TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY TO EVALUATE THE GENERATION NUTRITION CAMPAIGN ON CHILD UNDERNUTRITION

Transcription

1 TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY TO EVALUATE THE GENERATION NUTRITION CAMPAIGN ON CHILD UNDERNUTRITION 1. BACKGROUND Generation Nutrition is a global civil society campaign, calling on governments to act to end child deaths from undernutrition. Launched in 2014, the campaign currently has 80 partners supporting the campaign in 12 countries and at the EU level. See here for more information: The Campaign Steering Group, together with the current host of the campaign, Action Against Hunger, have decided to commission an external evaluation of the campaign in order to better understand its strengths, weaknesses and impacts to date and thereby assist the planning on the campaign in the period ahead. A consultant will be recruited to undertake the evaluation, which will take place in September and October He/she will work closely with staff members in the different partner organisations of Generation Nutrition in order to gather their views on the campaign to date and also ideas for the next stage. The consultant will also conduct interviews with key external stakeholders, in particular policy-makers and supporters in order to ascertain the extent of the campaign s impact. The campaign countries are Burkina Faso, Czech Republic, France, India, Italy, Kenya, Nepal, Philippines, Spain, UK, US and Zimbabwe. Since spring 2015 the campaign has also been active in Brussels, Belgium, where a Generation Nutrition platform has been set up for the purposes of EU lobbying. At the country level the main targets for the campaign are national governments. The campaign has also been active in influencing international processes, notably the recent intergovernmental negotiations on the SDGs. For this reason, the UN system has also been an advocacy target. The main audiences/allies for our work have been NGO supporters, members of the public and other actors in the nutrition field. Two reports will be produced by the consultant: the main report, which will be for use by the whole coalition and a separate, shorter one for the current campaign host, Action Against Hunger (see Deliverables section for details). 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSULTANCY The following objectives have been set for the consultancy: 1) Evaluate the external impact of the campaign work to date. This includes its lobbying and public campaigning aspects and relates to both the international and national work carried out by Generation Nutrition. 1

2 2) Assess the effectiveness of the internal organisation of the campaign to date, including the work undertaken during the planning phase (April 2013 March 2014) and the live phase of the campaign (April 2014 onwards). 3) Propose to the Campaign Steering Group a full range of future options for the campaign and suggest changes to the current ways of working, focus and campaign model. This will help the coalition to make the necessary adjustments for and decisions on the next stage. 4) Present to Action Against Hunger (as the current host of the global campaign) a set of recommendations which will assist it in deciding how to best support the campaign in future. 3. LOCATION AND DURATION The consultancy will be home-based. However, it will involve one visit to Action Against Hunger s Paris office. The consultancy will be for a period of seven weeks, beginning in early September and finishing in mid-october. Number of days to be worked: c METHODOLOGY The full methodology for the evaluation will be developed by the consultant upon his/her assumption of the post. However, the Campaign Steering Group considers the following points to be essential: 1) The consultant will conduct the evaluation by referring to key questions grouped under the following thematic areas: a) relevance, clarity and coherence of the campaign objectives b) policy impact (global and national) c) internal organisation d) public campaigning e) funding arrangements f) partnership and external alliances g) external communications h) Action Against Hunger s coordination role i) recommendations on campaign s future focus, ways of working and campaign model. A document containing more information on the scope of a) i) and the key questions linked to the main themes is available on request. 2) He/she will analyse a wide sample of written information available on the campaign and also materials produced for the campaign. These will include, but not be limited to: INTERNAL: - Agendas and minutes of coalition meetings and (if relevant) individual partner meetings on the campaign; 2

3 - Update s produced by the global campaign team and selected national campaigns; - Quarterly reviews of campaign activities; - Other news round-ups by the global campaign or national coalitions; - Annual plans, calendars and the Strategic Framework; - Other relevant notes on campaign strategy; - Briefs, ToRs and planning notes concerning individual projects. EXTERNAL: - Campaign blogs; - Content of campaign website (existing and SDG/petition version); - Policy reports, briefings, factsheets; - Flyers and brochures; - Posters, placards, T-shirts and badges; - Campaign name and logo; guidelines on campaign identity; - Photos, videos, infographics; - Content of Facebook and Twitter accounts. By studying these internal and external materials, the consultant will gain a better understanding of the activities undertaken, decision-making, audiences, messaging and the impacts of specific projects and initiatives. Where the above materials/outputs were in several languages, the consultant should also assess the value and reach of these translated materials. 3) He/she will conduct interviews with and circulate a questionnaire to key campaign stakeholders. a) Interviews One-to-one interviews will be conducted by phone or Skype with the following categories of stakeholder 1 : - International Campaign Manager - Members of Campaign Steering Group - Chairs of Resource Development Task Team and Communications & Supporter Engagement Task Team - Two-three communications staff who have worked previously on the campaign. - Four policy-makers who were campaign targets : for the evaluation of the impact of international and national work (two national; two international). - Two-three national campaign staff per country (past or present): for the evaluation of the effectiveness of four national campaign groups. - The national focal points of the other campaign countries. - Current and former managers of International Campaign Manager - Three staff in partner organisations who know about the campaign but have not been involved in the campaign work on a daily basis. - Two people working for INGOs who have not been involved in Generation Nutrition. - Two people from a relevant UN agency/sun. - Two campaign supporters. - Members of Action Against Hunger s advocacy management group. 1 The list of the people to be interviewed will be agreed by the Campaign Steering Group and the consultant at the start of the consultancy. 3

4 Additional interviews will be arranged with Action Against Hunger staff not included in the above list. This will help in preparing the separate report on Action Against Hunger s role in the campaign. These interviewees will include staff from a range of HQs, departments and grades who have been involved in one way or another in the campaign. b) Questionnaire In addition to the face-to-face interviews, the consultant will be responsible for creating and managing an evaluation survey. This survey will be circulated to all the current campaign partners and will be in the form of a questionnaire. It will ask questions related to the same thematic areas as outlined in this terms of reference. The interviews and questionnaire replies will be an important source of information for the consultant regarding previous activities, modes of working, campaign effectiveness and future options. Anonymity of responses: In the case of the interviews and questionnaire, respondents could request that only their comments and not their name be cited in the survey notes and final report in order encourage an open exchange on the challenges facing the campaign. 4) He/she will utilise evaluation tools and approaches which have been developed specifically for assessing the impact of NGO advocacy and campaigning. The consultant must demonstrate a knowledge of evaluation tools which are relevant for assessing the impact of NGO advocacy and campaigning and use, where appropriate, these approaches in this evaluation. 5. DELIVERABLES AND CALENDAR The consultant will produce the following outputs: 1) A report for the Campaign Steering Group, presenting the main findings of the evaluation and recommendations for the next stage. The report should examine the effectiveness of both the international campaign and the work undertaken by the national campaign groups. For the latter, four country campaigns should be assessed in more detail: two in the global North and two in the global South. The report should be 30 pages long, excluding annexes, e.g. materials from interviews. 2) A separate, shorter report for the current host of the campaign, Action Against Hunger, focusing on its own role in the campaign and options for future support. This report should be 10 pages long, excluding annexes, e.g. materials from interviews. 2 2 It should be noted that the question of Action Against Hunger s role as the current campaign host will also be examined as part of the main report see thematic area h) in the Methodology section. 4

5 3) To be supplied to the Campaign Steering Group: detailed, written notes of all the interviews carried out for the main report, as well as copies of all the questionnaire replies. These notes must be presented in a readable and useable format. 4) To be supplied to Action Against Hunger: detailed, written notes of all the additional interviews carried out with Action Against Hunger staff for the second report. These notes must be presented in a readable and useable format. 5) Two verbal presentations of the findings in teleconferences at the end of the consultancy (with Powerpoint): one for Campaign Steering Group; one for Action Against Hunger. 6) Participation in two update calls at the mid-point of the consultancy: one for Campaign Steering Group; one for Action Against Hunger. 7) Travel to the Paris office of Action Against Hunger at the start of the consultancy. Timetable Week 1: Meeting in Paris; agreement on terms of reference, key questions linked to thematic areas and contents of partner questionnaire. Weeks 2 4: Interviews with campaign stakeholders, analysis of key campaign documents and materials. Weeks 5 6: Update calls with Campaign Steering Group and Action Against Hunger; drafting phase. Week 7: Submission and verbal presentation of reports. 6. PROFILE OF THE CONSULTANT You are experienced in conducting evaluations of NGO advocacy and/or public campaigning and ideally will also have worked previously on evaluating the activities of international civil society coalitions or alliances. You also have a background in the international development sector, with an understanding of issues such as partnership, NGO advocacy (dynamics, constraints, opportunities, etc.), cooperation with Southern-based NGOs, communications, and the management of actions involving supporters and publics. You possess excellent skills in research, analysis and writing. You are at ease when conducting interviews and conversations with a diverse set of actors, following a clear research plan and displaying tact and, if required, a respect for confidentiality. You are able to present your findings and recommendations in a way that is clear and concise and maximises take-up by the organisations involved. 7. CONTRACT AND PAYMENT Daily rate: to be negotiated. The contract will be with Action contre la Faim/Action Against Hunger France. 5

6 This consultancy is home-based. Besides the daily rate, the only other cost that will be covered by Action Against Hunger is the cost of the consultant s travel to the Paris office for the meeting in Week 1. The consultant s transport and accommodation costs for this meeting will require prior authorisation by Action Against Hunger. Any other costs, such as IT, phone calls and internet connection fees will be met by the consultant. Action Against Hunger and the consultant will agree on a fixed daily rate and a number of days to work over a period of time to accomplish the given mission. A monthly timesheet of worked days should be sent by the consultant and approved by the Action Against Hunger contact person. 8. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Ownership of all of the documents relating to the main evaluation report will lie with the members of the Campaign Steering Group (acting on behalf of the coalition). Ownership of all the documents relating to the second report will lie with Action Against Hunger. 9. APPLICATION PROCESS AND DEADLINE In order to apply for this role, please send the following documents: A short letter expressing your interest in the role and outlining your experience of work on similar projects; Your CV; (Optional) Examples of previous evaluation work. The deadline for applications is Thursday 25 th August. You should send your application to Elise Rodriguez, Head of Fight Against Hunger Advocacy Team, Action contre la Faim, eliserodriguez@actioncontrelafaim.org 10. CONTACT For any queries about this role, please contact Elise Rodriguez, eliserodriguez@actioncontrelafaim.org, tel: +33 (0) ; or, alternatively, Ben Hobbs, International Campaign Manager, Generation Nutrition, bhobbs@actioncontrelafaim.org, tel: +33 (0)