Summary
ActionAid Zimbabwe is seeking the services of a Zimbabwe-based consultant to carry out a comprehensive end of project evaluation for a project entitled Towards Resilient Communities with Health, Equality, and Safety for all (TORCHES) being funded by Peoples Post Code Lottery (PPL) through ActionAid UK. The primary task of the consultant will be to gather end of project data against relevant indicators in the project logical framework.
Background
ActionAid Zimbabwe (AAZ) is an international organisation working to achieve Social Justice, Gender Equality and Poverty Eradication. Women and youth are at the centre of AAZ work . AAZ dedicated local staff are helping to end violence against women and girls and changing lives, for good. Poverty is complex, it is more than a lack of money. It is also a lack of choice and power. For women and girls, poverty means having less opportunities than men and boys and in the world’s poorest places this means living on the margins of society, often facing discrimination, exploitation and violence. The denial of women and girls’ rights is one of the biggest causes of poverty worldwide, and a grave injustice. That is why we put the rights of women and girls at the heart of all we do.
Objective of the project
The TORCHES project is aimed at creating communities where women and girls, including people with disabilities, are free from violence and have amplified voices and agency. This will be achieved by successfully fostering personal and community reflection about power relations, nurturing power and amplifying girls' voices in schools and communities.
The project uses two methodologies; the SASA Together and TUSEME. SASA! Is a community mobilisation approach to preventing VAWG and HIV. SASA! is based on the analysis and understanding of power imbalance as the root cause of VAWG. SASA! Works
through four phases namely; start, awareness, support and action and uses a community-led approach to support the whole community to take action on VAWG. Tuseme, (which means ‘let us speak out’) is a participatory theatre-based approach in schools to create safe spaces for girls and boys to take action for gender equality and transform social norms, which centres on the empowerment of adolescent girls. The project began in October 2020 with the START phase and is currently the project in the ACTION phase which will end on 31 March 2025. The project targets schools, community leaders, institutions, and community members including persons with disabilities. The project activities are being implemented in Chitungwiza, Nyanga and Shamva.
Project outcome 1 focused on the following:
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Foster personal reflection about power and naturing power within
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Deepened understanding of what power over is by community leaders, community members and duty bearers
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Build skills and encourage community members to join power with others to prevent violence against women.
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Community members use collective power to formalize and sustain change that prevents violence against women.
Outcome 2
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Adolescent girls, their peers and their schools have a deepened understanding of power relations and gender roles and take action for change.
Outcome 3
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People with disabilities are active participants in project activities in schools and communities.
Outcome 4
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Improved accessibility and quality of referral services
Objectives and purpose of the end of project evaluation
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To assess impact of the TORCHES project in the communities and schools to date.
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To examine changes over time in communities and institutions knowledge on what they know, feel and do with regards to power within, power over, power with and power to.
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To draw lessons learnt and best practices for future project designing.
Expected methodology
The consultant will ensure that the survey tools are administered to the communities and institutions in the district areas where TORCHES is being implemented. The consultant will be issued with tools for the survey that have already been developed.
The end of project data collection will entail field trips to the three project communities of Shamva, Chitungwiza and Nyanga. Appropriate sampling methodologies should be proposed for identification of project participants to be interviewed.
Data collection activities in the field will include administering of both quantitative and qualitative data to the project participants. As such the detailed methodology must include:
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Protocols and procedures for data collection.
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Procedures for analysing quantitative data
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Data presentation/dissemination of findings
Coordination roles and responsibilities
The selected consultant will be contracted by ActionAid Zimbabwe and report to ActionAid Zimbabwe TORCHES Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer. The TORCHES Project Manager will be the key point of contact at ActionAid Zimbabwe for the consultant and will be responsible for sign-off on key decisions.
Support provided by ActionAid Zimbabwe and the project partners will involve the following:
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Introductory briefings with the consultant
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Provision of key project documents
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Provision of contact details and introductions to key stakeholders
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Facilitation of access to project participants.
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Providing technical advice on research approaches and ensuring deliverables meet agreed quality standards and grant requirements.
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Further logistical support from ActionAid Zimbabwe and implementing partners relevant to data collection activities in the field will be agreed during the inception project.
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Provide Safeguarding training to the researchers
The consultant will do the following for both Tuseme and SASA Together evaluation:
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Identify and prepare enumerators to assist with data collection in the field.
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Review all relevant documents for the end of project study
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Produce inception report for carrying out the end of project study.
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Design appropriate study methodology and sampling. Data collection for both Tuseme and SASA Together methodology will be conducted at the same period although the reports will be separate.
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Recruit, train and manage data collectors and supervisors/team-leaders.
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Oversee the data collection process to include: survey pre-test; and ensure effective management of data collection teams by supervisors.
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Code, encode and analyse collected data using the appropriate software. (Data collection tools for Tuseme and SASA will be separate)
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Produce and submit to ActionAid Zimbabwe a draft report on findings (as per required format and data request).
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Incorporate comments from the ActionAid Zimbabwe into draft report and produce final report.
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De-brief the ActionAid Zimbabwe Team (after initial field trip and upon submission of draft report).
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Coordinate with the ActionAid Zimbabwe team to disseminate study findings to respondents and other stakeholders.
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Finalise a high-quality end of project analysis report.
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Present findings to the ActionAid Zimbabwe team after the report submission.
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Develop end of project study design which includes survey methodology, interview protocol, data entry templates etc, as appropriate including a summarised manual for training Research Assistants in consultation with ActionAid Zimbabwe PPL Project Manager and MEL Officer.
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Develop field work schedule in consultation with ActionAid Zimbabwe.
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Receive the completed data on a daily basis from data collectors and share the completed data with ActionAid Zimbabwe key contacts on a daily basis.
Expected Outputs and deliverables
The specific outputs for the consultancy will be:
A.
Inception report and workplan, including a sampling strategy, data collection and analysis methodology (for both Tuseme and SASA methodology)
B.
Training on tools and methodology for enumerators (for both Tuseme and SASA approach)
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Data analysis of the collected data.
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Draft and final end of project assessment report of no more than 25 pages (excluding annexes) as a Word document, written in clear and concise English. (This will be 2 separate reports one for Tuseme and one for SASA). The reports will include:
a.
Cover page
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Contents table
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Executive summary of no more than 2 pages, outlining the overall purpose and scope of the end of project study, an overview of the methodology and key findings of the data collection and analysis
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Purpose, objectives and scope of the end of project assessment
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Indicators measured with a corresponding data collection and analysis methodology
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Limitations of the study
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Key findings and analysis, disaggregated by gender, disability inclusion and location
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Annexes: data collection tools used, schedule of field visits and meetings; list of stakeholders, including project participants, consulted and/or interviewed, disaggregated by data collection activity; bibliography of key documents consulted; TOR for End of Project Assessment
i.
Summary slides / presentation material of the reports in PowerPoint format
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All raw data files in appropriate file formats for both Tuseme and SASA Together methodology
Evaluator qualifications
General criteria:
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Demonstrable expertise on women’s rights and gender equality, with specific expertise on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG),
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Experience in conducting surveys in both rural and urban set up
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Excellent spoken and written command of English and Shona
Technical criteria:
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Degree in social sciences, development studies or equivalent
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Experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods.
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Experience in participatory research.
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Experience in designing and conducting evaluations.
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Evidence of strong downward accountability mechanisms used with project stakeholders/research participants to actively share results and learning
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Evidence of use of ethical and safeguarding considerations and methodological measures during data collection
Track record:
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Evidence of successful collaboration with NGOs
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Evidence of producing clear, concise reports in English and high quality, published research