Project Evaluator

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Final evaluation of livelihood project in Iraq

1. Background of the assignment

Rehabilitation, Education and Community Health (REACH) is a non-governmental, non-profit, impartial, and independent Iraqi organization, which was founded in 1995. REACH provides humanitarian aid to IDPs, refugees and vulnerable host communities, by assisting and supporting efforts to make a difference in the lives of the community members we serve. The organizational headquarters is in Sulaymaniya, with operational offices in Kirkuk, Duhok, Erbil and Mosul. REACH has been implementing numerous Relief and Recovery projects targeting Iraqi IDPs in: Food Security, Cash assistance, Psychosocial Support and awareness, Vocational trainings, Income generating activities, Asset replacement, Water, Hygiene and Sanitation projects and others.

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) is a humanitarian aid agency. It is DKH’s approach to implement Relief, Rehabilitation and Disaster Risk Reduction projects mainly through local Partner Organizations, taking the Localization approach, in empowering the local society and involving them in the decision-making process, as they are the ones suffering and in the frontline of the crisis. The DKH team provides technical and other backstopping to all partner organizations within its area of responsibility. It also continuously aims at increasing and further strengthening relations with local partners on the ground and building their capacities.

Project background**

Overall goal of the project is to contribute to a successful integration respectively re-integration of refugees, IDPs, returnees and host communities in their area of origin respectively
their area of refuge by supporting them to access livelihood opportunities.

The outcomes of the project are:

· improving household finances among urban beneficiaries as a result of creating stable income generation activities through vocational skill development, and small business establishment.

· improving living conditions of rural communities as well as household finances among rural beneficiaries as a result of creating stable income generation activities through enhanced agricultural production, livestock distribution and reconstruction of needed irrigation systems.

The project has been implemented in Kurdistan Region Iraq and Niniveh plains from December 2018 until November 2021. The project was extended by March 2022.

2. Purpose and specific objectives of the assignment

The purpose of the assignment is to provide an independent final review and assessment of the livelihood project and to contribute to the learning of REACH Iraq and DKH. The specific objectives of the assignment are:

· To conduct a final review (relevance & coverage, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability) of the current project, taking into account the specific socio-political and institutional context of Iraq

· To identify lessons learned, best practices and recommendations, especially focusing on possible follow-up projects

The assignment is intended for the use of REACH Iraq and DKH.

3. Questions

The assignment will specifically focus on the following questions:

Relevance & Coverage

· To what extent are the project suited to the particular needs and priorities of the beneficiaries?

· Did the projects address and reach the most vulnerable and severely affected beneficiaries?

· Were the selection of project areas and the applied selection criteria appropriate for the context?

Effectiveness

· To what extent did the project achieve its objectives?

· What are major factors that influenced the achievement/ non-achievement of objectives?

· How effective were the various approaches in the agricultural and urban sectors?

Efficiency

· Did the implementing organization have enough human and material resources as well as context-related expertise in order to achieve the objectives of the projects?

· Were there appropriate systems of beneficiary accountability that beneficiaries were aware of?

· Which added value did the support of DKH provide to the partner organization?

Sustainability

· To what extent did the results of the project continue/ are likely to continue after the project?

· To what extend did the applied approaches increase resilience to prevent a further deterioration of living conditions?

Impact

· What is the evidence of the impact that the project has had to date on beneficiaries?

· Are there any positive or negative unintended changes that have stemmed from the project activities?

· Were risks analysis carried out before/ during projects to identify risks and mitigation measures?

4. Design, methodology and deliverables

The evaluation is to be conducted in line with the OECD/DAC standards. The evaluators are expected to use a diverse set of methodologies, including, but not limited to:

• Preparation: This includes a kick-off online meeting, a desk review of key project documents and literature/ reference frameworks, explorative interviews and the development of data collection tools in the inception report.
• Field visit: The field phase includes visits to project sites in Iraq (most likely: Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, Dohuk and Mosul) with interviews and focus group discussions with REACH project staff, beneficiaries and context actors. The support of the field visit will be facilitated by REACH and DKH.

· Synthesis: The synthesis phase includes a workshop session at the end of the field visit to share findings, prior to writing the field mission report. **

The anticipated time period for the assignment is:

Preparation and inception report (5 pages)

January 2022 (5 days)

Field mission in Iraq

January/February 2022 (10 days including travel days**)**

Evaluation report (20 pages)

January/February 2022 (4 days)

Total number of consultant days: up to 20 days

The time schedule is partially flexible and can be adapted according to current travel restrictions on COVID-19.

5. Profile of the selected consultant

The selected evaluator/ team of evaluators shall have the following profile:

· Experience with conducting similar kind of project evaluations;

· Professional experience in humanitarian aid, with a special emphasis on shelter rehabilitation projects;

· Knowledge and professional working experience in Iraq;

· Ability to travel to project sides in Iraq; suggested locations for the field phase are Kurdistan Region Iraq and Mosul;

· Familiarity with and clear comprehension of SPHERE standards and CHS;

· Fluency in English, both written and spoken; fluency in Arabic and/or Kurdish is an asset.

Please submit the following documents (CV; application letter; and budget, detailing the daily rate. Note: transportation and accommodation will be provided by REACH) until 7.12.2021 to emails: Jobs@reach-iraq.org and applications.jor@diakonie-katastrophenhilfe.org with LVH evaluation in subject. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. **