Evaluation of CALP’s GFFO-funded Programme 2021 – 2023

Background

CALP is a dynamic global network of over 90 organisations engaged in the critical areas of policy, practice and research in humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and financial assistance more broadly.  Collectively, CALP members deliver the vast majority of humanitarian CVA worldwide.  What makes CALP unique is its diversity. Members currently include local and international non-governmental organisations, United Nations agencies, the Red Cross/Crescent Movement, donors, specialist social innovation, technology and financial services companies, researchers and academics, and individual practitioners.

Since 2016, CALP has been funded by the German government (GFFO – German Federal Foreign Office) with the aim of strengthening the enabling environment for CVA assistance in the region. Over the last two years of the most recent grant cycle (2021-2023), CALP has prioritised countries within the region based on the volume of CVA being delivered, the level of demand for CALP support and/or the level of engagement CALP already has with that country, and the type of crisis.

Over the implementation period, the grant targeted a wide range of organisations involved in CVA and financial assistance more broadly. This involved work with practitioners and policy makers, leveraging the strength of the network to gather and share learning; synthesise lessons; generate evidence; and convene actors to create and drive action on common agendas. To ensure different views and experiences are heard and understood, considerable emphasis was given to increasing the diversity of actors involved in the network, with particular emphasis given to increasing the engagement of national actors.

As well as engaging with CALP members, strategic alliances were formed to advance work on specific issues such as localisation and social protection. This involved, for example, increased engagement with national actors, host governments, third party monitoring agencies (e.g. Lebanon’s CAMEALEON network), various cash consortia, donors, universities and training institutions, private sector entities and more.

Purpose

We are seeking a consultant or team of consultants to undertake an evaluation of the work supported by GFFO from Nov 2021 to Dec 2023.  The evaluation will help assess CALP’s overall contribution to building an enabling environment for CVA programming in the region and more broadly, within the scope of the proposal and plans.

The end-term evaluation’s purpose is to capture learning from the programme in terms of what worked well and what could have been improved, for use by the CALP staff team to help shape CALP’s future work, by assessing progress against objectives.

Key evaluation questions

The evaluation will address the following questions in relation to work funded by GFFO (note: questions may be adjusted and/or prioritised during the inception phase of the evaluation):

1. How relevant and effective was CALP’s work in relation to its strategic focus areas:

• Foster collaboration for more effective and sustainable humanitarian CVA that better meets the needs of people living in contexts of crisis.
• Become an effective global network for the CVA system, inspired by improving outcomes for people living in contexts of crisis, while ensuring appropriate diversity within and across the network.
• Strengthen evidence-based policy and action to transform humanitarian CVA and provide thought-leadership on emerging issues.
• Expand the skills and knowledge required to deliver quality, sustainable humanitarian CVA, at scale.

2. Drawing on all the above focus areas, while ensuring inclusion and diversity, the evaluation will address the following questions:
   1. What were the key enablers and/or barriers to achieving the programme’s logframe outcomes and objectives?
   2. How effective were the regional communities o practice (CoPs) in achieving programme objectives? To what extent did the CoPs contribute to increasing the quality and scale of CVA in the region? How well did the CoPs coordinate and complement other relevant regional interventions?
   3. To what extent did CALP’s work contribute to change or influence different target groups? For example, how did stakeholders use the findings of reports, and how was learning from webinars and training courses applied? How did uptake vary across different constituencies (e.g., local NGOs, international NGOs, UN agencies, donors, FSPs, etc.) What does this feedback tell us, particularly on the perceived quality of CVA programmes in the region?
   4. What gaps were identified in the delivery of the programme objectives, in terms of the stakeholders targeted and/or CVA thematic issues addressed? Which areas of work should the CALP network focus on in the future in order to further improve the quality and scale of CVA?

Deliverables

The following deliverables are expected:

1. Evaluation framework and tools (submitted and agreed as inception report)
2. Evaluation report maximum 20 pages excluding related annexes, the report will include:
   1. Findings based on the agreed evaluation questions and framework.
   2. Learning points and insights which can be used by CALP to enhance work in MENA and more broadly in future. These should take account of the CALP Strategy 2020-25.
   3. Specific examples of what has worked well and what could have been done better.
3. Short slide deck with key findings and learning points.
4. Presentation of the findings to the CALP staff team and invited CALP members and donor.
5. Any additional deliverables as agreed during the inception period.

Access to stakeholders and information

The CALP team will help facilitate access to stakeholders to gather perspectives. Information will be made available as needed to inform the evaluation, including:

1. Programme proposal and work plans.
2. CALP Strategy (2020-2025).
3. Reports and publications produced throughout the programme.
4. Data and evaluation information from training courses and face-to-face events.
5. A tracker with data related to many relevant activities carried out by the CALP team.
6. Programme reports, both internal and external.
7. Data from CALP perception surveys.
8. Previous GFFO grant external evaluation.

Profile of the Consultants

In order to complete this work, CALP is looking for an individual or a team of consultants who have:

• Substantial experience of undertaking evaluations, ideally including experience of evaluating capacity development, knowledge management and policy influencing initiatives in the humanitarian or development sector
• Substantial experience of developing methodologies and tools for data collection and analysis
• Knowledge and experience of the humanitarian system
• Demonstrated understanding of recent developments in CVA
• Previous experience of working in the Middle East and North Africa region
• Understanding of the ways of working of networks or other collaborative initiatives
• Proven track record of delivering high and timely quality written work
• Experience of working remotely with a diverse range of stakeholders, ensuring effective consultation and engagement is achieved
• Fluency (written and oral) in English
• Availability to undertake the work in October- November 2023 and complete the work by the end of November 2023
• Arabic language skills are highly desirable, but not essential (translators will be arranged if necessary)

Application procedure

Interested candidates should submit their Technical & Financial Proposals to <consult@CALPnetwork.org>, indicating the subject: MENA Programme Evaluation Application, no later than the 5 October 2023.

The proposal should include the following:

• Short technical proposal outlining the proposed methodology, workplan, and budget
• CVs of the proposed candidate(s)
• Two writing samples illustrating succinct and clear writing skills.

Your financial and technical proposal should be valid for 90 days

For full details, please see the terms of reference below: