Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL)

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Terms of Reference for Project Evaluation

1. Terms of Reference

The Consultant will carry out a final evaluation on the project titled “Enhancing the Capacity of the Council of Churches for Political Reform and Good Governance with serial number A-SLE-2020-0351.  The project was implemented by the Council of Churches Sierra Leone (CCSL) for three years (36 months) that targeted faith-based organizations, churches, communities, and stakeholders. The project aim was to actively promote equal justice, social inclusion and good governance in churches and communities with the view of advocating and enhancing women’s rights and meet the needs of vulnerable groups including women and girls in selected communities and churches in Eastern Sierra Leone.

There is a growing concern that churches across Sierra Leone should play a vital role not only in response to Covid, but also to promote justice and social inclusion and good governance in their institutional frameworks that protects the rights and needs vulnerable groups including women and girls in all aspects. This project provides a gradual but effective response to providing social protection mechanism for women and girls and established a framework that supports the needs of vulnerable groups through implementation and practice.

The project targeted selected churches and communities and delivered capacity building and support to protect vulnerable groups including women and girls in churches for the period of three years. Churches are to develop plans and implement programs that do not only advance women rights but also advance the need for basic services such as health, education, and infrastructure etc. For instance, one of the key project indicators of the project indicate that at least 50% of churches would have initiated/mobilized and supported self-help structures of women, girls and youth with training programs, coaching sessions, and safe spaces. And that at the end of the project at least 5, 000 girls would have declared their willingness to forego FGM because of those support services.

The scope of this assignment is to conduct a Final Project Evaluation of Enhancing the Capacity of the Council of Churches for Political Reform and Good Governance targeting selected churches and communities in southeastern Sierra Leone. This evaluation will include a review of all documents including.

1. he proposal document with any changes / modifications made over the 3-year time period,
2. onitoring and activity & annual reports,
3. ll financial reports to date as well as
4. fficial financial audits performed to date on this project. 

Carry out an evaluation of the project impact groups in relation to the project targets and common indicators.

• To independently verify (and supplement where necessary) records of achievement as reported through annual reports and defined in the project’s log frame.
• To assess the extent to which the project performed well and was good value for money, which includes considering;
  (i) How well the project met its objectives;
  (ii) How well the project applied value for money principles of effectiveness, economy, efficiency in relation to delivery of its outcome;
  (iii) What has happened because of BftW funding that wouldn’t have otherwise happened; and
  (iv) How well the project aligns with BftW goals of supporting the delivery of the SGDs

• An evaluation design methodology that satisfactorily demonstrates how the project will be evaluated.
• A timetable/work plan for the evaluation exercise
• Tools for the evaluation exercise
• Draft report that will be used for a validation workshop with key stakeholders.
• A well written project evaluation report of not more than 30 pages on youth and non-violence addressing the objectives of the assignment within 40 days of the assignment.
• The consultant will be expected to update CCSL on the progress of the evaluation on a weekly basis and highlight any challenges or delays faced as soon as they are aware of them.
• The final timeline can be confirmed with the consultant at the inception meeting depending on the proposed methodology and work plan.
• A final draft report should be submitted to CCSL electronically in Microsoft Word format no later than 31st August 2023.  The report must be no longer than 40 pages excluding cover page, contents page, summary and annexes. Annexes should include work schedule of evaluation team; list of key informants interviewed; evaluation tools (e.g. questionnaires, focus group discussion questions); case studies and photos of beneficiaries and photos of key project sites; relevant background information.

The time frame allocated to the Evaluation process is 35-40 days. A proposed breakdown is shown below: 

• Review of documentation, developing work plan and evaluation tools: 5 days
• Field work (up to 3 full days at each project site, plus travel time):  20 days
• Data analysis: 10 days
• Report writing: 5 days.

The budget and fees will be specified in the consultancy agreement. CCSL will pay all fees directly to the Consultant(s).

The payments will be as follows:

• 60% upon signature of the consultancy agreement
• 40% upon satisfactory completion of the assignment and presentation of an invoice
• A 5.5% withholding tax will be deducted from the payment.

• Master’s degree in development studies, Social Studies and/or other related fields, with five years hands-on experience of social research
• At least five years’ experience in evaluation of development work/ the international development sector in Sierra Leone
• Excellent evaluation skills including use of participatory appraisal and Outcome Harvesting data collection approaches/techniques, sensitive to gender issues.
• Have experience of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques & report writing

• Content of the evaluator’s offer

The Evaluators offer should include the following:

• Curriculum Vitae of all evaluators involved.
• Technical/specific proposal based on original written project submitted to the Donor (including any approved changes made during the implementation time frame):    
• Technical/specific proposal:
• short explanation and justification of the methods to be deployed; here the commissioning organisation – depending on the investigatory interest – may request a specific paragraph that sets out how relevant cross-cutting issues need to be taken into consideration.
• Financial proposal
• Complete cost estimate that includes both, the fee as well as any ancillary costs to be incurred, such as transport, accommodation, taxes, fees and costs of workshops in the scope of the evaluation etc.
• Additionally, information should be provided here regarding.
• by when (submission deadline),
• in what form (digital or by post),
• to whom (e-mail address or/and address with details of the responsible person)

the offer may be submitted in order to apply for the above-mentioned order/evaluation as described.

1. Application Procedure

Qualified candidates should submit the following information as part of the initial bid:

• CV of Consultant (maximum 3 pages per CV)
• A proposal detailing their experience as per the above criteria, including their proposed plan, suggested sample and approach for the exercise, time frame and key deliverables for the consultancy work (maximum 3 pages)
• Detailed budget with breakdown of daily rate plus number of days and other costs. The budget will be evaluated alongside the technical proposal, and we reserve the right to make alternative suggestions on costing.
• An example of a recent/relevant evaluation report. Please share the web link if it is published online.

Detailed Terms of Reference can be collected at the receptionist desk at CCSL,4 Kingharman Road, Freetown.

Please send your application to councilofchurchesinsl@gmail.com or deliver hard copy to CCSL Headquarters, 4 Kingharman Road, Freetown as against Tuesday,1st August,2023 by 5:00 pm.