Consultant - OFDA Project Final External Evaluation at Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

About the Job

• The DRC Nigeria programme strategy is currently articulated around the provision of emergency assistance and protection, primarily focusing on IDPs currently located in informal settlements and host communities
• However, while responding to the most pressing needs of IDPs, DRC simultaneously provides support to returnees who have arrived back to their areas of origin and need recovery assistance as they begin rebuilding their lives.
• To respond to growing humanitarian needs, the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has been funding the Danish Refugees Council (DRC) since May 2015 to implement the project "Ensuring timely and emergency assistance to vulnerable populations affected by the conflict in Nigeria”, within the sectors of Shelter, NFI and WASH. The goal of this action is to provide timely, effective and appropriate emergency Shelter, NFI and WASH assistance to internally displaced persons, host communities and returnees in North East Nigeria
• This project, whose direct beneficiaries are IDPs and returnees, was implemented in Borno and Adamawa states.
• DRC wishes to conduct an external evaluation in order to evaluate the impact of its intervention:
  • For the project beneficiaries
  • In a broader sense within the affected community and
  • As part of the wider humanitarian response
• The evaluation will provide an independent assessment of the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of the programme and make recommendations to enable the organization to engage in effective policymaking, planning, programming, and implementation
• It is also intended that this evaluation of the completed grant forms the baseline for the start-up and implementation of a new grant in similar sectors.

Your Main Duties and Responsibilities

• The evaluation will use the DAC criteria to measure the impact of DRC’s interventions in the sectors of Shelter, NFI and WASH under the completed project, to be used as a baseline against which to implement a similar project
• There will be a particular focus on the relevance and coordination of the programme over project cycles and changes in context, with the aim of analysing the current context in terms of likely scenarios and risks requiring emergency response
• The evaluation will include a significant component on how the best practices/lessons learned can be applied to emergency response programming, contingency planning, and supporting other partners and local actors.
• The purpose of this evaluation is to measure the impact of DRC’s interventions in the sectors of Shelter, NFI and WASH under the completed project, to be used as a baseline against which to implement a similar project.

Relevance:

• To what extent and in what aspects did the project meet a verified need?
• How realistically were the objectives of the project defined? Were they appropriate for the participants, beneficiaries and stakeholders?
• To what extent do the objectives of the project and the intervention objectives correspond to the basic principles of the DRC mandate?
• To what extent did the intervention contribute towards the goals and achievements of the Humanitarian Response Plan, Regional Plan, as well as other sector-specific goals set by other agencies, including the government? How well does the project fit within the country strategy for DRC Nigeria?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of DRC's approach to intervention?

Effectiveness:

• To what extent have the objectives of the intervention been achieved?
• What were the positive and negative effects, expected and unforeseen of the project?
• What factors contributed to the achievement of the objectives?
• How has the project contributed to improving the living conditions of the targeted beneficiaries?

Efficiency:

• To what extent were the deadlines met?
• How effective were the communication chanels used, both internal and external to implement the project?
• Were recipients satisfied with DRC's support?
• How was the reporting system? Did it provide a sufficient element for good management?

Durability:

• To what extent has the project enhanced the resilience of the target populations?
• To what extent are the project partners able and willing to maintain the outcome of the intervention after discontinuation of DRC support?

Transversal Aspects:

• To what extent has the differing needs of men, women, boys and girls been identified in the needs analysis?
• Did women and men make equal contributions to the design of the project?
• Has the project been implemented and data analysed/interpreted with gender, age, disability, or other specific needs in mind?

Recommendations:

• What were the good practices of the project?
• What were the lessons learned?
• What activities should be continued, stopped, or refracted in the future?
• What aspects of the project contributed to the achievement of the objectives?
• How can specific recommendations be made for the implementation of the future grants?

It is proposed that the external evaluator be contracted for between 30 to 35 working days. The external evaluator is responsible for the timely delivery of the following evaluation products:

• An Inception Report (maximum 5 pages): Based on the documentation review and report of the data analysis, the report will outline the evaluator’s understanding of the evaluation and expectations, along with a concrete action plan for undertaking the evaluation – including methodology and timelines for all deliverables;
• A presentation of the major findings and recommendations of the evaluation to internal stakeholders (to occur immediately upon concluding the fieldwork and prior to departure from Nigeria);
• A Draft Report (maximum 20 pages with an Executive Summary of no more than 5 pages) clearly articulating key findings, conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations for concrete actions to be taken in the implementation DRC WASH, Shelter, NFI and livelihood programming in NE Nigeria. The Evaluation Manager/Steering Committee will provide feedback and comment within 7 days of receiving the report.
• A Final Report that incorporates comments from the Evaluation Manager and Evaluation Steering Committee, alongside a response matrix detailing how each comment was handled in the revising of the draft report (delivered within 7 days of receiving Evaluation Steering Committee feedback on Draft Report).
• About you or your team: To be successful in this role we expect you to embody DRC's core competencies: Communicating, Taking the lead, Collaborating, striving for excellence and Demonstrating integrity.

Requirements

• Advanced University Degree or equivalent in Humanitarian/Development Studies, Social Sciences, or other fields related to the provision of humanitarian assistance in Shelter, NFIs, WASH or Protection.
• At least 3-5 years of relevant experience and proven expertise in the humanitarian sector with significant experience in monitoring, data analysis, research and/or evaluation – including prior experience in project and programme reviews and evaluations
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills.
• Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision.
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills.
• Excellent command in written and spoken English.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the current literature/practice on displacement-related emergency response. Familiarity with DRC and/or Nigeria emergency response preferred.
• Experience conducting evaluations of OFDA-funded projects preferred.

Coverage and Timeline of the Assignment

• OFDA project locations in Adamawa and Borno states, Northeast Nigeria
• Start date: The consultant must finalize the evaluation between 30th July and 27th August, 2018