CALL FOR CONSULTANTS SERVICE FOR CONDUCTING U-GIRLS 2 PROJECT MID-TERM EVALUATION

 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) OVERVIEW

• RFP No:  T-CI-ET-2022-021
• RFP Title: Conducting U-GIRLS 2 Project Mid-term Evaluation
• RFP Issued By: Cuso International - Ethiopia Office
• Issuance Date: November 14, 2022
• Proposal Submission Due Date: November 25, 2022
• Language of proposal: Technical and Financial Proposals must be submitted in English
• Instructions for Submission of Proposals: All proposals should be submitted in hardcopy to the Cuso International Country Program Office (Cuso CPO) in Ethiopia via the following address:  

Cuso International Ethiopia Country Program Office

H & M Building, 7th Floor (Around 22 Mazoria, In Front of Blue Bird Hotel)

Yeka S.C. Woreda. 08, H# New map No.D.03/2580/01/3585  

Addis Ababa I Tel # 011 659 0698

Awards: It is anticipated that there will be one award. Issuance of this RFP does not constitute an award commitment on the part of Cuso International nor does it commit Cuso International to pay for costs incurred in the submission of a proposal.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1.     Introduction

Cuso International is an international cooperation and development organization that works to create economic and social opportunities for marginalized groups. Together with our partners, we are focused on efforts to advance gender equality and social inclusion, improve economic resilience and deliver progress on climate action. We believe that by sharing skills, we can build better futures. Founded in 1961, Cuso International works in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Canada. Our vision is to see an equitable, inclusive and sustainable world where all people are treated with dignity and can participate fully in society.      

Cuso International has been working in Ethiopia since 2015 delivering programs supporting health and education, particularly for women and youth. With a dedicated team of 12 staff, Cuso CPO collaborates with local community-based organizations (CBOs), government stakeholders, and international experts to deliver impactful development projects across the country. Partnering with the Institute of International Education (IIE), Cuso International is implementing a project funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC) in Benishangul-Gumuz Region (BGR), Ethiopia.

2.     Background of the project to be evaluated

In partnership, Cuso CPO and IIE have been  implementing a holistic  project called      “Promoting Greater Access to University for GIRLS (U-GIRLS 2)” in BGR since May 2020. The project seeks to educate and empower high school girls aged 15 to 25 in the region with the support of their families, communities, and the government. The project offers intensive academic tutorials, English Language training, leadership and life skills training, material resources, a supportive mentorship program, and life skill and capacity building for the target secondary school girls attending seven target secondary schools. The project also provides gender sensitization training, entrepreneurial and financial literacy training, and agricultural innovation training to the families of these targeted girls. U-GIRLS 2 has provided business inputs and will provide agricultural inputs for those families engaged in business and agricultural activities.  For a wider reach, the project organizes training programs and community informational campaigns for the community in order to increase their awareness of the importance of girls’ education and increase their engagement in advocating for girls’ education. To enhance gender-equitable, governance, administration, and delivery in the target secondary schools and partner government bureaus and offices, the project has provided training to administrators and school teachers. 

Due to the multidimensional nature of poverty, poverty reduction requires an integrated and holistic approach that addresses its root causes in a sustainable manner. U-GIRLS 2 will contribute to poverty reduction in two specific ways. Firstly, it seeks to educate and empower girls to further their education. Educated girls are more able to improve their well-being, and that of their families, than their less-educated peers. Secondly, the program intends to provide sustainable economic growth to families of beneficiaries through capacity building and access to employment resources through a need-based approach.

The specific objectives of the project are to:

 increase community and familial encouragement of girls' enrollment in formal education for girls aged 15 to 25;       

improve academic performance, leadership abilities, and autonomy of targeted girls aged 15 to 25; and

Enhance regional, zonal, and woreda-level governance, administration, and delivery of gender-equitable education for girls aged 15 to 25.    

The different levels of results expected to be achieved through the project implementation are presented in the Annexes to this RFP (project logic model and Performance Measurement Framework (PMF)).

3.     Purpose of the mid-term evaluation 

The purpose of this mid-term evaluation is to provide Cuso International, the project funder (GAC), and the U-GIRLS team (including partner CBOs, government bureaus, etc.) with an external analysis of project strategies, achievements, and relevance which can be used to inform planning and decision making for the next years of U-GIRLS 2 implementation and beyond.      

In particular, the mid-term evaluation will assess progress towards attaining the project outcomes as well as key implementation strategies and make recommendations for improvement. Recommendations with rationale for the remaining U-GIRLS 2 implementation period (2 years and six months) and beyond are needed in areas of U-GIRLS 2 relevance and accountability, approaches and methods, sustainability, effectiveness, and/or efficiency.   

4.     Scope of the mid-term evaluation

The mid-term evaluation aims to highlight useful lessons and areas for improvement and provide strategic direction and recommendations to guide the U-GIRLS 2 project in the successful delivery of its outputs and attainment of outcomes by the end of the project's lifetime (June 2025). To this end, this evaluation should help the project team understand how and why the project has attained or not attained the specific project outputs and outcomes. To guide the mid-term evaluation following questions, which will be refined with the successful consultant(s), will be used:    \

4.1.  Relevance and strategic fit

• Is the project coherent with the Ethiopian Government’s objectives and national development frameworks as well as the set targets to sever the beneficiaries’? 

4.2.  Effectiveness

• What progress has been made toward achieving the project outcomes (ultimate, intermediate, and immediate)?
• How has the project managed risks and other external factors that affect project implementation?
• Has the project management and governance structure worked strategically with all stakeholders to support the achievement of project outcomes?

4.3.  Efficiency

•  Have resources (financial, human, technical support, etc.) been allocated strategically and used to achieve the project outputs and outcomes?
• To what extent did the project leverage resources to promote gender equality?

4.4.  Sustainability and impact orientation

• Are the results of the project likely to have long-term, sustainable and positive contributions to the project beneficiaries?
• How well do the results to date contribute towards achieving the project’s ultimate outcome (in 5-10 years after the project end)?

5.     Methodology

During the baseline study, a comparative group design was used with a focus on girls aged 15-25, teachers, and administrators. However, due to security problems in the two districts (Sherkole and Kamash) where the comparison groups reside, data collection for this mid-term evaluation will only be made from three districts and a city administration (Assosa City Administration, Bambasi, Menge, and Abrhamo) in BGR where the intervention groups are found.

The mid-term evaluation will comply with evaluation norms and standards, and follow ethical safeguarding. Methodologies to be used in this evaluation should be participatory, disability-inclusive, and gender-responsive. A mixed-method approach, engaging with key stakeholders of the project at all levels during the design, fieldwork, validation, and reporting stages should be applied in this evaluation. Data triangulation is required to ensure the credibility and accuracy of information gathered through various tools. Thus, at a minimum, the consultant(s) should use a combination of two to      three methods for data collection where applicable, as follows:  

• Document review: including all U-GIRLS 2 project documents, in particular documents produced through the monitoring and evaluation exercises, and operational and annual reports submitted to the donor. Secondary data from the BGR regional Education Bureau and the academic performance of the female students will also be reviewed;
• Collection of primary data using questionnaires: from targeted female students, parents/guardians of the project beneficiary girls, community members, target secondary school teachers, mentors, and administrators;
• One-on-one interviews with key informants such as project staff, staff from the BGR Regional Education Bureau and district-level offices, school principals, teachers and
• Focus group discussions with community members;

At the end of the fieldwork, the mid-term evaluation team will present preliminary findings to the key project stakeholders in a workshop to discuss and refine the findings and fill information gaps.         The presentation should summarize the mid-term evaluation implementation plan, methodology, sampling, scope, key findings, and recommendations, in order to inform the management teams of the project partners as well as the project staff, including      Benishangul-Gumuze Regional State Bureau of Education; Finance and Economic Development; District Office of Education; district secondary schools; target Secondary Schools’ Parent, Teachers, and Students Associations (PTSA) representatives; and district Education and Training Board.

6.     Study area and subject

A total of three districts and one administration in BGR will be target areas for this mid-term evaluation, namely: Assosa City Administration, Bambasi, Menge, and Abrhamo districts where the project is being implemented. Due to security problems, primary data will not be collected from Mao Komo special Woreda one of the project's target districts.

This mid-term evaluation will involve the following study subjects:

• target girls aged 15-25
• target general secondary and primary schools, namely: Assosa, Bambasi, Menge, Ewket Fana, Gemharu, and Komeshiga Berhan
•  parents/guardians of target girls
• teachers and administrators in the target schools
•  regional, zonal, and district-level administrators
•  mentors community members

7.     Deliverables

After signing a service agreement, the selected consultant(s) is expected to get ethical approval from the authentic institution to carry out the study and deliver the following assignments:

An inception report, which includes:

detailed evaluation methodology based on this TOR;

•  a clear sampling methodology;
• detailed planning of each task for the mid-term evaluation process and the person(s) involved in each task;
• list of stakeholders to consult; and
• data collection tools (project tools used since the baseline survey will be shared with the consultant(s) during the agreement signing along with other project documents. The      consultant(s) will annex the revised evaluation tools with the inception report)          

Powerpoint presentation

• summarizing inputs from the finalized version of the mid-term evaluation that includes the implementation plan, methodology, sampling, scope, key findings, and recommendations    

Final report, including::

• An executive summary comprising background, methodology, key findings with respect to the mid-term evaluation questions, a table showing expected results, indicators and the corresponding baseline, and progressive values as well as Year III targets;  
• The main report, including context, the study design, and methodology (including sampling), findings for each mid-term evaluation question, conclusions, and recommendations; and  
• The consultant(s) should submit a final report in English, both in hard and soft copy, along with all survey data (in Excel or SPSS compatible formats), the transcriptions of the FGD(s), interviews, photographs, data collection tools, the evaluation team’s itinerary; lists of respondents with their contact addresses, reference documents, and ethical approval document/letter.  

8.     Profile of the consultant(s)

• The skills listed below are required of the consultant(s) and/or consultancy:
• at least a minimum of three members with MaMaster’egrees in the fields of development studies, gender studies, international development, education, monitoring, and evaluation, or other relevant disciplines;
•  at least seven years of working experience in conducting evaluation research  preferably with international organizations
•  At least three mid-term/final evaluations of programs conducted over the last five years; excellent command of participatory evaluation approaches;
• proven work experience in the field of gender equality, women’s empowerment, and girls’ education;
• knowledge of the socio-political context of the project implementation region;
• excellent analytical skills and communication skills;
• demonstrated excellent report-writing skills in English. (by sharing previous works)

9.     Timeframe

The total duration to complete the mid-term evaluation shall be no more than two months, starting from the date of signature on the consulting contract.

Proposed timeframe  for U-GIRLS 2 mid-term evaluation      

The Consultants invited to tender must provide the following:

1. A technical offering includes:

●  A note that confirms understanding of the terms of reference, and presenting the methodology to be used;

●      The proposed schedule for the mid-term evaluation exercise;    

2.    Summary of consultancy service experiences that show what and for whom various services have been rendered with reference contact persons and their contact addresses;

3. Detailed CVs of the person(s) to be mobilized for this mid-term evaluation highlighting the references and experiences of other similar mid-term evaluations conducted;
4. A detailed budget breakdown (financial proposal) for the mid-term evaluation should be attached.

11. Selection criteria

Submissions will be evaluated using the criteria below. Technical proposals will account for      70% of the evaluation, while the financial offer will contribute 30%. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with the technical evaluation being completed prior to the financial proposal. Only proposals that achieve above the minimum of 35% on the technical proposal shall have their financial proposals reviewed.

Below is the breakdown of the technical evaluation criteria:

12.  Annexes to the TOR

The Annexes are available to the consultant(s) upon requests emailed to the project monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning officer via the following email address: metassebia.negussu@cusointernational.org .    

Annex: Performance Measurement Framework and the project logic model

A.    SUPPLIER INFORMATION      

Please provide the following information:

1. Company Name      

2. Address          

3. Phone and fax      

4. Contact the person by email           

B.  FINANCIAL PROPOSALS  

1.     Prices must be expressed in ETB   

C.               CONDITIONS OF TENDER

1. Cuso International reserves the right to deal with any tender of its choice or any or all parts of the tender and to purchase items from various tenders.
2. Cuso International is not bound to accept the lowest offer or any offer.
3. This request for tender is not a contract or an offer into a contract but is a request for a quotation for the services indicated in this document. However, a contract will be established based on the tender decision.
4.  Respondents are bound by their offer for a period of 15 days from the closing date of bids.
5. Cuso International reserves the right to alter the dates of the tender timetable.
6. Cuso International will inform each respondent of the tender of the decision on their offer through a letter of engagement if successful, or otherwise by email.
7. Cuso International is not obliged to justify or explain selection to any respondent. Respondents are encouraged to contact Cuso International for any information required to submit a competitive bid.

 D.  Tenders submitted must be accompanied with:

●       Renewed business license for the year 2014 E.C. VAT | TIN registration certificate.

●       Company profile

●       Evidence of past performance record on similar works and other relevant credentials

Tenders must be submitted in four (4) sealed envelopes, bearing the bidder’s official seal, and clearly marked TECHNICAL and FINANCIAL “Original” and “Copy”, and must include the bidders’ name and contact address, as well as the Tender title and Tender Reference number.

Tenders can be submitted in the bid box prepared for this purpose at Cuso International, Ethiopia Country Office, until November 25, 2022, before 4:00 P.M. (local time). Tenders submitted after this deadline will not be considered.

Cuso International reserves the right to accept or reject this bid, in partial, or in its entirety.