Background
The complex emergency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan (FATA) has resulted in repeated and long term displacements of populations into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) since 2008This migration crisis reached a peak in April and May 2009, when it was estimated that nearly 3 million people were displaced. Between 2009 and 2011, 66,168 families were displaced from Khyber. In 2013, a further 13,838 families were displaced as a result of a military operation against local militants, and in late 2014, a further 27,867 families were displaced. The situation is compounded by simultaneously occurring military operations in North Waziristan (NWA), which resulted in large displacements into KP, in June 2014. As of January 2015, a total of 277,811 families were living in displacement in KP. Of these, 104,053 originate from Khyber, with the recent influx from the area accounting for 13% of the total. 94,256 IDPs originate from NWA, and the remaining from other agencies in FATA and South Waziristan.[1]
Cesvi, Concern Worldwide and ACTED, which together form the Alliance2015 in Pakistan, have been responding to the humanitarian needs of the affected population with the support of various donors. In April 2014, with funding from ECHO, the Alliance2015 commenced the implementation of their seventh joint project "Integrated humanitarian assistance to address immediate needs of vulnerable communities in Pakistan". The project aims to support the displaced communities in meeting their basic needs and strengthening their resilience to future disasters, through provision of short-term income opportunities, as well as adequate water and sanitation, infrastructure and sound hygiene practices. Specifically the joint intervention is targeting vulnerable communities in the districts of Nowshera, Kohat, Peshawar and DI Khan, which have experienced the strongest influx of displaced people.
By March 2015, the intervention will have provided 203,084 individuals with lifesaving support:24,300 families will have access to new or rehabilitated water and sanitation infrastructure, 11,680 families will have knowledge of sound hygiene practices, 5,850 families will have been engaged with cash-for-work opportunities to support them meet their basic needs upon immediate displacement, as well as endow them with long term skills for income generation. Finally, 490 extremely vulnerable families would have been supported with conditional cash assistance to meet their basic household needs.
An external consultant is being sought to conduct an independent evaluation of the Alliance 2015 7th ECHO funded project to ascertain the impact, effectiveness, relevance/appropriateness. efficiency, connectedness, impact, coherence and coverage of the intervention as per the OECD-DAC criteria. These will help Alliance 2015 members and other key stakeholders to improve the quality of future emergency and early recovery interventions. 1.1 Introduction to Alliance 2015Alliance2015 is a partnership of eight like-minded non-government European organizations working in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. The Alliance members are Cesvi from Italy, Concern Worldwide (Concern) from Ireland, Welthungerhilfe (WHH) from Germany, Hivos from the Netherlands, IBIS from Denmark, People in Need (PIN)from the Czech Republic, ACTED from France and HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation . Out of the seven Alliance2015 members, four agencies are currently operational in Pakistan ACTED, Cesvi, Concern Worldwide and WHH.
Purpose and Objectives of the EvaluationThe overall purpose of the evaluation is to evaluate Alliance2015s project entitled Integrated humanitarian assistance to address immediate needs of vulnerable communities in Pakistan, with a particular emphasis on the effectiveness, relevance/appropriateness and efficiency of the intervention. The evaluation will also address certain question related with the connectedness, coherence and coverage of the intervention as per the OECD-DAC criteria.[2]This will allow the consultant to extract lessons learnt and recommendations to enhance the quality of on-going and future programming by Alliance2015 and other operating units involved in humanitarian action. It should capture achievements of the projects results and indicators, and the short and medium term impact of the action. The evaluation will also assess the extent to which the Alliance2015 partnership and cooperation model has contributed to the effectiveness of the project, and so will document the experiences/lessons learned as a result of adopting this approach.
The major questions to look into throughout the evaluation are as follows:
Impact/Effectiveness:
Efficiency
The evaluation approach to be taken will depend on the nature of the information available to the evaluator and will be developed in detail by the consultancy, and discussed with Alliance2015 partners in its preliminary stages. It will however include at least the following elements:
; It is recommended that Alliance members provide the consultant with data on new IDP arrivals in their area of operations, to also see if the needs were addressed.
DeliverablesThe evaluation products that are expected from the evaluation are as follows:
1. An inception report which contains evaluation objectives and scope, description of the evaluation methodology/methodological approach, data collection tools, data analysis methods, key informants/agencies, reassessment of evaluation question, performance indicators, work plan and reporting requirements. It should include a clear evaluation matrix relating all these aspects.
2. A power point presentation of preliminary findings to Alliance 2015 members and key stakeholders including ECHO. The comments made by key stakeholders should inform the draft report.
3. A draft evaluation report which should be delivered with adequate time to allow stakeholder discussion of the findings and formulation of recommendations.
4. Final evaluation report which should be structured as follows:
The evaluator is expected to identify across the evaluation report examples of best practices in what has worked well and what has not worked well particularly for the following issues:
- Programming and delivery: Process focus. Including mainstreaming gender equality/protection, do not harm principle and accountability. Adherence to the codes
- Nature and quality of the partnerships with the government and other key stakeholders
- Harmonization of approaches among Alliance2015 members
- Logistics, Administration and finance
- Assessments in M&E, Joint Learning opportunities
- Preparedness and development.
Time line for deliverablesThe field phase is envisioned to take place in April, 2015.
Approximate days for the evaluation are given in the table below.
Activity
Number of Man Days
1. Inception report and power point presentation of preliminary findings (3)
2. In-country meetings and data collection/field work, followed by draft evaluation report (20)
3. Final Evaluation Report writing (5)
Total: 28
Management of the EvaluationIn agreement with Alliance 2015 members, ACTED is taking the lead for this consultancy. The consultant/s will report to the Country Director of ACTED, who will ensure proper information flow and participation of the Alliance2015 colleagues.
Consultant (s) Expertise
A team of two people (one External and one national/local evaluator or resource person) from Pakistan) will also be considered, utilizing one national consultant with good local language and gender specific skills, along with the international consultant.
ACTED is a non-governmental organization with headquarters in Paris. Independent, private and not-for-profit, ACTED operates according to principles of non-discrimination and transparency. Our mission is to support vulnerable populations affected by wars, natural disasters and/or economic and social crises, and to accompany them in building a better future; thus contributing to the Millennium Development Goals. ACTED ‘Links Relief, Rehabilitation and Development’ to provide continued support to vulnerable communities as their needs evolve. ACTED has been present in Pakistan since 1993 with assistance ongoing presently in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Azad Jammu Kashmir. The country programme comprises of four key pillars: Pillar 1 – Humanitarian assistance – Through this component, ACTED supports the emergency and early recovery needs of communities following disasters. In recent years this has included support for communities affected by floods, earthquakes and the complex emergency; Pillar 2 – Income generation and sustainable livelihoods – ACTED has extensive experience in this sector including market-oriented vocational trainings, basic skills development, as well as on and off-farm livelihood assistance; Pillar 3 – Social cohesion and access to basic services – ACTED improves access to basic services through a range of measures including support for educational institutions, community infrastructure and local governance. Social cohesion is a key component to ensuring equitable service provision. ACTED’s interventions include the establishment of local representation bodies as well as supporting the rights of women, minorities and marginalized groups; Pillar 4 – Environmental protection and community resilience – This pillar aims to mitigate some of the effects of recurrent disasters, climate change and environmental degradation. Interventions start at a household level, such as construction of fuel efficient