CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

CONSULTANCY TO UNDERTAKE: End-line Evaluation of the EU supported Action.
NAME OF PROJECT: Promoting Opportunities for Women’s Empowerment and Rights (POWER) Action.
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: NGOCC/EOI/11/09/23/ADV

1. BACKGROUND
The Non-governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council (NGOCC), an umbrella organization for Non-Governmental, Faith Based and Community Based Organisations in Zambia, has been active in championing women’s empowerment and gender equality. In its over 38 years of existence, NGOCC has grown to be the focal point of the women’s movement in Zambia with a total membership of 111 as at the end of 2022 who are spread across the 10 provinces of Zambia covering 68 districts.

In 2020, NGOCC signed an agreement with the European Union (EU) to implement an action titled: “Promoting Opportunities for Women’s Empowerment and Rights (POWER)”. The project
was targeted to be implemented in 40 districts for a period of 3 years (November 2020 –November 2023).

Objective of the POWER Action
The overall objective of the Action is to increase the socio-economic empowerment of women and girls in Zambia.

The specific objectives (long-term outcomes) of the action are:

• SO1: Increased access, ownership and control of productive resources1 by women in NGOCC operational areas.
• SO2: Increased use of clean energy technologies for productive and reproductive use2 by women in NGOCC operational areas.
• SO3: Increased participation of women in decision-making at household and
  community level in NGOCC operational areas.
• SO4: Mitigation of the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls.

The interventions of the action were aimed at increasing women’s income through access to and control of productive resources (land, credit and human resources); increase the use of clean energy technologies for income generating activities and household chores; increase women’s participation in decision-making at household and community levels; and mitigation of the gendered impact of the COVID 19 pandemic. It was envisaged that this would lead to improved material welfare; reduced health hazards; time savings; increased decision-making power; and increased self-awareness and entitlements in respect of rights which are key aspects of empowerment.

1.0 PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The Action has been implemented for 2 years 9 months. The assignment is to undertake an endline evaluation of the action whose overall objective is “Increased socio-economic empowerment of women and girls in Zambia” under the Promoting Opportunities for Women Empowerment and Rights (POWER) Project.

The specific objectives of the assignment would be to:
1. Assess women’s income levels in the targeted project areas.
2. Assess the capacity of targeted women beneficiaries in using clean energy technologies for income generation.
3. Determine the level of women’s access to, ownership and control of land in project areas.
4. Determine women’s participation in decision making at household and community level.
5. Assess the Covid 19 mitigation measures employed by the targeted beneficiaries on the gendered impact of the pandemic.
6. Provide an independent assessment of the relevance, effectiveness, coherence, efficiency, sustainability and impact of the Action interventions and progress towards the expected outputs and outcomes.
7. Draw key lessons and provide a set of clear strategic and actionable recommendations.

2.0 Scope and Focus of the Evaluation
The evaluation will only cover interventions under this action in the following districts:
1. Lusaka Province – (Luangwa, Kafue),
2. Muchinga Province – (Nakonde, Mpika)
3. Eastern Province – (Katete, Chipata, Mambwe, Chama),
4. Southern Province – (Choma/ Kalomo, Monze, Mazabuka)
5. Western Province – (Luampa, Kaoma)
6. Luapula Province – (Mansa)
7. Northwestern Province – (Mufumbwe, Kasempa)
8. Copperbelt Province – (Mufulira, Masaiti)
9. Central Province – (Kabwe, Kapiri Mposhi)
The evaluation will assess the effectiveness of the implementation strategy and the results. This will include project management assessments in terms of the implementation modalities, coordination, partnership arrangements, institutional strengthening, beneficiary participation, replication and sustainability of the programme. The evaluation will include review of the project design and assumptions made at the beginning of the project development process. It will also assess the extent to which the project results have been achieved, partnerships established, capacities built, and cross cutting issues of mainstreaming gender and human rights and how they have been addressed. It will further assess whether the project implementation strategy has
been optimum and recommend areas for improvement and learning.

Methodology of the Evaluation
The POWER Action evaluation will be carried out in accordance with UNEG Evaluation Norms and Standards of Evaluation and Ethical Standards as well as the OECD/DAC evaluation principles and guidelines and in full compliance with the DAC Evaluation Quality Standards. This is a summative evaluation involving qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the implementation and performance and to make recommendations for future programming. The
methodological design should include an analytical framework, a strategy for collecting and analyzing data, specifically designed tools and a detailed work plan.

Data Collection
The Evaluation will be carried out through a wide participation of all relevant stakeholders including the NGOCC Secretariat, NGOCC Member Organisations, development partners and right holders (beneficiaries). Field visits to selected project sites, briefing and debriefing sessions with NGOCC is envisaged. Data which will be collected should be disaggregated (by sex, age
and location) where possible.

In order to use existing sources/information and avoid duplication, data will be mainly collected from various information sources through a desk review that will include the comprehensive review and analysis of relevant documents, information, data/statistics, triangulation of different studies, etc. Data will also be collected from stakeholders and key informants through interviews,
discussions, consultative processes with beneficiaries and observations in the field. This phase will be comprised of:
(i) Review and analysis of relevant NGOCC programmatic documents, annual reports and reports of recent studies.
(ii) Critical analysis of available data with regards to POWER Action. The POWER Action final Evaluation should also take into account the lessons learned from the Results Oriented Monitoring (ROM) and the NGOCC 2018 – 2022 Strategic Plan Mid-Term Review.
(iii) Creating a common, coherent and results-oriented strategy for successor project.

3.0 Expected Output/ Deliverables

• A design/inception report including: (a) a stakeholder mapping; (b) the evaluation matrix (including the final list of evaluation questions and indicators); (c) the overall evaluation design and methodology, with a detailed description of the data collection plan for the field phase;
• Field Report, (complete with data sets) and debriefing presentation to NGOCC highlighting main preliminary findings, conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation.
• A Power-Point presentation of the findings or results of the evaluation for the validation and dissemination forum.
• A final evaluation report (maximum 75 pages plus annexes) based on recommendations from the validation and dissemination seminar.
• Cleaned datasets from the evaluation.

4.0 Composition, Qualification and Experience of the Consultant (Team)

• Relevant qualifications and expertise in empowerment of women and girls’ programmes with at least 5-year experience in conducting programme evaluations in the field of gender equality and development.
• Experience in programme formulation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Good knowledge of Gender context in Zambia.
• Excellent report writing skills.
• Ability to present ideas and concepts to various audiences.

5.0 Application procedures:

All interested applicants are required to submit:

• A cover letter summarizing suitability and qualifications for this assignment with company or individual profile, entity compliance as per Laws of the Republic of Zambia.
• List of relevant similar assignments or actual outputs from similar assignments.
• A costed technical proposal with indicative workplan showing consultant’s planned approach to the assignment and proposed payment schedule.
• Any other relevant supporting documents.

Expression of Interest clearly marked, “NGOCC POWER Action Evaluation” should be sent before close of business on 20th September 2023 to the Executive Director on: info@ngocc.org.zm.