National Consultant: Category B

• Duty Station of the Consultancy: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. However, the consultant will be expected to travel to the project implementation sites as part of the end-line evaluation. The consultant will use her/his own laptop and cell phone.
• Duration of Consultancy: 2 months (15 April – 15 June 2026, including preparation, data collection, analysis, reporting, and handover of all data collected and final reporting. The consultant should be able to undertake some tasks concurrently to fit within the planned timeframe without compromising the expected quality. The final evaluation is expected to be conducted on June 25, 2026.
• Nature of the consultancy: Category B, National Independent Evaluator, for the final evaluation of the project entitled “Strengthening Resilience of Disaster-Affected Communities through Durable Solutions in Oromia and Somali Regions of Ethiopia.”

4. Project Context and Scope:

Ethiopia continues to face significant internal displacement, with recent data indicating that millions remain displaced due to conflict, climate-related shocks, and other drivers. In response, the Government of Ethiopia has reinforced its commitment to advancing durable solutions through the establishment of the Durable Solutions Initiative (DSI) in 2019 and the launch of a National Durable Solutions Strategy in November 2024, alongside the development of five regional strategies with costed action plans, including in the Oromia and Somali regions, to guide coordinated and sustainable responses to displacement.

In light of the complexity and the dimensions of displacement situations in Somali and Oromia regions, International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT) are implementing a multi-year programme titled “Strengthening Resilience of Disaster Affected Communities through Durable Solutions in Oromia and Somali Regions of Ethiopia” with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The programme is being implemented over four years, from 1 November 2022 to 31 October 2026.

The overall goal of the programme is to contribute to durable solutions through improved conditions for sustainable socio-economic recovery and the peaceful coexistence of Displacement Affected Communities (DAC), with particular attention to the most vulnerable groups, while strengthening local government capacity in responding to the needs of internal displacement.

The programme pursues a nexus-based, multi-dimensional and integrated approach to enable communities to move towards recovery and resilience by employing durable solutions and actions that enhance communities’ coping mechanisms against future shocks to anthropogenic disasters and natural hazards. Programmatic areas are intervening to devise a continuity of care where an area-based approach is adopted, with the agencies maximizing resources for a shared group of beneficiaries. The programme targets conflict and climate-induced IDPs (looking to locally integrate and relocate or return) and host communities in various locations of displacement of the Somali and Oromia Regions.

The programme seeks to achieve four key outcomes with interlinked components:
• Outcome 1: Target communities are supported to voluntary return, relocation/resettlement, and (re) integration through the implementation of community-based planning and multi-sectoral recovery interventions aimed at building community cohesion and resilience.
• Outcome 2: Enhanced economic status of the vulnerable members in the displacement-affected communities through facilitated opportunities for livelihood diversification options through on-and off-farm interventions and increased access to finance.
• Outcome 3: Strengthened area-level spatial planning to ensure sustainable reintegration of DAC for improved access to HLP.
• Outcome 4: The Government’s capacity in mainstreaming durable solutions in its programs is enhanced. The empowerment and inclusion of marginalized youths, women, and persons with disabilities are cross-cutting themes mainstreamed throughout the programme.

5. Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation

The purpose of the final external evaluation is to assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the joint programme in accordance with the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria, and to inform future policy and program design in Ethiopia’s Durable Solution and HDPN contexts.

The specific evaluation objectives are as follows:

· Assess the relevance and coherence of programme interventions

· Assess the extent to which the programme achieved its intended outcomes and impact.

· Evaluate the effectiveness of implementation strategies between the implementers, coordination, and resource utilization.

· Assess the extent to which the programme has built on its mid-term review and other learning activities.

· Evaluate the cost efficiency of the programme

· Providing evidence for rights holders about the intervention to enhance transparency and accountability

· Assess the HDPN in the context of programme design and implementation, particularly the peacebuilding and livelihood (development) aspects of the programme pillars.

· Provide evidence-based, prioritized recommendations to improve future HDPN and Durable Solutions interventions

· Determine the sustainability of outcomes and benefits beyond programme completion

· Assess the programme’s potential as a model for scale-up to promote durable solutions for internally displaced persons

· Document lessons learned and best practices (including gender equality, disability inclusion, human rights, and environmental sustainability) for future programming
• Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing: PSU and PDCU units
• Category B Consultants: Tangible and measurable outputs of the work assignment

The consultant will be responsible for preparing for and carrying out data collection (quantitative and qualitative), training enumerators, coordinating the secondary source of data with the programme teams, monitoring the quality of the data collection process and analysis, and producing the final evaluation deliverables outlined below:

Table 1 Deliverables
Deliverable
#Working Days
LOT
Location
Instalment

Desk review
7
Review of primary and secondary sources of data
Home-based

Submission of inception report and presentation
7
Inception report with clear methodology and data collection tool
Addis Ababa
30% of the total payment

Data collection and analysis
14
Field level data collection in the selected sites of the project
Field
70% of the total payment

Submission of the first and second draft evaluation report
10
Draft report for technical review and feedback
Addis Ababa

Submission of final evaluation report
7
Final submission of the report
Addis Ababa

Submission of two pager report and management response plan
2
Two pager report
Addis Ababa

Validation workshop
1
Present the key findings and recommendation
Addis Ababa

Total LOT 1
48 (2 months)

100%
• Evaluation inception report (15 – 20 pages). A concise inception report detailing the evaluation design, refined evaluation questions, methodology (including sampling strategy and limitations), field visit plan, evaluation matrix, and overall workplan. Final versions of KII guides, FGD guides, observation checklists, and case study templates submitted as annexes to the inception report. The inception report shall be shared with the Evaluation Committee and donors for review and finalization before the start of data collection.
• Draft evaluation report. Building on the debriefing and initial feedback received, the evaluator will produce a draft evaluation report that shall be shared with the programme management team (IOM, FAO, UNHABITAT) and donors for their review. The programme management team will provide the evaluator with consolidated feedback.
• Validation Workshop: Facilitate a validation workshop to share the preliminary findings with key stakeholders, including donors and community representatives, for verification. The arrangements for the validation workshop will be defined and supported by the programme team during the inception phase.
• Final evaluation report (50-60 pages including executive summary and annexes): Once feedback is provided by the programme management team, the evaluator will prepare the final report fully reflecting stakeholder feedback and meeting quality standards. The final report should be written in English, proofread, laid out well, including an executive summary, a list of acronyms, an introduction, an evaluation context and purpose, an evaluation framework and methodology, findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
• The evaluator will prepare an evaluation brief to facilitate the sharing of the key findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
• Management response partially filled out (template will be provided by IOM).
• Presentations to stakeholders: Upon completion of the data collection and analysis, the consultant will provide a debriefing to the project team on the survey findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The consultant will also debrief key stakeholders in a workshop to discuss and validate the results and fill information gaps if necessary

In line with the deliverables outlined above, payment will be structured as follows: 30% upon submission of the inception report, and the remaining 70% upon submission of the final report, subject to approval by the IOM Ethiopia Evaluation Manager.
• Performance indicators for the evaluation of results

The evaluation will seek to answer the questions outlined below, which evaluators are encouraged to review and refine during the inception phase in consultation with IOM, FAO, UN-HABITAT, and Donors. The evaluator will further review the evaluation questions in consultation with the evaluation stakeholders (IOM, FAO, UN-Habitat, and Donors) during the preparation of the inception report.
• Relevance: Is the intervention doing the right thing?