Country: Lebanon
Closing date: 16 Oct 2016
“Improving living conditions for vulnerable Syrian households in substandard buildings in Arsal through emergency shelter and wash upgrades”
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) established its presence in Lebanon during the early days of the Israeli war over the summer of 2006. It is a registered organization in-country, with the main country office located in Beirut (covering also Beirut and Mount Lebanon), and additional field offices in South (Tyre), North (Tripoli area covering also Akkar), and Bekaa (Zahle). NRC currently implements programs in five core competencies – Information,Counselling & Legal Assistance (ICLA), Education, Shelter, Water Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), and Camp Management/Collective Sites Management and Coordination (CSMC).
**PURPOSE OF EVALUATION AND INTENDED USE**
The main purpose of the evaluation is to support programme learning around upgrading substandard buildings in Arsal that will provide guidance for future program direction.
The primary user of the evaluation is the NRC management team; they will use the evaluation findings to adjust programme implementation and improve its quality. Secondary users will include be the global shelter and WASH technical advisors, peer Shelter/WASH agencies, project managers, and donors (specifically ECHO).
**SCOPE OF WORK AND LINES OF INQUIRY**
The evaluation will cover the ECHO funded shelter/ WASH rehabilitation interventions in SSBs implemented in Arsal between September 2015 and March 2016 (a total of 644 housing units). Under this project, NRC provided support to displaced Syrians in sub-standard buildings through Weatherproofing/WASH upgrades, with the aim of improving access to Shelter, WASH and Protection rights' for vulnerable refugees from Syria living in Lebanon.
In particular, this evaluation should take into consideration the major limiting factors of security and access. These two criteria critically influence NRC’s capacity to adequately implement and supervise programme implementation (staffing level, no international staff member access, logistics in a high-risk security area, etc.).
**Main questions:** Does this intervention sufficiently contribute to meeting the shelter/WASH needs of Syrian refugees living in sub – standard buildings in Arsal?
**Sub questions:**
**1.Outcomes**
How appropriate and relevant is the NRC SSB response in Arsal?
* What outcome has this intervention had on the refugees and, where applicable, on the host community. This includes outcomes that are both intended and unintended and that may be either positive or negative.
**2. Effectiveness**
* Coverage and Targeting – are we reaching the right people?
* Current approach - is current programme implementation functioning? what should/could be done different or in addition to what already done to improve programme effectiveness.?
* How receptive are key stakeholders to this type of project? At a minimum this must include the perception of beneficiaries, landlords and local municipality authorities.
**3. Efficiency**
* How has NRC’s Shelter/WASH programmes worked together?
**What should/could be done different or in addition to what already done to improve programme efficiency?**
**METHODOLOGY**
The evaluator is invited to propose a methodological approach that directly addresses each of the questions above. As a minimum, the methodology should include a desk review of key documents, semi-structured interviews, and/or focus group discussions with shelter program beneficiaries. Landlords, beneficiaries and municipality officials must all be incorporated into the proposed methodology.
**Please note that there is very limited direct access for non-locals and for internationals. The consultant will have to manage this process remotely from the Zahle office with possibly a limited number of visits to Arsal. Some NRC staff can be made available to support the evaluation as enumerators.**
**TIMEFRAME**
Proposals should present a budget and the number of expected working days over the entire period. The consultant is expected to provide a suggested timeline and work plan for the assessment based on these scheduling parameters and in keeping with the scope of the research questions and assessment criteria.
It is estimated that there will be 25 working days in a period of 4 to 6 weeks. Breakdown is projected to be as follows:
* 1-week setup and tools and training
* 2-weeks data collection
* 1 week of data review and analysis
* 1 week of report writing
The evaluation is scheduled to start in October and fieldwork is projected tentatively in the 3rd and 4th week of October, depending on the availability of the evaluator; however, a draft report should be submitted by November, 15th 2016 and finalized by November 30th, 2016.
**EVALUATION CONSULTANT (TEAM)**
NRC seeks expressions of interest from people with the following skills/qualifications and expertise:
* Background in delivery of Shelter programmes (process rather than engineering focus)
* Understanding programming in of high risk security areas and limited access
* Social protection and other comparable experience with camp or informal settlement settings
* Demonstrated experience in conducting evaluations, particularly those focused on utilisation and programme improvement.
* Expertise in qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques.
Bids must include the following:
* Cover letter: stating candidate skill and experience suitable for the consultancy (max 1 page)
* CV of proposed individual(s) and sample of similar assessments/research carried out previously (abbreviated is adequate, though we may ask for additional text if submission is insufficient to assess quality of work performed).
* Outline of evaluation framework and methods, proposed timeframe, and work plan (max 3 pages; bids over limit will be automatically excluded).
* Proposed evaluation budget
Submit completed bids to Jeroen Quanjer (Jeroen.quanjer@nrc.no) and Karel Chromy (karel.chromy@nrc.no).
How to apply: