Peace Corps / Guyana CONTRACTOR STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW) For PERFORMANCE EVALUATION UNDER THE USAID/PEACE CORPS SMALL PROJECT ASSISTANCE (SPA) PROGRAM Peace Corps/Guyana seeks a contractor to conduct an evaluation of 22 Peace Corps Volunteer community-based projects completed under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Peace Corps Small Project Assistance (SPA) Program in Guyana. The evaluation will examine the extent to which the SPA Program in Guyana has met its goal of local capacity-building to address community needs in the Education, Health and Environment sectors. Background Since 1983, the Peace Corps and USAID have partnered under the SPA program, which allows communities and Peace Corps Volunteers to implement small-scale grant projects, as well as attend capacity-building trainings. USAID funds the SPA Program under a Participating Agency Program Agreement (PAPA), which is in its fourth phase, called the SPA IV Agreement signed in September 2012. The program supports nearly 50 Peace Corps posts around the world. In 2014, Peace Corps/Guyana and USAID/Barbados began partnering under this agreement. This will be the first evaluation in Guyana since the inception of the partnership. Under the current SPA IV agreement, Peace Corps/Guyana has implemented and completed 22 small grants and two trainings in the program areas of Basic Education and Workforce Development. (See Appendix C). The purpose of the SPA Program is to build the capacity of host country individuals, organizations, and communities to meet their own development needs and priorities. Peace Corps places Volunteers in communities for two years, where they work with host country partners to identify concerns, develop strategies to address them, and design and implement small-scale projects. The SPA Program provides resources to Peace Corps to 1) train its Volunteers and host country partners on project design and management and 2) implement community-based projects that will result in capacity building. Purpose The evaluation will provide perspective on the projects from the people with whom the Volunteers lived and worked. It will assess the sustainability of the projects, and any activities or actions that evolved from them. Peace Corps/Guyana and USAID/Barbados staff will utilize the results of this evaluation to improve the effectiveness of the implementation of the SPA program in Guyana. The evaluation will also be submitted to Peace Corps/Washington to share best practices amongst other Peace Corps Posts implementing the SPA Program. SPA Project Performance Evaluation Study – Local Contractor SOW 1 Questions The evaluation will assess project performance by seeking answers, disaggregated by gender and age, to the following key questions: Community Ownership of SPA Projects 1. What are the results of community-led efforts associated with SPA grant activities? To what extent are these results likely to be sustained over time? 2. How and to what extent have SPA grant activities contributed toward catalyzing communities to identify, access, and mobilize local resources to meet their needs? 3. What are the common features of SPA grant activities that did and did not result in sustained local capacity to pursue community-led development? Lessons Learned and Good Practices 4. What motivates stakeholders to engage or not engage in these small scale grant projects? How can programs best be designed to build on those motivations and catalyze community-led development? 5. What opportunities do stakeholders see to continue making progress on community development priorities after SPA grant activities have ended, and what factors might prevent them from doing so? 6. Across SPA grant activities, what have been the common challenges to communities organizing for mutual benefit, and how can programs designed to catalyze community-led development help communities to address these challenges? The key questions along with sub-questions are listed in Appendix D. Methodology The contractor will evaluate 22 SPA projects completed by Peace Corps Volunteers and their community partners over fiscal years 2014-2018. The contractor will conduct secondary and primary research that includes a document review and in-person interviews with key stakeholders. A description of key stakeholders is outlined in Appendix B. Documents available for review upon award include: a. Project frameworks for education, environment and health sectors b. Strategic plans, and other documents explaining Peace Corps’ approach to development c. Global SPA Agreement and amendments d. SPA mid-year and year-end reports e. SPA Handbook for Peace Corps staff and Volunteer Handbook/Guidance f. SPA supporting materials and resources g. SPA project application and completion reports, including points of contact for each project SPA Project Performance Evaluation Study – Local Contractor SOW 2 Deliverables and Timeline In total, this evaluation will take place over a maximum of 12 weeks and will start within one month of the bid award. The expected deliverables include: Deliverable Due by Weeks Document review and initial consultations with Peace Corps/Guyana 1 Final evaluation design 2 Draft data collection tools for review with and approval by Peace 2 Corps/Guyana Pilot testing of data collection tools on one SPA grant project in Mahaica, 3 Region 4 Final data collection tools for review with and approval by Peace 3 Corps/Guyana Completed interviews with Peace Corps/Guyana staff 3-4 Completed field visits and interviews for 22 SPA projects (Appendix C). At each site, researchers will conduct 4-6 individual interviews of 20-30 4-7 minutes each. In-person briefing of field work to Peace Corps/Guyana 8 Data analysis 8-9 Draft evaluation report, three case studies and info graphic 9-10 Final evaluation report, three case studies and info graphic (electronic copies) The final report will be reviewed against the criteria identified in Appendix F The case studies should be two pages of representative projects, including 11 beneficiary and project photographs, and excerpts from interviews. See Appendix E for Case Study Guidance. The info graphic should be one page (front and back) Final in-person briefing to Peace Corps/Guyana 11 Evaluation data in an electronic file in an easy to read format that is organized and fully documented for use by those not familiar with the project or 11 evaluation In-person PowerPoint presentation at Peace Corps/Guyana 12 Final PowerPoint presentation 12 Bi-weekly progress check-ins with Small Grants Coordinator 2,4,6,8,10 SPA Project Performance Evaluation Study – Local Contractor SOW 3 Qualifications of the Contractor The Contractor for the SPA Program Evaluation must have experience serving as a prime contractor, with capability of reasonably meeting all requirements. Required Experience And Qualifications 1. Bachelors’ Degree in sociology, anthropology, psychology, community or rural development, or other related social science fields. 2. 3 years of experience implementing social science research projects in Guyana. 3. 3 years of experience conducting field interviews and using survey instruments in evaluative studies. 4. 3 years of experience conducting and writing qualitative and quantitative research/evaluation and reports. 5. 1 year of experience selecting, training and managing field staff. Preferred Experience And Qualifications 1. Masters’ Degree in sociology, anthropology, psychology, community or rural development, or other related social science fields. 2. 4 or more years of experience implementing social science research projects in Guyana. 3. 4 or more years of experience conducting field interviews and using survey instruments in evaluative studies. 4. 4 or more years of experience conducting and writing qualitative and quantitative research/evaluation and reports. 5. 2 or more years of experience selecting, training and managing field staff. Conditions of the Contract 1. The Contractor assumes costs for all travel, per diem, and accommodations that shall be included in the fixed-price contract. 2. The contractor shall work in his/her own workspace and with his/her own telecommunications and IT equipment, including adequate laptop computers for entering data into a data entry system during the field research. 3. The contractor will protect from unauthorized disclosure and use, and shall not use, release to others, reproduce, distribute or publish: a. Any Peace Corps data, not in the public domain, to which the contractor has access under this contract; b. Any data first produced or specifically used by the contractor in the performance of this contract or delivered under this contract; and/or c. Any confidential information. 4. The contractor and evaluation team members will communicate with people involved in the evaluation in a respectful and culturally appropriate manner, at all times maintaining the good reputation of Peace Corps. Upon Contract Agreement, the Peace Corps will provide the following: 1. One-half day of training on Peace Corps’ program in Guyana, Peace Corps’ approach to development, and the SPA program. 2. A complete list of fieldwork sites and an initial point of contact at each site. Additionally, the contractor may hire a research team comprised of local interviewers who will conduct the in-person interviews as stated in the deliverables. SPA Project Performance Evaluation Study – Local Contractor SOW 4 All team members will sign a statement attesting they have no conflict of interest, or describe any conflict of interest and