Terms of Reference (TOR) – Midterm Evaluation Data Collection for the VCP 2020-2028: Champions For Gender Equality

Terms of Reference (TOR) for midterm evaluation data collection for the VCP 2020-2028: Champions for gender equality

THE ORGANIZATION

Crossroads International, a leader in international cooperation, has been fighting inequality for more than 60 years. We do this by bringing people together for a common cause, to create lasting solutions to overcome poverty and advance women’s rights. Crossroads works in some of the world’s poorest nations in Southern and Western Africa.  We work with local partner organizations to create decent jobs and to empower women to become leaders and live free from violence.  Every year, we engage hundreds of experienced volunteers and staff North and South who apply their expertise locally to address global issues.  We invest in local partners who are best positioned to meet the needs of their communities.  With local partners, we develop co-operatives and collective enterprises that generate income and advance the autonomy of youth, women and the rural poor. We pilot innovative approaches to reducing violence against women and girls and advancing women’s rights.  Together, we are leveraging knowledge, expertise and dollars to create a more just and equitable world.

 

Crossroads is committed to integrating Human Rights-Based Approaches (HRBA) and trauma-informed care into our work, ensuring that all our programs and interventions are designed to uphold fundamental human rights, address systemic inequalities, and provide sensitive, supportive responses to the impacts of trauma experienced by individuals and communities.

 

Crossroads is a registered charity, supported by Global Affairs Canada, other government and non-government funders, and many individual donors around the world.

 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

 

Crossroads International’s Volunteer Cooperation Program (VCP) project entitled Championing Gender Equality Together, funded by Global Affairs Canada, is an eighth-year project being implemented from 2020 to 2028 in 11 sub-Saharan African countries: Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. Currently, the programming in Guinea and Ethiopia is at its beginning, while the programming in Zambia ended in 2023-2024.

 

The ultimate goal of the program is to improve the economic and/or social well-being of the poorest, most marginalized and vulnerable people, particularly women and girls, in developing countries, with the aim of contributing to the sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aim to do this by working with Canadian and local volunteers to increase the organizational capacity and performance of our Developing Country Partners in different areas. During the duration of the program, we have had up to 78 partners. Our main thematic areas are gender equality, environment and climate change mitigation and human rights and inclusion. Additionally, Crossroads’ volunteers are building the capacity of our partners in different areas, such as strategic governance and organizational management, project management, resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation and sustainability, risk management, information communication technology, communications and advocacy, financial management, etc.

 

Crossroads also funds multiple projects of our partners within the VCP, thanks to the organization’s philanthropic efforts. The projects that we have funded have been in areas such as women’s rights, access to justice and reduction of gender-based violence, economic empowerment for marginalized women and girls and women’s leadership.

 

Through our efforts, we have reached, to date, a total of more than 350 000 participants, of which approximately 70% were women or girls – about 20 000 were girls (0-14), 85 000 were young women (15-25) and 140 00 were adult women (25+).

 

 

MANDATE OBJECTIVES

 

The purpose of this mid-term evaluation is to assess the progress of Crossroads’ VCP against its objectives and deliverables in nine countries.

 

Crossroads is looking to recruit 9 local data collectors in each of the following countries:

  • Burkina Faso
  • eSwatini
  • Ghana
  • Ivory Coast
  • Senegal
  • Tanzania
  • Togo
  • Uganda
  • Zambia

 

This evaluation aims also to identify achievements, challenges, and areas for improvement to ensure the project remains on track and effectively meets its goals.

 

Through a collaborative process with partners, the objectives of this data collection for the mid-term evaluation is:

 

  1. Measure progress towards the following key performance indicators of the project:
  • Assess the progress made towards achieving the project’s ultimate outcome on the socio-economic wellbeing of beneficiaries

 

SCOPE

 

The data collection will cover Crossroads’ local partner beneficiaries. This is a participatory evaluation, and the evaluator should use participatory methods to collect qualitative and quantitative data from a representative sample of the diversity of groups (women, adolescent girls, rural areas, working in the informal sector, etc.) and adapted to rights holders as well as duty bearers. This is the estimate number of beneficiaries to collect data from in each country, based on mandate quotas for the first 4 years of the VCP.

 

Country Estimated number of beneficiaries to collect data from Estimated number of contract days
Sénégal 62-67 10
Togo 73-80 10
Côte d’ivoire 54-59 10
Burkina Faso 29-31 9
Ghana 74-80 12
Tanzania 42-46 10
Uganda 22-24 10
eSwatini 45-49 10
Zambia 23-25 11

 

The consultant performs all major tasks associated with execution in-country, and leads the process of data collection, data entry, data cleaning under the supervision of Crossroads International.

 

METHODOLOGY

 

The proposed methodology must be detailed in the narrative proposal of the consultant, when submitting their application. It will then be negotiated with the Crossroads International technical team and country staff before the start of the study. However, it is important that all data is disaggregated by gender, age group and vulnerabilities.

 

The most vulnerable populations, especially women, adolescent girls and girls, are targeted in this project (rights holders).  In the survey sampling, special attention must be paid to the inclusion of the most vulnerable groups, taking into account any discriminatory factor increasing their situation of vulnerability. This may include people with disabilities (physical or mental), widows, teenage mothers, orphans, out-of-school children, survivors of gender-based violence, internally displaced persons, survivors of human trafficking, or those facing discrimination based on sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion.

 

BUDGET / REMUNERATION

 

  • When submitting their application, the consultant must provide:
    • A remuneration for consultant daily wage fee
    • A budget for estimated costs of accommodation, meals and transportation when traveling to country program areas at least 100 km out of the capital zone to carry out data collection activities;
    • A budget to support data collection activities when mobilizing participants (refreshments, room rental, workshop supplies).
  • It is important to note that if there is a problem in the delivery of the deliverables regarding the quality of those or the respect of the schedule, it is expected that the consultant will take the necessary corrective measures in order not to affect overall project execution.
  • Crossroads will not assume any additional cost to what will have been heard and signed by all the parties in the initial agreement.
  • To guide bidders in preparing their proposals, the daily budget allocated for each data collector should be on average 290 CAD (relative to cost of living by country). Bidders are encouraged to propose optimized solutions that respect this budget limit while meeting the project’s objectives and requirements.

 

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

 

After the initial meeting

  • Data collector has reviewed tools provided by Crossroads.
  • Data collector has completed all training materials and videos provided by Crossroads on the tools and comes to meeting prepared with questions or comments on instructions.
  • Data collector provides to country office planned methodology for data collection.
  • Data collector and country office agree on collection plan and schedule.

 

At the end of Week 1

  • Data collector will send to adescoteaux@cintl.org a sample of the completed tools, along with any questions or major obstacles.

Throughout the data collection process

  • The data collector will be required to provide a weekly update on the study’s progress to the Crossroads project team (adescoteaux@cintl.org).
  • Data collector will have continuous access to support from tool creators, Crossroads HQ M&E support, as well as the in-country Crossroad office. Technical issues with data quality or support with the tool itself should be addressed to adescoteaux@cintl.org.

 

The final presentation of the Data.

  • Data collector will provide all data collected, as well as details of sampling in electronic format.
  • Data collector will make themselves available for a two-hour review meeting with Crossroads HQ to go through data to provide clarification and explanation. This review meeting is the final deliverable in the contract.

 

CALENDAR

 

Contract days may occur at any point over the agreed upon 2-month period falling in February-March after the signature of the contract.

 

The data must be submitted to Crossroads International no later than March 31st,2025. Any delay will result in a penalty of 50 CAD per day (24 hours) of delay, deducted from the amount payable for this contract.

 

Timeline to follow:

 

Activity Responsible Deadlines
Deadline for submission of proposal files Consultant January 27, 2025
Examination of the technical proposal and preselection Crossroads January 13-17, 2025
Complete interviews and select candidate Crossroads January 13-17, 2025
Signature of the contract by the consultant Crossroads January 13-17, 2025
Presentation and training on evaluation methodology, tools, etc. Consultant January 16-27, 2025
Validation of the collection calendar and appointments Crossroads January 16-27, 2025
Data gathering period, with submission of data at the end. Consultant February-March, 2025
2- hour validation of completed study data with Crossroads HQ. Consultant March 2025
Weekly check-in with Crossroads HQ Consultant WEEKLY

 

VCP staff will ensure the timely provision of project documentation and help plan stakeholder interviews as required.

 

MIDTERM EVALUATION MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION

 

The country representative and/or the programming support advisor or program officer will supervise the work of the consultant in the field.

  • The consultant will also be required to provide a weekly update on the study’s progress to the Crossroads project team (adescoteaux@cintl.org), as well as data samples- so issues can be identified early.

 

COMPETENCIES OF THE CONSULTANT

 

  • Undergraduate degree related to sociology, statistics, gender, development, or monitoring-evaluation;
  • At least 5 years of experience carrying out surveys and evaluation, in particular with women and adolescent girls (design, methodologies);
  • Excellent knowledge of the human rights-based approach and experience working with non-governmental organizations considered an asset;
  • Ability to integrate a gender-sensitive approach and provide data disaggregated by sex and age;
  • Knowledge of and experience in data compilation as well as Excel software to organize data;
  • Ability to maintain ethical judgment, a strong feminist lens, and act at all time in-line with Crossroads’ Code of Conduct when collecting data;
  • Able to work in remote, hard to reach areas and very difficult terrain for long hours to access respondents;
  • Ability to maintain the reputation and credibility of the organization within partner communities during the survey period;
  • Deliver expected outputs / deliverables in a timely manner, possess a good work ethic, be punctual and comply with the terms of the contractual agreement;
  • Excellent command of English /and local languages is an asset

 

PROCEDURE FOR SUBMITTING TENDERS

 

Interested candidates must submit a letter of interest and curriculum vitae (in ONE document) and a technical and financial proposal including:

  • Details of the relevant skills to undertake this task and past experience in connection with the ToR of this call for tenders;
  • A detailed presentation of the technical offer meeting the specific objectives of the call for tenders, the methodology to be used and the key selection criteria, the initial work plan and;
  • Detailed budgets (two budgets: 1) Renumeration 2) Participant workshop costs) based on expected daily rates and the initial work plan in Excel;
  • Include 3 references (and contact details) from a previous employer with whom you conducted similar work.

 

DEADLINE: Complete proposal files must be submitted by email no later than January 27, 2025 to adescoteaux@cintl.org