Terms of Reference for the Final Evaluation of the HelpAge project Leaving no one behind: Improving the inclusion of older men and women with and without disabilities from SYR and JOR into humanitarian response with a focus on health and protection.

1. Background

The aim of this project is to improve the inclusion of most vulnerable groups into humanitarian response by:

• Continued inclusion capacity building to humanitarian actors from (I) NGOs, (2) government and (3) private sector agencies with a focus on protection, health and care.
• Continued provision of technical support to local organizations with regards to the inclusion of OP (older people) and PWD (people with disabilities).
• Establishing safe spaces / age and disability friendly spaces (community centers) through HelpAge (as a model) and other humanitarian actors in Jordan.
• Developing a program of psycho-social activities for OP/PWD groups at the safe spaces.
• Strong and active advocacy work with a health and protection focus within the humanitarian sector in Jordan.

This project is implemented in Jordan and specifically targeting 4 major governorates that host the largest number of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordanians which are concentrated in Irbid, Mafraq, Amman, and Zarqa.

The evaluation of this project is commissioned by HelpAge Deutschland (HAD). The implementing partner on-site is HelpAge International Jordan. The project started on June 1^st, 2019 and is to be finished on June 30^th, 2021. The project’s total turnover amounts to 1.242.550,00 €, (94,85%) being funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AA), and 5,15% funded by HAD, NAK-karitativ and Aktion Deutschland Hilft (ADH).

Current Situation

Jordan currently has 500,000 people aged over 60 (Department of Statistics, 2016), accounting for 5.4% of the Kingdom's total population. According to the Global Age Watch Index, this share will rise to 8.6 and 15.4% respectively by 2030 and 2050. The index, which analyses the factors of social and economic well-being of older people worldwide, lists Jordan in 85th place out of 96 in 2015. While the country is middle ranking in the area of income security (58), the coverage with pension payments (42%) is below the regional average (49%). Other factors such as life expectancy at the age of 60 and access to job opportunities (additional income for retirement, etc.) are also below the regional average.

Since the beginning of the crisis in neighboring Syria, Jordan has taken in a large number of refugees. About 671,579 refugees (as of March 2019) are registered in Jordan, about 140,000 are unregistered (there are also estimates that the number of unregistered refugees is also about 650,000). The refugees thus account for about 15% of the country's total population, which puts great pressure on the country's already scarce resources. 83% of the refugees live outside refugee camps, 28% of them in Amman. About 25,000 (4%) of the registered refugees are 60 years old or older, about 60% of whom are women. In addition, about 19,000 (3%) of the registered refugees are people with disabilities.

After many years of refuge, the impact on the people affected (both refugees and host communities) continues to increase. Poor access to public infrastructure and services, housing, water, sanitation, education and health remains a major problem.

The COVID-19 crisis has affected on the performance of the project specifically during the national lockdown which lasted from March 2020 until the end of June 2020 as it led to a stop of all the field activities. New modalities were used to implement the project activities in this new context such as online awareness-raising/training and phone counseling.  Data collection and monitoring tools were also adapted to keep of activities in the Covid19 context.

Programme Rationale

The project contributes to reduce the extreme suffering among most vulnerable older Syrians and Jordanians and people with disabilities (overall objective).

The project addressed local, national and international organizations, private as well as governmental, to design more inclusive programs. On the other, it works directly with older people and people with disabilities.

Key outcome for the project included:

Outcome 1: The inclusion of most vulnerable Syrians and Jordanians in humanitarian programs is improved.

• Output 1: Knowledge about inclusion related to protection, health and care is available for humanitarian actors.
• Output 2: Safe Spaces and community-based self-support groups are established.
• Output 3: The awareness of stakeholders on protection and inclusion of most vulnerable groups is improved.

Outcome 2: Most vulnerable groups have an improved access to appropriate health services.

• Output 4: Health facilities are more accessible and tailored to OP and PWD.

2. Evaluation Purpose

HelpAge intends to undertake an end-of-project evaluation which marks the preliminary end of the current funding cycle supported by AA on this project. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the overall impact of the program. Specifically, it will look at understanding the impact of the project on the lives of older people affected by humanitarian crisis and identifying what changes that have occurred as a direct result of the project at different levels, and for different stakeholders as well as lessons learned from the project as a whole. Further, lessons shall be drawn on what has worked well.

3. Evaluation Questions

Relevance/Appropriateness

• Are HelpAge´s project activities, their concepts and approaches of intervention appropriate and relevant within the context of capacity development and integration services in the region?
• Do the project activities consider the inclusion aspects of OP and people with disability?
• Have the project activities targeted both refugees and host community’s members?
• Have there been changes to the project context throughout the project period? If yes, how did the management adapt accordingly?

Effectiveness:

• To which extent have outputs, outcomes and objectives of the projects been achieved?
• What changes have occurred as a direct result of the project at different levels, and for different stakeholders, e.g., trainers (master trainers), trainees, humanitarian actors (national and international organizations), sub grants partners, health service providers, older people, and government participants?
• To what extent have trainings contributed to improve the protection and inclusion of vulnerable group (OP and PWD) in other INGOs, local NGOs and government agencies during the project?
• How sustainable are the changes observed?

• Has the project produced any unintended (negative or positive) effects?

• To which extent has the project impacted through implementation activities indirect beneficiaries?
• Have the OP and PWD benefitted from the PSS activities and other activities in the safe spaces?

Efficiency:

• Are the services and capacity development measures delivered in an efficient way?
• Are improvements necessary in the steering of the project and the cooperation between AA and HelpAge?

Impact:

• To what extent do HelpAge’s´ activities contribute to improve the inclusion of most vulnerable Syrians and Jordanians in humanitarian programs?
• To what extent do the trainings contribute to increase the knowledge about inclusion related to protection, health and care for humanitarian actors?

Coverage

• Are there key gaps in the service delivery of HelpAge´s activities in the region? How is the coverage of the target group in the area?
• Where and how can the HelpAge interventions further improve in regard to coverage?

Connectedness:

• Have structures been built or can be built that can be taken over by other institutions? How is the planned exit-strategy implemented? How is Covid-19 affecting this plan?  To what extent has the local ownership of partners been considered in the implementation of the project?

Coordination:

• Do the HelpAge project activities complement other actors (state, NGOS or international donors) in the region? How is the level of cooperation and coordination between actors?
• What are the coordination challenges that the programme team faced and how were they handled?
• Was there a program outline/structure in place and what is its level of functionality?

COVID-19:

• Has the relevance of the project been affected by the COVID-19 situation? Has HelpAge been able to adapt the programme to maintain its relevance for the target population?
• How did HelpAge Jordan office adapt to the COVID-19 crisis? And were the new methodologies effective in implementing the activities without negative effect on the project’s results?
• Were COVID-19 measures taken by HelpAge efficient?
• How has the COVID-19 situation affected the performance and achievements of the project, both in quantity and in quality?

4.            Sampling/Methodology

The evaluation will employ qualitative and participatory methods. Information will be derived from primary and secondary sources, including a desk review of relevant documents, as well as interviews with key informants and focus groups discussions or individual interviews with project beneficiaries and other stakeholders, including international and national organizations. Interviews and focus-group discussions may be conducted online if field visits are not feasible at the time of the evaluation. Where possible the data should be disaggregated by gender, age bands disabilities, and nationality.

The evaluation should include a variety of views from different stakeholders and levels including:

• Older men and women with and without disability (Syrians and Jordanians).
• Recipients of TOT and training programs.
• Representatives from partner organizations.
• Representatives from national and local NGOs with a link to the program.
• Representatives from health service providers.
• Representatives from the broader humanitarian community.
• HelpAge Staff

Full details and contacts of all relevant program beneficiaries and contacts will be provided to the chosen consultant.

5.            Outputs

The outputs for this ToR will be:

• Inception Report to propose research framework and methodology and data collection tools.
• Interviews with HAI Program Staff.
• Interviews with local partner’s/ field visits.
• Interviews with TOT candidates/ and others who attended trainings.
• Interviews with NGOs and health service providers that received in kind grants and technical support.
• Field data collection and/or participation in project event as necessary.
• Present draft findings and recommendations to project stakeholders.
• Prepare draft evaluation report for comments by the donor and the implementing agency.
• Prepare and submit final evaluation report, including recommendations and an executive summary.

HelpAge will require a full evaluation report in English language written in clear non-technical language, making use of clear examples and case studies where possible and include and highlight the voices of older people who have been part of the project.

The structure of the report will be agreed during the discussion about the research framework and methodology.

6.            Time requirements and duration

The final evaluation report should be presented no later than July 15, 2021. The consultant is expected to present a time plan with his offer.

7.            Indicative budget

HelpAge is looking for Expressions of Interest (see Section 8) for this assignment including all costs e.g., consultant fee, subsistence allowances and miscellaneous travel expenses.

8.            Qualifications/requirements of consultant

HelpAge anticipates hiring a single consultant, consultant team or agency with the following qualifications.

• B.A. or above in a field highly relevant to the nature of the study (e.g. community development, social science, economics)
• Familiarity with the region and humanitarian context.
• proven experience in qualitative research methods and in the evaluation of training development and technical assistance projects relevant to the themes covered by this project.
• strong communication skills, proficient in working across all levels of institutions with experience of conducting interviews sensitively in a range of contexts.
• excellent report writing skills in English.
• understanding of issues relating to ageing especially on older people in humanitarian context.
• impartiality towards HelpAge and its partners in Jordan.

9. How to apply

Interested consultants are invited to submit an Expression of Interest for delivery of the assignment. The short Expression of Interest should include:

• a cover letter: A short cover letter addressing the selection criteria above.
• Proposed methodology and any comments on TOR and Research Proposal.
• Financial proposal: The financial proposal should provide cost estimates for services rendered including daily consultancy fees.
• Financial payment is subject to 5% income tax deduction.
• Clear work plan including output/deliverable and time frame for each stage of the project.
• Costing of each aspect (including day rates and any additional costs).
• The applicant’s CV (maximum 3 pages) outlining his/her experience.
• Examples of relevant studies previously produced.
• Contact information for 2 professional references.

Selection of the consultant will be done by a HelpAge project committee and based on the experience of the consultant, the quality and relevance of the expression of interest, and the proposed budget. Selection will be based on value for money, within resources available. Final negotiated fees will be specified in the consultancy contract.

The deadline for submission is midnight (Jordan time) on the 19^th of May, 2021. Please submit your application to Ms. Rawan Shbeilat: rawan.shbeilat@helpage.org

The Evaluator assents that they will not at any time, either before or after the termination of this service, use, disclose or communicate to any person confidential information relating to the program, databases, staff, partners, and donor work, except insofar as disclosure is required in providing the services, or in respect of which HelpAge has given prior consent in writing. This restriction shall continue to apply after the termination of the service without limit in point of time.