Old job: Consultancy for Final Evaluation

Terms of Reference

Final Evaluation

Project: Strengthen the self-help capacities of ethnic communities (continuation)

(Project code: N-VNM-2019-0336 by BftW)

1. Introduction

The Centre for Promoting Development for Women and Children (DWC) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 2003 according to the decision No 232/QD-KHVN on 21 July 2003 of "Vietnam Association for Promoting Education" – now known as “Vietnam Association for Learning Promotion” (VALP). The overall objective of DWC is to alleviate poverty and improve the quality of life for poor people, especially poor women and children in Vietnam.

The project “Strengthen the self-help capacities of ethnic communities (continuation)” funded by Bread for the World (BftW) has been implemented in 12 villages of three communes (Nuong Dam, Cuoi Ha, Vinh Tien in Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province) for the period from January 2020 – December 2022. The first phase of the project was implemented during 2017-2019.

The following table provides a summary of project information:

Project name	Strengthen the self-help capacities of ethnic communities (continuation)
Project Goal	Sustainable village development is improved in Hoa Binh province
Project Objective	Local development challenges have been selected and solved by local community-based groups.
Objective indicators	Indicator 1: By the end of the project, at least 60 small-scale development projects are successfully self-managed by local people (self-managed in terms of planning, decision-making, implementing, monitoring and evaluating; a project is considered successfully managed when its objective is achieved). Indicator 2: By the end of the project, at least 50% of goods produced by the 12 cooperative groups are jointly sold to traders based on contracts.
Partners	The People’s Committee and the Women Union of Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province
Target groups	Ethnic communities in 12 villages of three communes of Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh Province
Beneficiaries	Direct beneficiaries: 8,000 people in 12 villages, with 90% being ethnic Muong and Dao, 120 key community members, including at least 60 (50%) women, 100 cooperative group members 20 members of the local authorities and organization, including government officials and members of the Women Union at district and commune levels. Indirect beneficiaries: Approximately 15,000 residents living in three communes
Time frame	January 2020 – December 2022
Intervention focus	Capacity building for the key community members of 12 project villages on community management (CM) and related topics to promote community self-management by practicing implementation of small-scale community sub-development projects by themselves Capacity building and technical support for Farmers Cooperative Groups (FCGs) to develop organic crop and livestock production models Promotion and marketing of farmers’ organic products…
Project Donor	Bread for the World - BftW
Implementation Agency	The Centre for Promoting Development for Women and Children - DWC

2. Evaluation objective and scope

In the project proposal, it is planned that a final evaluation will be conducted before the project closure. The main purpose of the final evaluation is to independently review the project status, performance and results after 3 years of intervention,compared to the committed indicators in the project document, as well as to evaluate its relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. The evaluation should also consider cross cutting issues of gender, women empowerment and environmental protection. It will also identify good practice and lessons learnt for other similar projects. The findings of the evaluation will be shared to relevant stakeholders, especially local policy makers and BftW.

Key questions

The table below identifies the overarching questions anticipated to be addressed by the project evaluation framework. However, the consultant will be expected to work with the project team to review and revise the evaluation questions as appropriate.

Relevance:The extent to which the project is suited to the priorities of the target groups and to the government policies. It is useful to consider the following questions:

To what extent is the intervention important for the target group?
To what extent is the objective of the project still appropriate?
Are the activities and outputs of the project consistent with the project objective?
Did the planning and implementation of interventions take the local context into account?
Do the project’s objectives, approach, outputs display continued relevance to the development policies and priorities of the government and the community?
How appropriate and useful are the indicators described in the project document for monitoring and measuring results?

Effectiveness: A measure of the extent to which the project achieves its objectives, i.e., a comparison of the intended outcomes/outputs with the observed outcome/outputs. It is useful to consider the following questions:

To what extent were the intended project goal and objective achieved and how?
What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
To what extent are project target groups satisfied with the project’s implemented activities?

Efficiency: To investigate whether the resources (financial, human, and materials) have been used efficiently and effectively for the well-being of the target community.

Are the project objectives achieved in an economically manner?
How efficient were community sub-projects implemented according to community management (CM) procedure (in comparison with other projects implemented at village levels by other programs)?
To which extent the community and stakeholders participate in planning and implementation of projects interventions?

Impact: The evaluation should be concerned with both intended and unintended impacts. It is useful to consider the following questions:

What are the positive and negative, intended and unintended changes produced by the project? Analyze the contribution of the project to any observed impact (intended, unintended, positive, negative) and other actors and factors contributing to the impact.
What real difference has the project made to the beneficiaries in terms of social, economic, political, cultural, and ecological changes, taking into account the gender dimension?
Whether and to what extent the project will contribute towards the attainment of the long-term objective under development policy in Vietnam?

Sustainability: The probability of continued long-term benefits to the target populations after the project has been completed. This might include the resource and capacity of partners or beneficiaries to continue the intervention after the project phased out. It is useful to consider the following questions:

To what extent are the benefits of the project likely to continue once donor funding has ceased?
What were the major factors, which influenced the achievement or non-achievement of sustainability of the project?
Are there evidences that local authorities and key community members will continue CM approach after the project end?

Gender, inclusion and women empowerment: the extent to which the project applied gender and inclusion sensitive approaches and explicitly aimed for results that improve gender equality and women empowerment.

Environment protection: How and to what extent has the project contributed towards protection of the environment?

3. Methodology

The final evaluation of the project will adopt a participatory approach, allowing the participation of all stakeholders and communities in the assessment process. This is to ensure that the opinions of different stakeholders are fully reflected, especially those of the vulnerable groups. The consultant will apply qualitative research methodologies using primary and secondary data sources and data triangulation to increase the validity of evaluation findings.

The evaluation will involve the following stakeholders:

DWC in Hanoi;
Local partners involved in implementing the project at different levels:
- Beneficiaries in project villages
- Members of the local Project Management Board (PMB) at district, communal and village levels.
- Authorities at communal levels (people committee, women union...)
- Village heads and key community members of selected project villages;
- Members of different groups (Key Members Groups, Community Based Groups, Farmers’ Interest Groups, Farmers’ Cooperative Groups).

4. Key activities and timeframe of the evaluation:

The end of project evaluation is expected to take place in November 2022. An indicative timeframe is as follows:

Activities	Estimated No of days	Timeline
Preparatory work (desk study) Development of and consensus on methodologies, timeframe and report format	2	1^st week of November
Detail evaluation design and tools	1	1^st week of November
Working with DWC team at DWC office in Hanoi and travelling to Kim Boi Hoa Binh	1	2^nd week of November
Data collection at the field: district, communes, villages, (in-depth interviews, group discussions, visits to sub-projects, etc.)	5
Feedback workshop with representative of local people/local authorities/DWC (at Kim Boi district) and travel back to Hanoi	1
Debriefing at DWC in Hanoi, presentation of main findings	0.5	3^rd week of November
Data analysis and report writing (in English)	4.5	3^rd week of November
First draft report to DWC		21^st November
Final report to DWC	1.0	28^th November
Total number of working days	16.0

5. Expected Deliverables

The following products (in English) are to be provided to DWC on time in English:

Evaluation design detailing the sampling framework, data collection plan, methodologies, proposed format of the report, etc.
A presentation of findings to DWC.
Draft Evaluation Report - The consultant will prepare a draft evaluation report with the agreed format. The report will be submitted to DWC who will provide feedback within 05 working days after receiving the Draft Report.
Final Evaluation Report: including main report and related Annexes. The main report should not exceed 25 pages.

6. Selection criteria / Required skills and competence

The evaluator is expected to be a Vietnam based international/national professional with relevant education and working experience. Following are the required skills and competencies expected from the selected applicant for conducting this evaluation:

Education:

Advanced degree in relevant discipline (e.g., social science, development, social studies, sociology, political science, etc.)

Professional experience:

Proven capacity and extensive experience in program evaluation in a development context.
International experience working with ethnic minorities is an advantage.

Knowledge and skills:

Knowledge of evaluation;
Knowledge in results-based programming;
Extensive knowledge and skills in qualitative evaluation methods;
Excellent written and spoken English. Fluency in Vietnamese is an asset;
Ability to work with project staff and stakeholders at different levels;
A strong commitment to delivering timely and high-quality results.

7. Responsibility of DWC

Provide related project documents;
Obtain permits of local authorities for the field visits;
Provide translator English – Vietnamese;
Assign relevant staff to accompany the evaluator during field visits;
Arrange logistics for the field visits Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province (transportation, food and accommodation).

8. How to Apply:

Interested consultants are requested to send CV and a 3-page proposal including cost estimate (in English) to DWC before October 30, 2022 via all following emails:

Bui Thi Kim – DWC Director: [email protected]
Pham Thu Hong – DWC Deputy Director: [email protected]
Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuan – Project Accountant: [email protected]
Nguyen Thi Huong – Project Coordinator: [email protected]

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Consultancy for Final Evaluation