Evaluation of the Integrating the Response to Gender-Based Violence, HIV, and Economic Marginalization of Swati Women Program (WAGE Eswatini)
Program:
Integrating the Response to Gender-Based Violence, HIV, and Economic Marginalization of Swati Women (WAGE Eswatini)
Type:
End line Evaluation
Purpose:
To measure the program’s effectiveness in four areas: (1) measurable change in perceptions of gender norms, masculinity, and community awareness and knowledge of GBV, (2) increasing stakeholder interest in legal aid, (3) adapting to external challenges, and (4) measurable progress against program targets for indicators.
Primary Methodology:
Performance Evaluation and/or Outcome Evaluation
Period of Performance:
December 1, 2019 - June 1, 2022 (evaluation to cover period through April 30, 2022)
Consultant: April 15 – June 30, 2022
The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) is a non-profit organization that implements legal reform programs in roughly 50 countries around the world. ABA ROLI has nearly 500 professional staff working abroad, and in its Washington, D.C. office. ABA ROLI’s host country partners include judges, lawyers, bar associations, law schools, court administrators, legislatures, ministries of justice and a wide array of civil society organizations, including human rights groups.
ABA ROLI is seeking a Program Evaluator for its Integrating the Response to Gender-Based Violence, HIV, and Economic Marginalization of Swati Women Program, one of ten initiatives under the Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) Program.
Background
WAGE is a global consortium to advance the status of women and girls, led by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) in close partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), Grameen Foundation, and Search for Common Ground (Search). WAGE works to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations and private sector organizations (PSOs) in target countries to improve the prevention of and response to gender-based violence; advance the women, peace, and security agenda; and support women’s economic empowerment. In this context, WAGE provides direct assistance to women and girls, including information, resources, and services they need to succeed as active and equal participants in the global economy and public life. WAGE also engages in collaborative research and learning to build a body of evidence of relevant promising practices in these thematic areas. To account for the deeply interconnected nature of women’s and girls’ experiences, WAGE’s initiatives employ approaches that are highly collaborative, integrated, and inclusive. WAGE is funded by the U.S. Department of State Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI).
The Integrating the Response to Gender-Based Violence, HIV, and Economic Marginalization of Swati Women program is a multi-disciplinary program led by WAGE core partner Grameen and supported by WAGE lead partner ABA ROLI. Launched in 2020, the program’s goal is to strengthen the collective capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs), first responders, service providers, and lawyers to improve legal protections for women affected by or at risk of GBV and HIV; to promote effective GBV prevention strategies; and to provide holistic services to economically active women, including referrals for GBV survivors. The program aims to improve outcomes for women at risk of GBV or HIV in access to justice, prevention, and support services through the following objectives:
· Advocate for better laws to protect women. Under this objective, WAGE worked with stakeholders across the Eswatini government, civil society, and the legal profession to advocate for better laws protecting women through legal analysis, roundtable dialogues, and the development and implementation of a legal advocacy strategy.
· Strengthen the capacity of CSOs to prevent GBV. WAGE collaborated closely with local CSOs through civic education and gender awareness raising campaigns by supporting an existing paralegal program as well as Girls Clubs and Boys Clubs to break down harmful gender norms, prevent violence, and build self-esteem among adolescent girls and boys.
· Engage men and boys to reduce discriminatory beliefs and practices. WAGE partnered with local organizations to engage men and boys between the ages of 15-29 to reduce discriminatory beliefs that men hold toward women and their role in society.
· Mitigate GBV risks associated with women’s engagement in economic activities. WAGE worked to address women’s participation in economic activities by facilitating linkages between GBV-focused CSOs and CSOs focused on economic strengthening, training the latter on gender and power dynamics, and building their capacity to conduct GBV risk analyses and implement GBV-informed economic empowerment programming.
The Program’s Theory of Change indicates that:
· IF lawyers, CSOs, and government in Eswatini have enhanced collective capacity to advocate for better laws protecting women affected by GBV, HIV, and economic marginalization,
· AND IF service providers are able to promote more holistic and gender-sensitive services to women facing discrimination and violence,
· THEN Swati women will have greater power to lead more resilient, independent, economically sustainable, and violence-free lives.
Evaluation Purpose, Scope, and Objectives:
The evaluation is commissioned by ABA ROLI’s Global Programs and Africa Divisions to assess the following:
(1) Program’s effectiveness in improving stakeholder awareness and knowledge of GBV, and behavior and/or values towards gender and power dynamics;
(2) Program’s effectiveness in improving CSO capacities to prevent GBV and economic marginalization of women; and
(3) The various factors that may have affected individual and institutional changes (including program and non-program factors).
The evaluation is commissioned as part of WAGE’s commitment to the program-wide Learning Agenda and will provide useful information for key stakeholders on possible future programming in this area. Primary users of this evaluation are ABA ROLI, S/GWI, and WAGE program partners in Eswatini.
The evaluation will cover program implementation, from December 1, 2019 to April 30, 2022, and will adopt a hybrid performance evaluation and/or outcome evaluation approach using mixed methods to assess program success increasing GBV knowledge and awareness, changing gender norms and engaging men and boys, increasing interest in the importance of legal aid, adapting to external challenges, and measurable change against program targets for several indicators.
The evaluation will address the following questions:
At the individual level:
· To what extent did program activities increase GBV awareness and knowledge among community members and stakeholders?
· Did program efforts around male engagement change perceptions of masculinity and gender norms?
· To what extent have behaviors and values towards gender and power dynamics changed, if at all?
At the institutional level:
· Is there a correlation between program activities and an increased interest among CSOs and government actors in focusing on legal aid?
· In what ways do the program structure, approaches and strategies (including approaches for adaptation) contribute to observed or felt outcomes? (This may include, but not be limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, granting to local partners, and contextual/political factors in Eswatini.)
· What lessons can we extract from this program that can inform future program implementation?
Additionally, the evaluation will measure progress against project indicators and targets, assessing to what extent planned program outcomes were achieved and whether there were any unanticipated outcomes.
Deliverables
All deliverables must be written and presented in English. However, certain discussions, especially surveys/interviews, may be conducted in Siswati.
· An inception report / work plan prepared in consultation with relevant ROLI/WAGE program staff that includes design and methodology, data collection activities and analysis, and a clearer description of the scope of the evaluation based on feasibility and purposes stated for the Program.
· Relevant tools for data collection and collated data
· Draft evaluation report that includes preliminary findings, conclusions, and recommendations. ABA ROLI will review and submit comments and suggested revisions.
· A final evaluation report, including an executive summary, an explanation of the evaluation methodology with its limitations, the findings, conclusions and recommendations, appendices that contain the data analysis collection and analysis tools used.
· Evaluation brief, which will include findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the evaluation and be discussed during final meeting with ABA ROLI team.
· Databases with machine-readable information that have the quantitative data collected in the evaluation, mostly created from surveys carried out during the evaluation.
The Evaluation Consultant should have the following qualifications:
The consultant should be proficient in conducting performance evaluations and outcome evaluations using mixed methods.
The consultant must have:
· At least a master’s degree in public policy or administration, social or political science, or other related field with no less than seven years of experience conducting program evaluation OR a bachelor’s degree in these same fields with more than 10 years of experience in conducting program evaluations.
· Must have previous experience in conducting evaluations in Southern Africa; experience conducting evaluations with civil society organizations (CSOs), particularly on GBV programs or women’s and girls’ empowerment, required.
· Must have excellent English and Siswati communications and writing skills.
· Must demonstrate proficiency in the use of MS Office and other applications for online surveys and data analysis.
Supervision of the consultant’s work
The consultant will report directly to the WAGE Director. The consultant must provide all deliverables defined in these terms of reference. At the request of the WAGE Director, the consultant may be required to deliver intermediate milestones (such as notes, outlines, drafts for review, etc.) in addition to deliverables that are listed. Payment will be tied to successful completion of deliverables according to acceptable quality standards as determined by the WAGE Director.
How to apply:
Interested and qualified Consultants or Consultancy firms should submit their applications which should include the following:
Cover Letter.
Detailed Curriculum Vitae including a list of evaluations conducted and the evaluation methods used for those evaluations.
Proposed budget & workplan for the assignment.
Please quote “WAGE Eswatini Evaluation” on the subject line. Applications should be emailed to wage@americanbar.org no later than April 3, 2022 at 23:59 EDT.