ThaiNGO

1. Introduction

This document provides a Terms of Reference for the Final Evaluation and End-line Assessment of the Highlighting Equality and Respect Towards all SOGIESC (HEARTS) project.

HEARTS project is funded by FRI to implement from 1 January 2020 – 31 December 2022. The project aims to LGBTIQ+ children (below 18 years old) and youth (18-25 years old) enjoy respect, protection and promotion for their rights in Thailand. The key expected outcomes of this project include protecting the rights of LGBTIQ+ children and youth through human rights mechanisms, strengthening capacity on child rights and child safeguarding among LGBTIQ+ civil society organisations, ensuring better participation of LGBTIQ+ children in Save the Children, and raising awareness in communities.

The primary purpose of this consultancy is to conduct a final evaluation of HEARTS project to understand the extent to which the project has achieved the intended outcomes. This evaluation will be based on existing data from the Final Evaluation, led by Progress Inc. and commissioned by FRI. More details on the project background, evaluation scope, key questions, intended methodology, reporting and governance, key deliverables and timeframes for its implementation are provided in the sections that follow.

2. Scope of evaluation
   1. Purpose and key questions

SC intends to conduct a final (external) evaluation of HEARTS project to generate substantive evidence-based knowledge by identifying and documenting good practices and lessons learned from intended impact and unintended consequences of the project interventions. This evaluation is to assess the extent of change that has taken place in the lives of targeted children, quality of services provided, and related policy changes and implementation related to improved SOGIESC rights for children and youth. The results from this evaluation will be highly useful in providing recommendations for the Thai Government, as well as future strategies for Save the Children Thailand. 

The results will define key learning and lead the design of the next phase of future child protection and education for migrant children program. To ensure objectivity and credibility, the evaluation is to be led by an external Consultant who has made no prior commitment or contribution to the project. The evaluation is expected to take place from October 2022 to December 2022.

The overall objectives of this consultancy include:

• Evaluate project performance, including progress and achievements towards the project goal objectives and outcomes, the overall impact of the project, including unintended consequences and the factors that influenced change at all levels of the results framework.
• Assess to what extent the project has made impacts to change at policy level and/or advocacy with local and national government
• Provide recommendation to SCT management and program team for project adaptation and scale up.

The Consultant will be required to undertake consultation with the SCT MEAL Coordinator and the Child Protection Technical Expert, at the commencement of the assignment to further refine the evaluation questions.

1. 2. Scope

FRI has conducted a cross-country final evaluation in Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, and Vietnam in June-September 2022. Based on the data from this cross-country final evaluation, the Consultant will conduct desk review and raw data analysis to assess the achievements of the project, and at least 2 focus group discussions, with possibility of key informant interviews if deem necessary.

1. 3. Stakeholders/audiences

The main stakeholders/targeted audiences for this evaluation are:

The Consultant will be required to propose:

1. Conduct data validation workshops with Save the Children (Thailand) to crosscheck the quality and correctness of the data collection.
2. How the evaluation findings will be shared with each of the different stakeholders in the table above, particularly outlining how reporting back to communities, beneficiaries and children will be conducted in an accessible and child friendly manner.

3. Evaluation Methodology
   1. Research design and sampling

The suggested research design for this evaluation includes desk review, focus group discussions, and data validation. SCT expects the methodology to include

• a review of project documents and monitoring data (e.g., project narrative reports, meeting reports, consultation recordings, Gender Equality Marker)
• data from FRI’s final evaluation
• qualitative collection through focus group discussions with CSOs, and the possibility of key informant interviews.

The consultant is encouraged to propose an additional methodology that they consider appropriate to the project, which is subject to Save the Children’s approval and must meet ethical guidelines (Annex I).

The evaluation will involve partner organisations and SCT team. SCT will select the participants for this evaluation through purposive sampling.

1. 2. Ethical considerations

It is expected that this evaluation will be:

• Child-centred and child-friendly. Children should be meaningfully involved in the evaluation as a holistic process and not only as informants. However, this evaluation will be based on the secondary data which involved children feedback. Refer to the Practice Standards in Children’s Participation (International Save the Children Alliance 2005); and Global Indicator technical guidance (SCI M&E handouts Package, Volume 2).
• Inclusive. Ensure that participants from different ethnic, social and religious backgrounds have the chance to participate, as well as participants with disabilities and participants who may be excluded or discriminated against in their community.
• Ethical: The evaluation must be guided by the following ethical considerations:
  • Child safeguarding – demonstrating the highest standards of behaviour towards children
  • Sensitive – to child rights, gender, inclusion and cultural contexts
  • Openness - of information given, to the highest possible degree to all involved parties
  • Confidentiality and data protection - measures will be put in place to protect the identity of all participants and any other information that may put them or others at risk.
  • Public access - to the results when there are not special considerations against this
  • Broad participation - the relevant parties should be involved where possible
  • Reliability and independence - the evaluation should be conducted so that findings and conclusions are correct and trustworthy

It is expected that:

• Data collection methods will be age and gender appropriate.
• Evaluation activities will provide a safe, creative space where participants feel that their thoughts and ideas are important.
• The Consultant will adhere to the Save the Children Child Safeguarding, Data protection and Privacy policies that are required throughout all project activities.

4. Expected Deliverables

The evaluation deliverables and due dates (subject to the commencement date of the evaluation) are outlined below. The lead evaluation Consultant will advise SOGIE and Child Rights Senior Officer immediately of any risks or issues that may impact on their ability to provide the deliverables by these due dates.

Deliverables and Due Dates

*All reports are to use the Save the Children Evaluation report template. Please also refer to Save the Children technical writing guide.

** The Management Response is a 2-4-page summary of the full report and will be created using the Save the Children Management Response template.

All documents are to be produced in MS Word format and provided electronically by email to the SOGIE and Child Rights Senior Officer, MEAL Coordinator, and Child Protection Technical Expert.  Copies of all PowerPoint presentations used to facilitate briefings for the project should also be provided to Save the Children in editable digital format.

5. Reporting and governance

The Consultant will report to Save the Children’s SOGIE and Child Rights Senior Officer. Additional technical advice will be provided by Child Protection Technical Advisor, MEAL Coordinator and technical team from Save the Children members. Save the Children should approve all plans and documents developed by the Consultant.

The lead Consultant is to provide reporting against the project plan. The following regular reporting and quality review processes will also be used:

• Regular email at least once a week to SOGIE and Child Rights Senior Officer documenting progress, any emerging issues to be resolved and planned activities for the following week.

A draft report should be submitted for feedback and comments. The report should be written in English and approximately 15 pages with executive summary (appendices not included).

The Consultant will revise the report according to the agreed feedback and comments.

The final report will be assessed against Save the Children’s Evaluation Report Scoring checklist (Annex II). The MEAL Coordinator and Technical Advisors will review and sign-off for final submission to the SPQI Director, who will be accountable for approving the Final Evaluation.

6. Consultant

To be considered, the Consultant must have demonstrated skills, expertise and experience in:

• Masters’ degree in Social sciences, gender studies, international relation or relevant area to the project.
• Proven experience designing and conducting high quality project evaluations related to gender and diverse SOGIESC.
• Proven ability and track record conducting ethical and inclusive research with vulnerable populations while ensuring rigorous ethics, integrity, and safeguarding especially related to diverse SOGIESC;
• Thai or international Consultant who has experience to work in Thailand
• Ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines
• Language proficiencies required for English and Thai

There is a high expectation that:

• The Consultant has the ability to commit to the terms of the project, and have adequate and available skilled resources to dedicate to this evaluation over the period.
• The Consultant has a strong track record of working flexibly to accommodate changes as the project is implemented.

Applications for the consultancy should include:

• Expression of interest: stating candidate skill and experience suitable for the consultancy (max 1 page)
• Technical and financial proposal: Outline of evaluation framework and methods, proposed timeframe, work plan and budget (max 4 pages; applications over limit will be automatically excluded).
• CV of proposed individual/s and one piece of evidence of similar evaluation carried out previously

If you are interested in this evaluation, please submit a proposed plan for evaluation design and implementation with detailed schedule and proposed budget (Consultant fee and all proposed expenses including translators (if lead candidate is International Consultant) by 8 November 2022

Submissions should be addressed to: THA_Procurement_BKK@savethechildren.org Selection Criteria included below.  If you may have further inquiry, please contact 083-0647805