End-Line Evaluation Consultant

Search for Common Ground

Search for Common Ground (Search) is an international conflict transformation NGO that aims to transform the way individuals, groups, governments, and companies deal with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative solutions. Headquartered in Washington DC, USA, and Brussels, Belgium, with field offices in over 30 countries. Search designs and implements multifaceted, culturally appropriate, and conflict-sensitive programmes using a diverse range of tools, including media and training, to promote dialogue, increase knowledge and determine a positive shift in behaviors.

* The Project

Search has built on its existing networks and lessons learned from the JUSOOR project phases 1 and 2 to introduce the extension phase (third phase): Jusoor (“Bridges”): Building Bridges between Government Actors, Political Parties, Youth, and Local Communities for a cumulative total of 36 months. Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, this phase aims to strengthen youth-centered participatory approaches to local governance and political participation in Jordan.

Search, along with its local partners—Al-Thoria Center for Studies, Training and Consultation (Al-Thoria) has worked closely with the Ministry of Local Administration (MoLA) to facilitate access and engagement of local youth and communities in new target areas. They have nominated members from Local, Municipal, and Governorate Councils in each governorate, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Interior's Social Development Units and the Youth Units in the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, to select relevant local authorities and government officials to engage in project activities.

Search also drew on youth leaders from the first two phases of the JUSOOR project, who have

championed participatory processes between government and civil society actors at the local level. The project targeted vulnerable populations, aiming to enhance inclusive governance practices co-led by local authorities and youth leaders. Additionally, representatives from all registered political parties were engaged to expand their political platforms and grow their campaigning experience, incentivizing their participation in the project.

Project Participants: 74 youth, 84 local authorities, 14 national authorities, 20 political parties.

Locations: Jerash, Ajloun, Balqa, Maan, and Aqaba.

The Theory of Change is:

“IF members of local, municipal, governorate, and executive councils in target governorates experience the benefits of implementing youth-centred participatory approaches to local governance, IF local male and female youth leaders’ behaviour shifts to prioritise constructive and meaningful long-term engagement with local and (sub-)national authorities, IF the two groups are supported to jointly address shared community needs, and IF youth participation in local governance is leveraged to support political dialogue engaging historically marginalised groups THEN local governance and political dialogue will better reflect and address the needs and perspectives of youth and their wider communities BECAUSE local and (sub-)national authorities, political party representatives, and youth will better understand how to engage, and collaborate with each other and with their wider communities and will recognise the value of these collaborative relationships and interactions.”

The Expected results:

Goal: Strengthening youth-centred participatory approaches to local governance and political

participation in Jordan.

- Outcome 1: To mobilise the skills and competencies of local and (sub-) national authorities and youth to effectively, constructively, and inclusively engage target communities in local

governance.

- Outcome 2: Enable a shared vision among local and (sub-) national authorities and youth to

sustain participatory approaches and strategic communication to address local communities’

governance demands.

- Outcome 3: To Strengthen constructive and inclusive political dialogue representative of young men and women.

Project Activities:

Objective One:

- Transformative Engagement of Youth Curriculum (A.1.1): Training curriculum for local

authorities to support youth inclusion.

- Training of Trainers (A.1.2): Developing a pool of governance experts to train local authorities.

- National Actors Awareness Workshop (A.1.3): Workshops for senior government officials to

encourage youth engagement.

- Youth Leadership Training (A.1.4 - A.1.6): Training local authorities and youth leaders,

fostering mentorship, and supporting long-term youth engagement in governance.

Objective Two:

- Youth-Led Dialogues (A.2.1): Facilitating community dialogues led by youth to inform local

action plans.

- Coordination Workshops for Youth Inclusion Plans (A.2.2): Joint workshops for youth and local

authorities to develop youth inclusion plans and small grant initiatives.

- Junior Council Members (A.2.3): Placing youth leaders in council positions to institutionalize

youth representation.

- Conference on Best Practices (A.2.5): Conferences for sharing lessons and strengthening multi-stakeholder coordination.

Objective Three:

- Orientation Workshops for Young Party Representatives (A.3.1): Workshops to strengthen

political parties' engagement with constituents.

- High-Level Public Debates (A.3.2): Facilitated debates to enhance political dialogue and ensure representation of youth and women.

Responsibilities: The overall goal of this end-line evaluation is to assess the program’s strategy, design, efficiency, effectiveness, and impact over the project period.

• The key findings of the endline evaluation will:

- Measure the extent to which the project achieved its planned goal and outcomes as related to its theory of Change and logframe with needed disaggregation, using OECD-DAC criteria to analyze both expected/unexpected positive and negative outcomes.

- Assess how project approaches and activities are addressing conflict dynamics in Jordan, as

defined by Search’s Levant strategy, and tailor recommendations for practitioners and

policymakers advancing youth-centered participatory approaches to local governance and

political participation in Jordan.

Key Questions of the Study:

• Relevance

- To what extent does the project address the actual needs and priorities of local youth and communities in Jordan?

- How can improved youth participation in local governance lead to more responsive and effective decision-making?

• Effectiveness and Impact:

- To what extent does the implementation of youth-centered participatory approaches lead to increased engagement and collaboration between local authorities, youth, and their communities?

- To what extent was local authorities’ and youth’s engagement with target communities in local governance participatory and inclusive of different groups represented in these communities?

- How have the behaviors of local youth leaders and authorities shifted towards more constructive and meaningful engagement?

- What impact have these behavioral changes had on community governance and political dialogue?

- To what extent did the project strengthen constructive and inclusive political dialogue that represents the perspectives of young men and women?

• Efficiency and Value for Money:

- To what extent have resources been allocated and utilized in an efficient manner to achieve value for money?

• Sustainability:

- How can the project ensure that the youth-centered participatory approaches and youth-led platforms are sustainable beyond the project's lifespan?

- What measures have been put in place to ensure the continuity of youth engagement and participatory governance practices?

- What strategies can be employed to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills to local

authorities and youth leaders to maintain and build on the progress achieved?

- How and to what degree did the project adapt in response to monitoring data and contextual factors and/or changes?

- How can the project inform future programme design in remaining flexible and adaptable to changing local contexts, needs, and priorities?

Geographic Locations:

• The end-line evaluation will provide quantitative and qualitative information, gender-age disaggregated data, and analysis in five geographical locations: Jerash, Ajloun, Balqa, Maan, and Aqaba.

Methodology and Data Collection Tools

• Proposals should specify primary and secondary data that will be used, qualitative and quantitative approaches, and methods of data analysis.
• Proposals should clarify how data will be triangulated, as well as justification for the relevance of these methods to the questions for the study. Proposals should also include sampling strategies associated with the proposed methods, Do No Harm and safeguarding strategies, and any proposed strategies for sharing the findings of the study.
• Data could be collected in-person, or remotely, based on the best approach for the context. The consultant will be responsible for designing the final methodology, developing tools, training enumerators, data analysis, and drafting of the report. The project team and institutional learning team will review proposed methods, tools, and data storage plans prior to data collection. All methods will also be reviewed for alignment to key approaches and templates that Search has (to be shared upon selection of the proposal and before tool development).

Deliverables:

• Search expects the following deliverables from the external consultant(s) as they correspond to the timeline and budget:
• Proposals should propose timelines for all deliverables listed here:

- An inception report detailing the methodology, data collection tools, and timeline;

-Data Sets: Both qualitative & quantitative data in an agreed-upon format according to the inception report

- A draft endline evaluation report in English for review by Search staff and partners; (40 pages max in length, excluding appendices) consistent with Search branding and standards for evaluation.

- An Endline Evaluation Report in English. The report will use the Search reporting template

unless otherwise agreed in the contract. It should respond to reviews and comments raised by the Search team within 2 weeks of receiving feedback.

• Also, the consultant should provide:

- Any necessary training of data collectors or set-up of systems for data collection; all

original data and database should be submitted to Search;

- A PowerPoint presentation that will be used by the consultancy team to present the findings to

Search and the donor after the final report is approved;

- A one to two-hour presentation of research findings to the Search and donor team;

- A two-pager summary highlighting key lessons learned in this project that will inform Search's strategic approach to inclusive governance, youth leadership, and civic participation programming to other areas in Jordan and beyond.

Logistical Support:

• The consultant(s) will be responsible for organizing their own logistics for data collection (vehicles, fuel, and drivers), and this must be budgeted into the financial proposal. Search can provide support in arranging logistics as will be agreed upon with the consultant(s) based on the technical proposal.
• In addition, Search and partners will share the following elements with the external consultant(s): Background materials including the project proposal and logframe, etc.

Data Quality Assurance and Management:

• The consultant will be responsible for developing a data quality assurance and management plan in conformity with Search’s Accountability to Affected Population Operational Framework and OECD-DAC Ethics principles and Quality Standards. All documents including reports and raw data will be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Learning Team prior to acceptance of the final product.

Timeline:

• The evaluation timeline is expected to be kicked off in September 2024 and concluded in November 2024 by submitting the final deliverables requested above. All deliverables should in principle be delivered within the agreed timeline, nevertheless, the partnership will only be concluded upon the successful submission of all deliverables outlined under section 6.

Budget:

• A detailed budget should be provided, including daily rates for personnel, and costs related to data collection (per total number of people sampled, sites for collection, etc.), analysis, and production of deliverables. The selection committee will evaluate the proposal based on value for money and quality technical proposal.

Geographic Locations:

• The end-line evaluation will provide quantitative and qualitative information, gender-age disaggregated data, and analysis in five geographical locations: Jerash, Ajloun, Balqa, Maan, and Aqaba.

Ethical Considerations:

• Search places a high priority on ensuring that all evaluation activities are conducted in an ethical manner. The consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles, adapted from the American Evaluation Association Guiding Principles for Evaluators, July 2004:

- Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: The consultant should make the most of the existing information and the full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Consultant should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret, and critique his or her work. He or she should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.

- Competence: The consultant should possess the abilities, skills, and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.

_- Honesty and integrity:_The consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, and any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.

- Respect for people: The consultant respects the security, dignity, and self-worth of respondents, programme participants. The consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age, and ethnicity.

Requirements of Consultant(s):

• The following skills and experience are expected by Search for our consultant for this project:

- Proficiency in English (written and spoken); proficiency in Arabic language is preferred.

- More than 5 years of experience in project evaluation, including collecting data in interviews, surveys, and focus groups;

- Experience in conflict analysis; conflict sensitivity, and peacebuilding

- Experience working with international organisations;

- Experience conducting quantitative and qualitative surveys and analysis, remotely and/ or in person;

- Evaluation methods and data collection skills;

- Familiarity and experience with Middle East contextual challenges; particularly in Jordan

- Experience with age-appropriate and participatory youth-inclusive monitoring and evaluation approaches that consider safeguarding.

Selection Criteria:

• Consultant proposals will be selected for:

- Relevance of methodology to the goal, objectives, and research questions for the project

- Quality of methods, conflict sensitivity approaches, and quality control measures

- Qualifications of the candidate(s).

- The proposed budget in relation to the proposed methodology, deliverables, and team.

- Timeline for proposed activities and deliverables.

Applications:

• To apply, interested candidates are requested to submit the following two documents:

- Curriculum vitae.

- A technical proposal proposing a methodology for each assessment together with a financial proposal for the completion of the aforementioned deliverables and a short cover letter.

• Note: Only two documents can be submitted, so the technical and financial proposals must be combined.

- Applications must be submitted to hkloob@sfcg.org before 25th August 2024.