Monday, October 30, 2017

Job: Final External Evaluation / Consultancy Service at Oxfam in Armenia Company

Location: JobParser.Models.Location

Category: Other

Type: Other

Deadline: 10-Nov-17 00:00:00

Salary: N/A

Description
Final External Evaluation of "Forest Fruits - Markets for Women" Project

Project Background

The 3-year rural economic development regional project, Forest Fruits – Markets for Women (FFMW) funded by Big Lottery Fund (BLF), aims to sustainably improve the lives and livelihoods of 1600 poor people (70% women) and their families living in ten communities in Armenia and Georgia through:

Outcome 1: Creation and development of forest produce cooperatives results in poor and marginalised women's empowerment.

Outcome 2: Sustainable use of forest resources results in effective adaptation to climate change through improved harvesting practices and processing methods.

Outcome 3: Increased and more diverse household incomes amongst poor marginalised women and cooperatives results in better nutrition and increased access to healthcare and education services.

The project was launched in April 2015 and focuses on five settlements in the Tavush Marz of Armenia - Haghtanak, Lchkadzor, Ptghavan, Ayrum, Archis and five settlements of Mtskheta-Mtianeti Region of Georgia – Sharakhevi, Khando (Dusheti Municipality), Saguramo, Nichbisi, Tsinamdzgvriantkari (Mtskheta Municipality).

Purpose
The primary objective of the evaluation is to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of FFMW project interventions as well as outline the successes to date and wider challenges to achieving sustainable livelihoods for rural women and men engaged in NTFP collection and management in target communities. The final evaluation is to be carried out against planned project outcomes approved by BLF. It is envisaged that this will be an extensive evaluation that will consult with a broad range of stakeholders and beneficiaries. This extensive gender focused assessment will collect qualitative and quantitative data at household level to assess the impact of the project on the 6400 targeted beneficiaries. It will provide an assessment of the impact of the project against key defined indicators, including beneficiary income levels, livelihood security, women's empowerment and access to healthcare and education services.

Evaluation Questions
The specific key questions that the final evaluation should answer are as follows:

-How relevant was the project in relation to the development priorities of Armenian and Georgia, BLF, beneficiary needs and requirements and the like;
-How effective was the project towards the achievement and/or non-achievement of programme outcomes based on selected programme indicators below? What are the reasons behind? What were the critical success factors contributing to the progress made? What can be learnt from this?
-To what extent has the number of women that are registered cooperative members increased?
-To what extent has the number of women that hold officially recognized leadership roles within ten cooperatives increased?
-To what extent has the self-reported confidence of women cooperative members to manage and sell their NTFP produce increased?
-To what extent has the number of cooperative members / collectors that practice safe sustainable NTFP collection and processing techniques increased?
-What is the percentage of cooperative members/collectors with awareness of disaster and climate change risks and mitigation measures?
-Number of cooperatives achieving recognized quality certification (Organic, HACCP, GAP, Bio Product / private sector company requirements)
-To what extent has the household expenditure on food, healthcare and education in target communities increased?
-To what extent has the percentage of beneficiaries reporting improved diet and healthcare increased?
-To what extent has the percentage of beneficiaries with increased awareness of HIV, disability, and child safety increased?
-How efficient were project interventions, including cost-efficiency as well as management and coordination efficiency;
-What is the overall impact of the project, both positive and negative, primary and secondary, short-term and long-term, direct or indirect as well as intended or unintended;
-How sustainable are cooperatives and NTFP collectors' groups supported by Oxfam?
-What is the likelihood that the results of project interventions will be sustained

Methods, Process and Approaches
The evaluator(s) will work with the evaluation manager and key stakeholders to agree a final methodology within the budget provided. Under the overall control of the commissioning manager evaluation manager will work with the evaluator(s) to identify the data, key informants and stakeholders to interview and/or survey, the questionnaire and/or survey instrument questions, as appropriate, and to ensure the evaluation team has adequate access to relevant documentation.

The evaluator(s) will then collect and analyze the data, presenting early findings, and draft report to Oxfam staff, on a schedule to be agreed, for review and deliberation. A verbal presentation of preliminary findings should be made to key stakeholders (including to evaluation managers) in order to maintain their involvement in the evaluation. Iterative reviews and draft findings are intended to ensure that the final study fully meets Oxfam's needs, and that any methodological adjustments that may be warranted are identified early in the data collection process.

The final study will be delivered after the draft findings have been reviewed and commented on, responding to any remaining questions or data analysis needs identified, and that can be accommodated within the established timeframe and budget. The process, as well as the final results should be gender-sensitive, addressing and incorporating the specific sensitive aspects and needs, as well as guarantying the participation of female stakeholders / respondents in the data collection and analysis process.

The methodology for the evaluation envisages both desk and field research. The desk research will be the first step for the evaluator (s) based on the following sources of information:
-Bi-annual and annual reports,
-Project log-frame, indicators and MEAL Strategy,
-Project monitoring reports,
-Mid-term evaluation report,
-Other project-related reports

The field research will include face to face interviews with the project teams, partners, and beneficiaries through semi-structured questionnaires to guarantee the availability of both quantitative and qualitative evidence whenever appropriate. The exact list of respondents should be elaborated with close consultations with Oxfam.

It is anticipated the work is completed throughout November 20, 2017 to March 9, 2018.

Responsibilities
-N/A

RequiredQualifications
-Evaluator(s) Skills and Competencies
-Oxfam encourages individual consultants /co-applications of consultants / companies/organizations with the following skills and competencies to apply for this call:
-At least a Masters or professional qualification relating to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning for the lead evaluator
-A proven record in delivering effective and professional evaluation results in economic development projects
-Excellent communication, analysis, writing and report presentation skills in English
-Capacity and experience to carry out field research in Armenia and Georgia
-Knowledge and awareness of a) NTFP management; b) gender and c) South Caucasus context

Benefits

Job URL: iJob.am - Final External Evaluation / Consultancy Service @ Oxfam in Armenia

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