Overview

1. Background

1.1 About the Consortium

Global Communities, Humana People to People (HPP), HOPE Worldwide (HWW) Botswana, and Stepping Stones International (SSI) are international development and humanitarian aid organizations. These four organizations started implementing the current OVC & DREAMS programs in 2016 and 2018 respectively. The consortium collaborated with four local partners: Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence (Baylor), Bakgatla Bolokang Matshelo (BBM), Mothers Union (MU), Silence Kills (SK) and IntraHealth International, an international NGO.

Global Communities works at the intersection of humanitarian assistance, sustainable development, and financial inclusion to save lives, advance equity, and secure strong futures. The organization supports communities at the forefront of their own development in more than 30 countries, partnering with local leaders, governments, civil society, and the private sector to achieve a shared vision of a more just, prosperous, and equitable global community. In April 2020, Global Communities merged with Project Concern International (PCI) to expand the reach of proven project approaches and scale solutions for transformational change alongside vulnerable communities around the world.

Humana People to People (HPP) Botswana, established in 2002, is a Non-Profit Organisation that works alongside communities on issues of health, rural development, education and environment. HPP implements projects to empower people with tools, knowledge and skills to foster own development in their own households, communities and the nation. HPP Botswana has more than two decades of experience implementing quality projects at scale targeting vulnerable populations including orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), children and adolescents living with HIV (C/ALHIV), HIV-exposed infants (HEI), adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), and key populations. HPP has remained true to its mission by promoting health and socio-economic development of the most vulnerable people in the societies of Botswana.

HOPE worldwide Botswana (HwwB), is a non-profit-making organization formed in 1994, to respond to a call by government for civil society organizations to assist in fighting the spread of HIV in Botswana. It was started by, and activities ran purely by volunteers from the Botswana International Church of Christ (BICoC). These volunteers make up HOPE worldwide Botswana membership. The organization started off by doing home visits to share messages on HIV prevention; providing care for the needy and those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS; and running children’s activities such as kids’ carnivals and other services in the disadvantaged communities. Currently through the support of USAID/PEPFAR, HwwB runs the OVC/DREAMS program, which aims to empower Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC), Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) aged 9-24, including males, and OVC caregivers with life skills to be healthy, safe, stable, and schooled, to reach their life goals, resulting in an empowered AIDS-free generation.

Stepping Stones International’s (SSI) mission is to unlock the potential of vulnerable children and youth ages 12-25 through holistic development, strengthening families and activating sustainable opportunities to become self-sufficient in Botswana. SSI engages and serves 12-25-year-old orphaned and vulnerable children and youth (OVCY) and their families. SSI works in 9 districts, of which we have DREAMS activities with adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in three districts and OVC and community activities in six districts. Core services include child and youth empowerment, family nurturing, strengthening service providers (who interact with our beneficiaries) and child protection advocacy. SSI has two subgrantees BBM in Kgatleng and Silence Kills in Selibe Phikwe implementing our direct funded USAID Project, “Breaking Barriers to an HIV Free Generation.”

1.2 Background of the project

In August 2016, Global Communities, formerly known as Project Concern International (PCI) was awarded a five-year grant to implement the Comprehensive Care & Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) project in Botswana, funded by PEPFAR through USAID. At the time HPP, SSI and HwwB were sub partners under Global Communities. These three organizations were successfully transitioned into being prime recipients of USG funding to implement both OVC & DREAMS in the following districts: Bobirwa, Francistown, Gaborone, Goodhope, Kweneng East, Kgatleng, Lobatse, Mahalapye, North East, Palapye, Selibe Phikwe, Serowe, Southern, South East. The project aims to strengthen community agency to seek, support, and provide HIV/AIDS related services to OVC and their parents/caregivers through five Intermediate Results (IRs):
• IR1: Strengthen community and household structures to support OVC.
• IR2: Increase uptake of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment services among OVC households.
• IR3: Reduction in sexual violence and GBV among OVC, AGYW, their families and communities
• IR4: Improve policy implementation for the delivery of coordinated social services.
• IR5: Strengthen capacity of local organizations to sustain program delivery and outcomes.

OVC DREAMS is in the final year of the seven-year implementation period, and GC, HPP, HwwB and SSI (Consortium) is soliciting a consultant to oversee design, methodology, data collection, data analysis, and reporting for the endline evaluation. The main purpose of the evaluation is to establish and document the impact and effectiveness of project interventions to render accountability to USAID and the Botswana government. Specifically, the project evaluation will assess and take stock of the lessons learnt, outcome progress against targets in comparison to baseline findings , and provide feedback on achievement of project objectives, effectiveness of project implementation and lessons for future programming.

The OVC project is implemented in eleven of PEPFAR’s high priority scale-up districts: Gaborone, Kweneng East, Kgatleng, South East, Southern, Mahalapye, Lobatse, Francistown, North-East, Tutume and Goodhope. At the national level, the project collaborates with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Developments (MLGRD), the Department of Community Development (DCD), the Department of Social Protection (DSP), the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW), the National Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA), and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment Sport and Cultural Development (MYESCD).

The project has adapted and undergone numerous changes throughout the LOP. The Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS) intervention for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) was integrated into the OVC project in fiscal year 2018 (FY18). It was not until March 2019, during the third year of this five-year agreement with USAID, that the project was modified to include objective 4 (IR4) which focuses on Local Capacity Strengthening – partner transition to US government funding through Sole Source solicitation, the three organisation( SSI, HwwB and HPP) were given 3 years contracts ending in September 30, 2023. DREAMS was followed by the introduction of the Faith Community Initiative (FCI) in FY20. In FY21, GC, HPP, HwwB and SSI continued providing a comprehensive package of evidence-based DREAMS interventions in Kweneng East and Gaborone Districts. The program also expanded to 6 additional districts including Southern, Kgatleng, Mahalapye, Bobirwa, North East and Serowe. The remaining part of the project with GC was extended to end December 30 2023.

The project implements many activities and uses numerous methodologies to achieve its results. For OVC, the program uses the comprehensive family care approach (CFC). This includes a comprehensive assessment of households and individual household members to assess vulnerability and to develop case plans. Depending on case plans; beneficiaries receive services ranging from Economic strengthening, LifeSkills, Aflateen, ready to work and HIV prevention, care and support services as well as referrals to healthcare services where needed.

The DREAMS suite of interventions includes condom promotion and provision, HIV Counselling and Testing (HTS) and linkages to care, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP, GBV prevention as well as post-violence care and support; linkage to sexual reproductive health (SRH) services, comprehensive sexuality education and social asset building (see Annex 2). DREAMS initiatives aim to strengthen school-based HIV and GBV prevention efforts, together with strengthening community mobilization and norm change efforts through parenting and caregiver programs. The age range of participating AGYW varies across these different activities; for example, 10–14-year-olds are not included in condom promotion activities, while PrEP is provided to young women aged 20–24 years. The evaluation will provide data on the impact of the DREAMS interventions and will inform future development and potential expansion of these interventions targeting adolescent girls and young women.

2.0 Objectives of the Endline Evaluation

The main objective of the assignment is to evaluate the project’s implementation and to measure its impact on the targeted beneficiaries by assessing the project’s achievement on its outputs and outcomes. The results of the endline evaluation are vital in determining the success of the intervention in achieving the project objectives and in informing future programming.

The specific objectives are:
a) Evaluate the project in terms of effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, coverage and impact, with a strong focus on assessing the results against the project’s outcome and project goals.
b) Document good practices and generate evidence‐based lessons learned and actionable recommendations to strengthen the strategies of ongoing and future programs.
c) Measuring change from baseline in PEPFAR’s essential survey indicators among OVC participants from the baseline
d) Measuring yearly progress towards contribution of OVC interventions to the 95-95-95 agenda
e) Measuring change on key DREAMS indicators
f) Measuring change in capacity of local partners

Key Evaluation Questions Include:
• How effective was the program in achieving its goals? What evidence do we have to support achievement of program goals?
• Which program strategies were most effective in contributing to program results? Which were the least effective?
• What was the contribution of initiatives/methodologies such as DREAMS, WE, LCS and the project’s COVID response to achieving the program’s overall objectives?
• How was the program design, structure, logic or management modified throughout the life of project to achieve the desired outcomes?
• What were the key factors that enabled sub-partners to graduate to USAID direct implementers?
• To what degree were the needs of the beneficiary population included in the design of the program?
• What are the key lessons learned and recommendations that should be documented from implementation of this program?

3.0 Methodology of the Study

The evaluation will be a mixed-methods approach, employing both quantitative and qualitative data collection, as well as conducting a year-on-year analysis of existing monitoring data. The quantitative methodology will be used to quantify achievements against the targets as per the project’s indicators while a qualitative methodology will be employed to develop a deeper understanding of the relevance of the project interventions and documenting the voices of the beneficiaries. The evaluation methodology is broken into four primary components:

OVC: End of project quantitative assessment of OVC indicators, measured against the OVC baseline and utilizing existing monitoring data to review achievements against the results framework.
DREAMS: DREAMS quantitative assessment of the contribution towards reduction in HIV incidence or new infections among AGYW, utilizing the DREAMS Theory of Change logic model as well as a qualitative assessment to look at social asset building (life skills and financial literacy) through empowerment measures such as agency, self-confidence, perceived negotiation power in intimate relationships, and access to a supportive mentor or trusted adult.
Partner Capcity Strengthening: Quantitative assessment measuring change in capacity strengthening domains as well as a qualitative assessment that examines the outcomes of Global Communities and SSI’s capacity strengthening work with project partners and the degree to which project efforts will lead to sustained program delivery and outcomes over time. A participatory evaluation methodology will be used, which combines elements of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), mind mapping, group interviewing, and qualitative data analysis to retrospectively uncover outcomes and impacts of complex programs stories. Data from these methodologies will be analysed using the Community Capitals Framework to categorize program outcomes.
It is expected that the evaluator(s) in consultation with the evaluation TWG, develop an evaluation design that meets the evaluation objectives and answers the evaluation questions providing credible and useful information. The evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the USAID norms and standards for evaluations, as well as the USAID ethical guidelines.
Cross-Cutting Feedback: Qualitative assessment utilizing focus group discussions and key informant interviews to understand beneficiary (OVC, caregivers, DREAMS participants), Community Service Provider (CSP)/ Community Health Worker (CHW), and partner perspectives on impact, challenges, and successes and to identify possible recommendations for enhancing efficiency or effectiveness of implementation for future programs.

4.0 Timeline

It is expected that the evaluation will start mid-July for an estimated duration of 10-12 weeks and end by September 30, 2023. This will include desk reviews, interviews, report writing and time for the consortium to review drafts.

5.0 Protection of Human Subjects
The Evaluation consortium takes the protection of human subjects very seriously in conducting evaluations and will hold the evaluation consultant to the same standard. All evaluation activities will comply with the Common Federal Policy for Protection of Human Subjects. Actions to protect human subjects will include a clear statement of informed consent with every survey/interview, training for all data collectors on survey and research ethics and de-identifying all results data. Access to data will be password protected and only the external evaluation consultant and Consortium TWG will have access to the raw data.

Qualifications

6.0 Selection criteria for consultants
The consultancy should have an integrated team of experts in HIV/AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health, children’s rights, organizational development, and community development or any other related fields. The consultancy team should also comprise of experts with demonstrated, high level experience in conducting evaluations for development projects with a good working knowledge in HIV/AIDS, Sexual Reproductive Health, child rights and Gender Based Violence.
The Consultants must have the following competencies:
 The lead consultant must have a background in HIV/AIDS and Sexual Reproductive
Health, (at a minimum of Master’s Degree Level) and have particular expertise and experience in conducting evaluations for specific projects.
 Team members should have a minimum qualification of degree in social sciences, and an extensive knowledge and understanding of the role of socio-cultural and economic factors in HIV prevalence among AGYW aged 15-24. In addition, the consultant must:
o Have at least five years’ experience in the area of HIV programming especially with AGYW
o Experience in the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV programs
 Demonstrate evidence of undertaking similar work in Botswana/Southern Africa for HIV/AIDS projects within the past three years (provide sample copies of completed project evaluations)
 High level of professionalism and an ability to work independently and in high-pressure situations under tight deadlines.
 Strong interpersonal and communication skills
 They or a team member must be a qualified statistician.
 The consultant must have regional working experience in Southern Africa and be familiar with the cultural background of rural communities of Botswana.
 Demonstrated experience with community development approaches, participatory methodologies, inclusion and participation of children.
 Evidenced experience in conducting participatory, qualitative and quantitative studies.
 Evidenced report writing (English language) and documentation skills.
 Traceable records of work or participating in similar studies.

7.0 Application Process.

Interested Consultants must submit the following documents:

1. Technical Proposal
A technical and financial proposal shall be submitted in English that describes the approach and plans for accomplish the work outlined in this TOR within the below submission deadline. See Appendix C for additional instructions. The technical proposal must be submitted in an electronic copy with e-mail address indicated below and should be limited to five (5) pages and must contain the following:
• Technical Proposal Cover Sheet (does not count towards the 5-page limit)
• A minimum of two letters of reference from organizations with which they have previously conducted evaluation consultancy work or a list of three references with contact information (does not count towards the 5-page limit)
• CVs of Key Team Members (does not count toward the 5-page limit)
• Within 5-page limit:
• A description of the applicant’s direct prior relevant experience including summary of data collection previously conducted
• Description of approach to conducting enumerator training, quality assurance and data collection
• Include a timeline of activities and level of effort required for each activity
• Team Composition and Roles, including: Key Team Member List and Core Qualifications; Minimum qualifications for enumerators and a plan for identifying and hiring enumerators; Minimum qualifications for supervisors and a plan for identifying and hiring supervisors

2. Financial Proposal
The Financial Proposal shall include daily rate of consultant and any other expected costs. Applicants are solely responsible for their own costs in preparing the applications.

Any questions or clarification questions should be submitted in writing to Global Communities Botswana to mpule@globalcommunities.org , at least 72 hours before the final submission day of the proposals indicated in bid announcement.

GC has unilateral and exclusive powers to evaluate, decide and accept the proposal it considers to be the most sound and appropriate for achieving the evaluation objectives. Submitted documents will not be returned. GC has the right to solicit additional documentation to confirm the qualifications of the consultant and compliance with U.S. Government regulations

Expressions of Interest (EoI) should be received on or before 14 July 2023 at 4:00p.m via email to admin.bwa@globalcommunities.org. The Email Subject should read: BOTSWANA Endline