Lay Volunteers International Association (LVIA) is an International NGO working in Kenya since 1967, dealing with Health, Agriculture, Environment and WASH projects.Comitato Collaborazione Medica (CCM) is an NGO dealing with development in low-income countries. Since 1968 CCM promotes the right to the highest possible standard of health both in Italy and Africa, more specifically in Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda.
“Improve access to clean water, sanitation facilities and first health quality services in the County of Isiolo, Merti, Isiolo and Garbatulla Sub-Counties (MAPS)” is a 36-month-project funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs starting from 2nd May 2014. The project is implemented in Kenya, in Isiolo County, which is classified as ASAL (Arid and Semi-Arid Lands). Isiolo County is drawing humanitarian attention due to heavy droughts affecting on regular basis the area and to socio-economic marginalization that characterizes the region due to political and cultural issues.
The project’s main objective is to improve living conditions for pastoral communities in Isiolo County, contributing to achieve the 7th Millennium Goal target focusing on halving the proportion of population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, with a further impact on reducing water borne diseases, especially diarrhoea (MDG 6) and improving maternal and child health (MDG 4 and 5). The specific objective is to improve the continuous and sustainable access to clean water (for human and animal consumption), existing sanitary facilities and pastoral communities’ access to quality Primary Health Care services in the three Sub-Counties of Garbatulla, Merti and Isiolo.
The project aims at reducing the vulnerability of pastoral communities in Isiolo County due to poor access to clean water and health services by:
Expected Result: 1) Improving access to safe, adequate and sustainable water supply through rehabilitation, restoration and protection of existing water sources and construction/rehabilitation of roof rain water harvesting scheme in schools/health facilities.
Expected Result: 2) Improving access to safe and appropriate health and sanitation facilities through the construction of latrines in 15 targeted public school and 15 Health Centers/dispensaries and increasing awareness of hygiene/sanitation practices, especially amongst women with children under five, and populations living in areas prone to cholera, drought, floods.
Expected result: 3) Informing and Educating Women and pastoral communities in order to implement concrete actions to safeguard their own and household health.
Expected result: 4) Providing Quality healthcare services for mothers and children in the targeted 15 Health Centers/dispensaries

Purpose and objectives
The overall purpose for the assignment is to undertake a mid-term outcome and process evaluation of the project after 22 months from the start of the action and to provide recommendations to guide the remaining implementation period of the project. Outcome Evaluation aims at measuring the degree to which the project is having an effect on the target population’s and beneficiaries’ behaviours. Process evaluation will determine whether project activities have been implemented as intended and resulted in certain outputs.
The MTE will be a comprehensive analysis of the strategy applied by the intervention and of any synergy created by the project with other actions implemented at a local level, NGO working in the area and Local Government/Authority. All the information and understanding gained from this MTE will be used as a guideline for future project implementation, and made available to LVIA, CCM, WRMA and Isiolo County Department Responsible for Health.
The MTE will be required to answer some questions related to the implementation strategy of the project such as:
Which interventions have been carried out? Were they in line with the work plan?
Were available resources used effectively and according to the plan?
Which factors have hindered the project implementation? Which copying mechanisms have been developed? Where they effective?
Has the planned methodology been respected? If not, why?
Do the targeted groups correspond to the expected ones?
How is the partnership organized? Is the division of labour among partners effective and efficient? If not, why? What could be done to improve it?
For this consultancy, LVIA and CCM seek to procure the services of an independent, external consultant to design, plan and conduct a rigorous mid-term evaluation expected to begin by February 2016
Evaluation Criteria
The mid-term evaluation aims to determine whether the project activities are beginning to bring about the change anticipated at the outset of the project. It also aims to examine which factors are proving critical in making change happen.To this end, the mid-term evaluation should be conducted based on the following criteria:

RELEVANCE
The evaluation shall verify:
• the project design and implementation are aligned to national and local strategies/plans;
• the implementation strategy is adequate to the local context;
• the logical framework is relevant to project goals/objectives;
• the methodologies adopted are relevant to achieve the expected objectives/results.
EFFECTIVENESS
The evaluation shall verify:
• if and which changes in the health-seeking behaviour of target populations have been produced by the project;
• if and which impact the project has produced on the protection and management of water resources;
• if the project has produced non expected results (and, if so, which is their effect in relation to the project objectives)
• how the project could adapt/react to external factors;

EFFICIENCY
The evaluation shall verify:
• how efficiently have financial resources been allocated and utilized;
• how efficient is the contribution by each partner to the project

SUSTAINABILITY
The evaluation shall verify:
• If and to what extent project partners and beneficiaries have assimilated health-seeking behaviour messages and tools;
• if and how local authorities are committed to foster the project results; which changes have been produced across target groups and/or partners, increasing the sustainability of the intervention; which human, technical and financial resources are required to ensure the project sustainability, upon its completion;

IMPLEMENTATION
The evaluation shall verify:
• which population is impacted by the project (wider or narrower than expected? similar or different from the expected one in terms of composition?)
• if non expected impacts have occurred (if so, which ones?)
• if inequalities in access to WASH services are being tackled;
Where applicable, the evaluation should clearly define lessons learnt, best practices and recommendations to readdress LVIA/CCM’s intervention in the wash and health sectors, in order for LVIA and CCM to continue implementing a proper project intervention according to projects expected results and activities.
The Consultant(s) is free to identify additional questions for the completion of the assignment.
The consultant(s) will be also required to design, plan and carry out the project’s evaluation process, using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data that should be collected from at least the following sources:
• 15 Health facilities’ available documents, registers and files;
• HSC members and school teachers involved by the project;
• Members of Water Committees, Water Users Associations, Water Resources Users Associations;
• The monitoring available data, reports and minutes of the project meetings (Steering, Management and Sub County);
• Direct beneficiaries;
• 15 Village Health Committees members;
• Health staff from the health facilities;
• The County/Sub County Records Officers;
• County/Sub County Health and Water Officers;
• Ngos and main actors (Local/International) active in the County;
• WRMA, Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Environment.

Methodologies and Tools
The Consultant(s) is free to identify more sources useful for the completion of the assignment. The Consultant(s) will present a MTE proposal which will:
1) Define and specify the methodology and participative qualitative and quantitative data collection tools to be adopted in the MTE for gathering information from beneficiaries at community, health facility and school level, from Governmental Institutions/Ngo-s (to be reviewed with LVIA Project Coordinator and CCM’s Health Activities Coordinator).
2) Specify which primary and secondary sources the Consultant(s) is going to analyze;
3) Detail a plan for the MTE implementation, scheduling meetings/interviews/focus group discussions with stakeholders and field/visits and related logistic needed;
4) Specify data and information analysis tools/software.

LVIA and CCM would also like the Consultant(s) to suggest any particularly innovative or interesting methodology they may employ.
Deliverables and Time frame
The MTE is expected to be conducted during the month of February 2016, and the time allocation is set up for 21 working days broken down into the following activities:
Output 1: A mid-term evaluation report based on the activities as per the log-frame indicators, including suggestions and recommendations. Thus, LVIA-CCM expects from the Consultant(s) to assess how well the program is working, the extent to which the program is being implemented as designed, whether the program is accessible and acceptable to its target population. In addition to that the Consultant(s) is supposed to assess the degree to which the program is having an effect on the target population behaviours.
Output 2: Design improved versions of the project-related monitoring frameworks, related to Health and Wash activities and services data collection.

Location and logistics
The MTE will be organized and carried out in Isiolo, Merti and Garbatulla Sub-Counties. LVIA will supervise the process, together with its Partner CCM. Specifically, the Consultant will report to LVIA Project Coordinator and CCM Health Activities Coordinator. LVIA and CCM will facilitate and coordinate the MTE process, pay the professional fee and other related costs (food, accommodation, and transport to and from the project area) and review the methodology and other outputs of the MTE.
The consultant should use his/her computer. LVIA/CCM’s office spaces in Isiolo will be availed to him/her as well as relevant project documents/data. LVIA/CCM will cover the cost of the Consultant’s travel to Isiolo (and back after the end of the MTE). Food and accommodation expenses must be quoted separately in the proposal.
Desired Qualifications of the Consultant(s)
The Consultant(s) is required the following qualifications: At least bachelor degree in social studies/health sciences; At least five years of work experience in the field of social research, including consulting in M&E with experience in Wash and Primary Health Care projects’ evaluation; Previous working experience with INGOs; Previous experience in implementation, monitoring and/or evaluation of Health and WASH projects, added advantage in Mother and Child Health projects; Familiarity with ASAL Region and rural communities; Fluency in English and Swahili.

HOW TO APPLY:
Reporting Preliminary findings are expected to be presented in soft copy and illustrated during a presentation/workshop to discuss progress and conclusions with project staff and management. The final outcome/conclusions of the work carried out is required in both soft copy and hard copy before March 30th, 2016.

The report should include:
• executive summary
• introduction
• background (project description)
• evaluation purpose and objective
• evaluation methodology
• major findings
• lessons learned (from both positive and negative experiences)
• constraints that impacted project delivery
• recommendations and conclusions;
• relevant annexes (i.e. evaluation tools).

Terms and Conditions • Though the interested Consultant(s) are expected to provide a budget for the assignment, LVIA/CCM will consider proposals that are within the approved rates as per its policy on professional fees and award the assignment based on technical and financial feasibility; • Consultant(s) are expected to provide a detailed budget specifying professional fees rates and separately food and accommodation rates. Transport to the field will be made available by LVIA/CCM; • 40% of the consultancy fee will be paid into the indicated bank account designated by the Consultant at the beginning of the activity, the balance (60%) will be paid when the MTE report has been finalized, delivered and approved by LVIA Project Coordinator and CCM Health Activities Coordinator; • The Consultant(s) shall be responsible for his/her income tax (withholding tax) and insurance during the assignment.
A contract will be signed by the Consultant(s) upon commencement of the MTE, which will detail additional terms and conditions of service, aspects of inputs and deliverables.
Application process One expert is required. All expressions of interest should include:
• Cover letter (short letter addressing the MTE criteria) • Technical Proposal (presentation of the Consultant, with particular emphasis on previous experience in Mid Term Evaluations; profile of the Consultant(s) to be involved in undertaking the MTE; proposed tools and methodology to be used, MTE design to be described, understanding of ToR, the task to be accomplished and draft MTE framework and plan) • Financial Proposal (cost estimates of daily Consultancy fees). In a separate table accommodation and food will be estimated, while transport costs will be provided by LVIA/CCM)
Applicants should apply before February 1st 2016 5 p.m. to the following e-mail addresses:lvia.rpa.ea@gmail.com and hac.isiolokenya@ccm-italia.org
LVIA reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal received without giving reasons.