HelpAge International is hiring an evaluator within the project “Emergency Food Support to Refugees residing in RACs in Moldova”

Terms of Reference

to select an evaluator within the project

“Emergency Food Support to Refugees residing in RACs in Moldova”

WFP – Humanitarian Assistance Program

Requested services: Assessment services- to determine the relevance and fulfillment of objectives, through the Development Assistance Criteria (DAC) of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of the projects

Place: Republic of Moldova, Chisinau

Applicant (employer): HelpAge International, Moldova

Type of contract: Contract for the provision of services for a specified period

Estimated working period: December 2022

I. The organization

HelpAge Moldova is part of the global network of HelpAge organizations, with a presence in 85 countries around the world, working with and for older people.

II. Background

The invasion of Ukraine on the 24 February 2022 triggered one of the fastest-growing displacements and humanitarian crises on record, forcing millions to be displaced internally or flee Ukraine as refugees in search of safety. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Republic of Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, with a population of only 2.59 million, received the largest number of refugees per capita of the population either crossing through its border (500,000 refugees) or remaining for sheltering in Moldova which as per estimates of November 2022, constitutes approximately 95,000 refugees.

III. Description of the project

To respond to the basic needs of refugees, the Moldovan authorities established 90 Refugee Accommodation Centers (RACs) across the country. The RACs aim to provide accommodation and hot meals to refugees. HelpAge started implementing the food security programme in April 2022 in cooperation with World Food Programme (WFP) and Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC).

IV. Scope of the evaluation

The main objective of this evaluation is to provide HelpAge with an assessment of the HelpAge projects financed by WFP through three different field level agreements. The aim is to determine the relevance and fulfillment of objectives, through the Development Assistance Criteria (DAC) of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of the projects. The evaluation should provide information that is evidence-based, credible and useful, enabling the incorporation of lessons learned into the future decision-making processes of HelpAge and the donor.

V. Evaluation criteria and questions

The evaluation is expected to assess the performance of the project against key parameters including the project’s relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability/replicability, timelines of project implementation, disaggregation by gender, age, and disability, as well as its strengths and weaknesses, positive or negative changes.

VI. Schedule

This assignment is expected to begin by 1 December and shall be accomplished no later than 20 December 2022. Bidders will provide an evaluation workplan detailing the number of working days required per evaluation activity (see below table).

Evaluation activities

Suggested Schedule

Review of program activities, implementation policies and reporting mechanisms, based on available documentation

Development of an Inception Report, outlining the methodology for data collection and analysis

Data collection

Analysis of program performance based on the five DAC criteria and the corresponding research questions listed above

Drafting of the Final Evaluation Report

Finalization of the Final Evaluation Report, taking into account HelpAge comments on its quality and accuracy

The consultant will be expected to meet weekly with HelpAge management staff to provide updates on the evaluation timeframe. This can be done either by phone or in person.

VII. Deliverables

The following deliverables will be provided to HelpAge representative in Moldova. All deliverables will be submitted in electronic version, Word/Windows compatible format and in English.

Deliverables

Deadline

Inception Report -To be delivered no later than December 6th 2022

Draft Final Evaluation Report -To be delivered no later than December 16th 2022

Final version of the Final Evaluation Report -To be delivered no later than December 20th 2022

For all deliverables, the expert is expected to underline factual statements using evidence, and to comment on any deviation.

VIII. Expertise required

The consultant should meet the following criteria:

• A developed understanding of at least one area of technical expertise identified by HelpAge for development and humanitarian programming (health and nutrition; livelihoods and food security; protection and inclusion);
• Strong knowledge and/or demonstrated experience in designing and conducting similar monitoring and evaluation activities in insecure contexts is required
• Experience in project Monitoring and Evaluation
• Substantial experience of planning and managing humanitarian programmes with

demonstrable competence in programme development and monitoring of outcomes and impact;

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• Knowledge of the Eastern Europe region;