Jordan: Consultant - Youth Civic Engagement

Terms of Reference:

Youth Civic Engagement in Jordan Project (BADER)

AFSC is launching a new project in collaboration with Protestant Agency for Diakonie and Development and Bread for the World. The Youth Civic Engagement in Jordan Project (BADER) aims to improve active participation of Jordanian and Syrian youth (aged 14-25) in decision making and development processes in their communities and/or country. Students in schools and youth within their communities will be trained on civic engagement, political participation education, leadership, communication, team building, group work, life skill-based training that engage youth in activities that foster attitudes and behaviors supporting social cohesion such as cultivating perspective, empathy, and peaceful conflict resolution among others.

IMPACT

Jordanian and Syrian youth actively participate in decision making and development processes in their communities and/or country.

OUTCOMES

· Common issues identified by Jordanian and Syrian school students in their schools and communities are addressed.

· Civic engagement initiatives are implemented by young adults in Amman and Zarqa in their communities**.**

Target Geographies

Amman and Zarqa.

Target Beneficiaries

Students: 380 (50% girls); Youth: 120 (50% women)

• 380 students (aged 14-16) benefiting from weekly educational sessions in 12 schools.
• 120 youth (aged 18-25) benefiting from a 3-4 days training on community initiatives.
• 20 youth (aged 18-25) designing and implementing 12 community initiatives.

Full Project Timeline

January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2022

Baseline Study Timeline

February 11, 2020 – February 25, 2020

2.0PURPOSE OF THE CONSULTANCY

The objective of this consultancy is to establish project starting points and benchmarks/indicators that will form the basis for developing a strong monitoring and evaluation framework. This will lay a critical foundation for measuring change, understanding the project’s contribution to achieving this change, and drawing lessons for future direction and project development. An important objective of the BADER project is to collect evidence of the effectiveness and impact of the integrated civic engagement approach. Consequently, this initial baseline will be followed by an end evaluation study at the end of the project.

For this purpose, the project is currently seeking a consultant to design and implement the baseline study of the BADER Project. Specifically, the consultant will:

§ Preform a comprehensive review of existing BADER project, monitoring, and evaluation plan including the performance measurement framework and measurement tools. If needed, propose adjustments that will strengthen the measurement framework to assure conceptual validity from the baseline, that will feed into the regular Monitoring exercises until the end evaluation study.

§ Design and plan a baseline study in collaboration with the AFSC staff while developing the overall approach and methodology.

§ Design and/or revise existing data collection methodology and tools to be used during baseline study and for further M&E use throughout this project until end evaluation study. As such, there may be a need to collect additional data to inform the end evaluation assessment.

§ Provide recommendations and plans for integrating data collection tools and/or other required data sets necessary for the project M&E and end evaluation study.

§ Produce a comprehensive report based on the baseline data establishing baseline values and accurate current status in line with the expected project impact and outcome indicators.**3.0** SCOPE OF WORK:

**

1. Pr**epare an** evaluation planoutlining the approach/methodology to be employed in executing the assignment and a detailed plan for the baseline with: Timeline/schedule of activities
2. Sampling requirements and framework (determine sample size for intervention and comparison areas) **

3. Detailed methodology of how to collect, triangulate and summarize the primary and secondary data of both quantitative and qualitative (if needed, develop data quality protocols to guide data collection/entry for AFSC field staff, including spot checking protocols).

4. Revise and identify the final baseline indicators and assumptions from the project log frame and/or any other relevant M&E planning tools (proposed revised version).

5. Take a lead role in developing/revising and piloting various data collection tools (both qualitative and quantitative) to be used for the baseline as per the agreed methodology, including pre-testing or piloting of tools for linguistic and cultural appropriateness.

6. Actively participate in regular meetings with AFSC staff from Jordan and other offices, consulting on research plan/methodology/time frame, discussing results and findings and agreed recommended follow-up actions.

7. Depending on the consultant’s evaluation plan, collaborate and coordinate with AFSC field staff and travel to project locations to manage data collection process, providing support, supervision and monitoring of data collection and storage. This includes ensuring the credibility of field data collected by interviewers.

8. Compile a comprehensive first draft baseline report based on the field research findings according to format agreement upon with AFSC staff.

9. Prepare and submit final baseline report to AFSC staff in Jordan, including:

§ PowerPoint presentation with summary findings for formal presentation to key stakeholders.

§ Conduct de-briefing meeting at the AFSC Jordan office.

§ Copies of original and cleaned data sets including any field notes, as well as annexes of processed results tables (with all levels of dis aggregation, including geographical areas breakdown) are to be submitted to AFSC Jordan office with the final report.

4.0METHODOLOGY

The baseline will utilize both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data ensuring in-depth analysis of the status of project outcomes and indicators. Data collection methods will include review of project and organizational documents including the BADER Project Proposal and AFSC’s current data collection tools. All data collection methodology should be in line with child safeguarding principles.

The baseline will be conducted in the communities where the project is being implemented. The consultant will be supported by AFSC field staff in arranging logistics for meetings with key stakeholders; AFSC will guide the review of the consultant inception write up and draft baseline report.

The consultant will be expected to travel to the BADER Project locations that are chosen based on samples sizes.

5.0DURATION OF THE ROLE

The baseline survey will be conducted between February 11, 2020 to February 25, 2020. Specific level of effort for the consultant is based on the agreed work plan that will be finalized with the contract.

6.0KEYDeliverableAND TIMELINE (NEGOTIABLE AND TO BE FINALIZED WITH AFSC STAFF)

DELIVERABLE

DETAILS

DEADLINE

1. AFSC Consultations and documents review

· Initial consultations will begin and extend throughout the duration of the planning period Review/develop evaluation framework, analysis framework and sampling frameworks.

February 04^th 2020

1. Submission of Inception Report

· Evaluation Plan: Methodology/Sampling/Data Collection Tools including Basic Information Sheet

February 09^th 2020

1. Fieldwork (Data Collection) Plan Completed

· Fieldwork logistics and schedule (i.e. in Excel)

· Fieldwork manual including data collectors’ training guide

February 11^th 2020

1. Data Collected

· Cleaned, raw data in two formats: Excel and a stats software format (e.g. SPSS or STATA) if possible

February 16^th 2020

1. Validation workshop

· Consultation with key stakeholders for revision and validation of findings

February 20^th 2020

1. First Draft Baseline Evaluation Report

· Revised data analysis framework document

· Excel spreadsheets, or SPSS/Stata scripts with clear, easy to understand notes

· Fill in baseline values (PMF) and help decide on the final target values

· Draft baseline report

February 25^th 2020

1. Final Baseline evaluation Report

· Final country report

· Final summary PPT

February 27^th, 2020

The above timeline is negotiable and subject to change based on consultation with AFSC staff.

7.0QUALIFICATIONS

· A consultant/consultancy firm/group with at least 3-8 years of experience in the research and/or evaluation field, including experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, and reporting;

· Extensive experience creating measurement frameworks, refining indicators, and creating measurement tools for education focused programs

· Extensive experience managing and designing evaluation studies in a diverse context (e.g. Middle East context, with children and young people, in remote settings, etc.);

· Experience in civic engagement and/or social cohesion thematic areas is a must.

· Experience in Positive Youth Development (PYD), life skills measurement and behavioral change measurement, youth psycho-social well being;

· Experience using participatory methodologies and following OECD-DAC principles for evaluation and measurement;

· Applicant should have a relevant degree in social sciences, international development, statistical sciences, or another related field;

· Excellent skills and experience with data analysis using statistical computing tools (Excel, SPSS, STATA, NVIVO);

· Proficiency in Arabic and in English

8.0PROPOSAL APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Interested organizations are requested to submit proposals including the following documents:

· Cover letter including the consultant’s/firm’s suitability for the assignment and current contact information.

· CV including contact details of 2 references. If the lead consultant is planning to recruit enumerators in Jordan to support the data collection from various sites, data entry and data set development, please state this in your application and if possible provide details (cost, expertise, expected role of each consultant, etc.).

· Include 1-2 samples of previous evaluation work.

· Detailed response to TOR, including technical proposal with specific focus addressing the purpose and objectives of the assignment, methodology to be used and key selection criteria (max. 2 pages).

· Financial Proposal: Detailed budget breakdown based on expected daily rates and initial work plan.

· Initial draft of the proposed work plan in form of a Gantt chart.

The proposal must be submitted no later than 17:00 on Tuesday February 6^th, 2020 to Belal Olimat, Program Manager at bolimat@afsc.org, with Safwat Shibly**, Regional Finance Director** in copy at: sshibly@afsc.org.

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis and will be reviewed as soon as they are received. Early submissions are encouraged.

While we thank all applicants for their interest, only those selected for interviews will be contacted.