Terms of Reference (ToRs) Consultancy for the Evaluation of StARS Project

Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services, Cairo

Terms of Reference (ToRs) Consultancy for the Evaluation of StARS Project “Refugee community leaders – Holistic Capacity Building, strengthening of networks in Egypt” supported by Secours Catholique-Caritas France (SCCF)

Founded in 1979, StARS is a refugee service provider in central Cairo that works to enhance the quality of life for refugees and vulnerable migrants through five broad program areas: education, psychosocial, legal, community outreach and unaccompanied youth and children support services. We provide high-quality services meeting the unaddressed needs of refugees, and we provide a safe and inclusive space for displaced people to come together as a community. We work for refugees, with refugees, to make rights recognition a reality.

StARS’ Mission: Driven by a commitment to justice and fairness, StARS works as displaced people and for displaced people to respect human dignity and enhance quality of life.

StARS’ Vision: Displaced people lead in the creation and implementation of responses to different forms of migration to establish safe, just, welcoming, and inclusive communities globally.

We serve people from many places, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

To learn more please visit our website: www.stars-egypt.org or our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/standrewsrefugeeservices?fref=ts

1. Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide an independent evaluation of the implementation of the project “Refugee community leaders – Holistic Capacity Building, strengthening of networks in Egypt”, which StARS has been implementing since 1st November 2019, with the support of Secours Catholique-Caritas France (SCCF).

The Consultant hired under these ToRs will be responsible for the assessment of the project against objectives and indicators and the drafting of a report with findings and recommendations, aimed at informing the design of Phase II.

The project is currently in Phase I, and StARS is tasked with drafting a detailed project proposal (including logical framework and appropriate supporting documents) accompanied by a detailed budget, to prepare for Phase II. The Consultant will also be responsible for drafting all project documents, in close coordination with StARS Community Outreach Team.

2. Background

Egypt is a destination, transit and origin country of migration. Protection and livelihood gaps for migrants are poorly addressed at the national and local levels. Migrants face many challenges related to basic needs (housing, food, healthcare, and education), protection (psychosocial and legal support) and livelihood opportunities. The term migrant includes refugees, asylum seekers, new arrivals not yet registered, and vulnerable migrants residing in Egypt.

Refugees and vulnerable migrants tend to live in the poorer neighborhoods of Cairo, and Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) are generally based within those areas. The areas with the highest concentration of migrants are Ain Shams, Hadayek el-Maadi, 6th of October City, and Nasr City. There are different populations in different areas: for example, the largest population in 6th of October City is Syrian. This situation is problematic as the majority of services are based in Downtown Cairo, a journey which can take several hours and may be prohibitively expensive for those living on a small income. However, the majority of CBOs suffer from weak operational and institutional capacities, have a high personnel turnover, and often possess insufficient financial and managerial skills. They also lack recognition, funding, and direct access to donors, INGOs and UN agencies. The project is based on the assumption that by enhancing CBOs institutional and operational capacities, CBOs become capable of providing sustainable services to larger segments of migrants, and are better equipped to obtain funding and advocate for community needs with major international organizations. This will be done through a dual approach of (1) Capacity development; and (2) Facilitating networking among CBOs and other organizations. StARS intends to implement Phase II of this project for a duration of three years (2023-2025)

StARS is one of the few organizations in Cairo that provides high-quality services for displaced people and offers a safe and inclusive space for them to come together as a community. Through education, legal services, services for unaccompanied children and youth, and psychosocial support, StARS works with refugees and vulnerable migrants in Cairo to increase their ability to meet their basic needs. Furthermore, StARS works closely with CBOs through its Community Outreach Department since end of 2016.

The project is implemented in Greater Cairo. It is divided into two parts: Phase I (1 November 2019 to 30 November 2022), and Phase II (1 January 2023 to 30 December 2025)

This consultancy engagement is meant to evaluate the implementation of Phase I of the project until April-May 2022, as well as design Phase II (1 January 2023 to 30 December 2025).

3. Intended Impact

The intended impact of the proposed project builds on the assumption that the targeted CBOs become sustainable and capable of providing maintainable services to their communities, prepared to run projects funded directly from donors but also to advocate for migrants’ multifaceted needs with donors, partners, and decision-makers.

The assumption is that through a dual approach of (1) strengthening and developing the institutional and operational capacities of CBOs, and (2) supporting network building among CBOs, CBOs become institutionally strengthened to receive and manage funding, to provide sustainable services to migrants, and to advocate for migrants needs and rights thus ensuring that migrant voices are better represented in decision-making processes among INGOs, donors, and UN agencies.

4. Implementation Strategy

The intervention is designed as a contribution to StARS and its Community Outreach Department to deliver the project. Thanks to an EU grant (1.75m CHF / 2016 to 2020), StARS created its Outreach Department in December 2016. Currently, the Community Outreach Department provides institutional and operational capacity building, along with continuing to map emerging CBOs from different nationalities across Greater Cairo. The Department has grown since its inception to include over 50 team members who contribute to the mapping, capacity building, and networking support for CBOs.

The SCCF contribution has allowed StARS to continue building on this work. While the unique model adopted by StARS has already begun to ensure the self-sufficiency of CBOs through their leadership and operational skills, it is vital that this can be sustained after the conclusion of Phase I. StARS aims to continue to help enhancing refugee-run community-based organizations’ (CBOs) ability to provide high-quality services for their communities and to strengthen cooperation among CBOs through individual and institutional capacity-building support. StARS will also further focus on the creation of a refugee/migrant-led organizational network to increase the inclusion of those with the lived experience of displacement in response to that displacement. This materialized successfully in April 2021 with the formation of the United Refugee Network.

5. Project objectives and outcomes

The overarching goal of the program builds on the assumption that within six years the CBOs involved become sustainable and capable of providing maintainable services to their communities, prepared to run projects funded directly from donors but also to advocate for migrants’ multifaceted needs with donors, partners, and decision-makers. This will be done through (1) Capacity development – strengthening and developing the institutional and operational capacities of CBOs in migrant communities able to provide sustainable services to larger segments of the communities (2) Networking linkages among CBOs – to become a stronger community of CBOs, allow collaboration in services such as referrals, and unifying their voices to reach international donors and UN organizations. The network will work at two levels, advocacy with INGOs and the UN, and service complementarity between CBOs and other service providers. Phase II shall aim at supporting CBOs to lead on capacity building support among one another, in addition to being a part of the decision-making process with INGOs and UNHCR policy discussions.

Result 1: Emerging CBOs are mapped (Target 6 per year) and an introductory capacity building workshop series is provided, along with introductory rights awareness, well-being, or education sessions.

Result 2: a network between 25 CBOs is developed and strengthened through online and offline platforms.

Result 3: the institutional capacity of at least 20 CBOs will be enhanced through intensive capacity-building training.

Result 4: the quality of services provided by 3 CBOs are enhanced by training, workshops, and support provided by StARS.

6. Expected results in short, medium and long term

In the short term, the program will respond to the institutional and operational capacity needs of CBOs representing displaced communities in order to provide sustainable services to constituents. This will increase the number of beneficiaries served and expand the geographical outreach of the CBOs. This has been the focus through Phase I of the project. In the medium and long term, 18 to 20 CBOs will be trained and their skills will be enhanced for them to be able to establish a dialogue with donors, INGOs, and UN organizations regarding the needs of displaced people. This will potentially lead in the long term to stronger, resilient, and sustainable CBOs, able to assume their future role in providing services to migrants and to become an advocacy group representing a unified voice able to participate in policy dialogue with UN organizations, donors, and INGOs. As part of Phase I (ongoing) StARS has capacitized 12 or 20 target CBOs through training and wraparound supports provided to 24 leaders. A further 16 leaders will be similarly capacitized and deployed by the end of Phase I of the project; this work is currently ongoing.

7. Beneficiaries and outreach

Direct beneficiaries are staff of selected CBOs, who will benefit from the capacity-building measures and the building of a network. StARS selection of the designated CBOs was guided by strict criteria: 1) a CBO must have at least one physical center; 2) proven community connections among the leaders; 3) tangible services provided to the community; 4) a good reputation in their community; 5) no religious or political affiliation. Indirect beneficiaries are thousands of migrants that rely on CBOs within their communities to meet their unaddressed needs.

8. Responsibilities of the Consultant

The Consultant is tasked with (1) evaluating the implementation of Phase I of the project; (2) developing a full proposal for Phase II of this project. The Consultant shall meet with CBOs and work closely with StARS Community Outreach Department as needed.

This includes in particular:

(1) Evaluation of Phase I

● Provide a full evaluation of Phase I since the start of implementation (1st November 2019) until May 2022

● Provide a detailed analysis of the progress made thus far, and changes to context since the commencement of Phase I

● Identify lessons learned from Phase I and how this may translate into the design of Phase II.

● Elaborate on how key challenges faced during Phase I may be mitigated when implementing Phase II

(2) Phase II Full Proposal

● Draft and finalize all project proposal documents for Phase II of the project drawing from the above evaluation of Phase I. This includes a narrative proposal, logical framework, and an assessment of progress from Phase I. The Consultant may draw from the Phase I proposal.

● Elaborate a project budget for Phase II according to Secours Catholique Caritas France (SCCF) templates and standards

● Elaborate the project monitoring tools based on the jointly agreed on indicators, baseline values, and desired targets.

● Clarify on the level of outreach for the different components and description of the target group (disaggregated according to sex, age, ethnicity, etc.)

● Provide a detailed gender analysis and insert findings accordingly in the design of the different components of the project.

● Submit a structure for policy dialogue and scaling up of the project

● Update the needs assessment for CBOs which are part of the program

● Provide a mapping of major national and international actors working in the same area.

● Provide a detailed risk assessment (contextual, programmatic, and institutional risk) and formulate risk mitigation measures (to be annexed to the project document).

9. Supervision

The Consultant will work under the supervision of StARS’ Community Outreach Department Director and in close collaboration with StARS’ Executive Leadership Team and the Community Outreach Program.

10. Outputs/Expected Deliverables

**

Task Allocated Days Date Range (later date is deadline unless otherwise indicated)
Desk review 3 days
Meeting project staff and CBOs 8 days
Draft the evaluation of Phase I 4 days
Drafting and submission of detailed project proposal outline 2 days
Drafting of project proposal narrative,logical framework, gender analysis, risk assessment, stakeholder analysis,project work plan, and budget 8 days
Draft review meeting 1 day
Online meeting with concerned CBOs to discuss the main aspects of Phase I draft evaluation and Phase II draft proposal 1 day
Review draft and submit to StARS 1 day
Follow-up on additional questions/comments from StARS 1 day
Online meeting with SCCF Management and partners to present the final outcomes of the consultancy 1 day
Final submission by StARS NA
Completion 30 days

The consultant shall deliver to StARS:

· A detailed evaluation of Phase I

· A detailed project proposal outline, relying on a desk review of project and other relevant documents and meeting with staff and participants, identifying all project proposal tasks and subject areas.

· A first draft Project Proposal

· Online meeting with concerned CBOs to discuss the main aspects of Phase I draft evaluation and Phase II draft proposal

· A second and final draft Project Proposal

· A finalized Project Proposal may be delivered and ready to be shared and presented to SCCF

StARS shall provide to the Consultant:

• full access to all information it holds on refugee CBOs in Greater Cairo and will introduce the Consultant to CBO leaders as required
• all appropriate support and advice in completing the above.

11. Duration

The Consultant will be expected to work for 30 days. The proposed schedule is as follows:

12. Terms of Compensation

The Consultant will receive 20% payment upon satisfactory presentation of a detailed evaluation plan, 30% payment upon submission of the draft evaluation for Phase I (Day 15 or earlier), and 50% upon submission of the satisfactory final project documents by StARS (Day 30). The Consultant is responsible for the payment of all taxes and dues associated with the assignment.

Presence in Egypt is required for at least part of the consultancy. Some meetings may be arranged online if needed and agreed by StARS. The Consultant is required to maintain and provide a detailed timesheet showing hours and tasks. The timesheet must be submitted three times, each prior to a payment.

13. Required Expertise and Qualifications

Excellent oral and written communication in English. Arabic is an advantage.

Relevant university degree and at least five years of work experience with refugees and migrants.

Thorough and demonstrable understanding of the situation of displaced people in Egypt including the legal and protection context as well as the services provided to refugees.

Thorough understanding of StARS and its work.

Appreciation and understanding of the importance of community-based interventions.

Ability to understand the multi-cultural context of StARS and the CBO’s operations.

Proven track record of designing and delivering successful project proposals for large-scale projects including all necessary components demonstrating proficiency in logical frameworks, theories of change, MEAL and risk assessment concepts.

Financial proficiency and familiarity with activity-based budgets.