Consultancy for Final Evaluation of the Project Jobs in Kenya at Save the Children

Job Title: Consultancy for Final Evaluation of the Project: Promoting Child Rights Governance in Kenya, 2011-13

Employer: Save the Children

Duty Station: Nairobi, Kenya

Application Deadline: 25th Oct 2013

1. Background

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children working in over 120 countries around the world. The vision of the organization is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.

Save the Children began supporting children in Kenya even before the country attained its Independence in 1963 and has had a consistent operational presence in the country since 1984.

The organization provides support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered both directly and through local partners. Current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, Health, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition and WASH.

Save the Children has an operational presence in Dadaab Refugee Camp, Eldoret, Habaswein, Mandera, Meru and Wajir and has a liaison post in Garissa.

With funding from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Save the Children in partnership with Kenya Alliance for the Advancement of Children (KAACR) has been  implementing a three year project titled ‘ Promoting Child Rights Governance in Kenya ‘ in four counties: Siaya, Kakamega, Kwale and Mombasa as well as at national level through strategic advocacy.

The project supports child rights clubs in 80 primary schools; with a total reach of 9600 children (4800 boys, 4800 girls). KAACR is a national umbrella NGO established with the primary role of monitoring implementation of UNCRC in Kenya.

KAACR is part of a strong network in child rights in Kenya that is working to strengthen child participation and UNCRC reporting, monitoring, and child rights awareness raising.

Work on Child Rights Governance (CRG) aims to build societies that fulfil children rights by establishing and strengthening the governance system necessary for states to effectively implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and other child rights obligations.

This project that started in January 2011 as the first and currently only CRG project for Save the Children in Kenya has had two broad outcomes, namely:

1) Improved capacity and accountability of duty bearers to fulfil child rights in Kenya;

2) Kenyan boys and girls influence decisions that affect their lives.

2. Purpose of the Evaluation

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess and learn from the process and achievements of the Child Rights Governance project and advise on future CRG programming.

3. Objectives and Scope of the Evaluation

The overall objective is to evaluate the achieved results, implementation strategies and progress towards the project outcomes and document the lessons learnt.

The evaluation specifically seeks to:

1. Indicate for each expected outcome and output (result) what has been accomplished in relation to what has been stated in the project document and logical framework (including the indicators).

2. Provide an analysis of the project performance, strengths and challenges and assess the overall effects of the intervention (intended and unintended, short-term and long-term, positive and negative).

3. Assess and discuss the status of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability.

Relevance: The extent to which the project is suited to the priorities and policies of the target group, beneficiaries and donor.  To what extent are the objectives of the programme still valid?  Are the activities and outputs of the programme consistent with the overall goal and the attainment of its objectives?  Are the activities and outputs of the programme consistent with the intended impacts and effects?

Effectiveness: Effectiveness is a measure of the extent to which the project attains its objectives. To what extent were the objectives achieved/are likely to be achieved?  What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?

Efficiency: Efficiency measures the outputs – qualitative and quantitative – in relation to the inputs. It is an economic term which signifies that the project uses the least costly resources possible in order to achieve the desired results. This generally requires comparing alternative approaches to achieving the same outputs, to see whether the most efficient process has been adopted. When evaluating the efficiency of a programme or a project, it is useful to consider the following questions:  Were activities cost-efficient?  Were objectives achieved on time? Was the programme or project implemented in the most efficient way compared to alternatives?

Sustainability: Sustainability is concerned with measuring whether the benefits of an activity are likely to continue after donor funding has been withdrawn.  Projects need to be environmentally as well as financially sustainable.

When evaluating the sustainability of a programme or a project, it is useful to consider the following questions:  To what extent did the benefits of a programme or project continue after donor funding ceased?  

What were the major factors that influenced the achievement or non-achievement of sustainability of the programme or project?

4. Assess to what extent and how the project has increased the awareness on child rights of primary duty bearers, communities, children, partners and other stakeholders and improved their practices. Also assess the capacity of the communities to prevent child rights violations and hold duty bearers to account.

5. Assess the partnership between the two organisations: achievements, strengths and challenges; including the management structures and the impact of the SCI transition process.

6. Assess the extent/effectiveness of coordination with partner agencies, community, children, local leaders and relevant devolved units (counties and sub-counties) offices.

7. Assess the monitoring and advocacy strategies of the project: what kinds of systems/methods were used, if any and how effective they were.

8. Assess the value added through incorporating Child Participation into the project cycle

9. Based on the evaluation findings, make recommendations for future programming in Child Rights Governance by SC, KAACR and other child rights stakeholders envisaged by the CRG project.

4. Evaluation, Design and Methodology

The study is expected to adhere to the principles of rights based programming including participation and inclusion, non-discrimination and accountability.

It will comprise a desk review of existing literature, field visits for data collection and interviews with all stakeholders, including children.

The consultant(s) will review existing secondary documents to acquire complete understanding of child rights governance, internationally, nationally and within the target counties.

The consultant(s) will involve and utilize key stakeholders, especially children and project staff in all aspects of the research. Participation of institutions both at government (national and local) and community level is essential as they are key stakeholders.

All data will be gender and geographical area disaggregated.

The field visits will include key informant interviews, focused group discussions among other participatory methods with Provincial Child Rights Networks (PCRNs), County Child Rights Networks (CCRN), Area Advisory Committee (AACs), teachers, pupils, SMCs, relevant government officers and other community leaders.

Both qualitative and quantitative outcome and output indicator data will be collected. The consultant(s) will be responsible for designing the data collection tools based on project indicators and logical framework for the study in consultation with Save the Children and KAACR staff.

The consultant will facilitate a half day validation workshop with Save the Children staff, partners, government officials and other key stakeholders to validate initial outcomes of the evaluation.

5. Organization, Roles and Responsibilities

I. Deliverables

Responsibility of Save the Children

• Develop the TOR and draw the contract for consultancy services for the study
• Provide necessary project background materials and information
• Through project partners’ support in project areas, mobilize and schedule visits/meetings with various stakeholders and beneficiaries to participate in the research study as agreed
• Ensure the children participating in the study have consented (including parents where relevant)
• Cover the costs of the consultants as per the contractual agreement including reasonable and verified costs towards accommodation and transport to the various project sites.
• Review and provide comments to the research’s draft tools and draft and final reports according to the set timeframe
• Assist to organize validation presentations at the National level with relevant stakeholders
• Approve the final documents

Responsibility of the Consultant(s)

The consultant(s) will assume the overall responsibility for designing, coordinating, analyzing and reporting on the participatory study within the terms of reference.

The Consultant(s) shall:

1. Design the study methodology.  Save the Children expects that the study will draw on both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques, focusing on adherence to child rights. The proposed methodology will include appropriate sampling methodologies and provide the rationale for the adopted sampling design.  The research design should employ participatory methods, including child-centred techniques.  Data will be disaggregated by gender and geographical area.  Save the Children will review and approve the study methodology prior to any data collection.

2. Develop tools.  Develop the necessary documentation and tools for undertaking the study in consultation with relevant staff and partners; ensuring

3. Collect data.  The consultant will be responsible for the entire process of data collection and analysis. Collected data should be disaggregated by gender and geographical area. Quantitative data will be described in terms of statistical significance and representation of all findings noted.

4. Submit first draft report to Save the Children and KAACR, who will provide written and/or oral feedback within 10 days.

5. Present findings to Save the Children, KAACR and key stakeholders identified by Child Rights Governance Project staff.  The consultant will present the study findings to both community and CRG project stakeholders within two (2) weeks of amending the first draft.

During the validation workshop, the consultant will collect feedback for consideration in revisions to the final report.

6. Submit a final report.  Provide a comprehensive, clear, and detailed report in soft copy (PDF and Microsoft Word) within two weeks of the final data collection.

The core report should be no more than 40 pages with a short Executive Summary, but annexes can be used to illustrate details.

Save the Children will respond with written feedback within 10 working days and final submission is due 10 working days upon receipt of the feedback.

6. Duration/Timeline

The duration and timeline for this evaluation shall be 25 consultancy days and between November 1st and December 13th 2013 respectively.

The proposed days shall be divided as follows: 1 day – briefing with SC, 4- Desk review, 10 data collection in the two counties, 4 – Preparation of draft report, 1 presentation of findings/validation workshop and 5 submission of final report.

7. Consultant’s Skills and Experience:

• A minimum of a Master’s Degree in Human Rights and/or Social Sciences
• Proven experience in conducting research, analyzing data and reporting; at least 3 evaluations conducted in the past 5 years.
• At least 5 years’ experience in the areas of child rights and/ or governance in Kenya.
• Proven experience using participatory approaches; in the field of child rights and child participation.

The Consultant must abide by the Save the Children Child safeguarding protocol, which is a statement of Save the Children’s commitment to preventing abuse and protecting children with whom it comes into contact.

The Consultant will be expected to treat as private and confidential any information disclosed to her/him or with which she/he may come into contact during her/his service.

The Consultant will not therefore disclose the same or any particulars thereof to any third party or publish it in any paper without the prior written consent of Save the Children. Any sensitive information (particularly concerning individual children) should be treated as confidential.

An agreement with a consultant will be rendered void if Save the Children discovers any corrupt activities have taken place either during the sourcing, preparation and implementation of the consultancy agreement.

8. Instructions for Submission of Proposal:

Click here to Download the Expression of Interest Form
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1juRlFTmY6zziduYDgX0uM04b1bBrjnFF-wxH5O_IV916it11hUPgcgNLFncx/edit?usp=sharing


How to Apply:

Interested qualified individuals or consultancy firms are requested to submit the following to kenya.jobapplications@savethechildren.org


A cover letter expressing interest
Company profile including capacity to respond to this task
Recent CVs of all professional(s) proposed to work on this study; including references
Three (3) recent and traceable references
A technical proposal in detailed response to the TOR, with specific focus addressing the scope of work and methodology to be used.
A financial proposal in Kenya shillings/ USD/ Euros outlining the overall budget required to achieve the task as outlined in your proposal. This should exclude cost of transportation and meals during the field work.

VIII. Documents to be reviewed:

Project Plan & Logframe
Quarterly and Annual Reports
Monitoring Reports
Baseline Study
CRG IEC materials

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted