ThaiNGO

Job title:                    Evaluation Consultant

Location:                   Home based

Contract period:       working up to 30 days (working intermittently)

Start date:                No later than 1 May 2023

BACKGROUND

The spillover of infectious agents from animals to humans in recent decades has had a significant impact on the health of humans, animals, and our environment. To minimize the impact of future pandemic threats, the Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN) was established in 2011 with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop a resilient and competent One Health workforce to effectively prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats by leveraging education, research, and training excellence provided by member universities.

Since its establishment, SEAOHUN has expanded network membership from 10 universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam to over 99 universities in eight countries, including the four founding countries plus Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and the Philippines. The expansion was made possible with the support of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), U.S. Department of State (DOS) through its Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), and USAID. Our university members come from multiple disciplines connected to the health of humans, animals, and their ecosystem.

Our regional programs promote and facilitate collaborative activities among the countries with an emphasis on improving One Health education and research. Examples of our educational initiatives include the development of One Health core and technical competencies, competency-based education, research capacity to provide an evidence-base for One Health advocacy, One Health student clubs, and other experimental learning activities.

The SEAOHUN Secretariat based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is the coordinating body for all the country networks. The Secretariat manages subawards with the country networks, facilitates SEAOHUN Executive Board meetings and regional activities, strengthens One Health University Networks in Southeast Asia through capacity building activities, and partners with national, international and non-governmental organizations to build the next generation of One Health leaders. The Secretariat represents interests of its country networks at global and regional meetings/conferences/forums such as Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), and ASEAN+3 Field Epidemiology Training Network (FETN). SEAOHUN has partnered with Zoetis and Pfizer to address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and with Chevron to strengthen One Health education in Southeast Asia.

For more information, you may visit https://www.seaohun.org/ and http://facebook.com/seaohun. 

FOUR REGIONAL FLAGSHIP PROGRAMS

There are four regional flagship programs under the USAID One Health Workforce - Next Generation (OHW - NG) project. Two programs focusing on in-service professionals are fellowship and small grants. The other two programs focusing on pre-service professionals are scholarship and student engagement. During the implementation period (Year1-Year3), SEAOHUN has supported 21 scholarships, 14 fellows, 33 small grants and engaged more than 500 students via student engagement program.

1. Fellowship program: support in-service young and mid-career professionals to work on One Health issues at leading academic and research institutions, government agencies, international organizations, or international organizations, or international non-governmental organizations in Southeast Asian to strengthen the One Health workforce. Please visit our webpage link: https://www.seaohun.org/fellowship for more information.
2. Small grant program: support in-service health professionals and faculty members to develop innovative ideas and implement research projects that advance training and education of prioritized One Health technical and core competencies. Please visit our webpage link: https://www.seaohun.org/small-grants for more information.
3. Scholarship program: provide scholarships to young health professionals to pursue first Master’s degrees incorporating One Health training into infectious disease related fields at SEAOHUN's member Universities. Please visit our webpage link: https://www.seaohun.org/scholarship for more information.
4. Student engagement program:  include regional students’ activities where students across disciplines and countries can interact and develop technical and soft skills to practice applying One Health concept and approach in One Health issues to the communities through regional student competitions, and student journal club webinars on OH topics Please visit our webpage link: https://www.seaohun.org/student-engagement for more information.

PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION

SEAOHUN has implemented the above four regional programs for three or more years. While the small grants and student engagement programs started in Year 1 of the OHW - NG project (October 2019), the other two programs have started since the USAID OHW project (~October 2015). Evaluation of these programs should be from the commencement until March 2023. By considering COVID 19 impact on program implementation, the evaluation will assess the effectiveness against the objectives, the relevance of the programs, lessons learned, and potential impacts. The findings and recommendations will inform SEAOHUN leadership regarding areas of improvement and development of future programming.

SCOPE OF EVALUATION

The SEAOHUN programs evaluation will assess the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance of programs implementation and results, and impact. These will include program management, the extent of the results achieved, established partnerships, beneficiaries, and gender mainstreaming. The evaluation should cover all the four regional programs within 30 working days if possible. Proposed evaluation method has to align with USAID Evaluation Policy, and ADS Reference 201mah. The SEAOHUN Secretariat will assist with interview scheduling and distribution of survey to stakeholders and beneficiaries.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

1. Inception report

After selecting the consultant, SEAOHUN will provide feedback to the technical proposal. The consultant will incorporate SEAOHUN’s inputs and submit the inception report detailing methodology, evaluation questions, data sources, data collection and analysis, tools to be used, tasks, and timeframes of deliverables 2-4.

2.Presentation of preliminary findings and recommendations

A consultant will present his/her findings and recommendations to SEAOHUN before drafting a detailed evaluation report.

3.Draft evaluation report

The consultant will prepare a draft report in accordance with USAID Evaluation Report requirements for SEAOHUN to review. The SEAOHUN will provide comments within ten working days.

4.Final evaluation report

The consultant will submit the final evaluation report by using the USAID Style Guide within ten working days after receiving comments from the SEAOHUN. The contents of the final evaluation report should include the following:

• Executive summary
• Evaluation purpose and questions
• Background
• Evaluation methods and limitations
• Findings
• Conclusions and Recommendations
• Annexes: Graphs, Charts, Interviewed, documents reviewed.

TIMEFRAME

The start date should be no later than 1 May 2023 with the final report to be submitted by the end of August 2023.

REPORTING

The consultant will report to the SEAOHUN MEL Officer.

SCHEDULE OF PAYMENT

The transfer will be made within one week upon the acceptance of the following deliverables:

• 30% payment after approval of inception report
• 30% payment after presenting preliminary findings and recommendations
• 40% payment after approval of final report

DEGREE OF EXPERTISE AND QUALIFICATIONS

• An advanced degree in education, social sciences, international studies, statistics, or related field.
• At least 5 years of work experience in development projects, preferably in the context of Southeast Asia
• At least 7 years of extensive knowledge and experiences in conducting program evaluation as the leader of the evaluation process. Experience in One Health related areas and education sector is an asset.
• Excellent English language ability both written and oral
• Experience with USAID-funded projects is highly desirable.
• Experience working with international/regional organizations, and/or SEAOHUN member countries is an asset.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants should submit the following documents to secretariat+recruitment@seaohun.org and copy to wahwahlwin@seaohun.org using the subject line “Apply for Evaluation Consultant” by 16 April 2023 (11:59 p.m. ICT).

1. Letter stating how s/he is a suitable consultant and a daily rate.
2. Resume or Curriculum Vitae
3. Technical proposal describing what a consultant can accomplish within the period of 30 working days. Should the time be insufficient to evaluate all four programs, please propose which programs can be covered. The proposal should include methods, their strengths and limitations, sample evaluation questions, sampling and data collection, and tools.
4. Sample of past work is optional. Any sensitive data should be removed.

SELECTION CRITERIA

All inquiries regarding the TOR should be directed to Wah Wah Lwin at wahwahlwin@seaohun.org

SEAOHUN is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, language, religion, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity. SEAOHUN prohibits the use of forced labor and trafficking in persons and does not charge any fees from applicants. While we respect all applications, only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted.