External M&E Impact Evaluator

• Country: Lebanon
• Summary: External M&E Impact Evaluator
• LBT Ref No: 73652723
• Deadline: 10 Nov 2022
• Financier: Self Financed
• Purchaser Ownership: Government
• Tender Value: Refer Document
• Notice Type: Tender
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• Description:
• Tenders are invited for External M&E Impact Evaluator Closing Date: Thursday, 10. Nov 2022 Intervention Sector(s): Good governance and transparency RDPP/LGA - End of Project Evaluation Terms of Reference (ToR) / Evaluation scope This document (TOR/evaluation scope) outlines the scope of work, intended work plan, and analysis, providing the opportunity to verify the same understanding of the evaluation objectives among all stakeholders. This document details our understanding of what is being evaluated and shows how each evaluation question will be answered using proposed methods, proposed sources of data, and data collection procedures. The inception report should include a proposed schedule of tasks, activities, and deliverables, designating a team member with the lead responsibility for each task or product. LGA Program Overview The Lebanon Growth Accelerator Program is an AltCity Impact/Bloom initiative to help boost Lebanon-s enterprises and the entrepreneurship ecosystem. It aims to create employment through enterprise accelerator programs run by AltCity Impact/Bloom and partner accelerators, enhancing ecosystem collaboration, developing shared training resources, and improving ecosystem capacities. The goal is to improve short-term and long-term opportunities for Lebanese and refugees, focusing on vulnerable and marginalized communities. The LGA Program is supported by the European Regional Development and Protection Programme for Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq (RDPP II). The “theory of change” for this project By building the capacity of national partners to deliver high-quality training, mentorship, and support to MSMEs that bridges geographical barriers, and by increasing the opportunities for discussion, community exchange, and support through an online community of practice, MSMEs will have increased capacity to maintain and create new employment opportunities leading to new income opportunities for refugees, vulnerable, and marginalized communities. Program Description AltCity Impact/Bloom will organize a series of activities to help MSMEs maintain and create new employment opportunities leading to new income opportunities for refugees, vulnerable, and marginalized communities. These activities include a set of direct training and support activities (2 cycles led by the AltCity Impact/Bloom team, supporting 10 MSMEs each cycle) and six cycles provided by Training Partners with the support provided by AltCity Impact/Bloom (supporting 5 MSMEs each cycle). These activities include versions of “best practice” programs used by the accelerator and SME training programs worldwide, adapted for the current context in Lebanon, and enhanced by new methods and approaches developed by the AltCity Impact/Bloom team based on its experience and research, and supported by external research. These activities include: Sprint Programs: Intensive short programs (5-12 days) of training and support designed to help participating MSMEs improve essential skills (communications, leadership, collaboration, etc, “soft skills” that support entrepreneurship and enterprise success) and get light enterprise development support (in core business domains, marketing, financial planning, etc) while helping AltCity Impact/Bloom and Training Partners assess MSMEs for readiness and appropriateness for selection to the next stage Accelerator Programs. Accelerator Programs: Intensive medium-term programs (3-4 months) of training and support, along with funding support, to help participating MSMEs reach a key business objective identified by the MSME in collaboration with AltCity Impact and the Training Partners that is deemed to specifically support the MSME in their effort to maintain and create new employment opportunities leading to new income opportunities for refugees, vulnerable, and marginalized communities. This enhanced training and mentorship provided by both AltCity Impact/Bloom and the Training Partners work to bridge geographical barriers, to help MSMEs have increased capacity to maintain and create new employment opportunities leading to new income opportunities for refugees, vulnerable, and marginalized communities. The two outcomes, along with multiple outputs, work together symbiotically: The direct enterprise support programs enable AltCity Impact/Bloom to have a direct impact while continuing to refine the methods, content, and tools used in the programs; The support of Training Partners improves the scalability of impact during the program by enabling support for a larger number of times and beyond the duration of the program by enhancing capacities with the ecosystem; and The Community of Practice engages the broader ecosystem to support both of those elements above, along with the participating enterprises themselves. Program Outcomes OUTCOME 1: An effective community of practice (Training Partners and MSMEs) with improved capacities supports MSMEs to operate in complex economic environments Output 1.1: A community of practice and platform activated for collaborative discussions and learning that supports MSME growth across Lebanon Output 1.2: Training Partners with enhanced capacities to deliver MSME support using AltCity Impact/Bloom-s methods OUTCOME 2: Capable MSMEs operate successfully within complex economic environments. Output 2.1: MSMEs with Increased Capacities from Sprint and/or Accelerator Programs Provided by AltCity Impact/Bloom Output 2.2: MSMEs with Increased Capacities from Sprint and/or Accelerator Programs Provided by Training Partners OUTCOME 3: AltCity Impact/Bloom with strengthened organizational abilities to deliver sustained and growing economic impact for MSMEs in complex environments. Output 3.1: Organizational Capacity Building is strengthened Project Objective The objective(s) of the development cooperation among the parties is to have MSMEs capable of maintaining and creating new employment within complex economic environments with the support of national partners. The focus of all those activities is to improve job opportunities for the target communities of refugees and host communities both as Direct Beneficiaries and as Indirect Beneficiaries. Project Specific Objective A core consideration of this project is developing a structure that continues providing value and growing beyond this project-s duration, including benefiting the MSMEs that went through the program, other MSMEs, and the broader ecosystem. This is a core part of the design for the “community/ecosystem building” activities, which will continue after the project ends. Additionally, the project-s skills development and character-strengthening elements will provide continued long-term benefits to the MSMEs, and access to the platform and mentors can continue self-directed after the project ends. Purpose of the Evaluation Scope and Focus of the Evaluation To evaluate the implementation and achieving the program-s outcomes, AltCity Impact/Bloom is recruiting an external M&E Impact Evaluator to provide diligent insights on the program-s impact in relation to the different resulting outcomes from the implemented approach and mitigation measures. The evaluation will cover the entire program implementation period, particularly to AltCity Impact/Bloom-s improvement of best practices following the mid-program evaluation completed on January 31, 2022. The evaluation should also assess the Theory of Change and whether the fundamental assumptions supporting it are still valid in light of the changing circumstances. The evaluation should also provide project execution outcomes, recommendations, and lessons learned. It should also make specific recommendations to help AltCity Impact/Bloom execute future development programs that incorporate MSME support and collaboration with partners within the ecosystem. The Evaluation Questions The following is an example of key questions that will guide the project evaluation: i) Relevance How well has the project aligned to the objectives, in addition to the priorities and requirements of the target beneficiaries in terms of income access? Operating within a challenging economic situation, to what extent were the mitigation measures implemented successful in achieving the overall outputs and outcomes of the project for supporting MSMEs- operational capacity in complex economic environments (including contributing factors and constraints)? As a result of the program support, are the “new jobs” created or pre-existing jobs filled by beneficiaries? Did the “Sprint” phase of the program, solely without the “Accelerator” phase of the program, have any contribution/impact on the new jobs created? In what capacities were the “new jobs” created filled by vulnerable communities from refugees and/or host populations as initially intended? To what extent are the new jobs created sustainable and meet “decent work” conditions? What are the different “decent work” attributes that were taken into account by different beneficiaries? Were there any challenges in meeting those attributes? Any successes to be highlighted? Were the inputs and strategies identified, and were they realistic, appropriate and adequate to achieve the results? Did the project cater to the external challenges, and were they adequately addressed? How effective has the project been in responding to the needs of the beneficiaries, and what results were achieved? ii) Effectiveness Describe the management processes and their appropriateness in supporting delivery To what degree did beneficiaries- access to income change due to different approaches? Which approach had the most positive impact, and why? Were there differences between refugees and the host community? What were the positive and negative, intended and u
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