Mid Term Evaluation (MTE) of the Talo Wadaag (Phase II) Programme

A. Introduction

The Talo Wadaag (phase II) programme is being implemented by a consortium comprised of Interpeace, Puntland Development Research Center (PDRC), Academy for Peace and Development (APD) and Heritage Institute of Policy Studies (HIPS). The programme seeks a team of consultants to conduct a mid-term evaluation. The evaluation is expected to assess the programme’s performance and results to date, and its contribution to and progress towards the intended outcomes. It is also expected to identify strengths and weaknesses as well as lessons learned to provide recommendations for ensuring programme effectiveness and efficiency, adapting to changes in the political context, as well as maximising programme impact. The evaluation will commence from the end of March 2024 for a period of 40 working days, including a minimum of 20 days across the programme’s target locations of Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug and Benadir.

B. Background

The Talo Wadaag (phase II) programme (1st December 2021-31st December 2025) is currently in its second phase and is funded by Sida. The programme was established to contribute towards addressing contextual needs and challenges identified in Somalia and Somaliland that limit the social contract required to sustain statebuilding processes. Some of these challenges can be evidenced through the limited nature of dialogue and consensus building at the political levels; limited inclusivity and meaningful involvement of women, youth and minority groups in formal reconciliation and democratisation processes; and inadequate policy frameworks with limited enforcement capacities. Due to these challenges, public trust of formal governance institutions at all levels needs to be sustained and continually cultivated to increasingly build the legitimacy and spheres of influence of those institutions beyond urban locations. All these challenges necessitate strengthening citizen engagement in the on-going and emerging statebuilding processes, which is the underlying focus of the Talo Wadaag programme. It is against this background that the second phase of the programme was conceptualised.

The overall goal of programme is to strengthen Somali citizen engagement in governance, conflict prevention and management. This goal continues to be aligned with the current contextual needs in both Somalia and Somaliland. To achieve this goal, the following outcomes continue to guide programme implementation:

• Outcome 1: Increased participation and ownership of governance processes in Somalia and Somaliland.
• Outcome 2: Increased inclusion of women, youth and marginalised groups in governance, conflict prevention and management.
• Outcome 3: Sustainable conflict transformation at the community and state levels.
• Outcome 4: Regional and international strategies for peace and development are more informed by evidence of effective peacebuilding practices and resilience.

The Theory of Change (ToC) of the programme acknowledges the need to review and work on both sides of the social contract, which entails strengthening the roles of both the Somali decision makers, as one key strand of the social contract, and the Somali constituents, as the other strand of the social contract. Working concurrently on both strands is important for strengthening the overall Somali social contract. For example, to build and sustain public trust of formal institutions and the processes they undertake, Somali decision makers need to consider the needs of all their key constituents during policy development and policy implementation. On the other hand, for the policies to be impactful, Somali constituents at all levels need to understand what is entailed in the policy provisions and actively participate in policy implementation. This is a concurrent process that the programme advances in all its undertakings within the target locations.

C. Justification and Objectives

The main objectives of the evaluation are:

• To assess programme progress towards intended outcomes.
• To identify management, technical and performance challenges and gaps and provide recommendations for improvement.
• To identify strengths, weaknesses, deviations as well as lessons learned from programme implementation to date.
• To provide recommendations for ensuring programme effectiveness and efficiency, adapting to changes in the political context, as well as maximising programme impact.

D. Timeframe, Methodology and Deliverables

The anticipated duration of the evaluation is between 40 working days, including a minimum of 20 days for field consultations across the programme’s target locations of Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug and Benadir. The anticipated start date is end of March 2024 with submission of the final report in mid-May 2024. The final timeframe will be agreed upon with the selected consultants.

The evaluators are expected to use participatory evaluation methodologies, which may include but are not limited to, Outcome Harvesting, Theories of Change, Contribution Mapping/Contribution Analysis. The interviewers are expected to conduct interviews and focus group discussions, self-efficacy assessments and other activities they see fit. The methodology used should also be gender sensitive, conflict sensitive and respect the principles of Do No Harm. The evaluation will be both an objective and a consultative/participatory exercise:

The table below presents the anticipated deliverables for the evaluations.

While the Talo Wadaag consortium anticipates the use of the elements listed above, the list is not exhaustive. The evaluation may include additional elements and approaches as appropriate for responding to the mid-term evaluation questions. The applicant is encouraged to suggest a comprehensive methodology that includes these elements and others that the evaluators deem fit for meeting the evaluation objectives. The methodology for data collection should be described in the proposals. The final list of elements will be discussed with the selected team of consultants.

E. Key Evaluation Questions

The evaluation will be guided by the following key questions. The questions will be further refined with the selected evaluation consultants.

Relevance:

• To what extent was the overall strategy of the programme relevant for the context of peacebuilding and governance within the target locations in Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug and Benadir?
• To what extent was the intervention logic/overall strategy relevant in pursuing the programme’s vision?
• What adaptations can the programme make over the next two years to be optimally relevant to the changing Somali context? What best practices and lessons learnt from the programme should be applied in the next half of the programme?

Effectiveness and Impact

• What progress has the programme made towards expected outcomes?
• How can the programme better address contextual changes and gaps in order to ensure achievement of expected outcomes?
• To what extent has the programme integrated gender into the programme’s strategy, including addressing any gender gaps identified?

Sustainability

• What measures have the programme put in place for sustainability? Are these effective and relevant? What adaptations are needed to ensure the measures will be effective?
• How can the programme maximize sustainability for impact beyond the programme period?

Efficiency

• To what extent have the programme’s strategies and activities been sufficient for meeting the expected outcomes?
• How has the project adapted to changes in the context, emerging challenges and gaps during programme implementation?
• To what extent do the programme partners have the sufficient capacities to achieve the programme outcomes? What areas of capacity strengthening are needed to elevate programme implementation?
• What other strategies can the programme employ to maximize efficiency in meeting expected outcomes and responding to contextual challenges?

Cross cutting issues:

• How effective have the programme’s efforts to integrate gender into the programme strategy been?
• How can the programme strengthen its integration of gender to promote inclusive peacebuilding and governance?
• To what extent does the programme adhere human rights approach, the principles of Do No Harm and employ conflict sensitivity while implementing and adapting the programme strategies?

F. Reporting and feedback

The evaluators will hold feedback meeting(s) for Talo Wadaag consortium through close coordination with the lead of the consortium and Country Representative of Interpeace. This will be an opportunity to debrief on the evaluation process, and to exchange views on preliminary findings and recommendations. The evaluation report will include a main text of no more than 30 pages with findings and recommendations. The report will be expected to be structured in the following manner:

Acronyms

Executive Summary

1. Introduction and brief background.
2. Methodology.
3. Major findings:
   1. Relevance.
   2. Effectiveness and Impact (including major accomplishments to date).
   3. Efficiency.
   4. Sustainability.
   5. Cross-cutting issues.
4. Overall Assessment.
5. Challenges.
6. Best Practices and lessons learned.
7. Recommendations for improvement.
8. Annexes:
9. Terms of Reference.
10. List of documents assessed.
11. List of persons interviewed.
12. Evaluation matrix.
13. Presentation of changes identified related to programme outcomes.
14. Proposed revised logical framework.

G. Qualifications

The evaluation will be undertaken by a team of consultants. The consultants will be expected to have the following skills and experience at a minimum:

• Proven over 7 years’ experience of conducting and leading evaluations/assessments.
• Proven experience in conducting gender sensitive evaluations.
• Strong analytical skills and experience working with participatory evaluation approaches.
• Strong knowledge of and experience with conflict resolution, peacebuilding and reconciliation programmes.
• Experience working in Somalia/land and other conflict or post-conflict environments.
• Proven record of delivering professional outputs.
• A willingness to travel across Somalia and Somaliland.
• Excellent English and Somali speaking and writing skills.
• An ability to work within tight deadlines.
• Experience in data collection and analysis.
• At least a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, peacebuilding management, evaluation, social research etc.