VAC-13700 National Consultant for Project Mid Term Evaluation

Background & context:

• The conflict in Yemen has brought the economy to a near collapse & made Yemen one of the protracted conflicts has made Yemen one of the poorest & most food insecure countries in the world. The conflict has destroyed livelihoods & the ability to purchase food. This is being compounded by the impact of climate related shocks. The fishery sector provided job opportunities for more than half a million individuals which supported 1.7 million people, forming 18% of the coastal population prior to the conflict. It contributed up to 3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the third most important agricultural sector & second primary source of export earnings before the conflict. Yemen’s fisheries sector holds untapped promise in contributing to the national economy, in which the potential of women is underutilized due to social norms. The conflict has caused severe damage to the entire fishery value chain. Overall, the entire fish supply chain has been massively destroyed.

• The development objective of the project is to strengthen mechanisms for regional collaborative management of fisheries in the RSGA region & improve the effective fishery production & value chain in Yemen. The project will focus on improving economic opportunities, food security & effective management of fisheries production in Yemen promoting the greater involvement & participation of women & the youth in the fishery sector. Its primarily aims to support actions to improve fishery production & quality by reducing post harvest losses & improving climate resilience & access to markets, thus contributing to restoring fishery sector related livelihoods & create economic opportunities for women & men. It will also promote interaction & networks between fishers, micro & small fish processors, wholesalers & retailers to improve access to markets in targeted coastal areas. It will also support developing local governance systems & knowledge to effectively manage fisheries & ensure climate resilience that aligns with the fishery sector strategy of Yemen.

Evaluation purpose, scope & objective:

The Mid Term Review (MTR) aims to inform our client in Yemen, project donor World Bank & its national implementing partners of lessons learned, promising practices, results achieved & areas for improvements. The evaluation will draw out progress towards project deliverables, assess whether the project interventions are being implemented & in the right direction to achieve its intended objectives & goals, conduct SWOT analysis to guide the existing implementation arrangement & any course correction required for the current implementation process & future as well. The evaluation is expected to produce a comprehensive report that provides a detailed assessment in related to the purpose & objectives of this MTR with evidence, lessons learned & best practices. Responding to the Theory of Change (ToC) as described in the project document, the agreed Results & Resource Framework (RRF) & the approved work plans, the MTR is expected to look at the relevance of the project, quality of the project design, effectiveness & efficiency of the implementation to date, sustainability of the overall project results, impact of the intervention & forward looking directions for future. To meet these requirements, MTR will serve the following:

• Assess project performance & progress against the expected outputs, targets including indicators presented in the RRF & contribution to the expected outputs, outcomes.

• Examine the assumptions embedded in the ToC of SFISH & assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, likely impact of the project drawn from its design & implementation, as well as the sustainability of the project interventions.

• Assess the level of satisfaction of beneficiaries & stakeholders with the project results so far.

• Draw the positive, negative, foreseen, unforeseen changes & effects driven by project supported interventions.

• Review & document the success, draw lessons learned & best practices for replication & / or up scaling & provide forward looking recommendations.

• Assess the effectiveness of the project in terms of engagement with the respective local fishery communities / stakeholders, fishery supply chain enablers, fishery business associations & respective fishery national authority including Department of Fishery & Ministry of Fishery

• Identify challenges & the effectiveness of the strategic approaches that project adopted for addressing those challenges.

• Outline recommendations, including potential realignments in scope & approach in line with the project’s outcome.

• Provide forward looking recommendations that contribute to enhancing the implementation process in order to achieve project’s intended goals.

The MTR will examine in particular results at the outputs level with a focus on the overall implementation process & progress towards project targets at the time of the midterm evaluation, covering the period from the project launch. This includes a review of allocated resources for the spent / planned outputs & identification of implementation issues under each Responsible Partner (RP), furthermore at the activity level to pin down any alarming barriers & bottlenecks & come up with recommendations. This will also cover the reassurance of the ToC & results chain envisaged in the project document towards achieving the overall objectives.

Under the lead of the International MTR Consultant the evaluation requires field visits & Key Informant Interviews (KII) with our client & the World Bank staff, RP & the respective local fishery communities / stakeholders covering a representative where SFISH project has a footprint of delivering the project activities, fishery supply chain enablers, fishery business associations & representatives from national fishery authority especially who are directly engaged with the project. Furthermore, it may also require household survey / interviews along with direct observation of project sites where SFISH supported families in livelihood restoration interventions. The evaluation will focus on the following key areas:

• Assess the process of microgrant, matching grants distribution, focusing on the criteria for selection, transparency of the distribution process & the adequacy of the funding amounts.

• Evaluate the impact of microgrants, matching grants on beneficiary enterprises, particularly in terms of business growth, income generation & job creation.

• Analyze the effectiveness of business development services, including training in business management, financial literacy & market access.

• Evaluate the training programs provided, focusing on content relevance, participant engagement & the applicability of the skills learned.

• Assess the outcomes of entrepreneurship programs, particularly their role in fostering sustainable business practices & enhancing participants' entrepreneurial competencies.

• Determine the socio economic impacts of the interventions on the target populations, especially women & youth within the fisheries sector.

• Analyze the scalability & replicability of the SMEPS interventions across other regions or sectors.

• Assess the sustainability of the support, including an evaluation of ongoing support mechanisms & the long term viability of the businesses established.

Methodology:

MTR will apply the standard OECD / DAC criteria using a mixed methods approach, i.e., qualitative & quantitative data collection. This should be further developed by the Evaluator(s) & approved by the Evaluation Manager with the support of Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) during the inception phase of the evaluation. This document therefore envisages a general approach for conducting the evaluation, as well as data sources & tools that will likely yield the most reliable & valid answers to the evaluation questions within the limits of resources. However, final decisions about the specific design & methods for the evaluation should emerge from consultations among the ERG with the support of our clients Evaluation Manager about what is appropriate & feasible to meet the evaluation purpose, objectives & answer the evaluation questions, considering the limitations of budget, time & data. Methodological approaches may include some or all the following:

• Evaluation should employ a combination of both qualitative & quantitative evaluation methods & instruments.

• Surveys & questionnaires including direct & indirect beneficiaries, respective fishery communities with gender balanced (at least 30% female to be engaged during the evaluation survey) & / or surveys & questionnaires to other stakeholders at strategic & programmatic levels (if necessary).

• Field visits & on site validation of key outputs & interventions. The evaluation team is expected to follow a participatory & consultative approach that ensures close engagement with the Evaluation Manager, project team, implementing partners & direct beneficiaries.

• Other methods such as outcome mapping, case study approach, stakeholder analysis / consultations, observational visits, group discussions, etc.

• Data review & analysis of monitoring data & other data sources & methods.

• Ensure maximum validity, reliability of data (quality) & promote use, the evaluation team will ensure triangulation of the various data sources.

• Gender & human rights lens.

• The evaluation process & products need to address gender & disability issues.

Document review of all relevant documentation. This would include a review of inter alia:

• Project document (project proposal).

• Project Operations Manual (POM).

• ToC & RRF.

• Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP & B).

• TPMA reports.

• Quarterly, bi annual & annual progress reports.

• Implementation Support Mission (ISM) report of the World Bank.

• Technical / financial monitoring reports.

• Beneficiary lists.

• Other relevant available documents / reports.

Interviews & meetings:

• Semi structured interviews, based on questions designed for different stakeholders & also evaluation questions around relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impacts & sustainability, environment & climate change related impacts & resilience, gender equality & women’s empowerment.

• Key informant & Focus Group Discussions (FGD's) with fishery beneficiaries, communities & stakeholders with gender balanced.

• All interviews with men & women should be undertaken in full confidence & anonymity.

• The final evaluation report should not assign specific comments to individuals.

The final methodological approach including interview schedule, field visits & data to be used in the evaluation will be clearly outlined in the inception report & be fully discussed & agreed between our client, national implementing RP's & the Evaluators. Under the lead of the international MTR consultant the MTR will be expected to deliver the following:

• The inception report should be carried out following & based on preliminary discussions with our client after the desk review & should be produced before the evaluation starts (before any formal evaluation interviews, survey distribution or field visits) & prior to the country visit / project site visits in the case of national evaluators respectively.

• The evaluation inception report should highlight how (methodology) the evaluation is planning to integrate major gender aspects during data collection & reporting.

• Immediately following an evaluation, the evaluation team will conduct a preliminary debriefing of findings & key critical observations including all relevant cross cutting issues gender, environment & climate change issues.

• Our client & its stakeholders will review the draft evaluation report & provide an amalgamated set of comments to the evaluation team within 10 days, addressing the content required (as agreed in the inception report) & quality criteria as outlined in the evaluation guidelines of our client.

• Comments & changes by the evaluation team in response to the draft report should be retained by the Evaluators to show how they have addressed comments.

• Presentations to stakeholders & the ERG.

• Final MTR report.

This role reports to the line manager.

Evaluation team composition & required competencies:

• The MTR team will consist of experienced multi disciplinary team of Consultant (one International Lead Consultant & two National Consultants Fisheries Development Specialist & Enterprise (Agriculture / Fishery SMEs) Development Specialist) with experience in designing & conducting evaluation for national fisheries development, livelihoods especially in the context of humanitarian & development responses.

• The International Consultant will be the TL & take a lead role during all phases of the evaluation & coordinate the work of all the two National Consultants. S/ he will ensure the quality of the evaluation process, outputs, methodology & timely delivery of all products. The TL in close collaboration with the other evaluation team members, leads the conceptualization & design the evaluation & plays a lead role in shaping the findings, conclusions & recommendations of the report.

• National Consultant will be comprised of two multidimensional professionals in accordance with the nature & structure of the project interventions & will be recruited to work under the leadership of the International Lead Consultant, be responsible for the overall assistance to the Team Leader to implement the evaluation inception guideline including application of all agreed evaluation methodologies to collect, analysis & draft report in line with field findings covering all agreed approaches such as consultations & meetings with selected different stakeholders, FGDs, etc. The National Consultant will contribute substantively to the work of the TL, providing substantive inputs & context in the drafting & finalizing the inception & final evaluation reports. Both the International & National Consultant should have M&E technical knowledge & experience in key critical cross cutting areas such as gender equality, empowerment, environment & climate change impact, disability issues & capacity development.

Key qualifications & experience of consultant:

• Master’s degree or higher in fisheries management, development studies, economics, business administration or a related field.

• Expertise in both quantitative & qualitative evaluation techniques.

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in conducting evaluations, preferably within the fisheries sector or related fields.

• Demonstrated understanding of the socio economic & cultural context of Yemen.

• Proficiency in Arabic, strong report writing & communication skills in English.

Key competencies expected of the consultant for the successful delivery of the milestones:

• Extensive national experience in assessing fisheries development programs or any development related programs.

• Extensive experience on gender equality & women’s empowerment & in conducting relevant studies / research.

• Expertise in applying results & human rights-based approaches for assessing fisheries development projects, entrepreneurship development program, humanitarian response actions / programs.

• Strong familiarity with the national literature & issues related to humanitarian & development contexts.

• Solid knowledge & skill on work in fisheries development or any related projects in Yemen, SMEs development, emergencies & work experience with our client is an advantage.

• Familiarity with the socio cultural context of Yemen & the cultural, political & religious sensitivities relevant to the Yemen crisis.

• Excellent writing & communication skills in English & Arabic, with sufficient experience in applying all required tools & methods for conducting project evaluation in crisis settings including participatory appraisal techniques in data collection, sensitive to gender issues etc.

This role has no team management responsibility.

Evaluation ethics:

• This evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘ethical guidelines for evaluation’. The Consultant must safeguard the rights & confidentiality of information providers, interviewees & stakeholders through measures to ensure compliance with legal & other relevant codes governing collection of data & reporting on data. The Consultant must also ensure security of collected information before & after the evaluation & protocols to ensure anonymity & confidentiality of sources of information where that is expected. The information knowledge & data gathered in the evaluation process must also be solely used for the evaluation & not for other uses with the express authorization of our client & its partners.

Implementation arrangements:

• Our clients Yemen country office will select the consultants through a competitive process in line with their rules & regulations. Our client will be responsible for the management of the evaluation team & will in this regard designate an Evaluation Manager & focal point. Project Manager (PM) with the support of project M&E team will assist in facilitating the whole evaluation process, providing relevant documentation, constituting the ERG, support to conduct selected project site visits / interviews with key informants, reviewing evaluation products stated above etc.

• The Evaluation Manager will convene an ERG comprising of Technical Experts from partners & our client with gender balance to enhance the quality of the evaluation. The reference group will review the inception & the draft evaluation reports, providing detailed comments related to the quality of methodology, evidence collected, analysis & reporting. The reference group will also advise on the conformity of the evaluation process to our client & UNEG standards.

Timeframe for the evaluation process:

• The evaluation is expected to be completed by 20 workdays within three months. Under the lead of the International Consultant, the national evaluation team should propose a timeline to submit the deliverables in their proposals. Necessary & adequate time (at least two weeks) should be allocated for review & quality assurance processes of the deliverables by our clients team & its partners.

• Working day allocation & schedule for the evaluation.

Method of payment:

• Payment is contingent on approval by the Team Leader (TL) of OST & SFISH PM upon satisfactory dispensing of the milestones & it will be paid in the instalments as stated in the deliverable table above.

Institutional arrangements:

The Consultant will take responsibility, with assistance from the PM for setting up meetings & conducting the evaluation, subject to advance approval of the methodology submitted in the inception report. The Consultant will report directly to the designated Evaluation Manager assigned by our client, focal point & work closely with the PM & project M&E team. PM / staff & RP’s staff will not participate in the meetings between evaluation team / Evaluators & project beneficiaries / stakeholders. The evaluation team / Evaluators will work full time & will be required to travel to the project sites as part of the evaluation (unless the situation dictates otherwise). The International Consultant / Evaluator (TL) will work remotely due to access difficulties in Yemen from outside & the National Consultants will work with their own logistical support in Yemen along with capacity to access to the project sites. The Consultant / evaluation team / Evaluators will use their own laptops and cell phone. Our client will develop a management response to the evaluation within two weeks of report finalization.