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1. Introduction and Background

STT is a Cambodian Urban NGO working with vulnerable urban poor communities, in Phnom Penh and the provinces, who are affected by land and housing rights issues. STT is implementing four related projects: 1) Community Mapping, Housing Improvement and Urban Resilience Project; 2) Housing Rights and Research Project; 3) Community Empowerment Project; and 4) Community Media and ICT Project. Each year to support the advocacy work of STT and other partner organisations, STT undertakes research into key issues affecting urban poor communities under threat of eviction. STT also has a strong focus on strengthening the advocacy capacity of community activists and providing a number of social media, ICT and land and housing rights trainings to urban and rural communities.

The Strategic Plan (2019-2023) provides a coherent programmatic planning framework by leveraging STT’s strengths and capacities. STT’s core values include transparency and accountability, as a result, this assignment will be undertaken in order to uphold STT’s commitment to its core values, by improving the organization’s ability to provide maximally effective assistance to its target beneficiaries.

2. Objective

The purpose of the mid-term review is to ensure that STT’s projects are in line with STT’s 5- year Strategic Plan which was developed in 2019 and to highlight the strengths and weaknesses which exists in STT’s overall strategy by analyzing the level of impact STT’s projects have made on urban poor communities.

3. Expected Results

The mid-term review will be a participatory exercise to assess the performance of STT’s projects. It has an objective of mainly internal learning for the areas of implementation and results and is intended to inform operational decision-making and adjustments to on-going projects. Findings and recommendations will inform annual operational planning exercises, in order to help STT to reflect on its projects and ensure that timely improvements are made, in order to meet the proposed targets by 2023.

Therefore, the expected results are:

– To provide STT with an independent, evidence–based and participatory evaluation focusing on the impact of the current projects on urban poor communities, while including some target groups from previous projects to inform on the longer-term impact of STT’s interventions.
– To assess how the current projects contribute to, and fit with STT’s overall strategy.
– To provide STT with recommendations on how to adjust the strategic plan in order to maximize impact and meet the needs of vulnerable urban poor communities beyond June 2021 at the strategical levels.

A special focus is to be put on the impacts of Covid-19 and the changing political climate on the organization and on the inclusion of the longer term coping strategies.

4. STT’s Intervention Strategy

STT’s mission is to develop advocacy tools, empower, and support urban poor and vulnerable communities to obtain adequate and comfortable housing. To do so, STT decided to work toward the achievements of four strategic objectives by the end of 2023, three of which are aimed at serving target communities:

  1. Urban poor and vulnerable communities supported by STT will have increased security in land tenure, in which they can legally manage, utilize, and benefit. It refers to component
  2. Urban poor and vulnerable communities supported by STT will have increased confidence and ownership, especially women, and actively initiate, negotiate, mobilize, and organize their own advocacy activities to demand their land and housing rights, and as a result, they will receive positive responses from respective stakeholders.
  3. Urban poor and vulnerable communities supported by STT will have improved housing conditions with appropriate infrastructure and better community environments and hygiene.

To implement its program strategies and activities, STT employs the following main approaches:

  1. Community-led development: support communities to set their own local goal and priorities by encouraging/involving them to initiate and make own decisions on planning, and take part in monitoring the actions.
  2. Evidence-based advocacy: provide reliable information and evidences such as maps, research report/data, alternative plans… to communities to use as tools for advocacy activities.
  3. Capacity development: enhance capacity (knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences) regarding land and housing rights in order to build their confidence in advocacy.
  4. Media and communications use: use all possible media types (ICT/social media, radios, press…) to spread community advocacy messages (voices, concerns, demands) to wide audience (including decision-makers).
  5. Networking: connect communities with each other in order to mobilize strong and common voices to advocate together influencing changes.

5. Proposed Methodology

The proposed methodology is as follows:

Briefing session with STT;

– Desk review of the existing project documents
– A participative methodology is highly recommended in order to take into account the opinion of all partners and stakeholders;
– Use of mixed methods including semi-structured interviews of key informants (including project staff and relevant management staff, STT’s Board of Directors, project funding partners, NGOs working on similar issues and national or subnational authorities, etc.) and focus group discussions with people and communities targeted by the project;
– Interview with other NGOs working on urban issues in Cambodia.

6. Provisional Timetable of the Evaluation

The consultancy will last for 2 months, starting from 1 July 2021 and going until 31 August 2021.

Activity Estimated time Key outputs
1 Preparation by consultants and field team

– Review of project documents and progress reports
– Other relevant literature review
– Agreement on activities & timeframes
– Preparation of meetings/programme
– Development of assessment methodology (involving analysis of programmes and activities in areas of time, target groups, person reached, and outcomes measured).

4 days

 

 

 

 

Evaluation workplan and timeframe;

Evaluation instruments (examples: matrix with key evaluation questions and means of verification, questionnaires, interview protocols, meeting programmes, focus group methodologies, etc.)

2 Meetings and discussions with stakeholders

– Discussions with STT’s team and project staff
– Meetings with STT’s board of Directors
– Meeting with community members/NGOs/donors
– Field visit to target communities

14 days Documented records of interviews and observations with stakeholders.

 

Draft evaluation findings.

 

3 Presentation of findings to stakeholders

– Hold (a) meeting(s) with STT to present preliminary findings and recommendations as well as to collect feedback which will help in finalizing the report

– Incorporate feedback into findings

 

2 days Presentation of findings to STT

 

Forum for participatory feedback.

 

4 Writing Report

– Draft Report & Final Report. The report should
– Be analytical in nature (both quantitative and qualitative)
– Be structured around issues and related findings/lessons learnt
– Include conclusions
– Include recommendations

5 days

Draft report delivered to STT for consideration and for comments.

 

 

 

6 Presentation at STT’s office

Hold meetings with STT’s relevant staff and community members on findings and recommendations.

1 day STT’s and communities’ inputs fully reflected in the final report.
7 Finalising the report based on the consultation with staff and relevant stakeholders and Submission of Final Report 4 days after presentation A report in word document format with tables/graphs where appropriate will be submitted within four working days after the completion of the mission, incorporating comments made on the draft submitted to STT.

 

Time allocated to the Assignment                     30 days

 7. Evaluation Outputs

Final output is expected in report format, which should adhere to STT’s standard format.  The report should be submitted in English and Khmer and should be of high quality to share with outside agencies, donors or interested third parties.  It should be structured according to STT’s format in terms of issues and related findings, assessment of performance, description of best practices, conclusions and recommendations.

Additional outputs include a PowerPoint presentation on key findings and a draft report to be circulated in stakeholder meetings.

8. Experience and Qualifications/Awarding Criteria

The assignment will be contracted to consultants with substantive experience in the area of civil society and knowledge of land and housing rights in urban settings. Given the current context, the consultants must be based in Cambodia.

Education

A minimum of a Bachelor’s in sociology, international development, social sciences, management or other relevant field of study.

Work experience

– Minimum 5 years of experience in management of program, implementation / evaluation of projects/programmes;
– Solid understanding of urban issues and land & housing rights;
– Knowledge and experience of land and housing rights, evidence-based advocacy in urban settings;
– Excellent analytical and report writing skills;
– Good people and communication skills;
– Proven work experience in use of participatory evaluation methods for identifying measurable target indicators;
– Demonstrated ability to assess complex situations in order to succinctly and clearly distil critical issues;
– Must be able to work independently with excellent demonstrated teamwork, coordination and facilitation skills;
– Experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams to deliver quality products in high stress and short deadline situations;
– Ability to work in a multicultural team environment and to deliver under pressure/meet deadlines
– Comfortable with the necessary computer skills i.e. MS Word (personal laptop will be necessary for this mission)
– Impartial and independent of the parties

Languages

Fluency in English language required. Fluency in Khmer is an advantage but not mandatory.

9. Budget and Payment terms/schedule

The total available budget for this mid-term review is USD 7,500 including 15% of withholding tax. The consultant team is requested to submit a research proposal which consists of appropriate study design and budget breakdown. The payment to the successful consultant will be made in three installments:

– 20% upon contract signing

– 40% upon presentation of key findings

– 40% after submission of the final report

10. How to Apply

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their application, CV highlighting relevant experience, technical proposal and budget to STT’s Administration and Human Resources through email:  recruitment@teangtnaut.org

Closing date:  21 June 2021, at 5pm.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified. 

You can download the PDF files here! English

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