- Context and justification
The political-military crisis in the CAR has resulted in the destruction of productive assets and the displacement of populations in displacement sites and fields.
Located respectively in Ouaka and Haute Kotto, the sub-prefectures of Ippy and Bria are shaken by multiple security incidents, armed clashes and / or military operations, putting the lives of many populations at risk, forcing them to leave their usual localities to IDP sites or to host families.
This situation has further affected the socio-economic fabric and exacerbated humanitarian needs for already vulnerable populations. According to information collected from local authorities and the community, the majority of plantation fields have been abandoned or destroyed, causing an exacerbation of the fragility of food security and livelihoods.
In order to save the lives and reduce the suffering of vulnerable populations in distress, donors, the Central African government, the United Nations and the Non-Governmental Organizations provide continued assistance, despite limited resources in response to the enormous needs in all sectors.
It is within this framework that DanChurchAid (DCA), which is a humanitarian organization, has been present in Central Africa since 2015, is, conducts humanitarian interventions in the most vulnerable areas of the prefectures of Ouaka and Haute-Kotto.
In 2019, she made her first intervention in the sub-prefecture of’Ippy through the « project Emergency support to populations affected by the crisis and conflict in the area », funded by DERF, and in 2020 with the project « Emergency assistance to households most affected by acute food insecurity’ in Ippy », funded by ECHO. Then in 2021 DCA, through the funding of funds DERF implemented two projects based on food security in the sub-prefecture of’Ippy.
Thanks to the success of previous interventions, DCA obtained in 2022 a new funding from’ECHO to implement the third modification of its food security and livelihoods and sustainable solutions project entitled « Emergency food security and response to the essential non-food needs of the most vulnerable households in the Ippy sub-prefecture, Ouaka prefecture and Bria in Upper Kotto in CAR ».
In addition to agricultural inputs for households of small vulnerable producers and the accompaniment of market gardening groups, the project also made it possible to carry out three (3) monetary and food coupon distributions with the aim of’ increasing the purchasing power of the most vulnerable households and supporting them to respond to their basic food needs. Also, multisectoral cash was distributed to spontaneous/voluntary returned households to allow them in particular, the construction/rehabilitation of their habitats, the creation of’Income Generating Activities (AGR) and/or the’send children to the’school.
As part of the closure of the project after the finalization of all the planned activities, it is planned to carry out an external evaluation in the intervention areas and with the beneficiaries. The need for this external evaluation stems from DCA’s evaluation policy, according to which the evaluation decision is based on the duration and budget of the action, and, that is, humanitarian projects with a budget of more than DKK 5 million are subject to evaluation, regardless of their duration. This is to’ ensure organizational learning at the global level for best practices. The’external evaluation will be conducted by a consultant, using the 6 criteria of the’OECD-CAD to assess the relevance,’ effectiveness, efficiency,’ impact, sustainability and coherence of the’action.As part of this study, DCA will also seek to assess and analyze the level of’s achieving results within the project’s logical framework. The’assessment will mainly serve two objectives which are’learning and accountability. ’assessment will inform future programming further where lessons learned from this study will be used to reshape any other similar action. These terms of reference are therefore established to enable the’ project team to initiate recruitment of an external’un € consulta€(e).’assessment will inform future programming further where lessons learned from this study will be used to reshape any other similar action. These terms of reference are therefore established to enable the’ project team to initiate recruitment of an external’un € consulta€(e).The evaluation will further inform future programming where the lessons learned from this study will be used to reshape any other similar action. These terms of reference are therefore established to allow the project team to launch the recruitment of an external € consultation € ( e ).
- Objectives of’study
The global objective of this consultation is to EVALUATE the changes induced by the implementation of the project, not only by providing a critical and justified judgment on its performance (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, etc, impact, sustainability and coherence) but also to measure and’analyze the level of’ reaching indicators.
In specific ways it S’agira :
- Evaluate and analyse project performance (criterion’ of OECD-CAD) in general ;
- Collect, calculate and analyze the level of’ reached indicators according to the expected results, and this in all municipalities/axes of’ intervention of the project ;
- Appreciate the level of’ achievement of the objectives defined by the project ;
- Appreciate the consistency of the implementation of the project activities in view of the difficult context ;
- Collect some testimonials from people affected by the project to strengthen the results of the analyses ;
- Formulate recommendations in the direction of the’improvement of the implementation of future actions
- ’assessment questions
The consultant will pay particular attention to the following aspects :
Relevance
- To what extent have the different strategies put in place and the various activities carried out by the project to meet the needs of beneficiaries been relevant to the problems encountered by them ?
- Have there been any changes in the needs of target groups and the population in the’action area since the program was designed ?
- How does the project fit into the country’s long-term strategy for food security ?
- Efficiency :
- To what extent have the objectives of the project been achieved and what have been the successes and failures ?
- To what extent are gender issues taken into account in the programming of’action and at all stages of its implementation ?
- (iii) What are the main factors that have influenced the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives ?
- What have been the factors of success and’ failure, and what are the avenues of’improvement in order to reach a higher level of relevance and efficiency in the’implementation of future projects ?
- Efficiency :
- What are the main factors that contributed to achieving, or not, effective management of financial resources during the project ?
- Were the objectives achieved within the prescribed time frame ?
- Impact :
- What sustainable impacts or induced changes can be observed at this stage, because of the’ intervention on the beneficiaries and their environment, and, as well as on the overall goal of reducing FOOD insecurity and’ improving food diversity of smallholder farmers’ families ?
- How many people have been affected ?
- . Sustainability :
- What measures are being implemented to ensure the sustainability of the programme ?
- What are the main factors that have contributed to making the project sustainable or not ?
- Consistency :
- To what extent are the approaches used consistent, and to what extent have humanitarian principles been respected ?
- To what extent does this project contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the lessor and DCA ?
- To what extent does this project contribute to the achievement of the objectives set by the humanitarian community at the national level ( global objectives, sectoral objectives ( clusters ), etc. ) ?
- Methodology ( Approach, collection tools, sampling and data analysis )
Given the themes of the project, the objectives of the’ intervention, the expected results of the implementation of the project, a consistent methodology will have to be proposed by the/the consultant (e), and validated by the’ team MEAL and the Director of DCA Programs in Central Africa. It is expected from this approach that’elle integrates qualitative and quantitative data surveys. Furthermore, the’sampling approach will have to guarantee the good representativeness of the community according to the different levels of vulnerability (sex, status, age, etc.). A scoping meeting to discuss and jointly validate the collection tools will be organized to minimize data collection gaps.
In short, despite the participatory and inclusive nature of the’ community-centred approach that would come to be proposed, the, the following elements will be decisive in the assessment of the methodological approaches of this evaluation :
- L’sampling approach and its justification ;
- The’ method for evaluating the six (6) performance criteria ;
- The method of calculating project indicators ;
- Gender sensitivity of the’methodological approach ;
- Taking into account the collection of qualitative data via Focus Groups ;
- Taking into account cross-cutting themes’study area
This study will be conducted in the following areas :
- Subprefecture of Bria : Bria center, Ouada axis, Irrabanda axis and Ippy axis
- Ippy Subprefecture : Ippy center, Ouaka axis 2, Atongo-Bakari axis, Ndassima axis, Bria axis and Bambari axisExpected deliverables
- A start-up report containing a methodological note detailing the’ approach, the’sampling strategy, both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools that will be used in the’ report evaluation ;
- Provisional reports accompanied by’a Powerpoint presenting the first results and which will be discussed at’a workshop with the’ project team in Bria/Ippy. This interim report will be submitted to DCA no later than 5 days after the end of the mission.
- The final report with a maximum of 25 pages (annexes not included) will be submitted no later than 10 days after the end of the mission.
The final report shall include at least :
- Explanation and justification of the methodologies used for’assessment ;
- Analytical summary : independent document, written with precision and focusing on the’essential which will include the key themes of the’assessment, the most important results, conclusions, and, lessons learned and recommendations (approximately 5 pages) ;
- Introduction : purpose and scope of the’evaluation, key questions, brief description of the evaluated project ;
- Design/methodology of’evaluation ;
- Main results/constats: answers to the questions mentioned in this ToR (including the’analysis of the project and the context), assessment of the degree of’ integration of the issues of’ equity and gender in the project ;
- Conclusions (based on actual data and their analysis) ;
- Recommendations (paths of’improvement in terms of’approach/’implementation/monitoring measures) for each of the conclusions of the’ evaluation ;
- A table of implementation of these recommendations ;
- Annexes (ToR, list of persons and organisations interviewed, bibliography and documentation consulted, etc.).
Note that the final report will be validated after a maximum of two comment sessions.
IV. Note of good practices and lessons learned during the project, in the form of’ lessons learned (generalizations of conclusions to systematize their use).
VI. A cleaned database ;
Duration of’study
The duration of the mission will be 25 days.
Consultant profile
The members of the teams that claim to this consultation must hold’at least one BAC+5 level covering’one or the other of the following areas: sociology, socio-economics or food and nutrition security with excellent’ experiences in the field of’analysis gender and protection.
Experiences
- The/the Consultant(e) proposed(e) must have a perfect command of the planning, monitoring and evaluation systems of the projects, and of the socio-cultural life of the CAR ;
- Justify d’at least 5 to 10 years of’experiments in conducting similar evaluations ;
- Testifying of’a good experience in gender-sensitive statistics in particular ;
- Testify of’a good knowledge of the context and the terrain.
Functional skills
- Have a good knowledge of the humanitarian context and local issues with a strong experience working with the mechanisms and structures of financing humanitarian emergency projects’ ;
- Have competence in the field of’assessment and master qualitative approaches to collecting qualitative data (interviews, group focus) ;
- Have excellent writing skills in French, as well as’a good analytical and synthetic mind.
General skills
- Good understanding of the mandate, humanitarian norms and principles (CHS, SPHERE, etc.) ;
- Have a competence based on gender, accountability mechanisms, processes of participation, etc.
In view of the project’s themes, the’evaluation team must have a consistent background covering the areas of food safety and protection with a good mastery of cross-cutting themes (genre, environment).
Right
Ownership of the various reports produced as well as all tools and other materials produced as part of this consultation belong exclusively to DCA. Therefore, any document related to this consultation can only be shared by DCA or with the express permission of its Country Director.
Selection process
Consultants and’ study firms interested in this study will have to send a technical proposal and a financial proposal to DCA. These proposals will be reviewed and analysed by a selection committee to be set up for this purpose. In addition to the profile, knowledge and experiences in similar studies, the’existence of’a specific expertise in quantitative data collection, and especially in statistical analysis, is, will be decisive for the choice of the/consultant (e). As well as the global understanding of the mission, the’ methodological approach integrating the security context, the’sampling and the relevance of the tools.
How to apply
- Conditions for submission to tender:
Technical and financial offers must be sent by 01 March 2024 to the following address tamo@dca.dk, junt@dca.dk, nana@dca.dk, toma@dca.dk, etc, Subject: External evaluation ECHO 2023/DCA-CAR