Terms of reference - impact evaluation for the project “For our better future – Protection and Promotion of Women and Children’s Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Terms of reference
1.1 Background and context
1.2 Evaluation purpose and target audience
1.3 Evaluation objective, scope, approach and methodology
1.4 Timing and deliverables
1.5 Budget and Payment
1.6 Requirements and Proposal Submission
1.1 Background and context
Project timeline: March 1st, 2021 – November 30th, 2023
Project partners: Institute Circle (Slovenia), Medica Zenica (BiH), Center for education and research "Nahla" (BIH)
The main project outline:
1. Introduction
Legislation providing for rights of women and children in BiH is largely in place as part of its preparation for an EU future. Nevertheless, promoting gender equality and rights of children is often sidelined, and the action taken in this respect is insufficient.
BiH has ratified both the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW) and the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention). However, the CEDAW’s Committee continuously recommends that the knowledge about CEDAW and the Istanbul convention, gender issues and legislation prohibiting discrimination against women should be enhanced, in particular among the government officials, the judiciary, police officers, health professionals…, who work with victims of gender-based violence. In addition, CEDAW’s committee recommends that the awareness about women’s rights should be raised also among women themselves and in the public.
Regarding the children’s rights, BiH is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its three optional protocols. However, the country is not fulfilling all the obligations arising from ICRC and its Committee recommends BiH to strengthen its efforts to provide systematic information to raise awareness of children’s rights. Besides, the Committee calls upon BiH to promote child participation in developing policies and decisions concerning child rights at all levels – within the family, community and schools, and in decision-making in all matters related to children.
In this context this project has been designed to work for the benefit of Bosnian children and women, to increase respect for children and women’s rights in particular and for human rights in BiH in general, fight all kinds of gender-based violence and strengthen democratic practices on different levels in the society.
Two specific objectives of the project are:
- to raise awareness and educate women and children about their own rights and empower them to defend and promote them in their communities;
- to educate decision-makers to assume their responsibilities and contribute to positive changes with regard to women and children’s rights in their institutions.
Foreseen results of the project are:
- twenty women and thirty children become new trainers on women and children’s rights for their peers after they participate in training of trainers;
- awareness about children’s rights increased among children through peer – to – peer awareness-raising sessions in schools in ten Cantons of FBiH. New trainers shall implement five awareness-raising sessions for two classes of about 20 children in one school per canton (in total 100 sessions for 400 children);
- awareness about women’s rights increased among women through awareness-raising sessions, delivered by trained women, for other women in ten Cantons of FBiH. New trainers will implement five awareness-raising sessions for one group of about 20 women per canton (in total 50 sessions for 200 women);
- production of two online modules – one on children’s rights and one on women’s rights that will be tested by 400 children and 100 women;
- promotion of the two modules in the ministries of education, social affairs, women organisations, schools etc.
- 50 decision-makers from different institutions from all ten cantons of FoBH trained in field the human rights, with focus on women and children’s rights, and advocacy;
- awareness about women and children’s rights among general public increased through ten initiatives designed and implemented by decision-makers after their training.
General Timeline of the project activities:
The first phase of project implementation is setting up of the project team consisting of all project partners and agreement on clearly defined roles.
The second phase relates to the preparation of work with women organizations and schools. Preparatory activities include obtaining permissions / agreements with ministries of education in individual cantons and selecting schools. Preparatory activities also include reaching out to women organizations. Children and women are selected to be trained as peer-to-peer trainers and two 6-day long trainings of trainers are implemented (Sept – Dec 2021).
During the third phase peer to peer sessions are implemented in schools and with women in women organizations (Jan - June 2022).
At the same time two online modules are produced (Jan - June 2022) and tested in schools and women groups (Sept - Dec 2022).
Forth phase is related to preparatory activities for implementation of training for decision-makers. Institutions in all 10 cantons will be contacted, consulted, participants selected, and their needs analyzed. Based on these needs the training material will be prepared (Oct 2022-Feb 2023).
Fifth phase will be implementing the training of decision makers and supporting them in implementing their initiatives for promotion of women and children’s rights (March - Sept 2023).
1.2 Evaluation purpose and target audience
The purpose of the impact evaluation is to evaluate a) to what extent have the project objectives been achieved; b) what could be improved; c) the sustainability of the project results and objectives.
The main findings of this evaluation will be included in the narrative report of the project.
Target audience for the evaluation are participating children, teaching staff, participating women, participating decision-makers and partners.
1.3 Evaluation objective, scope, approach and methodology
The main objective of the evaluation is to evaluate the quality of implementation of the project by assessing whether the project has reached its aims and objectives, if quality standards have been met and what the impact and sustainability of the project deliverables are to the field of women and children’s rights in BiH.
The evaluation should review the actions from March 2021 to September 2023 with the evaluation report produced and delivered by 15th November 2023.
The report should take into account the following items:
● Evaluation questionnaires from ToTs
● Pre/Posttests from the peer-to-peer workshops
● Interview with project coordinator and local project coordinators
● Interview with HR experts
● Conduct 1 focus group with peer trainers and 1 focus group with women trainers
● Conduct 1 focus group with teaching staff participating in the project
● Conduct at least 1 focus group (or group interview) with participating children and at least 1 focus group (or group interview) with participating women
● Modules and feedback questionnaires
● Dissemination activities throughout the project lifetime and communication plan
● Refer to the logical framework of the project while assessing results and indicators
The final report has to reflect a compiled assessment of the project as a whole.
The evaluator is asked to propose the precise combination of methods to be used in carrying out the evaluation!
1.4 Timing and deliverables
By March 15th 2023 – evaluator selected
By April 31st 2023 – evaluator prepares a precise evaluation plan
By November 15th, 2023, final evaluation report prepared, including:
Executive summary
Evaluation purpose
Evaluation methodology
Management and processes
Activities and deliverables
Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations
Impact and sustainability
Annexes (list of people interviewed, key documents consulted, data
collection instruments)
1.5 Budget and Payment
The selected candidate will be paid 2000 Euro gross, divided in two instalments (first one upon preparation of the evaluation plan and second one upon preparation of the final report)
1.6 Requirements and Proposal Submission
In your proposals include:
Clearly stated experience in design and leading evaluation on human rights projects
One work sample from previous work as evaluators
Draft presentation of the methods to be used in carrying out the evaluation
CV
Send the proposals to katja@zavod-krog.si until February 15th.
We will announce the selection results by March 15th.