Terms Of Reference

External Evaluation of the Project: Strengthening the Protection of Vulnerable Children and Families in Baghdad and Qadisiya Governorates

April 2025

1. TERRE DES HOMME.. 4
2. INTRODUCTION.. 4

III.  PROJECT’S BASIC INFORMATION.. 4

1. Program Overview.. 5
2. Evaluation Objective & Questions: 6
3. Ethical Considerations. 7

VII. Deliverables. 7

VIII.Evaluation Timeline And Schedule. 8

1. Evaluation Workplan. 8
2. Challenges And Recommendations. 9
3. PROFILE OF CONSULTANT. 9

XII. APPLICATION AND MANDATORY DOCUMENTS. 10

XIII.ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY.. 10

XIV.Safety and Security. 11

1. Modalities of Payment 11

XVI.Application procedure. 11

Acronyms

Tdh : Terre des hommes

ISIL: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

WASH: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

OOC: out of Camp

IDP: internally displaced person

NGO: Non-Governmental Organization

KM: kilometers

UN: United Nations

OCHA: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

CM: case management

PPT: PowerPoint presentation

TOR: Terms of Reference

ID: identity

CSP: Child Safeguarding Policy

PSEA: Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

SOP: Standard operating procedure

I. TERRE DES HOMME

Terre des Hommes Foundation – Helping Children Worldwide (Tdh) started its operations in Iraq in December 2014, responding to the needs of children and youth between the age group of 9-22 years affected by the ISIL-driven crisis of 2014-2017. Tdh is currently working in 22 districts within 6 governorates (Anbar, Kirkuk, Ninewa, Diyala, Baghdad, and Salah al-Din), providing humanitarian and development assistance in the sectors of Child Protection, Juvenile Justice, Education, and WASH through a NEXUS approach.

II. INTRODUCTION

Terre des hommes Foundation seeks to recruit an external consultant to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the project "Strengthening the Protection of Vulnerable Children and Families in Baghdad and Qadisiya Governorates." The project is funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and implemented in collaboration with the BROB local partner.

III. PROJECT’S BASIC INFORMATION

IV. Program Overview

The project is implemented in Baghdad and Qadisiya governorates, where vulnerable out-of-camp internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees continue to face significant protection concerns. The areas were heavily affected by previous conflicts and instability, leading to limited access to child protection services, civil documentation, and psychosocial support.

Terre des hommes (Tdh) in partnership with BROB aimed to enhance the resilience and protection of children and families in these areas by providing a comprehensive package of services through community-based mechanisms. The project focused on three core components

Child Protection Services: Delivery of structured case management for 264 children and youth following inter-agency SOPs, psychosocial support for 256 children, and legal counselling for 164 individuals to facilitate civil documentation.

Social Cohesion and Empowerment: Life skills and citizenship education for 264 children and youth, establishment of 3 Child-Led Committees (CLCs), training for 60 Community-Based Protection Committee (CPC) members, and community-led awareness campaigns reaching over 850 individuals.

Institutional Capacity Building: Training of 20 CSO personnel and 40 government stakeholders (including social workers and Child Welfare Committee members) to reinforce the local child protection system.

The intervention also included light refurbishment of two government facilities to improve the physical environment for service delivery. Throughout implementation, the project promoted inclusivity, gender equity, and sustainability through local ownership and partnerships.

V. Evaluation Objective & Questions:

Tdh seeks to have a regular learning process that would be part of each project cycle, including an ad-hoc basis analysis. An external evaluation would be part of the learning cycle that Tdh seeks in order to have different aspects of the projects by complementing the analysis done during the project cycle with the external evaluation.

Tdh doesn’t aim for a broad general evaluation, rather than a narrow and specific scope evaluation that focus on areas of Impact, and effectiveness. Within those areas, the consultant will have the following objectives:

-           Identifying weaknesses and strengths of the interventions

-           Documenting lessons learned through in-person Lesson learned workshop with relevant stakeholders .

-           Concrete recommendations for strengthening future programming.

The external evaluation should involve all relevant stakeholders, including program staff, implementing partners (BROB), beneficiaries, and others within the evaluation objectives and questions.

After accessing the project data during the desk review and literature reading phase, the evaluator is expected to propose and draft the evaluation methodology that will be reviewed and discussed with the evaluation committee of Tdh.

The evaluator will mainly analyse the following Questions:

• How effective was (CM) and including the case identification method and the process?
• How effective was the Community-based CM in terms of identification and risk level ?
• What challenges has the Com-Based CM encountered ?How they addressed ?
• How impactful was the CLCs establishment and support ?
• What mechanisms are used to ensure the sustainability of CLCs ?
• How effective was the implementing partner (BROB )? How was the quality of work done and the management of challenges faced? What are the recommendations for future projects?
• Was the project gender sensitive ?How female participation considered ?
• What were the significant achievements resulting from the civil documentation support activity? Were the objectives of this activity achieved?
• How successful was the new curriculum of “Youth Resilience Program ?
• How relevant were the capacity-building efforts to the work for the participants including govnorement ?
• How effective was the management of the local partner ?
• How challenges of local partner were addressed ?

VI. Ethical considerations

The evaluator needs to consider ethical and safeguarding considerations including duty of care and Do No harm elements (Confidentiality, Informed Consent, Child safety, etc) The evaluation should also incorporate a gender and diversity approach.

The information collected from the targeted participants of the evaluation could be sensitive due to child protection aspects or the security nature of the participants, this requires an emphasis on the confidentiality of the data collected by the evaluator or enumerators.

VII. Deliverables

The consultant will provide deliverables in a timely manner and in electronic format. Essential deliverables required are:

- The inception report, which will include:

• the detailed suggested methodology highlighting how evaluation questions will be addressed and to whom.
• detailed work plan including risks and limitations analysis.
• draft of data collection tools and the targeted participants and their locations.
• final report outline.

- Data collection

- Draft final report which will include:

• An executive summary
• A table of contents
• An introduction
• evaluation methodology
• narrative report
• The findings of the evaluation include good practices, lessons learned, and recommendations.
• An evidence-based conclusion
• Annexes (terms of reference of the evaluation, data collection tools, consent forms, protocols, tables, graphics, list of desk review references, transcripts, PPT presentation of the findings)
• A PowerPoint presentation of the Report

• learning workshop to share the findings of the evaluation and conduct a reflection exercise with the project team from Tdh and Partner.
• Final report

Reports must be written and submitted in English. Results of this evaluation will be intended for Tdh, partner and for the donor.

VIII.Timeline

IX. Challenges And Recommendations

Challenges:

Collecting case management-related information can be challenging due to the sensitivity and confidentiality of the cases. Additionally, reaching these individuals may not always be permissible, as it is essential to respect their confidentiality and best interests.

Considering that these activities were primarily implemented in vulnerable areas with many illiterate and uneducated individuals, expressing the names of the topics, understanding their impact, or understanding the implementation style could be challenging for them. This may lead to irrelevant or inaccurate information.

Sensitivity of time (as the project is in its final stage) is an important factor of the availability of the project’s staff that will be one of the aspects of data collection in order to achieve the aimed data triangulation.

Recommendations:

• These difficulties in the data collection process will require flexibility in the evaluation methodology to change tools, objectives of evaluation, and resources needed. An example could be depending on Tdh staff to collect data in case of difficulties faced by the data collectors in accessing implementation locations.
• Prioritize to collection of any needed documents or data from project staff before the end of the project period.
• It is essential for the data collectors and focal points of the evaluation to have a clear understanding and be accountable for Tdh child safeguarding policies, as well as the beneficiaries' confidentiality. Additionally, consent should be obtained from any beneficiaries who will be part of this evaluation, ensuring that the beneficiaries clearly understand the purpose of this evaluation and how the information will be used.

X. PROFILE OF CONSULTANT

The consultant (team) must have a strong background in the design, implementation, and evaluation of humanitarian projects. Other requirements are:

• Knowledge of the Middle East, especially the Iraqi context particularly Knowledge in protection and child protection.
• Should have an Iraq visa.
• Demonstrated previous experience in leading humanitarian evaluations, using a range of different evaluation methods (impact evaluation, process evaluation, etc.).
• Experience in working in the humanitarian sector, more specifically on child protection, access to child-friendly justice and/or psychosocial programming Expertise in Humanitarian standards and accountability issues.
• Strong conceptual and analytical thinking
• Excellent communication and writing skills.
• Gender mixed team would be an asset.
• Excellent knowledge of English and Arabic (As per the need, the consultant will have to manage a translator).

XI. APPLICATION AND MANDATORY DOCUMENTS

To be considered, the applicant must submit the following documentation:

• Methodological proposal highlighting understanding of the ToR, the context of the evaluation and the proposed approach to the evaluation tasks.
• A detailed quotation including all cost (in Excel format).
• Letter from the bank confirming the bank account information and mentioning the financial standing.
• A Curriculum Vitae (max. 3 to 4 pages highlighting work experience and qualifications relevant to this consultancy)
• Iraq Visa status/residency/on-arrival visa
• Company's registration and License
• ID card of the representative
• Power of Attorney from the owner of the company to the legal representative (if different)
• Updated Tax compliance certificate
• Litigation history of the company (both court and arbitration cases)
• Full contact details of at least two references from recent clients
• A criminal record extract as required for any staff/contractor working for Tdh
• Two sample evaluation reports highlighting previous experience relevant to this evaluation (Mandatory)
• Passport copy of team leader.
• Up-to-date banking details (only for individual contractors)

Please sign and stamp all the documents you provide.

XII. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY

Tdh team will provide support to the consultants in terms of:

• Responding to inquiries and questions about the task
• Briefing about security conditions
• Facilitate contact with / gathering staff and people to be interviewed.
• Providing equipment/space needed for a kick-off meeting and debriefing session in Tdh office meeting room.
• Providing internet access, printer, and office furniture if needed within Tdh office.
• Providing translation if needed
• Reviewing and commenting on deliverables (inception report, draft report)

The consultant will be responsible for:

• Consulting with Tdh for any inquiries/questions
• Ensuring that the consultant team is aware of security conditions as per Tdh briefing.
• Behave in a culturally, gender, and child-sensitive manner.
• Abide by ethical principles when collecting data from beneficiaries, in particular from children and women (informed consent, confidentiality)
• Develop the data collection tools, test them, and review them upon Tdh recommendation, data collection, data quality assurance, and analysis.
• Prepare quality reports and deliver them as planned in the work plan and schedule.
• Consultant is responsible for ensuring all safety and security considerations for their evaluation team.
• Consultant is responsible for managing all travel and logistics of their team.

All consultant team members are required to sign and abide by Tdh CSP and PSEA Policies. The consultant will be required to adhere to and follow Tdh administrative and logistical regulations and procedures.

XIII. Safety and Security

Everyone is responsible for his/her own safety. Risks can be minimized with some caution and common sense by everyone. However, the Tdh Country Representative has responsibility for security rules. At any given time, all movements and activities outside Erbil must be endorsed by the mission and its security focal points for each sub-office. Visitors and all persons under Tdh contract (employees, trainees, volunteers, contractors, etc.) must comply with the standards and rules of security of the delegation. However, they must also adapt their way of being and acting according to the circumstances to maximize their own safety. They should not rely entirely on the organization: security depends largely on the behaviour of each person. Everyone has an obligation to be consistently informed of the local security situation. In reference to the country security SoPs and security plans for all bases, the evaluator and the evaluation team will be briefed upon their arrival in Iraq and when deployed in Tdh sub-offices. The compliance with Tdh Iraq security rules is mandatory and expected for the entire duration of the evaluation and for every staff, national, and expatriate involved in it.

XIV. Modalities of Payment

Please consider the below information in your price offer that shouldn’t exceed 5000:

1. The Payment term (Before service or after service) in your offer.
2. The payment method (Cash, Cheque, or Bank transfer) in your offer.
3. The offer validity in your price offer.

XV. Application procedure

The interested applicants should submit to the procurement department at the e-mail: XX

1. A technical offer comprising:

• Understanding of the specific objective of the study and the Terms of Reference (ToR).
• Methodology and tools proposed.

2. A letter of Interest highlighting the experience with services related to the consultancy.
3. An updated and detailed CV of the consultant/firm and the team involved.
4. Similar related publications/tools that the applicant has developed.
5. Detailed financial offer, The total cost must not exceed USD 5,000. The financial offer should include a detailed breakdown of costs.
6. All the documentation has been mentioned in the article “Application and mandatory documents”.

Tender's File

680deb7e56c56-external-evaluation-tor.pdf