End-line Evaluation of the Bright Future Programme, Kabul, Afghanistan

Terms of Reference (ToR)

End-line Evaluation of the Bright Future Programme, Kabul, Afghanistan

Cordaid is an international NGO that works in and on fragility and has been active in Afghanistan since 2001. Cordaid Afghanistan works on five thematic areas across the triple nexus of relief, peace and development: Saving Lives (humanitarian aid), Equitable Access to Quality Healthcare (emergency health, support to health services delivery, health systems strengthening), Healthy Food Systems & Decent Income, private sector development) Inclusive Peace & Reconciliation Processes (inclusive and social peace, access to justice, human rights, civil society). Cordaid’s mission is to reduce fragility and the vulnerability of people where it is most needed and most difficult, recognizing that the overriding challenge in fragile and (post-)conflict countries is restoring trust and social cohesion, at community level and between communities and the state. In Afghanistan Cordaid works with 12 local partners.

Through its Private Sector Development portfolio, Cordaid implements programmes providing communities with the means to lift themselves out of poverty through economic empowerment, job creation, and the fostering of inclusive economic growth. One of such programmes is the Bright Future programme, which has been implemented in Kabul since 2017. This project provides young people with the tools and knowledge to successfully find and maintain employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.

End-line Evaluation of the Bright Future programme:

1. BACKGROUND OF THE PROGRAMME

Youth unemployment is a global issue, with millions of young people struggling to gain access to education, training, skills and employment. In Afghanistan, this issue is particularly prevalent; youth unemployment in Kabul is significant and has only increased given the current economic struggles. High unemployment is not necessarily caused by a lack of qualified candidates; every year, thousands of students graduate with their bachelor’s and master’s degrees, have the motivation to enter the labour market, and show innovative entrepreneurial ideas. What they often lack is relevant vocational skills and knowledge on how to access and operate within the labour market, such as resumé and CV writing and how to navigate Microsoft Office programmes.

Against the background of conflict, political instability, and now the takeover of the country by the Taliban, Cordaid supports young entrepreneurs trying to find and keep work in Kabul. Financed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bright Future programme is coordinated and implemented in consortium with the 1% Club, Bayat Foundation and Hamida Barmaki Organization for the Rule of Law. The overall aim of the project is to create job opportunities for young Afghans in Kabul, and to better equip them for starting and growing their businesses through training, coaching and skills workshops. The current cohort of the programme is running between 2017 and 2021, and has five main components:

1. Young urban Afghans are gainfully employed (have a formal contract with an employer);

2. Enable young urban Afghans in Kabul to set up their start-ups;

3. Scale up the most potential SMEs in Kabul in order to accelerate their businesses and create more jobs​;

4. Strengthen the entrepreneurial eco-system of hubs and communities;

5. Address key issues hampering the ease of doing business and gainful employment.

6. OBJECTIVE OF THE END-LINE EVALUATION

Having reached the end of project implementation we plan to conduct an end-line evaluation. The ultimate objective of the evaluation is to establish the extent to which the programme has achieved the aforementioned project objectives, its effectiveness and efficiency in doing so, a review of the design and assumptions of the project, the capacities built, the relevance, sustainability, and impact of the project’s results, and document best practices and lessons learned of implementation. In doing so, the final project evaluation will also strive to improve the accountability of the implementing consortium.

This improved awareness and knowledge surrounding the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact of the project is beneficial for a variety of stakeholders, such as the concerned partners in the implementing consortium, the donor community investing in the project, and the wider audience of those working in humanitarian and development sectors.

1. SCOPE AND METHEDOLOGY

3.1 Scope

The final evaluation will cover a period of 60 months (between January 2017 and December 2021) The evaluation will begin, depending on the consultant’s availability, ideally in the second half of January or first half of February 2022. Cooperation with the implementation partners is desired as part of the evaluation.

3.2 Methodology

The evaluator(s) will coordinate closely with Cordaid Global Office project officers, experts, Cordaid Country office representatives, as well as project implementation and cooperation partners. The evaluation requires a combination of desk research, interviews, consultation meetings with Cordaid staff in Afghanistan consortium and implementing partners along with meetings with beneficiaries in Kabul. Additional meetings will be held with the program representatives from Cordaid’s office in The Netherlands. The evaluation should follow the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Criteria for Evaluating Development Assistance.

3.3. Evaluative Questions (Suggested)

The questions that are addressed and answered in the report should cover the following broad areas, while taking into account the political, social, economic and security environment in Kabul:

1. Relevance. E.g. Was the design of the project strategy realistic, adequate and appropriate considering the results achieved so far?

2. Effectiveness. E.g. Is the programme effective in responding to and meeting the needs of the project participants, and are there results to evidence this?

3. Efficiency. E.g. Are the results of the project proportionate to the costs involved in the project implementation?

4. Sustainability. E.g. To what extent are the outcomes expected to be sustainable after the end of the project implementation?

5. Impact. E.g. To what extent the outcomes of the project have impacted the lives of youth and entrepreneurs?

The evaluation should also assess progress against targets set out in the project’s logical framework.

1. DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINES

2. Inception Report: methodology, work plan, review of project documents and drafting data collection tools

3. First draft of review report. Presentation of findings and recommendations to Cordaid, the other consortium partners providers and other key stakeholders for verification.

4. Final report, including all annexes

The study should be conducted in 21 days, the final report to be presented no later than 17th March 2022.

1. LIMITATIONS

Please note that the evaluation would face significant challenges and limitations and a clear plan of how to address and mitigate these must be in place before the start of the evaluation. The takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and subsequent challenging operating environment poses a general challenge, while the Bright Future project also faces some specific challenges: many beneficiaries are no longer available to participate in the evaluation, some partner organisations have evacuated from Afghanistan, and government stakeholder have been replaced.

International travel to Kabul (including visa and accommodation) can be accommodated by Cordaid, so is not a challenge currently.

1. CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS

The consultant should possess the following:

• A master’s degree in a related field of study (e.g. Public Policy, Management, Development Studies, Economics)

• Over 5 years’ experience with project/programme evaluation, preferably with consortium managed programmes;

• Previous experience with qualitative and quantitative research;

• Excellent knowledge of English. Knowledge of a local language is a preference;

• Adequate knowledge of the current humanitarian, socioeconomic and political situation in Afghanistan;

• Technical understanding of the labour market in Afghanistan.

How to apply:

1. APPLICATION PROCESS AND REQUIREMENTS

Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV(s)/ Company Capacity Statement, with a covering letter explicitly referring to previous similar experiences, to Isabelle Langerak (isabelle.langerak@cordaid.org) including a work plan indicating dates and number of days for each task, methodology and approach, professional fee (in Euro’s – either lump sum or daily rate), and availability to deliver. The work plan should explicitly address how the person//company will deal with the current challenges and limitations facing the evaluation as outlined above.

6.1 Application deadline: Monday 24th January 2022, 23:59 CET