Position: Consultancy For Mid-Term Review – Fair For All Project in Cambodia (Oxfam)__Deadline:08Aug

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BACKGROUND

The FAIR for ALL project aims to strengthen the civil society so that it is able to promote sustainable trade value chains across the banana and rubber sectors that are inclusive and faire for smallholders, women entrepreneurs and agriculture workers, while respecting human rights and protecting the environment, the project has also strategically emphasized labour protection, social protection and fiscal accountability and inclusive business toward sustainable development.

Four mutually reinforcing pathways have been envisioned to contribute to the strategic objective of a strengthened civil society:

• Pathway 1 focuses on strengthening civil society to co-create alternative business practices which share value more equally and empower women.
• Pathway 2 focuses on civil society to advocate for a more responsible private and financial sector that upholds land rights, decent work, living wages, women’s and environmental rights and space for civil society to act.
• Pathway 3 focuses on strengthening civil society to advocate for more accountable governments, multilateral institutions and regulatory frameworks – that is, for governments to effectively regulate the private sector.
• Pathway 4 focuses on strengthening civil society to mobilize citizens for fiscal and trade reforms.

OBJECTIVES OF THE REVIEW

The MTR overall aims to learn from progress and outcomes by reflecting on achievement so far and collaboration within the consortium and beyond that will be supported to evaluate the continued relevant and effectiveness of the intervention strategies by consider what the lessons and learnings on progress and outcomes for the remaining of the project.

The specific objectives of MTR are:

1. assess how far the project has come towards achieving the goals and objectives of the project
2. identify key issues and challenges that have arisen during project implementation and
3. enable course correction if the project is not meeting its goals using the results of the review and demonstrate accountability of the project to its stakeholders.

MTR SCOPE AND METHODS

Role of external consultant

External consultant(s) will be tasked with undertaking this MTR, which include (but not limited to) the roles and responsibilities below:

1. Suggesting suitable methodology, methods, and sampling criteria; desk review, development of data collection tools and analysis frameworks, and analysis and report writing.
2. Ensure that the evaluation incorporates and integrate participatory and inclusive approaches.
3. Support and facilitate introductory/inception meetings with key stakeholders; check-in and update sessions during the review process, and reflection and learning exercises and events between and across the projects and consortium.

Research questions – contextualization and response

The research questions should be proposed by external consultant during the inception phase. With the review will aim to answer these broad questions, the project can add more aspects to the scope of the review for their respective project – for example more research questions, additional cross-cutting themes.

However, to ensure the alignment of the objectives of the project and the review, the following are the overarching and the sub-evaluation questions proposed for the MTR.

Overarching Evaluation Questions: “How has FAIR for ALL contributed to a strengthened civil society that is able to work effectively towards more inclusive and sustainable trade and value chains across the banana and rubber sectors, and how can it ensure its contribution remains relevant and sustainable?”

Sub-questions

1. In regard to the four pathways and their interconnectedness envisioned in the Theory of Change, how does the FAIR for ALL project contribute to more inclusive and sustainable trade and value chains?

• Pathway 1: Enhancing awareness among women and rural communities on (economic) rights and opportunities in existing value chains, enabling co-creation of alternative business practices and shifting the narratives around value chains and economic development.
• Pathway 2: addressing issues of rights abuses in trade and value chains and holding private sector actors to account.
• Pathway 3: Monitoring and influencing national and international norms, laws and frameworks, and mobilizing the public and have them influence governments and institutions on safeguarding people’s rights in value chains.
• Pathway 4: Enabling a partnership approach to demanding transparent, accountable and progressive trade and value chain regulations - empowering citizens to have a voice in trade and fiscal issues and enabling governments to have increased political will towards inclusive, transformative development.

2. How does the FAIR for ALL project support and strengthen civil society actors and enable them to understand and adjust to a shifting and/or shrinking civic space while remaining influential, and become more effective in contributing to more inclusive and sustainable trade and value chains? Reflecting on aspects including but not limited to meaning/understanding of civic space, capacity strengthening, institutional strengthening, mutual learning, capacity for collaboration with key allies, capacity for adaptive ways of working…etc.
3. What were the opportunities, enabling factors and challenges in relation to the achievement of planned outcomes?

• Within the context
• As part of the project strategy

4. How effective is FAIR for ALL as a network and a partnership in contributing towards the project objectives and more inclusive and sustainable trade and value chains?

• Synergies, cross-fertilization and collaboration within the consortium
• Collaboration beyond the consortium (other CSOs, consortia, initiatives, government agencies, private sector, embassies…)
• Equal partnerships (factors and arrangements that create power balances or imbalances)

5. How and with what effects have the following cross-cutting themes been integrated into the FAIR for ALL project?

• Women’s economic empowerment, leadership and grassroots-led action
• Climate justice and resilience
• Conflict sensitivity
• Learning, innovation, and adaptive management
• Safeguarding and well-being

6. What do the lessons/learnings on the progress, outcomes and collaboration thus far suggest about?

• The ability of the FAIR for ALL partners in Cambodia and its network members to seize opportunities for contributing to alternative value chains and trade (systemic change)?
• The strategic focus and implementation for the remaining duration of the project?

Sources of data collection for secondary review

The key monitoring methods and tools for the project, and the baseline reports are listed below, will be available for analysis. The selected consultant will be invited to suggest a combination of review / evaluation methods, which include the following sources of information, to answer the stated questions.

• Monitoring and annual planning and reporting: all documents are available online.
• The Outcome Harvesting (OH): OH statements are categorised per pathway, on name of organisation and of the contracting consortium member, date and type of social actor in who the change and observed.
•  Capacity Strengthening Assessment Tool (CATool) – monitors changes in (self-perceived) capacity of partners. The CATool also provides data on the perceived effectiveness of capacity strengthening approaches, sustainability of capacity strengthening, and contribution of capacity strengthening to alliance building, navigation in civic space and achieving influencing results. The tool includes a retrospective element to track perceived change in capacity over time.
• Other research and documentation: the baseline report (2021) and underlying materials, annual report (2021, 2022), other MEAL data and project-specific research and publications.

Primary data collection

Participatory and inclusive approaches are applied to methods of primary data collection with key stakeholders based on selected sample site including semi-interview with decision makers from government and private sector, the interview with implementing partners from CSO and CBO and targeted beneficiaries such as smallholder farmers/ small-scale producers, agricultural workers, women entrepreneurs, youths, and traders.

Geographic focus

• Banana plantations in Kratie, Kampong Cham and Kampot provinces
• Rubber plantations in Ratanakiri, Modulkiri, Kratie, Kampong Cham and Tbaung Khmum provinces

Targeted areas for primary data collection will be identified based on the research methodology and consultation with Oxfam and partners of Fair for ALL project.

TIMELINE, AND DELIVERABLES

The MTR process can be seen as involving the following four phases:

• Phase one – Inception: During this phase, the external consultant conducts a review of available data and information and interacts with key stakeholders involved in the project, based on which they will:

• Suggest appropriate evaluation methodology, sampling criteria, modifications to the research questions.
• Submit an inception report that outlines the above, which will then be approved by the management committee.
• Develop an evaluation/analysis framework, based on which the project will be informed about additional data/information required for the consultants to answer the research questions.

• Phase two – Data collection and analysis: This phase mainly concerns data collection and analysis, based on which the external consultant will develop the first draft of the MTR report.
• Phase three – Feedback and Validation: This first draft of the report will be formed the basis of learning, reflection and exchange sessions and workshops. Through these sense making workshops, stakeholders of the project will have the opportunity to validate the findings of the review and collectively develop recommendations for the next phase of the project.  The scale, scope, location and agenda of these workshops during the course of the review by the consultant in consultation with key stakeholders.
• Phase four – Reporting: Based on the results of the workshops, the evaluators prepare the second draft of the report for review. Subsequently, the consultants will develop the third and final draft of the report based on feedback from and contributions from key stakeholders.

 

Phase	Deliverable	Tentative dates
Design and Set-up	MTR Terms of Reference finalized and approval by Management Committee	July 2023
	Recruitment of the external evaluators/agency for MTR	Aug 2023
Inception	External evaluators/agency contracted and approved by Management Committee	Aug 2023
	Desk/Secondary review, inception report	Aug 2023
Data collection	Interview with identified stakeholders	Aug - Sept 2023
Report writing, feedback and Validation	Analysis and writing the MTR report	Sept - Oct 2023
	Sumit the first draft MTR report	Oct 2023
	Share / present the draft MTR report in the validation workshop	Nov 2023
Final MTR report	Consolidated all inputs and comments and make the report finalize	Nov 2023
	Submit the final report	Dec 2023

Deliverables

The MTR is envisaged as a process that not only provides answers to the research questions – and fulfil the reporting requirements - but also one which provides opportunities to jointly reflect on and learn from the implementation of the project so far. With this in mind, following could be seen as the intended outputs of the MTR:

• Inception report with updated evaluation questions and a clear evaluation methodology and framework
• Validation and reflection workshops/events
• Draft MTR reports
• Final MTR report (while considering context-specific sensitivities and risks).
• Other products that could be useful for stakeholders to communicate key findings and information (to be explored during the inception phase)

JOB REQUIREMENTS (KEY QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES)

1. Demonstrated concrete experienced in evaluating advocacy and influencing initiatives with content and intervention relevant to the FAIR for ALL project (fair value chains, inclusive and sustainable trade, i civic society strengthening);
2. Strong networking and problem-solving skills;
3. Strong analytical and synthesis skills;
4. Demonstrable ability to effectively communicate and receive valuable inputs from relevant stakeholders;
5. Excellent writing and verbal communication skills both in English and Khmer and ability to write concise, readable and policy analysis and;
6. Experience with Outcome Harvesting'' methodology since that is a major source of data for the review.

KEY ATTRIBUTES

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities.
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible.

ORGANISATIONAL VALUES

• Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions.
• Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen.
• Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences.

How to apply

The applicant is expected to submit:

• Detailed proposal describing the previous work done in similar assignment and proposed framework of the assignment.
• CVs of the relevant individual consultant with proven experiences and expertise to carry out the assignment.
• Estimated budget for this assignment accompanied with a cost breakdown (the consultancy fee should be mentioned in net fee in US Dollars. Oxfam will be responsible to pay 15% withholding tax for resident taxpayer or 14% withholding tax for non-resident taxpayer. If it is a Cambodia-based consulting firm with VAT certificate, then net fee + VAT but not withholding tax.)

Applying through the recruitment website: 

https://jobs.oxfamnovib.nl/job/Phnom-Penh-%28KHM_PHP%29-CONSULTANCY-FOR-MID-TERM-REVIEW-FAIR-FOR-ALL-PROJECT-IN-CAMBODIA/961536901

Please mention "www.Cambodiajobs.Biz" where you saw the ad when you apply!