Consultancy - Evaluating the Sustainability of Oxfam’s Disaster Risk Reduction Programs in the Pacific and the Philippines

OverviewEvaluation Type: Evaluating the Sustainability of past Disaster Risk Reduction interventionsGeographical coverage: Pacific islands (Solomon Islands and Vanuatu), Asia (Philippines)Evaluation Timeline: June 2025 – March 2026  BACKGROUND Oxfam is committed, over the next decade, to a just and sustainable future. As Oxfam is driving by this mission, it works to enhance humanitarian action for which Oxfam helps people and communities develop core competencies to strengthen their resilience, continues to reorient the humanitarian system towards local leadership, and expands opportunities for those impacted by protracted conflict and recurring crises to lead on sustainable solutions. As populations around the world are heavily impacted by multi-dimensional inequalities, which make people more vulnerable to natural disasters, Oxfam fights those inequalities in a conscious way by promoting just economies, gender and climate justice, and accountable governance. Oxfam America implemented a disaster risk reduction program in Asia and the Pacific whose main outcomes were:DRR Capacity Development: By the end of the project, the vulnerable communities Asia-Pacific and Oxfam’s local humanitarian partners are able to carry out disaster risk reduction activities (from preparedness to response) to save lives and livelihoods in the event of disasters.Communities’ Asset Protection: By the end of the project, the vulnerable communities in the Asia-Pacific region have access to diversified livelihoods and external resources.DRR Knowledge and Learning: By the end of the project, Oxfam, local partners, communities, national actors, and others have generated and shared, both internally and externally, their knowledge of disaster preparedness and anticipatory action gained through the project. The first grant (2014-2017) funded community disaster preparedness projects in the Melanesia sub-region of the Pacific benefiting 44 communities at risk of disasters in the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Then, in a second grant (2017-2020), the program evolved to strengthen community preparedness, rapid response, and recovery in the Solomon Islands (9 Communities), Vanuatu (110 Communities), and the Philippines (13) benefiting a total of 132 communities, under the name of Asia Pacific Local Innovation for Transformation (APLIFT). However, since October 2020, partners in the Pacific and in the Philippines are not implementing APLIFT program anymore.  Given the longevity of between 3 to 6 years of DRR projects in those three locations which have ended since September 2020, Oxfam along with their local partners want to explore the sustainability of our efforts to see whether the strategies we implemented are still making a difference in people’s lives and whether community system and resources can sustain themselves without any external support,  5 years after closing the projects which ended in September 2020.PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE EVALUATIONAs community-based disaster preparedness and response activities were completed in September 2020, Oxfam together with their local partners would like to explore the sustainability of disaster preparedness and response capacities by conducting an evaluation. This evaluation will help Oxfam and its partner organizations assess the long-term impacts of DRR interventions and identify the factors that influence the sustainability of past projects in the three different geographical locations. While previous evaluations of these projects highlighted significant strides in enhancing community preparedness for natural hazards, there is now an opportunity to measure how communities maintained or sustained preparedness practices after program completion. It will be important to identify key factors that contribute to or hinder sustainability related to project outcomes: capacity strengthening, asset protection, institutional support, and knowledge and learning. For six years (from 2014 to 2020), Oxfam supported 176 communities, but for this evaluation, a selected sample of these communities will be assessed across the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.  A sample size will be agreed with the consultant. More specifically, Oxfam aims to assess the sustainability domains human, social, environmental, and economic, related to Oxfam’s past DRR interventions However, we know that these domains might not be exhaustive to describe sustainability, thus the consulting team is expected to collaborate with local stakeholders (community members, government representatives, etc.) to validate the domains and definitions of sustainability for disaster preparedness efforts that reflect the needs and experiences of the communities involved. A more detailed version of this ToR is available here: https://oxfam.box.com/s/obclzl8fyl6t94ix9k45fx28rlu9oib2USE AND USERS OF THE EVALUATIONThe evaluation results will be used by Oxfam teams to strategize and plan further DRR interventions in the region. Moreover, the evaluation will be shared with the Philanthropic Donor to provide evidence and inform their strategic monitoring and evaluation framework.We also plan to have extensive reporting back on the findings to the regional and Oxfam country offices and partners to inform their sustainability framework and community-based DRR intervention design.KEY EVALUATIONS QUESTIONSQuestion on Sustainable Impacts:To what extent have the impacts of past DRR interventions been sustained or not in communities and local authorities’ across human, social, environmental and economic, and/or other domains of change?Question on Localization:To what extent have the DRR projects and other local factors or actors contributed to the current challenges and successes to maintain sustainable and positive DRR capacities and processes in those specific contexts?Question on Strategies for Sustainability:What are the main or overall influencing factors and approaches that reveal to increase the likelihood of positive long-lasting impacts?What are the main or overall influencing factors and approaches that are detrimental to building disaster-resilient communities for future DRR intervention design and evaluation? SUGGESTED METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH With the support of Oxfam and partners, the consulting team will lead and develop a robust methodology adequate to answer the key evaluation questions and to assess the level of sustainability. The evaluation process should include the following steps:Inception phase: Review available documentation on past projects and evaluations. Consult communities, local NGOs and local authorities and define sustainability and localization in those specific contexts to design the evaluation’s methodology to evaluate the sustainability of Oxfam’s DRR interventions, and validate the sustainability domains proposed in this ToR. On site data collection: Implement the culturally appropriate data collection methods in the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu communities and local actors, respectful of respondent’s time, rights, language, and of any cultural norms when interacting with them. Analysis and Interpretation: Review and sense-making of evaluation findings with the right stakeholders to obtain rich insights and analytical points that are context-specific.Evaluation Reports: Write one evaluation report answering the key evaluation questions and provide credible findings and evidence. The main evaluation report should provide a list of annexes from which short country-specific evaluation reports, visual case studies, and other relevant documentation should be annexed. (The structure of reports will be collectively decided).Key Findings Dissemination: Share learnings with various audiences (i.e., Oxfam, partners, government agencies, and community DRR groups), and develop a dissemination strategy that will inform Oxfam and partners on what actions to take and plan to share key findings with a variety of audiences.Furthermore, we expect that this evaluation intentionally applies decolonial and feminist principles, along with the use of mixed methods and participatory approaches respecting and involving the local communities, pertinent stakeholders, Oxfam and our local partners in the sustainability evaluation of our program, ensuring their perspectives guide the process. ETHICAL AND SAFEGUARDING CONSIDERATIONS The evaluation team must abide by Oxfam’s Responsible Program Data Policy and Oxfam’s Code of Conduct. It is prohibited to disclose all data and information provided by communities, partners organizations and Oxfam. The products produced shall be the property of the partner organizations and Oxfam, and may not be disclosed, reproduced, marketed or shared by any means, without the prior written permission of the parties concerned.MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION OF THE EVALUATIONAn Evaluation Advisory Committee (EAC) will be formed and its members who are based in all target countries and some external, have among their responsibilities to support the coordination and progress of this evaluation process and to oversee its quality. The Senior Humanitarian MEAL Advisor will be the focal point of contact and will be supporting the Consulting Team throughout the evaluation contract period, ensuring that: all documents and information required for this evaluation is handed to them, their enquiries or questions are responded in timely manner, the evaluation process is completed within the agreed timeframe inclusive of an exit strategy and they are introduced to all teams (Oxfam and partners) and relevant individuals in country, and they have the logistical support for needed in-country trips. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES AND OUTPUTSTransforming findings and new knowledge coming from this evaluation into accessible products using effective visualization techniques is essential to highlight key takeaways for the evaluation users. The expected deliverables are as follows:Inception report with detailed methodology (from literature review and initial consultations) max 15 pages. (7 days). To be delivered by May 30, 2025.Draft Evaluation Report, including Case studies and Recommendations (45 days). To be delivered by Nov 14, 2025. The consulting team will identify vital enabling factors and barriers impacting DRR interventions’ sustainability against the different domains, and provide recommendations. This will help the donor, Oxfam, and its partners become more informed about approaches that sustain community preparedness against disasters and inform their disaster preparedness models, sustainability frameworks, and future DRR interventions.   The structure of the report will be jointly determined based on the inception phase’s results and new information but should include :Case studies of successful and less successful sustainable outcomes: The consulting team will document or develop, and visually present detailed case studies highlighting successful and less successful outcomes or practices based on specific contexts in the Pacific (Solomon Islands, Vanuatu) and the Philippines. These case studies will showcase specific examples of how communities have or haven't effectively maintained their disaster preparedness capacities, knowledge, practices, protective infrastructures, etc.Recommendations for Planning Sustainability: This part should be integrated to and highlighted in the main evaluation report. While organizations often develop exit strategies at a late stage of the project cycle, we would like to change this practice. This evaluation will inform our program management practice on how to best formulate sustainable project design and exit strategies at proposal stage. Thus, this evaluation will inform and draw lessons for the donor, Oxfam, and its partners to better integrate those strategies in future community-based DRR interventions.Country brief reports (could be added as Annexes of the draft evaluation report (7days). To be delivered by 4 Dec, 2025.Final evaluation report, addressing the feedback from the team (7 days).  To be delivered by Dec 12, 2025.Dissemination Strategy Plan: (7 days). To be delivered by 4 Dec, 2025. The evaluation team will work with Oxfam and partner teams on developing a strategy plan to disseminate the evaluation’s key findings, identifying the right audiences, the right timing and events to present the findings, and the evaluation products available to be used.A series of presentations from the consulting teams presenting the findings in different spaces will be scheduled between mid-January and March 30, 2026TEAM COMPOSITION AND QUALIFICATIONSIt is expected that the evaluation team will take into account the specificities of each country’s context in the data collection, methods and analysis. For this, the Evaluation Advisory Committee recommends forming a team of evaluators who will support the Evaluation Lead in this regional evaluation process. Oxfam is looking for an Evaluation Lead possibly from one of the three countries who will hire in-country evaluators for this evaluation. Have a minimum of 7 years of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) experience managing multi-country evaluation projects in Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian, Disaster Preparedness and Response, Resilience, Food Security, other relevant areas. Have experience conducting studies, evaluations or surveys to better understand, learn about and measure sustainability.Is able to lead and support the whole evaluation team. Have experience in building a team of local evaluators/consultants in the region to collaborate on a multi-country programme evaluation, and remotely working with them and advising them in the most effective manner. Have a good understanding and demonstrating application of gender sensitive, safeguarding and feminist standards and principles in evaluation to integrate into data collection and analysis as well as into evaluation recommendations. Good verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills to accurately and concisely convey informative and formative answers to evaluation questions in a report and PPT presentations and other dissemination products, as well as liaising with a diverse team in countryAbility to hire and train (with support from Oxfam team locally) local evaluators/data collectors.A more detailed lists of competencies for the Evaluation Lead and country evaluators are available in this long version of the ToR: https://oxfam.box.com/s/obclzl8fyl6t94ix9k45fx28rlu9oib2APPLICATION PROCESS AND HOW TO APPLY Oxfam invites bids from firms, individuals and groups of individuals with the experience and skills described above. Please send the following to Marion Cabanes, Senior Humanitarian MEAL Advisor at [email protected] by May 9, 2025: A brief 2 to 3-page expression of interest with a description of the proposed methodological approach, deliverables, budget for this evaluation, including how you plan to work across the target countries (hybrid, remotely and in the field), and the possible dissemination strategies.CVs detailing relevant skills and experience of no more than 2 pages per resume of each person part of the consulting team, including contactable referees for the Evaluation Team Leader. Sample of previous work evaluating sustainability (one piece) to assess the following skills: writing, presenting data visually, considering gender and inclusion, or feminist principles, and other media used to present findings. Online interviews with eligible candidates will be held the in the second week of May 2025. Final selection will be made by 19 May 2025 for a start of the evaluation process as soon as possible after background checking cleared.   Selection criteria to be applied: ·Quality of the methodological proposal:  aspects that will help us to assess their suitability for that which is proposed in the RFP, quality of the proposal, feasibility, gender and inclusion, etc.  Anyone who is applying for this evaluation should present a methodology and approach, outlining how they will integrate mixed methods and participatory approaches in order to ensure the process is contextually relevant and inclusive·Profile and competencies of the evaluation team:  knowledge, experience, composition and other necessary competencies.  ·Suitability of the detailed financial proposal:  for the activities laid out in the methodology, within the financial possibilities of the project, etc.