Third Party Evaluation of JPF Funded Projects in Ukraine (JPF-UKR-24-07)

1. Background:

The JPF is an international humanitarian aid organization which offers the most effective and prompt emergency aid in response to humanitarian needs, focusing on issues of refugees and natural disasters. JPF conducts such aid through a tripartite cooperation system where NGOs, business communities, and the government of Japan work in close cooperation, based on equal partnership, and making the most of the respective sectors’ characteristics and resources.

JPF serves as an intermediary support organization providing various types of assistance to member NGOs in Japan to deliver quick and comprehensive aid on their own. JPF has supported aid activities of 46 member NGOs, each with its own set of diverse strengths. It has delivered humanitarian assistance to 50 nations and regions about 1,800 projects, with a total financial contribution of 72 billion yen. JPF has built a strong reputation based on trust by promoting cooperation among private sectors and NGOs and by accurately reporting all its activities.

More information on JPF can be found at https://www.japanplatform.org/index.html .

2.Purpose of the Request for Proposals

The purpose of this request for proposals (RFP) is to solicit competitive offers for the provision of evaluation services for four project which is funded by JPF and implemented by member NGOs.

JPF seeks to contract a Third-Party Monitoring (TPM) entity to accurately capture information, verify activities and analyze data on implemented project activities, and provide recommendations that can be utilized when implementing same or similar projects. In particular, the TPM entity will be an essential quality assurance activity in project locations where JPF has no or limited access to for various reasons. JPF will use the outcome of this evaluation activity to improve the current and future projects. The evaluation reports will be made available to public as a part of JPF’s activity to ensure accountability to the donor and public.

3. Scope of Services

This RFP encompasses evaluation of four project mentioned below as part of JPF quality assurance activities. Before commencing with the evaluation activities, the successful bidder (contractor) will work closely with JPF and member NGOs in Japan and their local partners in Ukraine. JPF will provide the contractor with relevant documentation, including the approved project proposal documents and other relevant information necessary for conducting the evaluation activities. The evaluation will cover conceptualization, design, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation of results, engaging all project stakeholders and beneficiaries.

The scope of this RFP under JPF Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Response Program focuses on the evaluation of 3 projects according to the OECD-DAC criterion and core humanitarian standards. JPF, member NGO and the contractor will identify the prioritized criterion and core humanitarian standards for this evaluation.

Drawing from the insights gathered from the third-party evaluation of the projects, the reports will provide actionable recommendations for Japanese NGOs. These recommendations will guide the selection and implementation of projects that align with the evolving needs of the local communities in Ukraine.

The Scope of Evaluations includes, but not limited to followings;

1. Conduct the output to review, validating the efficient delivery of intended outputs and ascertaining if and how they led to the intended outcome as per the purpose statement (in line with OECD DAC criteria).
2. Assess the status of the outputs and outcomes outlined at the approved project proposal and present it as a table at the final report.
3. Assess the level of satisfaction of stakeholders and beneficiaries (disaggregated by gender) with the changes brought by the project. Seek feedback from relevant stakeholders on the project interventions (in line with OECD DAC criteria of effectiveness).
4. Assess the contributions of the project to the countries relevant Clusters and Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) objectives and goals (in line with OECD DAC criteria of impact and relevance).
5. Assess the level of participation of, and accountability to the crisis affected people, particularly vulnerable individuals including women, in the project related decision making and assess how effectively the project strengthened the key local actors.
6. Financial and Procurement efficiency evaluation of these projects
7. Draw lessons learnt from the evaluation for the implementing NGO, JPF and other JPF member agencies active.
8. Technical Capacity and Expertise Review
9. Partnership and Management Modality Review
10. Visibility

4. Deliverables

The contractor will report directly to JPF but will work closely with the member NGOs and project implementing partners. During the course of the field level data collection, the contractor is expected to provide JPF with timely feedback, notably in instances where immediate attention or action is warranted. For all tasks specific tools and templates will be developed and agreed to between JPF and the contractor following signing of the contract. It is expected that the reports provided by the contractor will adhere to the agreed upon templates. For all remaining tasks, general approaches will be developed and agreed to between JPF and the contractor, upon signing of the contract.

Expected activities and deliverables are:

• Kick Off Meeting with JPF, member NGO and local partner/office representatives to start the evaluation process and communication to gather required information for the inception report.
• Inception Report and Meeting: the contractor will provide a draft inception report specific to each project, including a detailed work plan and methodology, including approach, guiding questions, interview/survey questions, a proposed list of stakeholders to be interviewed or otherwise involved, proposed schedule of site visits, sample beneficiary and key informant selection strategy, a list of data to be collected and a timeline for the evaluation process. The inception reports will be finalized after receiving all the final feedback and comments at the inception meeting.
• Data Collection Tools: Along with the inception report, the contractor will develop data collection tools and methodology per project.
• Weekly and/or Monthly Reports: the contractor will submit a weekly/monthly report, containing timely, relevant, and verified project-level information to JPF.
• Success Stories: the contractor is expected to gather success stories, one per each project.
• Project Based Evaluation Reports: The contractor will submit an evaluation report per each project. It is expected that the TPM entity will submit a draft report and, after two rounds of feedback, will submit a final report.
• CASH Evaluation Report: The contractor will submit a separate evaluation report on CASH modality used by the member NGOs which will include lessons learned through analyzes of the three projects, in comparison with the cash sector standards and benchmarks in Ukraine. Evaluation activities should document, and extract lessons learned and best practices from these projects.
• Raw Data and Visuals: the contractor will submit raw data and visuals collected during the assignment.
• Debriefing Workshops: the contractor will conduct two debriefing workshops per each project at the end of the project evaluation to further explain findings and make recommendations for current and future projects. The first one will be for the implementing partner and/or local office of the member NGO in their own language. The second one will be for the JPF and relevant member NGO representatives in English.

The contractor will report directly to JPF but will work in close collaboration with the project member NGOs. The contractor is expected to maintain regular communication with JPF and member NGOs during the field-level data collection to ensure that any issues are identified and addressed promptly. The contractor will work closely with project staff and partners to ensure that the evaluation process is conducted in a transparent and collaborative manner. The contractor will also be available to address any questions or concerns from project stakeholders related to the evaluation process.