Midline Evaluation Consultancy

Terms of Reference

Midline Evaluation of the Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) Program

Job title

Midline Evaluation Consultancy

Location

All Federal States and Banaadir Region

Reporting to

Senior MEAL Manager who in turn will work closely with the Programme Manager, CARE HQ Director of Research and Learning, MOECHE’s GPE Program Coordinator, Director of Policy & Planning and Director of Inclusive Educationat MOECHE.

Period

 02st of july 2026 - 30th Aug 2026

Time input

60 Days

1.     BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1.1.   About CARE International

CARE opened offices in Somalia in 1981, providing life-saving emergency assistance to people affected by conflict and crisis. It expanded its work to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and vulnerability of rural girls and women and urban youth in Somaliland, Puntland, and South-Central Somalia, and building their resilience to recurrent shocks and stresses. Today, CARE is amongst the largest International Non-Governmental-Organizations in Somalia and Somaliland, making significant contributions to respond to the substantial humanitarian needs while leading on recovery and development efforts. This includes helping to strengthen the capacity of government to ensure adequate policy frameworks and the delivery of gender-responsive social services and their governance. These services are implemented through three mutually supportive pillars that are designed along the humanitarian-development nexus: Education and Gender Equity, Climate Justice and Food, Water and Nutrition and Humanitarian Assistance. This program falls within the Education and Gender Equity pillar.

1.2.   About Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) Program

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a multi-stakeholder partnership and funding platform that galvanizes global and national support for education in developing countries, focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable children and youth. The partnership aims to accelerate access, learning outcomes and gender equality through equitable, inclusive, and resilient education systems fit for the 21st century.

The Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) is a three-year partnership between the Federal MOECHE and GPE, which intends to enhance equitable access to quality and inclusive education in rural and urban areas by addressing supply and demand barriers, particularly those related to gender and social inclusion. The GEA’s design is aligned with the Somalia Partnership Compact, which is in turn informed by the 2022 Education Sector Analysis, the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP 2022-2026) and 2022 Enabling Factors Analysis. The GEA is designed to address the barriers hindering girls’ education outcomes, which were identified by prior research conducted in country. It also seeks to scale up practices boosting girls’ access, learning, and retention, which were previously identified as effective by rigorous studies conducted in Somalia.

Under the leadership of the Ministry of Education Culture and Higher Education (MOECHE), this program contributes to reducing the gender gap in primary education by improving girls’ education outcomes, with a specific focus on those facing multiple barriers to succeed: displacement, conflict, disability, and social vulnerability. To accomplish that, the GEA will strengthen institutional capacity and mechanisms – policies, supervision, reporting, monitoring – incorporating gender transformative and socially inclusive practices in education management in Somalia. The program is implemented across all Federal States and Banaadir Region Administration (BRA).

1.2.1. Program Objective/Components

The overall objective of the program is to enhance equitable access to quality and inclusive education in rural and urban areas. This will be achieved through three outcomes:

a.     Outcome 1: Equitably increased primary gross enrolment rate.

b.     Outcome 2: Equitably improved literacy and numeracy and completion rates.

c.     Outcome 3: Strong regulatory and financing framework.

1.3.   Program Participants

The program supports Gender and Inclusion Units at Federal and State levels to strengthen the implementation of the Gender in Education Policy. The program directly targets female learners, children living with disabilities, teachers, and education system actors across participating Federal Member States and Banadir Regional Administration.

To date, the program has enrolled 6,440 girls through capitation grants across the participating states. In addition, 8,285 vulnerable girls have been supported through scholarship grants, and 1,000 children living with disabilities have been enrolled in schools through targeted support.

At the institutional level, 67 public schools have received capitation grants to support girls’ enrolment and retention. Infrastructure investments include the construction of 15 girls’ schools across the FMS and Banadir, as well as the construction of 92 gender responsive WASH facilities and rehabilitation of 354 facilities to improve the learning environment.

The program has also implemented community engagement activities, including 10 awareness campaigns across the states, and supported 250 female secondary graduates to attend pre service teacher training.

1.4.   Implementation Arrangements

The GEA is implemented by MOECHE in patnership with the FMS MOEs, with CARE serving as the Grant Agent.

              i.        Role of MOECHE: The MOECHE has the ownership and co-responsibility for the design and implementation of activities.

             ii.        Role of FMS MOEs: The FMS MOEs is responsible for the implementation of the grant in their respective states based on an approved implementation plan developed by the MOECHE.

            iii.        The Role of Grant Agent (GA) Country Office Management: Has the overall responsibility for technical quality, financial management, compliance, security, and risk management of the grant. The team supervises the PMU and other program staff related to GEA and ensure timely delivery of the program activities.

            iv.        The Role of CARE HQ: CARE HQ’s Education and Skills Unit  provides technical and financial management support to PMU activities and is responsible for the general oversight of compliance and technical quality requirements.

             v.        Role of Program Management Unit (PMU): GA is a joint multi-stakeholder coordination and decision-making platform comprising both MOECHE and the GA., including a Gender and Inclusion Advisor, a Program Manager, a Senior M&E Manager, an Education Officer, and a Gender and Inclusion Lead (MOECHE -Coordinator). The unit is responsible for technical oversight and support to the MOECHE and FMS MOEs; financial and administrative management of the GEA and System Capacity Grant (to boost complementarity of efforts and cost-efficiency); monitoring of program activities; and reporting to GPE.

The selection of schools for high intensity support (capitation grants, WASH and menstrual hygiene support) was conducted in collaboration with MOECHE, based on an assessment of the schools’ capacity to absorb additional students and agreement with the community. The identification of areas for the construction of public schools for girls was informed by the findings from an initial needs assessment conducted jointly by the MOECHE, FMS MOEs, and the GEA/ System Transformation Grant.

Essential selection Criteria 

Valid certificate of Registration from the Somalia Federal Ministry of Commerce 

Valid Tax Compliance Certificate from the Somalia Federal Ministry of Finance (Quarter 2 ending June 30, 2026, or Quarter 4 beginning July 1, 2026) 

Capability Criteria (Technical Evaluation of the proposal) 

Updated company profile and introductory letter outlining their technical expertise and their availability to undertake the assignment within the required time – 5 points 

At least seven (7) years of experience – 5 points 

Detailed technical proposal with clear methodology of how the consultant will undertake the assignment including a detailed work plan. 

Experience in conducting similar evaluations. This includes- 

1. Prior experience in conducting similar evaluations- 10 Points 

1. CVs for the proposed technical teams detailing qualifications and experience- 10 Points 

1. Use of Assessment tools - 5 Points 

1. Analytical skills and proficiency in statistical software and Data analysis tools- 5 Points 

Proof of three similar verifiable contracts undertaken by the consulting firm 

7.     HOW TO APPLY

The technical and financial proposals shall be submitted at the same time. The proposals must be submitted electronically to [email protected] latest by 17:00 on 28th Jun  2026 with the Subject line Consultancy for the midline evaluation services for the Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) Program.