Project Internal Evaluation

Project Internal Evaluation  

 “ Improving access of Children with disabilities (CwDs) to education services in the Gaza Strip”

Humanity & Inclusion

Humanity & Inclusion

Handicap International is running its projects under the new name of Humanity & Inclusion (HI), is an independent international solidarity organization which works in situations of poverty or exclusion, conflict and natural disasters. Working alongside people with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations, the association takes action and speaks out in order to meet their essential needs and improve their living conditions. Since its creation, HI has set up development programs in over 55 countries and works in various emergency and post emergency contexts.

Humanity & Inclusion Goals:

• To prevent impairment and disability linked to diseases, accidents and violence.
• To ensure that key services are available, adapted and accessible to persons with disabilities and vulnerable populations.
• To promote the social participation of persons with disabilities and vulnerable populations, and the fulfillment of their rights.
• In the time and space of conflicts and disasters, or in their immediate wake:
• To prevent and limit the consequences of crises and disasters on persons and communities.
• To help organize relief, provide adapted assistance and cover basic needs, with a special focus on vulnerable persons and those with injuries or disabilities.

Key axes of intervention in the Middle East:

The Middle East 2009-2014 strategic goal was to promote sustainable change for persons with disabilities while responding to humanitarian crises. In this respect, the MEReP developed actions in 4 fields of intervention: access to social services, disability rights and multi-stakeholders policy making process, inclusive community development and humanitarian relief.

The strategy adopted for the period 2015-2019 continues promoting access to inclusive and adapted services for Persons with Disabilities & vulnerable groups along the continuum relief-recovery-development in close coordination with representatives of duty bearers, users and service providers. This new strategic period lays on 3 main pillars: (1) promoting the inclusion of the most vulnerable, with a particular focus on persons with disabilities, within the humanitarian response; (2) preventing impairment and disability by enhancing both the quality and the systemic management of existing services as well as by informing populations about ERW risks; and (3) promoting cohesion, resilience and participation of all through dialogue, empowerment, disability mainstreaming in service delivery and social change.

HI in Occupied Palestinian Territory:

HI in Middle East including OPT, is pursuing its 2015 – 2019 strategy aiming to promote access to inclusive and adapted services for persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups, with a particular focus on youth and women, through a deep involvement of duty bearers, users and service providers’ representatives.

Main ongoing actions:

• “Improving access of Children with disabilities to education services in the Gaza Strip” funded by GAC that focuses on increased access of girls and boys with disabilities to adapted specialized education services respecting minimum education humanitarian standards while building capacity of education stakeholders (cluster members, community, educational staff, children at schools and peers) to better prepare for and respond to the educational needs of children with disabilities.
• A project funded by BMZ aiming at enhancing resilience of local population through the promotion of inclusive health services, re-construction and enhanced emergency preparedness to mitigate the impact of future crises seeking to enforce people with disabilities’ access to basic and specialised services. This is expected to be done through enhancing People with disabilities’ access to services and their home environment through supporting accessible physical infrastructures and supporting disaster risk planning and management processes including rehabilitation preparedness to ensure they take cognisance of the needs of People with disabilities.
• An action on “Improving access of Children with disabilities to education services in the Gaza Strip” funded by GAC that focuses on increased access of girls and boys with disabilities to adapted specialized education services respecting minimum education humanitarian standards while building capacity of education stakeholders (cluster members, community, educational staff, children at schools and peers) to better prepare for and respond to the educational needs of children with disabilities.
• A project funded by EU aiming at increasing access to job opportunities for People with disabilities by supporting employers to ably accommodate their needs through an employment scheme. On the other hand, HI seeks to raise aware of private and public sector actors about the barriers faced by People with disabilities in employment/self-employment and their obligations according to the disability law and share experience and practices towards the promotion of a more inclusive economic sector.
• A project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA Lux) promoting access of people with a disability to quality medical and social services and employment through an inclusive and holistic approach. It also seeks to improved disability inclusive practices among education service providers and employers while the specific needs of children and adults with disabilities are addressed to support their access to rehabilitation, education and socio-economic services. By intervening to address the needs of persons with injuries Hi is working towards their protection from disabilities while, by addressing their psychosocial needs as in the above project Hi is ensuring that both children and adults are protected from debilitating effects of psychological stress.

Introduction

HI seeks an evaluator to implement an Internal final evaluation of Education Project “Improving access of Children with disabilities (CwDs) to education services in the Gaza Strip”. The project is implemented by Humanity and Inclusion in partnership with 3 local partners:

• Palestine Avenir for Childhood Foundation- PACF
• Al-Maghazi Community Rehabilitation Society- MCRS
• Society of Physically Handicapped People- SPHP

The project duration is 18 months starting on 1st of April 2017 till 30th of September 2018.

The final evaluation will provide an opportunity to identify key areas and factors of success and challenges encountered while providing reflections for future interventions in Gaza related to education. It will provide HI, the implementing partners and the donor with sufficient information to:

• Make an overall independent assessment about the performance of the project based upon the main objectives and expected results;
• Identify key conclusions and propose practical recommendations for follow-up actions to feed into potential future actions.

Context and Project Background

The population in the Gaza Strip reached more than 1.89 Million[1] living in 360 km2, with an average household reaching 5.6 persons. PCBS indicated that 6.8% of Gaza population have disability (6% of females and 7.6% of males). The population is suffering from armed conflict and the resulting damage and destruction of facilities, the Israeli Blockade, and the internal Palestinian division, severely disrupted services, including the ability to conduct regular educational activities. Combined with their negative psychosocial effects, these factors have affected student wellbeing, performance and completion rates.[2]

Meanwhile most recently Gaza still grapples with the effects of the March or Return demonstration on the Eastern border of Gaza with Israeli. This crisis has already stretched the Gazan resources both human and financial to their limits leaving an economy already on its knees literally crumbling. Since the start of the demonstrations on 30th March until the 4th July 2018, 140 people have been killed while those injured amidst ongoing demonstrations stands at 15,501 and still growing. Unfortunately, most of the victims are youth who comprise the most productive working population.

The reconciliation process between Hamas and Fatah is still facing difficulties to be implemented on the ground, particularly after the assassination attempt of the PA Prime Minister in Gaza. In reaction to this attempt, the PA President took some major decisions against Gaza that includes additional salary deductions on the PA employees in Gaza directly affecting approximately 62,000 Gaza-based civil servants among them teachers, their families and the general economy; decrease of the budgetary support to Gaza budget. Egyptians as supporters of the reconciliation process are still trying to bridge the gap between the two parties but no effect till the end of reporting period.

The failure of the reconciliation, limited humanitarian funding and blockade resulted in increased destruction of the Gaza Strip economy, PCBS census of 2017 indicated that 53% of Gaza Strip population live under the poverty line, with 33.7% percent of individuals suffering from deep poverty (meaning that they are unable to meet the minimum required for food, clothing and housing). Since 2009, Gaza Strip suffers from electricity outages that reached to its worst during the reporting period where the population benefited only of 4 hours of electricity per day, such conditions are not sufficient for families to cover their household activities, enough lightening for studying, in addition to distribution for private and public sectors services including WASH facilities. Recent reports indicated that 47% of businesses in Gaza rely on gasoline or diesel-based generators to meet 42%of their energy needs, resulting in an estimated five-fold increase in utility tariffs[3].

Although restrictions on the movement of population and good from and to Gaza Strip continued, the education system continues to provide services for more than 0.5 million children with its minimal resources due to the ongoing conflict, internal divisions, electricity outages, the education cluster estimates that 490,145 (of which 240,998 are male and 249,147 are female) school children across the oPt face challenges in accessing quality education in a safe and child-friendly environment[4]. Up until now, only 28% of the 20 million USD required budget for education projects has been secured.

The psychosocial needs of children with and without disabilities have deteriorated since the last reporting period. The Gaza Community Mental Health (GCMHP) implemented a study on the psycho-social well-being of Gazan’s in 2017/2018. The study indicated that (20%) of children who visited GCMHP centers suffered from incontinence, followed by 13% of children suffering from PTSD, and 22% of adults suffering from depression.

Project Summary

Project: “Improving access of Children with disabilities (CwDs) to education services in the Gaza Strip”.

Project Duration: 18 months, 1st of April 2017 - 30th of September 2018

Project Funded by: Global Affairs Canada

Ultimate Outcome: Lives saved, suffering alleviated and human dignity maintained in countries experiencing humanitarian crisis or that are food insecure

Intermediate Outcome: Reduced vulnerability of crisis-affected people, especially women and children

Immediate Outcomes and Outputs:

Immediate Outcome 1: Increased access of girls and boys with disabilities to adapted specialized education services respecting minimum education humanitarian standards

Outputs:

• Child friendly and accessible environment created in each targeted school
• Specialized educational materials and equipment used by education staff to develop adapted and accessible materials provided
• Specific assistive devices procured and distributed
• Education staff in the targeted schools able to respond to the complex PSS and educational needs of CwDs
• Quality PSS and educational counselling services for CwDs and their caregivers (primarily mothers) available in targeted schools

Immediate Outcome 2: Increased preparedness of education stakeholders (cluster members, community, educational staff, children at schools and peers) to respond to the educational needs of children with disabilities

Outputs:

• Children with disabilities in particular girls develop friendships, and disability perception among children without disabilities changed towards better acceptance and supportive attitude
• Awareness media campaign implemented in the 3 governorates
• Partners emergency preparedness plans developed
• Disability inclusion information and induction training sessions to cluster members provided

DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUIRED SERVICE

Evaluation Purpose

The objective of the final evaluation is to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability, accountability and participation pillars of the project and its services and to provide HI and partners with an independent comprehensive review of project performance, processes and results.

The evaluation will be used to ensure accountability towards donor and communities by reflecting the voices, opinions and experiences of the beneficiaries and stakeholders involved in this project.

The objective of this final project evaluation is to assess project achievement and identify key areas and factors for success to reflect and guide the way forward for future interventions on education in collaboration with civil society organizations.

Expected results:

The evaluation results are expected to be used by different stakeholders involved across the different components of the project, including partners. HI and the donor will potentially use recommendations for future programming needs.

The main expected results of the assignment will be as follows:

1. Evaluate the performance of the project through an assessment of project’s outcomes and achievement taking into account the context, the proposal and the monitoring and evaluation framework of the project.
2. Based on the lessons learned, key conclusions and the progress achieved, provide propose practical recommendations for programmatic future follow-up actions

Scope of the evaluation:

The evaluation will take place in Gaza Strip where the project has been implemented. It will cover the implementation period of the project from 1st of April 2017 - 30th of September 2018.

Documents and source of information

• Project proposal;
• PMBox
• Partnership agreements
• Donor interim reports
• Activities reports

Evaluation criteria and questions

Through the final project evaluation, HI would like to focus on the following areas:

Relevance:

• To what extent the support to partners offered an adequate response to the priority educational needs of the children with disabilities?
• Did the services provided within the project realistically meet the educational and psychosocial needs of children with disabilities and their parents?
• Did the project provide adequate support and response to the partner’s needs?
• Did the project align with key educational institutional and strategic framework of reference (national and international)?
• Were referral networks coordination mechanisms relevant to the context?
• Were the measures taken to address the risks realized in the project relevant

Effectiveness

• Quantitative overview of the planned and achieved outputs and outcomes and their indicators
• How did the services supported by the project contribute to achieving the planned ultimate outcome and the intermediate outcome of the project?
• Assessment of HI and partners timely implementation of project activities.
• Were HI & partners’ operational procedures effective?
• What are the main non-planned achievements within the project?
• What were the key internal and external constraints and challenges affecting positively or negatively the project implementation? Were the mitigation measures or solutions that were put in place adapted and responsive?
• What was HI’s key contribution and added-value to partners out of the project?
• To which extent did families / users get involved in the action?
• What are the areas that partners think HI should improve in future partnerships or collaboration?

Efficiency

• Cost effectiveness in resources utilization;
• Management of budget overspending or under spending and impact on project objectives maximization?
• The quality of relations/coordination/communication of HI with partners and HI/partners with local authorities, institutions, beneficiaries, and other donors and stakeholders.
• What were the management/operational challenges met by HI and partners during the project implementation?
• Were the planned monitoring system and operational procedures applied timely and regularly updated according to the needs?

Sustainability

• Assessment of project ownership by HI partners?
• Assessment of improved institutional knowledge and capacity through the project input and investments (trainings, technical and managerial support),
• Sustainability of the services supported through the project
• Sustainability of the referral mechanisms in place
• To which extent the different stakeholders of the project have a better understanding of children with disabilities’ needs and of the importance of access to services as a key condition for inclusion.

Impact

• Impact of supported psychosocial support services to improve parents coping mechanisms
• Impact of supported educational support services to improve children with disabilities educational achievements.
• Impact of provision and improvement of partners resource rooms and teachers training on the quality of the services offered to the children
• Impact of involving parents in the school activities
• Satisfaction of the parents and children with the activities supported throughout the project
• Identify the unintended impact of the project on the target group and stakeholders

Accountability

• To what extent stakeholders including beneficiaries are clearly and impartially informed about the results and performance of the project
• Compliance of the project to international and national laws and HI policies.
• Availability and access to all project documents

Participation

• Involvement of beneficiaries (or their representatives) in the initial diagnosis and project launch phases.
• Encouragement and empowerment of beneficiaries (or their representatives) to express their level of satisfaction during the implementation phase.
• To what extent the project is keeping beneficiaries (or their representatives) informed during the project implementation and closure phases

Evaluation Methodology:

HI values the contributions of the internal evaluator towards proposing appropriate, innovative, and robust methods of evaluation. The evaluator will be expected to finalise a detailed action plan with the support of the project team once selected bearing in mind the other ongoing actions of the organisation.

Some basic methodological requirements, however, are that:

• All evaluation tools should as much as possible be accessible for the use of persons with disabilities.
• The evaluation must be a participatory and interactive process.
• The methodology should combine quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques and analysis.
• The proposed methodology should also describe how cross-cutting issues of gender and age will be addressed and incorporated throughout the various stages of the evaluation.

The evaluation should consist of 5 phases:

1. Preparatory phase (briefing with stakeholders, document review, appreciation-review of the evaluation feasibility), sampling, preparation of data collection tools, logistic arrangements
2. Developing a methodology and tools for data collection together with the project team to effectively evaluate the project.
3. Field work - data collection
4. Data analysis and presentation of preliminary findings (meeting with stakeholders to present analysis, conclusions and recommendation)
5. Report drafting phase and validation of the report.

The evaluation methodology proposed by the evaluator will be agreed with the HI team once the evaluator is on the field prior to the commencement of any field or any other substantive work.

HI will provide all the relevant project documents/reports, and make necessary appointments for meetings with partners, teams, beneficiaries and other respondents. The Evaluator will start with a meeting with HI project team.

Deliverables

By end of the evaluation, an electronic report (Word document) in English will be developed including include the following:

• Methodological framework for evaluation (English) including all tools produced
• Evaluation report (English) (Max. 35 pages plus annexes; font: Arial 11) that include the following main sections:
  • Table of contents
  • Abbreviations list
  • Executive summary (that can be used as a stand-alone document)
  • Brief on General context of the Palestinian context at the design and implementation phase
  • Introduction that include the objectives of the evaluation, methodologies and techniques used and limitations of the evaluation, where relevant.
  • Presentation of the evaluation analysis and findings, covering the five focus areas (Relevance; Effectiveness; Efficiency; Impact; Sustainability; Accountability and Participation) clearly showing response to the evaluation questions included in this TOR.
  • Conclusions and recommendations for improvement and future actions with a clear relationship between them.
  • Report annexes that include: The Terms of Reference of the evaluation; the techniques used for data collection; the program adhered to; the list of people met; list of document and bibliography and composition evaluation team.

SERVICE DURATION, LOCATION AND AVAILABLE BUDGET

The evaluator is expected to conduct the evaluation from 10th August and finalise the report fully validated by the HI Regional Technical Unit no later than 10th September 2018.

Location: Gaza Strip, Middle Area and Rafah

Consultancy Fees: The consultancy should not exceed a maximum of 20,000 Shekels (Twenty Thousand Shekels Only) including transportation, communication, taxes, insurance and consultancy advertisement fees on Jobs.ps.

REQUIREMENTS AND APPLICATION PROCEDURES OF THE CONSULTANT

The evaluation expert (or team of experts) who will undertake this assignment should have the following skills, experience and knowledge:

• Academic background in education or Social Sciences with a minimum of Master’s Degree in Social Sciences or any other relevant field.
• Experience in project evaluation and related methodologies
• Experience in conducting participatory (qualitative and quantitative) evaluation techniques
• A wide experience in all aspects of project cycle management
• Experience working with persons with disabilities in general and/or children with disabilities
• Practical knowledge of rights-based approaches in education
• Strong analytical and report writing skills.

Qualified persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply!

Bids from interested individual consultants or firms should include:

• A detailed Technical offer that includes the methodology and evaluation plan, and timeframe;
• Financial offer that covers all anticipated costs (taxes, travel, accommodation, transportation, insurance, translation, consultancy advertisement on jobs.ps etc.);
• A CV detailing relevant skills and experience of the consultant and her/his team of no more than 3 pages each, including contactable referees. In case of team of experts, the team leader must be clarified.
• One sample of a relevant previous evaluation preferably for international donor funded project in a similar area.
• Note: Handicap International reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal without giving reasons and is not bound to accept the lowest or the highest bidder.

Tenders must be sent by email to the following address: [email protected]

The message’s subject must be: Final Evaluation Special Education project

Deadline for submission of applications: 1st August 2018

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

Selected consultants might be invited for a complementary interview.

“Handicap International is committed to protecting the rights of the children and opposes to all forms of child exploitation and child abuse. HI contractors must commit to protecting children against exploitation and abuse”.

[1] PCBS census 2017, http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2364-1.pdf

[2] OCHA, https://www.ochaopt.org/theme/education

[3] UNRWA emergency appeal 2018, https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/content/resources/2018_opt_ea_final_web.pdf

[4] OCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview 2018.