Project evaluation for “Scaling up of activities related to the prevention and treatment of malnourished children , pregnant & lactating women

Terms of reference (ToR) for Consultancy to conduct end of project evaluation for “Scaling up of activities related to the prevention and treatment of malnourished children <5y, pregnant & lactating women in the three sub counties of Garissa County affected by drought.

About Terre des hommes

Terre des hommes (Tdh) is the leading Swiss organization for children’s aid. Since 1960, Tdh has helped build a better future for children and youth, especially those most exposed to risks, making an impact with innovative and sustainable solutions. Active in more than 30 countries, Tdh works with its own teams and/or local and international partners to develop and implement field projects which significantly improve the daily lives of over four million children and members of their communities every year, with a focus on mother and child health, migration, and access to justice for children.

Tdh has been present in Kenya since 2011, supporting access to basic services for populations affected by displacement, natural crises, and poverty. Currently, Tdh is implementing child protection interventions in Dadaab, Kakuma refugee camps and the Kalobeyei settlement in Garissa and Turkana Counties together with the surrounding host community. The intervention in these refugee camps and host communities is focused on prevention and response to child protection needs while strengthening formal and informal protection mechanisms. In Nairobi, Tdh is implementing an early childhood development project adopting the socio-ecological model aiming at expanding the protective space for children between 0-6 years old in the Korogocho informal settlements. In Garissa County, since 2022, Tdh has been implementing health and nutrition interventions with a protection component in response to drought and its effects in the horn of Africa region.

Background and context

Since 2023, Terre des hommes foundation (Tdh) with support from Swiss Solidarity and UNICEF has been implementing an emergency response action by the name “Scaling up of activities related to the prevention and treatment of malnourished children <5y, pregnant & lactating women in the three sub counties of Garissa affected by drought” Thee project, initially funded by Swiss Solidarity and a scale up of the same later actualized through UNICEF, has been responding to malnutrition cases amongst children under 5 years and pregnant and lactating women in Lagdera, Dadaab and Garissa township Sub counties in Garissa.

The objective of the project was to rehabilitate those with acute malnutrition and promote appropriate key nutrition practices for prevention of malnutrition in target areas.

The project began with an emergency nutrition intervention response component, adopting the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) approach. This approach focused on four sub-sectors;

• The management of moderate acute malnutrition
• The management of severe acute malnutrition
• Nutrition education; and
• Strengthening of nutrition systems including strengthening capacities of the nutrition formal workforce

In addition to the nutrition focused interventions, a protection component was designed into the project to ensure that children identified with protection risks and vulnerabilities receive individualized child protection response to safeguard their wellbeing.

Evaluation Purpose

As the action comes to end in October 2024, Tdh would like to measure impact and effects of the interventions on the target populations, the achievements as well as the learnings to inform future design and implementation of nutrition response actions in Garissa and/or other geographical contexts. The evaluation will also determine the status of project outcome indicators to inform the program implementation team on the status of planned milestones based on observed actuals.

The specific objectives of the study are;

• Measure the overall achievements of the project based on the outcomes mapped out during project design, those unintended and report on the status of indicators defined in the log frame.
• Evaluate the project management process, the project’s interaction with governments and partners, and develop recommendations for Tdh`s at the country levels for process improvement, including fund allocation, human resources management, decision-making and communication.
• Gather evidence on what worked well (and what didn`t) and through which mechanisms, to facilitate evidence-informed future designs, implementation, and approach (including partnerships) and make practical recommendations for the same.
• Based on the indicators captured, analyze the key success and constraint factors (both internal and external) for each outcome based on the key indicators captured.
• Analyze the entire project based on the evaluation criteria stated in the terms of reference.

Scope of Assignment

The evaluation will be conducted in all 3 Sub counties (i.e., Garissa township, Lagdera and Dadaab) of implementation. The participation of all project stakeholders of the project will be essential and at the centre of this evaluation. These include caregivers of beneficiary children, community members, pregnant and breastfeeding women, project staff, governmental and non-governmental partners.

Geographical scope: Dadaab host community, Garissa Township and Lagdera sub counties in Garissa County.

Intended users of the evaluation:

The assessment report will be used to enrich Tdh`s approach in health programming to ensure that its interventions remain relevant and appropriate to the context. Further, Tdh will disseminate these findings to its partners in the nutrition community of practice in Garissa County through the nutrition technical working group.

Evaluation criteria and questions

The evaluation will be guided by the following OECD-DAC criteria.

1. Relevance: to what extent did the intervention objectives and design respond to beneficiaries’ needs and priorities and continue to do so if circumstances change?
2. Effectiveness: to what extent did the intervention achieve or is expected to achieve its objectives, and its results, including any differential results across groups? What factors facilitated or contributed to the realization of these objectives? How did the complementarity between the two funding partners prove effective for this action? how effective was the monitoring and evaluation system in supporting project management?
3. Coherence: How compatible was the intervention with other nutrition interventions in Garissa County? How compatible was the intervention with Tdh programmatic’s approach in nutrition interventions?
4. Efficiency: to what extent does the intervention deliver results in an economic and timely way?
5. Impact: to what extent has the intervention generated significant positive or negative, intended or unintended, higher-level effects?
6. Sustainability: to what extent do the net benefits of the intervention continue, or are likely to continue? What are the sustainability factors? What are the points of attention in terms of sustainability for future interventions?
7. Accountability to affected populations: to evaluate the extent to which the intervention mainstreamed AAP, functionality of these mechanisms and areas of improvement of the complaints and response mechanism established by Tdh.
8. Scalability: What are the opportunities for learning in respect to what a scale up of the same intervention would like in terms of design, implementation, monitoring and partnerships necessary to success of the project?

Methodology.

The consultant shall adopt an appropriate sampling method that will allow correct conclusions about the study population. The sampling methodology and size will be agreed together by Tdh and the consultant. Tdh shall in all cases review and decide whether to approve any further modifications or changes made. The evaluation process MUST be participatory and should ensure that project participants are proactively involved in the process.

The study proposes mixed methods of information gathering. These include.

• A literature review of secondary sources of project data i.e., donors’ reports, M&E reports, activity reports need assessments, theoretical frameworks, project work plans among other documents.
• Individual interviews with direct and indirect project participants (caregivers and children). Sampling MUST demonstrate attention to age, gender and diversity dynamics.
• Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) held with relevant stakeholders engaged in policy making and implementation of health and nutrition programming in Garissa County.
• Focus Group Discussions with direct project participants and other relevant stakeholders.

The above are however not final and the consultant will be expected to propose sound methodological approaches.

Tdh expects the consulting firm/ individual to adhere to ethical principles in research as well as Tdh`s risk management policies. So, the Consultant will demonstrate how safeguarding, ethical processes and data quality assurance will be implemented during all the different stages of the evaluation management.

Expected Deliverables and timelines.

1.The study team will submit an inception report within 1 week of signing the contract. The inception report willinclude the following: study objectives, scope and key study questions, description of the methodology, including design, data collection methods, sampling strategy, data sources, and evaluation matrix against the key study questions. It will also include the following.

• Data analysis and reporting plan
• Anticipated limitations of the study
• Risks and mitigation plan
• Data quality assurance
• Ethical considerations including details on consent.
• Key deliverables, responsibilities, and timelines
• Resource requirements
• Data collection tools with evaluation matrix

2. Draft study report including the following elements:

• Executive summary
• Background description of the program and context relevant to the Study
• Scope and focus of the evaluation.
• Overview of the study methodology and data collection methods,
• Specific caveats or methodological limitations of the study.
• Findings aligned to each of criteria or key study questions/objectives.
• Conclusions outlining implications of the findings or learnings.
• Recommendations

3. Final study report incorporating feedback from consultation on the draft study report, analysis outputs and Annexes (Study matrix study ToR, data collection tools, Raw data in xls or CSV format, inception report, study schedule, list of people involved)

4. A PowerPoint presentation with the key findings and recommendations.

Roles and responsibilities of the consultant

• Respond to the TOR highlighting the understanding of the subject areas, assignment/tasks, propose a detailed methodology, work plan and budget.
• Undertake the desk review and develop literature review.
• Develop inception report with ALL data collection tools as an annex.
• Oversee the whole process of the assignment and guarantee the quality of data.
• Develop study dissemination plans as well as facilitate actual dissemination.
• Share all the data sets with Tdh.
• Develop and submit the final study report in both soft and hard copies.
• Full adherence to Tdh`s risk management policies and ethical principles in research.

Roles and responsibilities of Tdh

To facilitate the process, Tdh M&E and the program team will provide.

• Timely review and validation of the inception report within 2-3 days of submission
• Timely review and validation of data collection tools and data collection approaches within 2-3 days of submission
• Requisite documents for the desk reviews i.e., project reports, assessment reports, theoretical frameworks, activity reports, project proposal etc within 2 days after request.
• A pool of research assistants/ enumerators to be paid and trained by the consultant.
• Logistical support for consultant firm/ individual while commuting to Garissa County. Support is limited to flight and accommodation bookings (to be done by Tdh team) with costs borne by the consultant.
• Develop a management response plan to react and take necessary actions to the findings and recommendations of the study.

Timelines and schedules

The duration of the assignment will be maximum of 35 days (5 Weeks), including tools development, training of research assistants, data collection, report writing and submission.

Selection criteria

A consultancy firm/ individual with valid legal registration paperwork in Kenya and formal access to the locations of the programme implementation.

The applications will be evaluated by an evaluation committee. The application achieving the highest number of points will be selected for contracting. In addition to the review of applications, interviews will also be conducted to clarify details of the offers and the motivation and experience of the applicant.

The selected firm/ consultant should possess the following minimum qualifications as follows:

Academic skills

Master’s degree in advanced applied research, nutrition, public health, monitoring and evaluation, population studies, or any related academic discipline or an affiliation with a research institution or a university, holding a PhD, or being in pursuit of a PhD in a relevant field is an advantage.

Previous Experience

• At least 5 of years of conducting evaluation of a similar nature and scope.
• At least two contracts of a similar nature (Health and Nutrition) and complexity implemented over the last three years or more in ASAL area.
• Strong background in monitoring & evaluation, research methods and ideal experience in humanitarian contexts in Kenya or abroad.
• Strong background in qualitative and quantitative data collection;
• Conversant with the context in Garissa County and mastery of local language will be an added advantage.
• Familiarity with the SPHERE standards for Nutrition programming.
• Excellent knowledge and experience in survey design, implementation of surveys and statistical data analysis.
• Excellent analytical, communication, writing and presentation skills in English and Swahili.

Child Safeguarding

Terre des hommes strives to keep children safe in all its undertakings. The successful applicant will be required to read, understand, and commit to Tdh Child Safeguarding Policies and Guidelines. The institution/firm or individual consultant and team members deployed in the field, will sign the policies and code of conduct to indicate an understanding of, and commitment to follow the policy requirements. The methodologies used in this study must abide by the universally accepted standards for involving children in research.

Copyright and intellectual property rights

The title rights, copyrights and all other rights of whatever nature in any materials used or generated under the provisions of this consultancy will exclusively be vested with Tdh. All products developed under this consultancy belong to the Tdh exclusively, guided by the rules of the consultancy contract. Under no circumstances will the consultant use the information of this study for publication or dissemination to any individual or organization without official prior written permission from Tdh Kenya Country Office.