Final Evaluation Consultant (Deepening Peace in the Niger-Delta) at Search For Common Ground’s International

Location: Niger Delta
Design Monitoring & Evaluation: Africa - West
Consultant - Local

About the Project

• The “Deepening the Peace in the Niger Delta” Project is funded by the German Cooperation, to support a locally led peace architecture that is inclusive, at all levels of society. The project is in its second phase of implementation (Oct 2019 - Dec 2020), aiming to scale up impact and build on the positive results yielded from successful implementation of the project’s pilot phase (Nov 2018 – Sep 2019). In the first phase of the project, including a period of no cost extension (Jun – Sep 2019), the project focused on Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states, directly benefiting communities in 8 LGAS (Rivers State: Okrika, Gokana, and Port Harcourt LGAs, Bayelsa State: Southern Ijaw and Kolokuma/Opokuma LGAs, and Delta State: Warri North, Warri South-West, Isoko South LGAs).
• This scale up phase of the project targets 20 communities in 20 LGAs in the three focus states, (Rivers State - Okrika, Gokana, Port Harcourt, Khana, Obio/Akpor, Asari-Toru and Ogba/ Egbema/Ndoni; Bayelsa State - Southern Ijaw, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Ogbia, Sagbama, Ekeremor,  and Brass), Delta State - Aniocha North,  Isoko South, Udu, Ughelli South, Ukwuani, Warri North and Warri South West) and continued to engage diverse stakeholders including Government authorities, security agencies, community leaders, women and youths, to collaboratively respond to conflict drivers in the region.
• The overall goal of the project is to support an inclusive, multi-level dialogue process to peacefully address governance and resource issues driving conflict in the Niger Delta. This project goal is being achieved through two specific objectives and corresponding outcomes:

Objective 1

• Strengthen linkages between citizens and local authorities in the Niger Delta to respond to drivers of violence in the region.

Expected Outcomes:

• People of the Niger Delta, including militants and ex-militants, feel that cooperation between them and local authorities is strengthened;
• Platforms for collaborative response to underlying conflict issues by communities,  government, and security are established in project LGAs

Objective 2

• Amplify the voices of key stakeholders, particularly women, youth and marginalized groups to contribute to discussions around regional conflict issues and promote peace in the Niger Delta region.

Expected Outcomes:

• 2.1 Journalists and civil society organizations increase their capacity to report on elections and manage rumours;
• 2.2 Increase in the number of voices of women, youth and marginalized groups contributing to discussions on regional conflict issues in the Niger Delta; and
• 2.3 Increase in public awareness and support for peace in the Niger Delta

Purpose of the Final Evaluation:

• Building understanding and trust is the most critical precondition to peace building. With the growing population and resultant lack of control of resources such as land and crude oil proceeds, communities in the Niger Delta are prone to conflicts over these resources. In the absence of understanding and trust, intra and inter-communal clashes are rife and further clashes with the Oil Producing Companies are also common. This project recognizes that if members of communities are empowered with non-violence means of resolving conflicts and embrace dialogues, and thus develop locally-owned and sustained mechanisms for conflict prevention and dispute resolution, the risk of intergroup violence will be reduced and norms and institutions favourable towards peace and reconciliation will be reinforced.
• To this end, the final evaluation will provide information on the relevance, effectiveness and sustainability of the project, for internal accountability and learning which will be used for designing, planning and implementation of future programs and for accountability to donors.
• The evaluation will also determine the level of adherence to the planned activities and associated results planned during project implementation.

Objectives of the Final Evaluation are to:

• To determine the project’s contribution and impact in achievement minimizing conflicts arising from governance and resource issues
• To document outcomes/impact in line with all project expected outcomes and objectives.
• To determine the extent to which the project is having an impact on gender and inclusion dynamics, specifically the role of women, youth and marginalized groups in peace building in the communities.
• To determine the capacity and motivation of project beneficiaries to sustain the gains of the intervention especially the platforms created by the project after the lifespan of the project.
• To provide an overview of the strengths, weaknesses, challenges and gaps in the project implementation, and recommendations for addressing the weaknesses and challenges which will inform future programming.
• To provide and share actionable lessons learned and recommendations for the design and implementation of future projects.

Lines of inquiry will be determined more in detail and should include:
Relevance:

• How relevant were the project strategies, activities and partnerships to the specific context and objectives of the project?
• How relevant were the project strategies, activities and partnerships to the result of the project?

Impact:

• To what extent can changes (intended/unintended, positive/negative) be attributed to the program?  
• What particular features of the program have made a difference in the governance and resource issue conflict in the communities?  
• What is the influence of other factors and conflict context on the impact of the project?

Effectiveness:

• To what extent were the objectives of the intervention achieved?  
• What components of the intervention have been more successful and what components proved to be more challenging?

Sustainability:

• To what extent are the benefits of the program likely to persist after donor funding ceased?
• What are the major factors that are influencing the sustainability of the program?
• If the project has contributed to strengthening the linkage between the citizens and local authorities to address the drivers of conflict, how sustainable are these linkages?

Methodology

• Using Search’s tools and guidelines for working with project beneficiaries, the study will bring the perspectives of different stakeholders together through a participatory and solutions-oriented process that specifically includes women, youth, and other marginalized groups.
• The evaluation will be conducted using a mixed methodology that includes both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods. This will allow for the triangulation of information, allowing for in-depth findings and recommendations. The study, from conception to recommendations will be grounded on conflict sensitivity and Do No Harm principles, to ensure that the needs of women and youths are met, in ways that do not entrench dividing lines between various groups in the community.
• Operationalization of this proposed methodology is to be clearly stated in the application, detailing how this research and methodology is actionable in the states and to the purpose of the evaluation. In addition, the application should include details on logistics and roll-out of the study: who the target respondents will be and why, how will they be identified or recruited, how data collection and data quality assurance will be carried out, as well as how data analysis will be done.
• The inception and final reports will be developed by the consultant and/or team, and reviewed and approved by Search. The tools will be administered by the consultant and/ or team, working with a team of data collectors, while the data will be analyzed by the consultant and/or team chosen to perform this research. In addition, the consultant and/or team chosen will develop the report with guidance and reviews by Search’s DMEL team.

Deliverables:

• An inception report detailing the proposed method, study matrix, and work plan. It is to be approved by Search’s DMEL staff before starting data collection.
• Research tools and data collection (developed by the candidate and/or team with the input of Search’s DMEL staff)
• Draft report for review by Search staff and other stakeholders
• Final Report, consisting of but not excluded to: Executive Summary, Methodology, Findings and Analysis, Conclusions, Lessons Learned and Recommendations. The report should be structured according to the evaluation questions and should include information on:
• All data collected for this research including audios and transcripts for all interviews, and quantitative data entered in a template, based on the methodology used
• Appendices, including data collection tools and list of interviewees
• A power-point presentation summarizing the report’s findings

Required Profile

• At least 6 years’ experience in Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning (MERL), Project implementation, impact and result assessment.
• Prior experience conducting research is essential
• 5 years or more of experience in evaluations and large-scale qualitative studies with international organizations;
• Experience working in the Niger Delta of Nigeria and familiarity with the context with focus on Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States.
• Experience in evaluating programs relating to community development, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution;
• Strong analytical skills;
• Excellent written communication and report writing skills in English;
• Demonstrated experience in leading large scale research in the specific context of the Delta state, including ability to train and work with a locally recruited research team;
• Knowledge of languages indigenous to the Niger Delta state such as basic pidgin English will be an added advantage;
• Ability to be flexible with time and work schedule.

Logistical Support:

• Transmission of background materials (project proposal, meeting notes, etc.);
• Availability of meeting rooms in Delta and Bayelsa, as required;

Budget and Terms of Engagement:

• All logistic costs, including transportation and lodging will NOT be borne by Search and should be included in the proposed budget.
• 5% withholding tax will be deducted at source from the total cost of the consultancy fee for a firm.

The consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles:

• Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: Consultant should make the most of the existing information and full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Consultant should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique his or her work. He or she should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.
• Competence: Consultant should possess the abilities and skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
• Honesty and integrity: Consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about: any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.
• Respect for people: Consultant respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, program participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.
• In addition, the consultant will respect SFCG’s evaluations standards, to be found in SFCG’s evaluation guidelines: https://www.sfcg.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SFCG-External-Evaluation-Guidelines-FINAL.pdf

The application should hold four attachments:

• 1 technical offer detailing the methodology, timeframe and size of the evaluation team proposed (max 4 pages);
• 1 resume of lead researcher biography of the evaluator/ evaluation team demonstrating relevant experience/ knowledge (max 5 pages);
• 1-2 examples of past large-scale research where candidate was the lead evaluator;
• 1 financial offer (Excel) detailing the costs of the budget detailing accommodation and traveling costs, field recruitments if necessary;
• 2 references of organizations who can verify the quality of the consultant’s work.

Only candidates who submit the required applications will be reviewed and selection made according to the following criteria:

• Financial offer will be awarded based on the lowest cost basis but with following criteria: (i) Cost proposal submitted cites specific rates by each major items; and (ii) Relevance and consistency with technical proposal.
• Consultant's ability to conduct qualitative and quantitative studies, knowledge of methodology and field of research;
• Consultant's ability to conduct the study on time;
• Consultant's ability to recruit local data collection teams on site;
• Quality of reports proposed by the consultant as a sample;

Note: Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please.