PLAN INTERNATIONAL RWANDA

Kacyiru Golden Plaza Building, 4th Floor, KG 546 ST

P.O, Box: 6211

Tel. (250) 78 8305392

Kigali-Rwanda

CALL FOR PROPOSALS WITH REF# PLAN/FY24/08/002

TERMS OF REFENCE FOREND-LINE EVALUATION FOR THE SDEPAY PROJECT

1. About Plan International

We strive to advance children’s rights and equality for girls all over the world. As an independent development and humanitarian organization, we work alongside children, young people, our supporters and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge. For over 80 years, we have been building powerful partnerships for children, and we are active in over 75 countries. 

In Rwanda, Plan International opened in January 2007 and is currently working in the Eastern and Southern Provinces of Rwanda in the districts of Gatsibo, Bugesera and Nyaruguru with sponsorship program, 10 districts with grant projects and across all 6 districts hosting refugee camps in the country. Its program interventions are focused on child poverty alleviation in the domains of child protection, sexual reproductive health and rights, early childhood development and economic security and community resilience.

2. About AKAZI KANOZE ACCESS (AKA)

Akazi Kanoze Access (AKA), registered in Rwanda under the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), is a Rwandan charitable, social, non-profit, non-governmental, non-political organization that seeks to provide youth with market-relevant livelihood skills, work readiness training and support, hands-on training opportunities, and linkages to the employment, self-employment job market, access to capital and other support services to take advantage of economic opportunities. AKA’s mission is to provide youth with employability skills, access to capital and other support services to take advantage of economic opportunities. AKA’s core values include integrity, excellence, professionalism and innovation with a global vision to be a leading organization contributing to youth well-being through employability skills and support services. AKA has a strong system guided by the policy and procedures in place.

AKA has a strong experience in working in Rwandan rural and urban zones supporting youth economic activities countrywide. Past and current interventions make the organization strong at managing donor and government relations as well as creating a strong link with beneficiaries and stakeholders. Geographically, AKA has extensive familiarity and experience working with youth across the country.

3. Project Background

The Skills Development and Employment Promotion among Youth in Rwanda “SDEPAY” project is financed to a tune of approximately EUR 1,05,0000 by the German Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development (BMZ) for a period of 3 years from 2020 to 2023. The project’s overarching goal is to contribute to the increase of formal youth employment opportunities with decent work across three districts of Rwanda (Gatsibo, Nyaruguru and Bugesera) by 2023 (SDG 8.5) through the boosting of youth self-employment capabilities and employability readiness skills. The project implementation activities target semi-urban and rural settings of the three districts where unemployment is at remarkable points, with PIR and AKA partnering together for its implementation. Plan International Rwanda act in an assisting and coordinating role and support the capacity building process of AKA on-site while AKA holds the responsibility for the implementation of the Project. The project directly targets 1,200 vulnerable youth aged between 16 to 30 years and the group consist of 55% of young women and 45% of young men respectively.

4. Purpose of the Assignment

The purpose of the assignment is to conduct a hybrid study, including a quantitative and qualitative evaluation for the presented project. It is expected that the consultant(s) will collect quantitative data to collect relevant numerical data on the project indicators and perform qualitative evaluation based on defined criteria.

In line with OECD-DAC criteria, it must assess the project relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and ascertain impact.  A number of other important variables will as well need to be assessed particularly on the project lessons learned and best practices as well as the project’s implementation architecture.

Quantitative Evaluation

The quantitative part aims to providing the status and quantitative values of following indicators at outcome and output levels and provide an assessment that track the endline achievement comparing to the targeted values:

Outcome 1

• % of unemployed youths are newly employed in companies;
• % of unemployed youths are generating income from newly formed formal businesses;

Outcome 2

• % of youths (of the direct target group) are benefiting from improved income;
• % of young people (of the direct beneficiaries) have shifted from casual labor to a permanent employment or self-employment;

Output 1.2

• % of employers declare being satisfied with the skills (soft and hard) of the newly employed youth trained by the project;

Output 1.3

• # of youth who have joined in new or existing Voluntary Saving and Loan Groups (VSLG) and have improved their skills in financial management due to the trainings received;
• # of members of VSLG or Cooperatives are applying the acquired skills and are running profitable businesses;
• # of members of youth saving groups have increased their earnings by at least 2%;
• # of youth who have been linked with Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) and have an improved understanding and improved access to financial services, e.g. bank accounts for saving and loan purposes;
• # of youth who have improved access to financial support to receive funds from e.g. BDF and other financial institutions as a result of the support provided under this project;

Output 1.4

• # of youth who have improved access to information on job opportunities through different channels;
• # of youth who accessed information on job market and employment opportunities through YEGO centers;
• # of females report an improved access to information on job opportunities through the project and its measures;

Output 1.5

• # of youth report that they have improved their knowledge on SRHR including contraception following provided measures under this project and are informed about available SRHR services in the area;
• # of beneficiaries under this project who have improved access to child care support to allow for participation in project activities; 

N.B: Please be aware that certain quantitative values will be collected from the project's MIS system and other record-keeping project documents. Throughout the desk review process, the consultant will work closely with AKA and PIR staff to locate and access the available data.

• Qualitative Evaluation (4-5 sentences)

The qualitative evaluation will primarily concentrate on complementing the results provided by quantitative part and the wide picture of programming. The qualitative valuation will focus on identifying relevancy, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability mechanisms that the project is tackling for achieving its objectives. Also, the evaluation will be able to capture information about project lessons learned, best practices and recommendations as well as project’s implementation architecture. 

Furthermore, the qualitative evaluation should serve as a valuable learning tool for Plan International Rwanda (PIR) and its partner organizations, enabling them to improve future program implementation. Additionally, it should identify any emerging issues or procedural matters within the project implementation to a certain extent. Subsequently, the evaluation should offer constructive recommendations and guidelines to Plan International Rwanda, its partners, and the communities involved to effectively address these identified issues and enhance the overall project outcomes. 

For carrying out the qualitative evaluation, it’s suggested that the hired consultant will be guided by some questions included in the ToR and he/she may suggest the additional list of questions basing on how OECD - DAC criteria can effectively be assessed.

The consultant is furthermore expected to consolidate lessons learnt and best practices as part of the assignment.

So, the potential consultant will be recruited based on how is technically proving how is able to develop the tools that capture the relevant data. 

5. Child rights, gender and inclusion

Plan International and all its partners (including AKA) confront and challenge discrimination and human rights violations based on gender, including gender-based violence, and other forms of exclusion. We also challenge stereotyping and unequal power relations between women, men, boys, and girls to promote gender equality, girls’ rights, and inclusion. We foster an organizational culture that embraces and exemplifies our commitment to Child rights, gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion. Therefore, the consultant who will conduct this study is to make sure the project is aligned with this policy statement which drives our programing.

6. Users of the Study

The end-line data will be used by different users to serve multiple purposes: 

• The users include AKA staff and Plan International Rwanda staff who will use the data to know projects achievements against targets to be reached;
• Local Leaders from the villages to the districts level who will need to know the effects and impact generated by the project;
• National Council of Persons with Disabilities who will appreciate how the project is disability inclusive;
• National Youth Council that will benefits from the reduction of unemployed youth;
• National Women’s Council that will recognize the importance of the project on empowering women;
• Plan International Deutschland e.V., and BMZ that will need to know the change the project generated to targeted beneficiaries in order to know the impact the funding has generated;
• The national government of Rwanda that will need to know how the project contributes to unemployment reduction. 

7. Methods for Data Collection and Analysis

The project study should adopt for a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, and each process of assessment should be clearly defined and justified. Although the hired consultant is free to suggest techniques and approaches to be applied, AKA and PIR suggested running both quantitative and qualitative at the same time but data analysis for quantitative will be conducted prior to qualitative analysis as the later will use the former for making concrete analysis. The consultant is expected to clearly outline the planned approach and methodologies for both quantitative and qualitative evaluation in submitted proposal and also try to show the trends in achievement based on previous evaluations namely baseline and hybrid midline and Midterm Evaluation.

The quantitative methodology, the consultant will develop specific tools to collect data on well-identified project indicators on which enumerators will be trained. After accepting the use of these tools, the consultant will pilot the tools developed to adjust them prior to the actual data collection process. However, the hired consultant will be granted to adjust baseline or hybrid midline and midterm Evaluation data collection tools already developed and used under this project.

Further responsibilities include the development of a data analysis plan, data management, including data cleaning, data analysis and interpretation as well as the drafting of a final collated report for the midline and the Midterm report.

The qualitative evaluation methodology should be able to follow evaluation questions related to DAC criteria. With this in mind, the consultant will focus on instrumental tools related to Focus Group Discussions (FGD), interviews with key informants who play a key role in the implementation of the project, as well as observation. The approaches and techniques should be described by the consultant in enough detail to ensure that the evaluation can easily be replicated by any other researcher.

8. Sampling approach

For both quantitative and qualitative methodologies should be sensitive to the target population (unit of analysis) and robust enough to provide adequate responses to the purpose of the study. Overall, the methodology section should cover the details of study approaches and design, sampling, sample size determination, data collection methodologies/instruments, data analysis techniques, plan for dissemination of study findings, and be cognizant of quality assurance and ethical considerations during the evaluation. 

For this research, the quantitative portion will not require a specific sample, as it aims to encompass all the youth (a total of 1200) supported by the project across 12 sectors from three districts: Nyaruguru, Bugesera, and Gatsibo. These youth will be disaggregated based on age, gender, and location.

In all cases, the consultant must include a description of the following:

• Necessary respondent disaggregation (refer to Plan International’s Minimum Beneficiary Disaggregation);
• Consideration of respondent’s characteristics and locations;

For the qualitative approach, the use of both FGDs in each sector where the project interventions are located and key informant interviews (KII) with key project stakeholders. The sampling approach that is suggested is non-probability sampling method applying the purposive-based approach.

9. Participant selection and recruitment

Participants in these evaluations are various including respondents, consultants, AKA and Plan International Rwanda staff, local leaders and youth beneficiaries identified in the first and second year for the project. Respondents will be given by considering the total population which is made by all supported youth under SDEPAY project.  People to participate in FGD and in KII will be determine with appropriate methodology. AKA and PIR staff will be working with consultants to locate respondents and also to inform local leaders about the activity that is being conducted. 

10. Ethical and Child Protection

As a child right based organization, Plan International has a strict child protection policy and guidelines that partners or staff follows. It is thus expected that the selected evaluator will adhere to child protection policy and code of conduct when working with children and youth. Prior to data collection, a Child Safeguarding Risk Assessment for MERL will be done to assess the level of risks to potential participants and propose appropriate strategies to overcome them. 

Plan International is committed to ensuring that the rights of those participating in data collection or analysis are respected and protected, in accordance with Ethical MERL Framework and our Global Policy on Safeguarding Children and Young People. All applicants should include details in their proposal on how they will ensure ethics and child protection in the data collection process. Specifically, the evaluator(s) shall explain how appropriate, safe, non-discriminatory participation of all stakeholders will be ensured and how special attention will be paid to the needs of children and other vulnerable groups. The evaluator(s) shall also explain how confidentiality and anonymity of participants will be guaranteed.

11. Key Deliverables

12. Timeline

13. Budget

14. Expected Qualifications

Interested bidders are required to clearly indicate the person who will be leading this end line evaluation, hereby known as the evaluator and also detail the specific tasks of the other members who will work with him/her.

Therefore, the evaluator will be expected to have the following key competencies:

• Master’s degree in a relevant field of economics and project management, development Studies, Social sciences or similar field.
• Demonstrated experience in conducting studies/Evaluations for livelihood programmes, be knowledgeable and experienced in gender, child right and youth programming, development work, with excellent analytical and verbal communication skills, as well as skilled in writing research reports.
• Proven experience of at least 5 years in undertaking similar project consultancies for reputable organizations (baseline survey, midline survey, endline survey, project designs/planning among others).
• Experience in quantitative and qualitative methods, data analysis and in integrating data into evaluation reports.
• Strong data analysis skills (especially using STATA, SPSS, MS Access; or Epi Info)
• Knowledge of English and the local language and a good mix of the research team will be an added advantage.

15. Contact

For any questions regarding this offer, please contact 0788305392/Plan International Rwanda Reception

16. Applications

Interested applicants should provide:

Technical proposal to include the following:

• A Cover letter expressing interest in this assignment;
• one-page consultant’s understanding of the TOR
• Proposed methodology, and expected outcomes;
• A detailed activities schedule/work plan with time frame (including a Gantt chart);
• Ethics and child safeguarding approaches, including any identified risks and associated mitigation strategies
• A profile of the consulting firm including the full names, physical address, telephone numbers and contact person of the firm/company; RDB registration certificate and VAT certificate; names of directors, Tax Clearance of the consultant/Consultancy Firm in Rwanda.
• Detailed budget, including daily fee rates, expenses, etc.
• At least 3 examples of previous works related to that assignment supported by good completion certificates;

Financial proposal detailing:

• Itemized consultant’s fees
• Itemized field data collection expenses
• Itemized administration expenses
• Validity period of quotation
• Expected payment plan and method
• Note that the financial proposal indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of all costs. The cost must be in RWF, taxes inclusive. 

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects:

• Detailed response to the TOR summarized in one page
• Proposed methodology
• Ethics and child safeguarding approaches, including any identified risks and associated mitigation strategies
• Proposed timelines
• CVs of the team to conduct the consultancy
• Example of previous work supported by 3 good completion certificates from the recognized INGOs
• Detailed budget, including daily fee rates, expenses, taxes etc.
• Administrative documents (RDB & VAT Certificates and tax and RSSB Clearances)

Submission of proposals:

Interested Consultants should submit separate technical and financial proposals in sealed envelopes and should be clearly marked “Tender for End-line Evaluation for the SDEPAY Project -Technical & Financial Proposal” by hand no later than 05^th September 2023 at 2:00pm

Done at Kigali, on 23^rd August 2023

Submissions should be addressed to:

The Chairperson -Tender Panel

Plan International Inc. Rwanda

Golden Plaza Building, Floor # 4, KG 456 St

P.O. Box 6211, Kigali, Rwanda.

ANNEXES 

Annex 1: Checklist for Completeness

Annex 2: Global Policy: Safeguarding Children and Young People

Annex 3: Full Report Structure

Annex 4: Project Matrix indicators

Annex 5: Ethical MERL Framework