Evaluation of the Preventing and Responding to Gender Based Violence in Jordan Program (WAGE Jordan)

Evaluation of the Preventing and Responding to Gender Based Violence in Jordan Program (WAGE Jordan)

Program:

Preventing and Responding to Gender Based Violence in Jordan (WAGE Jordan)

Type:

End line Evaluation

Purpose:

To measure the program’s effectiveness in three areas: (1) improving CSOs’ and CBOs’ organizational capacity to provide support services to women and girls experiencing or at risk of experiencing GBV; (2) whether individual capacity building (i.e. trainings, mentorship) has resulted in specific changes at the organizational level; and (3) what outcomes these may have had with women in specific communities of focus.

Primary Methodology:

Performance Evaluation and/or Outcome Evaluation

Period of Performance:

October 2, 2020 – June 30, 2022 (evaluation to cover period through May 31, 2022)

Consultant: April 15 – June 30, 2022

The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) is a non-profit organization that implements legal reform programs in roughly 50 countries around the world. ABA ROLI has nearly 500 professional staff working abroad, and in its Washington, D.C. office. ABA ROLI’s host country partners include judges, lawyers, bar associations, law schools, court administrators, legislatures, ministries of justice and a wide array of civil society organizations, including human rights groups.

ABA ROLI is seeking a Program Evaluator for its Preventing and Responding to Gender Based Violence in Jordan program, one of ten initiatives under the Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) Program.

Background

WAGE is a global consortium to advance the status of women and girls, led by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in close partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Grameen Foundation, and Search for Common Ground (Search). WAGE works to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations and private sector organizations (PSOs) in target countries to improve the prevention of and response to gender-based violence; advance the women, peace, and security agenda; and support women’s economic empowerment. In this context, WAGE provides direct assistance to women and girls, including information, resources, and services they need to succeed as active and equal participants in the global economy and public life. WAGE also engages in collaborative research and learning to build a body of evidence of relevant promising practices in these thematic areas. To account for the deeply interconnected nature of women’s and girls’ experiences, WAGE’s initiatives employ approaches that are highly collaborative, integrated, and inclusive. WAGE is funded by the U.S. Department of State Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI).

The Preventing and Responding to Gender Based Violence in Jordan (WAGE Jordan) Program is a 21-month multi-disciplinary program led by WAGE lead partner ABA ROLI. Launched in 2020, the program’s goal is to improve prevention efforts and coordinated response to gender-based violence (GBV) in Jordan. The program aims to enhance technical expertise and coordination among community-based GBV providers in select regions for high-quality, survivor-centered, trauma-informed, targeted, and holistic solutions, and evidence-based preventive remedies for women and their families. ABA ROLI supports partner organizations in strengthening their management of cases, approach to evidence-based programming, and outreach to inform communities of available services for GBV survivors. Specifically, the program has three objectives:

· Objective 1: Enhance the organizational and technical skills of Jordanian CSOs, including the creation of linkages among organizations and with government entities, to support women and girls at risk of or experiencing GBV in times of relative stability and crisis. Under this objective, ABA ROLI built knowledge and skills of civil society organizations (CSOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) to address complex issues faced by survivors of GBV, as well as helped them to create links with organizations that provide economic, legal, medical, and psychosocial services for GBV survivors and women and girls at risk of GBV across the country.**

· Objective 2: Provide holistic, individualized, and trauma-informed assistance to women and girls at risk of or experiencing GBV. Under this objective, ABA ROLI supported partner CSOs in Jordan in providing direct assistance and referrals to women and girls at risk of or experiencing GBV. This included activities effective in an environment where movement is limited, such as in the current COVID crisis. In addition to supporting services, ABA ROLI worked with partners to ensure they are systematically collecting data as part of their work.**

· Objective 3: Raise public awareness about GBV and available services. Under this objective, partners received social media training to support GBV outreach. Partners are also developing awareness raising tools and products for dissemination in their communities.**

The Program’s Theory of Change indicates that:

· IF Jordanian CSOs have improved capacity to raise community awareness about GBV and provide holistic, individualized, client-centered, and trauma-informed services to women experiencing or at risk of GBV in times of relative stability and crisis,

· THEN efforts to prevent GBV, protect survivors, and build their long-term resilience will be more effective and sustainable.**

Evaluation Purpose, Scope, and Objectives:

The evaluation is commissioned by ABA ROLI’s Global Programs Division (WAGE team) and MENA Divisions to assess the following:

(1) The program’s effectiveness in improving CSO and CBO organizational capacity to provide support services to women and girls experiencing or at risk of experiencing GBV;

(2) Whether individual capacity building (i.e. trainings, mentorship) has resulted in specific changes at the organizational level; and

(3) What outcomes, if any, these may have had with women in specific communities of focus.

The evaluation is commissioned as part of WAGE’s commitment to the program-wide Learning Agenda and will provide useful information for key stakeholders on possible future programming in this area.

Primary users of this evaluation are ABA ROLI, S/GWI, and WAGE program partners in Jordan.

The evaluation will cover 18 months of program implementation, from October 2, 2020 to May 31, 2022, and will adopt a performance evaluation approach using mixed methods to assess the effectiveness of trainings, mentoring, and other capacity building efforts, as well as observed outcomes or changes in target communities.

The evaluation will address the following questions:

· To what extent have the capacities of CSOs and CBOs improved in knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) for inclusivity as a result of program-supported training, mentorship activities, and workshops?**

· Has individual capacity building (trainings, mentorship) resulted in specific changes at the organizational level?**

· How have specific communities and populations targeted through the program been positively impacted by observed changes (if any)?**

*The feasibility of reaching individuals in these communities will be determined with the team during the evaluation inception phase.

Additionally, the evaluation will measure progress against project indicators and targets, assessing to what extent planned program outcomes were achieved and whether there were any unanticipated outcomes.**

Other questions the evaluation may ask include:

· Does the project, by providing capacities to these CSOs and CBOs, address dire reach and access issues of the most vulnerable women and girls in Jordan?**

· Are there indications (proxies or leads that show) that CSOs and CBOs supported under the program would be able to sustain awareness of women’s rights in communities of focus?**

Deliverables

All deliverables must be written and presented in English. However, it is anticipated that data collection in the form of surveys, interviews, and discussions will be conducted in Arabic.

· An inception report/work plan prepared in consultation with relevant ROLI staff that includes design and methodology, data collection activities and analysis, and a clearer description of the scope of the evaluation based on feasibility and purposes stated for the Program.

· Relevant tools for data collection and collated data.

· Draft evaluation report that includes preliminary findings, conclusions, and recommendations. ABA ROLI will review and submit comments and suggested revisions.

· A final evaluation report, including an executive summary, an explanation of the evaluation methodology with its limitations, the findings, conclusions and recommendations, appendices that contain the data analysis collection and analysis tools used.

· Evaluation brief, which will include findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the evaluation and be discussed during final meeting with ABA ROLI team.

· Databases with machine-readable information that have the quantitative data collected in the evaluation, mostly created from surveys carried out during the evaluation.

Professional qualifications, experience and expertise required for the evaluation consultant

The consultant should be proficient in conducting outcome evaluations and in the context of the program.

The consultant must have:

· At least a master’s degree in public policy or administration, social or political science, or other related field with no less than seven years of experience conducting program evaluation OR a bachelor’s degree in these same fields with more than 10 years of experience in conducting program evaluations.

· Must have previous experience in conducting evaluation in Jordan; experience conducting evaluations with civil society organizations (CSOs), particularly on GBV programs or women’s and girls’ empowerment, required.

· Must have excellent English and Arabic communications and writing skills.

· Must demonstrate proficiency in the use of MS Office and other applications for online surveys and data analysis.

Supervision of the consultant’s work

The consultant will report directly to the WAGE Director. The consultant must provide all deliverables defined in these terms of reference. At the request of the WAGE Director, the consultant may be required to deliver intermediate milestones (such as notes, outlines, drafts for review, etc.) in addition to deliverables that are listed. Payment will be tied to successful completion of all deliverables according to acceptable quality standards as determined by the WAGE Director.