with key stakeholders in the project countries on meso and macro-level, that is, with local authorities and communities, with politicians and e.g. officials of the African Union and SADAC, as well as the donor in Germany.

Country Offices, Liaison Offices and Regional Hubs in the South East Africa Region will also make use of the Review findings and recommendations to improve future programming and influencing initiatives.

3 Methods for Data Collection and Analysis

1) To assess the programme indicators for the endline of the programme:

To measure and double-check the indicator values at endline, the consultant(s) shall base the overall methodology on the currently used monitoring approach and tools, where possible and recommended. The consultant can refine or complement existing tools and develop additional ones, if needed (see table under 3.2).

2) To assess the six OECD-DAC evaluation criteria and answer corresponding evaluation questions:

The Final Evaluation should use a mixed-methods approach integrating both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection in order to assess the evaluation criteria and to answer the evaluation questions outlined above under 3.3. The consultant(s) shall ensure that triangulation of information gathered is possible.

The data collection methods may include but are not limited to:

• Desk review of background documents (programme documents, e.g. programme proposal, monitoring and evaluation framework, monitoring data, activity and progress reports, baseline reports).
• Document Review of records, participation lists, meeting minutes, etc.
• (Online-)survey with project staff
• Key informant interviews
• Focus group discussions
• Household survey with community members
• Plan International’s “Gender Transformative Marker” (will be provided upon contract signature) to assess the degree to which efforts towards gender equality and inclusion are done in implementation

It is expected that the consultant (s) will develop a detailed methodology for data collection, data management and analysis. This methodology should be in direct response to the evaluation criteria and evaluation questions and will be further unpacked in the inception report by the consultant once the evaluation is underway.

When developing data collection tools for data collection with children and youth, the consultants shall aim to use child friendly, age appropriate approaches.

The data collection tools need to be feasible in each country or shall be contextualised and adapted to comply with country-specific Covid-19 regulations and restrictions.

3) For the Evaluation Workshop to present and discuss the results of the final evaluation with the programme team of the four implementing countries and relevant stakeholders. The workshop shall be prepared and facilitated by the external consultant in coordination with the Programme Coordinator of the CoE in Zambia and is expected to take 2-3 hours. The facilitation methods shall also be adequate and feasible in a virtual workshop setting.

3.3 Sample

The consultant is expected to suggest a tentative sampling strategy and sample size for data collection which is to be refined in the inception report.

1) The consultant shall suggest a sampling strategy and size (number and type of locations, persons, groups) for data collection to assess the evaluation criteria and to answer the evaluation questions.

2) To assess and/or double-check the indicator values, the consultant shall take into account the sampling strategy and size used in the baseline, especially for the quantitative survey. It is upon the consultant’s appraisal if he/she needs to collect data using a different sampling strategy or size to double-check or assess the respective indicator values.

All data should be disaggregated by gender and age (minimum <18 years and ≥ 18 years).

3) Participants of the Evaluation Workshop shall include relevant Programme Implementation staff of local partner organisations and Plan International offices in all four implementing countries (project coordinators, M&E officers, project facilitators, 18+ advocacy/influencing team) the programme coordinator at the Centre of Excellence in Zambia and the programme Specialist and M&E Specialist at the German Plan International Office (GNO).

The consultant(s) are welcome to suggest additional participants for this workshop.

3.4 Participant selection and recruitment

As a minimum requirement, the following key stakeholders and target groups should be given the opportunity to provide feedback on the programme to the consultant (s):

• Project staff of local partner organisations and Plan International offices in all four implementing countries (project coordinators, M&E officers, community development facilitators)
• The programme coordinator at the Centre of Excellence in Zambia
• The involved staff at the Plan International African Union Liaison & Plan Africa Programme Office (PAO)
• Traditional figures of authority and community leaders at district, ward and community level in all four implementing countries (male and female)
• Project participants and intermediaries, i.e. youth club members; community structure members; child protection committee members; public and private, formal and informal health providers, and others.
• Community members (men, women, adolescent girls and boys, with and without disabilities)

The consultant(s) could also identify and suggest additional stakeholders that they feel are important to involve ensuring they get the information they need to answer the Evaluation Questions.

4 Ethics and Child Protection

Plan International is committed to ensuring that the rights of those participating in data collection or analysis are respected and protected, in accordance with Plan International’s Framework for Ethical MER and Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy. All applicants should include details in their proposal on how they will ensure ethics and child protection in the data collection process. Specifically, the consultant(s) shall explain how appropriate, safe, non-discriminatory participation of all stakeholders will be ensured and how special attention will be paid to the needs of children and other vulnerable groups. The consultant(s) shall also explain how confidentiality and anonymity of participants will be guaranteed.

All staff working with children throughout the Final Evaluation should provide an expanded police certificate of good conduct. No work will start without signature of Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy by the consultant(s).

5 Key Deliverables

The consultant(s) is/are expected to lead, accomplish and submit the following deliverables within the agreed timeframe and budget:

· Inception Report including:

• an updated timeline;
• an evaluation matrix
• detailed methodology, including draft sampling methodology and size;
• draft data collection tools;
• ethical considerations;
• consent forms for any primary data collection;
• (draft) methods for data analysis;
• brief justification of the methods and techniques used (including relevant underlying values and assumptions/ theories) with a justification of the selections made (e.g. of persons interviewed).

· Draft Final Evaluation Report including:

• double-checked and measured indicator values for the midline plus appraisal of the progress so far
• data collection results of the assessment of all OECD-DAC criteria
• data collection findings regarding the evaluation questions
• final sampling methodology (including unit of sampling and sampling frame) and size
• final Data Collection Tools
• Conclusions regarding lessons learnt and best practices
• recommendations for potential future programmes working in the project areas and sector.

· Final Evaluation Report (including Executive Summary)

• Cleaned Data including data files (e.g. Excel, SPSS), transcripts of qualitative data syntax/ codebooks etc.
• Completed Consent Forms if applicable (for children and their caregivers and adults)

· Delivery of successful Preparation & Facilitation of the Evaluation Workshop

6 Timeline

If interested, the tender documents can be requested by e-mail from kirsten.ehrich@plan.de.

7 Budget

The available budget for this evaluation is 40,000.00 Euro. The consultant’s proposal should include a detailed budget breakdown including number of working days, consultant fees, expenses / per diems, VAT/taxes, social and medical insurance, translation and interpretation, software licenses, electronic devices, travel and VISA costs (if applicable), costs for the development of (remote) data collection tools, and all output-related costs.

If interested, the tender documents can be requested by e-mail from kirsten.ehrich@plan.de.

8 Expected Qualifications

The consultant or the consulting team should have the following experience and formal qualifications:

• Postgraduate degree in Social Sciences, Anthropology, Human Rights, Political Science, Public Health or comparable.
• Thematic expertise and experience in the area of Early Forced Child Marriage and related policies and service systems in East and Southern Africa
• Knowledge and experience in gender issues, awareness on inclusion, child protection and child rights issues.
• At least three years of proven experience in carrying out evaluations and systemic reviews, including data collection and entry, data management and storage, preferably for international NGOs.
• Proficiency in qualitative methods of data collection
• Proficiency in quantitative methods of data collection
• Proven experience with quantitative and qualitative data analysis
• Proficiency in statistics
• Excellent command / highly proficient in spoken and written English.
• Experience with working with local communities in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe would be a comparative advantage
• Proficiency in local languages of the programme regions in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe would be an asset.
• Proven experience in planning and facilitating workshops on learning, reflection and planning of projects and initiatives.

We encourage interested consultants and institutions to suggest a team composed of international and local consultants or to sub-contract local consultants to support data collection in the field (virtual or physical) in the four programme countries.