FINAL PROGRAMME EVALUATION

A grantee of the FGE

 

TERMS OF REFERENCE

FINAL PROGRAMME EVALUATION

Type of Contract: Consultancy

Based in: Egypt

Consulting days:One month and half

Time period: 26^th Sept. – 29^th Nov. 2017

Application Deadline: Wednesday 20^th of Sept. 2017

to read the full Final Evaluation ToR – ECWR 

1. Background

The multi-donor Fund for Gender Equality (FGE) of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) was launched in 2009 to fast-track commitments to gender equality focused on women’s economic and political empowerment at local, national and regional levels. The Fund provides multi-year grants directly to women’s organizations in developing countries; it is dedicated to advancing the economic and political empowerment of women around the world.

2. Description of the Intervention

The programme entitled “A Wave of Women’s Voices – 1000 and Counting” is anFGE-supported Implementation programme being undertaken in Egypt.  It commenced on 1^st of April 2015 and is scheduled for completion on 30^th of Nov. 2017.

Although there have been setbacks in regards to women’s political rights in the last four years of the transition in Egypt, the 2014 Constitution gave greater hope to women in Egypt ensuring rights that have been demanded in the past forty years. Through the efforts and advocacy of many national civil society groups, the Egyptian Constitution now grants a quota of ‘one quarter of the seats’ for women in the elected local councils (Article 180)[1]. This is a very important step, opening the door for women to participate effectively in the political sphere. Nonetheless, it poses a great challenge for civil society organizations and national entities to insure that women are equipped with both the knowledge and skills to participate effectively in the upcoming local councils elections and capitalize on the quota granted.

The Local Administration Committee is the parliament has been holding community dialogue sessions in December 2016 to discuss the Local Administration law drafts submitted. In spite of these steps, the date for holding the local councils elections remains undetermined with many argue that it will be held in 2018.

This programme aims toform a wave of young female activists lobbying for gender sensitive legal provisions and promoting for better representation of women in the decision-making process

The programme has 3key outcomes:

• Outcome 1: A wave of 2000 young women activists are capable of advocating for their rights to promote female leadership and political participation as voters and candidates

  • Outputs

Output One: The programme core group,188 women leaders covering all over Egypt, are equipped with the needed skills to advocate, lead, and participate effectively in the local councils

Output Two: 1880 female activists all over Egypt are trained by women leaders “core group” on active participation in the public sphere

Output Three: Networks of young female activists are formed and publicized for in at least 20 governorates promoting for female active participation in the upcoming local councils’ elections and advocating for gender-integrated policies at the local level

• Outcome 2: Women elected in the upcoming local councils are equipped with the knowledge and provided with the technical support needed to ensure their effective participation in the decision-making process

  • Outputs

Output One: 150 female, from the networks established, elected members in the local councils acquired the knowledge and skills to participate effectively in the decision-making process in the local councils

Output Two: Women elected in local councils from the networks established are supported to draft concrete gender-sensitive political agendas serving women’s issues

Output Three: A comprehensive report is produced and disseminated documenting the project activities and impact on the promotion of women’s role in the decision-making posts in general and as local councils members in particular

• Outcome 3: Article 180 in the constitution is reflected in the legislation to guarantee 25% representation of women in the local councils and 25% for young male and female.

  • Outputs

Output One: One comparative study is developed and produced covering the best practices of other countries in implementing the quota system for women and how the contribution of political parties

Output Two: A law reflecting article 180 is drafted

Output Three: The law draft of article 180 is supported by the different political parties and parliamentarians

Assumptions:

• Local Administration law is discussed and endorsed in the first round of the 2015 parliament
• Female activists supported by the Programme participated in the local councils elections
• Female activists supported by the Programme secured seats in the local councils
• The networks established are sustained over the life time of the Programme

The programme is being implemented by The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR).

The management Structure of the Lead Organizationconsists of

• Board of Directors consisting of three members
• ECWR Chairperson
• ECWR Executive Director

ECWR has three main units; Programs Unit, International Relations Unit, and Finance Unit. Each of these units is headed by the Unit Head and has a group of staff members.

3. Purpose and Use of the Evaluation

FGEwas establishedas a bold investment in women’s rights, testing a more focused and better-resourced modality for catalyzing and sustaining gender equality and efforts. Its founding Programme Document sets forth its mandate to track, assess, and widely share the lessons learned from this pioneering grant programme and to contribute to global know-how in the field of gender equality. Undertaking Strategic Final Evaluations of programmes are a vital piece of this mandate. The main purposes of a final evaluation are the following:

Accountability:

• Provide credible and reliable judgements on the programmes’ results, including in the areas of programme design, implementation, impact on beneficiaries and partners, and overall results.
• Provide high quality assessments accessible to a wide range of audiences, including FGE donors, UN Women, women’s rights and gender equality organizations, government agencies, peer multi-lateral agencies, and other actors.

Learning:

• Identify novel/unique approaches to catalyse processes toward the development of gender equality commitments.
• Identify particular approaches and methodologies that are effective in meaningfully and tangibly advancing women’s economic and political empowerment.

Improved evidence-based decision-making:

• Identify lessons learned from the experience of grantees in order to influence policy and practice at national, regional and global levels.
• Inform and strengthen UN Women´s planning and programming by providing evidence-based knowledge on what works, why and in what context.

Final evaluations are summative exercises that are oriented to gather data and information to measure the extent to which development results have been attained. However, the utility of the evaluation process and products should go far beyond what was said by programme stakeholders during the field visit or what the evaluation team wrote in the evaluation report.

The momentum created by the evaluations process (meetings with government, donors, beneficiaries, civil society, etc.) is the ideal opportunity to set an agenda for the future of the programme or some of their components (sustainability) through a Management Response. It is also an excellent platform to communicate lessons learnt and convey key messages on good practices, share products that can be replicated or scaled‐up at the country and international level.

The evaluator will provide inputs for the Reference Group (see section 7 for more information) to design a complete dissemination plan of the evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations with the aim of advocating for sustainability, scaling‐up, or sharing good practices and lessons learnt at local, national or/and international level.

4. Scope and Objectives of the Evaluation

The unit of analysis or object of study for this evaluation is the programme, understood to be the set of components, outcomes, outputs, activities and inputs that were detailed in the programme document and in associated modifications made during implementation.The geographic area of intervention evaluated is Egypt.

The timeframeof the evaluation will cover from the period of conceptualization and design to the moment when the evaluation is taking place.

The evaluation will assess:

1.To what extent the programme has contributed to solve the needs andproblems identified in the design phase.

2. To what extent theprogrammewas efficiently implemented and deliveredquality outputs and outcomes, against what was originally planned or subsequently officiallyrevised.
3. To what extent the programme has attained development results to thetargeted population, beneficiaries, participants -whether individuals, communities,institutions, etc.-, therefore improvingpolitical empowerment of women in across Egypt.
4. Evaluation Criteria, Questions and Methodological Approach

Following the UN Women Evaluation Policyand United Nations Evaluation Group guidelines, evaluations are often organizedaround the standard OECD evaluation criteria, which arerelevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the programmes. Each evaluation must integrate gender and human-rights perspectives throughout each of these areas of analysis and within its methodology[2]. This is particularly important to understand and assess programmes addressing complex, intersectional issues in women’s rights.

The evaluation should be answering the following questions:

Relevance:

• Are the programme outcomes addressing identified rights and needs of the target group(s) in national and regional contexts? How much does the programme contribute to shaping women’s rights priorities?
• Do the activities address the problems identified?
• What rights does the programme advance under CEDAW, the Millennium Development Goals and other international development commitments?
• Is the programme design articulated in a coherent structure? Is the definition of goal, outcomes and outputs clearly articulated?

Effectiveness:

• What has been the progress made towards achievement of the expected outcomes and expected results? What are the results achieved?
• Were there any unexpected results /unintended effects (negative or positive)?
• What are the reasons for the achievement or non-achievement?
• To what extent are the intended beneficiaries participating in and benefitting from the project?
• To what extent and in what ways did the programme contribute to the goals set by UN Women at the country and global levels?

Efficiency:

• Is the programme cost-effective, i.e. could the outcomes and expected results have been achieved at lower cost through adopting a different approach and/or using alternative delivery mechanisms?
• What measures have been taken during planning and implementation to ensure that resources were efficiently used?
• Have the outputs been delivered in a timely manner?
• Have UN Women’s organizational structure, managerial support and coordination mechanismseffectively supported the delivery of the programme?
• To what extent are the inputs and outputs equally distributed between different groups of women, and have the potentials of disadvantaged women (poor, racial, ethnic, sexual, ethnic, and disabled groups) been fully utilized to realize the outcomes?

Sustainability:

• What is the likelihood that the benefits from the programme will be maintained for a reasonably long period of time if the programme were to cease?
• Is the programme supported by national/local institutions? Do these institutions demonstrate leadership commitment and technical capacity to continue to work with the programme or replicate it?
• What operational capacity of ECWR, also known as capacity resources, such as technology, finance, and staffing, has been strengthened?
• What adaptive or management capacities of ECWR, such as learning, leadership, programme and process management, networking and linkages have been supported?

Impact:

• What are the intended and unintended, positive and negative, long term effects of the programme?
• To what extent can the changes that have occurred as a result of the programme be identified and measured?
• What is the evidence that the programme enabled the rights-holders to claim their rights more successfully and the duty-holders to perform their duties more efficiently?

The evaluation will use methods and techniques as determined by the specific needs of information, the availability of resources and the priorities of stakeholders[3]. The consultant is expected to identify and utilize a wide range of information sources for data collection (documents, filed information, institutional information systems, financial records, monitoring reports, past evaluations) and key informants (beneficiaries, staff, funders, experts, government officials and community groups).

The consultant is also expected to analyze all relevant information sources and use interview and focus group discussions as means to collect relevant data for the evaluation, using a mixed-method approach that can capture qualitative and quantitative dimensions. The methodology and techniques (such as a case study, sample survey, etc.) to be used in the evaluation should be described in detail in the inception report and in the final evaluation report and should be linked to each of the evaluation questions in the Evaluation Matrix. When applicable, a reference should be made regarding the criteria used to select the geographic areas of intervention that will be visited during the country mission.

The methods used should ensure the involvement of the main stakeholders of the programme. Rights holders and duty bearers should be involved in meetings, focus group discussions and consultations where they would take part actively in providing in-depth information about how the programme was implemented, what has been changed in their status and how the programme helped bring changes in their livelihoods. The evaluator will develop specific questionnaires pertinent to specific group of stakeholders and their needs and capacities (for example, illiteracy needs to be factored in, or language barriers). When appropriate, audiovisual techniques could be used tocapture the different perspectives of the population involved and to illustrate the findings of the evaluation.

6. Management of the Evaluation

The consultant will be under contract with the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR). The evaluation will be managed by Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), and co-managed by FGE team- Regional Programme Specialist for Arab States, while supported by the FGE Focal Point in country, whom will jointly select the evaluator(s) through applying a fair, transparent, and competitive process. The co-managers will be responsible for ensuring that the evaluation process is conducted as stipulated, promoting and leading the evaluation design, coordinating and monitoring progress.

The evaluation consultant will be responsible for his/herown office space, administrative and secretarial support, telecommunications, and printing of documentation. The evaluation consultant will be also responsible for the implementation of all methodological tools such as surveys and questionnaires.

7. Reference Groupand Stakeholder Participation

A Reference Group (RG)is meant to ensure an efficient, participatory and accountable evaluation process and facilitate the participation of stakeholders enhancing the use of the evaluation findings. It includes members from the programme organization (Lead and Co-lead organizations), relevant government and CSOstakeholders, UN Women Country Office and/or Regional Office and FGE Secretariat.

The role of the evaluation Reference Group will extend to all phases of the evaluation, including:

• Identifying information needs, customizing objectives and evaluation questions and delimiting the scope of the evaluation (TOR).
• Facilitating the participation of those involved in the evaluation design.
• Providing input on the evaluation planning documents.
• Facilitating the consultant’s access to all information and documentation relevant to the intervention, as well as to key actors and informants who should participate in interviews, focus groups or other information-gathering methods.
• Monitoring the quality of the process and the documents and reports that are generated, so as to enrich these with their input and ensure that they address their interests and needs for information about the intervention.
• Developing and implementing a management response according to the evaluation´s recommendations.
• Disseminating the results of the evaluation, especially among the organizations and entities within their interest group.

In addition, a Broad Reference Group (BRG) will be constituted. The role of the BRG will include receiving and reviewing key evaluation deliverables such as the Inception Report and Draft Final Report and providing input on these evaluation deliverables as needed; disseminating the results of the evaluation, especially among the organizations and entities within their interest group.

[1]Article 180 stipulates “Every local unit shall elect a local council by direct and secret ballot for a term of four years. A candidate shall be at lease twenty one (21) Gregorian years of age. The law shall regulate the other conditions for candidacy and procedures of election, provided that one quarter of the seats shall be allocated to youth under thirty five (35) years of age and one quarter shall be allocated for women, and that workers and farmers shall be represented by no less than 50 percent of the total number of seats, and these percentages shall include an appropriate representation of Christians and people with disability.”

[2] Please see “Integrating human rights and gender equality in Evaluation: towards UNEG guidance”

(available in English, Spanish, French and Arabic)

[3] For guidance on methods and how to incorporate a human rights and gender equality perspective please check http://www.unifem.org/evaluation_manual/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Evaluation-Methods-for-GE-HR-Responsive-Evaluation.pdf

Proposals should be emailed to ecwr@ecwronline.org by Wednesday 20^th of Sept.2017

to read the full Final Evaluation ToR – ECWR