Consultant – Final Evaluation of TAGHIR-SIDA Programme – Iraq or Remote

Background:

Mercy Corps works in places of transition, where conflict, disaster, political upheaval, or economic collapse present opportunities to build more secure, productive, and just communities. Providing emergency relief in times of crisis, we move quickly to help communities recover and build resilience to future shocks and promote sustainable change by supporting community-led and market-driven initiatives. Recognizing both the great potential and the complex challenges faced by the Middle East, since 1989 Mercy Corps has been implementing a range of humanitarian assistance and development programs tailored to the specific needs of the region and of those communities where we work. Mercy Corps has worked across Iraq’s 18 governorates since 2003, implementing relief and development programming, more than a third of which has focused on the specific needs of refugees and displaced persons.

Purpose/Project Description:

Mercy Corps’ Promoting Resilience for Returnees and Host Communities in Ninewa (TAGHIR) programme, funded by SIDA and implemented in partnership with Mercy Hands, is a three-year initiative to facilitate a peaceful environment and the well-being of returnees and host communities in heavily conflict-affected districts of Ninewa governorate (Mosul, Tel-Kaif and Sinjar) through psychosocial resilience, social cohesion, and livelihood restoration.

The TAGHIR program employs a multi-sectoral approach that goes beyond addressing immediate humanitarian needs and focuses on long-term engagement to provide a sense of stability, community, ownership, and hope for the future. The programme is centered on a community-driven approach facilitated through the establishment of Adolescent and Youth Friendly Spaces (AYFS), which serve as the hubs for program activities and are operated by Mercy Hands (MH), MH is a local partner which was identified and contracted by MC. All of the coaches and participants of the AYFS are from diverse backgrounds, and the inclusion of women, girls and people with disabilities is ensured across all activities. These activities are designed around the following three outcomes:

Outcome 1: Improved psychosocial well-being for vulnerable adolescents and youth aged.

Outcome 2: Increased social cohesion between communities, including greater inclusion of women and youth.

Outcome 3: Increased economic resilience of youth through enhanced livelihood opportunities.

Consultant Objectives & Activities: The consultant will:

• Determine the program’s overall impact, including the program’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability, as well as to identify specific areas for improvement and learning from expected and unexpected program outcomes.
  • The evaluation’s findings will be shared with key stakeholders (program, donor, and HQ staff of Mercy Corps) to inform future programming and support the development of objectives and strategies for multi-sectoral programming in Iraq. Mercy Corps strongly recommended that data be collected in person, with the full support of the Mercy Corps’ MEL team in Ninewa.
• Deliver a proposal narrative results framework, indicator plan showing 90 indicators (which outlines data collection for each indicator), program target achievement sheet and program work plan will be shared with the service provider.
  • As requested, and/or needed, other information such as donor reports, learning research reports and other review results will be shared with the service provider to support a better understanding of program interventions and results.
• Deliver a comprehensive evaluation report with a first draft submitted for review on 27 September 2022. Note that these are estimated and/or anticipated deadlines.

Consultant Objectives: The consultant will:

1. Following desk review of relevant program documents including proposals, implementation plans, strategy documents, and existing databases/datasets, consultant will develop an Inception Report, outlining evaluation design (including the reduced list of questions to be answered), methodologies, data analysis plan, and including creation of all evaluation tools, as well as work plan with GANTT chart.
2. Inception report along with all deliverables of the inception phase including the evaluation instruments and their translation Arabic and Kurdish (Kurmanji) is finalized with MC’s feedback incorporated.
3. Oversee data collection and analysis (data should be disaggregated by gender, location, and ethnicity, PWD), including hiring (if needed) and training of enumerators as well as pre-testing data collection instruments.
4. Encode and analyze all collected data, and share the complete dataset, as well as analysis tables, with the Mercy Corps’ Iraq MEL team. (Mercy Corps can support with translation needs as necessary – please note the responsible party in the bid documentation)
5. Prepare Draft Evaluation Report, including Executive Summary
6. Finalize Evaluation Report, incorporating Mercy Corps feedback. Prepare a separate slide deck summarizing key findings and lessons learned.
7. Conduct presentation (in English) of findings/learning event for key Mercy Corps personnel

Timeframe/Schedule: September 2022 (estimated 23 days)

The Consultant will report to: Country MEL Manager or Deputy MEL Manager The Consultant will work closely with: program participants Program Manager, program participants Program team, and MEL Team members

Required Experience & Skills: Interested applicants should have 5-10 years of experience in a relevant technical field. Please submit a technical and financial proposal to Mercy Corps (not more than 20 pages) including the following:

1. Organization profile, including a list of similar assignments with INGOs and CVs of key evaluation team members (see page limit in point 2 for total proposal). 2. Technical proposal (ideally using the Mercy Corps template Concept Note document) including methodology and its responsiveness to the Scope of Work that is no lengthier than 10 pages.

3. At least one sample Evaluation Report or similar assessment (preferably in Iraq)

4. Project timeline/work plan

5. Full financial proposal including a detailed budget with all associated expenses (including a breakdown of international and national flights, accommodation, data collection etc.)

Mercy Corps will evaluate technical and financial proposals and award the assignment based on technical and financial feasibility following the scoring in the table below. Mercy Corps reserves the right to accept or reject one or all proposals received without assigning any reason and is not bound to accept the lowest or the highest bidder. Only those shortlisted will be contacted. Any subcontracting under this evaluation consultancy will not be accepted.

Applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Organization Profile: 10% Technical Proposal, including methodology and its responsiveness to SOW: 20% Technical expertise and experience of assessment team (based on CVs provided): 20% One similar sample report: 10% Timeline.Work Plan: 10% Price/Cost: 30%

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.