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Terms of reference “Evaluability Assessment of the project South-South Cooperation for the promotion of decent work in cotton-producing

countries in Africa and Latin America”

Programme: Brazil/ILO Partnership Programme for the Promotion of South-South Cooperation

Project: GLO/14/45/BRA – South-South Cooperation for the promotion of decent work in cotton-producing countries in Africa and Latin America

Duration: 54 months

Start date: May 2015

End date: September 2019

Countries covered Mali, Mozambique, Paraguay, Peru and Tanzania

Technical field: Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work

Financing agency: Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC)

Budget : USD 6.864.706,24

Administrative unit: ILO Country Office for Brazil (CO-Brasilia)

Technical backstopping units:

- Governance and Tripartism Department (GOVERNANCE)/Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch (FUNDAMENTALS)- Sectoral Policies Department (SECTOR)- Relevant ILO country offices

Languages: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish

Terms of Reference: Evaluability Assessment of the South-South Cooperation for the promotion of decent work in cotton-producing countries in Africa and Latin America Project GLO/14/45/BRA

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List of Abbreviations

ABC Brazilian Cooperation AgencyCL Child LabourDWCP Decent Work Country ProgrammeEA Evaluability AssessmentEIA Evaluation and Impact Assessment unitEVAL ILO Evaluation OfficeFUNDAMENTALS Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch (ILO

HQ)GOVERNANCE Governance and Tripartism DepartmentHQ HeadquartersILO International Labour OrganizationIPEC International Programme on the Elimination of Child LabourM&E Monitoring and EvaluationPARDEV Partnerships and Field Support Department (ILO HQ)SECTOR Sectoral Policies Department (ILO HQ)SSC South-South CooperationUN United Nations


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I. Background and Justification

1. South-South Cooperation Partnership between Brazil and ILO

1. The Brazil/ILO Partnership Program for the Promotion of South-South Cooperation started formally in 2009, with the approval of the Complementary Adjustment to the Agreement on Technical Cooperation with Latin American and African countries.

2. The country and ILO signed a commitment to promote cooperation among developing countries in the context of the Decent Work Agenda, with reference to its four strategic axes (respect to labour rights, more and better jobs for men and women, expansion of social protection and social dialogue). The geographical focus covers Latin America, Africa and Asia.

3. In March 2012, ILO's Governing Body approved the Strategy for the South-South and Triangular Cooperation (cooperation developed with the support of northern partners). The strategy recognizes Brazil as a key actor to structure ILO operating mechanisms in this area.1

4. In this context the Government of Brazil requested the ILO to implement a new South-South technical cooperation project to support developing countries whose economies depend heavily on cotton production. The project object of this Evaluability Assessment aims to promote decent work in these countries through the systematization, sharing and adaptation, by interested countries, of relevant Brazilian experiences in areas such as fighting poverty, productive inclusion, prevention and eradication of child labour and forced labour, formalization of work, promotion of youth employment, combating discrimination, and promoting gender, race and ethnicity equality, and social dialogue.

5. The concept of Decent Work (DW) was adopted by the ILO in 1999 as a summary of its historical mission to promote opportunities for men and women to obtain productive and quality work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Decent Work is the convergence point of ILO's four strategic objectives (respect for rights at work, promoting employment, extension of social protection and strengthening of social dialogue), and critical to overcoming poverty, reducing social inequalities, ensuring democratic governance and sustainable development. The promotion of decent work is also, according to the ILO, the way to make globalization more sustainable, socially inclusive and a fair process. Moreover, DW also constitutes a priority of the Brazilian government, in its efforts to continuously strengthen policies that promote employment and decent work in urban and rural areas, which are outlined by the National Decent Work Agenda, the National Plan for Decent Work and Employment and the National Agenda for Decent Work for Youth.

6. South-South cooperation is a framework for cooperation between two or more developing countries. Based on principles of solidarity, equality, and non-conditionality, developing countries can provide sustainable solutions to their own problems at lower cost and with better results.

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http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_172577.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_172577.pdf

3. The Project

7. The project Development Objective is “Through South-South cooperation, to contribute to the promotion of decent work with emphasis on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the improvement of working conditions in cotton-producing developing countries”.

8. The project only Objective is: “Based on the Brazilian experience, to develop skills in public institutions in partner countries to design and implement national and sub-regional policies and programs to promote decent work in the cotton production sector, in the themes prioritized in the project.”

9. The project has the following 5 Outputs:a. Output 1.1 (Phase 1): South-South cooperation demand on decent work

promotion in the cotton sector identified between Brazil, the ILO and cotton-producing countries in the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

b. Output 1.2 (Phase 2) Work plans developed, agreed and executed between Brazil, the ILO and cotton-producing countries in the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

c. Output 1.3 (Phase 2): Regional seminars on topics of priority interest to the project using different methodologies of exchange carried out.

d. Output 1.4 (Phase 2) Best practices of Brazilian policies to promote decent work systematized and documented.

e. Output 1.5. (Phase 3) Management tools, methodologies and results of implementation of the different work plans analysed, systematized and documented to be disseminated in other similar contexts.

10. The project is organized in three strategic phases:a. Identification of cotton-producing countries interested in joining the initiative

and preparation of work plans by country or groups of partner countries.b. Implementation of work plans and South-South technical cooperation activities

in one or more pre-established areasc. Systematization of experiences developed by the project in order to strengthen

the capacities for the promotion of technical cooperation among developing countries

11. The project logical framework can be found in Annex I.

12. As of August 2016, the Project has implemented the major activities and outputs:

Selection of countries: Paraguay and Peru in Latin America and Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania in Africa.

Hiring of project team in Brasilia and National coordinators in Paraguay, Peru, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Development of studies on decent work gaps in the countries (on-going). Planning of prospective missions to the countries (on-going).


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Evaluation background

13. ILO considers evaluation as an integral part of the implementation of technical cooperation activities. Provisions are made in all projects in accordance with ILO evaluation policy and based on the nature of the project and the specific requirements agreed upon at the time of the project design and during the project as per established procedures.

14. Evaluations of ILO projects have a strong focus on utility for the purpose of organisational learning and planning for all stakeholders and partners in the project.

15. ILO Evaluation policy considers that all projects with budget over 5 million dollars should be subjected to an Evaluability Assessment (EA) during the first year of its implementation for the quality and completeness of the monitoring and evaluation plan and two independent evaluation (midterm and final).

16. The EA is implemented by the project, while the independent evaluations are managed independently from the project by EVAL, the Evaluation Office of ILO.

17. This project is a decentralized project, formulated and approved still when child labour projects (or with a strong com child labour component) evaluation activities where managed by the Evaluation and Impact Assessment unit (EIA) of FUNDAMENTALS (formerly IPEC). While EIA does not exist anymore, independent evaluation issues are managed directly by EVAL, and EAs are managed directly by the project Administrative unit, it was agreed to implement this EA jointly by the current Research and Evaluation Unit of FUNDAMENTALS and the project to improve organizational learning within ILO.

II. Purpose and Scope

Purpose

18. To analyse the project design evaluability, including drafting the project M&E strategy and operational plan appropriated to the characteristics of a SSC project and key stakeholders needs.

a. To formulate the project Theory of Change.b. To review output indicators and formulate outcome/objective indicators and

measurement and reporting methodology, that address a south-south cooperation project needs.

c. To outline a methodology that capture unexpected and process results to cover lessons learned from the implementation of a SSC project.

d. To address quantitative and qualitative information needs from all key stakeholders for M&E purposes.


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19. The evaluability assessment should provide the project with a methodology and tools to assess project strategies and outcomes. It should propose an implementation plan for the project team to move forward.

Scope

20. The EA key users are the identified national stakeholders in the targeted countries, Brazilian institutions involved and ILO (regional and countries Offices involved, EVAL, FUNDAMENTALS-HQ, PARDEV SSC officer and other relevant units).

21. The EA should look at the programme life-span as a whole, including issues of project design, initial implementation and strategic role of the project, lessons learnt in the current status of the project M&E and recommendations in this last subject for future similar projects.

22. The EA should consider different approaches and methodologies such as a Theory of Change M&E approach, Outcome harvest, and other relevant ones to combine them to address the four purposes of M&E in the project: accountability, management, learning and contribute to the knowledge base on the project areas.

23. The consultancy should consider the specificities and differences of a South-South Cooperation Project versus a traditional North-South Cooperation

III. Suggested Aspects to Be Addressed

24. The consultancy should be carried out in context of criteria and approaches of ILO policy guidelines for results-based evaluation and the technical and ethical standards and abide by the Code of Conduct for Evaluation on the UN System.

25. Gender concerns should be addressed in accordance with ILO Guidance note 4: “Considering gender in the monitoring and evaluation of projects”. All data should be sex-disaggregated and different needs of women and men and of marginalized groups targeted by the programme should be considered throughout the evaluation process.

26. The consultancy should address specially to the ILO-EVAL guidelines in Evaluability Assessment. These are the Guidance Note 11 “Using the Evaluability assessment Tool”, Guidance Note 12 “Dimensions of the Evaluability instrument” and the Guidance tool “Tool for Evaluability Review of ILO Projects over US$5 millon”.

27. The EA should include the following items:

Internal logic and assumptions Indicators, baselines, targets and milestones Data sources/means of verification and methods for data collection and reporting Resources required Partners’ participation in the use of information


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http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_mas/---eval/documents/publication/wcms_176814.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/eval/Evaluationguidance/WCMS_165986/lang--en/index.htm

http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/102



Project risk management Outcomes sustainability

IV. Expected Outputs of the Evaluability Assessment

28. The expected outputs to be delivered by the evaluation team are:o A desk review of appropriate material;o Briefing meetings (in person and by Skype/phone) with the project team (Brasilia

and other offices in targeted countries), the FUNDAMENTALS Senior evaluation officer, the PARDEV SSC officer, the ABC and relevant national selected stakeholders;

o An inception report based on the desk review and the briefing; centred on the work plan and deliverables;

o Informal feedback meetings with ILO officers as the outputs are being developedo Validation workshop to present Zero version of deliverables, in Brasilia, with

participation of other relevant stakeholders by VC or Skype to collect inputs for the preparation of the draft version

o Draft report should include: Executive summary Status of the M&E in the project (description of findings) Stakeholders’ information needs mapping Project Theory of change (graph and narrative) M&E methodology for data collection, processing, reporting and use Indicators matrix –output and outcome levels (definitions, methodology of

measurement, source, who and when) Targets indicators tables (baseline, milestones and targets) Next steps for implementing the proposed M&E methodology and tools Conclusions and recommendations (with considerations on M&E of a SSC

Project and identification of which stakeholders are responsible for each action)

Lessons learnt Appropriate Annexes including present TORs, schedule of the EA,

individuals interviewed and documents reviewed.o Final report incorporating feedback from stakeholders.

29. The deliverables should be sent in stand-alone files not exceed 3 megabytes each. Photos, if appropriate to be included, should be inserted using lower resolution to keep overall file size low.

30. All drafts and final outputs will be in English (the project will translate of the EA reports in Portuguese and other languages as appropiate).

31. All drafts and final outputs, including supporting documents and analytical reports should be provided in electronic version compatible for Word for Windows. Ownership of data from the EA rests jointly with ILO and the consultants. Key stakeholders can make appropriate use of the reports in line with the original purpose and with appropriate acknowledgement.


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32. The draft final report will be circulated to key stakeholders for their review. Comments from stakeholders will be consolidated by the FUNDAMENTALS evaluation officer and provided to the EA consultant. In preparing the final report, the consultant should consider these comments, incorporate them as appropriate, and provide a brief note explaining why any comments might not have been incorporated.

V. Evaluability Assessment Methodology

33. The following is the proposed methodology. While the consultant can propose changes in the methodology, any such changes should be discussed with and approved by the ILO responsible officer, provided that the purpose is maintained and the expected outputs can be produced at the required quality.

34. The EA will be carried out using a desk review of appropriate materials, including the project documents, progress reports, outputs of the programme, results of any internal planning process and relevant materials from secondary sources. At the end of the desk review period, it is expected that the consultant will prepare an Inception report indicating the methodological approach to the EA to be discussed and approved by the ILO responsible officer.

35. During the inception phase, the consultant will carry out a needs assessment through interviews of key informants such as the project team in the various offices, the ABC representatives and relevant ILO and country stakeholders identified during the inception phase through conference calls or face-to-face interviews.

36. The development of the products will be home-based in close consultation with the project and FUNDAMENTALS Senior evaluation officer.

37. The consultant will also facilitate a stakeholders’ workshop in Brasilia at the end of the work to validate a Zero draft of the outputs.

38. The stakeholders’ workshop will be attended by the project staff, ABC and key stakeholders (i.e. partners) by phone/Skype. This will be an opportunity for the consultant to gather further data, present the preliminary tools and obtain feedback.

39. The consultant will be responsible for organizing the methodology of the workshop. The identification of the number of participants of the workshop and logistics will be the responsibility of the project team in consultation with the evaluation team leader.

40. The consultant will be responsible for drafting and finalizing the evaluation report. The draft report will be circulated to stakeholders in English for their feedback and comments. The team leader will further be responsible for finalizing the report incorporating any comments from stakeholders as appropriate.


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41. The EA will be carried out with the technical backstopping of the Research and Evaluation Unit of FUNDAMENTALS-HQ and the Project team in Brasilia, and broadly with the logistical support of the project.

42. It is expected that the consultant will work to the highest evaluation standards and codes of conduct and follow the UN evaluation standards and norms.

The consultant responsibilities and profile

43. The background of the consultant should include:

Responsibilities Profile Desk review of programme

documents Briefing with project staff,

ABC and FUNDAMENTALS

Development of the inception report

Development the deliverables

Facilitate stakeholders workshop

Draft evaluation report Finalise evaluation report

Relevant background in social and/or economic development.

Experience in evaluability assessment, project design, and design of Theory of change based M&E of development projects, in particular with policy level work, institutional building and local development components.

Experience in M&E in the UN system or other international context

Relevant experience in Africa and Latin America

Experience with South-South Cooperation is an asset.

Experience Decent Work thematic areas is an asset

Experience with cotton production technical area is an asset

Fluency in English and working knowledge of speaking and reading Portuguese is essential. Speaking and reading Spanish and French is an asset.

Experience on facilitating workshops

Evaluation Timetable and Schedule

44. The total duration of the evaluation process including submission of the final report should be within two months from the end of the field mission.


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45. The proposed timetable is as follows:

Phase Responsible Person Tasks

No of cons. days

I Consultant

Review of Project and ILO documents (PRODOC, work plans, project reports, SSC ILO materials, etc.)

Phone /Skype interviews with Project staff, ILO/FUNDAMENTALS, other relevant ILO officers, ABC and key national stakeholders)

Inception report

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II Consultant Outputs development: Zero version Planning of the validation workshop 10

IIIConsultant with logistic support from the project

Validation workshop in Brasilia Integration of comments and completion of 0

draft of deliverables2

IV ILO Circulation of the 0 draft Consolidation of comments 0

V Consultant Integration of comments in the final version

of the deliverables and submission for approval

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TOTAL 19

46. Summary schedule:

Phase Work Days Dates (tentative)Briefing, desk review and inception report 5 days 07-11 November 2016

Development of deliverables 10 days 14-25 November 2016Validation workshop and submission of the Zero draft 2 days 30 November 2016 – 01 December 2016

Circulation of draft report 10 days 5-16 December 2016Final report 2 days 19-20 December 2016

Resources of Information and Consultations/Meetings

47. Sources of Information

The following sources should be consulted:

Project document Work plans Technical progress reports ILO evaluability assessment guidelines SSC ILO framework Other relevant documents: Country Projects, Studies, etc.


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48. Consultations/meetings will be held with:

Project management and staff in Asunción, Brasilia, Bamako, Dar es Salaam, Lima and Maputo.

ILO HQ and regional backstopping and technical officials (FUNDAMENTALS and SSC/PARDEV)

National key stakeholders in Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, Peru and Paraguay Social partners Employers’ and Workers’ groups Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC)

Deliverables submission procedure

49. The following procedure is used:o The consultant will submit draft report of all deliverables specified to the ILO

responsible officer (FUNDAMENTALS Senior evaluation officer)o ILO responsible officer forward a copy to key stakeholders for comments and

consolidate the comments and send these to the consultant o The final report is submitted to the ILO responsible officer for review and

approval

VI. Resources and Management

Resources50. The resources required for this evaluation are:

o For the consultant : Fees for a consultant for 19 work days Fees for 2 days visit to Brasilia Travel to Brasilia

o For the project support: Validation workshop in Brasilia expenditures Translation of the report

Management

51. The consultant will report to the Senior Evaluation Officer and should discuss any technical and methodological matters with the project and the FUNDAMENTALS evaluation officer EIA, should issues arise. The project will provide administrative and logistical support during the evaluability assessment.


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ANNEX 1 Project logical framework

DEVELOPMENT GOAL: Through South-South cooperation, to contribute to the promotion of decent work with emphasis on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the improvement of working conditions in cotton-producing developing countries.Objective 1: Based on the Brazilian experience, to develop skills in public institutions in partner countries to design and implement national and sub-regional policies and programs to promote decent work in the cotton productive sector, in the themes prioritized in the project.

Outputs Indicators Target Means of verification Activities

Output 1.1 (Phase 1 e 2): South-South cooperation needs for the promotion of decent work in the cotton production sector identified between Brazil, the ILO and cotton-producing countries in the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

Number of countries interested in the project identified in Africa and Latin America in a period of 6 months

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At least 2 countries in Africa and 2 in Latin America

Expression of Interest signed by the countries after signature of this project.

1.1.1 Identify countries' technical cooperation needs 1.1.2 Promote interest surveys with the identified countries 1.1.3 Identification of Brazilian institutions engaged in the implementation of the pre- selected policies and negotiating their participation in the project’s actions.1.1.4 Carry out prospecting missions in the countries with the participation of Brazilian institutions involved

Output 1.2 (Phase 2) Work plans developed, agreed and executed between Brazil, the ILO and cotton-producing countries in the regions of Latin

Number of work plans formulated

Number of Brazilian good practices

1 work plan by country

At least 1 best practice

Work plan documents produced after manifestations of interest.

1.2.1 Elaborate work plans based on prospecting missions.1.2.2 Validate and execute work plans.1.2.3 Support the adaptation and


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America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

effectively implemented in other countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa

effectively implemented by country.

Project evaluation reports developed under this PRODOC.

Meeting, technical visits, and administrative data registered.

exchange of best practices and technologies identified in the Brazilian experience of decent work promotion both in the public sector as well as the cotton-producing sector to other cotton-producing countries.1.2.4. Monitor and evaluate the implementation of work plans in countries through various channels, particularly in the framework of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour.

Output 1.3 (Phase 2): Regional seminars on topics of priority interest to the project using different methodologies of exchange carried out.

Number of exchange regional seminars held per year

At least 4 regional seminars (1 per year) held

Registry of meetings and administrative data

1.3.1 Elaborate a plan for regional exchange of experiences related to the pre-selected exchange themes.

1.3.2 Develop Terms of References detailing the experience to be shared, target audience, stakeholders involved, activities to be developed and expected results.1.3.3 Organize and execute regional exchanges.


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Output 1.4 (Phase 2): Best practices of Brazilian policies to promote decent work systematized and documented.

Number of Brazilian best practices identified and systematized.

At least 4 best practices systematized

Documents compiling of Brazilian best practices.

1.4.1 Document and systematize decent work policies identified as best practices.

1.4.2 Validate best practices identified and systematize with the relevant Brazilian institutions.

1.4.3. Edit and publish brochure with information on best practices identified and systematized based on the Brazilian experience to promote decent work


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Output 1.5. (Phase 3) Management tools, methodologies and results of implementation of the different work plans analysed, systematized and documented to be disseminated in other similar contexts.

Number of tools and methodologies made available for dissemination and transfer.

At least three tools and methodologies identified.

Attendance record of the workshops to disseminate good practices and lessons learned.Recording of virtual workshop of dissemination of good practices and lessons learnedRegistry of the sending of the compilation of best practices and lessons learned from the project to other countries.

1.5.1 Develop tools and methodologies based on best practices and lessons learned on the relevance of the project for dissemination purposes.

1.5.2. Sharing the evaluation results of the implementation of the work plans in 4 countries, through various channels, particularly in the framework of the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour.


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