Call for Tender – Country Sustainability Re-assessment

Call for Tender/Terms of Reference (ToR)

Phase-out Country Sustainability Re-assessment

From 2010 to 2020, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) funded comprehensive children’s rights programs in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Zimbabwe. Save the Children’s Norad-funded programs (hereafter programs) were implemented through three successive framework agreements in collaboration with Save the Children Norway (SCN) and Save the Children (SC) Country Offices (COs). Funding from Norad facilitated the development of extensive programs in the thematic areas of Education, Child Protection (CP), and Child Rights Governance (CRG) in all countries.

In 2018, phase-out frameworks were implemented to ease program transfers to national government agencies and locally based civil society organizations. To this end, these encouraged building local relationships, securing sustainable funding for programs investing in children, improving the accountability of local authorities, and cultivating equal participation opportunities for children in policy- and decision-making.

The Norad-funded programs were built on SC’s six sustainability principles. First, the programs invested in government capacity-building, including advocacy campaigns. Second, all programs were aligned with national plans, thus building on and strengthening existing frameworks regardless of national and local context. Third, the programs invested in local civil society organizations by investing in capacity-building and knowledge transfers, enabling locally based actors to carry existing programs forward. Fourth, CRG principles were cross-cutting elements in all thematic program areas, promoting positive change in decision-making and accountability toward children. Fifth, the programs strove to develop a transferable and context-sensitive approach to handing over structures and knowledge to local authorities and community actors. Lastly, program staff documented experience and knowledge conducive to sustainable programming and organizational development. Together, these six sustainability principles provided the foundations for program handover in all four countries.

Independent evaluation teams in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and Zimbabwe (a report was not developed for Mozambique) found that the phase-out strategies successfully facilitated program transfer. First, the Norad-funded programs had strengthened governance capacity, promoting sustainability. Second, the core programs were aligned with national plans and policies, avoiding building parallel and incoherent structures. Third, capacity-strengthening programs have benefitted local communities and contributed to building resilient civil society organizations. Fourth, CRG principles were integrated as cross-cutting elements, laying the foundations for sustainable change in the child rights regimes of all countries. Fifth, concepts and approaches were transferable to the local context and widely adopted by locally based stakeholders. Lastly, the focus on advocacy, documentation, and knowledge-sharing has benefited stakeholders at the local and national levels. Knowledge sharing facilitated the creation of accountability mechanisms conducive to sustaining targeted programs for children.

Objectives

However, the evaluation reports outlined several challenges to long-term sustainability. Therefore, SCN seeks a consultant to conduct a follow-up assessment to understand better the challenges and drivers of sustainability at the country level.

The consultant is expected to compare sustainability results in Cambodia, Nicaragua, and Zimbabwe against the status of selected-based phase-out evaluations, revisit the original reports, and analyze whether the predicted sustainability prospects have materialized. The assessment will focus on program activities, approaches, and results of Norad-supported programs of high interest to the Save the Children Country Offices, SCN, and locally based stakeholders. The topics will vary across national contexts and be jointly defined and signed off by SCN before evaluating their respective value in understanding what drives long-term sustainability.

The re-assessment is not intended to comprehensively cover all sustainability achievements documented in the initial evaluation report. Instead, SCN is for thoroughly evaluating jointly selected topics and sound recommendations for phasing out programs in the future.

In Mozambique, the consultant is expected to assess the sustainability planning process.

Five days of fieldwork are expected in Cambodia and Zimbabwe. Remote interviews/focus groups are expected to be conducted with stakeholders in Mozambique and Nicaragua.