Consultancy – SPRINT IV Evaluation

BACKGROUND / INTRODUCTION

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) was founded in 1952 and currently has 150 Member Associations (MAs) and Collaborative Partners with a presence in over 146 countries. IPPF is a global healthcare provider and a leading advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all with the vision that all people are free to make choices about their sexuality and well-being, in a world free from discrimination. As affirmed by the IPPF Strategy 2023- 2028, IPPF is now more focused than ever on expanding our reach to crisis affected populations –particularly women, girls and marginalized population- with SRH in emergencies services, including the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) developed by the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises (IAWG). IPPF aims to continue supporting our local members to increase our reach in humanitarian settings and ensure rapid life-saving responses in high-risk countries. A locally led and feminist approach is central to this by engaging the existing expertise of MAs, partners and mobilising the energy of our youth volunteers.

The SPRINT Initiative, Sexual Reproductive Health Programme in crisis and post-crisis situation, is a humanitarian flag-ship program funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Government of Australian and hosted by the International Planned Parenthood (IPPF), designed to address gaps in Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) implementation identified in a global evaluation undertaken by the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) on Reproductive Health. The overall goal of the SPRINT program is to improve health outcomes of crisis-affected populations through contributing in reducing preventable sexual and reproductive health (SRH) related morbidity and mortality. The program’s purpose is to increase timely access for crisis-affected populations to lifesaving SRH services as outlined in the MISP.

The SPRINT program has a strong focus on the Indo-Pacific region in recognition of the strategic focus of Australia’s aid program and the vulnerability of this region to disasters and other crises. The SPRINT IV program is delivered in partnership between IPPF and its locally led MAs in 14 focus countries (Fiji, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, and Vanuatu). As the lead partner, IPPF – through its experienced Humanitarian team, located in Suva and Kuala Lumpur, –work in tandem with the MAs, providing capacity building and supportive supervision and enabling them to become leading national SRHR agencies in crises.

The SPRINT IV has four outcome areas:

1. Policy advocacy – global, national and local policy makers are increasingly receptive to including SRHR in emergency planning and responses.
2. Preparedness – increased national capacity to deliver lifesaving SRH services in crises.
3. Emergency response – lifesaving quality essential SRH care provided in a timely and inclusive manner with an emphasis on women, girls, and marginalised persons.
4. Recovery – Enhanced management and coordination between humanitarian and development programs to aid delivery of comprehensive services.

The SPRINT IV grant agreement is for three years (April 2022 to December 2024), with an option to extend up to 2 years. This evaluation of the SPRINT IV program by an external consultant/s is expected to inform the costed extension phase of the program’s implementation to ensure its ongoing relevance, impact, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and to inform possible future DFAT investments in IPPF’s humanitarian programming.

Purpose and Intended use of the Evaluation

SPRINT IV continues to have its primary focus on ensuring access to essential SRH services during crises for women, girls, and vulnerable groups across the Indo-Pacific region. Drawing on IPPF’s existing local networks and partnerships at the country level, SPRINT covers all stages of the humanitarian program cycle; from preparedness through to response, and back to recovery, system strengthening and mitigation. The purpose of the evaluation is to:

1. Provide an independent evaluation of the overall achievements towards the SPRINT IV goals/outcomes, including the degree to which IPPF has been able to advance the nexus between humanitarian and development efforts and measure progress and achievements accordingly.
2. Assess the effectiveness of SPRINT IV at all levels of implementation from national MAs, key national partners, beneficiaries, etc. to regional, global level networks, and partnerships to strengthen the capacities, in terms of the MISP/ SRH preparedness, timely response, early-recovery, advocating inclusive policies, with a particular focus on meaningfully engagement of various vulnerable, marginalised and excluded groups across the disaster management cycle.
3. Assess the sustainability of IPPF Humanitarian programming in the Indo-Pacific region and present suggestions for further streamlining of the SPRINT IV program model to drive further impact and efficiency gains.

The evaluation is expected to generate evidence that will help guide the direction of SPRINT IV beyond the costed extension phase of the program (2025-26) and enable IPPF to better manage and deliver quality, inclusive, accountable and sustainable results. The evaluation will reflect on the SPRINT IV Program Logic and M&E Framework for the intended results and should inform IPPF Humanitarian/ DFAT management level decision making, documenting the best practices within the SPRINT IV which could be scaled-up, and may help to inform other humanitarian programming beyond SPRINT IV being delivered across the Federation.

IPPF will be responsible for overall management and administration of this evaluation. This will include contracting, briefing the evaluation team; developing evaluation plan, managing feedback from reviews of the draft report; and liaising with the evaluation team throughout to ensure the evaluation is being undertaken as agreed.

SCOPE OF EVALUATION

The entire SPRINT IV program is included in the scope of this study, including program design, implementation across the four outcome areas – policy advocacy, preparedness, response and recovery, and program documentation (e.g., monitoring and evaluation framework, risk management framework, annual workplans, etc). The evaluation will also consider the progress and achievements of SPRINT IV implementation within the broader context for SRHR preparedness and response in humanitarian settings, including its complementarity/ synergy with IPPF Strategies[1], other Humanitarian programs/ projects, and partners. In addition, the evaluation should discuss:

• Innovation: In what aspects did the project manage to bring innovative solutions to meet the needs of the MAs, crisis-affected population, provide unique methods to overcome challenges, and demonstrate exemplary approaches within the humanitarian context.
• Lessons Learned: What are the key results (both positive and negative), insights, stories, and messages learned from the SPRINT IV program worthwhile reporting to improve the strategies and implementation of future humanitarian work.

The evaluation should cover the entire duration of the SPRINT IV program i.e. April 2022 up to Aug. 2024. To review and compare project progress, the consultant/s to consider the SPRINT III as the baseline as well as Mid-Term Review (MTR) conducted in mid-2023. This evaluation looks at the extent to which process aligned with what was intended and/or the extent to which progress has been achieved against the expected outcomes. IPPF requires this consultancy to be completed by early Dec. 2024. Accordingly, we encourage the consultant/s to submit their Expression of Interest (EoI) at the earliest.

Key evaluation questions

Key evaluation questions are outlined in Attachment A. This list will be modified and refined during the development and finalisation of an evaluation plan by the consultant/s.

Evaluation techniques and data collection

The evaluation will apply a variety of mixed-method evaluation techniques such as desk review, meetings/ key-informant interviews (KIIs) with stakeholders, focused-group discussions (FGDs), field visits, informed judgement, and scoring/rating techniques. The evaluation will be based on analysis of qualitative and quantitative evidence to establish findings, conclusions, and recommendations in response to specific questions.

Desk Review

The Desk Review of program and relevant contextual documents will indicate a number of initial findings that may lead to fine tuning of the evaluation questions and plan. A preliminary list of documents for desk review is at Attachment B. IPPF will be responsible for making available key documents, both proactively and at the request of the consultant/s.

Consultation and stakeholder engagement

The consultant/s could suggest the list of key partners/ stakeholders, including IPPF personnel which could be meet (online/ off-line), interviewed for adding value and providing perspective to this evaluation. IPPF will try their best to engage and connect relevant partners/ stakeholders, including IPPF, MA staff, local government, NGOs, etc. for this study.

Travel / field visits

Based on the need, the consultant/s may be required to travel to IPPF Regional Office/s {South-Asia Regional Office (SARO) based in New Delhi; East, South-East Asia & Oceania Regional Office (ESEAOR) based in Kuala Lumpur, and; Sub-Regional Office of the Pacific (SROP) based in Suva} and / or a few of the SPRINT priority countries where MAs are based. During the field visits, the consultant/s will meet with MA personnel, government officials, and community members (if possible) in one-to-one and small group settings. The location and number of the field sites will be representative in terms of SPRINT IV’s scope and range of activities and illustrative of both successes and challenges.

Under the guidance of the Global Technical Lead – Humanitarian Programme, the consultant/s will work closely with the Humanitarian Senior Technical Advisors, Programme Officers, Project Managers across the IPPF Asia-Pacific offices (South-Asia, East South-East Asia & Oceania and Pacific sub-office) and may reach out to IPPF staff and/ or specific MA/s for any clarification, key-informant interviews, or understanding any attributes, etc., based on the feasibility and requirement.

Key deliverables

The SPRINT-IV, a 3-year project, is concluding in December 2024. This document will complement the final SPRINT-IV report highlighting the impact in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, and sustainability of the on-going support that was provided by the IPPF Humanitarian team to the MAs, across the disaster management cycle, both during stable times and crisis responses. It will provide documented evidence of the strategies, failures and successes, technical assistance provided across SPRINT IV MAs and beyond[2]. This will provide valuable strategic direction for IPPF in terms of resource allocation and tailored technical assistance, emphasising extent to which Technical Advisors could be engaged across the various IPPF Humanitarian programs/ projects, enhancing the institutional knowledge, to strengthen the Humanitarian programming.

Specific Skills

• At least 2-5 years of overall experience in reviewing programme/ projects, developing strategic documents, documentation, evaluation, desk review and preparation of strategic or technical reports.
• Experience in humanitarian programming, especially on SRH/ SGBV in emergencies in international humanitarian and/ or UN agencies with field work to support partners. Familiarity with the MISP including SGBV objectives and indicators in humanitarian contexts would be desirable.
• Experience of working in the Asia-Pacific regions with national level implementing partners to build their capacities, supporting Regional/ Sub-Regional office/s for developing strategies, Annual programming, providing technical assistance in the field.
• Masters or Ph.D academic qualification preferred.
• Understanding of quantitative and qualitative evaluation approaches.

Timeframes

The final report is expected by end of November or lasts mid-Dec., 2024, with several prior deadlines for feedback and revision. The tentative timeframe is as below.

Date

Deliverable

November 8, 2024

Completed analysis of key successes, challenges, and best practices

November 29, 2024

Full draft of completed report with recommendations to IPPF for review and feedback

December 13, 2024

Final report due

IPPF is expecting this assignment will take around (tentative) 50-55 days over the period of 3 months.

Fees

Professional fees must be quoted in USD. Please indicate daily rate and number of days’ work (flexible around working days, if deemed necessary to deviate from the tentative days mentioned under ‘Timeframes’ section), as part of your application. Fees should exclude VAT.