Evaluation Consultancy Bids-Evaluation of the ACT Psychosoci

 

1-Evaluation Purpose

Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) seeks to conduct an external evaluation of the psychosocial program implemented by NCA in cooperation with ACT alliance members and their partner organisations during 2009-2011 as a response to the war on Gaza in December-February 2009. The psychosocial programme was implemented by NCA in cooperation with resource persons in Church of Sweden (CoS) and FinChurchAid (FCA) and with ACT alliance partners.

The purpose of conducting and external evaluation is to document results, and if possible to assess the impact of more than three years of activities. We seek to learn from this experience and will use findings and recommendations in future programming.

The psychosocial project aimed to improve the situation and experience of well-being of people in marginalised communities in Gaza with high level of resilience and cooping. Central activities were training for staff in ACT alliance organisations and partner organisations. The total funds risen in ACT appeals for the project was USD 456 000.

The evaluation should be conducted by a team of two external consultants. These may be local or international consultants, or a combination of international and local. It is important to encourage participation of ACT members in Gaza and those ACT members that have been directly engaged such as Church of Sweden, FinChurchAid and NCA in the evaluations process to facilitate learning.


2-Background of the Project

The ACT Palestine Forum (APF) was established in 2008 and includes local and international ACT alliance members. The local ACT alliance members are Middle East Council of Churches/Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (MECC/DSPR), East Jerusalem Young Men’s Christian Association (EJ - YMCA) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). The international ACT alliance members with local representatives in OPT are the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), DanChurchAid (DCA), Christian Aid (CA), FinChurchAid (FCA), Church of Sweden (CoS), Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), while Diakonia as a new member in 2012.

The ACT Alliance members working in Gaza with psychosocial programmes are Norwegian Church Aid with the Al Ahli Arab Hospital and the MECC/DSPR, DCA working with Youth Enhancement Center (YEC) and IOCC working with YMCA-East Jerusalem as well as Christian Aid participating in joint activities and FinChurch Aid and Church of Sweden supporting with resource persons and advice.

Since its inception, APF has worked for improving the coordination and cooperation between member organizations, and on conducting needs assessments, emergency preparedness planning, evaluations and strategic planning.

The main stages of the development of the psychosocial program were in three stages. First the immediate response phase to the war in 2009, then programme was implemented though ACT appeals and joint planning in 2010 and 2011.

The first phase was in the aftermath of the war on Gaza in 2008-09, ACT members worked in different ways to support their staff and beneficiaries of their humanitarian programs focusing on the following psychosocial objectives: 1) coordination of efforts and staff-care 2) building capacity of ACT member staff to provide staff care and training for others to ensure sustainability of the psychosocial activities 3) to develop relevant and effective psychosocial support programs for marginalised communities.

In order to assist the ACT members in achieving these objectives, two psychosocial consultants were seconded in February 2009 from FinnChurchAid and the Church of Sweden. In August 2009 another consultant was seconded from NCA. The capacity of the ACT Forum members in Gaza was assessed and a need for psychosocial community-based work was identified. Workshops on staff-care were held for the staff of Ahli Arab Hospital and MECC/DSPR/NECC clinics. These were followed by workshops for the staff of YECDCA and YMCA/IOCC in Gaza. Staff-care sessions and Training of Trainers (ToT) were conducted throughout of 2009, and a mental health textbook was prepared by the Ahli Arab Hospital team in cooperation with the local advisor in English and Arabic.

In the second phase, at the end of the activities implemented during 2009, APF members decided to expand the psychosocial support program to include more coordination, direction, and cross-cutting psychosocial, educational and team-building activities and a plan of action was developed for 2010. The main objectives of the 2010 activities were to ensure access of women, men, youth, and children to the psychosocial support services provided by ACT members as well as to improve the quality of the these services.
In the third phase, during 2011, the APF members agreed to develop the psychosocial program in a new direction where the communities are more involved and active in identifying resources and defining needs through planning, implementing and monitoring the program. This turned out to be a challenging step. The plans were revised for continuing capacity building and networking among implementing ACT members and defer the plan for community based intervention for later. In 2011 the main objective was revised to include the building of the capacities of the psychosocial staff of members to provide high quality services while the main activities were; Training of Trainers (ToT) on various topics related to the psychosocial field ; i.e. participatory approach methodology, leadership skills, community mobilization and communication skills. Training workshops on project cycle, men in disaster and advanced MHPP ISAC guidelines were also conducted. Besides, there was an open day activity for children during Al Adha feast as well as peer group meetings.

Parallel to the joint ACT implemented psychosocial programme as described above and managed by NCA, individual ACT members and its partners continued to implement psychosocial activities in their own organisations.

Al Ahli Arab Hospital has through its social workers created relations with community based organisations in the Gaza Strip. The hospital provides psychosocial services for approximately 1 400 psychologically affected patients per year and it makes sure that they have access to psychosocial resources including counselling. The hospital provides group counselling to patients in need of psychosocial support emphasising on life-skills, self-care and care for others. The psychosocial activities of the hospital include home visits, and when needed, the referral of individuals requiring specialized support.


MECC/DSPR/NECC has established social workers in all three clinics, these social workers serve around 14 000 beneficiaries per year. These social workers are available for counselling for parents and children who come to the clinics for follow up. They also hold awareness training in nutrition, family-planning children issues and other social issues. In addition, they arrange summer activities for children at available space in the clinics. Also the VTC has stated social work among the 200 pupils.

DCA has worked with the Youth Enhancement Centre (YEC) and implemented community based activities through two community centres. YEC offers psychosocial support to youth and fosters youth capacity building, youth empowerment and encourages youth participation in all aspects of daily life. It also undertakes scientific research and targeted studies related to children. They do provide services for around 7 000 youth per year.

IOCC/YMCA East Jerusalem have also implemented community based psychosocial activities in the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the 2009 war on Gaza. They provide psychosocial services through the Network of EJ-YMCA centres, youth centres, community centres and other community-based partners of the EJ-YMCA in five districts in the Gaza Strip with an approximate 10 000 beneficiaries per year.


3-Stakeholder Involvement
Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) as the lead agency of the psychosocial program in Gaza will commission the evaluation. NCA will be responsible for hiring the consultant and following up the evaluation team and progress.

The ToR has been circulated for comments to the main ACT alliance partners that has been involved in the psychosocial programme such as CoS, FCA, MECC/NECC and Al Ahli Arab Hospital. The ToR has also been raised for discussion in February 2012 ACT Forum meeting in Jerusalem where ACT partners involved in the psychosocial well being programs in Gaza – DCA and ICCO/YMCA-EJ - agreed to participate in the evaluation both in terms of their participation in the joint ACT psychosocial activities but also that the evaluation will be looking into its effect on their staff and quality of work of partner organisations involved in the psychosocial well being programming.

The evaluation should include participatory involvement of the effect of the programme on the target group e.g. staff of organisations, patients and other beneficiaries in the targeted communities.

The psychosocial sector is large and many interventions were initiated after the 2008-2009 war when needs for such interventions were identified. It is important to situate the study of the ACT alliance psychosocial intervention in the context of other main players such as UN agencies, other INGOs and local NGOs programs. A UNICEF study from 2010 is essential point of reference to identify relevant stakeholders to approach.

Summary of stakeholders to be consulted:

ACT members and partners

UN, INGO and authorities

NCA staff in Jerusalem and Gaza

UNICEF

NCA HQ advisor on psychosocial programs

UNRWA

NCA consultant Christina Bergan

WHO

ACT ME officer Josef Pfattner

UNOCHA

FCA emergency coordinator OPT Antti Toivanen

AIDA members (approx 5)

FCA consultants Pavvi Mumma

PHGO members (approx 5)

CoS advisor Elsa Berglund

GCMHP (main pal resource centre)

MECC/DSPR/NECC staff and beneficiaries

Relevant authority

Diocese of Jerusalem/Ahli Arab Hospital staff and beneficiaries

 

DCA Jerusalem and Gaza staff

 

YEC staff and beneficiaries

 

IOCC Gaza and Jerusalem staff and beneficiaries

 

YMCA-EJ Gaza staff and beneficiaries

 

4-Evaluation Methodology
The consultant will prepare an inception report prior to the commencement of the evaluation field work. The inception report will detail the evaluation protocols, methodologies and instruments that will be used for the purpose of data collection in the field.

The evaluation team will be working independently, but will be able to rely on APF members’ staff in acting as focal point for the evaluation process and providing support during field visits. Rula Daghash will be the main contact person in NCA.

The evaluation should be carried out by multi-disciplinary team with experience in evaluation of psychosocial projects and the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial support, management, and organization development. The evaluation team leader will be held responsible for the final output of the evaluation report, and for liaising with NCA.

The consultant will prepare a suggestion for participation in the evaluation that can ensure learning in the ACT Alliance organisations that have been involved in the cooperation.

This is a suggested time frame:

Weeks One: 5 days

Review of documents and prep of inception report

Week Two: 5 days

 

Presentation of inception report to ACT forum in Jerusalem and interview with ACT members in Jerusalem including NCA staff and UN and INGOs in Jerusalem.

Week Three: 5 days

 

Presentation of inception report to partners in Gaza and Interviews in  Gaza with ACT members and partner org, Preparation for beneficiaries consultation

Week Four: 5 days

Participatory consultation with beneficiaries in Gaza

Week Five: 5 days

Preparation of report and analysis

Week Six: 5 days

Presentation of report to NCA in a workshop with ACT partners in Gaza, writing up of final report.

5-Evaluation Criteria
The evaluation will be conducted using the standards of OECDDAC Evaluation criteria as described below:
1-Relevance: Assess whether the project is in line with local needs and priorities, i.e. the extent to which the objective of the project reflects key priorities and receives support from key partners, and responds to the needs of target group.
2-Efficiency: measure the qualitative and quantitative outputs achieved in relation to the inputs and compare alternative approaches to see whether the most efficient approaches were used.
3-Effectiveness: measure the extent to which the project activities achieve its intended objectives to improve the well-being of the inhabitants of the marginalized communities in Gaza.
4-Impact: The contribution of the project to the overall goal in triggering positive changes in the social environment on individual, family, community levels that has occurred as a result of the project interventions.
5-Sustainability:  Assess the level to which the project has been successful in creating surviving/ dynamics towards the implemented activities and programs strategies.
6-Gender: Assess gender mainstreaming in the project activities, outputs and outcomes. In addition to examine the impact on women.
7-Recommendations. There should be formulated recommendations for the continuation of the work to international and local ACT alliance members. 

6-Skills and Competencies

NCA is looking for team of two experienced consultants. The team should have the following competences and skills:

Required Qualifications:
-Local knowledge and fluency in Arabic.
-Documented experience from working with the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings and the IASC Psychosocial Intervention Pyramid (this might include evaluation work, providing technical support, working with implementation or other).
-Experience in participatory methods that includes beneficiaries.
-Understanding of Rights-Based Approach and Community-Based Approach in emergency response.
-Excellent facilitation skills.

Other criteria for selection will be:
-Reflection in the evaluation proposal with regards to how to carry through an evaluation process that will secure learning in the involved organizations.
-Documented ability to write well formulated evaluations that are written in a form that facilitated learning with clear recommendations.
-One consultant, and preferably both, must have a nationality or ID that enable them to travel to Gaza Strip. NCA will facilitate necessary permissions.
-NCA will prefer consultants affiliated with reputable consultancy firm rather than independent consultants.


7-Consultant’s Proposal

The consulting firm shall submit an evaluation proposal including:
-Evaluation proposal of no more than five pages with a one page budget sent in one document.
-CVs of consultants that will carry out the evaluation.
-The proposal must be sent by email to [email protected] by 1600 on 14th March 2012.
-The timeframe for the evaluation will be during April to June 2012.

Resource materials:

-The IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial support.
-ACT Appeal documents – plans and reports
-Local organizations plans and reports.
-http://www.actalliance.org/resources/policies-and-guidelines/impact-ass essment/IA-Guide-eng-v1.pdf to download the ACT Alliance impact assessment guideline
-UNICEF evaluation from 2010 (Mapping of Mental Health and Psychosocial support services in the Gaza Strip)