Terms Of Reference For The Provision Of The Final Evaluation Services Of The Project: Guaranteeing The Rights And Dignity Of Displaced Persons And Displaced Persons At Alliance for Solidarity

*****Only applicants based in Mali are eligible*****

1. INTRODUCTION

The Foundation Alianza por los Derechos, la Igualdad y la Solidaridad Internacional, hereafter “Alianza”, wishes the external evaluation of the intervention it carries out in the Gao region thanks to the subsidy granted by the Generalitat Valenciana (GVA):

• File SOLHUM/2023/0017
• Title: “Ensuring the rights and dignity of conflict-affected displaced persons and host communities, with a greater focus on women and girls, in the Gao and Ansongo circles, Gao region, Mali”
• Country: Mali
• AMOUNT SUBSIDIZED BY THE GVA: 400,000 euros
• AMOUNT SUBSIDIZED OTHER DONORS: N/A
• TOTAL PROJECT AMOUNT: 400,000 euros
• Execution period: From 03/01/2024 to 02/28/25 (12 months)

1. CONTEXT

2.1 Project description.

This project aims to ensure the comprehensive protection and defense of the rights of women and girls in the context of the serious humanitarian crisis in the Gao circle (Gounzoureye commune and urban commune of Gao) and the Ansongo circle (Ansongo commune), in northern Mali. More specifically, it aims to strengthen protection and resilience mechanisms for indigenous and internally displaced women and girls who have survived gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual gender-based violence (SGBV), by promoting their access to strengthened multisectoral systems for the prevention and response to GBV. Community processes for the prevention of gender-based violence and sexual violence were also strengthened. GBV survivors were supported to generate income as part of the recovery process. The project includes awareness-raising and peace and social cohesion promotion activities.

Furthermore, the project provides a humanitarian response to the food insecurity situation of internally displaced households in three sites in the intervention municipalities. Actions are also proposed to protect the livelihoods of the host population and the displaced population, giving priority to women. Specifically, we supported agricultural cooperatives responsible for food production in their communities. The project provided a humanitarian response in terms of water and sanitation in the displacement sites, promoting their access to water and hygiene and sanitary resources in conditions of safety and dignity.

Finally, we provided shelter support (straws) to displaced households so that they could meet their housing needs in a dignified and safe manner.

We worked with a rights-based, gender equality, Do no Harm and triple nexus approach, using a participatory methodology where rights holders are at the center of the humanitarian response.

2.2 Political, economic and cultural context

Central and West Africa are recognized as one of the continent’s most at-risk areas. Violent conflicts, forced displacement, the impact of climate change, epidemics, extreme poverty, and economic and environmental shocks continue to affect communities and their populations.

Mali’s population is estimated at 20 million. It is a young population: 52% are under 15 years old and 16% are between 15 and 25 years old. The proportion of women (50.4%) is almost equal to that of men. Household size averages 5 to 7 people. Regarding fertility, the average number of children per woman is 6.3. It is estimated that 3% of people aged 5 and over live with a disability.

The Human Development Index ranks Mali 184th out of 189 countries analyzed. The armed conflict that began in 2012 has led to a widespread crisis across the country, resulting in the displacement of several thousand people internally and in neighboring countries.

In this complex context, millions of people face protection issues and systematic human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, exacerbated by the dynamics of different conflicts and intra-community tensions.

The Gao region, for example, is frequently plagued by property rights violations. The number of armed individuals in the region has increased, leading to an increase in banditry against the civilian population, both in homes and on the roads. In addition, there is the terrorist threat, one of the region’s greatest destabilizing factors, which, among other things, hinders socioeconomic development. Despite the unprecedented political and military mobilization of national authorities and international actors, which culminated in the signing of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement resulting from the Algiers Process in 2015, the population continues to suffer the effects of the crisis on a daily basis.

Since 2020, the sociopolitical and economic situation has suffered from the instability caused by two consecutive coups d’état. The authorities emerging from the coup have had disagreements with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) over the holding of democratic elections, leading to an embargo against Mali in 2022 and the closure of land and air borders with ECOWAS countries. This situation has led to an exponential rise in commodity prices, exacerbating the weakness of an already precarious economy and creating tensions and conflicts within civil society.

The political landscape is increasingly complex, with Mali having been in a transition phase for three years, which has affected diplomatic relations with certain Western countries, including France, which has seen its participation in humanitarian aid suspended until further notice.

At the same time, all French NGOs have been banned from operating in the country, meaning that certain areas requiring humanitarian aid are less well served.

Adding to these problems is a new, much stricter state regulation for NGOs, which must deal with long and tedious administrative procedures in order to obtain official approval for all their projects from the authorities, with the risk of being able to suspend their activities if the permits are not obtained, with the impact that this can have on the beneficiary population.

Due to the combination of several unfavorable factors, Malian economic growth has had minimal impact on household poverty indicators. The weakness and volatility of the economy, along with its dependence on the agricultural sector, are factors that limit its contribution to living conditions. This non-inclusive growth results in a low rate of poverty reduction (monetary and multidimensional) and a lack of investment in human capital.

Mali has ratified most regional, subregional, and international legal instruments (treaties, conventions, etc.) relating to human rights. Furthermore, the preamble to the Constitution of February 1992 reaffirms its commitment to human rights by affirming that the State adheres to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Since 2017, the Government of Mali has been working to integrate into national law the legal framework for the implementation of the 2009 Kampala Convention on Internally Displaced Persons, as well as to develop legislation on the protection of minors and gender-based violence.

The crisis in Mali has been ongoing for 13 years and is causing increasing internal displacement due, on the one hand, to the increasing pressure from the national army on armed groups, which, in turn, are attempting to retaliate by causing more attacks and destruction. On the other hand, livelihoods are declining in some regions, particularly those affected by conflict, such as the north and center, which are also primarily vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

At the same time, the situation in Burkina Faso and Niger is not very reassuring, as it further weakens the entire subregion. The escalation of violence that began in 2019 in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso is increasing the vulnerability of populations in this region, already affected by the severe food crisis of 2018.

For 2023, the HRP Mali has identified 8.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and the number of internally displaced people has reached 423,000.

From official humanitarian surveys and observations made during field visits, it is evident that food insecurity, lack of access to water, protection issues, the need for economic integration and the need for housing/shelter are the main needs of people affected by the conflict.

Despite the fact that Mali has been in a humanitarian crisis for more than a decade, it is noteworthy that today the country does not have official sites for displaced persons.

The security situation continues to deteriorate, with armed attacks, kidnappings, arrests, torture, demonstrations, and public protests. The departure of state actors from various regions of the country has also destabilized intercommunal relations and created a state vacuum that deprives the population of any form of protection and basic social services.

Humanitarian access to this region is under serious threat due to growing insecurity, armed attacks and rising crime.

In 2022, INSO recorded nearly 4,339 security incidents, including 424 in the Gao region. This situation, in turn, has created a real need for organization and management in the displaced persons camps that are emerging across the country, sometimes without official coordination, leaving these displaced populations in a situation of total abandonment.

1. OBJECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION.

3.1 Objective of the evaluation.

The objective of this evaluation is to determine the relevance and achievement of objectives and results, as well as the efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of the project, implemented by Alianza and its local partner GREFFA. The evaluation should provide reliable information that allows the integration of lessons learned into the decision-making process and capacity development within the team, so that future actions can be strengthened and the value or importance of an activity or program can be determined.

3.2 Use and expectations of the assessment.

The recommendations will be used by Alianza, the GREFFA team and local stakeholders to improve ongoing interventions in the area and, thus, promote the quality, impact, relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the interventions.

Evaluation End Users:

• Local community structures including local youth and women’s organizations, local authorities.
• Alliance and GREFFA.
• ACTIONAID’s Pan-African Protection Network (PAPN)
• Structures that provide services related to SGBV, including legal support, as well as those that intervene in the area of ​​local community resilience.
• Other interested parties: public institutions of the Gao Region and its corresponding districts, various NGOs operating in the region, members of clusters and specialized technical services of various IGOs.

3.3 The local partner and key stakeholders.

GREFFA is a local non-profit organization in Mali whose primary target groups are women and children. Founded in 1994, it strives for a peaceful social life in which the place of women is recognized and valued.

GREFFA’s mission is to contribute to building a just and equitable society based on empowering populations for regional and national development. Its objectives are to bring together, organize, and raise awareness among women for their effective and efficient integration into their own development, by promoting women’s participation in development through research, training, information, and action for their social, economic, political, and professional integration.

It has the following government structures: – General Assembly – Board of Directors; – Executive Management; – Supervisory Board.

Since 2012, it has been working on humanitarian response programs for the populations of the Gao region, facing the crisis caused by the conflict, which is why it has established its intervention strategy based on 3 pillars:

* As part of protection and the gender and Do No Harm approach, GREFFA assists and pays tribute to GBV survivors, mainly women and minors. This is a comprehensive assistance where health centers, the GAO hospital and existing referral centers (such as the UNFPA ONE STOP CENTER) for GBV survivors play a fundamental role.

Starting points: 1. Use existing protection structures by strengthening primary health care centers, referral centers, hospitals and the ONE STOP CENTER. Support to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services (safe spaces, mobile medical teams and youth participation), but also community prevention and response committees, surveillance, early warning, assistance and response committees. 2. Integrated, confidential and quality health services for a multi-sectoral response to GBV in emergency situations. 3. Emergency psychological support and safe spaces for survivors. 4. Financial support for survivors as part of recovery.

* Using a VARD approach, GREFFA provides a short-term response in terms of food security and WASH to families affected by the conflict, especially internally displaced families and persons. These urgent response actions are accompanied by actions aimed at promoting community resilience for the protection of livelihoods (mainly agricultural). In this sense, women (mainly those most affected by the conflict) receive special attention.

* GREFFA’s humanitarian strategy incorporates the triple nexus approach, including peacebuilding actions. In the context of Mali, with the current conflict and increasing inter- and intra-community tensions, it is necessary for the intervention strategy to consider this component and ensure the participation of women and youth leaders from local organizations in peace committees.

Other organizations with significant participation:

At the local level, the following are mainly identified as interest groups:

• The beneficiary population in internally displaced persons sites and in host communities, particularly women and girls.
• Women members of agricultural cooperatives.
• Community relays.
• Community leaders, traditional and religious authorities. Heads/Managers of DPI sites
• The decentralized services of the State (Health, Agriculture, Protection of women, children and the family, Water and forests, Sanitation, Hydraulics, Livestock, Social Development, and the town halls of the respective municipalities).
• The respective clusters in protection, WASH, and Food Security.
• Law enforcement, security forces and justice.
• The GREFFA and Alianza project team.SELECTION OF THE EVALUATION TEAM.
• Requirements and skills:
• The selection of the consultant will be made on a competitive basis in accordance with the following selection criteria:
• Master’s degree in social sciences, preferably in economics, gender, development cooperation or humanitarian action.
• 3 years of experience in project monitoring and evaluation, development of humanitarian action interventions and/or development cooperation with a gender perspective.
• At least 5 similar assessments conducted, including 3 in the project intervention area and sectors.
• Experience and knowledge in protection, gender and GBV.
• A good knowledge of the socio-political context in Mali, as well as the specific conditions affecting women and girls.
• Demonstrated experience in leading the evaluation team and conducting workshops to present evaluation results.
• Specific training in methodologies and application of social research techniques. Knowledge of the methodologies used to collect qualitative and quantitative data.
• Excellent analytical and communication skills.
• Capacity in producing evaluation reports.
• Ability to work in a team and with other stakeholders to ensure delivery of a high quality product on time.
• Excellent command of French and proficiency in the local language will be appreciated (Songhaï, Peulh, Tamashek and Bambara) necessary for field work.
• The CV should include assessment work carried out over the past 3 years at least, highlighting the role played in this work.
• The individual or entity responsible for the evaluation must be sensitive to considerations of gender, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, language, and other differences. Similarly, human rights and cultural differences, as well as the customs, beliefs, and religious practices of all agents involved in the evaluation process, must be respected.
• Principles of evaluation, copyright and publication:
• The team of consultants will ensure:
• Anonymity and confidentiality: The evaluation must respect the right of individuals to provide information, guaranteeing their anonymity and confidentiality. In addition, the evaluation team must inform participants of the scope and limits of this principle of anonymity and confidentiality.
• Responsibility: Any disagreements or differences of opinion that may arise between team members or between them and the project managers will be discussed and agreed upon jointly.
• Independence: The evaluation team must guarantee its independence and the objectivity of the information.
• Incidents: In the event that problems arise during fieldwork or at any other stage of the assessment, they must be reported immediately to Alianza. Otherwise, the existence of such problems may never be used to justify non-delivery of the products specified in these ToR.
• Validation of information: It is the responsibility of the evaluation team to ensure the accuracy of the information collected and, ultimately, it is responsible for the information presented in the evaluation report.
• Delivery of reports: In the event of delay in the delivery of reports or in the event that the quality of the reports delivered is significantly lower than that agreed, penalties/consequences described in the contract may be applied.
• The Generalitat Valenciana has the right to reproduce, distribute or publicly communicate the evaluation report.EVALUATION BUDGET:
• The maximum price budget for this evaluation is €13,000 (VAT and taxes included) plus all expenses related to the provision of the service.
• In accordance with this economic offer, evaluation proposals must include a detailed budget indicating at least the following elements: fees, travel, hospitality, translation, survey development and systematization of results, food and transportation of participants to the groups, workshop to share results and any other expenses, with a price breakdown by unit. All translations, including on-site assistance from translators, will be covered by the consulting team.Interested candidates are invited to consult the full version of the TDRs on this link:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yENUXf4voGSfnDA5gBo14Bgn7OI6V_w3/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111286293180710715100&rtpof=true&sd=true

How to apply

PRESENTATION OF THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL:

• The proposal must be sent by email to: soumissionaa@gmail.com with the subject: Offer EVALUATION SOLHUM/2023/0017
• Deadline for submission of proposal: 25**/3/2025**