Uganda: FINAL EVALUATION OF IRC’S SPEED PROJECT IN KARAMOJA

Organization background:

Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the largest humanitarian agencies in the world, providing relief, rehabilitation and post-conflict reconstruction support to victims of oppression and violent conflict. In Uganda, the IRC serves populations affected by conflict in Northern Uganda, West Nile and Karamoja sub-regions. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been implementing Economic Recovery and Development (ERD) programs in Uganda since 2005. In 2014, the IRC with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) began implementing the ‘Strengthening Private Sector Engagement in Enterprise Development’ (SPEED) project in Karamoja covering Moroto, Napak, Nakapiripirit and Amudat districts. The project focused on increasing agricultural productivity, facilitating increased access to markets, increasing access to rural financial services, improving the local business environment via private sector led initiatives, and youth skills development and employment, with specific focus on women and girls.

The project summary:

The overall project goal is, “*to increase incomes in high growth sectors through inclusive market development for farmers, traders and youth in Karamoja*”. The project has three main objectives in both regions;

(i) Increased efficiency and gender-inclusiveness of selected value chains,

(ii) Improved capacity of local business community to positively influence the business environment, and

(iii) Expanded access to demand-driven skills and productive employment for selected youths.

As the project is nearing completion (ending 31^st January 2018), the IRC is looking for a consultant to support in the final evaluation of the SPEED project in Karamoja (Napak, Moroto, Nakapiripirit and Amudat districts)

Purpose of the evaluations:

The main purpose of the evaluation is to help IRC management, stakeholders and the donor understand the project performance towards achieving its stated goal and objectives, and to learn from project approaches used.

Based on both quantitative and qualitative analyses, the impact evaluation seek to;

1. Measure to what extent project activities have been or are being implemented, delivered/delivering outputs and attained/attaining outcomes and expected results set out in the logical framework.

a. To what extent has/is the project improved/improving income levels among project beneficiaries?

b. How has/is the project enhanced/enhancing women’s engagement in productive activities?

c. How has/is project implementation approaches/modalities affected/affecting the achievement of project benchmarks?

d. Which good practices and innovations are (or could be) replicable as effective approaches?

e. Is the project results framework working as intended allowing for strategic steering and follow-up?

Specifically;

How effective have/are the models/approaches been used/being used by the IRC in executing this project? Are the objectives being achieved?

Is there evidence of innovation and use of global best practice?

Are lessons about the design and delivery of the programme being captured learned and shared within IRC and outside?

2.Assess the suitability of the different project elements

Which elements of the project had the most and least impact on the beneficiaries and why?

Specifically;

i. Evaluate the degree the project components are interdependent and the degree they stand alone, and the effect this has on future sustainability.

ii. Which parts of the project appear to give the best value for money?

iii. Determine how far the different activities have been adapted to changing local settings and will be sustained after the project closes.

iv. How has IRC’s project contributed to fulfilling/reaching/achieving the objectives of the current Swedish Strategy for Development Co-operation with Uganda 2014-2018?

v. How has IRC's project contributed to the government and the district development priorities?

Deliverables/outputs:

The consultant will submit the following deliverables to the IRC:

• An Inception Report, within 5 days after signing the contract; it will detail the methods for data collection and a proposed timeline of activities and submission of deliverables.
• Draft Report, within 7 days after completion of field visits for the respective regions; it will be shared with the IRC team to seek comments and suggestions.
• Final Evaluation Report, within 5 days after reception of comments on the draft report and must be received by the 25^th January 2018. This will include reports on findings and specific recommendations to IRC and or the donor put together in a narrative report as well as an updated complete log frame matrix, together with a copy of the raw data and photos collected in the process.

Requirements:

Interested applicants are expected to submit detailed proposals, including a brief contextual analysis of the two regions, illustrating their competencies and clearly articulating the strategies and methods for conducting this assignment. The consultant should meet the requirements;

• Extensive experience in project evaluations. Specific experience with evaluating livelihoods projects is strongly desired.

• Prior experience working in conflict and post conflict settings and an in-depth understanding of the context of such settings in terms of monitoring and evaluation. Knowledge and experience working in northern Uganda and or Karamoja will be an added experience.

• Strong past performance references.

  Payment details:

  Payments will be inclusive of all data collection, analysis and report writing activities. Payments will be made upon the satisfactory completion and delivery of each output: 1st payment: 30% of total contract will be paid upon submission and acceptance of the inception report; 2nd payment: 30% of total contract will be paid upon submission of the draft report, and; Final payment: 40% of the total contract will be paid upon completion and the acceptance of the final evaluation report. The IRC will directly facilitate transport to and within the project sites as well as the cost of accommodation during the field evaluation exercise.

  Timing:

  Technical and financial proposals should be submitted to IRC by the 8^th January 2018; Field activities are scheduled during the month of January 2018.

Interested consultants should submit proposals to The Human Resource and Administration Manager, The International Rescue Committee, P.O. Box 24672 Kampala; OR Email: UA-IRCJobs@rescue.org