Hi all,

It would be greatly appreciated if you could circulate the enclosed
evaluation proposal in
your respective organisations and networks. Closing date for bids:  30
September 2002 .
(See attached file: Reach Out midterm evaluation.doc)

All bids should be sent to:

Henk Van Goethem
Project Manager
Reach Out Project
International Federation of Red Cross Societies
17, Chemin des Crets
CH-1202 Geneve- Petit Saconnex
e-mail:[log in to unmask]
www.reachout.ch


Attachment:

Mid-Term Evaluation of the Reach Out Project

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Background

The systematic and intentional violation of the most basic principles of
refugee protection by States and warring factions prompted the office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in late 1997 to embark
upon a consultation process known as "Reach Out". It was intended to
reinvigorate support for the essential principles and institutions of
refugee protection and for UNHCR's protection  mandate. UNHCR realized that
the international protection system depended on coalitions of like-minded
actors including the NGO community, in order to improve operational
cooperation when addressing the needs of forcibly displaced populations who
lack adequate protection either in law or in practice. A  concrete outcome
of the process was the creation of an inter- agency training project on
refugee protection spearheaded and owned by NGOs and developed in close
cooperation  with UNHCR.

In recognition of the need to share protection knowledge, skills and most
importantly to disseminate the contents of the Protection Field Guide for
NGOs, the Reach Out training project was launched in November 2000 by a
large consortium of humanitarian agencies in response to an increased demand
among field workers for training on refugee protection concepts and ways to
undertake protection-oriented humanitarian relief activities for refugees.

In recent years an increasing number of humanitarian organizations with a
traditional focus on delivery of relief services have taken a keen interest
in the broad debate surrounding the protection of civilian population
affected by violence. There is a growing realization that new approaches to
the protection of rights through humanitarian action should be explored. To
be effective, those approaches must complement the work of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UNHCR. Based upon the feedback from
participants during training workshops in the field throughout the first 18
months of the project, it appears, however, that protection activities are
often the result of individual efforts instead of deriving from the
organizational policies and mandates of non-governmental voluntary agencies.
It is to be noted that the topical focus of the Reach Out training project
is confined to the protection concerns of refugees and displaced populations
in refugee-like situations.

2. Mid-Term Evaluation Overview

Half-way through its 3-year lifespan, and following some 14 training
workshops it is key that Reach Out be evaluated with a view to ascertaining
if and how protection findings identified during three-day trainings have
been followed up on in various asylum countries. Bearing in mind the stated
Reach Out objective "To enhance refugee protection awareness, knowledge and
skills of those persons responsible for the delivery of humanitarian
assistance within NGOs, RCRC National Societies and their International
Federation and to improve collaboration and co-operation between UNHCR and
course participants (thereby improving protection for refugees) - the
overall purpose of the evaluation is to assess the impact to date and
overall effectiveness of this project; and to make recommendations as to how
it can be improved and developed.

Objectives and Focus Issues

To this effect, an independent evaluation will be commissioned to focus on
the following areas:

1. to assess the overall approach, quality and efficiency of Reach Out
training interventions and working methods;
2. to identify and analyse current and anticipated consequences and effects
of Reach Out training both at field and Headquarters level and provide
benchmarks for measuring the project's progress;
3. to review the Reach Out project set up and distil lessons learned that
will contribute to the enhancement of protection awareness;
4.  to suggest future directions for the project during and beyond the
remainder of its three-year life span;
Specifically, the evaluation exercise will aim to address a wide array of
questions including, but not limited to the following:
A. Quality and methodology of Reach Out training
- What is the quality of training delivered by Reach Out trainers? How
appropriate are the training methods used by Reach Out trainers? To what
extent have specific workshop objectives been achieved and subsequently
supported in the given asylum context?
- What is the quality and effectiveness of the training materials developed
by Reach Out and used during training events? How can the quality be
improved?
- How effective is the organizational process for Reach Out workshops? How
can the host agency role in the selection process of participants be
optimized?
- How useful and operationally pertinent is it for Reach Out to use the
Field Guide for NGOS on Protecting Refugees as the core basis for training?
B. Refugee Protection and inter-agency issues
- How does Reach Out training affect organizational policy and behaviour on
refugee protection?
- What are the advantages and limitations inherent to basic awareness
training for multi-agency attendance in the field? To what extent has Reach
Out training given rise to improved cooperative protection efforts in the
field?
- To what extent has UNHCR provided adequate support in organizing Reach Out
workshops and ensuring leadership in the implementation of workshop
findings?
- Has the Reach Out project influenced UNHCR thinking and programming
regarding increased comfort with and engagement of NGOs in
protection-related activities? Is there a difference between Headquarters
and field attitudes?
C. Project Management
- How suitable is the size and make-up of the Reach Out project team in
relation to current activities? What tasks regarding workshop delivery can
the project team delegate to independently operating training teams (e.g.
trained consultants, resource persons from NGO in Reach Out's Working Group,
ToT trainees, etc..)?
- Taking into account the terms of reference established for the project,
how appropriate and effective is the overall guidance and level of support
provided by the project's Working Group that supervises the project team?

D. Future directions
- What possible activities and objectives should Reach Out prioritize in its
third project year to encourage sustained engagement of NGOs in refugee
protection work?
- How might the activities promoted through Reach Out be replicated and
multiplied in the future beyond the current three- year life of the project?
- Which partners and strategies are to be pursued to achieve quality
dissemination of Reach Out training materials in Spanish and Arabic?

3. Evaluation Process

The evaluation will commence in early autum 2002, and last about 50 working
days over a three-month period. The first step will involve the review of
baseline data on refugee protection training and the creation and history of
Reach Out.

Furthermore the evaluation will involve extensive interviewing and
consultations with resource people, Working Group members, key staff from
agencies having hosted workshops, donors, staff counterparts of the
International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, workshop
participants, refugees and other relevant actors. These interviews will take
place both at the Headquarters and at the field level.

The evaluator will be furthermore tasked to attend a three-day Reach Out
training workshop and revisit at least two field settings on two different
continents where Reach Out training has already taken place with a view to
collecting extensive feedback on impact.

The evaluator is responsible for preparing an evaluation report of maximum
30 pages (not including annexes). The first version of the report needs to
be completed and transmitted no later than on the 35th day of the
consultancy.  Finalisation of the report will be based on subsequent
discussions with the Project Manager. The evaluator will also be required to
present the main evaluation findings to the Reach Out Working Group during
the autumn of 2002.

4. Application

Those wishing to submit their applications should forward a dossier,
including:
- - A letter of application covering competence and interest and outlining
availability;
- Outline work-plan for the evaluation within the two-month time-frame;
- Description of methodology to be used;
- CV and contact details of 2 references;

Applications should be addressed to Henk Van Goethem, Project Manager, Reach
Out Project,
e-mail: [log in to unmask] , tel: + 41 22 730 44 62, fax: + 41 22 730 49 99.

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