Invitation to Bid for ITB / RFP Open International Tender DRC-ETH-ADD-007-2023 E -Tender for the procurement of Final Evaluation for (Ethiopian Migration Programme)

Contents

Introduction. 1

Programme overview.. 1

Objectives of the evaluation. 2

Scope of evaluation. 3

Methodology. 3

Deliverables and work plan. 3

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments. 4

Required qualifications of the consultant or firm.. 4

Application details. 4

Introduction

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 1956 that fulfils its mandate by providing direct assistance to conflict-affected populations refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities in the conflict areas of the world.

The Ethiopia Migration Programme (EMP) is a four-year, £20,764,374 (contract value is expected to be lower following a final contract amendment) programme [2019-2023] funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) which aims to improve the protective environment for migrants in Ethiopia, including Ethiopian would-be migrants, returnees, and Eritrean refugees. During the programme’s lifespan, EMP activities have been implemented in Addis Ababa, Tigray and Amhara regions. The programme has been implemented by a consortium of partners led by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). The implementing partners include Save the children International (2020-2021), BBC Media Action (2020-2021), Altai Consulting (2019-2023) and Mixed Migration Center (2020-2021 and 2022-2023). Now the program is coming toward the end of its contract in April 2023, and DRC is accordingly seeking the services of a qualified consulting firm in order to conduct an endline evaluation of EMP.

Therefore, interested and eligible service providers can request the tender dossier and instructions through email by sending to: tariku.bekele@drc.ngo; during working hours, Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Starting from March 15^th up to 24^th March 2023    

Programme overview

EMP was awarded in 2019 under the FCDO’s Ethiopia refugee and migration business case for 2016‐2020 (subsequently extended) aimed at addressing problems associated with forced inward migration and unsafe irregular outward migration. EMP’s original objective was to protect young – 14 to 29 years old – would-be migrants and refugees from unsafe irregular migration through and from Ethiopia.

EMP has 3 key outcomes in its current logframe:

1.       The policy and programme environment relating to unsafe migration in Ethiopia is more evidence-based and adaptive (Outcome 1);

2.       Migrants are more informed about the risks of unsafe irregular migration and how to mitigate them (Outcome 2); and

3.       EMP improves the protective environment for migrants through improvements in service delivery that target immediate protection needs as well as foster long-term resilience (Outcome 3)

To achieve these outcomes, EMP activities have fallen within 4 key areas: (1) programmatic research enabling evidence-based programming as well as contributing toward Ethiopia’s evidence base on migration; (2) communications programming to mitigate risks during migration journeys as well as to facilitate informed decision-making; (3) emergency programming to support the immediate needs of forcibly returned Ethiopian migrants from the Middle East; and (4) resilience programming to support would-be migrants as well as Eritrean refugees to mitigate against migration-induced protection risks.

Specifically, activities that have been implemented under each of these four components are outlined below:

1.      Programmatic research

·       Operational research to supplement the evidence base on migration in Ethiopia

·       Rolling monthly situation monitoring to provide key updates on movement patterns and migration incidents to key migration stakeholders in Ethiopia[1]

·       Reactive research to enable EMP to make programming decisions based on evidence in real time

2.      Communications activities

·       Radio programming

·       TV programming

·       Social media

·       Community-level information provision, including information sessions and one-to-one helpdesk services at EMP ‘Info Hubs’

3.      Emergency activities

·       Provision of cash and non-cash assistance to returnee migrants

·       Capacity building for government and non-government partners to improve the wider emergency response to returnees

4.      Resilience activities

·       Pre-departure training for would-be migrants to mitigate subsequent risks during migration journeys or at points of destination

·       Mentorship training for Eritrean refugees to mitigate risks during stays in refugee camps and Addis Ababa

·       Development of a Youth Recreation Centre for Eritrean and Ethiopian youth in Addis Ababa, and capacity building to a local community-based partner

The bulk of EMP’s activities were completed by December 2022, although research, emergency, and some communications activities implemented until February 2023. To compliment the Close Out phase of the contract from January through April 2023, the FCDO and DRC now seek the services of a qualified consultancy firm to conduct an end line evaluation of the programme to draw key insights and lessons learned that can inform future programming.

Objectives of the evaluation

The main objective of the evaluation is to understand to what extent EMP contributed to improve the protective environment for migrants in Ethiopia, generating safer migration journeys and more successful migration outcomes. Specifically, the objectives of the evaluation are summarised below:

a.         To evaluate the programme in terms of its relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability, equity and Value for Money (VfM), with a priority on assessing the programme’s expected results, objectives and overall goal.

b.       To identify and document key achievements, challenges, lessons learned and best practices for learning.

c.        To provide recommendations on priority interventions and actions by FCDO that will inform future refugee and migration programming.

Scope of evaluation

The geographical coverage of the evaluation will be the three implementation areas of EMP namely; Addis Ababa, Tigray (Shire former refugee camps location) and Amhara (Metema Town and North Wollo Zone). Due to the scale of the programme implementation the main focus of the evaluation will be Addis Ababa; however, the activities implemented in Tigray and Amhara in the year two EMP implementation period (Feb-2020 to March 2020) should be covered in a best way possible.

The evaluation should utilise two frameworks. The first is the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Evaluation Criteria[2] which assesses key areas of an intervention. The second is a Value for Money (VfM) assessment utilising FCDO’s 4E approach – Economy, Efficiency, Effectiveness and Equity. It is anticipated that the evaluation will consider criteria from both frameworks to evaluate EMP against a total of eight evaluation criteria – Relevance; Coherence; Impact; Sustainability; Economy; Efficiency; Effectiveness; and Equity. The selected supplier will be expected to outline a preliminary list of relevant evaluation questions based on the programme information provided above and suggest data sources connected to those questions.

Methodology

The evaluation should employ a combination of secondary data analysis (including internal programme documentation, i.e., Original UK business case, Annual review report, EMP’s inception report, annual and quarterly reports, research products (24+) and other important documents), as well as a mixed method of both quantitative and qualitative primary data collection.  About three phone-based beneficiary survey is expected. The purpose of the survey is to supplement and triangulate key findings and will target beneficiaries from three components of EMP (Communication activities, Emergency activities and Resilience activities).

Qualitative data collection should include:

1.       Key informant interviews (KII) with key programme stakeholders including senior management, programme area leads and their teams; MEAL staff; local stakeholders including both government and non-government actors; outreach workers, mentors, shelter managers, and FCDO. Approximately 40 KIIs are expected.

2.       In-depth interviews (IDI) or focus group discussions (FGD) with programme beneficiaries, including but not limited to returnees, service users, mentors and mentees, and would be migrants. Up to 16 FGDs are expected.

The supplier may identify additional stakeholders if relevant.

Alternative approaches that demonstrate how EMP has achieved its objectives, such as case studies or stories of change (at least one per population group) may be proposed. The supplier will be expected to demonstrate how their approach will highlight key lessons learned and recommendations for EMP and FCDO.

Deliverables and work plan

Five core deliverables are expected:

1.       Inception report (maximum 10 pages) including data collection tools and workplan

2.       Draft evaluation report

3.       Validation workshop, including a presentation of key findings and recommendations

4.       Final Evaluation Report (full-fledged version)

5.       Final Evaluation Report (short version); The short version of final evaluation report should be a maximum of 20 pages excluding annexes focused on key strategic findings and recommendations for future programming.

The structure of the Final Report should include the following

·       Executive Summary

·       Introduction

·       Description of the evaluation methodology

·       Situational and context analysis about the outcome, outputs, and activities of the programme

·       Key findings, including best practices and lessons learned

·       Conclusion and recommendations, including potential entry points and opportunities for future programming

·       Annexes: charts, terms of reference, field visits, list of actors consulted, literature and documents reviewed, other technical annexes

The supplier will be expected to produce a workplan outlining key activities during each phase of the contract, including inception, data collection, analysis and report-writing. It is expected that the evaluation will take a total of 16 weeks. The table below outlines the key dates for deliverables:

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The consultancy firm shall be paid the consultancy fee upon completion of the deliverables listed above. The consultancy fee will be paid as Lump Sum Amount (all-inclusive of expenses related to the consultancy). The contract price will be fixed regardless of changes in the cost components.

The supplier will be expected to have at least 5 years of experience in conducting similar research and evaluations. Experience of working in Ethiopia and of East Africa is preferable. The firm should also have organizational and financial capacity to provide the service to the highest standard as per the specification of the ToR. The supplier needs to provide a minimum of three (3) relevant project references from within the last five years demonstrating the supplier’s ability to perform the assignment and a sample report of similar assignment. The supplier will be expected also to propose a highly qualified team (with relevant professional specializations) to conduct the assignment.

An Evaluation Team Lead that meets the qualifications listed below must be named in the proposal.

 Evaluation Team Lead

·       Minimum 8 years of experience in similar roles conducting programme evaluations in the development sector;

·       Demonstrable technical knowledge of migration as a thematic area, as well as experience implementing, monitoring and/or evaluating related development programmes;

·       Knowledge and experience in monitoring and evaluation of the following activity types: programmatic research; communications programming in urban settings (including both mass media programming as well as community-level one-to-one information dissemination); urban humanitarian response; capacity building; and resilience building; and, youth programming;

·       Excellent proficiency in and ability to write in accessible English to an international standard;

·       Experience working in Ethiopia, and East Africa / Horn of Africa; and

·       Experience evaluating FCDO/DFID-funded programmes (preferred).