Consultant - Baseline Evaluation at Mercy Corps (Lagos & Kano)

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant - Baseline Evaluation

Locations: Kano and Lagos
Employment Type: Contract

Program to be Evaluated

• Mercy Corps just completed the implementation of the Girls Improving Resilience Through Livelihoods and Health (GIRL-H) program, a three-year (October 2020 – December 2023), multi-country program. Under the program, we improved the well-being of adolescent girls, boys, and young people by increasing their access to skills and knowledge, health resources, formal education, and economic opportunities. GIRL-H also fostered an enabling environment by working with communities to transform unhealthy social norms and create opportunities for girls to access education and economic opportunities. GIRL-H was implemented in Kanya, Uganda, and Nigeria reaching over 70,000 participants. The program is currently expanding to South Sudan.
• The program's overall goal is to improve wellbeing and increased access to educational, economic, and civic engagement opportunities, contributing to individual resilience amongst adolescents and young people.
• The following are the specific objectives:
  • Objective 1: Adolescents and youth in the GIRL-H program use life skills and social capital for improved well-being and personal agency.
  • Objective 2: Adolescent girls, boys and young women have increased access to educational opportunities, safe economic livelihoods, and/or civic engagement.
  • Objective 3: Public, private, and civil sectors foster an enabling environment in which girls are valued to access their human rights and exercise their personal agency.
• GIRL-H has recently secured a one-year bridge funding (Jan to Dec 2024) that will consolidate the work done in the last three years. The program will focus on three key pillars including Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC), Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), and Financial Inclusion (FI).

Purpose of the Evaluation

• The process of developing the Baseline Study is part of the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (MEL Plan), which provides an early opportunity for program, and it’s implementing partners to collaborate and begin putting in place a results-based monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plan for their program. The purpose of the GIRL-H baseline study is to help key program stakeholders focus on achievement related to a limited set of expected outcomes; and to empower them to collaboratively measure and review these outcomes.

Aligned with this purpose, the baseline study is designed to achieve four specific objectives:

• To support a better understanding of the implementation context for the GIRL-H Program at the onset of the program
• To help validate the assumptions in the project’s Theory of Change (ToC) and targets of the indicators in the program’s Indicator Performance Plan
• To establish starting points or baselines for all indicators in the Performance Management Plan, suggesting revisions in their formulation if the need emerges; and,
• To provide recommendations for the implementation of the results-based monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plan for the program.
• To further enrich the baseline by answering the following key program learning questions.

Key evaluation questions

• The specific baseline values must be provided for all indicators in the Performance Management Plan as early as possible in the program’s lifecycle. Baseline data is intended to inform the establishment of realistic and achievable targets, provide a point of reference against which progress on or towards the achievement of outcomes can be monitored and evaluated, and provide suggestions for the review of indicators if and where necessary. Baselines provided in the Performance Management Plan must be accompanied by narrative to explain how this starting point data was collected, analyzed, and validated. In the MEL Plan, this narrative includes an explanation of baseline data limitations at the onset of program implementation, and how these gaps will be dealt with as part of the program’s first-year work plan.

Rationale

• Mercy Corps commits to measuring the performance of the programme by laying a solid baseline, monitoring and measuring progress in achieving the set outcomes and assessing achievements and results at the program's mid-term and end.
• Mercy Corps wants to ensure that baselines, outcome monitoring, reviews, and evaluations are timely, of good quality, and useful for programme improvement. Mercy Corps is keen to collate evidence on the impacts of its programmes and document lessons learned for programme improvement. As such, Mercy Corps has been very keen to plan, think through critical monitoring, review, and evaluation processes and decide on how they will be implemented right from the design stage of the GIRL-H programme.

Background & Relevant Documents

• The GIRL-H programs build on the work already done by the GIRL-H 1.0, Livestock Market System (LMS) program, the USAID funded Apolou program, and the FCDO funded Educating Nigerian Girls in New Enterprises (ENGINE) program respectively. The program includes LMS, Apolou and ENGINE participants, among others.

The programme has been implemented in partnership with the following partners:

• WASDA in Wajir County
• MDPI in Isiolo County
• SAPCONE in Turkana County
• PGI in Garissa County
• NAROWA in Kotido District
• KAPDA in Kaabong District
• IWEI in Kano State (Consider Lagos)

Scope and Methodology of the Baseline
The following elements should guide the design and implementation of this baseline study:

• The study should consciously apply research methods that are gender and youth-sensitive and highlight participatory approaches.
• The geographic scope of the study will be aligned with the targeted areas, partners, households, and individuals targeted by the project as laid out in the program description. Purposive and typical-case sampling can be used to assure that the scope of the study is consistent with the budget and timeline available.
• The data collection approaches, and specific tools used to establish indicator baselines should be adapted to assure the appropriateness and reliability of the data collected.
• Outcomes, indicators, and data collection methods for each indicator, are included in the project’s draft Indicator Performance Plan (available upon contracting). The Consultant will be expected to review this Indicator Performance Plan with key project stakeholders and provide suggestions for revision of indicators. The project has a list of indicators that are presented in below. The baseline study is expected to collect data for these measures and for all other indicators in the Performance Management Plan. The final, integrated baseline study report produced by the Consultant will be expected to provide specific suggestions on how the project’s draft Performance Management Plan could be improved, and how the indicators might need to be adjusted.

Key Outcomes

• Outcome1: Increased financial inclusion (products and services) among targets demographics
• Outcome2: Increased participation and positive transformation in economic activities and civic engagement for GIRL-H Participants
• Outcome 3: Establishment of collaborative partnerships with private sector and government entities resulting in enhanced resources, influence, and support for transitions by GIRL-H Initiatives.

Evaluation Design
Evaluation Questions:

• Articulate clearly the main questions the evaluation will have to answer to supply the information described in section 2 above. Aim for three to six questions, and no more than ten.

Evaluation Methodology:
Specify the overall design strategy to answer the evaluation questions and provide a plan for collecting and analyzing the data.

• Describe the overall design approach, such as a quasi-experimental approach, a comparison against a theory of change, etc.
• Outline the methods to be used to answer the evaluation questions, and the expected level of rigor.
• Use the Data Methodology Checklist to guide your planning of data collection and analysis.
• Define data requirements such as disaggregation.
• Define requirements for addressing alternative explanations and unintended outcomes.

Description of Deliverables
Consultant Activities:

• The baseline study will include four key phases: contracting, design of the inception report, data collection, and data analysis/report writing.
• After successfully completing the contracting process, the Consultant will immediately organize an initial round of consultations with key stakeholder representatives, as well as complete an initial document review to better understand the program and its needs.
• The Consultant will use this inception phase to assure a consensus on the baseline study’s design, outline the methodology for the study, and develop the data collection tools. Following this, the Consultant will begin data collection activities resulting in baseline data sets for each indicator in the Performance Management Plan.
• After data collection is completed, the report writing phase will consist of data analysis and consolidation, completing the updated Performance Management Plan, providing recommendations on targets whenever appropriate, and exchanging with Mercy Corps Program Performance and Quality team and Program Manager to refine the final report.

Required Experience & Skills:

• Lead consultant must demonstrate a minimum of 10 years of experience in administering studies, collecting data, and producing quality baseline/end line study reports, preferably for Market Systems Development approach for international non-profit organizations or multilateral agencies;
• Demonstrated experience in designing baseline and end line studies including proven experience in sound sampling, mixed methods approach (quantitative and qualitative), tool development, enumerator training, etc.;
• Demonstrated experience in designing studies and is familiar with socio-economic context of ASAL areas of Kenya and Uganda
• Excellent facilitation skills and ability to recruit and manage facilitators for qualitative component;
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis;

Selection Criteria:

Consultant Information to be submitted

• Evidence of similar work conducted in Kano & Lagos Context.
• Concept note with workplan of not more than five pages.
• CV of Consultant
• Budget summary of total cost

Timeframe / Schedule:

• The baseline study should be completed within a maximum of 20 working days from the commencement of the task. The consultant should submit the detailed breakdown of the assessment timetable based on the following major activities as a guideline or suggestion:

The Consultant will report to:

• The baseline study will be managed by the GIRL-H Research and Evidence Lead with close collaboration with Mercy Corps Program Performance and Quality Team. A more exact consultative and decision-making management structure with clear roles and responsibilities will be determined during the inception phase of the study.

Payment Terms

Safeguarding & Ethics:

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in designing, monitoring, and evaluating our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves professionally and respect local laws, customs, and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Application Closing Date
28th April, 2024.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Application documents to: [email protected] using "Consultant for Baseline Evaluation" as the subject of the mail.

Note

• All Consultants should send the below documents:
  • Evidence of similar work conducted in Kano & Lagos Context.
  • Concept note with work plan of not more than five pages.
  • CV of Lead Consultant and other Consultants
  • Budget summary of the total cost
• The duration of the assignment begins when the consultant signs onto the consultancy.