JOB Consultancy Service Plan International Timor-Leste

Plan International Timor-Leste

Consultancy - Terms of Reference

Mid-Term Review of the project “Say No to Gender Based Violence

in Timor-Leste” (July 2018 – March 2020)

Background on Plan International

Plan International is one of the world largest INGOs, working with children and poor communities in 75 developing countries for advancing Children’s Rights and Equality for Girls. We have worked with children, young people and communities for 80 years, committed to making a lasting impact on the lives of the most vulnerable, and excluded children while supporting children’s rights and gender equality. Plan International has been working in Timor-Leste since 2001 to promote the rights of all children and young people and give them practical support to achieve their rights to early education, water, sanitation and hygiene, employment and child protection, participation disaster risk management, and promote gender equality. Plan works in two municipalities, Aileu and Ainaro. Please visit www.plan-international.org for more information.

Background of “Say No to Gender Based Violence in Timor-Leste

The overall objective of the action is to contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for women and girls to claim and access their rights for a life free from gender-based violence (GBV).  The proposed action aims at contributing to reduction of violence against women and girls in Timor- Leste. In order to achieve this in a sustainable manner, changes in attitudes, behaviors, and practices of both rights-holders and duty-bearers are needed at multiple levels. At the same time, the action will contribute also to positive changes in the attitudes and behavior of men and adolescent boys towards women and girls including rejection of GBV through increased understanding of the causes and consequences of GBV, and adoption of more positive and equal gender relations.

The reduction of GBV in communities and especially within households will significantly contribute to improved well-being of children, and will prevent them from adopting violent behaviors when becoming adults. Improved understanding among women, men as well as adolescent girls and boys on women’s and girls’ rights, gender equality as well as linkages between GBV and early marriages is, also, expected to contribute to reduction of early marriages prevalent especially in rural communities in Timor-Leste.

In order to support and sustain the above impacts at the level of individuals and communities the action will contribute to the further development and strengthening of the existing referral system for GBV prevention and response. When fully functioning, this system would on one hand ensure that the government duty-bearers fulfil their duties related to continuous prevention of different forms of GBV, and that all GBV victims have access to good quality support services (especially health and social services, and legal protection) responding to their needs. The action will also contribute to the strengthened role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Timor Leste in promoting and sustaining community level changes, providing support services to GBV victims, and especially in advocating the government duty-bearers to fulfil their duties

In implementing this project of “Say No to Gender Based Violence”, Plan International works with its partners Mane ho Vizaun Foun (MAVF) and Asisténsia Legal ba Feto no Labarik (ALFeLa) who are promoting gender equality and supporting victim in Timor-Leste.  The project implemented in 12-target villages and 8 schools of Aileu municipality. This includes: a) 4,500 women and adolescent girls from 15 to 40 years of age (30% of them are from 15 to 19 years old); b) 2,000 men and young men from 15 to 40 years old (30% of them are from 15 to 19 years old), and c) 12 traditional and 12 religious leaders in these communities. The midterm review will focus on gathering information at the village (suku) level on knowledge, attitudes, and practices amongst boys and girls, women and men, community members, CSOs, CBOs, local community leaders and other duty bearers related to GBV issues. This review will also provide important information for the development of the replicable model for training packages for the one and half-year for the GBV issues in Timor-Leste.

The action will also give a specific emphasis on working with adolescent girls and boys, taking into consideration that early marriages are a common phenomenon especially in rural communities in Aileu, and that prevalence of GBV among 15-19 year-old adolescent girls is already very high.

Purpose of the Review

The objective of the review is to take stock of progress that has been made against the project implemented from July 2018 – March 2020, and to use this information for strategic decisions about the remaining one and half year of the current 3-year project. It will focus on a strategic reflection on work that has been completed, the effectiveness and impact of various interventions, and an analysis of how the current model and interventions might be supplemented or adapted to fill in any gaps. The results should contribute to better-informed decision-making, foster an environment of learning by doing and promote accountability for performance. Findings and lessons learned will be used by Plan Timor-Leste management to adjust current approaches over the other half of the project, and inform concepts for further programming possibilities.

1.1 Objectives of the review / evaluation:

1.              To assess project implementation progress against intended results

2.              To assess the Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Prospective Impact and Sustainability of project activities

3.              To assess of the outcomes of capacity building efforts of Plan and its partner NGOs, CSOs, youth-led CBOs and the local government

4.              To identify outcomes of the project and its impacts, if possible

5.              To provide recommendations on how to improve project activities and enhance the impact of project activities

6.              To generate concrete conclusions and recommendations that can feed in to planning and implementation of the project until the end of June 2021.

7.              To understand the sustainability aspect (not just activities and impacts) but including what elements of the project need to develop further to enhance the sustainability and to identify the challenges of sustainability

1.2 Scope and focus

The evaluation should address the following questions from Plan’s global Evaluation Policy:

• How consistent is the  project with key aspects of Plan’s LLDT (Learn, Lead, Decide, and Thrive) Development approach
• How consistent is the  project with the Plan’s local strategy (Country Strategy/regional strategy)
• How well has the internal monitoring system contributed to the evaluation and to ongoing project implementation?
• How appropriate was the original project design for achieving the results that were originally expected?
• How efficiently the project has spent its project budget?
• Approximately how many people has the project reached?

In addition, the midterm review should focus on the following aspects, but not limited to these should be consider in the study. The review must include consideration of all project indicators (refer to the project log-frame and proposal):

1.   Asses the % of female victims of GBV who have sought help from formal agencies or people in a position of authority for support (disaggregated by age group)

2.   The attitude, knowledge and behaviours on GBV

3.   Develop a replicable model to prevent and fight against gender-based violence in Timor-Leste

4.   Asses the % of community members in Aileu who demonstrate improved awareness on gender equality and GBV

5.   Asses the number of traditional leaders who refer GBV cases to the current referral system

6.   Assess the % of decision-makers, services providers and CSOs with improved skills and knowledge of prevention of and protection from GBV

7.   Provide the donor and the different stakeholders involved in the gender-based violence issue with accurate, reliable information, which will also inform advocacy activities.

8.   # of the relevant actor from all sector taking part in inter-agency cooperation on prevention of and protection from GBV

9.   # of victims from Aileu per year who are getting support from Uma Mahon shelter centre in Dili

10.  The level and frequency of different forms of GBV

11.  The dominant form of GBV in the Aileu community

12.    People’s awareness of institutions and structures to which they may report in case of GBV

13.    The existing community mechanisms to prevent and fight against GBV

2.1 Relevance

To what extent were the planned program results relevant to the context and needs?

Suggested questions to address

• Does the project “Say No to Gender Based Violence” target the right people, including young people, to attend training activities?
• Is the training content appropriate to the particular needs of girls and women in Aileu Municipality? 
• How do young people, particularly girls and women, stakeholders and community at large perceive the gender based violence program?
• Does the project involve more vulnerable young people such as young people with disabilities or living in very remote areas?

2.2   Progress against intended Results

• How effective has the project been in achieving its intended results?

Suggested questions to address:

·       What has been the progress made towards the achievement of expected activities and results of all project components?

·       What have been the changes in women’s and girls’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behavior as a result of their participation in this project?

·       What have been the changes in knowledge, skills, and attitude of girls and boys in their involvement in CoC (Champion of Change) in their school and their community as a result of their participation in project?

·       What have been the changes in knowledge, skill and attitude of women, men, traditional leaders in their involvement in AoC (Agent of Change) in their village/suco and district development processes as a result of their participation in this project?

·       What have been the changes in duty bearers’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and behavior as a result of their interaction with this project?

• Are M&E mechanism and tools in place to track the project achievements, both short and long term, so that expected results related to outcomes and impact can be measured towards the end of theproject ? To what extend?
• Are there any unanticipated outcomes (both positive and negative) so far? What real changes have been noted so far within the participants and the communities that the project has been working in?

2.3 Efficiency and effectiveness

• How effectively and efficiently has the project been implemented and managed?

Suggested questions to address:

• How efficient and effective has the project been in strengthening local civil society partners?
• How efficient and effective have the civil society partners been in achieving the project’s objectives
• How well did Plan select and manage the relationship with partners?
• How effective was monitoring of progress towards results?
• How effective was direct implementation of project activities by Plan staff?

2.4 Equality and Non-Discrimination

Suggested questions to address:

• Who benefits from the project? Who doesn’t and why?
• Does the project promote inclusion, especially of the most vulnerable and most marginalized, including people with disability (both male and female)? If not, why?
• What needs to change to contribute to greater equality and non-discrimination?

2.5 Sustainability

How sustainable and enduring are the outcomes of the project likely to be?

Suggested questions to address:

• If there have been changes in practice by girls, women, boys and men and communities how sustainable are they likely to be?
• Is there any capacity/skills growth among the young people or community?
• What were the major factors which influenced the achievement or non – achievement of sustainability of the project?
• How sustainable are the partners, including Mane ho Vizaun Foun (MAVF) and Asisténsia Legal ba Feto no Labarik (AlfeLa)?

3.   Target Audience of the Mid-Term Review:

• Plan management in Timor-Leste
• Plan’s Asia Regional Office and Plan Finland
• Youth CBOs and CSOs, women’s associations, DPOs, LGBT representatives, Champion of Chance groups and Agent of Change groups
• Plan’s local partners in this project: MAVF and ALFeLa
• Gender working group (GWG)
• National and local government agencies: (n.b. SEII , MSSI, MoE, VPU, OPS, MOH,  National Direction of conflict resolution and District administration in Aileu)

4.   Suggested Methodology:

The evaluator should mainly use participatory approaches and qualitative methodologies, though with quantitative data on post-training employment. The evaluator should pay a particular attention to consulting the girls, boys, young women, young men, women and men; youth-led CBOs, local leaders, traditional leaders, and vulnerable youth.

5.   Consultant tasks:

• Development of evaluation tools and reviewing existing questionnaires developed during the baseline
• Desk review of data and information related to the project, particularly MoUs, Agreement, annual plans and reports (review specific reports with thematic connections)
• Collect primary data from the project implementers and target groups through observations, interviews, and focus group discussions. Summarize and analyze the findings. This includes: (a) field visits to Aileu District to collect data from girls, boys, women, men youth, youth-led CBOs, traditional leaders, local leaders and community.

(b) Discussion and interview with local partners such as MHVF and ALFeLa;

(c) Discussion with CBOs TAMAT, ACB and the Gender Working Group;

d) Discussion with government institutions such as SEII, MSSI, MoE, National Department of Conflict Resolution and District Administration in Aileu;

e) Discussion with current Plan staff in all interviews, FGDs, etc., the evaluator should seek recommendations for the future program as well as reflections on the past.

f) Present preliminary report to project team and CMT for data validation

• Present a draft report at a consultation meeting involving key stakeholders to discuss key findings, recommendations, and future actions.
• Prepare a final report with comments, suggestion from the consultation meeting, archive of reference documents, presentations and minutes of consultation meeting
• The consultant is required to commit to Plan’s child safeguarding policy when interviewing adolescents and children.

6. The expected outputs:

• Evaluation proposal and field work plan with methodology of the data collection on expected outputs
• Draft and final MTR reports highlighting main findings and analysis, major achievements, lessons learnt, expected and unexpected changes.
• Very importantly, recommendations for planning and design of the next phase of the Project
• Final report with comments, suggestion from the consultation meeting, archive of reference documents, presentations and minutes of consultation meeting

7. Key Deliverables                                                                                                      

The mid-term review deliverables and services should include:

1. Inception Report

2. Draft Mid–Term review Report including an Indicator Tracking Table with data from the review

3. Final Mid-Term Review Report (including Executive Summary)

4. Final Sampling methodology (including unit of sampling and sampling frame) and size

5. Final Data Collection Tools (these tools will be used for all future monitoring activities during the project duration to ensure consistency in measurement)

6. Cleaned Data (including data files (e.g. Excel, SPSS), transcripts of qualitative data, syntax/ codebooks etc.)

7. Completed Consent Forms (including for children and their caregivers and adults)

8. Other Communication Products for Dissemination.

8. Timeline                                                                    

The total duration of the mid-term study is approximately 12 days in total (including both field visit and data analysis), starting from mid-April 2020. 

9. Format of the Report:

The report shall not exceed 25 pages (excluding appendices), which includes:

o   Executive summary

o   Description of the project’s achievements at the time of review

§  Estimated coverage (area and beneficiaries)

§  Details of the objectives and results achieved

§  Other unexpected significant changes

o   Description of project’s implementation history

o   Report on

§  relevance and quality of the project design

§  effectiveness and efficiency

§  progress against intended results

§  sustainability

§  crosscutting aspects (child right, gender, inclusion)

o   Note: include the following topics in the review of efficiency

§  management structure for the project

§  monitoring system 

§  experience with formal partnerships (i.e. where Plan provides funding)

§  identify other (existing and potential) Plan activities which add synergy to the project

o   Lessons learned and recommendations

10. Supervisor of the evaluation process:

• Etha Mota, CP I  Manager
• With close involvement of Emilia Falcao, Senior GBV Project Coordinator, Paulo Soares, MERL Manager, Cipriano Pereira, MERL Coordinator, Fatima Soares Deputy-Country Director for Programs, and Dillyana Ximenes, Country Director.

11.  Consultant’s qualifications summary:

·     Substantial experience in evaluation using both participatory and qualitative approaches and quantitative methods

·     Demonstrate expertise  on violence against women and girls, girls rights, gender based violence and gender equality

·     Knowledge of situation of women’s and girls’ right in Timor-Leste

·     Experiences in human right issues

·     Experience in Theory of Change and other strategic planning format

·     Experiences in qualitative and quantitative participatory M&E methods

·     Experiences in data analysis and presentation

·     Fluency in Tetun a major advantage

·     Gender and child rights analysis skills.

·     Ability to write high quality, clear, concise report in English

The working language is English and Tetun

12   Submission of Proposals

The individual/agency will have to submit a proposal for comparison and evaluation. 

1. Detailed proposal on methodology and suggested changes to ToR, if any
2. Past experience of similar work  and sample evaluation report can be advances
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Detailed time lines for work
5. Budget ( should be detail provide in excel sheet as annexes)

Deadline for submission of proposal:  March 27, 2020

Please send proposals either through email to info.timorleste@plan-international.org or to Etha.Mota@plan-international.org by hand delivery in a sealed envelope to Plan’s office at Bairo dos Grilhos, Dili, Timor-Leste.

Plan International Timor-Leste

Rua de Nú Laran No. 20, Nain Feto

PO Box 246, Dili, Timor-Leste

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