WaterAid Zambia Job Vacancy: Consultancy
Terms of Reference For The End of Project Evaluation For The Expanded Access to Water and Sanitation Project for Rural Areas
Background:
1.1 Introduction
WaterAid Zambia (WAZ) has been implementing its water and sanitation programmes in Zambia since 1994 when it established operations in Monze District. Over the years, WaterAid has worked in Lusaka urban, Monze, Kazungula and Gwembe, Namwala, Kaoma and Mwense, Milenge, Samfya and Nchelenge Districts. There have been limited urban projects predominantly for water supply in Mwense and Kazungula that include Chipili, Lubunda, Lubwe and Mambova water schemes.
WaterAid started working in Zambia in 1994 when poverty levels were estimated at 80% of the 10 million people of Zambia. Poverty levels are now estimated at 67% among 14 million people. The majority of the population (about 62%) reside in rural areas where access to water and sanitation is only about 61% and 48%, respectively. However, the country was targeting 75% and 60% of people with access to safe water and basic sanitation by the end of 2015. Therefore, the country was off-track in meeting MDG targets especially for sanitation. This was mainly due to low investments in WASH particularly towards operation and maintenance of water facilities as 30-40% of water facilities in rural areas were dysfunctional at any point in time. The need for external support was inevitable in contributing towards improving the quality of life of the rural poor. In 2013, WAZ began implementing the “Expanding Access to Water and Sanitation” Project in rural areas supported by the BIG Lottery Fund (BLF) in Gwembe, Kazungula, and Monze Districts. The project comes to an end in March 2017 and an end of project evaluation will be undertaken.
1.2 Project Summary Intervention
The “Expanding Access to Water and Sanitation” project aimed to promote access to safe water and adequate sanitation facilities in rural and marginalised areas in order to promote the health well-being of the most disadvantaged. The project had targeted to support 17,750 direct beneficiaries to access safe water and 22,860 to access adequate sanitation (including women, children, people with disabilities and people living with HIV and AIDS). The project also targeted to support 29,718 people to improve hygiene behaviours and practices.
Purpose:
The purpose of this end of project evaluation is to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the Funds utilisation for implementing expanded access to Water and Sanitation improvements in Gwembe, Kazungula and Monze Districts. The evaluation is expected to provide insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of project interventions and factors that enable and constrained the achievement of results. The end of project evaluation will also include the assessment of the project objectives and results/outcomes and impact, if any. In addition, the evaluation will include questions of sustainability and impact.
Value added from this evaluation is expected to be achieved through lessons learned and recommendations that can be utilized by other WaterAid projects, learning, policy related issues and for advocacy purposes.
Coverage and Scope
The end of project evaluation will cover all the Districts in which the project was carried out: i.e. Gwembe, Kazungula and Monze. The evaluation will make reference to project documents and project design logical frameworks documents (KPIs). The evaluation will address the following questions:
- Activities: How would you rate the overall progress of the project? What have been its main successes and its main weaknesses? What have been the main challenges that the project has faced and how has it overcome them?
- Results: Has the project had any further impact beyond the results outlined in the milestones? Have there been any negative impacts or unintended consequences?
- Lessons: What have been the main lessons that have learnt over the course of the project? And how has WaterAid planned to use them internally and share them with the wider sector
- Finances: Describe the general progress in meeting project budget expectations, and explain any significant variation between the original project budget and how the grant has been spent.
- Sustainability: If WaterAid intended for this project to be sustained after the end of the project, what has WaterAid done to facilitate this? What technical and managerial support is available to communities following project completion? Are partners now better able to implement WASH projects?
- Scalability: If WaterAid intended for this project to be scaled up after the end of the project, what has been done to facilitate this, and what will be done now that the grant has come to an end?
Approach and Methodology
The end of project evaluation process will be participatory involving WAZ staff, partners and communities working in Gwembe, Kazungula and Monze Districts. It is expected the following processes may take place.
1. Preparatory phase
Step 1: Inception Meeting
Inception Meeting between the Consultant and WAZ to clarify details in the Inception Report (if any) and Financial Proposal as well as agree on objectives, deliverables, key documents to review, tools to apply, the implementation plan/schedule and data analysis methods and tools to be applied.
Step 2: Literature Review
Literature review of all key documents most of which will be provided by WAZ although the Consultant will be expected to explore other key documents to review especially national plans and strategies particularly those related to WASH and equity and inclusion.
Step 3: Refining of Tools
The Consultant will develop a set of relevant tools for respective evaluation participants. The tools should include Focus Group Discussion Guides, Key Informant Interview Guides, questionnaire, Observation Form and checklist of questions for discussions with WAZ staff and partners.
2. Field Work
To collect diverse and comprehensive data, a variety of data/information collection methods and tools are proposed. These include:
- One-to-one meetings with key stakeholders to be proposed by the Consultant and included in the inception report
- Discussions with WaterAid and partner staff
- Key Informant Interviews with Central and Local Government staff in the Ministries of Local Government and Housing, Education, Health and Finance as well as other relevant stakeholders
- Semi-Structured Interviews and Focus Group Discussions with communities and schools
- Direct observations of physical infrastructure supported by WAZ, outputs and where possible implementation approaches to be captured using an appropriate tool(s)
3. Data Cleaning and Analysis
With reference to the data analysis methods and tools agreed during the inception meeting, the Consultant may support data cleaning and undertake thorough analysis of the findings for plausible interpretation and incorporation in the report.
4. Report Writing and Feedback
The Consultant will, in addition to presenting written reports, provide verbal reports on the progress being made during the end of project evaluation as and when requested by WAZ. In addition s/he will be expected to contribute towards producing a professionally written report with clear recommendations and lessons.
Time frame
The end of project evaluation exercise will take a total of 25 days beginning 1st March 2017
Logistics
WAZ will provide logistical support by allocating a vehicle and driver, meet accommodation costs and provide daily out of pocket allowance during the field work activities in Gwembe, Kazungula and Monze. WAZ will provide information on key field based evaluation participants. The Consultant will however be expected to schedule his/her appointments with various participants.
Consultant (s) Qualifications, Experience and Skills
The Consultant should have minimum qualification of a Bachelor’s Degree preferably in Social Sciences and WASH sector experience and must have experience undertaking Consultancy work in research, baselines and evaluations for not less than 5 years.
The Consultant should have relevant experience and skills in the following key areas:
- Analysing Country Programme M&E systems in WASH programmes
- Using participatory methodologies to collect data, planning and evaluating WASH programmes
- Using advanced data analysis software
- Quantitative and qualitative data analysis
- Extensive report writing
- Should be able to speak/understand local languages
- Good presentation skills
Reporting
The Consultant will during the execution of the assignment report to the Country Director – WAZ, through the Head of Programmes.
The report must clearly present findings, conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned with a logical flow between different sections. All components of the report should be based on an informed and critical analysis of collected data and assembled evidence. Any limitations recognised by the evaluation team regarding any aspect of the evaluation process should also be recorded. Annex 1 presents the suggested format for the end of project evaluation report. Annex 2 is the WaterAid evaluation guide.
Please submit a complete financial and technical proposal by Wednesday, February 15, 2017 to:
Natasha Yambayamba (People and Organisational Development Manager)
WaterAid Zambia
37J Leopards Lane, Kabulonga
Postnet No. 81 P/B E891, Lusaka
Tel: +260 211 267 557
Email: [email protected]
And copy in: [email protected]