National or International Consultant/Consultancy Team to conduct an external evaluation of the Metamorphosis Programme

UNICEF and RESTORE Belize are partners in key interventions to ensure that children from our most socially vulnerable communities enjoy their rights as described under the Convention of the Rights of the Child. In September 2012, RESTORE Belize, with support from UNICEF, launched the Metamorphosis Programme – an innovative programme to build resiliency in males between ages 10 to 14 years from the Southside of Belize City, who have been identified as being at high-risk of gang recruitment and/or school drop-out. The Metamorphosis Program was piloted for two years - from September 2012 to July 2014. It targeted 24 young adolescent boys (ages 11-14 years). This group became its first cohort. The Metamorphosis Programme was designed as a multi-modal, in-depth response to multiple risk factors facing young adolescent males from Belize City neighborhoods with a high level of gang violence. It is based on the premise that building protective assets and environments for children can enhance resiliency and that this will allow children to create positive change for themselves, their families and their communities. The programme is presently been implemented for a third cohort of male children.

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Purpose of Assignment:

UNICEF Belize in partnership with RESTORE Belize is seeking a consultant or a team of consultants to evaluate the Metamorphosis Programme. The purpose of the external evaluation is to:

2.1 Systematically assess the "˜quality" of the Metamorphosis Programme based on the OECD-DAC criteria with an equity-focus. To this end, the consultant/team is expected to be guided by the following evaluation questions:

2.2 It is expected that the evaluation findings will contribute to the evidence base for improving the overall design and implementation of Metamorphosis; and serve to further promote its value among policy actors resulting in greater empowerment of the target population.

Background and Justification of Assignment:

UNICEF and RESTORE Belize are partners in key interventions to ensure that children from our most socially vulnerable communities enjoy their rights as described under the Convention of the Rights of the Child.  In September 2012, RESTORE Belize, with support from UNICEF, launched the Metamorphosis Programme – an innovative programme to build resiliency in males between ages 10 to 14 years from the Southside of Belize City, who have been identified as being at high-risk of gang recruitment and/or school drop-out. The Metamorphosis Program was piloted for two years - from September 2012 to July 2014. It targeted 24 young adolescent boys (ages 11-14 years). This group became its first cohort.

The Metamorphosis Programme was designed as a multi-modal, in-depth response to multiple risk factors facing young adolescent males from Belize City neighborhoods with a high level of gang violence. It is based on the premise that building protective assets and environments for children can enhance resiliency and that this will allow children to create positive change for themselves, their families and their communities. The programme is presently been implemented for a third cohort of male children. 

The specific objectives of the Metamorphosis Programme are:

Objective 1: Foster resiliency in young people by promoting protective factors to mitigate risk in their daily lives.

Objective 2: Provide parents and guardians with knowledge and skills they need to become effective parents.

Objective 3: To build capacity in school personnel to reinforce protective factors of male children beneficiaries.

RESTORE Belize's Metamorphosis Programme provides child beneficiaries with multiple protective factors to build children's resiliency and equip them to deal effectively with the many risk factors they face in their daily environment.  The services provided include a range of individual, home-based, school-based and community-based services.  Specifically, services provided to beneficiaries includes; individual counselling, mentorship, social work support for families, remedial academic classes, conflict mediation, regular liaisons with school administrations, engagement in extracurricular activities, and linking families with mainstream social support services. 

The main current responsibilities for this consultancy include:

It is expected that the consultant/team will employ a hybrid evaluation framework consisting of theory-based evaluations and bottleneck analysis underpinned by a human rights based approach (equity and child rights) and a mixed-method design. To this end, the consultant is expected to:

3.1 Conduct literature review of all materials relevant to the Metamorphosis Programme, inter alia:

3.1.1 Situation Analysis of Children and Youth in Southside Belize City (2012);

3.1.2 Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the Metamorphosis Programme (2013);

3.1.3 Metamorphosis: "Building Resiliency among Adolescent Males in Southside Belize City" - Evaluation Report. September, 2014, inclusive of the data collection instruments used;

3.1.4 Children's Consultation with Metamorphosis beneficiaries.

3.1.5 Systematization of the Metamorphosis Programme

3.1.6 Proceedings from the Round Table Discussions

3.1.7 Teacher Training Curriculum for Armed Violence Prevention and  Reduction

3.2 Assess the degree to which, if any, that the recommendations contained in the 2014 Evaluation "Building Resiliency among Adolescent Males in Southside Belize City", were adopted and implemented and what impacts/ or improvements occurred as a consequence;

3.3 Inter alia, guided by the Metamorphosis M&E Framework, data collection instruments from the 2014 Evaluation,Systematization Report (2018) and the Children's Consultations.

Additionally,  , collect appropriate quantitative and qualitative data to assess the "quality" of Metamorphosis.to include key informant interviews, focus group discussions and surveys with beneficiaries (children and parents) and key stakeholders (programme staff, teachers).  As noted, indicators, measurement instruments and methods used for the baseline and evaluation for the first cohort should be reviewed/utilized as well as other instruments which may provide additional and comparable information. The consultant/team is expected to offer the most suitable option to be employed for data collection inclusive of sample design parameters.

3.4 In participatory manner, validate and if necessary, reconstruct the Theory of Change (TOC) for Metamorphosis;

3.5 Understanding that a focus on the most marginalized, and the most vulnerable population groups necessitates measures to ensure that participants are respected and that they are protected throughout the evaluation process. Further, efforts must be taken not only to mitigate against risks to participants, but also to staff and to the organizations involved to this end, the consultant/team is expected to specify in tandem with UNICEF Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation, Data Collection And Analysis the ethical standards, processes, accountability and instruments to be utilized in the evaluation.

3.6 To further build on the Systematization Report  of the Metamorphosis experience, the consultant/team will document adaptations to the Programme design and implementation including rationale for such identified changes.

3.8 Prepare draft and final evaluation reports which adhere to the reporting guidelines as stipulated in the UNICEF – Adapted UNEG Evaluation Report Standards, Annex 9.1.

Expected Deliverables

4.1 Inception Report which details, a review of relevant literature, Evaluation Methodology (conceptual and evaluation framework, data sources, data collection methods and draft data collection instruments) and Evaluation Timeline informed by inception meetings with RESTORE Belize Management, the Metamorphosis Programme Team, UNICEF to clarify and finalize the consultancy timeline, and to gather information on programme updates, challenges encountered and other relevant information on experiences of the team and/or partners during implementation.

4.2 Logically structured and clear Draft Evaluation Report which follows the UNICEF  Adapted UNEG Evaluation Report Standards, to include: Executive Summary; Object of the Evaluation; Evaluation Purpose, Objectives and Scope; Evaluation Methodology; Evaluation Findings; Conclusions and Lessons Learned; Recommendations; and Relevant Annexes.

4.3 Raw and cleaned Data Sets in an agreed format;

4.4 Stakeholder Presentation : Present Draft Report to relevant stakeholders to solicit added inputs and strengthen the Report where applicable;

4.5 Final Evaluation Report

4.6 Management Response to the Evaluation

 Duration of the Contract: 

The contract will have an estimated duration of 4 months. Payment will be done based on delivery of finalized and approved deliverables.  The contract must cover professional fees, transport, lodging or any other additional fees. The consultant will be supervised and managed by the UNICEF Child Protection Officer, RESTORE Belize Technical Team  

Qualifications:

The lead consultant should have the following qualifications, professional experience and competencies:

1. Master's Degree in Public Policy, Economics, Social Sciences or related field. 
2. At least 5 years of professional work experience in child protection and/or human development - providing services to vulnerable populations - and social research.
3. Proven experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative research
4. Proven experience in handling primary and secondary data
5. Proven experience in policy analysis and preparation of social policy briefs
6. Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills.
7. Experience working with UNICEF would be an asset
8. Ability to travel to Belize. 
9. Knowledge of the social sector, with emphasis on the RESTORE Belize initiative, Strategic Plan and the Metamorphosis Programme (design, rationale, and underpinning theories of child development) is an asset

Application Submissions:

Suitable applicants are invited to submit:

• Technical and financial proposals. The selection of the Consultant/Team will be based on a "best value for money" principle. The financial proposals should include (travel, subsistence costs, etc.)

Applicants (teams or institutions) are invited to submit bids electronically with subject line MET_RESTORE Evaluation

 Deadline:

All technical and financial bids are to be submitted by July 2^nd  2018. Only completed application packages received before the deadline will be given consideration. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

For every Child, you demonstrate¦

UNICEF's core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The technical competencies required for this consultancy are primarily; applying technical expertise, formulating concepts and strategies, relating and networking.

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Remarks:

-Only completed application packages received before the deadline will be given consideration.

- Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.