World Renew and FH Ethiopia Terms of Reference for Program Evaluation of Brightening the future Orphan and Vulnerable Children Project (Phase 4) In three districts of South Gondar zone, Amhara region (Lay Gayint, Tach Gayint and Simada) Preamble Funded by the Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB) and World Renew, FH Ethiopia (FHE) has been implementing a two year Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program in three districts of South Gondar zone, Amhara National Regional State (ANRS). The project which will be closed by December 31, 2019 now requires an external evaluation. This Terms of Reference (ToR) is, therefore, prepared to help interested consultants grasp basic information and requirements about the upcoming evaluation process of the project. The ToR highlights the project description, project goal and objectives, the purpose of the evaluation, objectives, qualification for interested consultants along with roles and responsibilities of the awarder and the awardee. The ToR also outlines timeline and deliverables. 1. Background Founded in 1971, FH operates in 26 countries. FH began operations in Ethiopia in 1985, and has been implementing multi-sectoral programs across the Region. Currently, FHE manages food security, education, water and sanitation, health and nutrition, OVC projects, child focused community transformation and emergency relief and rehabilitation programs, among others. It operates in five regions: Amhara, SNNPR, Oromia, Benishangul Gumuz and Tigray with over 850 staff. FHE strives to work with communities to improve their living conditions through sustainable and participatory development programs. World Renew is an agency of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA), and is a Christian faith-based nonprofit working in international development and disaster response. World Renew has home offices in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA and local staff and partners working in 30 countries around the world. World Renew has enjoyed 35 years of partnership with CFGB effectively responding to hunger worldwide. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) is a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies working in conjunction with local partners to end global hunger by supporting international programs to meet immediate food needs, reduce malnutrition, and achieve sustainable food security. CFGB is one of two primary channels for the Government of Canada’s funding for food assistance. 2. Project Description This project titled “Brightening The Future Of Orphans And Vulnerable Children” is a two year (January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019) project funded by CFGB and World Renew, that has been implemented in three adjacent district towns (Lay Gayint/Nefas Mewcha town, Tach Gayint/Arbgebya town and Simada/Wogeda town) of South Gondar Zone of the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS). This program has been supported by CFGB and World Renew continuously since February 2007. FHE has completed 3 phases, which were similar to the current project with some exceptions. It is currently in the fourth phase and now requires an external evaluation as it draws to a close. The project’s objectives are to provide food and care support for the physical and social development of 1400 Orphans and Vulnerable Children affected by HIV/AIDS; as well as improve livelihood opportunities for their households. The project location in general is a designated chronic food insecure zone. There has also been a high number of Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) owing to the prevalence of HIV infections in the area in the past. The project was designed to be holistic in nature, focusing on four areas of support (food, education, health and psychosocial) for 1400 OVC (direct beneficiaries) in the three districts. The project also includes components to focus on stakeholder capacity building as well as livelihood development for the care-giving families through self-help groups and small-scale income generating activities. 3. Project Goal and objectives: Project goal/ultimate Outcome: Improved livelihood opportunities of household with children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS. Intermediate and immediate outcomes of the project: 1) Maintained OVCs school performance a. Maintained adequate food consumption for OVCs b. Maintained school attendance 2) Increased income of the household with OVCs a. Increased participation of OVCs/guardians in income generating activities (IGAs) 3) Maintained involvement of local partners in OVC care and support a. Improved participation of the community volunteers in OVC care and support b. Increased participation of the Community Care Coalition members in supporting OVC 4. Purpose of the Final Evaluation The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the performance of the project including the extent to which the interventions (which include community participation, food assistance, income generating activities, education assistance, psychosocial support, and health and hygiene promotion) as well as technical support and revolving loans have attributed to improved livelihood opportunities of households with OVC affected by HIV/AIDS. Based on this critical assessment, the evaluation will provide recommendations on the way forward, identifying the most effective interventions to be focused on in the next and final project phase in order to improve the odds of sustainability. 5. Objectives of the Final Evaluation The specific objectives of the evaluation are to: 1) Critically assess and measure the extent to which the project outcomes are achieved as well as the sustainable replication of the project outcomes 2) Determine whether or not the project outcomes, indicators, activities and inputs have contributed to achieving the project goal and sustainability of the goal and final outcomes. 3) Examine the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, opportunities, and best practices of the project design, implementation and sustainability of impacts. 4) Explore whether the project addresses gender gaps in comparison to the TRAIN gender analysis done for the region; and recommend opportunities for integration of gender elements in the next project phase (ranging from gender sensitive to, transformative to gender justice). To this end some of the overarching questions to be answered through the evaluation process are: 1) To what extent have the SACCO, community volunteers and CCC contributed to the project outcomes? How relevant and effective have the SACCOs, community volunteers and Community Care Coalitions been to ensuring project sustainability (i.e. lasting benefits)? 2) Which project activities need to be ramped up to enable sustainability of the project outcomes and goal? What are the enabling factors and barriers? 3) Has the project attributed to achieving the project goal? What factors make the project design the best solution? Which parts of the project design need improvement, redesign or termination in the next project phase? 4) How culturally, socially and economically acceptable are the project activities to the beneficiaries with respect to their values and priorities? 5) How cost efficient is the intervention in its use of resources? 6) To what extent did the intervention incorporate gender aspects into its design and implementation? What gender based impacts were seen? What opportunities are present for further gender integration? 6. Methodology The consultant/evaluation team should consider appropriate quantitative and qualitative/participatory methods in the design of their evaluation methodology. The quantitative data will be collected from samples of households and secondary sources such as periodical project reports. Using flexible or semi- structured data collection tools, qualitative information will be collected through focus group discussions, discussion with partner offices, in-depth or key informant interviews and field observation. Such discussion groups must include beneficiaries, families/guardians, Community Care Coalition, Voluntary Care Givers, Voluntary Teachers, and SACCOs. Key informants will include technical support staff, relevant stakeholder and subject experts (e.g. gender or credit and loans groups as deemed relevant). 7. Qualifications and Skills: Criteria for Selection The consultant is required to have rich research experience and technical background in designing and evaluating economic livelihoods programs. Expertise in related practices for economic livelihood improvement is essential - Savings and Loan Associations, market linkages, micro-finance, and related cooperative approaches. Practical experience on OVC managed and HIV related programs/projects is also desirable. In reality, the final evaluation process is a dynamic process that calls for demonstrated ability to cater to the needs and achieve expected results by potential consultants. It requires strong pragmatic experience in the field realizing the ever increasing quality demanded from such service providers. World Renew and FHE would like to invite consultants with the following minimum qualifications to take part: ● Eligible lead consultants should comprise of professional/s in the area of public health, economics, demography, sociology, gender studies or other relevant social science fields of study with proven work experience; ● A minimum of Post Graduate degree (MSc., MPH or MA.) is required; ● 5 or more years of experience in the consulting industry/ in conducting external evaluations related to livelihood improvement (Savings and Loan Associations, market linkages, micro-