TITLE: Final external evaluation Consultant within the project ‘Empowering Youth and Women towards employment in Ferizaj and Mitrovica Regions

WORKSITE LOCATION: Mitrovica and Ferizaj regions in Kosovo

CONTACT: Shkumbin Arifi, Project Coordinator, [email protected]

Around 61% of youth (15-24 years old) in Kosovo are currently unemployed, with 56% of men and 71% of women (according to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, 2014), which gives Kosovo the lowest labour force participation rates for youth in the Western Balkans. A third of the Kosovo youth are neither employed nor attending education nor training (NEET). Around 20.000 young people enter the Kosovo job market every year. According to the 2010 World Bank assessment of youth labor market outcomes, school-to-work transition is rare among young women, while it takes young men around 10 years.

Caritas Kosovo jointly with the Centre for Employment of Ferizaj, which is member of the national network of Centers for Employment operating in all Kosovo under the Ministry for Employment, have been implementing the project ‘’Supporting women and youth toward employment in Mitrovica and Ferizaj regions’’. The action started on the 1st of January 2019, and is being by the European Union, and Secours-Catholique-Caritas France (SC-CF), which has been an important support of Caritas Kosova over the years.

To support (self)-employment through the training, mentoring, networking, internships, and material support to vulnerable women and youth looking for a job or willing to launch or develop their income generation activity / business.

And the project is divided into 3 components, with the following results:
- Result 1 - At least 50 women and youth have been supported to start or develop their own activity by the end of the action;
- Result 2 - At least 120 unemployed women and youth acquired certified skills in an on-demand area, and 100 of them successfully acquired their first professional experience;
- Result 3 – At least 5 Professional associations in Mitrovica and Ferizaj regions are created or strengthened.

The project puts a strong emphasis on supporting individuals from marginalized groups which are traditionally not being supported by similar projects or the government (people – especially women and youth - with a low education level, from rural areas, from communities, from difficult socio-economic backgrounds…)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the delays it caused in the implementation of the activities, the initial end date of the project has been postponed from the 31st of December 2020 to the 30th of June 2021.

The project foresees a Knowledge Management / Identification of good practices consultancy to take place in spring 2021, before the final evaluation.

The Evaluation is intended to assess the project based on the OECD-DAC criteria, and draft recommendations that Caritas Kosova and its partners can use to improve their approach in the field of youth and women employment, in Kosovo and beyond.

More specifically, the evaluator is expected to provide triangulated and data-based answers to the following questions:
- Relevance: To what extend was the project and its activities suited to the priorities and needs of the target groups, especially most marginalized ones (with a special focus on women, youth from diverse communities, people with disabilities? Are the activities and outputs of the program consistent with the overall goal and the attainment of its objectives?
- Coherence: How compatible was the project with other interventions in the country, in the field of women and youth employment? Did the project benefit from synergies and interlinkages with other interventions carried out by Caritas Kosova (such as YourJob project)?
- Effectiveness: To what extent did the project reach its objectives? What were the major factors influencing the achievement or nonachievement of the objectives?
- Efficiency: Were activities cost-efficient? Were objectives achieved on time? Was the project able to put into place mitigation mechanisms related to the COVID-pandemic and its impact in Kosovo?
- Impact: What has happened as a result of the program or project (taking into account intended and unintended consequences, positive as well as negative ones, direct as well as indirect ones)? What real difference has the activity made to the beneficiaries?
- Sustainability: To what extent will the benefits of the project continue, or are likely to continue, for the direct beneficiaries as well as at a broader level.

The External evaluation consultant(s) will be in charge of designing the methodology and the data collection tools, planning the field visits, hire and manage translators (if needed), conduct all data collection activities and data analysis, as well as drafting the evaluation report as per the indications given in part VI.
They will be in regular contact with CK team.

Caritas Kosova will prepare a file with all relevant documents, be available for scoping and data collection meetings, support the consultant(s) in arranging the logistics of the field missions, provide feedback on the first draft of the evaluation report.

The choice of methodology is left to the initiative of the consultant(s) and will be an integral part of his technical proposal, on which the offer will be judged. It will then be discussed and validated with SCCF and Caritas Kosova. It should at least include:
- Scoping meetings (which can be conducted remotely), and regular exchanges with the Project Coordinator and project team;
- A desk study of secondary data transmitted by SCCF and Caritas Kosova;
- A field mission with the establishment of a work plan previously validated by the project team;
- Collection and analysis of primary data through with key stakeholders of the project, in Mitrovica (South and North) and Ferizaj regions;
- Drafting and submission of the draft report for validation;
- Organization of a feedback workshop with main project stakeholders.

All the above specified activities should be conducted professionally, while respecting values of non-discrimination, fairness, transparency. The consultant(s) will have to tailor the training content based on the level of the participants, to ensure that no one is left behind.

After completion of the literature review and scoping meetings:
- A detailed implementation plan and approach for the consultancy assignment to be approved by CK and SCCF;
- Tools for data collection  should be pre-approved by CK and SCCF.

After completion of the data collection and analysis:
- An Evaluation Report in English. The length of the Report should not exceed 50 pages in total (including the annexes).

The Report should:
- Contain a one-page executive summary;
- Not exceed 15 pages (excluding annexes);
- Present the implementation of the evaluation;
- Be analytical;
- Answer, in an analytical way, the questions set up in the present ToRs;
- Include recommendations;
- Present as annexes the list of stakeholders interviewed.

Requested profile: a consultant (or a team of 2 consultants) with:
- At least 5 years of experience in implementing project evaluations;
- Good knowledge of the current context in Kosovo;
- Facilitation skills, and familiarity with data collection techniques;
- Proven experience in the field of youth employment, and social/professional inclusion of marginalized groups, gender-sensitive programming;
- Excellent English spoken and writing skills;
- Serbian and Albanian languages a very strong asset (if not, the consultant should plan for translation costs in their financial offer);
- Previous experience of evaluating EU-funded projects a strong asset.

The consultancy will be implemented between May and June 2021. The data collection period should be done in Kosovo, while the rest of the work (preparation and drafting of report) can be done remotely.

The total duration of the evaluation will be at least 14 days of work.

To apply, please submit a proposal, including (i) a cover letter (1 page maximum) detailing your suitability and approach to the assignment; (ii) a technical proposal (5 pages maximum, presenting the methodology and proposed work plan of activities); (iii) a financial proposal for the assignment; (iv) CV (2 page maximum per CV), (v) at least two professional references (name, relationship, and email and contact number) that can be easily contacted by CK.

The maximum allowed budget for this consultancy is 4000 euros (inclusive of all taxes, travel, potential translation costs, and accommodation costs in Kosovo).

All proposals should be emailed to [email protected]. The deadline for receipt of proposals is April 23rd 2021 16:00h.