1. Introduction
Secours Catholique - Caritas France (SCCF) is a French association governed by 1901 Law, registered at the Paris Police Prefecture under No. 9092 on October 1, 1946 (published in the Official Journal on October 29, 1946), whose public usefulness was acknowledged by a September 25, 1962 decree (published in the Official Journal on September 29, 1962), company I.D. (SIREN) No. 775 666 696, with headquarters at 106 rue du Bac, Paris, 75007, France.
It supports Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti (MASS) in the frame of the above-mentioned project. An external final evaluation is to be done before the end of the project.
Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti (MASS) is an organisation registered under Societies’ Registration Act (Reg. N° 1898-249 of 1988-89, 03-11-1988) having its headquarters in Dhanupali, Sambalpur, 768 005, Odisha, India.
MASS is a community-based non-profit, non-political and secular organization based in Western Odisha. The organization was founded by a group of dedicated youth from Sambalpur University in Odisha for the development of underserved communities, with the mandate of empowering the marginalized sections of the society to attain dignified quality life with an ultimate goal of self-reliance approach.
MASS vision is to favour emergence of a society where the communities are empowered enough to analyse their own problems, assess their own needs, strengths and prospects, fix/plan their own developmental goals and are equally capable to act towards attaining these goals in self-sustaining ways to live a dignified life of their own.
MASS mission is to dedicate itself as a facilitating institution in the development of the downtrodden masses so as to be able to develop their socio-economic and cultural condition through facilitation of participatory research, training, networking, advocacy and action initiatives both at the grassroots and at a broader level.
2. Presentation of the project
Project title : Sustainable livelihood enhancement of tribal and marginalised communities in remote villages of Bargarh and Sambalpur districts in Odisha province, India (2019-2022).
Project’s fields of work : Create alternative livelihood mechanism in the villages through farm, off-farm and non-farm based activities in order to protect forest resources + claim on rights over forest under Forest Right Act (FRA) and Habitat rights.
Program Participants : Direct beneficiaries: 4 000 family members from 800 households living in 25 villages.
Additional beneficiaries (amendment N°1):
Community Forest Rights activities: 21 people institutions : 420 individuals
Covid assistance: 334 individuals : 180 from migrant families and 154 from the most venerable families from the 25 villages
Criteria used in the selection of the beneficiaries: women, especially tribal women, women-headed households, single-women households, small and marginal farmers, farmers’ clubs, landless workers, migrant workers, shifting cultivators, forest dependents, vulnerable tribal adolescent/youth groups, isolated panchayat wards and vulnerable community reserves in Sambalpur and Bargarh, remote upland communities in isolated areas, poorest of the poor belonging to Scheduled Tribes, Schedules Castes, BPL families, physically challenged households, communities involved in traditional occupations, returnee migrant families, vulnerable families and individuals suffering due to Covid situation, forest dependent communities.
Indirect beneficiaries: the inhabitants of the 25 villages of the program + local authorities.
Additional beneficiaries (amendment N°1):
-Community Forest Rights activities: 6103 individual
-Covid assistance: 1176 individual
Project Location : 25 villages in the Sambalpur and Bargarh districts that are predominantly inhabited by tribes. 16 villages were part of the previous project and 9 villages are “new” ones.
Timeframe : 3 years from March 1st, 2019 to February 28, 2022.
Project holder : Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti (MASS) is the project holder and implementing organization, as required by the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act FCRA, 2020.
Budget : Total budget of the project, as per the amendment N°1 signed on 11/12/2020 : 211 535 €
Project key objective is to promote and encourage innovative models and initiatives to create sustainable livelihood options and reduce poverty in forested, tribal and rural areas of Sambalpur and Bargarh districts. These new opportunities will enable the rural tribal poor to take up opportunities and live better life integrated with the wider economy.
Following are the Specific Objectives (SO) of the project:
S.O.1. To increase alternative livelihood opportunities for rural pockets in 25 remote villages of Sambalpur and Bargarh districts in Odisha. More specifically, to empower the poor and vulnerable in rural areas directly so that they are able to take advantage of the opportunities for improvement of their livelihoods. The project components include social empowerment, economic empowerment, recognition of the habitat, customary, pasture and and forest land rights, reduction of the vulnerability of migrants workers and other vulnerable families due to Covid 19 crisis, partnerships development and project management.
S.O.2. To empower and to build capacities of the CBOs (Self-help groups, farmers clubs, weavers societies, forest committees, seed banks, FRC networks) and PRI members who will advocate for their life and livelihood.
S.O.3 To enhance the capacity of weavers group for market oriented product and strengthen their livelihood.
S.O.4 To build capacity of communities and staff for its growth
3. Overall Objectives of the Evaluation
Final external evaluation of the project is foreseen in the project contract. It takes place ahead of the end of the project to assess the implementation of planned activities and achievements of results until now, taking into account the Covid 19 crisis; find out the strengths and weaknesses of the project; review the project methodologies; assess the impact of the project; in order to highlight gaps, best practices and lessons learnt and to make realistic recommendations regarding the different components of the project, its management and its sustainability.
Ø To provide MASS and SCCF with an independent, evidence-based assessment of how the strategies adopted in the project address the relevant issues and how they contributed to the goals of the project. Assessment is to be based on the indicators outlined in the project monitoring and evaluation plan and on DAC framework (Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impacts, Sustainability).
Ø To assess the changes in practices and behaviours, the improvements in:
· The economic results of the beneficiaries trained on organic agriculture, kitchen garden, off-farm and nonfarm, weave and forest-based income generating activities and the sustainability of these livelihood opportunities (bearing in mind the social issues in the region: lack of diversified livelihood, asset poverty, subsistence agriculture, limited transport services and connectivity, etc),
· The financial and social empowerment of the indigenous people, and especially of the women, who are part of the project (social cohesion, awareness and registration to government social schemes and provisions, reduction of their vulnerabilities, recognition of rights, etc)
· The institutional capacities, empowerment and functioning of the CBOs (forest right and forest management committees, FRC networks, self-help groups, farmers’ clubs, weavers’ societies, seed banks) and PRI members to develop and to promote management plans, to submit land rights claims and to monitor them.
For each point, check the reasons why the objectives or improvement were met or not.
Ø Assess the systems, process and programmatic approach of MASS and give recommendations for improvement and development of further strategies.
Ø Review the capacity and effectiveness of the partnerships (SCCF, MASS, RCDC, local public bodies, other organizations, etc.).
Ø Provide recommendations by capturing the learnings and best practices in order to replicate them if relevant.
4. Assessment requirements
Requested profile of the consultant(s)
It is possible to send the application of a team of 2 consultants, if justified and relevant.
Ideally, the consultant fulfils the following requirements:
Postgraduate degree in social work, human rights and agricultural studies,
Strong expertise on rural livelihood and indigenous/tribal people rights and issues,
Understanding of the local context (ideally with a previous experience of work in India)
Evidence of substantial work on agro, off-farm, mobilization and advocacy projects
Significant experience in project management, coordination, design, and evaluation
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Ability to write clear and relevant reports
Impartial and independent of the parties
Proficiency in English
Provisional Timetable of the Assessment
This evaluation will be completed within a period of 21 working days, including preparatory work, field visits with briefing sessions, field analysis, debriefing sessions, reporting work. The evaluation is to be carried preferably in the month of December 2021.
The consultant(s) is expected to submit the expected outcomes 1 week after the evaluation ended.
How to apply:
The candidate is invited, knowing the present terms of reference, to make a methodological and technical proposal for the assessment, including:
Methodology used to carry out the evaluation mission.
Experiences and references relating to project evaluation implemented by NGOs (5 pages maximum)
CV of any persons concerned by the mission
A provisional mission timeline and work plan with an estimated ratio man/hour.
The candidate is also invited, knowing the present terms of reference, to make a financial proposal for the assessment. The proposed budget should only include the consultant’s fees. Travel and mission expenses will be reimbursed on the actual costs (with proofs of payment) by SCCF at the scale established and which will be transmitted to the chosen candidate(s). The terms of payment will be indicated in a schedule. MASS will support the consultant for the logistics of the field work (accommodation and food, local transportation, and support to organise meetings, interviews and focus groups, etc.)
The methodological, technical and financial propositions (answering to the present Terms of Reference), should be sent, with the candidate’s resume, to SCCF**, before November 28, 2021** by email at:
missioncourteduree@secours-catholique.org