Background

Railway Children Africa (RCA) is a Tanzanian NGO dedicated to protecting children and young people living and working on the streets, and to strengthening child protection systems. RCA is commissioning an independent, proportionate End-of-Project Evaluation of the Corridors for Growth ,Transport Hubs Project (July 2024 – September 2026), funded by FCDO, which strengthened safeguarding systems within transport hubs through the Safe Bus Terminal Model — centred on Social Welfare Service Desks (SWSDs), case management and referral pathways, multi-sector coordination, and government institutionalisation of safeguarding.

This evaluation is delivered jointly by a Local Consultant and an International Consultant, contracted separately and directly by RCA. Both consultants are expected to coordinate closely throughout the assignment; RCA’s Programme and Advocacy Manager approves deliverables and milestones for both, but day-to-day technical coordination (tool handover, data handover, joint report input) takes place directly between the two consultants.

Evaluation Objectives

The evaluation as a whole, delivered jointly across both consultants addresses the following objectives:

• Assess the project’s relevance, effectiveness, and sustainability against its stated objectives.
• Measure progress against key impact, outcome, and output indicators, using existing baseline, routine monitoring and programme data, and compare end-of-project results against baseline findings. Where necessary, undertake limited primary data collection to address specific evidence gaps.
• Assess progress toward institutionalising safeguarding within government policy, planning and regulatory frameworks, and the likelihood results are sustained beyond donor funding.
• Assess the effectiveness of the Safe Bus Terminal Approach, including for girls specifically and evidence of change in frontline duty bearers’ attitudes and behaviour, where existing data allows.
• Identify lessons learned and provide practical, evidence-based recommendations for future programme design and scale-up.
• Examine the project’s contribution to reducing children’s involvement in street situations, using available headcount, routine monitoring and case management data.

Scope of Work

The International Consultant leads methodological design and report drafting, ensuring the evaluation meets OECD-DAC and FCDO standards, and works closely with the Local Consultant, who leads in-country data collection. Specifically, the International Consultant shall:

• Lead design of the inception note and all data collection tools and instruments (KII/FGD guides, observation checklist), incorporating the Local Consultant’s contextual input on sampling and site access.
• Review the baseline report, logframe, and RCA’s most recent internally collected data against logframe indicators (to be provided by RCA at inception) to determine what can be assessed using existing data, consistent with the methodology note in Section 2.
• Provide remote methodological guidance to the Local Consultant during data collection, as needed, without requiring in-country travel.
• Lead triangulated analysis of the compiled dataset delivered by the Local Consultant against baseline and routine monitoring data.
• Lead drafting of the Draft and Final Evaluation Reports, ensuring alignment with OECD-DAC criteria (relevance, effectiveness, sustainability) and FCDO evaluation standards, incorporating the Local Consultant’s contextual interpretation and case study input throughout.
• Co-facilitate the validation session remotely and incorporate validation feedback into the Final Evaluation Report.
• Provide the Local Consultant with draft tools and, in turn, draft report sections for factual/contextual review before submission to RCA.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience leading donor-funded evaluations (FCDO experience preferred), applying OECD-DAC criteria. Strong report-writing and analytical skills, with a track record of producing evaluation reports for international donors.
• Experience in child protection or safeguarding programmes (highly desirable).
• Experience working with, or willingness to work closely and remotely with, a locally-based consultant/researcher/.
• Evidence of previous relevant assignments (completion certificates, contracts, or reference letters).

• Lead design of the inception note and all data collection tools and instruments (KII/FGD guides, observation checklist), incorporating the Local Consultant’s contextual input on sampling and site access.
• Review the baseline report, logframe, and RCA’s most recent internally collected data against logframe indicators (to be provided by RCA at inception) to determine what can be assessed using existing data, consistent with the methodology note in Section 2.
• Provide remote methodological guidance to the Local Consultant during data collection, as needed, without requiring in-country travel.
• Lead triangulated analysis of the compiled dataset delivered by the Local Consultant against baseline and routine monitoring data.
• Lead drafting of the Draft and Final Evaluation Reports, ensuring alignment with OECD-DAC criteria (relevance, effectiveness, sustainability) and FCDO evaluation standards, incorporating the Local Consultant’s contextual interpretation and case study input throughout.
• Co-facilitate the validation session remotely and incorporate validation feedback into the Final Evaluation Report.
• Provide the Local Consultant with draft tools and, in turn, draft report sections for factual/contextual review before submission to RCA.

• Strong report-writing and analytical skills
• Experience in child protection or safeguarding programmes
• Ability to work closely and remotely with a locally-based consultant/researcher

• Substantial experience leading donor-funded evaluations (FCDO experience preferred), applying OECD-DAC criteria.
• Track record of producing evaluation reports for international donors.
• Evidence of previous relevant assignments (completion certificates, contracts, or reference letters).