Terms of Reference
Evaluation of Irish Aid project in Grand Bassa and Montserrado Counties Liberia
Position: Consultant- Evaluation of Irish Aid project in Grand Bassa and Montserrado Counties Liberia
Responsible To: Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator Works With: Country Health Director, Operations Manager & M&E Location: Grand Bassa and Montserrado Provisional Time Frame: 13th June to 4th July 2011 Starting Date: ASAP
Salary and Benefits: £185 per day (300 USD) depending on experience. Travel expenses and accommodation
Evaluation of Irish Aid project in Grand Bassa and Montserrado Counties Liberia Project Title- Support to the County Health Teams in the Implementation of the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) in Grand Bassa and Montserrado Counties
Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer this post before the closing date.
Please note that this is an unaccompanied position.
Merlin International Profile Merlin is the only specialist UK charity which responds worldwide with vital health care and medical relief for vulnerable people caught up in natural disasters, conflict, disease and health system collapse. Each year, Merlin helps more than 15 million people in up to 20 countries.
Liberia Context
Merlin has been operational in Liberia since 1997 and has developed an excellent reputation in the health sector as the largest health care support agency in the country. Merlin is currently supporting 81 primary health care facilities and five hospitals in six counties throughout Liberia. Merlin implements the standardized Merlin package of supporting primary and secondary healthcare, to the populations of the remote southeast through MoH&SW decentralized policies in Maryland, Grand Bassa, Grand Kru, Sinoe and Grand Gedeh counties, as well as in Monsterrado County. In urban Monrovia, Merlin supports primary health care and HIV/AIDS activities in densely populated areas. Merlin’s activities include medical and logistical support to the County Health Team (CHT), capacity building of CHT staff, and supervision of health care.
In line with Merlin’s Evaluation Policy, an evaluation of the Irish Aid project Liberia Country Programme is coherent with ongoing programming as stated in Merlin’s Liberia Country Strategy, and will ensure that we adequately learn from our programmes and advocacy activities, be accountable to our stakeholders and be able to raise the organisation’s profile based on a body of evidence.
Scope of the evaluation
The evaluation will review both technical and programmatic aspects of the Irish Aid project in the two counties namely Montserrado and Grand Bassa focusing on the achievement of objectives and the appropriateness of the approaches adopted. The evaluation will make conclusions and provide recommended actions at project levels in both counties in Liberia, enabling the Programme Manager and his teams to ensure the direction of project activities, positioning and influencing objectives and overall implementation directions in-line with the Liberia Country strategy.
Purpose of the evaluation
This evaluation will be used to analyse the extent to which Merlin is meeting its planned objectives in implementing this project in these two counties as per the proposal submitted to the donor. This will enable the team to ensure that ongoing activities use learning from previous experience in order to better meet planned objectives and intended impacts.
Responsibilities and lines of communication
Merlin’s Programme Management Cycle defines the members of the organisation and external stakeholders that are Accountable, Responsible, Consulted and Informed at each stage of an evaluation. The people named below will ensure that a suitable and quality evaluation is conducted within the parameters of Merlin’s Evaluation Policy.
Accountable Responsible Consulted Informed Evaluation Design Country Director (CD) Country Health Director (CHD) and Country Operations Manager (OpsMan) Regional Manager (RM), Regional Programme Coordinator (RPC), Health Advisor (HA), Country management team (CMT), Montserrado and Grand Bassa County Programme Manager
M&E Coordinator All staff in Montserrado and Grand Bassa Counties MOH&SW/CH&SWT Evaluation Management (Implementation) Country Director (CD) Country Health Director (CHD) M&E Coordinator Country Operations Manager (OpsMan) Montserrado and Grand Bassa County Programme Manager and Health Coordinators MOH&SW/CH&SWT M&E Coord All staff in Montserrado and Grand Bassa Counties
Reporting / Dissemination Country Director (CD) Country Operations Manager (OpsMan) M&E Coordinator Country Health Director (CHD) M&E office at HQ RM RPC Evaluation Learning CD CHD/OpsMan RM/RPC M&E Coordinator All staff in Montserrado and Grand Bassa Counties MOH&SW/CH&SWT
Outcomes
The outcomes of an evaluation are:
a report completed on Merlin’s Evaluation Report template;
a focus group discussion held with the Country Management Team and Regional Desk (either in-country or from Head Office after the visit) prior to drafting the evaluation report to discuss preliminary findings and recommendations;
a report completed on Merlin’s Key Learning document template, and;
an Action Plan that details activities and timescales to meet recommendations.
Key questions for the evaluation (based on selected OECD-DAC evaluation criteria)
Relevance / Appropriateness
• Has Merlin Liberia achieved project objectives in the two counties? If not, why?
• Have the projects been designed and implemented in line with relevant policies and guidelines (Red Cross Code of Conduct, SPHERE guidelines; MOH, WHO, and health cluster policies; and applicable Merlin policies)?
• Are the projects aligned with National Health strategies in Liberia, as well as showing clear connections with the Merlin Liberia Country Strategy?
• Do the projects respond to beneficiaries’ needs and demonstrate that we are accountable to our beneficiaries?
• Do projects meet with donors’ expectations; and how are these expectations likely to change?
• Are there overlaps or gaps in coverage within the projects existing areas?
• Are there gaps in the two counties which Merlin could usefully fill; and do we have the capacity to do so without adversely affecting current projects?
• Has Merlin succeeded in capacity building of counterpart MOH and SW officers at CHT level and local partners?
• Is there Integration in the planning of activities?
Effectiveness
• Are there any planned changes/developments in structure or programming which could increase project effectiveness?
• Evaluate the outcome indicators vs. the overall health situation in the Merlin project areas based on sample population data
• Outcome (intended and unintended). What was Merlin’s contribution to:
• Reducing child mortality
• Improving maternal health
• Promoting behaviour change
• Controlling of communicable diseases
• Accountability to beneficiaries and donors?
Efficiency
• Is programming efficient and are funds well used?
• Are project timeframes realistic, and are they being met?
• Is the cost per head of the services offered by Merlin satisfactory? If not, how should it be altered? Impact
• In general terms, comment on Merlin’s contribution to impact: what real difference is being made; how many are benefiting; how far the programme has addressed the demand side of health provision?
• Are there systems in place to ensure that vulnerable groups are sufficiently well included? Is programming sufficiently gender aware?
• What measures might allow us to maximise – and to measure – impact in future?
Sustainability
• To what extent has community involvement been addressed in the management of health facilities and health services provision in general? Evaluate the capacity of the MOH and SW to take up increasing responsibility in health care provisions in Merlin target counties as a phase-out strategy.
• Are exit strategies clear and viable? Have communities, MOH, donors and other key stakeholders been involved in defining them?
• What measures could Merlin include to improve the sustainability? What future contribution could Merlin make to health system performance? Programmatic
• Has this project been designed to meet strategic objectives within the Liberia country strategy? Are the projects planning integrated and if not, what recommendations can be made?
• Does Merlin have the current capacities to meet strategic directions? What needs to be done to ensure that strategic priorities are adequately resourced?
• Are Merlin’s influencing and advocacy activities coherent with the project goals? Can more be done to ensure that influence is based on learning from programming?
• Is the current county programme structure appropriate for achieving the programme objectives?
• Evaluate the success of the health service provision strategy under the Counterpart Approach.
• Assessment of cross-cutting themes:
• Participation of primary stakeholders
• Gender equality
• Protection and child rights
• People in Aid standards
Methodology
The below list – agreed between Merlin and the Evaluator – will form the basis of the tools, techniques and approaches that this evaluation will use. Unless otherwise stated or because of mitigating circumstances (security), the evaluation will be conducted with participation with all relevant stakeholders enabling the evaluations purpose to be communicated in an accessible way assuring the communication of the reporting and follow-up protocol. The evaluator will submit a draft methodology to Merlin HQ before departure to Liberia.
The methodology will include but not only:
Focus group Discussions
Key stakeholder Interviews
Other contextually relevant methodologies e.g. PRA
Literature review and Analysis of existing data (population surveys from MOH, data from clinics and health centres etc)
Report The Evaluation will be reported using Merlin’s Evaluation Report template which will include the following sections
Executive Summary
Context
Findings
Conclusions and Recommendations
Annexed ToR
Annexed Action Plan
Follow-up of the evaluation
Refers to the requirement that those made accountable and responsible for evaluation learning will ensure the completion of a Key Learning document [Key Learning document Template] and in participation with the relevant country and project teams (including national staff), develop an Action Plan [Evaluation recommendation Action Plan template]
Person Specification
Essential Qualifications, experience and competences
• Technical-medical doctor or health practitioner with extensive experience in evaluating health programmes/projects.
• Programme-social scientist with knowledge of PCM and extensive experience in evaluating projects/programmes focusing on NGO/government partnerships
• Strong communication skills, with excellent written and spoken English
• Confident and proficient in the use of MS Office
• Experience of establishing strong working relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures • Experience of a flexible approach to managing and prioritising a high workload and multiple tasks in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines
• Experience of proactively identifying and addressing issues
• An understanding of and commitment to Merlin’s mission and values
Desirable
Qualifications, experience and competences
• Experience working in Liberia
Timeline
Activity No. of days Cost (at $300 p.d ) Preparation and literature review 5 1,500 Visit to the field for interviews with health staff and community members the field (5 days each for Montserado and Grand Bassa). Includes visit to hospital and clinics, together with the catchment areas/community members 10 minimum 3000 Meeting with MOH, possible donors and other stakeholders 2 600 Report writing and feedback (including a debrief) 5 1,500 Total costs 22 6,600
Please note: transport and accommodation to be provided by Merlin field staff. Food and others to be covered by consultant.
To apply for this position Please download an application form from our website www.merlin.org.uk Completed form should be emailed to applications@merlin.org.uk stating in the subject ‘Consultant-Evaluation’.
Data Protection Please note, on submitting your application, you are agreeing to Merlin holding and using the information that you have given for the purposes of recruitment and employment – should an offer be made.
Where required by donors funding requirements, some job offers are conditional on our ensuring that potential employees’ names do not appear on counter terrorism lists generated by the United Nations, European Union or the United States. On submitting your application, you are agreeing to Merlin using the information that you have given for checking that your name does not appear on these lists.