Request for Proposal: Afghanistan and Peacekeeping Program, Mid-term Program Evaluation
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Terms of Reference
CIVIC background
Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) is an international nonprofit with offices around the world working to improve protection for civilians caught in conflict zones. Our mission is to support communities affected by conflict in their quest for protection and strengthen the resolve and capacity of armed actors to prevent and respond to civilian harm. Our Theory of Change goal is to bring about a significant reduction in conflict-related civilian harm. We are advocates who believe that no civilian caught in conflict should be ignored and are advisors who provide practical solutions to preventing and responding to civilian harm. Learn more at civiliansinconflict.org.
With this Terms of Reference (TOR), CIVIC seeks to hire an organization to conduct an external mid-term program evaluation of its "Promoting the protection of civilians in conflict in Afghanistan and UN peacekeeping operations" program. The term of the current program is June 2019 - May 2022, which builds upon a previous program implemented December 2016 - May 2018.
This program has two distinct projects:
Afghanistan project; and
UN peacekeeping operations project.
Afghanistan project
CIVIC's Afghanistan program has adopted the project goal of "Improved protection policies and practices in Afghanistan." This goal will be achieved by reaching two results: "Governments and armed actors demonstrate a commitment to POC" and "Civilians are effective agents of their own protection." To accomplish these results, CIVIC will focus on three objectives (which correspond to the outputs below and in the Results Framework) under this grant.
The Afghan government and security forces fully commit to and institutionalize the protection of civilians and civilian harm mitigation in their policies and practices.
NATO's Resolute Support Mission and US forces adopt and adhere to CHM best practices in their own operations and when partnering and providing assistance to Afghan forces.
Civilians are empowered to advocate for their own protection and feel confident that their protection needs will be met by armed actors.
CIVIC's activities in Afghanistan are aimed at reducing violence and insecurity for civilians by strengthening policies and practices on POC. Our interventions are closely aligned with The Netherlands' efforts to address instability and insecurity as outlined in the DSH Theory of Change-Security and Rule of Law. CIVIC believes human security in Afghanistan can improve if civilian casualties are reduced, victims' losses are acknowledged and compensated, armed actors' behavior changes, state security providers' actions are governed by IHL and best practices on CHM, and national security policy is rooted in a civilian protection lens.
Peacekeeping project
The peacekeeping program has adopted the project goal of "Multinational organizations [UN] and missions in CAR, DRC, Mali, and South Sudan prioritize POC." This goal will be achieved by reaching the result "The United Nations, UN Member States, and UN peacekeeping operations prioritize and have improved capabilities to protect civilians." To accomplish this result, CIVIC will focus on six objectives.
The UN Secretary-General and Member States continue to prioritize the protection of civilians through UN peacekeeping, and view POC as an integral part of political strategies and solutions;
Mission planning and decision-making is linked to assessments of threats to civilians;
Peacekeeping performance is strengthened by ensuring that mandates are matched with adequate means (policies, guidance, and standards; specialized civilian and uniformed personnel that are willing and able to deliver on the mandate; tools and assets; adequate budgets and financing; and effective institutional structures and processes);
Accountability systems for mission leadership and personnel are effective and transparent;
Member States, the UN Secretariat, and peacekeeping personnel understand and begin to develop capabilities to operationalize civilian harm mitigation in peacekeeping operations; and
Communities at risk of violence are safely and effectively engaged in mission planning and activities to protect civilians.
Evaluation Objective(s)
This external mid-term evaluation, implemented as a donor requirement, is intended to assess the extent to which the projects' goals and objectives have been met and respond to several key evaluation questions. Beyond program performance, the evaluation questions are focused on both projects' advocacy results. For the purposes of this evaluation, advocacy occurs at multiple levels - community, sub-national, national, and international. Advocacy activities may be implemented by CIVIC directly or by CIVIC's partners with CIVIC's support (support many include training, capacity building, etc.).
Intended user(s) and use(s) of evaluation
This evaluation has several intended primary user groups:
CIVIC staff;
Program partners;
Program stakeholders;
Program beneficiaries; and
The government of the Netherlands.
Secondary user groups may include:
Organizational stakeholders external to CIVIC, such as other donors and advocacy targets.
CIVIC's uses of the evaluation include:
Inform program implementation going forward;
Inform the evidence base for CIVIC's activities/approaches;
Share the evaluation's findings broadly across the organization and facilitate meetings to share learnings from and apply findings; and
Contribute to CIVIC's thought leadership on protection of civilians.
Key evaluation questions
What are the program's performance and achievement to date?
Are the projects' design/logic chain/targets/assumptions holding?
What projects' results have been achieved to date (including unintended and/or negative results)?
What recommendations should be considered for implementation going forward?
Are there specific approaches or methods that can be used to measure advocacy outcomes?
Potential dimensions for inclusion in the evaluation:
Gender
Influencing
Political will
Level of implementation/results: community, national government, multinational
Contribution to outcomes
Sustainability/durability of outcomes
Effective advocacy strategies (including effective defensive advocacy)
Methodology and approach(es)
Mixed methods - qualitative and quantitative
Possible methods/approaches:
Utilization-focused
Contribution analysis
Process tracing
Outcome harvesting/outcome mapping
Network analysis
Document review (internal and external)
Key informant interviews (internal and external)
Analysis of projects' data
Roles and responsibilities
The selected organization will be responsible for conducting this evaluation, including methodological preparation, data collection and analysis, and writing of the evaluation report.
The evaluation, lead by the selected organization, will be managed internally by the Evaluation Management Team. The Team is led by CIVIC's Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor. The Team will include key CIVIC staff and a representative from the Government of the Netherlands (as program funder). They are responsible for providing input and feedback on evaluation activities and deliverables and facilitating access to documents and contacts.
Timeline and deliverables
The evaluation is expected to be completed between February 1, 2021 - May 3, 2021. All required deliverables and due dates are included the table below. The dates are tentative and will be agreed as a part of the evaluation plan.
Evaluation plan
February 15, 2021
Includes approaches, methods, data collection tools, final evaluation questions, evaluation report template, evaluation workplan, estimated LOE from CIVIC staff, etc.
Inception report
February 28, 2021
Includes what's known from existing program reports, desk review, etc.
First report draft for review and comment
April 9, 2021
Draft of evaluation report for CIVIC's review and comment
Revised draft
April 26, 2021
Final draft of evaluation report
Presentation of findings
May 3, 2021
Presentation of evaluation findings for CIVIC staff, donor, and key stakeholders
Evaluation Brief
May 3, 2021
Two-page Evaluation Brief is intended to facilitate sharing of key findings, conclusions, and recommendations
Report requirements
The data collection tools must be produced in English. The report must be written in English and copyedited by a native English-speaking editor before submission. The finalization of the Mid-Term Evaluation will require back and forth consultation and review with CIVIC. This table outlines requirements for the Mid-Term Evaluation Report.
Language
English
Report length
30 pages maximum - approximately 15 pages per project (not including annexes).
Executive Summary
Brief overview of the assessment purpose, program background, methods, findings, and recommendations for adaptations to program activities as well as lessons learned.
Methods
Summary of the assessment methodology. Disclose limitations, especially those associated with the methodology (e.g. selection bias, recall bias, etc.).
Evaluation Findings
Provide an overview of the evaluation findings. Then detail the findings for the evaluation questions.
Findings
Present findings and data as analyzed facts, evidence and supported by strong quantitative or qualitative evidence. Anecdotes from the data sources is permitted if contextualizing the evidence. Opinions or inferences by the evaluation team should be omitted.
Data
Data must be disaggregated by project. The evaluation team must provide clean data sets (both quantitative and qualitative).
Recommendations
Include recommendations for the program's management / operational, technical, and MEL teams on effective data collection and analysis, monitoring of the program, lessons surfaced through the assessment, and improvements for tools and methodologies the program can apply moving forward.
Annexes
The following annexes are required:
Terms of References
List of Evaluation Questions
Full description of Evaluation Methodologies
All evaluation tools (questionnaires, checklists, discussion guides, surveys, etc.)
Complete list of sources of information (key informants, documents reviewed, other data sources)
Other annexes as applicable
Evaluator qualities
Essential
Experience conducting evaluations in both Afghanistan and multilateral body/operations context
Experience evaluating advocacy activities and advocacy results
Sound expertise utilizing mixed methods approaches to evaluation
Demonstrated success producing clearly written, focused analysis and substantiated recommendations based on that analysis
Strong analytical skills and proficiency writing in English
Ability to deliver quality reports/analysis by established deadlines
Desired
On-the-ground presence in Afghanistan and experience or presence in at least one of the following: Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, or South Sudan
Fluency in French
Evaluation budget
This evaluation contract will be firm fixed price.
Payments made based on approval of required deliverables.
COVID-19 considerations
The current global pandemic presents a challenge to implementing a traditional evaluation. Understanding that travel and in-person access may be limited, remote methods may be required to conduct some portions of the evaluation. Applicants are encouraged to propose approaches adaptable to either in-person or remote implementation.
If in-person data collection is possible, applicants must adhere to all WHO and governments of relevant countries' guidance for COVID-19 including:
Undertaking reasonable precautionary measure during the field work such us social distancing, wearing personal protective gears, observing a strict personal hygiene, hand washing etc.
Staying home and self-isolate even with minor symptoms such as cough, headache, mild fever.
Wherever possible adopt alternative tools for remote data collection.
Provide training to the enumerators and other staff involved in field works on COVID-19 and precautionary measures.
Application process
Interested consultants are required to submit a letter of interest including their evaluation profile and experience, estimated budget, their resume(s), and references. Based on this, CIVIC will select candidates that best meet minimum qualifications and experience requirements. The deadline for initial submission is November 27, 2020.
The selected candidate consultant(s) will be notified by December 4, 2020 and asked to develop an evaluation proposal and detailed budget for submission by December 11, 2020. CIVIC's proposal review committee will select the winning proposal. The proposal should include the evaluation methodology, data collection processes as well as a preliminary workplan for completing the work and delivering the outputs. The winning proposal will be selected, and consultant(s) notified by December 18, 2020. Work is expected to begin on/around February 1, 2021.
Phase one selection criteria
Letter of interest - 70%
Evaluation profile and experience
Resumes
Relevant references
Financial proposal - 30%
Reasonableness of costs
Adequacy in assumptions
For questions, please contact Lee Sutton, CIVIC Senior MEL Advisor at lsutton@civiliansinconflict.org
