Tenders Are Invited For Consultant - Final Evaluation Coherence Programme Ethiopia

Tenders are invited for Consultant - Final Evaluation Coherence Programme Ethiopia. Closing Date: 30 Sep 2026 Type: Consultancy 1. Introduction The COHERENCE programme Ethiopia 2022-2026 is implemented by Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Soddo branch (ECC-SDCO/S) and Adigrat branch (ECC-SDCO/Ad), with coordination support by the East Africa regional programme Manager CI.be. The programme is implemented in 7 countries and is co-funded by the Belgian Government. The programs aim is to equip rural communities so that they become more resilient and can better cope with crisis situations. Above all, the program wants the most vulnerable people, particularly women, young people and people with disabilities, to have expanded opportunities to improve their living conditions. Through a triple nexus approach, focus is on (1) social cohesion, peace-building and rights protection within communities; (2) rural economic development; and (3) disaster preparedness The present terms of reference relate exclusively to the final evaluation of COHERENCE Ethiopia. The final evaluations of the three other country programs are the subject of separate tenders and fall outside the scope of this assignment. 2. Object of the evaluation: COHERENCE Ethiopia 2.1 Program objective, results and activities To address food insecurity of poor and vulnerable households with a focus on female-headed and landless households of 2 kebeles in Damot Woyde district (Wolaita) and 2 kebeles in Irob district (Eastern Tigray), COHERENCE Ethiopia aimed to improve their livelihood base in a sustainable way, by means of a triple nexus approach, linking three complementary areas: social cohesion, rural economic development and disaster risk reduction (DRR). The actions specific objective was formulated as follows: By the end of 2026, poor and vulnerable households, especially resource poor female-headed and landless households, in two kebeles (Endamosa and Hareze Sabata) of Irob district and two kebeles (Kindo Koyo and Mayo Kote) of Damot Woyde district have strengthened their livelihood basis, better enabling them to seize opportunities and realize their aspirations. The objective was to be achieved through three results. A first result concerned social cohesion that was to be improved by building household and community capacity to manage resource-induced conflicts and to ensure equitable and fair access or entitlement to natural resources, through, among others: Conducting a rapid gender context analysis at community level (1 in each intervention area); Organizing in groups and training of 180 community cohesion and gender empowerment agents on peace building, conflict management and facilitation skills; Organizing community dialogue sessions on peace and conflict management and gender equity (while applying the household transformation method); Rehabilitating and expanding water piping to address existing water access conflict (Wolaita); Planting tree seedlings on communal land between communities as a joint, social cohesion enhancing activity (Tigray); Providing energy-saving stoves for 300 households (Wolaita). The direct causes of food insecurity in the intervention zones are besides the two-year war in Tigray (2020-2022) the depletion of household assets and continuous dwindling of income. Repeated food shortages have also forced many households to sell their assets to address immediate needs. Therefore, through a second result, the program aimed to contribute to improving household production, income, savings and productive assets by: Supporting households in income generating activities and household asset building; Organizing, training and equipping savings and and internal lending groups (SILCs) to enhance solidarity, savings and resilience; Selecting specific Household Asset Building Packages (HABP), providing technical and basic business training of HABP-SILC groups, and supporting households in financing business plans by means of subsidy. Finally, a third result sought to strengthen vulnerable households resilience in response to climate-induced shocks and stress, by focusing on improving farm production by: Organizing volunteer smallholders in community learning groups (type of farmer field schools) and providing orientation training on Resilience Design (RD); Facilitating self-assessments based on local knowledge, practices and exchange; Increasing soil fertility with appropriate durable techniques identified using a RD approach; Supplying farm-resilient seeds and biological catalysator (for compost making) (Tigray); Providing energy-saving tools for households with special needs; Conducting quality monitoring and group learning of RD-related activities implemented at farm-level through community learning groups or famer field school groups. In addition, by means of workshops, exchange visits, networking and inclusive and participatory MEAL, stakeholders were expected to mutually reinforce each others capacities, in particular with regard to issues addressed by the program. 2.2 Target groups COHERENCE Ethiopias implementation period extended over 42 and 36 months respectively in Wolaita and Eastern Tigray, addressing a total of at least 1,900 households (1,000 in Wolaita and 900 in Eastern Tigray). More specifically, the program targeted: With regard to social cohesion: 1,900 households (1,000 in Wolaita, 900 in Tigray) of which 1,327 are male-headed (787 in Wolaita, 540 in Tigray) and 573 female-headed (213 in Wolaita, 360 in Tigray), 4 peace and social cohesion and gender equity promoting groups, and 180 peace and social cohesion agents / community leaders (elders, religious leaders, women and youth representatives, ) (75 in Wolaita, 105 in Tigray); With regard to rural economic development (household asset building): 830 poor households (400 in Wolaita, 430 in Tigray) with priority for female-headed and landless households, and 49 SILCs (20 in Wolaita, 29 in Tigray); With regard to disaster risk reduction (resilience design): 800 smallholder households (600 in Wolaita, 200 in Tigray), with a priority for smallholders vulnerable to climate change; Government technical staff. In addition to these target-groups, i.e. direct beneficiaries, the following indirect beneficiaries were foreseen: The population of the 2 kebeles (Endamosa and Hareze Sabata) in Eastern Tigray and of the 2 kebeles (Kindo Koyo and Mayo Kote) in Wolaita; Government services and local authorities of the 4 kebeles; Authorities of Irob and Damot Woyde districts. 2.3 Three innovative approaches Three approaches are assumed to have particularly contributed to the actions achievements and are to receive specific attention during the final evaluation (see evaluation questions below). 2.3.1 Social cohesion and peace building through village peace agents To encourage peace building and social cohesion, COHERENCE Ethiopia mobilized volunteers from the targeted communities who were expected to become change agents.They were trained on basic peace building and conflict management and thus equipped with knowledge and skills on grassroots conflict prevention, management and resolution. Thereto, the program adopted the so-called the 3Bs/4Ds methodology (cf. https://ics.crs.org/resource/ties-bind-building-social-cohesion-divided-communities) that combines binding, bonding and bridging (the 3Bs) with appreciative inquiry (the 4Ds: discover, dream, design and deliver) to enable communities to cooperate and collaborate across ethnic, religious, gender, class and other divides and to strengthen horizontal and vertical rights relations and social cohesion. Following this methodology, key grassroots actors were accompanied in discovering their individual and collective strengths and their mutual responsibilities in promoting social cohesion. At the heart of the methodology is a focus on what connects and energizes people, rather than on obstacles and issues that separate them. The trained change agents were to facilitate community dialogues sessions that focused on tensions and conflicts that had been identified through a rapid conflict analysis and a limited social cohesion barometer survey. 2.3.2 Gender empowerment Apart from promoting peace and social cohesion, the community volunteers were also expected to be change agents with regard to gender relations in their community. They were trained on gender analysis and participatory gender transformative methods and tools. A rapid gender context analysis was conducted and based on its findings, gender transformation activities were engaged in by the program at two levels. First, at village level, trained change agents organized, in collaboration with the programs community animators, community conversation sessions on gender issues with groups of men and women, giving participants room to talk, discuss and exchange ideas about gender perceptions and roles in their households and at community level. Next, using two complementary gender transformation methods (the Household Transformation Method (HTM) and Gender Action Learning (GAL)), male and female members of households were supported in assessing and analyzing intra-household gender disparities (division of labor, access to and control of household resources, benefits sharing mechanisms, decision-making power, etc.). Ultimately, the approach was to result in bringing about change and improvement in terms of the gender empowerment index. 2.3.3 Community Learning Groups Co-creation and sharing of knowledge plays a central role in the process of developing and implementing agroecological innovations including climate change adaptation. To create together and share knowledge, farmers need a platform that supports them to work in small groups and have opportunities to articulate ideas, increase their motivation and participation to innovate and a Tender Link : https://reliefweb.int/job/4228688/consultant-final-evaluation-coherence-programme-ethiopia