The third-party consultant/s will work on evaluating all aspects of the project throughout its implementation, covering in the process both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Consultant should give due attention to both components of programme (Empowerment Grants and Islamic Microfinance) in addition to the capacity development component. The evaluation should cover the following aspects:
Relevance
This aspect should address the following issues:
- The relevance of the design of the programme and its mechanisms to the Palestinian Context
- The relevance of the interventions to the needs of the poor, especially targeted households
- The relevance of the capacity development component with the needs of the partner organisations
Efficiency
This aspect should address the use of resource to achieve the desired results. Specifically, the following issues should be covered:
- The methodology, mechanisms, regulations and tools used in the programme
- The human and institutional capacity development programmes
- The expertise that have been solicited for the benefit of the programme
Effectiveness
This aspect should cover the success of the programme in achieving the desired results. In this context, the following issues should be addressed:
- The success of the programme in targeting poor households in its activities.
- The success of the programme in developing and establishing income generating activities through economic empowerment grants.
- The success of the programme in supporting the beneficiary households in establishing and developing income generating activities through Islamic microfinance.
- The success of the programme in developing mechanisms and a methodology in poverty alleviation that is compatible with the Palestinian context.
- The success of the microfinance institutions in applying the methodology of the programme.
- The success of the programme in developing the capacity of partner organisations to achieve the desired results.
- The effectiveness of the different types of interventions applied by partner organisations and MFIs.
- The adherence of the fieldworkers to the regulations and procedures established in the Operations Manual and their motivations and experience.
- The extent to which the procedures adopted during the design of the interventions have taken into consideration the specific and general context of the beneficiaries and the expertise of the partner NGOs.
- The extent to which the procedures adopted in this programme are inline with transparency and integrity standards.
- The extent to which the database provides credible data that enables informed decision making.
Impact
- The positive social and economic impacts of the programme on the beneficiaries.
- The negative impacts of the programme on the beneficiaries if there is any.
- Identifying of the unplanned impacts of the programme.
Sustainability
- The extent to which income generating activities, especially those which are older than 6 months are sustained. What are the prospects that these activities will be sustained in the future?
- Has the capacity of the partner organisations been developed in a manner that leads to a transformation in their interventions in poverty reduction?
- The extent to which the methods and models developed through the programme present a replicable approach to poverty reduction programmes in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere.
- any additional issues that relate to the sustainability of the impact and outputs of the programme.
Deliverables
The associate consultant, under the lead evaluation consultant supervision, will assist in the evaluation of Gaza based programme activities. While undertaking the review work, the Consultant will perform the work with due diligence, maintain a high level of professional independence and ethical standards, display impartiality, integrity, objectivity, transparency, accountability and fairness and validate data and information using multiple sources, where feasible. In particular, the consultant will be actively engaged in the evaluation in the following areas:
- Data gathering, interviews conducting with implementing agencies and programme beneficiaries and relevant documents revisions.
- Providing local knowledge and input about the programme implementation in Gaza Strip in compliance with the lead Consultant defined areas of inspection.
- Providing input to the work plan and final report.
- Handling logistics related to the evaluation mission.
- Providing translation when needed
The associate consultant, under the lead evaluation consultant supervision, will assist in the evaluation of Gaza based programme activities. While undertaking the review work, the Consultant will perform the work with due diligence, maintain a high level of professional independence and ethical standards, display impartiality, integrity, objectivity, transparency, accountability and fairness and validate data and information using multiple sources, where feasible. In particular, the consultant will be actively engaged in the evaluation in the following areas:
- Data gathering, interviews conducting with implementing agencies and programme beneficiaries and relevant documents revisions.
- Providing local knowledge and input about the programme implementation in Gaza Strip in compliance with the lead Consultant defined areas of inspection.
- Providing input to the work plan and final report.
- Handling logistics related to the evaluation mission.
- Providing translation when needed
