ACBAR

Request For SCA

Request For External Evaluation Building Active Citizenship and Equality for Person with Disabilities in Afghani

1. Introduction

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) has been present in Afghanistan since the beginning of the 1980s. Currently, SCA operates in 17 out of 34 provinces in Afghanistan.  SCA’s presence in Afghanistan consists of the Kabul Management Office (KMO), five Regional Management Offices and three Liaison Offices. SCA receives funds from various international and private donors, mainly from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). With over 6 000 Afghan employees it is one of the largest organizations in the country.

SCA utilizes the Rights Based Approach in its programming. SCA supports education, health, and disability programming and contributes to development in rural areas. As an organisation, SCA puts more emphasis on capacity development of individuals and organizations, including civil society organizations, with the aim of enhancing their capacity to advocate for their rights. SCA also supports empowerment and rights of women throughout its programmes. 

1. 1. SCA’s Disability Programme:

Disability is a cross cutting issue within SCA programming, and the organization has strategically included persons with disabilities as right holders in first three strategic objectives of strategic plan. The organization implements both community and institutional based rehabilitation programmes along with inclusion of disability in health, rural development and education programmers.

The Disability Programme of SCA operates from a Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) perspective of the World Health Organization for rehabilitation, equalization of opportunities, poverty reduction and social inclusion of people with disabilities’ (ILO, UNESCO & WHO, 2004).  The comprehensive CBR programmes of the organisation include five sub-components namely social integration, employment support, special and inclusive education, physical rehabilitation services and capacity & institutional development. The programme is planned and coordinated by the disability programme unit based in Kabul and implemented from five regional offices in Mazar-e-Sharif, Ghazni, Taloqan, Jalalabad, Maidan Shahar in 13 provinces covering 62 districts.

The activities under the programme include awareness raising and mobilising community, home and institutional based therapy, provision of assistive and mobility devices, home based education, centre based preparatory education, mainstream children with disabilities in regular schools, vocational training, loan and employment support, sports and recreation activities, organising and sensitizing  people with disabilities at community level, and supporting Disabled Peoples’ organisations to advocate for their rights.  In addition to that disability programme provides technical support for inclusion of disability in health, education and rural development programmes

 

2. Background Information and Rationale

Building Active Citizenship and Equality for persons with Disabilities in Afghanistan (BACEDA) project is designed to address the transformation of Afghanistan's disability rights situation. The action supported by the European Commission will be implemented for 36 months starting from January 2020 in a consortium led by Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) in partnership with Save the Children Germany (SCDE)/Save the children International-SCI (Afghanistan) and Accessibility Organisation for Afghan Disables (AOAD). SCA implements the action in Ghazni, Paktika, Wardak, Balkh, Samangan and Jawzjan; AOAD in Paktia and Khost, while SCI in Faryab and Saripul.

The overall objective of the action aims to Strengthening Civil society organization working in disability to defend and fulfil the rights of people with mental and physical disabilities in Afghanistan.

The specific objectives of the project are:

• To raise awareness about the rights and entitlement of Persons with mental and physical disabilities among key community members (CDCs, local Government, religious leaders, media children, media) in 10 provinces of Afghanistan”
• To build the capacity of Disability focused CSOs including Men DPOs to promote and protect rights of persons with mental and physical disabilities in the targeted project areas and
• To build the capacity of Disability focused women led CSOs including women DPOs to promote and protect rights of persons with mental and physical disabilities in the targeted project areas.

Guided by the above objectives, the action will build capacities of Persons with disabilities, Disabled Peoples Organisations, Self Help Groups of men and women with disabilities, and local government authorities to promote and protect the rights of persons with mental and physical disabilities with a focus on rights of women and girls.

At the end (last year) of the project the External evaluation will be done to ensure that the project has been implemented in line with the project objective and planned activities – according to European Commission funded projects’ evaluation criteria. The programme is planned to be implemented in 10 provinces of Afghanistan (Ghazni, Paktika, Wardak, Balkh, Samangan and Jawzjan, Paktia, Khost, Faryab and Saripul).

 

3. Objectives of the Evaluation  

This external evaluation will review the project, its objectives and its design according to European Commission funded projects’ evaluation criteria. Its purpose is to provide SCA with information with regards to the outcomes of the project to be base for further implementation in the future. The evaluator will evaluate the project according to the European Commission funded projects’ evaluation criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability), as used by the European Commission.

The specific objectives to address in this evaluation are:

• To identify whether the overall project design was relevant and suitable,
• To assess whether the stated objectives have been achieved,
• To determine whether methods and methodologies applied were appropriate,
• To assess the set targets of trainings and financial support to the DPOs achieved by the project,
• To provide recommendations on how to build on the action in the future,

 

4. Scope of the evaluation

This evaluation will cover 10 provinces in Afghanistan including Ghazni, Paktika, Wardak, Balkh, Samangan, Jawzjan, Paktia, Khost, Faryab and Saripul. The main targets of the evaluation are men, women, boys and girls with physical and mental disabilities, community members, disabled people’s organisation, self-help groups of persons with disabilities, community development committee (CDC) members, health and physical rehabilitation staff, schools’ teachers, journalists and media people and staff of provincial Directorate Martyrs and Disability (PDMMD) and other relevant government authorities.

5. Approach and Methodology

The consultant/contracting agency will make use of a mixture of methods in data collection and analysis which use for evaluation of European Commission funded projects’. The expert shall propose a participatory evaluation, addressing main project stakeholders as well as beneficiaries; a suitable and practicable methodology should be specified in the tender of the consultant.

The evaluation will involve a desk study of literature and project documents, as well as discussions at the field offices of SCA, SCI and AOAD. Furthermore, the consultant will visit the provinces where the project is being implemented to observe the project activities and meet with the related provincial stakeholder, as well as target group . At a national level meeting will be arranged with consortium partners.

 

6. Guiding Principles and Values

The evaluators will have to abide by European Union, SCA, Save the Children international and AOAD code of conduct, core value during this exercise. During fieldwork, the enumerators will be expected to seek direct consent either in writing or verbally from the respondents before proceeding with conducting interviews or administering questions. Utmost confidentiality will need to be guaranteed for the respondents throughout this exercise. It is therefore paramount at this juncture for the external evaluator to understand these values as stated below:

• Full respect of the Afghan people’s rights to sovereignty, cultural heritage and religious Integrity
• Full neutrality and impartiality vis-à-vis people of different religion, gender and ethnic origin
• Equal access to all services for the Afghan people, including women’s rights to survival, protection, and development

 

7. Management of Task

SCA is the contracting agency of the proposed study. A panel consisting senior management team including representatives of SCA Programme Director, PMER Unit, Head of Disability Programme, Senior Disability Programme Specialists and representatives of Save the Children/AOAD will implement the evaluation.

Specific duties of SCA:

The major roles and responsibilities of SCA includes:

• To provide relevant project-related information and documents,
• Will provide the office space if needed,
• SCA will provide consultant fee, flight ticket and other transportation as per the agreement which may be deposited in the bank account of the consultant (will cover in the financial proposal)
• SCA will not cover the necessary visa and insurance costs as per agreement (this should be included in the financial proposal)
• SCA will provide necessary security updates and guidance during the stay of consultant in Afghanistan/regions if need

 

 

Specific Duties of the Consultant:

The Consultant will possess wide knowledge on and experience in qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the project, data analysis and report writing according to European Commission funded projects’ evaluation criteria. Specifically, the consultant will:

• Develop design of external evaluation  
• Design data collection tools
• Collect data from the field
• Conduct data analysis
• Present the findings to SCA, SAC and AOAD and incorporate feedbacks
• Provide a draft report in line with the terms of reference
• Submit final report considering comments of EU, SCA and partners

 

8. Professional Qualifications

Essential qualifications:

• A relevant academic qualification,
• Specialist in evaluations, especially in developmental projects,
• Proficient in the design and use of participatory methods; and qualitative and quantitative evaluation,
• Objectivity and ability to operate systematically with minimal supervision,
• Result-oriented and committed to respect deadlines,
• Highly proficient in written and spoken English,

Desirable qualifications:

• Knowledge on and experience PwD rights and inclusion in society  
• Background knowledge of the historical and political situation in Afghanistan,
• A good understanding of the aspirations and challenges of rural communities in Afghanistan is desirable,
• Good knowledge of spoken Dari or Pashto will be consider as added value  

Eligibility Criteria:

• Proposal submitted by or before the deadline,
• The proposal meets all bidding specifications,
• The consultant is to be able to conduct and complete the evaluation during the specified period of performance (July 2022).

 

9. Proposal Submissions

• Application letter and CV indicating qualifications, experience relevant to the assignment and three work related referees. Firms/consultants to attach CVs of all people who will be involved in the evaluation including team leader and other team members.
• Interested individuals/firms are required to Submit a technical proposal clearly outlining:

• Their understanding of the terms of reference
• Individual/Company profile
• Methodology for conducting the evaluation with details on which methods will be used for which kind of target population
• Data Quality Control and Analysis Plan, technical team for the assignment

• Financial Proposal detailing the consultant(s) professional fees, travel costs and any other costs related to this consultancy within the country and or traveling to the country
• Any other costs associated with the evaluation (flight tickets, visas, etc.)
• Afghanistan tax, which is 2% for registered with the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) and 7% for non-registered consultants and firms
• Two samples of the previous evaluations conducted by the consultant or consulting company in Afghanistan or in the similar fragile country

 

10. Deliverables and Timelines

The deliverables for this evaluation will be in a reporting format provided by SCA. The deliverables shall be in English. The inception report will be expected within five days of the signing of the contract, while the final report will be submitted as per the timeline agreed on with SCA as per the approved work plan included in the inception report. The specific deliverables of this assignment will be

The expected deliverables are:

• A draft report in English on soft copy before presentation,
• A presentation in English, at the SCA office in Kabul, discussing the findings and recommendations with consortium partners,
• A final report in English on soft copy, which incorporates or responds to feedback on the draft,

 

The consultant will be hired for 25 working days including travelling within Afghanistan to visit the project areas as shown below:

Tasks/ deliverable	Estimated duration [ tentative]
International travel to and from Kabul	2 days
Briefing, desk study, mission preparation and interviews in Kabul	4 days
Travel to and from provinces	2 days
Visiting project sites in the provinces	9 days
Compilation of data and drafting report	3 days
Presentation of findings and recommendations	1 day
Preparation of final report	3 days
Back up day	1 day
Total	25 days

 

Budget break down [ tentative]:

The allocation of budget for the evaluation is 20,000 EUR

Action	Cost EUR
International consultant fee 25 working days x EUR 450	11,250 EUR
Translator fee 15 days x 50 EUR	750 EUR
Flight ticket international economy class return	1,800 EUR
Flight ticket economy class return Kabul – Provinces	400 EUR
Accommodation in Kabul ( SCA guest house )15 days x EUR 800	1,200 EUR
Accommodation in provinces 10 days x EUR 50	500 EUR
Car transportation, SCA vehicles	400 EUR
Refreshments for meetings in Kabul and Provinces	100 EUR
Travels of assessor/ monitors	1,500 EUR
Miscellaneous	700 EUR
7% Tax on consultant fee	14,00 EUR
Total	20,000 EUR

 

Payments will be done upon submission and approval by SCA of deliverables as indicated above.

Please submit your bid to:  evaluations@sca.org.af

The subject of your email should appear as follows: Company Name_ BACEDA Project’s External Evaluation 2022.For example XYZ_ BACEDA Project’s External Evaluation 2022, in the Subject line

Questions or clarifications can be sent to Mohammad Amin Qanet; Disability unit Head at: amin.qanet@sca.org.af .  Do not send your bid applications to this email address, as they will not be considered

Bid Evaluations

SCA will, after checking the eligibility of proposals, evaluate proposals based on the following general criteria. The elements are:

• Institutional Capacity/Institutional Credentials and Personal Capacity (30%),
• Technical team (10%)
• Technical Proposal Comprehensiveness – demonstrates a complete understanding of the TOR and all aspects of the technical design (30%)
• Cost estimate– assessment of cost estimate against implementation plan (30%)

Valuation of general conditions or other legal demands from the suppliers’ side is included in the tender. SCA do not to collaborate with suppliers that violates human rights.

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