Consultant Power Forward. Location: Abuja, Nigeria. Reports to: Country Director and Senior Support Program Manager

Transcription

1 Title: Consultant Power Forward Location: Abuja, Nigeria Reports to: Country Director and Senior Support Program Manager Africare is a leading non-governmental organization (NGO) committed to addressing African development and policy issues by working in partnership with African people to build sustainable, healthy and productive communities. Since 1970, Africare has provided well over $1 billion of assistance and support through more than 2,500 projects in Agriculture & Food Security; Water, Sanitation & Hygiene; Women s Empowerment; and Health that have impacted millions of beneficiaries in 36 countries in Africa. Africare seeks a suitable Consultant/ Consultancy firm to conduct the end line evaluation for a youth life skills development program in Abuja, FCT. The Power Forward project, concluding the third year of implementation, focuses on teaching life skills through basketball to 300 inschool youth in ten secondary schools in Abuja. The project is implemented by Africare partnership with Exxon Mobil and NBA. The project works with various stakeholders including 300 youths, the FCT Secondary Education Board, the National Basket Ball Federation (NBBF),Principals, 10 coaches, 10 assistant coaches, Parents and guidance. The Power Forward project curriculum has 50 sessions that will be completed by November 18, The end line will aim at evaluating the project in year 3 in order to determine impact which has implications for continuation and or expansion for the 4 year if qualified interested candidate should kindly respond with the following proposal that contains evaluation methodology and approach. 1. Work plan showing ability to deliver within the time frame 2. Experience in monitoring and evaluation of youth learning programs 3. A detailed budget Scope of Work Background

2 Africare started the Power Forward Project, in August A youth development project implemented in 10 secondary schools in Abuja, Nigeria, The project uses basketball as the platform to educate 150 female students and 150 male students annually on public health and life skills. Implementation is in with partnership with ExxonMobil and the National Basketball Association (NBA).The goal of the project is to have the students incorporate the knowledge and practices into their daily lives and to transfer these practices to their peers and communities through regular interactions and student designed community initiatives. The Power Forward project curriculum supports teaching on issues of effective communication, conflict resolution, embracing diversity, gender equality, malaria and HIV/AIDS incidence, prevalence and prevention, Water Sanitation and hygiene, sustainable development goals and development indicators. The curriculum also incorporates elements of leadership skills like respect, personal responsibility, personal & collective commitment and community initiative services. It promotes learning about gender equality, respect for diversity in people regardless of gender, tribe religion etc. while giving beneficiaries the tools to counter messages of intolerance and violence. The project M and E plan outlines the Power Forward theory of change, monitoring and evaluation approach, logic model, and measurement indicators. Furthermore, it includes a description of the data collection and storage procedures that program personnel employ to ensure effective execution of M&E activities throughout the program s lifecycle. Consultancy Description Africare requires the services of a consultant to conduct an external evaluation of the year 3 program to determine if the program has met the established goals and to determine the efficacy of the youth learning platform to communicate behavior change as it relates to public health interventions. The consultant is to carry out detailed monitoring and evaluation of the Power Forward program. The Power Forward Partnership has an opportunity to leverage basketball as a vehicle for social change in key areas such as malaria prevention, adopting sanitation and hygiene practices. The youth program for boys and girls is focused on reducing preventable endemic diseases including

3 malaria, promoting the importance of exercise and healthy living and building overall life skills in 10 schools in Abuja. The consultant will be supported by project staff with appropriate language skills and significant field experience in conducting program evaluation. The consultant will finalize an overall methodological approach for the evaluation, develop interview and focus groups guidelines, guide, supervise the training of interview team members, and supervise and assess collected responses. The consultant should have a good working knowledge of Abuja and the intervention areas. The final evaluation will use qualitative and quantitative methods for a descriptive and retrospective look at the results and experiences of the program. Both key informant and small group interviews will be undertaken, with purposive sampling. The evaluation will include direct participation of beneficiaries, beneficiary families, and community groups, implementing partners, technical agencies and school and government officials Work Required Overall Approach The consultant is expected to visit the 10 schools in the program, verify the scope of work, and confirm if the activities have been carried out in line with the program curriculum. The evaluation of the program should highlight the gains or areas of improvement and the feasibility of scaling up or otherwise enhanced the scope of the project for maximum impact. Evaluation Strategy Consultant is expected to design the evaluation strategy, budget and work plan for Africare (and ExxonMobil) s approval before commencement of work. The framework should evaluate Africare s performance in Power Forward year 3 on agreed upon indicators and highlight key findings that will strengthen the program in the future.

4 Methodology 1. Primary research: Design survey tools 2. Conduct surveys and focus groups for all project stakeholders a. Students in the Power Forward program b. Students not in the Power Forward program c. Parents ( a minimum of 20 from the 10 project school) d. School representatives at all ten schools: principals, teachers, school coaches and Assistant Coaches e. Africare staff f. ExxonMobil staff and NBA staff g. Other local stakeholders h. Access to bed nets/utilization i. Hand washing practice j. Tree Planting 3. Secondary Research: Review all pertinent project documents as listed below to understand the structure, goals, objectives and deliverables of the program a. Report of year two final evaluation b. Monitoring and evaluation framework and systems c. Baseline summary d. Baseline backup data e. Indicator performance tracking table f. Needs assessment g. Curriculum h. Performance management plan i. Program reports j. Sessions attendance breakdown by schools k. Coach job description and work documents l. All other pertinent documents Program Quality Standards

5 1. Is behavior change part of program objectives? 2. Is there a balance of knowledge, attitudes & skills? 3. Are participatory teaching & learning methods central? 4. Is the program based on student needs? (Relevant) 5. Is it gender-sensitive? 6. Are policies in place to support the program? (Teacher preparation, in-service, ongoing support) 7. Are related support services accessible to the audience/participants? 8. Are stakeholders consulted? Involved? 9. Are facilitators/teachers trained for this purpose? 10. Are facilitators/teachers supported in implementation phase? 11. Is the program of sufficient duration to achieve the desired objectives? 12. Are relevant educational materials utilized? (Accurate, gender sensitive, age appropriate, accessible, appropriate language, durable...) 13. Is the program based on relevant, current, accurate information and methods? Communication during the consultancy and Final Evaluation Report 1. Consultant will be expected to hold a minimum of three calls a week with Africare and NBA Staff to share updates on progress and send a weekly report on activities carried out. 2. Generation of a final external evaluation report to be submitted to Africare for delivery to project donors. This report should show comparisons between baseline and end line data generated for the project and in text; pictures and graphs tell a comprehensive story of the program s accomplishments to date. It should also assess and present gathered qualitative and quantitative data and summarize the evaluation process. It will also discuss the views and reflections on project implementation, weaknesses and strengths, lessons-learned and successes for year The evaluation report will be in threefold to highlight the public health impact of the program, to highlight the progress made from year 1 to year 2, 3 and to make

6 recommendations moving forward into the fourth year of the program regarding communication, processes, engagement with the schools, systems and timing changes that should be factored into the next year to strengthen and expand the program. Proposed Timeline November 10, 2016 kick off call with consultant, review of secondary documents, strategy creation, methodology tools design and approval of evaluation plan by Africare. November 14:Finalization of contract November 16: Mobilization for evaluation (50%) November 17 to 24: Primary and secondary research and evaluation activities December 7, 2016 : Draft final report generated and submitted to Africare for review and submission to ExxonMobil December 14: ExxonMobil reviews report and provides feedback to Africare on the year 3 project implementation Security Security of personnel and equipment should be in line with acceptable standards and the sole responsibility of the consultant. Consultant will share names of all employees who will access the schools beforehand for dissemination to school authorities. How to Apply: Applications should include a CV and cover letter. In the cover letter (of no more than two pages in length), the candidate should briefly describe his or her motivation for the position and highlight relevant experience. Please send CVs to nigeria.vacancies@africare.org, including "Consultant Power Forward" in the subject line. All applications must be submitted no later than November 7, 2016 at 5:00 pm EST. No calls or direct s to staff will be accepted. Applications received after deadline will not be reviewed. Only shortlisted Consultants will be contacted.

7 Africare is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer committed to workplace diversity.