Final Evaluation Consultant (Drought, Flash Floods and COVID-19 Response)

Job Summary:

Purpose: The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the extent of which Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS)’s response and IFRC’s support to ARCS in the 2019 Drought and Flash Floods and COVID-19 response operations achieved their collective goals and objectives of providing effective and efficient humanitarian assistance to the affected population.

Audience: Afghan Red Crescent Society, IFRC in Afghanistan, Kuala Lumpur and Geneva, in-country partner National Societies, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), external partners, and other actual and future partners.

Commissioners: Afghan Red Crescent Society Secretary-General, IFRC Head of Afghanistan country office.

Reporting to: Evaluation Management Team

Duration: 33 working days

Timeframe: November 2020 to January 2021

Location: Afghanistan (Balkh, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, and Nangarhar)

Programme Overview

IFRC Afghanistan country office intends to support ARCS in evaluating two operations implemented by ARCS during the course of 2019 and 2020. These two operations are 1) Drought and Flash Floods emergency appeal, and 2) COVID-19 response.

Purpose of the Evaluation

The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the extent to which these two operations achieved their goals and objectives of providing effective and efficient humanitarian assistance to the affected population. The evaluation will be used by in-country Red Cross Red Crescent Movement partners and external stakeholders to inform future design and operation of similar humanitarian interventions. 

Duties & Responsibilities:

Objectives and Key Evaluation Questions

The objectives of the evaluation are:

1. To assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of the operations in terms of assessments, targeting and service delivery to targeted beneficiaries.
2. To assess the sustainability of ARCS and IFRC’s contribution towards strengthening National Society response capacity.
3. To document the best practice, challenges and lessons learnt from the implementation of the two emergency operations.

The key evaluation questions for each objective:

The consultant/consultancy firm will develop process, methods and questionnaires for the evaluation in consultation with ARCS and IFRC team based on the above objectives. The sample questions (outlined under the Annex 1 section below) need to be adjusted based on the situation/operation, in agreement with the evaluation management team (EMT) and outlined in the inception report.

Scope of the evaluation

The evaluation will cover implementation of response activities (emergency food security including cash and food distributions, health, WASH, infection prevention control (IPC), protection, gender and inclusion (PGI)) under both operations in five provinces: Balkh, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar and Nangarhar. Target groups for the evaluation will include:

• IFRC programme representatives in Kabul
• ARCS leadership team in Kabul
• ARCS senior programme management team in Kabul
• ARCS staff in ARCS Regional and Branch Offices
• Government representatives at the provincial and district levels
• CDC (Community Development Council) representatives including elders, and other community representatives
•  ARCS volunteers
• Direct and indirect beneficiaries of the activities implemented under both operations

Evaluation Design and Methodology 

The methodology will adhere to the IFRC Framework for Evaluation, with particular attention to the processes upholding the standards of how evaluations should be planned, managed, conducted and utilized.

Applicants to this consultancy should detail their technical approach to the evaluation, proposing a clear design and a subsequent methodology that should link with the financial components of the proposal.

The specific evaluation methodology will be detailed in close consultation between the consultant/consultancy firm, EMT, Commissioners, and relevant key stakeholders, but will draw upon the following mixed methods, conducting both quantitative and qualitative data collection:

• Desktop review of relevant organizational and operational background documents and history relating to ARCS and IFRC, including national policies and SOPs, prior ARCS and IFRC reports, and any relevant sources of secondary data, such as exit surveys, post-distribution monitoring (PDM) reports, needs assessment reports, learning review reports and other evaluations / reviews from ARCS, IFRC and other actors in Afghanistan.
• self-administered questionnaires and interview-administered questionnaires with women, men and children.
• Field visits / observations at intervention locations.
• Key informant interviews with institutional representatives, beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries as appropriate.
• Focus group discussions with institutional representatives, beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries as appropriate.
• Case studies combining both quantitative and qualitative data.

The detailed evaluation design is to be created by the consultant/consultancy firm; however, the following should be considered:

• Sampling method is to be decided by the consultant/consultancy firm, but at minimum, the final sample should include both ARCS and IFRC personnel involved in the response interventions and the ‘most vulnerable’ beneficiaries.
• Data collection methods and pace are to be decided by the consultant/consultancy firm, in consultation with the EMT but should consider the reality of difficult-to-reach districts.
• The consultant/consultancy firm should visit a representative number of communities in the operation areas. The consultant/consultancy firm will be responsible to clearly outline the support needed in-country. This will be agreed with EMT based on resources available.

Evaluation Management Team

An evaluation management team will be appointed to manage and oversee the evaluation and ensure that it upholds the IFRC Framework for Evaluation. The EMT will consist of three members i.e., one from ARCS, one from IFRC Afghanistan country office, and one from IFRC Asia Pacific Regional Office. Representative from IFRC Afghanistan country office will lead the EMT. 

Consultant/Consultancy Firm Roles and Responsibilities

• Training data collection team and pre-testing of data collection tools.
• Overseeing data collection.
• Data entry/analysis.
• Travel to provinces of Afghanistan.
• Developing processes and tools.
• Developing evaluation implementation plan.
• Conducting key informant interviews.
• Developing evaluation reports and presentations.
• Develop and submit the first draft of the evaluation report and debriefing to IFRC and ARCS.
• Develop an inception report, detailing the evaluation design, methodology, tools and work plan schedule to carry out the assignment in coverage areas.
• Coordinate collection of data, and its entry into a suitable platform for cleaning and analysis. Analyze and interpret the findings.
• Submit the final evaluation report to IFRC country office. The raw data, the data-base which has been cleaned (both qualitative and quantitative, including original field notes for in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, as well as recorded audio material), and data collection tools used in the evaluation should be submitted together with the report. A simple inventory of material handed over will be part of the record. IFRC has sole ownership of all final data and any findings shall only be shared or reproduced with the permission of IFRC.

Deliverables

The following will be provided by the consultant:

• Inception report to include details of methodology, tools and timeline/ work plan for the evaluation, after incorporating feedback from stakeholders, on data collection tools and the evaluation methodology among others. This will be approved by the Evaluation Management Team.
• Draft and final evaluation report(s). Page limit is approx. 30 pages (excluding annexes). The report to be provided in IFRC’s template and include the below outline:
• A presentation to IFRC country office and ARCS management in Kabul of the main findings collected during the work in the field.
• Final data set upon which the evaluation analysis was based, for both quantitative and qualitative components to be submitted to IFRC country office team.
• Maximum of two pages of evaluation summary report and one paged annex rapid catch indicators and values/figures.
• A PowerPoint presentation that includes a summary of the evaluation report (including process, findings and recommendations).

Job Requirement:

The consultant/consultancy firm should have/be:

• Previous demonstrable experience in conducting project evaluations in humanitarian and development contexts
• Significant experience in conducting evaluations related to multi-components Food Security, Livelihood, Health, WASH, DRR, and Protection programming.
• Previous experience in Afghanistan is highly favorable.
• Master’s degree in social science or relevant field.
• Previous demonstrable experience in conducting FGDs, interviews, etc.
• Fluency in Dari and Pashto
• Excellent English communication skills (writing and speaking)
• Afghan national, preferably

Job Location: