Request for Proposal

Terms of Reference for Project Midterm Review

Date of issue:

19.12.2023

Project title:

12207 - MIDEEYE Project: Support of the National Reconciliation and Local Governance in Somalia

Evaluation target locations

Banadir region, Southwest State, Burhakaba district, Hirshabelle, Warsheik district, Somalia.  

Deadline for submission of offers:

8th January 2024 at 13:50 p.m. (East Africa Time Zone)

Contracting authority:

FCA Somalia Country Office

Contact : Procurement Commitee

E-mail:  [email protected]

1.     Introduction & Background

FCA Somalia Country Office is looking for qualified independent consultant(s) to undertake project midterm review, under 12207 - MIDEEYE Project: Support of the National Reconciliation and Local Governance in Somalia, between 15th of January and 15th of March 2024.

FCA[1] is the biggest development cooperation organization and second biggest humanitarian aid organization in Finland.  FCA is currently operating in 13 countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and is specialized in three thematic priority areas: Right to Peace (R2P), Right to Livelihood (R2L) and Right to Quality Education (R2QE). In Somalia, FCA began its operation in 2007 through support to peace building initiatives in Somaliland and Puntland. Following the success of the interventions, FCA Somalia expanded its operation to other parts of South Central of Somalia in 2013, evolving from community level peace building initiatives to state building and state formation interventions at FGS and FMS levels.

1.1       Background information on MIDEEYE project

MIDEEYE project is a joint initiative of FCA Somalia country office and Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers (NRTP). The project is aiming to contribute to Somalia’s peacebuilding efforts by addressing grievances and strengthening inclusive governance. MIDEEYE, translates as “unifier” from Somali to illustrate its aim to create trust and social cohesion by strengthening efficiency and inclusivity of governance on several levels. The project’s approach to reconciliation is largely informed by the National Reconciliation Framework (NRF), a strategy document jointly drafted by the FCA, NRTP, and Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation (MoIFAR) in 2017 and approved by the FGS and cabinet members in 2019. The NRF frames the reconciliatory process in terms of repair of social relationships and the rebuilding of trust between conflicting communities.

In order to realize key objectives outlined in the NFR and contribute to national peace and state-building, the FCA defined MIDEEYE goals as follows: (i) Outcome 1: Increasing the capacity of the Federal Government and selected FMS to implement the NFR and thereby strengthening the legitimacy and trust in government institutions, and (ii) Outcome 2: Improving inclusive governance and administration in selected Federal Member States (FMS) to achieve more effective service delivery, in line with the NFR and Wadajir National Framework for local governance. The four-year (2021 to 2024) MIDEEYE direct target groups of the project include a variety of government institutions, such as the MoI and district councils, traditional leaders, leaders of women’s groups, and youth representatives in selected FMS. Note that we will also consider an additional institution, the MoRR, that was established to deliver reconciliation programming in target districts.

1.2       Objectives of the project midterm review

The purpose of the mid-term review is to assess the intended and unintended outcomes of the project and determine the level of the project’s contribution to these outcomes.

The specific objectives of the mid-term review are to:

*         Review to what extent the project is addressing beneficiaries’ priorities, designed and implemented in a conflict and gender-sensitive manner, and how learning feeds into changes in project related context and adaptation and respective changes.

*         Review the performance of the project, against the project outcomes and/ or impact, and set objectives.

*         Review how the project intervention and strategy (i.e. capacity building, multi- stakeholders’ partnership, and others) has transformed available resources to expected outcomes in terms of quantity and quality.

*         Identify good practices and lessons learnt related to the project operational contexts, actors engaged, strategies applied in the implementation and changes observed

*         Review how partners were involved in project and budget design and management and how effective was the partnership.

*         Establish what constitutes sustainability in the Somalia context and analyze the sustained effect of the project activities.

*         Review the project baseline assessment report and its findings, and revise the baseline report where necessary, to ensure the report can provide necessary information for the final evaluation.

1.3       Evaluation methodology and process

*         Desk Review: Review and analyse documents/evidence collected of harvested outcomes and progress towards results, and test this against project theory of change.

*         Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): Conduct focus group discussions with various project target beneficiaries in the project target locations, to receive feedback on how beneficiaries and stakeholders perceived the project.

*         Key Informant Interviews (KIIs): conduct interviews project management team, MEAL Manager/Coordinator, partners, communities, relevant government officials and different stakeholders the project is working with.

*         Analysis workshop: The evaluator will be expected to hold an analysis workshop with relevant colleagues from FCA and partners to critically make sense of the identified findings and substantiated outcomes.

2        Deliverables

The independent evaluator(s) will be expected to submit the following deliverables in time in compliance with standard requirements:

A)

*         An inception report detailing mid-term review methodology, work plan/schedule and draft data collection tools.

*         Facilitate a presentation of key findings meeting for the project stakeholders after generating the draft midterm review report. A short presentation of outcome findings, insights into contribution pathways and feasible recommendation.

*         Mid-term review report, and other documents/materials such as raw data files, quantitative data files, transcripts of interviews, FGDs, etc.

B)

Purpose of the Perception Survey

The Purpose of the perception survey is to assess the impact, needs, gaps and priorities of the local governance interventions in the targeted districts.  In order for target districts to have an increased legitimacy and awareness on social reconciliation by strengthening gender and youth inclusive governance.

Objectives of the Perception Survey

The objective of the perception survey is to explore and document opinions and perceptions of the people regarding the local governance interventions in the targeted districts. The survey will used to measure key project indicator and inform future programming.

Specific Objective of the Perception Survey

•           Assess the extent to which relevant community members were engaged in the project interventions.

•           Understand the level of ownership of the people in the district council formation process in the target districts.

•           Assess the satisfaction level of the population in terms of service delivery of the newly established district councils.

•           Understand the level of awareness of the population on social reconciliation component and the overall state building processes; and

•           Assess the change in behaviour and perception of the people following the media campaigns.

Perception Survey Sampling Methodology

•           The perception survey will use non-probabilistic sampling methods like quota sampling and purposive sampling. Quota sampling methods will be used to generate quantitative data from community groups and members of the community across the two districts. In total, 50 persons will be interviewed (i.e. 25 per district). This sampling method is appropriate for diverse group with specific traits and qualities like age, gender, and community representations etc.

•           Purposive sampling technique will be used to select respondents. The district council and community members will be mobilized to participate the survey.  

•           Qualitative and quantitative data will be analysed, cross-referred with project reports such as training reports, pre- and post-training evaluation.

•           Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) will be conducted with district council members and key community members including youth, women, elders, religious leader, businessmen/ women, local politicians, and government officials. The main tool will be KIIs with community members

•           Focus group discussions (FGDs) will be conducted with key community members including youth, women, elders, religious leader, businessmen/ women, local politicians, and government officials.

Perception Survey Ethical Standards

Perception survey respondents was informed of the purpose of the data collection and was asked for consent as to whether they agree to participate the interview or not. At any given time, respondents were assured that they can opt out or skip any questions she/he did not want to answer. Respect respondents’ physical condition, economic background, political inclination, culture, and social norms, were ensured. Enumerators were required to sign a short-term contract with code of conduct on data confidentiality emphasizing; personally identifiable data were kept safe for confidentiality purpose.

Approach, scope, and methods of the Perception Survey

The survey methodology will include mixed quantitative and qualitative methods, and that include the following elements among others:

          A desk review of key documents, including project documents, activity reports, training reports, pre- and post-training evaluation, etc.

          A collaborative approach with project staff, partners, other key stakeholders, government, as appropriate in design, implementation, reporting of the survey.

          A participatory survey with emphasis on capturing a cross-section of views from the target groups, and multi-stakeholder quantitative and qualitative assessment techniques (including key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and others as appropriate).

          The survey is expected to be gender-sensitive, rights-based, inclusive, culturally sensitive and comply with professional ethical standards.

[1] FCA = FCA