Country Strategy-3 Evaluation Consultant

The overall purpose of the Country Strategy review is to independently assess Plan International Timor-Leste ’s performance and progress against her predetermined strategic objectives and to use the learning from the process as well as the changed internal and external contexts, to sharpen the Country Program’s focus for the next CS-4. Moreover, with the development of “Girls Standing Strong”, the new Plan International’s Global Strategy that runs from FY2023 to FY2027, it has become imperative that Plan International Timor-Leste new country strategy need to align with its theory of change, purpose, commitment and values for next 5 years of the strategy implementation.

The CS-4 will serve as Plan International Timor-Leste strategic guideline for it’s operations for 5 years FY26-Fy30 which align with PII global strategy and APAC Regional Strategy.

Scope of the Review and Development

The review will measure the impact of the program's interventions in response to the basic rights of children, adolescents, youths, especially girls, and the achievement of their potential, including during and after disasters. It will specifically assess the overall progress made in relation to the Country Program’s strategic objectives and outcomes.

In addition, it is expected to provide some insight into the future country context and an assessment of the risk to inform our priorities and focus during incoming CS-4. The process will contribute significantly to the Country Program’s effort to align with Plan International Global Strategy.

Apart from desk reviews, the Consultant will visit the two of Program Unit offices, Non-PU community/municipalities and Country Office where Plan International Timor-Leste projects are being implemented, and will involve critical stakeholders of the organization at all levels, especially girls. The period of the review will cover from July 2019 to June 2024 (FY19-FY2024).

The consultant will align the review scope with the needs for new CS-4 development scope. There will be specific discussion regarding the CS-4 development include new ways of operating specially on integration Sponsorship work with Program work, Partnership and operations excellences including value for money.

1.3. Objectives of the Review and Development of new CS-4

Specifically, the Country Strategy review will aim to achieve the following:

1.3.1. Assess the progress and performance on strategic objectives and impact on the lives of children, adolescents, youths, especially girls in safety, during and after disasters in relation to the CS objectives.

1.3.2. Assess the organization’s structure, human resources, systems and policies such as finance, HR, MERL, influencing and communications, procurement and administration, security, and the entire governance system and how these have affected the delivery of the organization’s mission priorities.

1.3.3. Assess the impact of the Country Program’s work on children’s rights and how women and girls’ lives have changed.

1.3.4. Document major learnings from the County Program’s work that will be used in improving program quality, refining focus, and developing  a new country strategy four that is aligned with the current Plan International Global strategy.

1.3.5. Make recommendations on the review of existing strategy and direction of the new Country Strategy in alignment with the new Plan International global strategy and to make it respond to the new and changing realities of the Timorese girl and young women.

1.3.6. New CS-4 development will aim to develop new 5 years strategic directions for Plan International Timor-Leste which gender transformative and inclusive, empower, efficient and continue do impact in Timor-Leste through its programs.

1.3.7. Starting the CS-4 development process right after the review finished, the detail work-stream will develop together among consultant and Core Team after the CS-3 review.

2.0. KEY AREAS/REVIEW QUESTIONS

The objectives will be assessed within the broader key evaluation questions of effectiveness, impact, relevance, efficiency, sustainability, coordination and coherence, focus, appropriateness organizational structure, functions and identity. Therefore, the review will be responding to the following questions:

2.1. Effectiveness- Are the projects being effective in achieving the intended objectives and outcomes? In its current configuration, is the Country Program coherent and able to build on its incremental successes? What can we learn to advance the gender transformative and right-based approaches? To what extent have we advanced alternatives / developed innovative frameworks and approaches? What have been key changes to the external context that have impacted our ability to achieve our objectives?

2.2. Impact - What (positive and negative) changes (knowledge, attitudes, behaviors/practices) are the programs of work having on our priority groups directly and indirectly at various levels? What has happened as a result of the program or projects? What real difference has the interventions made to the beneficiaries?

2.3. Relevance - How relevant are the projects to the priorities and needs of the target groups, partner organizations and other stakeholders? Are the local partners relevant for the key changes that Plan International Timor-Leste Country Program is seeking in its CS? Analysis of the influence and reach of its current partnership portfolio. Recognizing that Plan International Timor-Leste is only one of many INGOs operating in Timor-Leste, in which areas of work is Plan International Timor-Leste able to add value? What are Plan International Timor-Leste niche areas and are they still priority areas of concern in the country?

2.4. Influencing Capacity – How has Plan International been able to translate program actions into influencing actions and use the same to drive changes in public space? How much impact has the organization had on the polity and decision-making spaces in the locations where it works and at the national level? What capacity does the organization have for influencing in the private sector and other non-state domains? How much convening power does the organization have among peer organizations and the larger civil society? What gaps exist that need to be addressed for it to improve on its capacity to influence changes that will contribute to the achievement of its commitments? How Plan International Timor-Leste’s influencing activity (through programs and campaign, lobbying and advocacy) contribute achievements of it’s Influencing strategy outcomes? (please also look at Plan International Influencing Strategy).

2.5. Efficiency - Is the country program being efficiently delivered (duplications and value for money issues, etc.) in achieving the intended outcomes and objectives?

2.6. Sustainability - Will the benefits of the program be sustained in the longer term, and if so, how? Is Plan International Timor-Leste diversifying its funding portfolios? Is there continuity in trajectories of Program Quality Development to address increasing competition for restricted income from institutional donors? Is the size and shape of our operations in the country sustainable in the context of funding trends?

2.7. Coordination and Coherence – Is there internal coherence across our program streams? Are the different components of our work building on each other and complementing to achieve a bigger impact? Externally, how have the programs of work been integrated with the activities and priorities of other agencies and organizations at national and provincial levels? What are the working groups and committees of the local government, National governments to which Plan International Timor-Leste has been formally invited?

2.8. Focus - Is there a need for Plan International Timor-Leste to focus in on more specific areas of work (both in terms of geography and programmatically), and if so, which ones?

2.9. Appropriateness of Organizational Structure, Functions and Identity - Do the current structure and functions of Plan International Timor-Leste Country Program enable it to be flexible, agile and responsive to changes in operational context at the national and international levels? How has our current organizational structure helped or hindered the delivery of the strategy? To what extent did our structures at the Country office enable us to achieve our strategic objectives, change promises and organizational priorities? How are projects incrementally integrated for a broader credibility and branding of Plan International in Timor-Leste? Given the current operational space for INGOs in general, what are the key structural changes required in the organizational workforce? Are the decisions making structures effective, transparent and accountable?

2.10. Gender equality and inclusion responsiveness in the organization - Are we ensuring gender equality in our structure, policies and practices? To what extent did we advance women’s advancement, representation and leadership within the organization? Are the voices of girls heard in all of our interventions- from planning to implementation?

2.11. Scaling Up and Innovation- Assess the level of innovation of Plan’s program strategies and to what extent they were replicated, scaled up and institutionalized at different levels (communities/wards, Local  and National government levels)

2.12. Learning - Assess how information from Plan’s research and evaluation initiatives were shared with other relevant actors and used for wider learning and program improvement; identify lessons learnt, best practices and bad practices, and document Plan’s experiences in the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programs. What have we learned that we can take forward as we develop our new strategy? Additionally, examples of lessons learned and models of good practice should be captured to inform the review.

2.13. Recommendations- Make recommendations on changes that Plan needs to make (what Plan needs to do differently) for more effective programs, to inform development of the next Country Strategy-4

2.14. Strategy-4 discussion, starting the CS-4 development process.

3.0. METHODOLOGY

The Country Strategy Review shall be conducted by an external consultant. It will mainly employ participatory qualitative and quantitative methods of research. The use of the Most Significant Change and other outcome mapping techniques to document and demonstrate Plan’s program outcomes and impact is required. The participatory process will involve the following actors:

• Children of different age groups who represent the communities in which Plan operates including and focus also with Sponsor child;
• Community representatives;
• Representatives from all Plan partner organizations including Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), youth groups, women’s groups, Disability organizations, LGBTQI organizations; also INGO Peers
• Representatives from Government from Local to national levels
• Representatives from National Parliament
• Representatives from UN specially UNICEF, UN-Women, UNFPA
• Plan staff, representing programs, grants, Program quality and resource mobilization, People and Culture, Finance, Supply Chain, influencing and communication, Safe guarding, Gender and Inclusion, Girls Alliance members, IT, sponsorship team.
• Representatives from Donors such as EU, DFAT, KOICA, JICA
• Other peer organizations at the National level, APAC region and National Offices

Special attention will be paid to the principles of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI), and to ensure gender balance and the involvement of excluded and marginalized groups from the communities in which Plan International Timor Leste works. The proposed review methodology should not be extractive but allow joint analysis of the issues under review and equal and active participation of children, women, girls and other people living in safety, poverty and exclusion, including during and after disasters. The review should identify best practices and provide more insight into what worked or did not and why, affording an opportunity for active learning.

Secondary data collection will involve the review of literature and documents from Plan International, government departments, NGOs, and other relevant sources.

The consultant is expected to specify participatory methodologies for qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis as appropriate for the Country Strategy Review. These should include, but not be limited to, the use of structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, appreciative inquiries, Most Significant Change stories, Case studies, etc. The consultant should also specify the process and approach that will ensure the disaggregation of information and analysis by age, gender and geographic location.

An appropriate sampling strategy will be used to sample work undertaken in different communities, ensuring the involvement of administrative and community-based institutions and structures in the evaluation. The sampling technique adopted should be statistically valid and ensure that adequate numbers of the target beneficiary population, including children, are included.

4.0. KEY EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

• Facilitate meetings with key Plan International Timor-Leste staff in August 2024 to review the  the CS-3.
• Detailed work plan of the whole mid-term review process.
• Develop data collection tools including questionnaires for key informant interviews.
• Specific reports based on key areas of the CS review (program, influencing, children’s rights, gender equality and inclusion, partnership, and organizational prioritise).
• Internal review reports by each unit/function and compiled version.
• Preliminary findings report of the Country Strategy Review.
• Final Country Strategy Review Report and Recommendations.
• CS-4 development process (series of meeting with relevant people outside organizations and Plan staff, CS-4 workshop with internal staff and also separate include external people, CS workshop). And other necessary work.

The raw data (all transcripts, quantitative data, and data collection tools) must be submitted to Plan International Timor-Leste together with the review report.

The final CS-4 documents will need to submitted to Plan International TL.

5.0. KEY EXPECTED TASKS

• Facilitate meetings with key Plan International Timor-Leste Staff during the review process.
• Desk review of relevant documents including annual, quarterly and monthly reports, project terminal reports, donor reports, monitoring and evaluation reports, activity and work plans, financial reports, budgets and funding documents, etc.
• Development of questionnaires for the Key Informant Interviews and Focus Groups Discussions (FGDs) and collection of data/information from the relevant persons as would be identified.
• Coordinate with Plan International Timor-Leste, partners and other relevant stakeholders to organize data collection for KII and FGDs.
• Develop draft of Country Strategy Review Report.
• Produce the final Country Strategy Review Report after incorporating inputs.
• Facilitating any necessary meeting/workshop in regards to CS-4 development.

6.0. SUPPORT TO BE PROVIDED

In order to ensure quality support to the external consultant, Plan International Timor-Leste will constitute a Country Strategy Core Review and Core New CS-4 Team led by the Country Director to guide the process. The Country Monitoring Evaluation Research and Learning (MERL) Manager will be the main contact person from the Core team during the strategy review and CS-4 development process. Plan International Timor-Leste will make available all the necessary and required literature for review; support all the logistical arrangements including constituting the CS review and new CS-4 development Team that will work closely with the successful consultant. The organization will also organize a dissemination workshop for the final report with staff, regional staff, and partners. In regards to CS-4 development, organizations will organize a dissemination final CS-4 documents after the approval of the CS-4.

8.0. KEY REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

• Plan International Global Strategy – FY2022-FY2027
• Plan International Timor-Leste CS-3 – FY2019-FY2024
• Annual and quarterly Plan reports
• Project reports to donors
• Annual plans and budgets
• Financial reports
• Organizational policies, procedures, systems and structures
• Risk management reports
• Monitoring and Evaluation reports
• Plan International Timor-Leste Influencing Strategy include reports
• Plan International Timor-Leste Partnership Frameworks
• Timor-Leste Latest Census report
• Timor-Leste National Development Plan 2011-2030
• Timor-Leste National Gender Report
• And others document which relevant and important

9.0. QUALIFICATION/REQUIREMENTS

Interested individual candidates/firms should possess:

• Team Leader must be an experienced social scientist with excellent skills in research, monitoring and evaluation of child-centered community development programs and a strong understanding of rights-based programming.
• Individual experts are expected to have a minimum of a Master’s Degree in relevant courses and over 5- 10 years of experience.
• Knowledge and experience in Strategic Planning and Reviews, Organizational Development and Program Management at national and international level
• Senior-level Management Experience (preferably executive level) at national and international levels (at least one consultant) is a must.
• Experience in designing and managing change processes.
• Knowledge and experience in children’s rights and gender analysis.
• An excellent understanding of the theory of change concepts.
• Good understanding of M&E methodologies and participatory research methodology
• Experience of conducting key informant interviews and focus group discussions.
• Excellent English writing and communication skills.
• Ability to work and travel within disaster risk areas.

. HOW TO APPLY

• All interested consultants/firms are requested to submit their proposals via email to PlanTL.Jobs@plan- international.org CC [email protected] and hand deliver to our office at Rua Nu’u Laran 20, Bairo dos Grilhos PO Box 246 Dili, Timor-Leste no later than 10 July 2024
• Technical proposal (main content and body not exceeding 10 pages): The technical proposal should reflect the firm/consultants’ understanding of the TORs and how all the tasks in the Scope of Work will be undertaken. The firm/group of consultants will also provide a detailed methodology and plan of specific activities and timetable for carrying out the assignment.
• Financial Budget: The firm/group of consultants shall propose a realistic cost estimate for this assignment, including a breakdown of the budget and justification of expenses. The budget shall include only those costs that can be directly attributed to the activities proposed. This should be submitted separately from the Technical Proposal.
• Statutory Requirements: Firm’s should provide copies of registration certificates and VAT compliance certificates.
• Personnel and experience: The consultants/firm shall list and briefly describe the experience, qualifications and specific roles of the consultant(s) proposed to work on the assignment. Detailed resumes of the core team of proposed consultants should be provided
• Reference information on previous assignments: Plan International Timor-Leste shall request successful bidder/s to present previous reports as evidence of capacity or drafting ability.