DSW Kenya
Terms
of Reference (ToR)
HAPA End of Project Evaluation
1.
Introduction
DSW
Kenya is a locally registered representative country office of DSW (Deutsche
Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung), an international development and advocacy
organization with headquarters in Hannover, Germany that seeks to empower young
people and communities in low and middle-income countries by addressing issues
of population dynamics and health as a key to sustainable development.
It
is committed to creating demand for and access to health information, services
and supplies and economic empowerment for youth.
We
achieve this by engaging in advocacy, capacity development, and reproductive
health initiatives, so that young people are empowered to lead healthy and
self-determined lives.
DSW
envisions a world where all youth – especially girls and young women – live
free from disease and make independent and informed choices over their sexual
and reproductive lives with full access to sexuality education, health services
and modern contraceptives { DSW 2023-2025 Strategic Plan}.
2. The
Project Background
Young adolescents (YA) and youth between 10 and 19 years comprise 23.7 percent of Kenya’s population (Kenya Population and Housing Census 2019). In absolute numbers, that referred to over 12.7 million Kenyan adolescents.
A
young adolescent is a person aged between 10 and 14 years who is in the process
of developing from childhood to adulthood.
Young
adolescents (YA) are in a period of dramatic intellectual, physical,
psychological and social transformation.
This
age group represents a unique sub-group of adolescents undergoing rapid
physical, cognitive and emotional changes related to puberty. It is also at
this age that many young adolescents first engage in sexual activity.
Sexual
and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information and services are
therefore crucial for this age cohort.
Many
young adolescents lack knowledge about the physical changes happening in their
bodies and need reassurance and support to deal with them.
However,
their parents/guardians and other adults are usually unprepared to deal with
such changes. In most African societies, topics on sexuality are considered a
taboo and parents lack the skills or time to communicate effectively about them
with their children.
In
schools, teachers who should provide SRHR education are constrained in terms of
skills and time, and typically focus on those subjects that are examinable.
Consequently,
young adolescents often do not have adequate support from their social
surroundings, appropriate information, access to youth-friendly health
services, protection, and decision-making power or the life skills that are
needed to handle SRHR issues.
Despite
the government introducing sexuality education into the curriculum, poor SRHR
outcomes are widespread and evident through high rates of unintended
pregnancies among teenagers.
According
to statistics, in Kilifi and West Pokot, teenage pregnancies amongst girls aged
15-19 stand at 13 and 36 percent respectively (Kenya Demographic and Health
Survey 2022).
Adolescent
pregnancy puts girls and young women at heightened risk of contracting HIV,
STIs and cervical cancers and makes them susceptible to other health
challenges.
Contributing
factors include:
(i)
inadequate knowledge about SRHR and poor access to SRH services,
(ii)
lack of community support and harmful practices and social norms,
(iii)
economic vulnerability,
(iv)
lack of political good will and
(v)
weak voice and agency. Unintended pregnancies often lead to school-drop outs.
While
primary school enrolment is at 84% and 85%, transition rates to secondary
school are at 26% and 19% in Kilifi and West Pokot respectively (Basic
Education Statistical Booklet 2014).
Against
this background, DSW Kenya implemented the Holistic Action Project for Young
Adolescents (HAPA) in Kilifi and West Pokot Counties, aiming to increase access
to youth-friendly SRHR services and information, create a supportive school and
community environment, ensure that young adolescents participate in leadership
and decision-making processes, and engage decision makers at the community,
county and national level.
3.
Project objectives and outputs
Overall,
HAPA envisages that young adolescent boys and girls aged 10-14 in Kenya take
conscious and informed decisions about leading a healthy and self-determined
life.
Project
outcome: 7,000 boys and girls aged 10-14 in Kilifi and West Pokot
counties have improved Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) by
2022.
The
project aimed to achieve the following five key outputs throughout the
implementation period:
1. Targeted
young adolescents have increased access to age appropriate SRHR information.
2. A
supportive school and community environment is created, promoting young
adolescents’ SRHR and access to SRH services, with a focus on tackling gender
inequalities.
3. Targeted
young adolescents have increased advocacy and leadership skills to participate
in leadership and decision-making processes at the community, county and national
level.
4. Decision
makers prioritise and support young adolescents’ SRHR at the community, county
and national level.
5. DSW
Kenya is strengthened as an institution for enhanced programme delivery and
organisational management.
Project
areas and location: Specifically, the project intended to
improve SRHR and protection of young adolescents in (and around) nine primary
schools in Kaloleni Sub county in Kilifi county and five primary schools in
North Pokot Sub county in West Pokot county, Kenya.
Target
group: 7,000 young adolescents aged 10 to 14 in 14 primary
schools.
Direct
beneficiaries included 630 in-school youth club members who are
organised in 14 in-school youth clubs, 56 peer educators, 6,300 in-school boys
and girls, 28 YA champions, 28 contact teachers, 3 Youth Empowerment Centers
(YEC), 12 youth mentors and 28 mentor parents.
Cooperation
partners include county officials and community leaders, 5 Community Action
Committees (CACs), School Management Committees (SMCs), 10 journalists, 5
Paralegal Officers, 28 Law Enforcement Officers and 28 health service
providers.
Many
project activities targeted pupils, teachers, parents and community members in
and around fourteen (14) primary schools.
In
addition, DSW Kenya is to be strengthened as an institution for enhanced
programme delivery. DSW Kenya’s staff are to be trained in results-based
management (RBM), monitoring and evaluation (M&E), gender responsive
programming (GRP) and financial management.
Further,
the operational procedures and processes including policies and strategies and
the effectiveness of the Board of Directors is to be strengthened. HAPA is
co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ).
4.
Purpose and Objectives of the Endline Evaluation
The
End of project evaluation will be conducted at the end of the project,
involving the target group and relevant stakeholders.
Guided
by the Logical Framework and using the baseline and target values established
at the start of the project, the objective of the evaluation is to assess,
measure, and determine the impact of the project interventions.
Broad
study areas include:
a)
Young adolescents’ knowledge about SRHR and access to SRH services in primary
schools.
b)
Level of community awareness and support for young adolescents SRHR, prevalence
of harmful practices and social norms hindering improved young adolescents SRH.
c)
Level of economic vulnerability among target households.
d)
Level of awareness of relevant decision makers on young adolescent’s policies,
guidelines and budgets supporting their SRHR and Protection.
e)
Level of young adolescents’ advocacy and leadership skills in engaging with
decision makers.
Specific
study objectives based on project indicators:
· Determine
the number of girls aged 10 to 19 in project schools who have dropped out of
school due to pregnancy related causes.
· Determine
the number of young adolescents in project schools who have dropped out of
school as a result of causes other than pregnancy.
· Determine
the level of existing knowledge on SRHR among young adolescents in project
schools.
· Assess
the types, availability and content of IEC material accessed by young
adolescents in project schools.
· Determine
the level of comprehensive knowledge of in-school youth club members on
menstrual health.
· Assess
the accessibility of sanitary towels and menstrual hygiene information for
young adolescent girls in project schools.
· Determine
the level of knowledge and information on children’s rights among young
adolescents in project schools.
· Assess
the access to SRH services at health facilities for young adolescents from
project schools.
· Assess
the capacity of DSW mentors to deliver the project objectives.
· Assess
the organisational capacity of Youth Empowerment Centres (YECs) in the
provision of SRH information and services as well as acting as safe spaces for
young adolescents.
· Determine
quality, quantity and type of activities related to SRH and youth empowerment
offered by Youth Empowerment Centres.
· Assess
collaboration of targeted YECs with surrounding health centres.
· Determine
the types of youth-friendly SRHR teaching methodologies applied by teachers.
· Assess
the coverage and content of SRHR topics taught in project schools.
· Assess
the level of engagement of school management committee members on young
adolescents’ SRH as well as any policy arrangements.
· Assess
community structures around project schools involved in supporting SRHR and
relevant issues of young adolescents.
· Assess
the level of open communication between parents and young adolescents on SRHR.
· Assess
parents’ knowledge and information on children’s rights.
· Assess
the project area households’ economic vulnerability.
· Assess
the level of awareness among key decision makers on prioritising adolescents’
SRH and protection from relevant authorities.
· Determine
number and content of county plans and county budgets addressing YA SRH and
related concerns.
· Assess
knowledge level about Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Policy and National
Child Protection Policy among targeted representatives of county
administration.
· Assess
DSW Kenya Governance and project management practices and policies.
· Assess
the interventions’ design and its inclusion of gender sensitive approaches.
· Assess
DSW Kenya Board’s capacity related to its governing and oversight role.
· Assess
the project M&E plan with the purpose of identifying gaps and suggest areas
of improvement including recommendations for any further actions.
· Assess
the potential positive and negative impacts of the intervention on
beneficiaries and beyond, which were not accounted for by the project (to
reduce negative impacts and maximize positive impacts).
The
endline evaluation study will also be evaluated within the context of the
criteria formulated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), Development Assistance Committee (DAC); and these are
namely impact, relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency and
sustainability.
5.
Methodology
DSW
will select a local consultant to conduct the Endline evaluation.
The
selected consultant will be required to prepare a detailed research methodology
in partnership with DSW project team.
The
Endline survey will be proposed to apply both quantitative and qualitative data
collection methods.
The
target areas of this evaluation are Kaloleni Sub county in Kilifi county and
North Pokot Sub county in West Pokot county, Kenya.
Key
methods will be face to face interviews, focus group discussions and key
informant interviews with sample groups and individuals from the target group
and project stakeholders.
Moreover,
the consultant team is invited to suggest other groups to be interviewed based
on information needs.
Research
tools, such as questionnaires for young adolescents, teachers, parents,
government representatives, and other project stakeholders shall be carefully
designed and be discussed with DSW project team.
6.
Tasks and deliverables
The
consultant will be expected to undertake the following tasks;
· To
follow the evaluation schedule (please see table below)
· To
follow the Endline report structure provided by DSW
· Get
full understanding of the project proposal, target groups and project’s outcomes.
· Design
the survey methodology, and develop comprehensive research tools for data
collection – taking into consideration the different target groups.
· Engage
in feedback and briefing meetings with DSW project staff.
· In
consultation with DSW project staff, recruit, train data collectors and
supervise the field data collection exercise.
· Identify
various stakeholders at sub-county and county level for key informant
interviews.
Organise adequate supervision and coordination of the survey teams in the
field.
· Present
preliminary findings to the project team, County Health Management Teams and
the county education stakeholders.
· Identify
and fill endline indicator values based on the target and baseline values given
in the Logical Framework.
· Prepare
and submit final survey report.
Supporting documents
DSW
will provide supporting documents related to the program design, which will
include;
· Logical
framework and project concept
· Project
Baseline report
· Feasibility
study report
· Endline
report structure
· Any
other relevant documents and reports
Skills
and Experience
The
consultant is expected to have the following skills and experience:
· Proven
10 years of experience of conducting research and/or studies on SRHR.
· Theoretical
and practical knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research tool
development and data collection methods (including focus group discussions).
· Experience
in conducting studies in school environments, especially in Kenya.
· Experience
in working with/interviewing young people.
· In-depth
knowledge of child rights, youth empowerment, gender sensitive programming,
WASH, and related sectors, notably in Kenya, desired.
· Very
good written and verbal communication skills in English.
Payment
and Terms of Payment
The
consultant will be paid the consultancy fee in three instalments of 30%, 30%
and 40% as follows:
· 1st
tranche on approval of inception report and assessment tools.
· 2nd
tranche on presentation of preliminary results and draft report.
· Final
tranche upon approval of the final report by DSW KEN and DSW GER.
Work
plan and submission
The
assignment is expected to start by 17th February, the first draft report
findings to be shared and discussed with staff by 17th March 2023 and the final
report submitted by 24th March 2023.
Your
application should include the following:
· A
detailed resume highlighting the work that the Consultant has undertaken, which
is relevant to this assignment and supported by recommendation letter for
similar tasks;
· Minimum
of two (2) samples of reports developed by the Consultant addressing similar
issues;
· A
detailed work plan and timeframe, which must be costed (in the local currency)
at each stage;
· Technical
Proposal: Consultant’s understanding and interpretation of the ToRs, detailed
methodology to be used in undertaking the assignment and the tools to be used
in data collection as well as data analysis framework and plan and the task to
be accomplished.
· Financial
Proposal: The financial proposal should provide cost estimates for services
rendered including daily consultancy fees, training costs, accommodation;
transport cost; stationeries, and supplies needed for training and
administrative costs related to the participants during the exercise.
How to
Apply
AInterested
applicants are requested to submit their application to info@dswkenya.org with
the reference “HAPA Endline” clearly indicated in the email subject line.
Deadline
for application: 13th February, 2023.
Ideal
start date: 17th February, 2023.
Note:
Only shortlisted consultants will be contacted. Consider your application
unsuccessful if you have not heard from us 8 weeks after the deadline of this
application.
WHISTLEBLOWER
NOTICE: DSW requires all employees to conduct themselves legally
and ethically in the performance of their duties and responsibilities in
accordance with the DSW Code of Conduct. Please write to us at HYPERLINK
“mailto:complaints@dsw.org” complaints@dsw.org if you have any questions or
concerns about the conduct of any DSW employee. For more information regarding
our Code of
Conduct.