Tender of a consultancy for the evaluation of Islamic Relief Turkey’s (Syria mission) response and recovery programme, December 2021

Islamic Relief Worldwide

Islamic Relief is an international aid and development charity, which aims to alleviate the suffering of the world's poorest people. It is an independent Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) founded in the UK in 1984.

As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities - regardless of race, religion or gender.

Our vision:

Inspired by our Islamic faith and guided by our values, we envisage a caring world where communities are empowered, social obligations are fulfilled and people respond as one to the suffering of others.

Our mission:

Exemplifying our Islamic values, we will mobilise resources, build partnerships, and develop local capacity, as we work to:

Enable communities to mitigate the effect of disasters, prepare for their occurrence and respond by providing relief, protection and recovery.

Promote integrated development and environmental custodianship with a focus on sustainable livelihoods.

Support the marginalised and vulnerable to voice their needs and address root causes of poverty.

We allocate these resources regardless of race, political affiliation, gender or belief, and without expecting anything in return.

Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, and is a signatory to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Code of Conduct. IRW is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through raising awareness of the issues that affect poor communities and through its work on the ground. Islamic Relief are one of only 14 charities that have fulfilled the criteria and have become members of the Disasters Emergency Committee (www.dec.org.uk)

IRW endeavours to work closely with local communities, focussing on capacity-building and empowerment to help them achieve development without dependency.

Please see our website for more information http://www.islamic-relief.org/

Islamic Relief Turkey and Syria

The scale, severity and complexity of humanitarian needs of people in Syria remain extensive. This is the result of continued hostilities in localized areas, new and protracted displacement, increased self-organized returns and the sustained erosion of communities’ resilience during close to ten years of crisis. Across Syria, an estimated 11.7 million people are in need of various forms of humanitarian assistance, with certain population groups facing particularly high levels of vulnerability.

Displaced persons in last resort sites continue to be among the most vulnerable people in Syria and, having exhausted all other options, are dependent to a high degree upon humanitarian assistance and services to meet their daily needs. Children and women make up 73 per cent of camp populations in north-west Syria. Economic pressures are key drivers of need, with affordability of NFIs reported as significant challenges across Syria. The unavailability and unaffordability of individual and medical items are linked, indicating that limited supplies may be driving higher prices, which results in the population resorting to harmful coping strategies, such as depletion of assets and increasing debt, in order to meet their needs. The Syrian Pound (SYP) in informal markets in northwest Syria is some 315 percent weaker than a year earlier. The SYP lost nearly half its value at the beginning of May 2020, when the exchange rate exceeded 1,300 SYP/USD for the first time ever. This rapid devaluation of the SYP and wide fluctuation range exacerbates the precarious situation as purchasing power rapidly erodes. According to market monitoring by an NGO partner, the cost of the survival minimum expenditure basket (SMEB) was 224,385 SYP in June 2020, some 68 percent higher than one month earlier. Across the Idleb and Afrin and A’zaz to Jarablus areas of northwest Syria, Turkish Lira and USD are being used as alternative currencies to mitigate against market volatility. People without adequate access to these currencies remain more exposed to market shocks and may face higher prices for the same goods and services due to exchange rate disparities – further marginalising the already poor and vulnerable members of society.

Objectives of the evaluation

This evaluation has been commissioned by Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), in line with our commitment to learning and accountability to communities and partners. The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate our Syrian programme portfolio in the areas of Food Security, Education in Emergencies, Health and WASH to assess the effectiveness of IR’s response and recovery approaches with reference to realising planned outcomes and impacts as well as to draw lessons for future programming.

In order to assess the effectiveness and the degree by which the Syrian programme outcomes have been achieved, a sample number of IR Turkey (Syria mission) projects, as listed further below, should be reviewed with consolidation of findings and recommendations, incorporating programme mapping, into one overall evaluation report. This evaluation should take into consideration the OECD/DAC Evaluation Criteria to assess the performance against the overall programme outcomes and approach, as well as use the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) to evaluate the quality of the interventions and the aspects of accountability.

The focus is on:

1. Assessing the extent to which the range of planned outcomes have been achieved using the OECD DAC criteria for evaluating humanitarian responses including assessing for relevance, connectedness, coherence, coordination, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability and recommend priorities and any changes to approach for subsequent phases of the projects and future interventions.

2. Evaluating the appropriateness and extent of application of quality standards, with a particular focus on CHS commitments 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 & 9.

3. Identifying lessons and good practice from the overall Syrian response and recovery programme to inform IRW and potentially the wider sector to help inform future programming in Syria. This report will be externally published.

Project sampling

This evaluation should be conducted through a review of the following sample projects which IR Turkey (Syria mission) has implemented / is implementing:

Project Title

PIN Code

Project Dates (duration)

Sector

1

Provision of Life-Saving Emergency Humanitarian Assistance

020_003430

01/05/20 – 31/12/20

(8 months)

Disaster Response

2

Emergency Medical and NFIs Support to the Most Vulnerable Households in Syria

020_003687-01

01/12/20 – 30/11/21

(12 months)

Disaster Response

3

Improving Access to Quality and Inclusive Education in Idlib Governorate

020_003762-01

01/01/21 – 31/12/21

(12 months)

Education

Project 1: Provision of Life-Saving Emergency Humanitarian Assistance (Syria)

Project Impact: The overall project aim is to contribute to provision of immediate life-saving assistance and support to affected population.

Project outcomes: Improved food security status of assessed food insecure people through emergency life-saving food assistance.

Project outputs: 7,328 families are provided with food parcels or hygiene kit or both.

Target Number of Rightsholders: 7,328 HHs.**

Current Project Status: Project Completed

Project 2: Emergency Medical and NFIs Support to the Most Vulnerable Households in Syria

Project Impact: Contribute to alleviate the suffering of the vulnerable Syrian IDPs and host communities in Northwest Syria.

Project outcomes:

1. Increased access to life-saving and life-sustaining coordinated, equitable health services for those most vulnerable and in need.

2. Enable 4,778 Households/ 23,603 extremely vulnerable individuals to have access to sufficient and good quality winter item.

Project outputs:

1. 20 Health facilities are provided with PHC drugs benefitting 180,000 mainly IDPs women and children.

2. 6 Thalassemia centres are provided with life sustaining drugs to be dispensed to 575 thalassemia patients.

3. 88 kidney transplant patients are provided with drugs to prevent organ rejection.

4. 2500 infants are supported with baby formula through the health centres.

Target Number of Rightsholders: 23,603

Current Project Status: Project Completed

Project 3: Improving Access to Quality and Inclusive Education in Idlib Governorate (Syria)

Project Impact: Increase school enrolment and maintain children retention at schools and provide them the means to ensure their education continuity, as well as to improve quality education and strengthen the educational system.

Project outcomes:

1. 50% out of school children in targeted areas have increased access and improved quality of basic education.

2. 100% targeted schools have improved quality of formal and non-formal education for children within a protective environment. 21,900 children attending school in the targeted areas and received scholastic/ education materials and required stationery.

3. 100 % of teachers and school’s management staff who successfully completed a training program and supported by monthly stipend.

4. Contribute to the food security of the targeted children by providing a weekly meal.

Project outputs:

1. 21,900 students are enrolled and retained in formal basic education.

2. 22 teachers and school’s management staff in 8 schools supported by monthly stipend for 8 months.

Target Number of Rightsholders: 21,922**

Current Project Status: Project Ending in December 2021

Scope of the evaluation

This evaluation will assess and evidence the degree of timeliness, relevance, effectiveness, coherence, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the IR Syria programme in general as well as the level of adherence to indicated CHS Commitments, based on a qualitative review of a sample set of projects across a range of sectors. The evaluation will also provide an assessment of the capacity of IR Turkey (Syria Mission) MEAL systems and other operational systems and functions to assure the quality, accountability and integrity of project delivery and reported output and outcome data.

The evaluation findings and recommendations should be on the overall programme, evidenced on the basis of a review of the sample projects, with illustrative triangulated examples in the findings from the reviewed projects. Relevant findings from the rapid review of specific projects should be provided as an annex to the report highlighting any methodological limitations on the validity of the findings, if relevant.

Evaluation criteria and questions

For each of our Syrian programme thematic areas (WASH, Health, Food Security and Education in Emergencies), the following outcomes should be assessed to ascertain the degree to which they are being achieved:

1. WASH

a. Provide hygiene kits to the most vulnerable so as to restore dignity and reduce morbidity.

1. Health

a. Improve the well-being and health conditions of the affected population as a result of improved accessibility to the basic drugs (by providing the targeted health facilities (PHCs) in the most affected areas with the required basic drugs).

b. Alleviate the suffering of the thalassemia and kidney transplant patients by providing them with the required drugs for their conditions in the targeted areas.

1. NFI (Nood Food Items)

a. Improved winter living conditions through providing coal for conflict affected households.

1. Food Security

a. Improved safe, dignified and equitable access to food through food distribution for conflict affected households.

1. Education in Emergencies

a. Increased school enrolment through improved access to education.

b. Increased school attendance rates through improved quality education.

c. Increased school attendance rates through increased food security.

d. Improved quality of education through improved teaching and education facilities / materials.

The evaluation should respond to the following evaluation questions and any others deemed appropriate by the evaluation team, supported by evidence, triangulated data and views of key project participants and relevant wider stakeholders in relation to the outcome areas outlined above.

Relevance:

· Was the design of the intervention relevant to the wider context?

· Is the intervention in line with the needs and highest priorities of the most vulnerable groups (men and women, boys and girls)?

· Was the design and implementation of interventions age, gender and disability-sensitive?

· Is the intervention design and objectives aligned with the overall sector and cluster strategy?

· Did the design and implementation of the intervention consider and build on available local capacities?

Coherence:

· To what extent were context factors (political stability/instability, population movements, etc.) considered in the design and delivery of the intervention?

· To what extent was IRW’s intervention coherent with policies and programmes of other stakeholders and service provider operating within the same context?

· To what extent was the intervention design and delivery in line with humanitarian principles?

· What have been the synergies between the intervention and other IRW interventions?

Effectiveness:

· Were relevant technical and quality standards for interventions in a humanitarian context followed and met?

· Was there adequate MEAL systems and processes to assure and verify reported outputs and outcomes?

· Were planned outcomes achieved or are they likely to be achieved?

· What major factors influenced the achievement or non-achievement of the outcomes?

· Were there any unintended (positive or negative) outcomes arising from the intervention for participants and non-participants?

· Were results delivered equitably for men, and women, boys and girls, person with disability and from different age groups?

Efficiency & Timeliness:

· What were the alternative options and was the intervention and key components of the project implemented efficiently compared to alternatives?

· Did the targeting of the intervention result in an equitable allocation of resources?

· Were interventions implemented in a timely way?

Impact:

· What were the long lasting or transformational effects of the intervention on participants’ lives (intended and unintended)?

· Did a specific part of the intervention achieve greater impact than another?

· Were there any age, disability or gender-specific impacts?

· Did the intervention influence the gender context?

· Are there any positive or negative long-lasting impacts at the institutional or wider systems level?

Sustainability:

· To what extent did the intervention implementation consider sustainability, such as capacity building of national and local government institutions, communities and other partners?

· To what extent were interventions sustainable, providing on going benefit to individuals and communities?

In addition, IRW is a certified CHS agency and therefore seeks to integrate the CHS standard as part of the evaluation criteria. This evaluation should assess how the interventions performed against each of the following commitments:

· CHS Commitment 3: Humanitarian response strengthens local capacities and avoids negative effects.

· CHS Commitment 4: Humanitarian response is based upon communication, participation, and feedback.

· CHS Commitment 5: Complaints are welcomed and addressed.

· CHS Commitment 7: Humanitarian actors continuously learn and improve.

· CHS Commitment 8: Staff is supported to do their job effectively, and are treated fairly and equitably.

· CHS Commitment 9: Resources are managed and used responsibly for their intended purpose.

Methodology and approach

We would like the evaluators to outline their proposed methodology and requirements for this consultancy and welcome any alternative proposed methodologies which may be deemed more suitable and efficient. The consultant should consider appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods, in the design of their portfolio review methodology. The overall portfolio review should also assess the extent of rightsholders (beneficiary) involvement throughout the project cycle.

We are looking for an evaluation team/consultant to meet the above objectives and scope through a robust qualitative approach, including but not limited to:

· Desk review of secondary data and IRW project documentation.

· FGD with communities and rights holders – with proportionate sampling.

· Key informant interviews with IR staff, peer agencies, public and private service providers and technical agencies, UN and relevant authorities (local and national).

· Review of Programme and MEAL data and other assurance mechanism of IR Turkey (Syria mission).

· Facilitate a lessons learned workshop with IR Turkey (Syria mission) staff.

Whilst the evaluation findings and recommendations should be on the overall programme based on a review of the sample projects, the consultant should set out and propose an appropriate sampling frame for the FGDs and KIIs related to each sample project to be reviewed.

A provisional list of projects to be included as part of the portfolio review is provided in this TOR. However the specific projects to be reviewed can be adjusted in consultation with IRW based on accessibility to the locations and community; or following the desk review identifying other projects which may be more relevant or provide a wider perspective on the overall response and recovery programme. Consultation with staff, communities and wider stakeholders is expected to include an assessment of the overall IR Turkey (Syria mission) response and recovery programme in country and not just the specific project being reviewed.

Required competencies

The successful team will have the following competencies:

· Demonstrate evidence of extensive experience in evaluating humanitarian action.

· Possess sectoral experience and knowledge in evaluating previous disaster response, WASH, health, education in emergencies and food security interventions.

· Possess deep knowledge and practical experience of using quality standards such as CHS and Sphere.

· Possess strong qualitative and quantitative research skills.

· Have excellent written skills in English.

· Have the legal right and ability to travel to Northwest of Syria (NWS) in accessible areas in Idleb and Aleppo governorates or have national counterpart consultants appointed in Syria.

· Be able to fluently communicate in English and can or shall have a team member/s who speaks the the local language (Arabic).

· The evaluation team composition should be reviewed to ensure maximum value for money, with preference for the lead evaluator to be also responsible for conducting some, and if not all, FGDs and KIIs.

Its expected the lead consultant, responsible for the consolidated final report, if not based in Turkey/Syria will identify and partner with a national consultant or consultants, including any enumerators required where relevant. National consultants/team members must have been identified and be available during the proposed evaluation by the time the consultancy agreement is to be signed by – expected to be no later than 21st Jan 2022. Bids where national consultants have already been identified by the date of tender submission or interview will score higher in this component. Under the overall leadership and responsibility of the lead consultant, national consultants will be responsible for hiring and supervising any in-country enumerators envisaged and ensuring data quality and integrity.

The chosen evaluation team will be supported by IRW Programme Quality (PQ) team, the IRW Regional team and IR Turkey’s (Syria mission) senior management, programmes and MEAL teams.

Project outputs

The consultant is expected to produce:

• A detailed work plan and inception report developed with and approved by IRW and IR Turkey’s (Syria mission), setting out the detailed methodology, relevant technical standards to be used as reference for the evaluation, sampling strategy and deliverables prior to commencing the desk review.

• The work plan, inception report, draft report, final report, presentation, etc., and communication language must be in English.

• A security and Covid-19 risk assessment with proposed mitigation measures related to conducting this portfolio review, setting out different contingencies in case of challenges to the evaluation due to Covid-19 or other issues.

• A full report with the following sections:

a) Title of Report: An Evaluation of Islamic Relief Turkey’s Syrian Response and Recovery Programme

b) Consultancy organisation and any partner names.

c) Name of person who compiled the report including summary of role/contribution of others in the team.

d) Period during which the review was undertaken.

e) Acknowledgements.

f) Abbreviations.

g) Table of contents.

h) Executive summary.

i) Main report – max 40 pages – (the consultant is invited to propose a suitable report structure layout with the inception report).

j) Annexes

· Terms of reference for the review.

· Profile of the review team members.

· Review schedule.

· Documents consulted during the desk review.

· Persons participating in the review – with appropriate consent for names to be published or specific names should be anonymised highlighting just role, organisation and gender.

· Anonymised copy of field data collected during the review.

· Additional key overview tables, graphs or charts etc. created and used to support analysis and inform findings.

· Bibliography.

The consultant will be required to communicate with the IRW international office and provide feedback on and answer questions about the findings from the desk review and IR Turkey’s (Syria mission). This meeting can be attended remotely by the consultant (via Microsoft Teams or Zoom) where the consultant is outside the UK or based on request from the consultant.

The consultant will present the findings to IRW (programme quality, MEAL team, head of region, desk coordinators and officers, technical advisors), IR USA and IR Turkey’s (Syria mission) staff (please allow for 3 separate presentations up to 2 hours each).

Timetable and reporting information

The evaluation is expected to run for a maximum of 30 working days, starting by the 24^th January 2022 and ending before the 31^st March 2022.

Date

Description

Responsibility

21^st December 2021 Tender live date IRW

10th January 2022 Final date for submission of bid proposal Consultant

10th – 12th January 2022 Proposals considered, short-listing and follow up enquiries completed IRW

17th – 21st January 2022 Consultant interviews and final selection (+ signing contracts) IRW

24th January – 26th January 2022 Meeting with the consultant and agree on an evaluation methodology, sampling, plan of action, working schedule IRW

2nd February 2022 Submission of Inception Report (at least 7 days before commencing the evaluation) Consultant

9th February – 25th February 2022 Evaluation/Data collection Consultant

1st March 2022 Analysis of evaluation data, and submission of the first draft to IR Turkey (Syria mission) & IRW for comments Consultant

7th March 2022 Initial Presentation of Findings Consultant

11th March 2022 IR Turkey (Syria mission)/IRW responses to draft report IR Turkey (Syria mission)/IRW

18th March 2022 Final report submitted to IR Turkey (Syria mission) & IRW Consultant

28th – 30th March 2022 Final Presentation with IR key stakeholders (x 3) Consultant

Reporting information:

Contract duration: Duration to be specified by the consultant

Direct report: Programme Impact & Learning Manager

Job Title: Consultant: An Evaluation of Islamic Relief Turkey’s Syrian Response and Recovery Programme

The consultant will communicate in the first instance with and will forward deliverables to the IRW Programme Quality team.

Proposal to tender and costing:

Consultants (single or teams) interested in carrying out this work must:

a) Submit a proposal/bid, including the following;

i. Detailed cover letter/proposal outlining a methodology and approach briefing note

ii. CV or outline of relevant skills and experience possessed by the consultant who will be carrying out the tasks and any other personnel who will work on the project

iii. Example (s) of relevant work

iv. The consultancy daily rate

v. Expenses policy of the tendering consultant. Incurred expenses will not be included but will be agreed in advance of any contract signed

vi. Be able to complete the project within the timeframe stated above

Vii. be able to demonstrate experience of humanitarian review for similar work

Payment terms and conditions

Payment will be made in accordance with the deliverables and deadlines as follows:

· 40% of the total amount – submission of the inception report

· 30% of the total amount – submission of the first draft of the evaluation report

· 30% of the total amount – submission of the final report including all outputs and attachments mentioned above**

We can be flexible with payment terms, invoices are normally paid on net payment terms of 28 days from the time of the invoice date.

Additional information and conditions of contract

During the consultancy period,

IRW will only cover:

· The costs and expenses associated with in-country, work-related transportation for the consultant and the assessment team

· International and local travel for the consultant and the local team

· Accommodation while in the field

· Training venues

· Consultancy fees

IRW will not cover:

· Tax obligations as required by the country in which he/she will file income tax

· Any pre/post assignment medical costs. These should be covered by the consultant

· Medical and travel insurance arrangements and costs. These should be covered by the consultant

For further information or to download the full tender documents please visit the link beneath;

https://www.islamic-relief.org/tenders/category/open-tenders/

How to apply:

Consultancy contract

This will be for an initial period that is to be specified by the consultant commencing from January 2022. The selected candidate is expected to work from their home/office and be reporting to the Programme Impact & Learning Manager or team member designated for this study.

The terms upon which the consultant will be engaged are as per the consultancy agreement. The invoice is to be submitted at the end of the month and will be paid on net payment terms 28 days though we can be flexible.

All potential applicants must fill in the table beneath in Appendix 1 to help collate key data pertaining to this tender. The applicant must be clear about other expenses being claimed in relation to this consultancy and these must be specified clearly.

For this consultancy all applicants are required to submit a covering letter with a company profile(s) and CV’s of all consultants including the lead consultant(s).

A proposal including, planned activities, methodology, deliverables, timeline, references and cost proposal (including expenses) are expected.

Other relevant supporting documents should be included as the consultants sees fit.

All applicants must have a valid visa or a permit to work in the UK (if travel is required to the UK) and to the places where this project is required to be undertaken.

Tender dates and contact details

All proposals are required to be submitted by Monday 10^th January 2022 at 1.00pm UK time pursuant to the attached guidelines for submitting a quotation and these be returned to tendering@irworldwide.org

For any issues relating to the tender or its contents please email directly to tendering@irworldwide.org

Following submission, IRW may engage in further discussion with applicants concerning tenders in order to ensure mutual understanding and an optimal agreement.

Quotations must include the following information for assessment purposes.

1. Payment terms (as mentioned above)

2. Best value for money including a full break down of costs including taxes, expenses and any VAT

3. References (two are preferred)

4. Technical competency for this role

5. Demonstrable experience of developing a similar project

Note: The criteria are subject to change.

Framework agreements

Islamic Relief Worldwide may enter into framework agreements with suppliers/consultants who can support us in similar evaluations in the future. We therefore request those interested companies/consultants to fill in the table below and return this with the schedule 1 beneath with their proposal before the above deadline.

Company name

Day rate for 1 year

Day rate for 2 year

Preferred duration (1 or 2 years)

Earliest start date

Can sign an agreement (yes or no)

Islamic Relief Worldwide is not under any obligations to enter into framework agreements with prospective and potential suppliers/consultants and it is at the discretion of the evaluation committee to proceed with this option.

Appendix 1

Please fill in the table below. It is essential all sections be completed and where relevant additional expenses be specified in detail. In case of questions about how to complete the table below, please contact tendering@irworldwide.org **

Cost of a consultancy for the evaluation of Islamic Relief Turkey’s (Syria mission) response and recovery programme, December 2021

Full name of all consultants working on this project

Full company trading name

No of proposed hours per week

No. of proposed days

Preferred days

Non preferred days**

Earliest available start date

Expected project finish date

Day rate (required for invoicing purposes) £

Total cost for consultancy in GBP (less taxes and expenses) £

Expenses (flights) £

Expenses (accommodation) £

Expenses (transfers) £

Expenses (in country travel) £

Expenses (visa) £

Expenses (security) £

Expenses (food) £

Expenses (print/stationary) £**

Expenses other (please specify) £

Total expenses £

Total VAT or taxes £

Total cost for consultancy in GBP (inclusive of taxes and expenses) £

Note

The applicant is expected to take responsibility for paying full taxes and social charges in his/her country of residence.

For further information or to download the full tender documents please visit the link beneath;

https://www.islamic-relief.org/tenders/category/open-tenders/