Yemen: External Evaluation of nutrition project - Consultancy

Requisition ID: req2045

Job Title: External Evaluation of nutrition project - Consultancy

Sector: Health

Employment Category: Consultant

Employment Type: Full-Time

Location: Yemen

BackgroundThe IRC has been working in Yemen since 2012 to deliver integrated WASH, Health, and Nutrition programs and since the escalation of the current conflict in 2014, has scaled up its intervention significantly. The IRC's portfolio of interventions has expanded both geographically and programmatically to address the considerable increase in humanitarian need. Currently, the IRC is in the second phase of a two-phase Nutrition program, and is seeking to conduct a mixed methods evaluation of its nutrition programming in Yemen. Project description The project aims to increase access to nutrition services by conflict affected communities in Abyan and Aden governorates and improve or strengthen the capacity of the affected communities to prevent malnutrition and promote positive behavior change in the respective communities.

The nutrition and food security activities under this grant were scheduled to end on 30th June 2018. The aim of the evaluation is to assess the outcomes/ change these activities has on the community. The evaluation is also intended to assess the quality of the services and inputs provided, and to propose recommendations to improve activities in future projects. The two key outcomes that the grant aims to achieve, and that the consultant will assess are the following:

• Conflict-affected communities in Abyan and Aden Governorates will have increased access to quality nutrition life-saving services.
• The capacity of the affected communities to prevent malnutrition and promote positive behavior in their respective communities is strengthened.

Output 1.1: Acutely malnourished girls and boys below 5 years receive treatment for their conditions through IRC supported OTP and TSFP sites

Output 1.2: Capacity of key MoPHP technical staff in the management of acute malnutrition, monitoring and analysis of nutrition in the targeted areas improved through coordinated activities.

Output 2.1: Improved access to preventive activities targeting those most at risk of acute malnutrition.

Evaluation purpose and objectives The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the project's progress and results towards expected outcomes, and overall project objective, as well as Partnership and adherence to the core humanitarian standards. The evaluation will review also the partnership relation between IRC and its donor/partner in Yemen.

The project works across various sites in Khanfer and Al-Bureiqa districts of Abyan and Aden governorates respectively.

The evaluation will be based on primary and secondary data using both quantitative and qualitative methods, such as review of existing project documents, reports, output table, interim report, training lists and other documents related to the project to inform decisions regarding the course of the activities.

The consultant is encouraged to analyze and triangulate data from different sources to synthesize and generate systematic and logical facts, narratives, conclusions, and recommendations, so that findings are as robust as possible. The Consultant and IRC will be jointly responsible for choosing the methods (including sampling methodology for selecting beneficiaries for FGDs, interviews) that are the most appropriate and will include, but would not necessarily be limited to, the following:

• Desk review of key documents, including project documents, prior evaluation and lesson learnt reports, monitoring reports and other relevant documents.
• Search for literature and review materials on the context in which the project operates, and recent developments that impacts project's work
• Recommend actions relevant to the current context appropriate for nutrition
• Field visits to the areas of implementation of the different activities
• Interaction/Interview/focus groups' discussions with project staff, beneficiaries and their families in the different implementation field locations.
• Ensure ethics and data quality principals for research are adhered to, protocols followed for consent and confidentiality;

Evaluation timeline The consultant will prepare and submit tentative work plan detailing dates for the deliverables. The suggested timeframe is currently 25-working days from which the contract is signed. The planned evaluation will be conducted between September 1st and 25th, 2018. It is expected, within the scope of the evaluation that a sharing workshop involving IRC will be held either in London or through Skype and another involving IRC staff will be held in Aden and a final report produced. The overall consultancy including the sharing workshop should be completed no later than 31st September, 2018. A final meeting (skype or in-person) will be held with IRC to share the final results.

Deliverables The consultant will provide the following deliverables:

1. Inception Report: Prepare and submit an inception report to be submitted 5 days before traveling to country
2. Inception Meeting: Hold an inception meeting prior to the evaluation in London or via Skype with IRC and partner staff
3. De-briefing Meeting: Hold a de-briefing meeting with evaluation team after completion of data collection to discuss preliminary key findings.
4. Evaluation Report (draft 0, draft 1, draft 2)
5. The report will be submitted in 3 phases: 1st draft, 2nd draft and final (in Word format soft-copies). Final document should be received by 31st September 2018
6. The preliminary findings will be presented to project staff in Aden.
7. The report will include: o A summary evaluation abstract detailing best practices, o Lessons learned, o A summary of indicators, key findings and recommendations. The recommendations should be practical and clear, allowing the intended users of this evaluation to use them in future programming.
8. The report will include evaluation appendices, such as data collection tools, audios, recordings, raw and cleaned datasets, transcripts or any other photos.
9. Provide raw data (all datasets in excel or SPSS, notes from KIIs and FGDs)
10. All the Evaluation materials above will be the sole propriety IRC.

Deadlines for the deliverables will be discussed and established with the consultant prior to the signing of the contract.

Duty of care The Consultant is requested to take their own security coverage. However, IRC will help with safety & security of the consultants on the ground. In case of emergency and should there be a need for relocation/evacuation, IRC will include the consultant in our evacuation procedure, or, if not possible, will assist him/her in arranging his/her evacuation. IRC safety & security teams, will also provide the consultant with all the information they possess about current safety & security issues in country and field level as well as in country security orientation so to ensure that the consultant will have a high level of contextual awareness. IRC safety & security department will provide all the relevant support required so to ensure the smooth and safe working environment."

Qualifications of the Consultant

• Post graduate degree related to social research, survey methodologies or monitoring & evaluation required
• Minimum 10 years relevant experience in mixed-methods research, preferably in the development/NGO sector in developing countries required
• Experience designing and running Nutrition or Food security programs
• Demonstrated previous experience conducting nutrition evaluations and needs assessments
• Demonstrated experience in management of household level surveys required
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative data analysis required
• Demonstrated experience in qualitative data analysis for key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and/or audio/visual content required
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection tool development required
• Demonstrated experience in training enumerators required
• Experience in evaluating partnerships between NGOs and civil society organizations
• Professional work experience in country or region preferred
• Fluency in Arabic and English required

Application

• CV
• Cover letter
• Detailed budget for the evaluation indicating costs per item line.
• Previous reports from assessments and evaluations you have conducted

Please send the requested information

Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=SGVyaW5lLk9jaG9sbGEuNDkyMzEuMzgzMEBpcmNjZC5hcGxpdHJhay5jb20