Call for Tender: Consultancy – Value for Money Study& Project Evaluation

1. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

Project title: Cash Assistance in Re-Emerging Markets in Syria (CARMA)

Project locations: Syria – Rural Damascus, Aleppo, Hasakeh, Homs

Partner organisations: Caritas Austria (CAUT), Caritas Switzerland (CACH), Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH), Cordaid, two national implementing partners

Project duration: ECHO Grant: 01/08/2019 – 31/05/2021 (22 months); Total project: 01/06/2019 – 31/05/2021

Project budget: EUR 5,457,000

Tentative timeframe of assignment: January – July 2021

Anticipated consultancy budget: EUR 60,000

Since 2019, Caritas Austria, Caritas Switzerland, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, Cordaid, together with two national partners implement “Cash Assistance in Re-Emerging Markets in Syria” (CARMA) in Rural Damascus, Homs, Hasakeh and Aleppo. In response to the protracted and acute needs of vulnerable households in Syria, CARMA aims to provide 1) life-sustaining basic assistance through multi-purpose cash grants and 2) emergency cash assistance in response to COVID-19 resulting in loss of access to income, and 3) hygiene kits through in-kind distributions.

During its project duration from 1st of August 2019 until 31^st of May 2021, CARMA aims to achieve the following three results, serving at total of 7,691 individual beneficiary households:

• Result 1: Vulnerable IDP, returnee, host community, and refugee households are enabled to sufficiently and continuously meet their basic multi-sectoral needs.

• Result 2: Vulnerable IDP, returnee, host community and refugee households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are enabled to meet their acute basic and hygiene needs.

• Result 3: Vulnerable IDP, returnee, host community, and refugee households are provided access to services to meet their wider protection needs and assistance delivery systems of the consortium are strengthened.

While, Caritas Austria, is the lead organisation of the CARMA intervention assuring overall compliance, CACH has the technical and implementation lead. The project activities are implemented by 2 local partner organisations. The intervention is funded by DG ECHO, Caritas Switzerland, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, Caritas Austria, and Cordaid.

2. SCOPE

Within the scope of this international call for tender, CAUT is looking for a consultant/ a team of consultants to conduct two main tasks:

1) Study on value for money: The key objective of the study is to provide an evidence-based analysis of Value for Money (VfM) for localised cash transfers in comparison with other assistance modalities (voucher, in-kind), implementation strategies and VfM of other cash interventions in Syria. In addition, the study will analyse risks, produce a scaling strategy and provide specific recommendations on the structure for the CARMA consortium going forward achieving higher VfM, maximise its localisation approach, inform future advocacy and strengthen harmonisation across the cash sector in Syria.

2) End of project evaluation: The purpose of the evaluation is to obtain a systematic and objective assessment of the project, its design, implementation and results. The evaluation will specifically identify project achievements plus constraints, assess the key outcomes and/or impact of project interventions, document lessons learned and good practices and propose recommendations for improving the development, implementation and management of future projects. In addition, the evaluation should also stipulate recommendations on how the consortium can create linkages with other cash-based interventions in Syria. The aim is to inform on all 5 OECD/DAC criteria and to determine the relevance and fulfilment of objectives, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.

To maximize efficiency but also complementarity, the tender for both assignments will be conduct through a single lot procurement process.

Detailed Terms of References for both Study and Evaluation, including purpose, objectives, study/ evaluation questions as well methodologies, deliverables etc. can be found in Annex 1 and Annex 2. All documents can be downloaded via: https://wolke.caritas-wien.at/index.php/s/CARMA_Consultancy_ToR_Study_Eval

3. METHODOLOGY & PROCESS

Consultant(s) is/ are expected to ensure that methodology and work plan for both tasks of this consultancy are set-up based on principles of complementarity and efficiency.

More details on methodology and process for each task are provided in the annexes.

4. TIMEFRAME& LOCATION

In addition to desk work and remote modalities the location for conducting the study and the evaluation is Lebanon/Syria, in case feasible due to COVID-19 restrictions in Lebanon and Syria.

The timetable below outlines key phases and timeframe for each phase for both tasks VfM study and evaluation:

Procurement Phase (Nov. – Dec. 2020): Publication ToRs for international call for tender; Submission of proposals by applicant; Assessment of proposal& selection; Contracting

Preparatory Phase (Jan. – Feb. 2021): Kick-off Meeting; Desk review of existing project documents and project data

Inception Phase (Feb. – Mar. 2021): First interviews; Submission of Inception Reports

Research/ Field Phase (Mar. – Apr. 2021): Data collection (as per agreed methodology) on-site or remote; Presentation of field/ research phase findings to CARMA partners for input

Writing Phase (Evaluation: Apr. – Jun. 2021; Study: Apr. – May 2021): Preparation & Submission of Draft Final Report

Closing Phase (Evaluation: May – Jul. 2021; Study: May 2021): Inclusion of provided feedback to draft study& evaluation; Preparation of presentation; Submission of final reports as per deliverables

It is expected that the consultant/ the team of consultants can comply with following deadlines for core deliverables:

• Study Concept Paper latest by 15.01.2021 (deadline to be agreed during contracting)

• Final VfM Study Report & Report on CARMA Scalability latest by 15.05.2021

• Final Evaluation Report latest by 15.07.2021

Consultant(s) is/ are expected to consider these final deadlines for their proposed work plan as part of the technical proposal.

5. EXECUTION & MANAGEMENT OF THE CONSULTANCY

An international public tender for a single lot procurement process will be conducted according to DG ECHO and Caritas Austria procurement guidelines.

Assessment of proposals: CAUT is obliged to ensure that procurement decisions are clearly justified and documented within mandatory principles of donors. CAUT will form an evaluation committee to evaluate the received offers and choose the consultant/ team of consultants based on the quality of the supplied proposals, the matching qualifications and experiences of the team members, budget considerations and responsiveness/flexibility with regard to the current COVID-19 situation.

Contracting: A consultancy contract will be signed between CAUT and the chosen consultant/ team of consultants. All applicants must have the right to enter a contractual agreement with CAUT.

Payments: Payments will be split into advance payment after acceptance of the inception report, an advance payment after the acceptance of the inception report, and a final payment after acceptance of the finalized report (30%/40%/30%). The second and third payment might be conducted separately for each task based on agreed on work plan. Payments will be made only in EUR or USD.

Right of access: Full and on-the-spot access must be granted to representatives of Caritas Austria, DG ECHO or any organisation or person mandate by it, to the premises belonging to Caritas Austria, or its contractors. The right to access shall include all documents and information necessary to assess, or audit the implementation of the contract.

6. RESPONSIBILITIES & CONDITIONS

Ethical standards& quality: All consultants for CAUT, should maintain high standards on ethical issues, respect and apply basic human and social rights. CAUT reserves the right to reject quotations provided by applicants not meeting these standards. CAUT shall ensure that the evaluation and study are designed and conducted to respect and protect the rights and welfare of their target communities, and to ensure that the evaluation and study is technically accurate, reliable, and legitimate, useful and conducted in a transparent and impartial manner, and contributes to organizational learning and accountability. The evaluation shall be carried out complying with the DAC Quality Standards for Development Evaluation.

Confidentiality of information: All documents provided to the consultant(s) and all data collected during field research (e.g. through interviews) must be treated as confidential and used solely for the purpose to facilitate analysis. Respondents shall not be identified or quoted in reports without their explicit written permission. Photo, video, and other research data that can be traced back to individual re-search participants shall be anonymized unless agreed otherwise, in writing, with the person concerned.

Ownership of data, findings, products: CAUT retains full ownership of all data, findings, and products produced as part of this evaluation. However, CAUT is committed to disseminating findings and contributing to debates on cash based interventions in general, and in Syria in specific, and is principally open to suggestions by the consultant(s) on ways to jointly disseminate findings.

Support by CAUT/CACH and partners: CAUT/ CACH and national partners will support consultant(s) in logistics were requested and will facilitate field research based upon agreed on methodology and approach. Relevant contacts of other stakeholders will be shared upon the consultant(s)’ request. The consultant(s) will manage its/their own schedule and make appointments for interviews with external stakeholders where necessary, while keeping CAUT/ CACH or national partners in copy.

Access to project data: All relevant documents including narrative proposal, reports, etc. will be provided for the consultant(s). CACH will provide access to primary information, beneficiary and service data collection through outcome and process monitoring of the action including data on multisector outcomes (food security, shelter, education, protection, health, etc.) as well as demographic data to ensure AGD disaggregation.

Safeguarding and protection: Since data collection might involve interactions with beneficiaries, the evaluator commits to safeguarding and protection policies and procedures as well as complaint handling policies and procedures that are shared and reiterated during the preparatory phase.

Distribution policy: Intended users of deliverables are all CARMA partners, DG ECHO as well as the wider sector. All deliverables generated through this evaluation and study will be subject to approval by CAUT before public dissemination.

7. REQUIRED PROFILE

Eligible applicants

• must have the right to enter a contractual agreement with Caritas Austria

• must have no history of legal proceedings related to fraud, corruption or safeguarding of children and/or vulnerable adults

• must not have been involved in the design, implementation or monitoring of this project

This assignment will require a consultant/ team of consultants with the following qualifications and experience:

• Relevant professional and academic background (e.g. social sciences, development studies, cultural sciences, etc.) and proven experience in quality value for money studies as well as conducting evaluations

• Significant familiarity with emergency programming and solid understanding of standards of humanitarian assistance

• Extensive demonstrable experience in market-based intervention and qualitative and quantitative research

• Experience working with quantitative and qualitative data collection and very strong analytical and research skills

• Profound experience and expertise in conducting evaluations (a minimum of three evaluations in the past five years), including experience in evaluating cash-based interventions

• Experience in the Middle East region, familiarity with the context of Syria is a plus

• A minimum of five years’ experience and expertise in conducting evaluations

• Excellent facilitation and interpersonal skills

• Excellent oral and written English skills, Arabic considered a plus