Terms of Reference – Base Line Evaluation

1. Introduction

HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation has long been a trusted development partner in Ethiopia, dedicated to promoting sustainable growth and economic empowerment among marginalized communities. In line with this commitment, the UP-Women project was launched in January 2021 to support young women and girls in the Sidama Region by enhancing their access to skill development and employment opportunities. The project provides Technical and Vocational Skills Training, Integrated Functional Adult Literacy (IFAL), and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) education, and linking to employment by equipping young women with the tools to achieve financial independence and improve their life prospects.

The UP-Women Phase II project represents a continuation and expansion of the achievements made during Phase I, with a focus on strengthening the socio-economic empowerment of women and girls in urban and peri-urban areas of both the Sidama and Oromia regions. Phase I recorded notable progress in increasing access to education, vocational training, employment, and life skills for women. Building on this foundation, Phase II aims to reach a broader group of women while deepening systemic changes within institutional structures, service delivery mechanisms, and local labor markets. The project leverages IFAL, TVET, life skills, and SRH as strategic pathways towards its goal: enabling decent and gainful employment. These thematic areas serve as a road to enhancement of women’s employability, strengthen their decision-making capacity, and improve access to employment

Despite progress, women and girls in the target areas continue to face persistent challenges, including restrictive gender norms, limited skills, and lack of financial access, childcare responsibilities, and weak connections to formal labor markets. The project seeks to address these barriers through capacity building, integrated service delivery, policy engagement, and system strengthening, while also fostering inclusive practices among training institutions, employers, and public entities.

Given the positive outcomes of Phase I in the Sidama Region, the Regional Bureaus of Labor and Skill, Finance, and Education have expressed strong appreciation for the initiative and a keen interest in continuing collaboration with Helvetas. In response, Helvetas Ethiopia plans to launch the second phase of UP-Women II, expanding its intervention to two districts within the Shashamane City Administration of Oromia Region, in addition to the existing three cities administrations Hawassa, Aleta-Wendo, and Yirgalem in the Sidama Region. The second phase will run from July 2025 to June 2029.

Accordingly, Helvetas Ethiopia seeks to engage a qualified and experienced consultancy firm to conduct a baseline survey for the UP-Women project’s phase II.

2. Baseline Survey of Phase II

A. Theory of Change

IF vulnerable young women and girls in Sidama and Oromia provinces gain access to literacy and vocational skills training, employment support, entrepreneurial skills, and business development services, AND IF the enabling environment is strengthened through access to sexual and reproductive health services, and through families and communities providing an enabling environment through mindset change and support, AND IF capacitated systems actors, a strong network of stakeholders, and strengthened regional policies are in place, AND IF the private and public sectors support women and give them access to opportunities driving gender transformation, THEN these young women and girls will have the necessary skills and access to opportunities for self- or wage employment, leading to improved employment prospects and gainful wage and self-employment.

B. Objective of the Baseline Survey

The overall objective of this baseline survey is to generate a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of the initial conditions in the project’s target areas. It aims to establish benchmark values for all key indicators outlined in the project’s logical framework, providing a solid foundation for measuring impact and success. The findings will offer actionable insights to inform strategic planning, adaptive management, and future monitoring and evaluation efforts throughout the project lifecycle.

The specific objectives of the baseline study are as follows:

• Assess the political, socio-economic and institutional context for IFAL, TVET, and SRH service delivery.
• Identifying the existing actors in the areas and how they are functioning their roles, how they are coordinating and collaborating
• Assess Employment support structures: identify existing support mechanisms for both wage employment and self-employment within project context, and Determine gaps in employment related services, including job placement, vocational guidance, and entrepreneurship support
• Analyze self-employment conditions: examine current practices, challenges. And opportunities related to access to legal status and business registration, land or shed for business operations, and loans and financial support mechanisms.
• Identify systemic barriers and opportunities related to women’s participation in skills training, employment, and reproductive health services. And identify the harmful traditional practices, gender-based/domestic violence and discrimination that undermine girls/women access to education, skills, SRH and employment opportunities
• Map existing informal and formal self-employment models in the target area
• Evaluate wage-employment landscape
• Map Financial inclusion and access to Finance; identifying existing financial products and services offered by Banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs) and saving and credit Cooperatives (SACCOs/CAOSACOs)
• Provide recommendations to inform project implementation strategies, targeting, and MEAL frameworks.
• Undertake baseline assessment and determine the baseline values of the indicators proposed indicators in the log-frame. Thus, the consultant is expected to deliver baseline figures on the following indicators.

Table 1: The UP-Women II project indicators

Note: the study is expected to collect baseline data for goal-level and outcome-level indicators, while output-level indicators will be addressed separately, as they are project-specific and context-dependent

C. Scope of the Assignment

The baseline survey is expected to encompass Three City Administrations of Sidama Region: Hawassa, Yirgalem and Aleta-Wendo and two districts of Shashamane city of Oromia Region. It will cover all thematic areas and project outcomes including literacy, vocational skills, employment linkages, SRH access and awareness, gender norms, and institutional responsiveness. The technical scope comprises the following tasks: reviewing relevant documents; creating an inception report; outlining the design and methodology of the baseline survey; creating tools for collecting survey data; conducting assessments at the field and organizational levels; and conducting a thorough analysis.

D. Methods

The baseline study will mainly adopt a cross-sectional study design with a blend of both quantitative and qualitative methods. However, a more detailed evaluation methodologies is expected from the consultancy firm. The detailed design of the methodology should include the following:

• The baseline survey design
• Data collection instruments and approaches
• Procedures for analyzing quantitative and qualitative data.
• Report writing and sharing.
• Be sensitive to Gender and Social Equity.
• Be conflict-sensitive and apply do-no-harm principle during the consultancy assignment.
• Ensure to seek the consent of informants/interviewees.
• Collect voices/short quotes and corresponding photos during field research and present accordingly in the final report!

The Consultant is expected to make use of mobile data collection (Kobo Toolbox) in the baseline survey. This will range from data collection, analysis, and presentation of results.

E. Key Deliverables

The Consultant shall deliver:

• The consultancy firm will have a kick-off meeting together with the project team to understand the project and to collect required documents such as the project proposal, results framework, etc.
• An inception report detailing methodologies to be used and sample size calculations, a detailed execution plan, data-collection tools, and analytical methods. The Inception report does not exceed 20 pages
• First draft report within the agreed timeline between Helvetas and the consultancy firm,
• Presentation/de-briefing on key findings and recommendations so that the stakeholders can have a clear understanding of the field findings.
• The consultant is responsible for handing over all raw data and contacts of informants to Helvetas
• Final report not exceeding 25 pages – excluding annexes.

3. Duration for the assignment

The assignments are expected to be completed over 30 days – this period includes the provision of all deliverables and travel time. The assessment will be conducted from 22 September to 22 October.2025.

Table 2: Tentative timeline of the consultancy work

Note: The consultant may include a proposed timeline for the completion of the mentioned activities in his/her technical proposal.

4. Payment Modality

The payment plan shall be based on deliverables outlined upon the successful and satisfactory completion of activities. Therefore, the payment terms shall be as follows:

• 35% upon submission of data gathering tools and inception reports.
• 30% on submission of the first draft reports.
• 35% on the final submission of the reports and with the approval of the project team.

5. Ethical Considerations and consents to be acquired

• The study is expected to respect basic ethical principles of HELVETAS Ethiopia and international standardized research codes of ethics.
• All research/study participants need to be informed primarily about the objectives and process of the study.
• All the study-related documents including data-gathering tools, checklists, and forms will be HELVETAS Ethiopia property.

8. Minimum qualification and experience

The assessments will be done by a local consultant/firm with a team composition of 2-3 individuals with a mix of expertise in:

• Vocational management, adult education, cooperative management, economics, project management, community development, social work, sociology, and other related fields with MA/MSc.
• Minimum of 6 years of relevant professional job experience (baseline assessments, monitoring and evaluation, impact evaluation, data collection and analysis, etc.).
• Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including statistical sampling.
• Present proof of at least three years of related consultancy and work experience in the sector.
• Providing a sample report of at least one consultancy work completed in the area is advantageous.
• Experience working with local communities and non-governmental organizations.
• Excellent writing, editing, attention to detail and organizational skills.
• The consultant should complete the whole work within the given time frame and deliver the required documents.
• The consultant should provide all the legal documents which is renewed business Licence, certifications, VAT & TIN registration numbers and reference from previous assignments.
• Overall conformity with administrative criteria will qualify consultant for further consideration. Technical proposal is weighted out of 80% while financial is 20%.

Note:

• Documents such as personal profiles and other credentials with a cover letter should be included to the technical proposal. The technical proposal should be no longer than 7 pages.
• The applicant shall list and briefly describe the name(s), qualifications and responsibilities of the staff proposed to work on the assignment. (CVs of proposed personnel should be included in an annex and not counted toward the page limit).
• Technical and Financial proposals should be submitted with separate envelope.