Consultant: Final Evaluation
This job posting has closed
Program Background
The “Applying Bihar Recommendations: Building State Level Emergency Response Capacity” program of ADPC seeks to strengthen the institutional leadership capacity for disaster preparedness & emergency response in Bihar State of India with the financial support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
The programme specifically works to assist Government of Bihar to undertake selected priority initiatives spelt out in the DRR Roadmap of the State. Particularly, the Program contributes towards strengthening emergency response capacity of identified stakeholders related to Agriculture, Health and Disaster Management Departments of the state government. Two key outcomes expected from the program includes:
- Strengthen institutional capacities and approaches for disaster preparedness and response and as a result, inter alia, disaster risk reduction is realized through risk informed sectoral planning
- Learning and knowledge management resources and system initiated and institutionalized for disaster preparedness, response and recovery in Bihar state
Purpose of the Evaluation
The program on strengthening emergency response capacity in the state of Bihar was a 3-year program which is been implemented from May 2015 to July 2018. During its implementation the programme has catalyzed several strategic actions by the government of Bihar. While measurement of results was conducted throughout the program to capture the progress, the main purpose of the evaluation is to review how the programme, its processes, its outputs, and outcomes has contributed in strengthening the emergency response capacity of the Government of Bihar. Moreover, the evaluation is to support for policy and programmatic decisions by the Government of Bihar in identifying program areas which can be scaled up and replicate in the state. Furthermore, this evaluation will also support BMGF, and ADPC by articulating the programme ‘theory of change’ supported by success stories, lessons learned and good practices for future investment in Bihar and other states of India.
Scope and focus of the Evaluation
The Evaluation will look in to the outcomes/outputs identified in the program results framework guided by the following key questions:
- Assess the change in Institutional capacities and approaches for disaster preparedness and response and as a result, inter alia, disaster risk reduction
- To what extent institutional capacities and approaches were strengthened?
- Did those improvements/approaches help towards reducing disaster risks in identified sectors?
- To what extent improved capacities will sustain beyond program period? What further needs to be done to sustain them?
- What is the likelihood / feasibility of replicating the same approaches for other parts of the state/other sectors?
- Recommendations for sustainability of program capacity building initiatives for the near and medium term future?
- Assess the change in knowledge and awareness by undertaking disaster risk assessments by concerned stakeholders, particularly the government, to inform preparedness, response and mainstreaming actions for health and agriculture sectors in selected districts of Bihar
- To what extent government stakeholders were involved in disaster risk assessment methodology development and carrying out risk assessments?
- What is the ability of government stakeholders to carry out risk assessments for respective sectors on their own?
- Recommendations for sustaining and use the knowledge on disaster risk assessment in the near and medium term future?
- Assess the level of risk informed planning for disaster preparedness and response measures through annual resource allocation and actions of Health & Agriculture departments
- What is the ability of government officials to use risk information in decision making on sectoral interventions?
- To what extent risk information are integrated in to sectoral development plans?
- What is the likelihood of use of risk assessment results in the decision making on sectoral interventions?
- What is the level of resource allocation by the government departments/other partners for disaster preparedness and response measures?
- Recommendations for use of risk information in sectoral planning in the near and medium term future?
- Assess whether the learning and knowledge management resources and systems have been initiated and institutionalized for disaster preparedness, response and recovery in Bihar state
- To what extent learning and knowledge management resources were initiated?
- What is the likelihood of continuation of knowledge management and learning activities within the state?
- Recommendations for knowledge management and learning activities in the near and medium term future?
- Assess whether a Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Knowledge Resource and Learning Network has been established and functional beyond the project period
- How did the program contribute in establishing the DRM Knowledge Resource and Learning Network?
- What is the likelihood of continuation of the network?
- Recommendations for continuation of the network in the near and medium term future?
- Assess whether need based knowledge products and training programs on risk informed disaster preparedness, response and recovery have been designed, developed and delivered?
- How effective was the program in identifying the needs of stakeholders/beneficiaries for designing knowledge products and leaning programs?
- To what extent the knowledge products and training programs were developed?
- To what extent the stakeholders were trained on mainstreaming DRR, emergency response and recovery?
- What is the likelihood of continuation of trainings and learning activities?
- Recommendations for continuation of training and learning activities in the near and medium term future?
Methodology for the Evaluation
The evaluation will be conducted as an independent evaluation using process data as well as through primary data collection.
The Evaluator will use following methods to carry out the evaluation and provide the analysis:
- Desk study to review all project related documents including project proposal, results framework and tracker, progress reports, knowledge products, Project Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes, etc.
- In depth interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders and beneficiaries using a structured questionnaire
- Interviews with key informants (KIs to be identified in consultation with the project partner agencies)
- Observations through field visits to project sites
Duration of the Evaluation
The evaluation is expected to have around 16 working days from an evaluator/evaluation team spread from June to July 2018. This includes desk review, field visits, interviews, and report writing.
Required qualification and expertise
The Evaluator shall have the following expertise and qualification:
- At least a masters degree in Public Policy, International Development, Disaster Management, Emergency management, or any other relevant university degree;
- At least 10 years of experience in working with international organizations and donors;
- Extensive expertise, knowledge, and experience in the field of Disaster management, emergency response, and recovery interventions;
- Knowledge and understanding on institutional set up for emergency response mechanisms in the region
- Experiences in carrying out evaluations for similar programs
- Understanding the culture and working modalities in India and in Asian region
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
- Knowledge on Hindi would be an added advantage
Management arrangement
The evaluation will be planned and managed by the Program Manager-M&E of Preparedness for Recovery and Response department of ADPC with the support from the program team based in Bihar India.
The Evaluator will directly report to the Program Manager- M&E from ADPC while the Project team based in Bihar, India will be responsible in arranging all field visits in the state.
The final evaluation report will be reviewed and disseminated by ADPC in softcopies with BMGF, Government of Bihar and other related stakeholders as necessary. In addition, the evaluation report will be made available in public domains, including the ADPC website.