Mid-Term-Review Consultants

Terms of Reference

WOBA Vietnam is a program designed and implemented by Thrive/East Meets West (EMW) to address challenges and inequities in Vietnam’s rural water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector. It is funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Water for Women Fund over 4.5 years (June 2018 to December 2022) with a total budget of 5.7 million Australian dollars.

1.1 Program objectives

The program has two objectives:

• Objective 1: To increase access to equitable WASH services for the poor and marginalised (gender and social inclusion) communities in rural Vietnam.
• Objective 2: To improve gender empowerment and inclusion of women through program implementation and decision making.

WOBA Vietnam has three implementation components and targets:

• WATER: 6,500 poor/GESI households connected to piped water schemes with connections co-financed through a competitive output-based subsidy fund.
• SANITATION: Improved access to hygienic sanitation in rural communities, with latrines constructed by 3,000 poor and GESI households, 15,000 poor households and 2,000 non-poor households; and
• FECAL SLUDGE MANAGEMENT (FSM): A FSM pilot in Ben Tre province

1.2 Program strategies

The program has three strategies that underpin the program’s theory of change and expected to contribute to the program’s five planned outcomes.

• Partner with local government, WU, and private sector WASH operators to strengthen coordination mechanisms (at all institutional levels) and private sector capacity in delivering WASH services for poor and GESI households;
• Build capacity of government partners, WU, and private sector WASH operators to implement OBA WASH services for poor and GESI households;
• Leverage partnerships with government partners, WASH authorities, WU, and private water operators to facilitate workshops to mainstream and advocate for gender, disability and socially inclusive approach in WASH delivery in Vietnam.

WOBA Vietnam has five planned outcomes address the program’s two objectives, and align with the Fund’s goal of improved health, gender equality and wellbeing of Asian and Pacific communities through inclusive sustainable WASH, and four end-of-program outcomes:

• Strengthened national and sub-national WASH systems with government able to implement and sustain inclusive output-based aid WASH approaches in rural Vietnam – achieved through a government co-financing requirement.
• Strengthened private sector ability in sanitation and public/private enterprises in water to operate sustainably and reach poor and GESI communities in rural Vietnam; increasing their role in providing high quality WASH services to all.
• Improved access to and use of equitable WASH services, especially among marginalised community members.
• Improved gender empowerment and systematic inclusion of women and outcomes in households and communities and institutions.
• Increased use of evidence and innovation in gender and inclusive WASH in Vietnam; increased contribution from Vietnam to regional and global evidence base.

The purpose of this MTR is to provide a systematic and objective assessment of the effectiveness of WOBA Vietnam’s inclusive approach and systems strengthening strategies in delivering its two objectives: increase access to equitable (WASH services, especially among marginalized community members; improve gender empowerment and inclusion of women through program implementation and decision making. This includes an assessment of the program’s delivery of relevant and efficient WASH services in targeted communities and adaptation to changing conditions (such as COVID 19), assessment of the direct and indirect contribution as well as unintended outcomes of the program. This MTR will also aim to help lay the foundation for a strong end of term evaluation. It is intended that a better understanding the effectiveness/efficiency of the WOBA Vietnam approach would influence Thrive/EMW’s programming in other WASH related areas.

1. Assess whether the program has successfully achieved its stated objectives and outcomes that meet the needs of targeted communities and in line with government national plans.
2. Assess the influence of program design, including the WOBA modality and verification process, on this achievement.

1. To what extent has WOBA Vietnam increased access to equitable WASH services for the poor and marginalised (GESI) communities in rural Vietnam? (Effectiveness)
2. To what extent has WOBA Vietnam strengthened the capacity of national and sub-national WASH systems with government and in the private sector to implement and sustain inclusive OBA WASH approaches in rural Vietnam?  (Effectiveness/Relevance)
3. To what extent has WOBA aligned with the Vietnam government’s policies in WASH in rural Vietnam? (Relevance/Impact/Sustainability)
4. To what extent has the program’s strategy of partnership with and capacity building for women in the government partners, women in the Committees for Women and Children, women village chiefs and volunteers further empowered them and championed their roles as leaders in the sector? (Effectiveness)
5. What impacts (intended, unintended, positive and negative) has WOBA Vietnam had and how sustainable are these? (Effectiveness/Impact/Sustainability)
6. To what extent has the program’s approach to gender equality and disability inclusion, and social inclusions resulted in greater understanding of gender issues and improved gender empowerment among key stakeholders? (Effectiveness/Impact)
7. To what extent has WOBA Vietnam delivered its objectives in an effective and efficient way? (Effectiveness/Efficiency)

The MTR is delivered in five phases. EMW is looking for two consultants to collect, analyse data, write reports and present the findings for Phase 2 to 5. The phases and data collection methods are summarised below. A detailed evaluation plan including methodology will be provided during the consultancy selection period:

• Phase 1 Document Review: Review all program documents, related government policies and guidelines, and DFAT Water for Women related grant documents.
• Phase 2 Partnership and networks analysis: 1) Map the WOBA Vietnam partnership networks and the processes within these networks. This involves reviewing the WOBA Vietnam document and interviewing EMW staff; 2) Facilitate focus groups with representatives from the partners and EMW staff identified in the networks mapping to validate the map and elicit information about the efficiency and effectiveness of the networks and processes; 3) Implement a survey with focus group participants to elicit individual responses about the efficiency and effectiveness of the partnership structure and processes.

• Phase 3 Interviews with program beneficiaries: Conduct semi-structured interviews with beneficiaries of WOBA Vietnam. The aim of this phase is to understand how WOBA services are relevant to and effective in meeting the needs of the target beneficiaries.

• Phase 4 Interviews with Committees for Women and Children (CCWC) members: Conduct semi-structured interviews with the CCWC members at the district and commune levels. The aim of this phase is to understand how WOBA has changed their knowledge, skills, attitudes and motivation in delivering WASH services in rural communities and improve women participation in the WASH public and private sector.

• Phase 5 Case studies a water operator and a sanitation supplier in the private sector: Compile case studies from data collected from the other 4 phases, existing WOBA program’s monitoring data in water and sanitation, relevant documents from the organisations and interviews with representatives from the organisations.

4.   Key Deliverables

• Partnership networks and processes maps compiled in Phase 1
• 1 set of raw and cleaned data for the focus groups conducted in Phase 1
• 1 set of raw and cleaned data for Phase 1 survey
• 1 set of raw and cleaned data for the semi-structured interviews conducted in Phase 3, Phase 4, and Phase 5
• 1 brief report of analysis (in Word and PowerPoint) for Phase 1 focus groups and survey data (in English)
• 1 brief report of analysis (in Word and PowerPoint) for Phase 3 interviews (in English)
• 1 brief report of analysis (in Word and PowerPoint) for Phase 4 interviews (in English)
• 1 brief report of analysis (in Word and PowerPoint) for Phase 5 case studies (in English)
• 4 oral presentations for Phase 2 to 5.

The consultants will work under the supervision of the lead evaluator, Dr Lien Pham (Director, Research and Partnership Thrive/East Meets West) to meet this TOR and contractual obligations. Dr Lien Pham will provide oversight of the MTR processes, including preparation of sampling frame, selection of participants, development of data collection instruments for Phases 2 to 5. The consultant will work with Dr Lien Pham in the team discussions of the data analysis, presentations of findings, and consolidation of the consultants’ reports in the final MTR report.

The consultant will be assisted by the WOBA Vietnam program team in the logistical aspects of the MTR including organising all interviews, focus groups, and make available the documents for Phase 5 case studies.

The consultant will work from the EMW Vietnam office in Sangkat Phnom Penh Thmey, Khan Sen Sok, Phnom Penh, Vietnam, when not conducting fieldwork.

7.   Budget

The budget for the MTR consultancy (for two consultants) is USD $13,500 excluding travel costs required for field work.

8.   Selection criteria

• Advanced degree in social science and related studies;
• Experience in conducting evaluations for multi-year funded international development projects with multi-stakeholders;

• Experience and substantial knowledge on WASH sector, gender equity, disability and social inclusion particularly in the South East Asian region;

• Demonstrable proficiencies in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research methodologies including data collection and data analysis methods;

• Experience in facilitating focus group discussions and conduct interviews with different stakeholders including government officials, enterprises, people from marginalised communities in rural areas, women;

• Demonstrable proficiencies in applying OCED principles and criteria to evaluations;

• Strong report writing and communication skills to present evaluation results for range of audience;

• Knowledge of Vietnam’s governance institutional structure, and previous work experience in the country;

• Written and oral proficiency in Vietnamese and English;

• Availability and willingness to travel within Vietnam;

• Due to travel restrictions, it is preferable that the consultant is living in Vietnam

Interested candidates can apply as team or individual consultant. Please send the following documents with subject MTR Consultants for WOBA Vietnam to Dr Lien Pham (lien.pham@eastmeetswest.org) and Ms Ha Thi Minh Thang (thang.ha@eastmeetswest.org) COB 17 Feb 2021:

1. CVs of consultant/s
2. List/s of relevant past works and details of two referees. The referees must be for at least one of these works.
3. Written example/s of similar research or evaluation report
4. Consultants’ daily fee rate and availability

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