Consultants to Conduct Final Evaluation - ChildSight®

Helen Keller International (HKI) is an international non-governmental organization. Its mission is to save the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged by combating the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition. We do this by establishing programs grounded in evidence-based research in eye health and nutrition.

Uncorrected refractive errors are a significant cause of avoidable visual impairment, blindness and disability, especially in developing countries. HKI’s ChildSight® program in Vietnam has been successfully implemented in Kon Tum Province. The goal of the program is to improve the academic potential of young children by removing the basic barriers that prevent them from obtaining proper primary eye care: limited access and prohibitive cost.  To address these barriers, ChildSight® screens primary and secondary school children for vision problems, identifies those who are in need of glasses, and provides them with proper prescription glasses. Communication and educational activities, aimed at increasing awareness of students, teachers and parents, are indispensable and central components of the ChildSight® program.

With the generous support from Grand Challenges Canada, HKI implement the program called “Integrating private optic shops into HKI’s ChildSight® program to improve school-based vision services in Kon Tum Province, Vietnam”.

Objectives of program:

• Establish a sustainable system for school-based vision screening and the provision of free quality eyeglasses to poor students;
• Enhance the capacity of community health and school staff to screen, identify and refer children with eye health problems;
• Reduce the number of children with uncorrected refractive errors by screening, refracting and providing free eyeglasses to all children who need them in 16 target schools;
• Improve the knowledge of teachers, students, parents and community members about the importance of maintaining good vision for all family members;
• Improve the capacity of private optic shops in Kon Tum to provide high quality eyeglasses for those who have refractive errors.

So far 12,175 schoolchildren in 35 primary and secondary schools in Kon Tum city, Dak Ha and Dak To districts within Kon Tum Province, Vietnam have been screened. Over 13,630 leaflets and 33 posters were produced and distributed to children and teachers both in these schools. Art competitions among intervention schools were organized to encourage thousands of school kids to express their thoughts and ideas on how to keep their eyes healthy.

Through this project, private optic shops were provided with hands-on training to improve their product quality thereby contributing to improved children's vision. By cooperating with Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology to provide this training course, it is expected that district level in Kon Tum Province will have qualified optic shops that can provide quality eyeglasses to children who have refractive errors, especially those in remote areas who could not access such services before.
The implementation period of the program was initially 12 months, from April 2103 to March 2014 and has been extended for additional 3 months to 30 June 2014. The final evaluation is expected to be conducted in April 2014 and the HKI office in Vietnam seeks to recruit highly qualified consultants to conduct the final evaluation.

OVERALL GOAL OF THE FINAL EVALUATION

The objective of this assignment is to assess the progress made towards the achievement of the overall and specific objectives based on project proposal, current data, direct observation, the project achievements, gaps, lessons learnt and provide recommendations and best practice that focus on key components for future projects.

SCOPE OF WORK AND SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The final evaluation will focus on measuring achieved results and potential impacts generated by Childsight® in Kon Tum province, based on the specific objectives and criteria on this term of conference.

This final evaluation has following specific objectives:
-    To assess the outcomes and effectiveness of the program implementation process
-    To determine the projects achievements and gaps
-    To determine the extent of the direct and indirect impacts of the interventions
-    To assess the effectiveness of the co-ordination among stakeholders and areas for improvement
-    To provide the best practices/recommendations that may be used in the future programming

The evaluation will mainly entail the following criteria:
-    Relevance: how appropriate were inputs and activities as related to the local needs? What value did the intervention add to the local context?
-    Effectiveness: Have the objectives led to the achievement of the expected results?
-    Efficiency: Did the project use the most efficient process?
-    Sustainability: What sustainability mechanisms are in place to ensure the program continues to be maintained?
-    Impact: What impact has the program had on the beneficiaries and the project area as a whole?

METHODOLOGY

The evaluation methodology will be defined by consultants, taking into account budget and time constraints. However, HKI requests that the methodology suggested by the consultant incorporates the following principles or approaches:

-    The evaluation methodology will include a desk review program proposals, reports and other relevant documentation related to the program.
-    The evaluation methodology is expected to incorporate mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative), which will include the collection of qualitative information through key informants interviews and focus group discussions.

EVALUATION DELIVERABLES

Inception Report:  This report will propose the methods, sources and procedures to be used for data collection. It will also include a proposed timeline of activities and submission of deliverables.

Draft Final Report: (to be submitted within 20 days after the completion of the field visit). The draft final report will contain the same sections as the final report and will be 20 to 30 pages in length.

Final Evaluation Report: (to be submitted within 10 days after reception of the draft final report with comments). The final report will be 20 to 30 pages in length.

TIMEFRAME:

The detailed time frame will be agreed, however it is expected that the activities take place during April 2014 over a period up to 15 working days including preparation, field trips and reporting.

EVALUATION TEAM

The evaluation team will consist of two members. A highly qualified health system consultant will be assigned to lead the Evaluation team. A national technical consultant will be assigned as a team member. Academic qualification and required experience of evaluation consultants are as follows:

The National Health System Consultant (team leader):

Academic Qualification: A master degree or equivalent in Public health, public policy, social science or related field is a requirement. Further education or a concentration in monitoring and/or evaluation would be an asset.

Experience: A combination of minimum 10 years of recognized expertise in:
-    Conducting or managing evaluations, assessments, audits, research or review of development  projects, programmes, countries or thematic areas; and
-    Having thematic expertise in ophthalmology, blindness prevention, especially in Refractive Errors or evaluating international program area.

The National Technical Consultant:

Academic Qualification: A master degree or equivalent in Ophthalmology. Further education or a concentration in Refractive error must be required.
Experience: A combination of minimum 10 years of recognized expertise in ophthalmology, blindness prevention, especially in Refractive Errors.

BUDGET

The fee for consultant will be negotiated and applied following HKI Vietnam regulations.

The consultant or consultancy companies who are interested in taking these consultancy works please submit:
(i) A letter of interest;
(ii) CV
(iii) Technical proposal indicating the understanding of the TOR, a detailed methodology, and work plan for the final evaluation 
(iv) Financial Proposal;
(v) Supporting documents (if any)

To:    Helen Keller International Vietnam
Room 103, B5 building, Van Phuc Diplomatic Compound,
298 Kim Ma, Hanoi, Vietnam

Email: [email protected] ; [email protected] and Cc: [email protected]

The deadline for submitting the application will be on 09 March 2014.

Only short-listed consultants will be contacted.