EOI: CONSULTANCY - MID-TERM REVIEW OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT II PROJECT (SPA II)

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR MID-TERM REVIEW OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT II PROJECT (SPA II)

1. Background

ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) is an affiliate of ActionAid International, which is a global alliance of organisations working towards achieving a world without poverty and injustice, in which every person enjoys the right to a life with dignity. As a large and visible development organisation, we have our footprints in over 70 countries across the globe. Our expertise lies in community-led approaches to development and working through partnerships with the poor and other grassroot organisations.

The SPA II project is a four-year (2022 - 2025) project funded by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). The project aims to improve the realisation of fundamental human and democratic rights and improved, sustainable livelihoods, resilience and protection for young people, especially young women living in marginalisation, including in disaster and protracted crises contexts.

The project has three objectives:

1. Strategic Objective 1: Young people, especially young women and those facing marginalization or fragility, enjoy their rights to open and enabling democratic space and access to well-resourced programmes and public services. 
2. Strategic Objective 2: Young people, especially young women, and marginalized people, enjoy improved, sustainable livelihoods through climate accountable governments and a green private sector.
3. Strategic Objective 3: Increased participation and skills of young people, particularly young women, and their organizations, networks and movements in youth-led programmes, campaigns, and advocacy for improved, sustainable livelihoods, resilience and protection, and strong youth alliances with likeminded national and regional partners.

1. SPA II Mid-Term REVIEW Coverage and Context

The purpose of the mid-term review is to assess the performance of the SPA II now halfway into the project implementation to measure the extent to which the project is on track to achieving its objectives, and document lessons that will be used to improve the remaining life span of the project.

More specifically, the mid-term review objectives include:

1. To ascertain the extent to which the project objectives, planned indicators, and results at the project mid-term have been achieved.
2. To identify the changes (if any) to be made to set the project on track to achieve its intended results and outcomes.
3. To find out if the strategies used contributed effectively and efficiently to the achievement of the desired results.
4. To identify barriers to achievement of objectives and make recommendations based on findings that will guide the SPA II project staff through the last year of the project.

Hence, with these Terms of Reference, AA Nigeria is looking to hire a consultant to perform data collection for 

1. Evaluation Purpose and Deliverables

The consultant is expected to deliver the following outputs with key process elements included in the timeline and outputs below:

• Meet with the Project team, and other relevant staff for initial briefing and discussion of TOR 
• Review project documentation (proposal, log frame, theory of change etc.) and existing evidence, reports and research
• Review/revise sampling strategy and draw up list of sampling points
• An inception report (including methodology, information collection plan, and review/evaluation matrix before the field data collection).
• Organise and conduct training for data collectors on study methodology and administration of tools
• Conduct the data collection at state level, data analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, and write a comprehensive report in the format as given shared by project team. 
• Lead and coordinate a stakeholder workshop to validate the findings of the evaluation and discuss the recommendations with the selected stakeholders
• Share a draft report and a full finalised mid-term report after reviews and inputs from the project team.
• Submit all raw data files including quantitative output and qualitative transcripts etc. 
• PowerPoint presentation summarizing the key findings from the mid-term review submitted together with the final mid-term review report

1. Scope

The mid-term review will be conducted in selected communities in Akwa Ibom, Borno, Enugu, Lagos, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). ActionAid Nigeria is engaging an external consultant to lead the mid-term review with a scope of covering the period of project implementation from 1st January 2022 – 30th June 2024. The mid-term review will assess the project’s progress across the result areas and indicators, document the findings, and provide recommendations to improve the project implementation as required.

1. The consultant will assess the following categories of project progress.

1. Project design

The consultant is expected to review the following:

1. The challenges that the SPA II project addresses, the underlying assumptions, and whether the project’s result areas are still relevant in addressing the problem.
2. The likely effect of any incorrect assumptions or anticipated changes to the achievement of the project results as outlined in the log frame.
3. Whether (or not) stakeholders were taken into consideration during the project design and implementation phase.
4. The extent to which gender and disability were considered in the project design.

1. Progress towards results

The consultant is expected to do the following:

1. Conduct a progress-towards-outcome analysis using appropriate tools. This should indicate progress made for each objective and result level indicator on the log frame.
2. Identify barriers to achieving the project’s objectives in the remaining project timeframe.
3. As may be required, make recommendations for achieving the project targets.

1. Project Management and Project Efficiency

The consultant is expected to conduct the following:

1. Critical analysis of the project’s log frame, indicators, and targets, and assess the practicability of the project activities towards achieving the project objectives and results within the project timeframe and whether the end-of-project targets are still achievable considering the project’s prevailing context.
2. Clarity of roles and responsibilities of the project partners and other stakeholders involved in the project and the effectiveness of the performance of those roles and responsibilities.
3. Analyse the cost-effectiveness of the current approach in mobilizing for the project services and proffer suggestions for improvement where applicable.
4. Determine whether (or not) the current project work plan is result-based and suggest ways of improving the process.
5. Determine the extent to which the project uses the log frame as a management tool.
6. Critical analysis of the quality of support that AAN provides to her partners in the states.
7. Determine whether (or not) there have been changes to fund allocations because of budget revisions, the factors responsible, the extent of implementation of the changes, and the effects of those changes on the project.

1. Project Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning system

The consultant is expected to review the following:

1. Review the monitoring tools in use and comment on the quality of the data collected, the data collection methods, and whether they are sufficiently robust and are aligned with national guidelines and tools and meet the donor reporting needs.
2. Assess the level to which stakeholders are provided with needed project data for informed decision-making.
3. Assess whether sufficient resources are allocated to monitoring and evaluation.
4. Assess whether the reporting and decision-making timelines were in line with donor requirements.
5. Assess whether progress reporting meets donor standards.
6. Document management processes, lessons learned, and at least two (2) human interest stories.

1. Sustainability

The consultant is expected to do the following:

1. Identify and document likely financial risks to sustainability.
2. Identify and document likely socio-economic risks to sustainability.
3. Analyse the sustainability of the current referral pathway taking cognizance of the project context.
4. Analyse the level of ownership of the project by the governments of Akwa Ibom, Borno, Enugu, Lagos, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

1. Gender Equity and Disability Inclusion

The consultant is expected to do the following:

1. Identify the level of involvement and participation of young people especially young women in the project.
2. Review the role and contributions of young women in the SPA II programme and how the processes are leading to transformative gender equity, women’s rights and feminist leadership.
3. Identify how gender equity and young women’s rights can be strengthened in the implementation of the project.
4. Identify the extent to which organizations of persons with disabilities themselves participate in project activities.
5. Assign active participation roles to persons with disabilities in the Mid-Term Review process.

1. MID-TERM REVIEW REPORT STRUCTURE 

The production of the Mid-Term Review report will be the liability of the consultant covering all the aspects as outlined in the ToR. ActionAid and her partners will be responsible for coordinating the exercise.

1. Compiling the Mid-Term Review report in an agreed format (Max 50pages). The Mid-Term Review report should be drafted in the following format: 
2. Executive summary that can be used as a document. It should include the major findings of the Mid-Term Review and summarize conclusions and recommendations. (3-4 pages)
3. Background and Context Analysis (3 pages) 
4. Methodology including a justification of the methods and techniques used (including relevant underlying values and assumptions, theories) with a justification of the selections made (of persons interviewed, villages or activity sites visited).   (2 -3 pages) 
5. Findings (25 -30 pages) (Considered as the core part of the report. Should be detailed enough to be used for Final Evaluation as well as ActionAid reporting) 
6. Targeted recommendations, Recommendations should be clearly related to conclusions but presented separately. Recommendations should be practical and if necessary be divided up for various actors or stakeholders and include guidelines of how they can be implemented (2 Pages) 
7. Annexes – Should include a matrix template that links the findings with the project indicators. This shall be provided by ActionAid (3-5 pages) 
8. PowerPoint presentation on the findings to the implementation team at ActionAid Nigeria. 
9. Preparing and submitting a final Mid-Term Review report along with final cleaned data set and data collections tools used in the assignment. 
10. The reporting style should be clear and accessible. References to sources used, such as interviews, literature, reports, must be given. 

1. Expected Timeline

The evaluation is expected to take 30 days from the day of engagement.  including meeting with AAN team, travels, data collection, analysis, report writing and submission of final products. The consultant is expected to present more detailed activity plan within the given timeline.

1. Management & Reporting

• The consultant will be reporting to SPA II team and AAN Impact Assessment and Shared Learning (IASL) Manager and is expected to coordinate and stay in close communication with AAN SPA II Project team during the assignment.
• AAN SPA II Focal Point will be responsible for providing the consultant with the necessary information and contacts necessary to perform the assignment.

1. Profile and Qualifications Required

The consultant is expected to have experience and relevant credentials in: 

• Thorough understanding of the context in Nigeria with a specific focus and experience within youth rights, social movement work, protection and resilience, climate justice, Gender Responsive Public Service (GRPS) is an advantage. 
• Degree in social sciences, international development, statistics, or any other relevant field (master’s or Ph.D. preferred) 
• Experienced in conducting midterm review using qualitative and quantitative data collection methods as well as coordinating and training data collectors
• Experienced in contextualising and elaborating counting methodologies and data collection processes and tools.
• Working with result data collection and monitoring of rights-based, policy-influencing and advocacy interventions
• Conducting participatory and inclusive collaborative processes across different organisations, stakeholders, and constituents. 
• An initial shortlist of prospective consultants will present proposed methodology to project team before final selection is done.
• Fluency in English a requirement. 
• A minimum of 7 years’ experience in carrying out such assignment
• Experience in developing tools for Project Impact Evaluations
• Computer literate and able to apply Microsoft Office and other analytical tools efficiently
• Excellent documentation skills