Summary
Date Posted: Friday, April 08, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Promoting Life Skills and Livelihoods in Kakuma, Kenya
Contract No 81061961
Kenya, Project Number 7F-08201.03.01

1. Purpose
The present Terms of Reference (ToR) provide the framework for the evaluation of the third and final phase of the SDC funded project “Promoting Life Skills and Livelihoods in Kakuma, Kenya (Skills 4 Life)”. The project has been implemented in three phases of three years each by Swisscontact since the year 2013. The third phase is running from 1st September 2019 and 31st August 2022 with a total budget of 4.1 Mio.
The evaluation should give an insight in the project’s achievements and inform the discussion on how SDC can further strengthen its work on vocational skills/income and employment in the current context.

2. Context
The East and Horn of Africa is affected by 3 major protracted conflicts: the fragmentation of Somalia, the separation of Sudan/South Sudan, and the conflict in Northern Ethiopia. The Somali conflict is at the core of the fragility in the ASAL Region (Arid and Semi-Arid Lands) of Somalia, South-Eastern-Ethiopia, and North-Eastern Kenya, with a strong regional impact on the neighboring regions. The strongly interconnected socio-economic and ecological system of the ASAL is characterized by:
• extremely high level of fragility and vulnerability of the mainly agro-pastoralist population;
• multilayered conflicts stemming from competing political agendas, clan and/or border disputes, access to and use of natural resources (e.g. water, rangeland), etc.;
• Large regional migration flows due to conflict and poverty with millions of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia or on their way to Europe.

Protracted conflict, chronic food insecurity and the lack of access to basic services (health etc.) have led to 4.9 million refugees and asylum seekers in the East Africa, Horn of Africa and Great lakes (UNHCR December 2021). Kenya hosts 540,068 refugees, a large majority of them living in the refugee camps of Dadaab and Kakuma in the North of Kenya.
The lnter-governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) member states adopted in 2017 the Nairobi Declaration and its Plan of Action which is the operationalization of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). Kenya is a CRRF pilot country and has an action plan on the operationalization.
The Government of Kenya gazetted and published the Refugees Act, 2021, on 23 November 2021, and the law came into effect in February 2022, 90 days from the date of enactment. The last refugee legislation was enacted in 2006 and some of the provisions no longer reflected the current situation. The passage of the new Act provides more opportunities, rights, protection and solutions for refugees and asylum-seekers in Kenya, and is in line with Kenya’s commitments under the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), and other international and regional instruments. Many provisions of the new Act also complement the objectives of the Roadmap for Solutions developed jointly by the Government of Kenya and UNHCR.
Many refugees spent more than 20 years in the camps and are often exposed to sexual and Gender-based violence and have also suffered and/or witnessed extreme violence. The refugee caseload particularly in Kakuma Camp has increased substantially over the years due to the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. Switzerland supports refugees and host community in the refugee camps in Kenya mainly through UNHCR, The current Skills for Life project, the Refugee consortium of Kenya and the private sector solutions for host community and refugees through the Kakuma Kalobeyei challenge fund implemented by the international Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF).
UNHCR is responsible for overall camp management (shelter, health, primary education etc.).

The “Skills 4 Life” Project
Kakuma refugee camp and Kakuma Town are situated in one of the poorest counties in Kenya, Turkana County, and a region with a significant nomadic population that is growing with commensurate increased economic activity. Turkana has amongst others a severe lack in formal and informal education and practical training opportunities. Only 3% of Turkana County residents have a secondary level of education or above, As many as 82% of, Turkana County residents have no formal education. Over 80% of the population are nomadic pastoralists depending on livestock as their main source of livelihood. Turkana West pastoralist population is significantly underserved with health services and is out of reach of mainstream services and resources.
In 2013, the SDC Cooperation Office for the SDC Regional Program Horn of Africa mandated Swisscontact to design and implement in a consortium with Norwegian Refugee Council a pilot skills development project in the Kakuma refugee camp and Turkana West Sub-County. The pilot phase was implemented between 2013 and 2016 and led to a second phase between June 2016 and June 2019.
The overall goal of the project has been to strengthen the income generating capabilities of youth within the refugee and host communities in Kakuma and Kalobeyei by enhancing technical, entrepreneurial, financial, life and literacy skills which will enable them to improve their livelihoods. Due to the longstanding existence of the camp and the increasing socio-economic inter-linkages with the host community, a diversity of livelihoods opportunities for refugees emerged over the years, which go beyond the simple reception of basic services (e.g. economic opportunities). The project therefore aimed at enhancing current and future (self-) employment opportunities, as well as the motivation and self-esteem of boys and girls growing up in the daily hardship of a refugee camp.
The beneficiaries of the project are unemployed youth from 15-39 years, from refugee (50% female, 50% male) and host community (50% female, 50% male). The project focused on skills that are relevant with regard to the existing market opportunities in Kakuma, as well as in light of a possible return to refugees’ home countries.
With a protracted refugee situation in the Horn of Africa, donors increasingly try to add a focus on longer term solutions for refugees who have been forced to live in camps for several years and to find durable solutions that reduce the need for traditional Humanitarian assistance. Therefore the previous phases served to test a skills development approach adapted to a refugee and fragile context, and as a basis to possibly expand the approach in the Kakuma area, as well as to other regions with refugee camps (e.g. Dadaab, Dollo Ado refugee camp in Ethiopia etc).

Objectives and scope of the evaluation (effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability/durability.)
The objectives of the external evaluation are to:
(1) Review the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the Skills4Life Project in the third phase (2019-2022)
(2) Identify and quantify any intended or unintended outcomes which may already be visible.
(3) Review the implementation of the recommendations of the last evaluation based on the agreed points as per management response.
(4) Outline lessons learned and recommendations to SDC for the design of a next project either complementing the work of IFC in Kakuma-Kalobeye/Turkana or replicating proven approaches in Dadaab/Garissa (including host community).

Guiding questions
The following non exhaustive tasks/key questions should be addressed:

Relevance
How the project is positioned with other ongoing skills developments initiatives in the project area?

Effectiveness
• To what extent has the project’s skills development component contributed to changes in the livelihood of refugees as well as the host community? Is there a difference in regard to the two target groups?
• How effective is the applied training methodology (Integrated Learning Group approach/Model) combining technical training with life skills, numeracy, literacy, entrepreneurship and financial literacy training?
• Are the identified trades responding to current market needs?
• Has the project influenced the interest of the stakeholders and were their capacities improved, to what extend and how?
• What are the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the outcomes?
• What is the status of risks identified and assumptions held during the design of the project?

Efficiency
• Was the project design and setup efficient/effective in delivering the envisaged project objectives?
• Are/were trainers, curricula, training material, and training facilities of good quality?
• Have objectives been achieved on time? If not, what were the causes for any delays experienced?
• Where training activities cost-efficient, i.e. how economically have resources/inputs (funds, expertise, time, etc.) been converted to results?
• Were project activities coordinated with other skills training activities, both within the camp and outside?

Outcomes and Results
Which outcomes (intended and unintended) have been achieved?
How do the outcomes link and relate to each other?
What factors played a role in achieving these outcomes?

Sustainability and durability
• To what extend has local ownership been established? Inclusion in the CIDP, Ministries of youth, social protection programmes and county ministries
• How robust is the project model in view of the possibility to replicate?
• What are the plans, if any, by Government, VSD partners or Humanitarian actors to upscale or replicate the project based on project results?
• What are the major factors that could be identified in this phase , that influence the achievement or non-achievement of the project’s outcomes in terms of longer term benefits for the target group (not the project sustainability as such)?
• What are the prospects of the benefits of the project to be sustained in future?
• How replicable is the project intervention? Under what condition/adjustment and in what context?
• What aspects of the project intervention could be considered as innovation in the current context?
• What potential exist to disseminate/upscale in similar contexts?

Gender and conflict sensitivity
How has the entire programme implementation interacted with Gender and conflict sensitivity?**

Lessons Learned and Recommendations
What lessons can be learned from the implementation thus far in regard to its relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and ways of bringing about positive change?
What are the recommendations for the design of a possible next programming ideas or phase taking into account possible scaling up and increased outreach (e.g. changes needed in project design, focus areas, methodology, strategy, approach, implementation setup etc.)? Which opportunities are available with the current IFC contribution?
What are options to provide refugees/host communities a longer term learning environment by going beyond the delivery of timely limited one time skills development modules?

Suggested Methodology
The evaluation should be conducted in close collaboration with relevant project (beneficiaries, SDC Cooperation Office Nairobi, Swisscontact, etc.) as well as other context stakeholder (other skills development initiatives, camp related authorities, UNHCR , the IFC and local stakeholders (SDC and Swisscontact will provide a list).
The evaluation shall include a desk review (relevant project documents, possibly other literature on skills development in refugee contexts) and an in-country mission including a field visit to the Kakuma refugee camps and conduct interviews/exchanges with all relevant stakeholders.
An inception report (15 pages max) outlining the evaluation approach, based on the desk study and the list of relevant stakeholders as well as a work plan for the mission should be elaborated before the in-country mission.
During the in-country mission, SDC/Swisscontact will be supportive in the identification and arrangement of meetings with relevant stakeholders and in organising the field visits.
At the beginning and the end of the in-country mission, a briefing/debriefing session will be organised. It is to be defined, if at the end of the mission a joint verification and outlook workshop with a broader group of stakeholders should be organised.

Deliverables
The following products are expected from the evaluation
An evaluation approach paper and a work plan (inception report) to be elaborated in consultation with the main stakeholders (SDC and Swisscontact,) ahead of the in-country mission. Joint approval will be required. The inception report should be 15 pages and should describe key stages of the review process and its timeline and establish clear roles and responsibilities in the review process.
An evaluation report (max. 20 pages, excl. annexes,) with an analytical review and recommendation part (type of recommendation will be to Swiss contact and to SDC), the maximum number of recommendations to SDC shall be 9 and a prioritization of the recommendations (high (3), medium (3), low (3) will be required. The report should take the guiding questions into account and be developed in view of the need to recommend strongly, the way forward for SDC.
To be agreed upon if the Covid 19 context allows: a validation and outlook workshop co-organised by SDC, Swisscontact and the evaluation team.

Review Team
For the evaluation SDC is looking for an expert with international experience. In addition, the expert is expected to look for a local expert to further strengthen the evaluation team. SDC will also accompany the evaluation with internal staff, the division of labour between external and internal consultants will be agreed during inception.
The international expert is expected to be not only experienced in conducting project evaluations, but to have a sound theoretical and practical knowledge of Vocational Education systems as well as Vocational Skills Development (VSD). Proven experience in fragile contexts and/or the Horn of Africa region are an advantage. Experience in working with refugees and migration specific questions and required for the international and local consultants while the local expert should have knowledge of the refugee operation and refugee law in Kenya.
Strong analytical capacity combined with ability to synthesize/communicate conclusions and recommendations and report-writing skills are a required. Be fluent in English and have ability to work in a team and to deliver high quality outputs on time.

Time Frame and Logistics
The maximum time frame for this evaluation by the international expert is 20 working days between May and July 2022 (negotiable). The allocation of working days from inception, desk review, field visits etc. will be agreed on basis of the inception report and the decision of conducting a verification workshop.

Education Requirement: No Requirements

Job Experience: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Job application procedure
Application including detailed CV, financial offer (rate per day) and three references/recommendation letters to: nairobi@eda.admin.ch  under subject line: "Evaluation Skills4Life Project, Kakuma, Kenya," latest by C.O.B April 18th 2022.

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