Consultancy for Final Evaluation of Hope Villages Project

Habitat for Humanity International’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Anchored by the conviction that safe and affordable housing provides a critical foundation for breaking the cycle of poverty, Habitat has helped more than 4 million people construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes since 1976. Habitat also advocates for fair and just housing policies and provides training and access to resources to help more families improve their shelter conditions. Habitat works in more than 70 countries and welcomes people of all races, religions and nationalities to partner in its mission. 

The Project “Life is Good: Hope Villages”, funded by LG through HFHK/ HFHV, is working to  reducing vulnerabilities to inadequate housing and exposure to health and environmental risks for Muong Ethnic Minority in Quyet Thang Commune, Lac Son District, Hoa Binh Province.

The project officially commenced its activities from April 2022 in Quyet Thang commune, Lac Son district, Hoa Binh province.

The project has 3 key specific objectives as follows:

Objective 1: Promote access to safe and disaster-resilient housing, water, sanitation and hygiene to ethnic minority people in the most vulnerable mountainous communities at Quyet Thang commune, Lac Son district, Hoa Binh province.

Objective 2:  Promote community’s proper WASH practice and improve school children’s education by providing better access to safe water, sanitation and studying facilities.

Objective 3: Build up community capacity and awareness of healthy homes and healthy communities by promoting asbestos-free, zero indoor cooking and open defecation-free communities.

The project’s outcomes include:

Outcome 1: Increased access to safe and affordable housing and WASH facilities by applying disaster resilient and climate change adaptation techniques and safe and environmental-friendly construction materials.  

Outcome 2: Community members and school children have improved access to WASH and studying facilities

Outcome 3: Homeowners and community members have proper knowledge to build and maintain healthy homes and healthy communities.

Research/ Evaluation Objectives:

The key objective of the final evaluation is to assess the results of the project “Life is Good: Hope Villages ” funded by LG through HFHK in Quyet Thang commune, Lac Son district, Quang Nam province.

In particular, the specific objectives of the evaluation are to:

• Assess impact and outcomes of the project under the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, sustainability and impact.
• Identify best practices, recommendations & tools for improving humanitarian assistance and possibility of scaling up and replication in the future.

Research/ Evaluation Questions:

To address the specific objectives of the evaluation, the evaluator(s) will be expected to provide answers to the following specific questions:

Effectiveness

1. To what extent have the project’s objectives (outcomes/expected results) been achieved? What factors supported or impeded the achievement of the project objectives?
2. How effective were project activities for achieving the objectives of the project?

Impact

1. Results achieved vs planned results, if discrepancy- why?
2. How many people (disaggregated by sex, age and disability) have benefitted from the program?
3. Were there any unintended results of this project?
4. How the project impacted to health improvement of beneficiary households and environment risk reduction.    

Relevance

1. Were project activities the right ones for addressing the needs of the target groups?
2. Were project objectives aligned with locally defined needs and priorities?
3. Has the project complemented and been compatible with government approach?

Efficiency

1. Could the same or better results have been achieved with the same or fewer inputs by doing things differently?
2. Were activities delivered on time and within budget?

Sustainability

1. Are the changes brought about by the project likely to continue – are they resilient and sustainable? If not, what needs changing?
2. To what extent are local and national stakeholders willing and able to take ownership of established processes and systems?

Learning and improvement

1. What are the key favorable factors that contribute to the success of the project?
2. What were the key challenges experienced during project implementation and what were the lessons learnt? How can the project design be improved to better achieve the project objectives?

Scope, Methodology and Deliverables:

Scope of the Evaluation:

Methodology:

The hired consultant/s will be expected to propose a detailed methodology (based on the information given inthese ToR and the project documents provided) suggesting adjustments to the methodology recommended below and to the available tools asnecessary to meet the objectives of the evaluation mentioned above.

It is expected that the methodology will include both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and willconsider both primary and secondary data sources. Information from these different sources will be triangulatedto increase its validity.

The consultant will be expected to review project documentation, interview project management and field staff,partner organizations and government counterparts (if any). He/ she would obtain the views of project beneficiaries, (lookingat what they think about the project, whether it worked well or not, what they see as the value of the project andhow it supported their own development efforts) in a participative manner through focus group discussions andkey informant interviews. The consultants must design the methodology specifically to ensure gender anddisability inclusion.

Regarding the household construction interventions, the consultants must (i) Measure and compare ventilation, lightening of the house before and after construction, ii) Compare health condition of beneficiaries before and after construction support by checking whether respiratory diseases like asthma, bronchial trouble, pneumonia of beneficiary is improved, (iii) Assess whether new house/renovation increases an energy efficiency by comparing air conditioning & heating cost before and after construction, and (iv) How beneficiary households react to ACM that lead to free ACM construction environment or reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

Deliverables:

• Inception Report (and presentation) covering overall approach and methodology, random sampling strategy, evaluation questionnaire and data processing protocols
• Draft Final Report (and presentation) with preliminary findings and key recommendations
• Final Report Due 1 week after receiving comments on the draft final report from relevant HFHV staff
• Electronic files of photos taken for each household evaluated, along with their corresponding evaluation number
• All outputs are written in English

Management Arrangement and Protocols: The evaluation will be conducted by a consultant/ consultant team under supervision of HFHV Program Manager with technical inputs from HFHV MEAL Specialist.

• The contract will be signed in accordance with HFHV regulations and guidelines for the contracting of consultant(s). The assignment will be directly managed by the Project Manager in the day to day tasks assigned and the MEAL Specialist will manage the content and planning. Both those of the HFHV will ensure that all required facilities and information are made available to the consultant(s). And the Program Manager will ensure required logistical arrangements are in place.

The consultant/ consultant team is expected to commence the services in late July and early August 2022 and the assignment will be carried out over the period of 4 weeks from the date of commencement (agreed by both consultant and HFHV).