Tenders are invited for Mid Term Evaluator Consultant Purpose and objectives of the evaluation Given the challenge and complexity of the project, the project length of 4 years, the large budget, the multi-actor approach and the multi-sector holistic approach; and in line with recommendations made in the project M&E plan, the project team wishes to carry out an external mid-term evaluation which aims to assess the Relevance, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Sustainability, Impact, and consistency (Complementarity) of the intervention. Also it will serve as milestone for the project to ensure its accountability to the donor (EUD), and the project stakeholders. The specific objectives of the mid-term evaluation are: Assess progress against the logical framework, particularly at the outcome and impact levels, and provide actionable recommendations for indicators measurement to inform the implementation of the project by understanding to what extent the used methods are effective and efficient, Assess the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the project design and implementation mechanism and provide recommendations for improvement Highlight the successes, challenges, and recommendations from previous implementation across all projects components to help inform the ongoing and future program and reinforce initiatives demonstrating the potential for success. Report against the identified OECD DAC criteria and to effectively respond to each of the research questions identified. Assess the extent to which gender and diversity have been mainstreamed; Assess the sustainability of the 1st phase of the intervention considering the challenging context, and to what extent the deployed key documents will be used by pilot administrations; and provide guidelines to establish mechanisms for the sustainability of the overall project. Review the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and amending them if necessary; With the support of Expertise France project team, the recruited external evaluation expert may engage all stakeholders and use evaluation approaches that capture the change and focus on learnings. Participatory evaluation is recommended by involving all stakeholders to assess the improvement achieved at the level of actions and behaviors as a result of this project. Interactive discussions, as an approach for data collection, can generate important insights. The evaluator should provide evidence to explain the analyses, cause and effect linkages and attempt to identify any factors that are enhancing or hindering progress. Their work must foster accountability, decision-making, and learning. Scope of the evaluation The scope of the evaluation will include the following: Period: December 2023 to December 2025 Components: all components Country: Lebanon/Beirut Beneficiaries: Civil Service Board, OMSAR, Public Procurement Authority, Court of Account, Central Inspection and NACC; Institut of Finances and other partners; pilot administrations Criteria and evaluation questions The evaluation will use the criteria defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC): relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and viability. The evaluation questions detailed below will be reviewed by the evaluator during the mid-term evaluation start-up phase. Evaluation criteria/Specific evaluation questions Relevance: Were the project objectives / activities relevant to the context and to the needs expressed by beneficiary spokespersons and with the identified problems? Were the project objectives, expected results and activities clearly formulated and consistent with each other? Were the project objectives and approach relevant in relation to the initial capacity and progress of national stakeholders? Effectiveness: To what extent have project objectives been achieved: for each output and outcome indicator? Efficiency: Is the way that the project is managed (human resources, division of roles and responsibilities, organization chart, interactions, financial decisions linked to strategic choices) optimal to achieve results? o the results obtained so far contribute to the achievement of the project objectives Viability / sustainability: What indications (strong or weak) are there that practices and behaviors of actors within beneficiary institutions are changing? Will the support provided by the project have a lasting positive impact? Is there a transfer of capacity between civil servants following support given by the project? Impact / change: What is the projects contribution to achieving the overall objective? What are the positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects brought about by the project either directly or indirectly, and either expected or unexpected? Consistency / complementarity : To what extent do the activities undertaken enable the donor to achieve the objectives of its development policy? The consultant is expected to provide a value judgment on each of the evaluation questions raised by going through the criteria. As part of this analysis, the consultant will ensure that the judgments made for each of the six evaluation criteria make it possible to cover all of the key stages of the project cycle. The consultant should also verify whether the following cross-cutting issues: gender equality, good governance, democracy, human rights, disability, were taken into account when documents were identified / developed and to what degree they were present in the implementation and supervision of the work. Assignment description Methodology The final evaluation methodology will be developed by the firm/consultant. The methodology should adopt a mixed-method approach comprising both qualitative and quantitative data including innovative approaches and methods. In addition, the midterm review evaluation should develop a sound sampling methodology as needed. The data collection should include the use of a number of approaches to gain a deeper understanding of the outcomes of the project, including: Desk review of background documents (project document, logframe indicators, project monitoring data, progress reports, field visit reports, etc). Quantitative surveys with beneficiary groups Qualitative approaches: Key informant interviews (e.g., with EF project staff members, partners key staff, local authorities, etc.) to gather substantial anecdotal evidence on the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and impact of the project activities implementation and delivery Focus group discussions (e.g., project beneficiaries, others, etc.) Other participatory approaches as recommended by the hired company/consultant. The developed methodology should ensure a participatory. Expected deliverables The deliverables must be submitted by email in Word format to the recipients who will be indicated to the evaluation team during the start-up phase. They must be written in English Deliverables Inception Report specifying the proposed methodology, which will serve as an agreement between parties on how the evaluation will be conducted outline presentation document presenting the results , conclusion, and recommendations to be presented to the project team Final Mid-term evaluation report including the annexes (Data collection tools / evaluation matrix / validated inception report.etc), and a summary in the format requested by EF (deadline end of March) The draft final report, which should not exceed 30 pages excluding annexes, will be produced at the end of the consultants work as well as an overview presentation in PowerPoint (to be kept only if useful). Expertise France will provide comments and observations to the consultant within three weeks of receipt of the draft report. The final report, incorporating these observations, must be provided within 15 days of receipt of the comments. If these observations differ in their assessment to those of the consultants, the consultants can add them to the final report and provide comments. Structure of work Coordination arrangements The consultant must work closely with Expertise France to put together their reasoning, through regular contact throughout the assignment, from the scoping outline to the meeting to present the draft report. In particular, observations and initial areas of analysis must be shared at the end of the assignment, before the draft report is written. Schedule The total assignment is estimated at 30 days spread over two months (February and March), between the dates of the assignment. The selected evaluation team must include a detailed workplan in its bid, including the days worked per activity and per member of the evaluation team, as well as the indicative dates and locations. This workplan will be discussed and approved during the inception meeting. Profile and team composition Desired profile(s) Expected expertise Number of experts per assignment: 2 Profile of appointed expert(s) to undertake the contract: Qualifications and experience Post-graduate in a field relevant to the assignment: public administration organization and management, international cooperation/project building/evaluation Professional experience in the fields of expertise of 10 years minimum Multi-stake holder coordination experience Experience in similar projects in Lebanon or knowledge of project management viewed favorably Good knowledge of project intervention in Lebanon in the field of public administration reform Technical skills: Good knowledge of M&E systems for development programs and projects Experience and knowledge of field-based M&E Development of evaluation systems Design, delivery and evaluation of M&E training for adults Experience in database design and management Knowledge sha Tender Link : https://www.daleel-madani.org/calls-for-proposal
