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CAMFED Zambia

Terms of Reference for an Independent Evaluator.

Independent Endline Evaluation of the CAMFED Project

“Empowering young women to prevent early marriage of vulnerable girls in
rural Zambia”

1\. Introduction

CAMFED seeks the services of a national consulting team or organisation to
undertake an independent endline evaluation of a grant funded project of
£1,322,268 from the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(FCDO). The project is designed to enable 16,738 marginalised girls in rural
areas of Zambia who are at high risk of early marriage to continue their
education at their local secondary schools. They will benefit from the
mentoring support of a network of young women school graduates who will join
with local government and community authorities to uphold girls’ rights and
ensure they have the necessary support to attend school and succeed.

The endline evaluation will be conducted between early January to end March
2021 and will include approximately one week of fieldwork in Zambia in late
January –early February 2021. The final report will be produced by the
consultant by end-May 2021.

2.*> CAMFED

CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education) is an international non-profit
organisation established in 1993 with a mission to multiply girls’ access to
education and accelerate the benefits to individuals, their families and
communities in Africa. CAMFED works to tackle poverty and inequality by
supporting girls to go to school and succeed, and empowering young women to
become leaders of change. CAMFED breaks the mould in the field of girls’
education by creating a new model of systematic change founded in power-
sharing at the grass roots. CAMFED’s model mobilises an entire social
infrastructure around girls to support their development. By placing a high
degree of responsibility over decisions, strategies and resources in the local
community, CAMFED ensures that community members own a system that is
transparent, responsive and accountable.

CAMFED invests in girls and women in the poorest rural communities in sub-
Saharan Africa, where girls face acute disadvantage but where their
empowerment transforms communities. CAMFED was founded simultaneously in
Zimbabwe and the UK in 1993 and currently operates in Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania,
Zimbabwe and Zambia with offices in each country as well as in the UK and USA.
CAMFED Zambia started operating in 2001 and by 2017 was active in 44 districts
and 1,165 schools, supporting 1,078,853 students to complete school. CAMFED’s
alumni network, CAMA (CAMFED Association) was established in Zambia in 2007
and had 10,808 members by 2017.

After graduating from school, the young women supported by CAMFED have the
opportunity to join the CAMA alumnae network, through which they access peer
support, training and financial resources that open up new pathways to
independence, including financial literacy, ICT, health, business and
entrepreneurship training. Selected CAMA members are trained as Core Trainers
who pass their knowledge on to other alumni. CAMA’s seed money scheme helps
young women to set up rural businesses. Alumni support more vulnerable
children through school, multiplying the benefits of their education. As role
models and mentors they deliver health, well-being and financial literacy
programs, share sustainable agricultural practices and business skills, and
sit on local and elected committees, changing the prospects for marginalised
people in their communities.

The project to be evaluated is a critical part of CAMFED’s overall program,
which is designed to effect systemic change in the education system, gender
attitudes and opportunities for women.

For more information, please visit [ https//CAMFED.org ](https//camfed.org/)
.

3\. Project Background

This project aims to address the complex and interrelated causes of child
marriage in rural Zambia. Across the world, child brides are more likely to
live in rural areas, come from poorer households and have less schooling [1]
– girls with secondary schooling are up to six times less likely to be married
early than those who have little or no schooling [2] . Within rural Zambia,
restrictive gender norms and high levels of poverty make early marriage both a
cause and effect of girls’ drop-out from school.

Zambia has some of the highest rates of rural poverty and child marriage in
the world. Recent economic progress has not translated into improved quality
of life for rural communities despite a decade of strong economic growth,
rural poverty rates increased between 2000 and 2010. 73% of the population in
Western province, 64% in Northern and 61% in Luapula, live in extreme poverty
[3] . Social norms devaluing both girls’ education and women’s participation
in the formal labour force can mean that, particularly in poor households,
girls are not prioritised in a household’s education investment decisions,
often leading to the girl dropping out of school. Within this context, the
imperative to earn money can translate into pressures to engage in
transactional sex, exposing girls to the risk of pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. Early
marriage can seem the only or best available option, and is often used as a
coping strategy by struggling families, with parents marrying their daughters
early in the belief that this will help relieve the families’ economic burden.

Girls who marry young are more likely to drop out of school, when the common
factor linking improved outcomes for young rural women in Zambia across the
board is education. Women who have completed secondary school are more likely
to be in waged employment, participate in decision-making, take up a
leadership role, and to own a business [4] . However, 42% of Zambian women
aged 20-49 report having married before age 18, compared to 4.2% of men [5]
. While nationally, the practice appears to be on the decline, urban-rural
disparities mean significant challenges remain, particularly in the rural
areas this project will target in Muchinga, one of the target provinces this
project the proportion of women aged 20-49 who report having being married
before age 18 is 60% [6] . When girls do go to school, they face structural
challenges in the education system that often force them to drop out, and
point them back towards early marriage. As well as the direct costs of going
to school, these include a lack of female teachers in rural schools, meaning
poor support and few role models, narrow curricula that ill-equip girls for
life after school, gendered classrooms and discrimination, and the risk of
sexual and physical violence at or on the way to school.

Early marriage limits young married girls’ skills, resources, knowledge,
social support, mobility, and autonomy, therefore, they often have little
power in relation to their husband, putting them at greater threat of domestic
violence and risky early pregnancies [7] . Without an education, child
brides are less able to earn a safe and adequate income that would lift them
and their families out of poverty. Furthermore the lack of power and decision-
making autonomy can have a significant influence on economic decisions – where
women do have decision-making power and their priorities are reflected in how
household resources are allocated, household expenditures on key areas such as
education and health tend to be higher [8] . Ultimately, constraining
women’s and girls’ voice and agency contributes to losses in productivity and
has long-term effects for global development goals [9] .

The Government of Zambia recognises this challenge, and in 2013 launched a
national campaign to end child marriage, focusing on the role of traditional
leaders and changes in laws and policies from local level up. In 2016, it
developed a National Strategy on Ending Child Marriage (supported by UNFPA-
UNICEF through the Global Program to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage)
to guide this process. The strategy seeks to facilitate positive change in
existing harmful social and gender norms in order to reduce the incidence of
child marriage, and includes a clear focus on the central role of education
and school-based interventions [10] . The UNFPA-UNICEF program will continue
its support to the Zambian government over the next 10 years, first focusing
on the strengthening of institutions and systems and building a strong
evidence base for effective interventions at scale, and later bringing in a
broader number of key actors, accelerate change and focus on strengthened
political support, policies and frameworks. The Aid Match project is ideally
positioned to feed into that evidence base to inform the second phase of the
program.

While reform of the legal and policy framework is a necessary element of
eliminating child marriage, multiple research studies [11] have found that
regulations and oversight need to be accompanied by an aware and supportive
public and empowered children. Interventions to eradicate child marriage are
most powerful when they empower girls with information, skills and support
networks; enhance the accessibility and quality of formal schooling for girls;
and offer economic support and incentives for girls and their families to keep
girls in school or marry later [12] .

Under this project CAMFED works with and through existing government and civil
society structures to tackle the demand and supply side problems in the
education system that contribute to high levels of child marriage in the
target districts. The project is designed to empower educated young women
through training, mentoring and access to finance, to provide the targeted
support vulnerable girls need to stay in school, including coaching in life
skills and SRH awareness, at the same time as making their own transition to a
secure, economically independent adulthood. These young women will fill the
‘role model gap’ in schools, and help reset expectations and norms for girls
in their communities. The project will also place young women at the centre of
a community-based advocacy strategy against child marriage, engaging
traditional leaders, parents and the wider community to come together to
protect and uphold girls’ rights.

4.*> Project Summary

The project creates a virtuous cycle in empowering young rural women to
successfully transition from school to economic independence, and in turn to
support vulnerable girls in their communities to stay in school, learn, and
escape early marriage. The project incorporates a set of interlinked
interventions to provide a comprehensive approach to tackle the complex and
interrelated factors that underpin the high incidence of child marriage among
girls in Zambia. The focus is on adolescent girls in impoverished rural areas
who are at high risk of dropping out from secondary school.

200 young women school graduates have been trained as Learner Guides to
deliver a bespoke life skills curriculum in rural secondary schools to support
the school retention, participation and success of marginalised girls at risk
of early marriage. The life skills curriculum incorporates SRH training and
core skills that relate to self-efficacy, critical thinking and self-esteem.
Boys are included in these life skills sessions which is fundamental to
challenging, harmful gender norms and stereotypical type gender biased
behaviours. The young women sign up to an 18-month commitment to work in their
local secondary schools and the sessions are delivered to all children in a
class and incorporate pedagogical approaches to ensure that the most
marginalised girls fully participate. Learner Guides have taken on this role
in 85 secondary schools across 15 districts reaching over 22,000 children,
including 16,738 marginalised girls.

The Learner Guides have undertaken a comprehensive training program delivered
at provincial level by a team of 15 Core Trainers (one per district) who have
provided regular refresher training, review and oversight. These Core Trainers
were recruited through a competitive process and are drawn from the CAMA
network.

The incentive scheme that underpins the 18-month commitment to the role of
Learner Guide is centred on the provision of loans to enable them to start
small businesses, for which they also receive additional training and
wraparound support. These loans are provided on the basis that their
volunteering is recognised in lieu of financial interest. They are provided
through CAMFED’s partner, online micro loan provider, Kiva, and are managed
with the support of CAMA committees backstopped by CAMFED Zambia district
secretariats.

Girls who are identified as being critically vulnerable to early marriage,
either having dropped out from school or at high risk of doing so, have been
provided with additional material support to stay in school. This support is
responsive to the particular needs a girl may face, and may include support
for school-going costs or assistance in finding safe accommodation near the
school if the distance from home is too far to walk each day. It is provided
in combination with psycho social support and counselling from Learner Guides
and Teacher Mentors , alongside additional engagement with girls’ parents or
guardians where needed. The infrastructure of local partners, which includes
cross-sectoral committees provides an extensive support network for Learner
Guides to draw on where this additional support is needed, including
established processes for administering funds for school-going costs.

5\. Endline

The endline approach will be mixed methods i.e. quantitative desk research
with data (which was carried out throughout the project by CAMFED Zambia’s
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Team) and qualitative fieldwork
research.

The analysis of the quantitative data will be conducted through desk research
by the consultant who will also have access to the CAMFED Zambia MEL team who
will be able to answer any queries or provide further references and documents
as relevant to this project.

The endline qualitative research will aim to provide a holistic evaluation of
how the different UKAM program interventions/ initiatives have contributed to
better outcomes for marginalised girls in particular regarding the complex
challenges they face in relation to child marriage in rural Zambia. Early
marriage limits young married girls’ skills, resources, knowledge, social
support, mobility, and autonomy, therefore, they often have little power in
relation to their husband, putting them at greater threat of domestic violence
and risky early pregnancies. Without an education, child brides are less able
to earn a safe and adequate income that would lift them and their families out
of poverty. Furthermore the lack of power and decision-making autonomy can
have a significant influence on economic decisions – where women do have
decision-making power and their priorities are reflected in how household
resources are allocated, household expenditures on key areas such as education
and health tend to be higher. Ultimately, constraining women’s and girls’
voice and agency contributes to losses in productivity and has long-term
effects for global development goals.

While reform of the legal and policy framework is a necessary element of
eliminating child marriage, multiple research studies have found that
regulations and oversight need to be accompanied by an aware and supportive
public and empowered children. Interventions to eradicate child marriage are
most powerful when they empower girls with information, skills and support
networks; enhance the accessibility and quality of formal schooling for girls;
and offer economic support and incentives for girls and their families to keep
girls in school or marry later.

The specific objectives for this evaluation are*> to

> Provide data and evidence for indicators in the project logframe ;
> Assess if the assumptions made in the project’s Theory of Change have achieved the final intended project impacts ;
> Assess the impact of school closures for marginalised girls as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions;
> Demonstrate how the different UKAM program interventions/ initiatives have contributed to better outcomes for marginalised girls;
> Describe the impact of the re-entry policy and implementation of good practice on the lived reality of marginalised girls.

Within each objective, these are the key lines of enquiry

6\. Endline indicators

Note Quantitative data will be provided on the proportion of schools
admitting girls through the Re-Entry Policy since the start of this project

See Project logframe with highlighted indicators

> “Level of awareness and promotion among students, schools and school based community groups (SDCs) of children’s rights in regard to early marriage”;
> “ Proportion of schools actively enacting re-entry policy”

> Does this school actively promote the re-entry policy
> What do participants consider “active” promotion of REP
> What does the school do to encourage girls to return to school after giving birth
> How are these young mothers supported

7\. Inform implementation by testing the Theory of*> Change

See Theory of Change diagram

> How prevalent is dropping out of school because of pregnancy and/or early marriage
> What proportion of girls who have dropped out from school in the last three years did so because of pregnancy and/or early marriage
> At what age is it considered acceptable in this community for girls to get married
> What are the most common reasons for girls to get married before the age of 18
> What are the cultural and social norms around early marriage in this community
> How significant is the role of restrictive gender norms and high levels of poverty in contributing to early marriage.
> To what extent are Learner Guides seen as role models by marginalised girls and the community
> To what extent is early marriage seen as the best available option, or as a coping strategy by struggling families, with parents marrying their daughters early in the belief that this will help relieve the families’ economic burden.
> Who decides whether a girl should drop out of school to get married
> To what extent have project interventions lead to a reduction in girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy and/or child marriage
> What is being done by local government and traditional authorities and civil society structures to tackle the problem of child marriage in these communities
> Are there any additional issues that can inform the project and CAMFED’s work more broadly
> What is the project doing to address each of the following DAC criterion relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability

8\. Stakeholder participation

Provide additional opportunities for discussion and motivation among community
members in order to confirm the most appropriate means of action.

> What changes have communities seen / evidenced where CAMFED works during the past three years Ask the school communities, CAMA and stakeholders who take part in the fieldwork What changes have you seen in awareness and attitudes around early marriage
> What are the key challenges stakeholders feel are still prevalent for marginalised girls in their communities Do stakeholders perceive early marriage as a problem for marginalised girls
> What do stakeholders perceive as effective strategies and solutions that could prevent girls from marrying early
> Do stakeholders feel CAMFED has met the assumptions made in our Theory of Change (look at Theory of Change with certain stakeholders, such as Head teachers and CDC members)

9\. UKAM program interventions

This aspect should be explored with all respondents in order to gain a cross
section and balance of opinions and views from students, parents, CAMA and the
District Officials etc. The consultant will also use surveys, monitoring
reports and other detailed quantitative data to triangulate with the
qualitative research evidence.

> To what extent has the LG program (MBW/SRH) in schools contributed to improving respect between genders, increased self confidence and self-esteem / well-being of learners etc.
> How are Learner Guides received by teachers and the wider community especially in relation to supporting marginalised girls to attend school and in working with Traditional Leaders on by-laws preventing early marriage
> Which of the interventions have been most successful in reducing / preventing early marriage
> Which of the interventions have been most successful in enabling young women to return to school after pregnancy

10.*> Impact of the re-entry policy

The consultant will use both quantitative data and qualitative research with
CDCs, Head teachers, Teacher Mentors, Learner Guides, Traditional / Village
Leaders etc.

> What steps are schools taking to actively promote the Re-entry Policy
> Has the LG/TM program made a difference to transition between Grade 9 and Grade 10 learners – have the schools seen any improvement in students obtaining a place for Grade 10 (and in particular marginalised girls) Collecting/ examining the data on numbers of school students who were able to obtain a place in Grade 10 in 2019 and 2020.

11\. Ethical research guidance and safeguarding protocols and procedures

CAMFED has a zero tolerance approach to abuse and exploitation, and maintains
clear policies and guidelines for ethical research and safeguarding protocols
as part of its broader Child Protection Policy and Code of Practice in
relation to children, vulnerable adults and the wider community. Evaluation
partners will be required to confirm in writing that they have reviewed and
will conform to these policies, and will be provided with additional training
by CAMFED before travelling to the field. CAMFED’s Child Protection Policy and
Code of Practice is included as an appendix to this document.

The consultant will assume overall responsibility for the execution of the
assignment and ensure data integrity, privacy and confidentiality are adhered
to by the entire research team. All research data is owned by CAMFED and
should be treated in the strictest confidentiality and in accordance with
protocols agreed with CAMFED at the outset. All research data including
transcripts of all interviews with respondents will be submitted to CAMFED at
the end of the research and be permanently deleted from the database of the
consultant/s once the final report has been signed off and all of the
assignment deliverables have been met.

The consultant will be responsible for ensuring that the entire research team
adheres to research ethics, including any ethical and safeguarding protocols
and procedures that should be followed or considered throughout the fieldwork
which must be adhered to and explained to all enumerators and the entire
research team. This will include training on detecting signs of distress or
trauma among research participants and what to do if this situation should
arise. The Consultant will be responsible for training all members of the
research team to meet the highest ethical standards of data collection and
analysis throughout the duration of the research. Enumerators and the entire
research team will be thoroughly briefed on and sign a form to confirm they
have read and agree to strictly follow and abide by the CAMFED Child
Protection Policy for the purpose of the research.

An informed consent process of all respondents will take place. The consent
process will include outlining briefly the reasons for the research and the
issues and questions to be covered during the interview/discussion. The
respondent will have the right to refuse to participate and can withdraw at
any time during the process. A safe space and an appropriate time will be
identified for the interview to ensure confidentiality and minimal disruption
to the lives of respondents. Referral processes to authorities will also be
discussed with the fieldwork team in cases of due responsibility.

If at any time during the research the consultant has a query or concern in
relation to the ethical guidance and safeguarding protocols and procedures
governing this assignment, they are to contact the National Director CAMFED
Zambia immediately with their concerns.

11.*> Requirements

CAMFED Zambia is seeking a national consultant, or team of national
consultants, with experience of working in Zambia, to conduct the qualitative
endline as outlined in the section above. The endline evaluation will include
the following components

1. Desk Review of project documentation

As well as project documentation, the evaluators will also have access to the
following contextual documents

> The baseline report
> Quantitative endline data
> Theory of Change
> Literature Review on the Re-Entry Policy in Zambia carried out in 2018

2\. Fieldwork

The evaluator(s) will undertake seven days of fieldwork. During this
fieldwork, four schools will be visited (two schools in each of two
districts), with at least 20 students, parents, teachers, CAMA and community
members (including local business experts) participating in focus group
discussions and in depth interviews at each school.

3\. Key informant interviews

The evaluator(s) will interview key CAMFED staff, district program CAMFED
staff and district level stakeholders.

4\. Qualitative Endline Report

A comprehensive endline report in plain English, as per the report structure.

8.*> Deliverables

Proposal The successful proposal (with agreed upon changes, if necessary)
will be an addendum to the contract and, along with this ToR, provide an
overall framework for the evaluation.

Draft Endline Report A comprehensive draft evaluation report in plain
English, as per the report structure.

Final Endline Report After receiving feedback from CAMFED, the evaluator
will submit a final version of the report.

9.*> Indicative Schedule of Activities

The endline is expected to be undertaken in Jan to March 2021, with field work
to be carried out in late Jan – early Feb 2021. It is essential that the
report is completed and submitted to CAMFED no later than end-June 2021.

An indicative timetable is provided below

Activity*> Timing*>
------
Consultant appointed By early-Dec 2020
Briefing with CAMFED, sharing, feedback and finalisation of the evaluators
proposal, tools and plans Early-January 2021
Endline evaluation presentation of evaluation framework by consultant with
CAMFED Zambia Mid-Jan 2021
Desk Review Jan 2021
Fieldwork End Jan / early February 2021
Debrief from consultant with CAMFED Zambia with presentation of preliminary
findings Mid-Feb 2021
Submission of draft report with initial results End March 2021
Review and sign off process April /May 2021
Final report End-May 2021

10.*> Qualifications, Experience and Skills of the Evaluator

Preference will be given to applicants with the following

> An Evaluator (or team of Evaluators), including at least one consultant or sector specialist who is a female gender specialist with extensive knowledge and experience of conducting gender responsive evaluations and or research with girls and or young women in rural Zambia;
> An evaluator who is able to produce innovative solutions for conducting this evaluation using remote / virtual technology solutions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
> A lead evaluator with at least a Master’s degree, in any social science, preferably including gender, evaluation or social research;
> An evaluation specialist with a minimum of seven years’ experience in program/project evaluation in a development context;
> Experience of results-based monitoring and evaluation;
> Ability to design and plan evaluation approaches and research methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative research methods.
> Informed by relevant subject matter knowledge and experience such as education and gender, to ensure the evaluation design and research methods are as relevant and meaningful as possible given the aims and objectives of the project and the context in which it is being delivered;
> Ability to design, manage and implement primary research in potentially challenging project environments. This may include the design of surveys, in-depth interviews, focus group and other research methods;
> Demonstrated understanding of the young women’s empowerment, education sector and related issues, in the Zambian context; and
> Ability to produce well written, analytical reports in plain English.

11.*> Proposals and contract details

Proposals should be no more than ten pages excluding evaluators’ CVs (with a
2 page limit per CV ) and tables of relevant experience. It should include

> Method statement – description of activities to deliver requested services
> Project’s team’s and organisation’s experience and relevant expertise
> Project and resource plan
> Quality assurance and risk
> Details of two professional referees
> Detailed budget (in GBP).- Please note that it is possible that due to the COVID-19 pandemic that travel to the field might not be feasible therefore the consultant will need to factor the use of virtual/ remote technology solutions for FGDs, KIIs and SSIs. In their proposal and budget.

Applicants should also submit one example of an