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Consultant, INVEST Ghana Mid-Term Evaluation

JOB SUMMARY
Company	World Univers...
Industry	NGO/IGO/INGO
Category	International...
Location	Accra
Job Status	Contractor/Co...
Salary	GH¢
Education	Qualified
Experience	10 years
Job Expires	Aug 12, 2022
Contact	...

Company Profile

WUSC (World University Service of Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of students, volunteers, schools, governments, and businesses who share this vision. Together, we develop solutions in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to overcome inequality and exclusion for youth around the world, particularly young women and young refugees. WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million. We have over 90 staff in our Ottawa office, and over 200 people overseas implementing 16 development projects in collaboration with donors such as Global Affairs Canada, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Mastercard Foundation and the African Development Bank.

Job Description

Terms of Reference

INVEST Ghana Mid-Term Evaluation

ASSIGNMENT MID TERM EVALUATION/REVIEW
LOCATION ACCRA, KUMASI, AND SEKONDI-TAKORADI
REPORTS TO INVEST MERL TECHNICAL ADVISOR
DURATION 38.5 WORKING DAYS
BUDGET GHC 75,400.00
EXPECTED START DATE 2nd SEPTEMBER, 2022

Introduction

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a leading Canadian non-profit organization in international development, committed to building a more equitable and sustainable world. We work with a unique and powerful network of post-secondary institutions, private-sector partners, and volunteers to provide education, employment, and empowerment opportunities that improve the lives of millions of disadvantaged youth around the world.

In April 2020, WUSC was awarded an $8.5 million grant by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to deliver the Innovation in Non-traditional Vocational Education and Skills Training (INVEST) project for women in Ghana. The INVEST project is a 5-year collaborative involvement (2020-2025) that will build sustainable pathways to enhance economic empowerment, well-being, and inclusive growth for 5,000 urban poor young women in Accra, Kumasi, and Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana. These are the three largest urban centers in Ghana representing a total population of approximately 6.5 million people, or one-quarter of the population of Ghana (Ghana Statistical Service, 2010). By working in these geographies, INVEST will reach a greater proportion of the Ghanaian population and will address the specific barriers and needs faced by urban women. INVEST aligns with Ghana's Vision 2020 for economic growth and poverty reduction, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 (gender equality and empowerment, SDG 8 (decent work for all), Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) action area on growth that works for everyone and Whistler Principles to accelerate innovation for development impact.

Background

The ultimate goal of the INVEST project is to enhance economic empowerment, well-being, and inclusive economic growth for women in Accra, Kumasi, and Sekondi -Takoradi. The INVEST project will test and scale innovative, sustainable models to enhance economic empowerment, well-being, and inclusive economic growth for women in Ghana. It will do so by improving the enabling environment, reducing gender-specific barriers to women's economic participation, and enhancing access to decent work for marginalized women in high-growth, non-traditional sectors. Using an inclusive market systems (IMS) approach, the project will INVEST in women, institutions, and the labor market system of high-growth sectors to achieve transformative change that is sustainable and scalable. A wide array of stakeholders on both the supply and demand sides of the labor market will be engaged throughout the project cycle. This integrated, holistic approach will contribute to reducing the multiple dimensions of poverty experienced by urban poor young women. Key aspects include: supporting women's full participation in economic decision-making and leadership; promoting women's equal access to finance; improving technical and vocational education and training (TVET) for women; motivating industry to hire, retain and promote women; and improving the ability of women to participate and exercise their rights in the workforce.

As per the design of the project, INVEST is seeking a qualified consultant or a small team of consultants to conduct a Mid-term Evaluation for the INVEST project, with the main objective of drawing learnings that can inform the second half of the project implementation. A final evaluation is to be undertaken before the closing of the project, towards the end of 2025.

Purpose, objectives, and intended use of the Mid-Term evaluation

The Midterm evaluation will be carried out as both a formative and performance evaluation. The purpose of the external Midterm evaluation is to conduct an evidence-based and highly consultative reflection on the INVEST project in order to assess progress on the set outcomes and targets thus far in the project, put in any corrective measures as needed to achieve the set targets and outcomes, and to enhance quality project performance and learning going forward. This forms part of WUSC's process of objectively reviewing and contributing to accountability and learning within the organization. Furthermore, the results of the evaluation will inform the development of the new operational approach and enhance WUSC's ambition of becoming an influencing hub going forward.

The Key Objectives of the Mid-term Evaluation are as follows:

Provide key learning and inputs to the INVEST team and project partners, as well as WUSC and Global Affairs Canada regarding the implementation of the first half of the project, focusing on what works, what does not, what needs to be improved, threats, opportunities, weaknesses, and strengths, and the factor behind performance;
Assess or test the validity of assumptions underpinning the Project’s interventions;
Assess the contextual relevance, inclusivity, quality, coherence, effectiveness, accountable and potential for sustainability and scalability of the INVEST project;
Provide recommendations on project design, interconnection/linkages between result areas, interventions and processes with a view to improving performance during the second half of project implementation (2022 - 2025).

The main expected users of the evaluation are the following:

INVEST team and WUSC (Ghana and globally);
Global Affairs Canada, as the main funder of the INVEST project;
Partner organizations under the IWEEG portfolio (these include WEE-North, WISE project)
Implementing partners and key stakeholders of the INVEST project, including CTVET, NVTI, TVET Training providers, Ghana Chamber of Construction and incubation hubs, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

The formative component of the mid-term evaluation will inform the implementation of the remainder of the INVEST project. The findings and recommendations may potentially serve as input for Global Affairs’ new programming cycle in Ghana and globally.

Scope of Midterm Evaluations

The Midterm evaluation will look at the INVEST project since its inception in August 2020. It will primarily focus on the output and immediate results/outcomes of the project. The evaluation will be conducted in Ghana in the three target cities of Accra, Kumasi, and Sekondi-Takoradi. The consultant will be expected to lead in the execution of surveys, case studies, and key informants interviews with the WUSC INVEST team.

The INVEST team is expected to carry out key informant interviews with selected stakeholders and implementing partners. The INVEST team will also carry out the focus group on community participants as well as the gender analysis component of the evaluation. The evaluation will build upon the findings of the initial labor market and gender assessments that were conducted during program design and implementation to tell a complete story of the project's starting point conditions, context, and relevance.

Evaluation Criteria and questions

In general, the evaluation criteria will be the framework for the formative mid-term evaluation. However, the focus will be on five criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, accountability, and sustainability), reflecting the timing, objectives, and scope of the mid-term evaluation. Evaluation questions will be provided for guidance and collectively reviewed and refined during the inception period, in close consultation with an identified consultant(s), the INVEST project team, and selected key stakeholders.

The formative mid-term evaluation is expected to respond to the following questions:

RELEVANCE

To what extent are INVEST interventions addressing/meeting the needs and capacities of project participants?Project participants include ( targeted women supported with academic scholarship, women linked to employment, female entrepreneurs receiving business development support, women supported to enroll in market-relevant skills training, and women linked to mentorship and apprenticeship opportunities)
To what extent are INVEST interventions relevant to the knowledge, capacities, strategies and role of key partners in the project?
To what extent are the interventions relevant to the geographic locations where the project is being implemented?

COHERENCE

To what extent is the INVEST project coherent (internally), especially considering the number of implementing partners and the interlinkages between their respective results areas, in achieving a united/common goal?
To what extent is the INVEST project coherent (External) with Ghana’s Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework, and Global Affairs Canada’s Innovation for Women Economic Empowerment Portfolio in Ghana(IWEEG) to tackle unemployment in the country?

EFFECTIVENESS

To what extent has the project achieved desired outputs/outcomes thus far?
What are the variations in implementation and quality of the interventions? What works, what does not, and why?What needs to be improved?
What are the major factors (barriers and bottlenecks) influencing the achievement or limiting our achievement of the results so far?
To what extent have the barriers/bottlenecks been reduced or mitigated and how were they addressed?
How did the project respond to barriers/bottlenecks, threats, and opportunities?
To what extent have interventions (strategies) been adapted or adopted to be more impactful and beneficial to the project participants?
To what extent are the needs and expectations of youth and women being met to ensure empowerment, inclusive, decent, and sustainable employment opportunities?
To what extent have the project activities benefitted the youth and women in terms of empowerment, inclusive, equitables access to decent and sustainable employment and participation in the labor market?
Are there any early indications of systems change?"

EFFICIENCY:

How has the inclusive market system (IMS) approach facilitated complementarities and coherence with partners, global priorities, and donor initiatives/policies?

ACCOUNTABILITY

How have we remained accountable for our commitment to gender equality, diversity, inclusion, decision-making, agency, and empowerment of youth and women?

SUSTAINABILITY

• To what extent are sustainability considerations being integrated into project implementation?
• To what extent has the project strengthened the capacities of direct partners and stakeholders?
• Which interventions of the project are likely to be sustainable and replicable? Why or why not?
• What policy, strategy, partnership, managerial and financial changes are needed to sustain and scale project services and interventions after the end of the project cycle?

GENDER EQUALITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION ANALYSIS

To what extent has project interventions influenced women’s ability to make informed choices and decisions about their lives?
To what extent has project interventions supported marginalised women access market relevant skills to fit into the economic male dominated trades?
How has project interventions addressed women’s access and control over resources for their economic development.
To what extent are project interventions supporting to influence, shift and change social norms and public perceptions (at industry and community levels) to promote women’s participation in traditionally male dominated trades and support the advancement of women’s economic empowerment.
To what extent are project interventions addressing women’s human rights laws and their participation in decision making processes?
To what extent has project interventions influenced workplace and institutional systems, policies, laws and practices towards women empowerment?
To what extent has project interventions supported public and industry attitude towards women’s economic participation in high-growth and non-traditional sectors

LESSONS LEARNED

What lessons learned, best practices, intended and unintended consequences, can we draw and use for current and future programming, in terms of:

Strategies to be applied,
ways of working,
partner selection, relationships, gender equality and social inclusion,
program design and development of strategies
project implementation
Ongoing monitoring and evaluation
Mainstreaming of gender equality and social inclusion throughout all project activities?
Partner selection, nurturing partner relationships, partner accountability, partner evaluation and partner exit strategies (for non-performing partners) How do we conduct our due diligence?
Risk and Accountability and learning processes
Documentation of best practices and lessons learned

Approach and Methodology

The consultants are expected to employ a mixed-methods approach, although it is expected that the focus will lie more on qualitative research methods. The consultants should begin with desk reviews of relevant project documents/reports as well as applicable Government of Ghana and Global affairs Canada materials. The fieldwork should, among others, include qualitative and participatory research

approaches, such as Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), case studies, and observations.

Participants shall include INVEST Staff/Team members, the Deputy Director of Technical service WUSC-Global, implementing partners, project intermediaries, direct and community participants, CTVET, NVTI, and companies hosting interns. The evaluation team must ensure that a variety of perspectives and opinions are heard and considered – this particularly includes the perspectives of youth and women. Tentatively, the following methods are recommended for consideration by the evaluation team:

KIIs-- with INVEST Staff, INVEST Project Director, WUSC-Canada Deputy Technical Director, CTVET, Implementing partners (Farm Radio International, Ghana Chamber of Construction, Abantu for Development, organizations hosting interns), Municipal Assemblies

FGDs-with Female participants of business competition, women matched to employment, and community participants (parents and community leaders)

Survey- Graduates of TVET training, female apprenticeship graduates and the first cohort of scholarship participants

A case study of 1 advocacy innovation grant organization to assess: how they implement the project; their processes, approaches, and tools; the challenges they encounter; and good

practices deployed by the organization.

A case study of 1 Male engagement partner to assess: how they implement the project; their processes, approaches, and tools; the challenges they encounter; good practices

deployed by the partner.

A case study of the Job referral system to assess: how they implement the project; their processes, approaches, and tools; the challenges they encounter; and good

practices deployed by the organization.

The evaluation team will have access to INVEST’s M&E data. It is expected that most of the quantitative analysis can be based on the available M&E data. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations will be validated through a workshop with major stakeholders at a location to be determined and communicated by the project. Any fieldwork must mitigate any and all risks related to COVID-19. This should be clearly spelled out in the technical proposal to ensure the safety and protection of our project participants and consultant(s) as well.

WUSC Roles and Responsibilities

To provide relevant documentation and answer the Consultant's questions throughout the period of the mandate.
To mobilize the necessary team to support the consultant and designate a person responsible for the file at WUSC.
To provide the Consultant with feedback/comments on the various documents produced, according to the approved work plan.
To provide the Consultant with any support deemed necessary in the accomplishment of this mandate.
To lead in development age, gender-sensitive, (at a minimum), transformative (where possible), and inclusive data collection tools
Conduct key informant interviews with identified relevant stakeholders

Consultants’ Roles and Responsibilities

Refine and finalize the evaluation questions, and detail them with sub-questions as appropriate, in close collaboration with the INVEST team;
Prepare an inception report that outlines the approach to be taken during the evaluation and the deliverables to be produced;
Review project documents (PMF, Logic Model, M&E plan, Indicator performance sheet) and other relevant sources of information; conduct background/desk research, as appropriate;
Conduct surveys with key stakeholders, including project participants, particularly direct participants (scholarship recipients, recipients of BDS, women linked to employment, etc.);
Conduct case studies on Job referral system, one male engagement partner and one advocacy innovation partner
Conduct focus groups for community participants across three cities
Conduct key informant interviews with INVEST Project team
Review the project’s M&E Result framework and data collection tools and provide recommendations for improvement, as needed;
Demonstrate independence and objectivity by relying on a variety of sources of information and ensuring a variety of stakeholders from all groups are heard and involved in the planning, review, and decision-making process;
Demonstrate good research and evaluation practices per GAC guidelines;
Present the draft mid-term evaluation report to key stakeholders for validation and feedback
Compile a draft mid-term evaluation report, as well as a final report, incorporating all comments from the INVEST team and key stakeholders (see also point 9, deliverables)
Submit all raw data collected.

7.0 Timelines and Estimated Level of Effort

The mid-term evaluation is scheduled to start on the 2nd of September 2022. The mid-term evaluation is expected to be concluded at the latest by the 16th of December 2022. The table below provides a summary of the key milestones, as well as a tentative timeline and estimated level of effort.

Required Skills or Experience

The Lead consultant will have the following qualifications:

Minimum of 10 years of experience in administering evaluation studies, collecting data, and producing quality evaluation study reports, preferably for international non- international non-profit organizations or multilateral agencies. Experience administering studies in Ghana is a plus.
Demonstrated experience in designing evaluation studies, including proven experience in sound sampling, mixed methods approaches (quantitative and qualitative), tool development, enumerator training, etc.
Excellent knowledge in the use of digital data collection and analysis tools.
Excellent facilitation skills and ability to recruit and manage facilitators for the qualitative component;
Demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis
Knowledge and experience of the TVET sector and economic opportunities for women in Africa (experience in West Africa and Ghana specifically preferred)
Knowledge and experience in gender equality issues that impact the sector are highly desired.
Fluency in English is mandatory and knowledge of Twi, Fante, and Ga is an asset
Ability to produce high-quality work under tight timeframes

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