Terms of Reference for Evaluation [1]

1.    Evaluation Summary

2.    Project Description

The project “Enabling Social Cohesion and Crisis Resilience through Livelihood Improvement in Quetta” has been implemented by Taraqee Foundation (TF) with the financial and technical support of CBM in Quetta District, Balochistan. The project responds to the pressing socio-economic challenges of Afghan refugees and host communities by improving livelihood opportunities, strengthening social cohesion, and enhancing crisis resilience.

Overall Objective:

To contribute to improved socio-economic stability and peaceful coexistence between Afghan refugees and host communities in Quetta through livelihood enhancement, crisis resilience, and inclusive development approaches.

Specific Objectives:

Improve income generation and employment opportunities through vocational training, entrepreneurial skills, and small business support.

Strengthen social cohesion and peaceful coexistence by promoting community engagement, trust-building, and collaborative initiatives.

Enhance household and community-level crisis resilience and preparedness.

Ensure the inclusion of women, youth, and persons with disabilities in all project interventions.

Time Frame / Phase:

The project was implemented December 01, 2022, to August 31, 2025.

Location:

Target communities in Quetta District, Balochistan, covering both Afghan refugee and host populations.

Target Population / Stakeholders / Partners:

Beneficiaries: Afghan refugees, host communities, women, youth, and persons with disabilities.

Stakeholders: Community leaders, local authorities, and livelihood actors.

Key Activities Completed / Ongoing:

Vocational training in tailoring, embroidery, carpet weaving, and food processing.

Entrepreneurship and small business development support.

Community-based dialogue and peacebuilding initiatives.

Awareness raising and capacity building on crisis preparedness and resilience.

Targeted interventions ensuring participation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities.

Previous Assessments / Baseline Studies:

A baseline study was carried out at the project, which highlighted low-income opportunities, weak social cohesion, and limited resilience among both refugees and host communities. The study guided project design by emphasizing livelihood diversification, skills training, and inclusive approaches. The forthcoming endline evaluation will assess progress against these baseline findings, capture lessons learned and recommend strategies for sustainability and scaling up. recommendations.

3.     Evaluation Objective and Intended Use

Evaluation Objective

The primary objective of the endline evaluation is to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the project “Enabling Social Cohesion and Crisis Resilience through Livelihood Improvement in Quetta”. The evaluation seeks to:

• Measure the extent to which project outcomes related to livelihood improvement, social cohesion, and crisis resilience have been achieved.
• Compare endline results with the baseline to determine changes in income, skills, and resilience of project beneficiaries.
• Assess the level of inclusion of women, youth, and persons with disabilities in project interventions.
• Identify best practices, lessons learned, and areas for improvement to inform future programming.

Intended Use

The findings of the endline survey will be used to:

• Provide evidence-based insights to CBM and Taraqee Foundation on project performance and impact.
• Guide future project design and strategy for livelihoods, social cohesion, and resilience programming in refugee and host community contexts.
• Support accountability to donors, stakeholders, and communities by demonstrating project results.

4.     Scope of the evaluation

The endline evaluation will cover the full duration of the project “Enabling Social Cohesion and Crisis Resilience through Livelihood Improvement in Quetta”, implemented by Taraqee Foundation with CBM support. It will assess activities and outcomes up to September 2025 in Quetta District, focusing on Afghan refugee and host communities. The evaluation will examine livelihoods, income generation, skills development, social cohesion, crisis resilience, and inclusion of women, youth, and persons with disabilities. Stakeholder perspectives will be gathered, and results will be compared with baseline data to identify progress, gaps, and unintended outcomes. The findings will document lessons learned, highlight good practices, and provide recommendations for future programming and sustainability.

5.    Limitations

The endline evaluation may face certain limitations that could affect the scope and depth of findings. These include:

Accessibility: Security conditions or logistical challenges in Quetta may restrict access to some communities or respondents. May be Afghan refugee beneficiaries return to Afghanistan.

Response Bias: Beneficiaries and stakeholders may provide socially desirable responses, which could influence the accuracy of data.

Comparability: Differences in baseline and endline contexts, or inconsistencies in available baseline data, may affect direct comparisons.

Representation: While sampling will be designed for inclusivity, perspectives of marginalized groups (e.g., women, youth, persons with disabilities) may still be underrepresented due to cultural or contextual barriers.

6.     Target audience and learning

Consider The evaluation findings are primarily intended for CBM and Taraqee Foundation to assess project achievements, guide future programming, and strengthen organizational learning. They will also serve donors, government stakeholders, community leaders, and partner organizations as evidence for decision-making, accountability, and policy advocacy.

In terms of learning, the evaluation will provide insights into effective strategies for livelihood improvement, social cohesion, and crisis resilience in refugee–host contexts, while highlighting best practices and lessons on gender, youth, and disability inclusion. These lessons will support future project design, sustainability, and knowledge sharing with wider development and humanitarian actors.

7.    Evaluation Questions

The questions shall be based on the OECD DAC evaluation criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. NOTE: Coherence is a recent addition by OECD DAC and needs to be included.

There is no need to assess all 6 criteria equally detailed; decide which are the most important criteria to cover your information and learning needs and let the evaluation focus on those aspects.  

Develop guiding questions that refer directly to planned achievements (outcomes/objectives) as in the project plan, logframe or theory of change. You need to clearly know the project’s/programme’s objectives, expected results, activities and target groups in order to complete the section below. It is important to formulate the questions with a focus on disability inclusion.

1.     RELEVANCE - Is the project/programme doing/ has it been doing the right things?

Was the project designed in ways that respond to the needs and priorities of all participants[2] (irrespective of gender, age, disability status)? To what extent does/did the project design reflect the rights of persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups and include feedback from a diverse range of local stakeholders?

In Humanitarian Context: Appropriateness of the humanitarian activities to local needs, increasing ownership, accountability and cost-effectiveness.

2.     COHERENCE - How well does/did the project/programme fit in the broader national and international context?

To what extent are the project’s design, delivery and results coherent with international laws and commitments to disability rights, gender equality and rights, including the CRPD[3], CEDAW[4], and the 2030 Agenda? To what extent does the intervention support national legislation and initiatives that aim to improve equality and human rights?

In Humanitarian contexts: Assess security, developmental, trade and military policies as well as humanitarian policies, to ensure that there is consistency and that all policies take into account humanitarian and human-rights considerations.

3.     EFFECTIVENESS - Is the project/programme achieving its objectives?

Did the project achieve its objectives and expected results in ways that contribute to inclusion and equality across groups, such as persons with and without disabilities or women/girls and men/boys? Were different approaches used to reach the different groups?

Was the theory of change and results framework informed by analysis of inclusion, gender equality, political economy analysis and human rights?

Was the intervention adjusted to address any concerns and maximise effectiveness?

4.     EFFICIENCY - How well have resources been planned and used? The extent to which the intervention delivers, or is likely to deliver, results in an economic and timely way.

Were different resources allocated in ways that considered inclusion and equality? Was

differential resource allocation appropriate?

Do the investment costs per person targeted meet the differentiated needs of different people  (gender, age, disability status)?

5.     IMPACT - What difference did the project make? The extent to which the intervention has generated or is expected to generate significant positive or negative, intended or unintended, higher-level effects.

Were there equal impacts for different groups of people? If so, why did these differential impacts occur? How did norms related to disability or gender and barriers within the wider political, economic, religious, legislative and socio-cultural environment impact outcomes?

To what extent have impacts contributed to equal power relations between different groups of people and to changing of social norms and systems?

6.      SUSTAINABILITY - Will the benefits last? The extent to which the net benefits of the intervention continue or are likely to continue. Includes an examination of the financial, economic, social, environmental and institutional capacities of the systems needed to sustain net benefits over time.

Did the intervention contribute to greater inclusion and equality within wider legal, political, economic and social systems? Did it result in enduring changes to social norms that are harmful to any specific group of people? Will the achievements in inclusion and equality persist after the conclusion of the intervention? Have processes contributed to sustaining these benefits? Have mechanisms been set up to support the achievement of inclusion and equality in the longer term?

In Humanitarian Context: Connectedness, i.e. the need to ensure that activities of a short-term emergency nature are carried out in a context that takes longer-term and interconnected problems into account.

7.     Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults

The extent to which safeguarding aspects have been considered and how the respective mechanisms been established, used and adhered to.

8.     Equality and inclusion/gender equality

The extent to which women and men, persons with and without disabilities were actively involved during all steps in the project cycle and how the groups benefited from the intervention. Output and outcome data shall be disaggregated according to gender, age (adults/children) and disability status. For the collection of data on disability, the use of the Washington Group Short Set of Questions is mandatory. Consultants need to be guided on the Washington Group Questions and their application.

In Humanitarian Contexts: Coverage: The need to reach major population groups facing life-threatening suffering wherever they are.

Please consider adding some questions around the “Humanitarian Imperative” as outlined in the Programme Quality Framework

9.    Methodology

There are mandatory mechanisms that must be adhered to during the entire process:

• Participatory and inclusive
• Safeguarding of children and adults at risk
• Data Disaggregation (gender/age/disability)
• Data Security and privacy (informed consent)
• Develop sampling strategy and data collection tools (quantitative and qualitative) aligned with project indicators.
• Ensure gender‑sensitive and disability‑inclusive approaches.
• Field Data Collection:
• Conduct household surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs), and key informant interviews (KIIs) with beneficiaries, community leaders, TF staff, and other stakeholders.

Data Analysis:

• Analyze data to measure results against baseline and project targets.

10.  Management Responsibilities and Evaluation Team

Commissioning responsibility

Taraqee Foundation will be responsible for contracting the evaluation.

Management Responsibility and Logistics

Taraqee Foundation will provide management for the evaluation process. TF will facilitate to conduct meetings with project beneficiaries and relevant stakeholders.  Consultant will be responsible for organizing transport, accommodation, flights and refreshment etc.

11.  Evaluation Team

For Individual Consultant or Consultancy Firm:

• Master’s degree or higher in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Evaluation, Public Health, Gender Studies, Disability Studies, or a related field.
• Minimum 8–10 years of proven experience in designing and conducting project evaluations (baseline, midline, endline) for INGOs/NGOs.
• Strong knowledge and practical experience in Disability-Inclusive Development, Gender Equality, Protection, and Livelihoods projects.
• Demonstrated experience in applying qualitative and quantitative research methods, including participatory approaches.
• Proven capacity to lead evaluation teams, manage fieldwork, and deliver high-quality reports within tight deadlines.
• Excellent analytical, writing, and presentation skills (knowledge of local languages is an asset).

For Consultancy Firm (if applying as an organization)

• At least 5 years of experience in third-party evaluations, with a proven track record of at least three successfully completed baseline or endline surveys in development or humanitarian projects (evidence required).
• Demonstrated track record of evaluations in protection, GBV, disability inclusion, gender equality, education, and livelihoods projects.
• Strong in-house team capacity for data collection, data management, analysis, and report writing.
• Ability to ensure quality assurance, ethical research practices, and safeguarding measures.
• Registered as a legal entity in Pakistan with a valid NTN and compliance with local laws.

12.  Deliverables

Consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables.

The report should be presented in the standard evaluation report format shared by TF.

• Inception Report (methodology, tools, sampling, and work plan).
• Data Collection Tools (questionnaires, FGD and KII guides).
• Cleaned Data Sets (raw and analyzed).
• Presentation of Preliminary Findings to TF/CBM.
• Draft End‑Line Report for review.
• Final End‑Line Report incorporating feedback, including:
  • Executive Summary
  • Methodology and Limitations
  • Key Findings with data tables/graphs
  • Comparison with baseline data
  • Lessons Learned
  • Recommendations
  • Annexes (tools, photos, etc.)

All background material shall be delivered, incl. questionnaires, surveys etc. in the form of an Annex.

13.  Payment Mode

TF will pay the agreed consultancy fee to the consultant/firm through a cross cheque in two tranches: 30% upon submission and approval of the inception report, and 70% upon approval of the final report. Applicable taxes will be deducted at source in accordance with prevailing tax laws

14.   Application Procedure

Interested individual consultants or consultancy firms are invited to submit:

• A technical proposal outlining understanding of the assignment, methodology, sampling strategy, team composition (if firm), and work plan.
• A financial proposal with detailed budget (inclusive of all costs and taxes).
• An organizational profile/CV of lead consultant and examples of relevant previous work.

Apply By:

15.   Submission Deadline:

 All applications/proposals should be submitted by 12th October 2025 at [email protected]  (mailto:[email protected]) or by hand/ drop at: TF House #. 75-A, Chaman Housing Scheme, Airport Road, Quetta.

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for next step.