DRC: Final Evaluation, South Kivu Support Programme

Oct 11, 2020 | medica mondiale e.V.
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medica mondiale e.V. is a non-governmental organisation based in Cologne, Germany. As a feminist women’s rights and aid organisation, medica mondiale e.V. supports women and girls in war and crisis zones throughout the world. Through own programmes and in cooperation with local women’s organisations we offer holistic support to women and girl survivors of sexualised and gender-based violence. On the political level, we pro-actively promote women’s rights, call for a rigorous punishment of crimes as well as effective protection, justice, and political participation for survivors of violence. Currently medica mondiale e.V. is working in Northern Iraq/Kurdistan, in Afghanistan, in Liberia, in Kosovo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the African Great Lakes Region. 

Through programmes and in partnership with local women’s rights organisations, medica mondiale e.V. takes a multi-level approach to address the various factors contributing to violence against women and girls: On the individual level, medica mondiale e.V. provides access to holistic services (psychosocial, health, legal, economic) for survivors of s/gbv. On the level of women’s and girls’ social environment, medica mondiale e.V. supports communities to recognize and protect women’s and girls’ rights and to support survivors of s/gbv. On the institutional level, medica mondiale e.V. capacitates public institutions from the health and legal sector to adopt a stress- and trauma- sensitive approach towards survivors and to establish cross-institutional referral and support systems. On the political level, medica mondiale e.V. advocates for laws, policies and resolutions that address s/gbv and promote women’s political participation. On the societal level, medica mondiale e.V. campaigns against sexism and gender stereotypes, raises awareness on s/gbv or the long-term impacts of trauma within societies.

Further information on medica mondiale e.V. can be found on our website: www.medicamondiale.org

Project background, evaluation objectives / scope / questions / methodology / timeline / outputs:

This TOR provides information about the purpose and objectives of the evaluation, background information about the project, and details about the scope of work, evaluation questions, methodological requirements as well as the projected timeline for the evaluation with outputs and deliverables. 

For full details about the offer, please refer to the complete Terms of Reference at the link above. 

Application procedure

Applications with the subject line ‘Final Evaluation South Kivu Support Programme’ are received under evaluation@medicamondiale.org until 1 November 2020. Questions can be asked under evaluation@medicamondiale.org. Please send the entire offer in one pdf file with a maximum of 2MB, including your daily rate and a budget (not exceeding 40,000 euro). Only short listed/successful candidates will be contacted. The interviews are likely to take place in the second week of November.

Professional qualifications

The key selection criteria are the methodological evaluation expertise and experience in qualitative and quantitative methods, professional expertise and experience especially in the areas of psychosocial support and services for SGBV survivors, capacity development and empowerment; cultural and conflict sensitivity; gender- and trauma-sensitivity; a feminist and intersectional research perspective; regional competency, including language proficiency; analytical, verbal and written communication skills. 

Purpose and Objectives of Evaluation

This final evaluation serves as important participatory learning process for all stakeholders involved in the project. The purpose of the final evaluation is to provide decision makers at medica mondiale e.V. with sufficient information to make an informed decision about the performance of the project, document lessons learnt and provide practical recommendations for follow-up actions and similar future projects. 

As general standard, this final project evaluation shall include an assessment of the project’s impact, effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, coherence, and sustainability. The success of the project shall be assessed regarding its stated objectives. The final evaluation should generate practical hands-on recommendations that can be implemented by the project actors within their sphere of control as follow-up actions for this project and beyond. The evaluation will be used to gain more knowledge on effects and impacts to inform future management and programming. medica mondiale e.V. will share the evaluation results with the partner organisations and other recipients.

Background

Initial Situation and Project Site

The UN estimated that about 200,000 women and girls were victims of sexualised violence in Eastern DR Congo since 1998. Due to the successive normalisation of violence and patriarchal structures these cases also include violence inflicted by civil authorities or family members next to war-related crimes. Sexualised violence continues negatively impact the well-being of women and girls and hampers peaceful and sustainable development in the DR Congo (DRC). 

The psychosocial and health consequences for the women and girls are manifold, including reproductive health problems, post-traumatic symptoms like anxiety, nightmares or flashbacks and psychosomatic problems. In the communities, rape is highly stigmatised, frequently resulting in spousal expulsion, limited opportunities to marriage, rejection by the community and poverty. Given their traumatising experiences, many survivors require long-term support based on stable and trustful relations.

In South Kivu, a province of the DR Congo bordering Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, more than 2.600 incidents of sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) were registered according to a report by the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children (MINIGEFAE) and UNFPA. Many cases, however, remain unreported. While national laws concerning sexual violence, a national strategy and the National Action Plan on combating sexual and gender-based violence do exist, the specific needs and situation of women in the local communities are not sufficiently taken into consideration. Even declarations by (inter-)national political forums such as the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) have little effect given the insufficient political will and resources invested by national governments. Although national strategies and legislation are in place, state action against SGBV is weak in DRC.

Small local initiatives and women's organisations, among them partners of medica mondiale, support survivors of sexualised violence in local communities even in times of intense violence or when an immediate crisis has ceased. An everyday challenge for these organisations is the overwhelming number of survivors, the volatile security situation and poor infrastructure. In the absence of professional exchange, they often have to identify appropriate approaches by themselves to assist survivors and reintegrate them into their families and communities. A joint assessment by medica mondiale and the EED from 2009 highlighted that many of these organisations need organisational capacity development, further qualification and to improve their cooperation.

Psychological knowledge is primarily centralised in urban areas and within specific programmes. Exchanges of expertise between professionals as well as between urban and rural areas are rare. Women’s organisations supporting SGBV survivors often face high stress levels and conflicts in teams, frequent staff turnover or work absences due to burnout or illness. It is not adequately taken into consideration that staff members are themselves affected by traumatic experiences of war and (sexualised) violence and that, therefore, all staff members need to know methods of self-care and basic trauma- and stress-sensitivity. 

Background information about the Project „South Kivu Support Programme”

In the Great Lakes Region medica mondiale has built trustful partnerships with women’s organisations since 2004. In project cooperation’s, medica mondiale contributed to their professionalisation and the quality of their services by providing technical and financial support. The purely financial support by medica mondiale’s Small Grants Program proved to be successful to get to know a variety of local women’s organisations. However, in particular in South Kivu the lack of appropriate qualification of many of these small organisations remained a serious challenge.

As a response, medica mondiale developed the South Kivu Support Programme which consists of five main elements: organisational capacity development (1); qualification in trauma-sensitive psychosocial work (2); knowledge exchange and networking amongst the organisations (3); joint advocacy (4); increased awareness on self-care/ security (5); stress- and trauma sensitivity in health care work (6). By strengthening local capacities, it contributes to the empowerment of women and girls, in particular survivors of sexualised and other forms of violence, in South Kivu, DRC. In order to pursue its regional objectives more efficiently medica mondiale opened a regional office in Bujumbura/Burundi in 2015.

The comprehensive South Kivu Support Programme currently consists of two components, one focuses on the support of the partner organisations’ micro projects, capacity development and organisational development, and the other on psychosocial qualification:

The project “Local women’s organisations rise for women’s rights and against sexualized violence in South Kivu, DRC (Phase 2)” (04/2018 – 03/2021), co-funded by the Medicor Foundation, is supporting 6 local women’s organisations through grants, capacity development, and networking. The organisations receive annual grants for their own micro-projects. The specific objectives are to strengthen women and girls affected by SGBV in their self-help capacities, to improve the assistance to and protection of women and girls affected by SGBV by a more informed and responsive social environment and to support partner organisations in taking concerted action against SGBV and violation of women's rights in South Kivu.

The second project, Consolidation and upscaling of local psychosocial capacities as a contribution to the promotion peace in the Great Lakes Region (04/2018 – 03/2021), co-funded by the Fondation Smartpeace, aims at contributing to the promotion of a positive peace in the Great Lakes Region by breaking cycles of violence and increasing the target group’s participation in social processes. Civil society actors are strengthened through qualification measures, professional exchange and knowledge transfer in regard to psychosocial approaches and enabled to provide effective stress- and trauma-sensitive counselling. One objective is the consolidation of a pool of psychosocial experts (women from Burundi and DR Congo), which was established in the previous project phase. The project is implemented in South Kivu in DRC, and includes experts from Burundi and Rwanda.

The project is implemented in cooperation with six partner organisations. The following table provides a short description of the six local women’s organization:

The overall approach of the project combined includes diverse actors: several small women’s organisations, one regional psychosocial consultant, one regional consultant for organisational development, the pool of experts, and the medica mondiale regional office staff in Burundi. Both projects are interwoven and contribute to each other, medica mondiale therefore decided to tender an evaluation handling both projects as one programme.

Overall objective (impact): Le projet contribue à la promotion d’une paix stable dans la Région des Grands Lacs, en rompant des cycles de violence et en permettant la participation au processus sociaux, et à l’autonomisation, des femmes et filles affectées par la violence sexuelle et basée sure le genre.

Project goal: Les femmes et les filles ont renforcé leurs capacités d’auto prise en charge (Assistance holistique).

Target groups: 

• Members of the expert pool
• Partner organisations’ staff, including psychosocial assistants, their supervisors, and directors
• Staff of regional health facilities
• Community members
• At least 2000 women and girls in South Kivu who are affected by sexualised and gender- based violence

Scope of Work

Final evaluation of the project. As part of the evaluation, different project sites will be visited. 

Assessment – DeGEval Standards and DAC evaluation criteria 

The evaluation shall be conducted in line with the DeGEval Evaluation Standards: Utility, Feasibility, Propriety and Accuracy. The evaluation shall include a performance assessment based on the latest OECD-DAC criteria and provide feasible lessons learned for future programming. Evaluation questions will be developed to assess the following areas:

1. Relevance: Do we follow the right approach/ are we doing the right things? To what extent does the approach with its objectives and design respond to the beneficiaries’, global, country, and partner/institution* needs, policies, and priorities? What are the differences and trade-offs between needs or priorities? To what extent will the approach remain relevant if circumstances change? What can be or has been adapted for the approach to remain relevant if the context changes/ when the context changed? *government (national, regional, local), civil society organisations, private entities and international bodies involved in funding, implementing, and/or overseeing the intervention
2. Coherence: To what extent is the project compatible with other projects in the country, sector, or institution? To what extent do other projects and/or policies support or undermine the approach, and vice versa? What can be stated about the internal coherence (synergies/links with other projects by same actor, and consistency with norms/standards followed by same actor)? What can be stated about the external coherence (consistency with other actors’ projects in same context)?
3. Effectiveness: Do we implement the approach in an effective way? To what extent has the project generated positive changes / what are the key changes experienced so far? Are there any differences between groups affected by or related to certain objectives? To what extent are the objectives likely to be achieved? What are the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
4. Efficiency: Were inputs and activities used and realized in a cost-effective way? Have objectives been achieved in an economic and timely way/ on time? Has the project been implemented in the most efficient way compared to possible alternatives? What can be stated about the efficient use of resources (comparison: resources – results)
5. Impact: What is the impact of the project/ to what extent has the project generated significant positive or negative, intended or unintended, higher-level effects? What can be stated about the impact on the overall situation of beneficiaries? What real difference has the project made to the beneficiaries and how many people have been reached overall?
6. Sustainability: What can be stated about the sustainability of the project’s positive impact after donor funding will cease/to what extent are the benefits of the project likely to continue? What are the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of sustainability? What needs to be changed to ensure sustainability? What financial, economic, social, environmental, and institutional capacities are needed to sustain the benefits? What elements of the project (in order of prioritization) should be continued if additional funding becomes available?

The achievement of the project’s goals / sub-goals shall be analysed and assessed. Lessons learned from the project implementation shall be derived to inform and improve the development of future programming, management and organizational structure and strategy. Regarding any major issues and problems affecting progress, recommendations shall be made and action points identified. Necessary feasible recommendations shall be provided and be addressed to different recipients.

Additionally, every DAC Criterion should be assessed and rated according to a provided rating scale (overall assessment).

Further key questions of the evaluation 

Further key questions of this evaluation are (French below):

• Mapping of all actors involved in the two projects
• Is the overall approach, as outlined in the project description, including diverse and relatively small actors and a support structure facilitated by the regional office in Burundi reasonable? Is the approach effective and does it make an impact?
• To what extent is the current intervention logic reasonable and how could it be improved?
• What were particular challenges with regards to the security situation in South Kivu?
• What can be stated about the psychosocial qualification measures, partially supported by the pool of experts? What can be stated about changes experienced by women of the partners’ target groups through psychosocial counselling?
• What is the capacity of the pool of experts, what are strengths and challenges? What is the role of medica mondiale in empowering the group of experts? How can sustainability be improved?
• What can be said about the medium and long-term effects of income-generating activities on the daily lives of women? How does professional training contribute to economic and social empowerment? How does it impact gender relations?
• Have partner organisations been strengthened? What can be said about their organisational/capacity development?
• What can be stated about the collaboration between the partner organisations, and their motivation and capacities to coordinate autonomously? What were the challenges, strenghts and weaknesses?
• How have feminist principles been integrated into the work of partner organisations? What are the obstacles the partner organisations as feminist actors are facing in achieving their objectives?
• Are local actors and beneficiaries involved in the identification, planning, management and
• evaluation of PO’s micro-projects?
• What were successes and challenges of advocacy work, in particular regarding access to justice? What have been the impacts of community sensitisation interventions on community behaviour changes?
• Has the project contributed to peacebuilding and justice in the region?
• What can be stated about the monitoring system, the indicators used and the theory of change?

Des autres questions clés de cette évaluation sont les suivantes:

• Cartographie de tous les acteurs impliquées dans les deux projets
• L'approche globale, telle que décrite dans la description du projet, incluant des acteurs divers et relativement petits et une structure de soutien facilitée par le bureau régional au Burundi, est-elle raisonnable ? L'approche est-elle efficace et a-t-elle un impact ?
• Dans quelle mesure la logique d'intervention actuelle est-elle raisonnable et comment pourrait-elle être améliorée ?
• Quels étaient les défis particuliers concernant la situation sécuritaire au Sud-Kivu ?
• Que peut-on dire des mesures de qualification psychosociale, partiellement soutenues par le pool d'experts ? Que peut-on dire sur les changements vécus par les femmes des groupes cibles des partenaires grâce à l'accompagnement psychosocial ?
• Quelle est la capacité du groupe d'experts, quels sont les points forts et les défis ? Quel est le rôle de medica mondiale dans l'autonomisation du groupe d'experts ? Comment peut-on améliorer la durabilité ?
• Que peut-on dire sur les effets à moyen et long terme des activités génératrices de revenus sur la vie quotidienne des femmes ? Comment la formation professionnelle contribue-t-elle à l'autonomisation économique et sociale ? Quel est son impact sur les relations entre les sexes?
• Les organisations partenaires ont-elles été renforcées ? Que peut-on dire sur le développement de leur organisation/capacité ?
• Que peut-on dire de la collaboration entre les organisations partenaires, de leur motivation et de leur capacité à se coordonner de manière autonome ? Quels ont été les défis, les points forts et les points faibles ?
• Comment les principes féministes ont-ils été intégrés dans le travail des organisations partenaires ? Quels sont les obstacles auxquels les organisations partenaires, en tant qu'actrices féministes, sont confrontées pour atteindre leurs objectifs ?
• Les acteurs et bénéficiaires locaux sont-ils impliqués dans l'identification, la planification, la gestion et l'évaluation des micro-projets des OP ?
• Quels ont été les succès et les défis du travail de plaidoyer, en particulier en ce qui concerne l'accès à la justice ? Quels ont été les impacts des interventions de sensibilisation de la communauté sur les changements de comportement de la communauté ?
• Le projet a-t-il contribué à la consolidation de la paix et à la justice dans la région ?
• Que peut-on dire sur le système de suivi, les indicateurs utilisés et la théorie du changement?

In addition, the following questions are part of all standard TORs of medica mondiale e.V. to contribute to overall organizational learning.

• What can be stated about the effects/impacts on different levels of medica mondiale e.V.’s multilevel approach?
• What can be stated about the application and impact of the stress- trauma-sensitive approach (STA)?
• What can be stated about the projects’ contribution to peacebuilding?

The findings, derived conclusions and recommendations should be answered in an extra chapter in the final report.

Methodology

The evaluation team should use a mixed method design, using quantitative and qualitative data. The design should be based on a participatory approach and centre learning in all phases of the evaluation process, e.g. by designing data collection instruments in a way that data collection by itself allows for learning experiences on the part of stakeholders involved. In general, a trauma- sensitive way of working is important to us in the context of working with survivors of sexualised violence and ethical standards should be applied accordingly.

1. Desk review and analysis of documentation – available reports and other documents from medica mondiale e.V. and the partner organization shall be analysed and the methodology further refined in an inception report. For preparation purposes, initial Skype and phone interviews with relevant stakeholders shall take place before the field phase. The project staff shall already be involved during the preparation. A planning meeting shall take place in Cologne or remotely.
2. Interviews and focus group discussions shall take place with girls and women of the partner organisation’s target groups, community members, and staff of the partner organisations.
3. Workshop with all relevant stakeholders shall be conducted to present and discuss the preliminary evaluation results and to present the initial recommendations.
4. Data triangulation and analysis shall be conducted in order to interpret the results and draft the report.

We appreciate applications to consider alternative data collection to in-country visits due to the uncertainty about the development of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The final methodology will be defined and agreed upon in close cooperation with medica mondiale e.V. during the preparation and before the data collection of the evaluation. This ensures transparency. Furthermore, the dialogue is important to achieve “ownership” of the evaluation by medica mondiale e.V. and partner staff and with this the acceptance and use of the evaluation results.

All data collection conducted for medica mondiale e.V. should follow the WHO (World Health Organisation) guidelines for ethical data collection “Putting women first: Ethical and safety recommendations for research on domestic violence against women” and “WHO Ethical and safety recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies.”

Deliverables 

• The evaluation team is expected to compile an inception report with the final specified methodology, evaluation matrix, analysis methods, data collection instruments and work plan in English.
• The evaluation team is expected to give a presentation of preliminary findings and recommendations in French to partner organisations and other relevant stakeholders at the end of the data collection phase. This workshop is an essential component in the evaluation process. Possible follow-up steps and actions can be discussed and a learning process takes place that is moderated by the evaluation team. The discussions and results of this “initial findings sharing workshop” have to be included in the evaluation process and its report.
• The evaluation team is expected to compile a draft report in English within 14 days after completion of the data collection phase, which has to be shared first with medica mondiale e.V.’s Evaluation Advisor.
• There will be two rounds of feedback, which the Evaluation Advisor coordinates internally, after which the draft report has to be revised and returned.
• A presentation of the findings and recommendations to medica mondiale e.V. (in Cologne or remotely).
• The evaluation team is expected to compile the final report (60 pages max. excluding appendix) in English and French based on the feedback on the draft report. Quality criteria for the report will be provided in advance.
• An assessment of the project according to the quality principles/features of medica mondiale e.V. (assessment grid will be provided in advance).
• A summary of the evaluation report in English (max. 10 pages) for the website of medica mondiale e.V..

Timeline 

The selected evaluation team will be responsible for producing the final report. The Department of Evaluation and Quality of medica mondiale e.V. will lead and manage the evaluation process, e.g. consultant selection, contracting, and the provision and coordination of internal feedback on the reports. The Department is an independent unit within medica mondiale e.V., distinguished from programme departments, to enhance impartiality and credibility of the evaluation results. 

The independency of the team towards medica mondiale e.V. and the partner organisations has to be guaranteed. For us, this independency is a key requirement for a project evaluation and the resulting findings and recommendations. Drawing on different competencies of each evaluator is an important necessity for us to produce beneficial results and recommendations.

Evaluation Report – Requirements

The report shall be written in readily understandable language. The report shall clearly describe the background and goal of the project as well as the evaluation methodology, process, and results in order to offer comprehensive and understandable content. A transparent line of arguments shall be kept throughout analysis, assessment, and recommendations so that every recommendation can be comprehensibly attributed to the results that are based on data analysis. As per the principle of usefulness, the recommendations shall be guided by the terms of reference and the information needs and be clearly directed at particular recipients. A document detailing quality criteria for evaluation reports will be provided by medica mondiale e.V. in advance.