Consultancy: Final external evaluation for the project, San Jose

Evaluation Terms of Reference 

Final external evaluation for the project:

MIGRANT WOMEN PROTECTION IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: RESILIENCE AND GENDER- BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION (Phase II).

Commissioned by:  External evaluator.

Managed by: IOM Costa Rica. 

Evaluation context

Based on IOM's extensive experience in promoting the social inclusion of migrant women in public policies, through a project funded by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the IOM Regional Office in San José has implemented this multi-stakeholder action (hereinafter referred to as \"the project\") at the regional level, directing efforts towards the protection, economic empowerment, and resilience of migrant women. Gender-based violence is a cause of migration for women (due to factors such as power relations that affect discrimination in all its forms) and at the same time prevails as a risk factor during the migration process. 

In this context, the project in its second phase has been implemented under the general objective of contributing to regional efforts to promote the protection, resilience in the recovery of green livelihoods, and economic empowerment of migrant women, through integrated inclusion in strategic frameworks in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Therefore, the actions within this project will strengthen coordinated work at the regional level. The project responds to the objectives and principles of IOM's MiGOF, SDGs 5, 8, 10, and 16, and the objectives of the Global Compact for Migration: O.2 on minimizing adverse and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin, O.10 on reducing vulnerabilities in migration (violence, human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, irregular migration respectively), and O.16 on the inclusion and social cohesion of migrants.

The project objective is: Foster the protection, resilience on green livelihood recovery, and economic empowerment of migrant women, by the integrated inclusion into strategic frameworks in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Thus, the project is structured around the following expected results:

Outcome 1: Partners at the regional level develop and implement improved strategies and interventions on migrant women protection and economic empowerment as a mechanism to reduce threats and vulnerabilities associated to gender-based violence.  Outcome 2: Stakeholders at the regional level address more systematically the needs and experiences of women and girls on the move and in vulnerable communities, into climate change, environmental degradation, and disasters initiatives.

The project implementation covers 36 months as project duration, currently ongoing (start date: 01/01/2023, end date: 31/12/2025), and the final evaluation report is expected by November 2025 (in parallel its closure).

2.Evaluation purpose and objective

At the regional level, there are few initiatives aimed at directly supporting migrant women through public policies or direct interventions. Therefore, the findings of this evaluation will help identify lessons learned, best practices, and provide information on how to strengthen future similar interventions. Similarly, the purpose of this evaluation is to assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability, and coherence of the operations carried out under the aforementioned project (PX.0382), to facilitate the future design of related projects aimed at promoting social inclusion and prioritizing women on the move. 

One of the main target groups of this evaluation is the donor, to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the interventions they funded. Additionally, other stakeholders involved in this regional action (government officials, parliamentarians, women's mechanisms, and other civil society organizations that participated during the project implementation) will be informed about the relevance and long-term impact of the project.

Keep in mind the principle of intentionality in evaluations, which means that evaluations should only be undertaken if there is a clear intent to use the evaluation findings (see UNEG, Norms and Standards for Evaluation , (2016).

3.Evaluation scope

The final external evaluation of the regional project: \"Protection of migrant women in Central America and the Dominican Republic: resilience and prevention of gender-based violence.\"

The evaluation schedule, full duration of the project (start: 25/09/2025, end date: 10/12/2025). The full geographical scope of the project: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. The full scope of stakeholder participation within the project considering special attention to the cycles of Pro-tempore Presidencies (as regional partners) or annual coordination transitions between 2023 and 2025: ST-COMMCA (Technical Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Women of Central America and the Dominican Republic) DSD-SICA (Directorate of Democratic Security of the Central American Integration System) CEPREDENAC (Coordination Center for the Prevention of Natural Disasters in Central America) FOPREL (Forum of Presidents and Presidents of Legislative Powers of Central America and the Caribbean Basin) CRM (Regional Conference on Migration) CORETT (Regional Coalition against Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants) REDLAC (Network of Rural Women of Latin America and the Caribbean) FOMEECARD (Network of Business and Entrepreneurial Women of Central America)

Additionally, the evaluation should include explicit recommendations, good practices, and lessons learned from the evaluated period. Furthermore, the evaluation will explicitly incorporate the following general priorities:

Protection as a cross-cutting axis: IOM is committed to incorporating protection throughout its programming, aiming to ensure safe implementation. IOM incorporates the following four principles of protection mainstreaming, which are fundamental to the response during and after crises: Prioritize safety and dignity and avoid causing harm; Ensure meaningful access; Ensure accountability; Ensure participation and empowerment.

Integrating protection mainstreaming considerations into evaluations also means ensuring that evaluations are conducted using a participatory and inclusive approach. In the case of regional projects with a considerable timeframe (36 months), project evaluations could also assess the potential impact, sustainability, and capacity building of regional and national partners, and migrant women as the target population.

Gender as a cross-cutting axis: The process of evaluating the implications of any planned action, including legislation, policies, or programs, for people of different gender groups, in all areas and at all levels. It is considered an approach to making the needs and experiences of all an integral dimension of the design, implementation, M&E of interventions in all political, economic, and social spheres, so that all gender groups benefit equally and the reduction of the inequality gap is addressed. Throughout its interventions, IOM aims to promote gender equality and ensure that all its beneficiaries and served populations receive the services and support they need, considering their specific gender experiences.

The following are some basic points to ensure the incorporation of gender perspective and monitoring within an intervention as a cross-cutting theme:

Ensure that interventions address all the different needs (and capacities) of a diverse beneficiary population, aiming to eliminate gender disparities and contribute to gender equality. Evaluate how well an intervention captures gender perspectives. This includes the use of gender-sensitive indicators, disaggregated by sex, as well as indicators that measure specific gender changes, such as the prevalence of gender-based violence or perceptions of gender norms, roles, and relations. Ensure that progress on gender-sensitive indicators is monitored periodically and adjusted, as necessary, to ensure that all intended beneficiaries are covered.

For more information related to cross-cutting themes, see Annex 5.3. Incorporating cross-cutting themes at IOM

4.Evaluation criteria 

Specifically list the  evaluation criteria that will form the basis of the evaluation. For this evaluation, the following criteria have been selected from the list of criteria developed by OECD-DAC (2019), which will form the basis of this evaluation:

Relevance Efficiency Effectiveness Impact Sustainability Coherence

5.Evaluation questions

For each of the listed criteria, specify the evaluation questions that the evaluator will answer. Cluster them according to the criteria. These questions should be specifically tailored to the needs of this evaluation. Evaluation questions related to cross-cutting themes should also be included; they may be included in a separate subsection on cross-cutting themes or integrated within the criteria. 

The following table defines the core questions for each evaluation criterion and will be answered in the evaluation (not exhaustive). The Inception Report should include an evaluation matrix in which the evaluator specifies the sub-questions under each criterion, the measurement indicators, the sources of verification, and the data collection and analysis methods.

6.Evaluation methodology

In this section, describe the data collection and analysis methods that will be used to conduct the evaluation. Indicate how the evaluation will address relevant cross-cutting themes as well, encouraging all themes to be covered or explored as much as possible.

Hence, the project evaluation should assess the extent to which the gender perspective has been incorporated throughout the action, in accordance with IOM’s Guidance for addressing gender in evaluations. Consequently, during data collection, the evaluator will ensure that the interviewed or surveyed individuals are diverse and gender-representative of all interested project partners and beneficiaries. Surveys, interview questions, and other data collection instruments should include gender issues. Evaluation reports should firmly incorporate a gender perspective, such as sex-disaggregated data analysis and, where possible, an analysis from its intersectionality.

The above themes should be intentionally incorporated into the evaluation methodology, including in the evaluation of individual evaluation criteria, the selection of respondents, and data analysis. The final methodology will be proposed by the selected evaluator or evaluation firm after discussions with the project team and the evaluation manager and will be clearly explained in the inception report. However, the methodological approach should cover the following aspects:

IOM suggests a mixed-methods approach that relies on secondary and primary data sources. The data collection methods employed in this evaluation should use qualitative and quantitative approaches to ensure information triangulation. Participatory field data collection is envisaged as part of the evaluation.  Appropriate data collection methods may include documentary review of project documentation, including interim project reports (interim and financial reports for years 1 and 2, respectively – as of the evaluation date, in parallel the final report is not available as it is in the process of being prepared), as well as reports and systematization reports prepared by partners, life stories of beneficiaries, interviews with partners as key informants of the project, and stakeholders.

The evaluator or evaluation firm is requested to consider evaluation approaches and methods that adequately address relevant cross-cutting issues (e.g., in data collection and presentation of gender, sex, geographic location disaggregated data) and adequately include the data annexes created during the evaluation. Also to adapt a hybrid methodology for using peer-to-peer and remote tools.

Finally, in line with its purpose and objectives, the evaluation is expected to identify and document lessons learned and good practices and present practical recommendations, all clearly supported by findings and conclusions based on triangulated evidence.

7.Ethics, norms and standards for evaluation 

IOM complies with the Norms and Standards of UNEG of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) and expects all stakeholders in the evaluation and consultants to be familiar with and comply with the UNEGEthical conduct guidelines. The evaluation must be carried out in full respect of IOM's Data Protection Principles. The evaluator or evaluation firm should use as the main institutional reference for M&E all resources shared on IOM's official evaluation website and its repository.

8.Evaluation deliverables 

The following deliverables must be provided by the evaluator or evaluation firm during the evaluation process, according to the agreed schedule:

Inception report, including the evaluation matrix and evaluability analysis, reconstruction of the project theory of change, and data collection instruments and methodology. Do not exceed of 30 pages. Preliminary evaluation report, delivered to include observations from IOM. Presentation of initial findings in the data collection process. Final evaluation report submitted to the evaluation manager. Report do not exceed 50 pages. Summary of the main elements of the evaluation (Evaluation brief, IOM format, both in English and Spanish, according to IOM template). Presentation of the main results derived from the evaluation (PPT format, both in English and Spanish). Management response matrix, partially filled out (template will be provided by IOM). 

Note: The evaluation deliverables will be provided in Spanish, once validated they will also be provided in English. IOM will provide the templates for each deliverable.

Include in this section a list of the products (deliverables) to be generated at different stages of the evaluation process, as well as who is responsible for each deliverable (noting that these will mainly related to the responsibility of the evaluator(s). 

This should include the following:

Inception report (or evaluation matrix, but only where an inception report will not be submitted); Draft evaluation report submitted for comment;  Final evaluation report;  Evaluation brief (according to the template);  Management response, 

9.Specifications of roles 

In this section, describe the following: 

The roles and responsibilities of each member of the evaluation team, of IOM and of the stakeholders, including general information about project management, relevant focal points, those tasked with facilitating access to project-related documents or to key stakeholders, as well as highlighting the set-up of any evaluation reference group or steering committee. 

The main focal point of the evaluator or evaluation firm will be the evaluation manager. Additionally, the following members of the project implementation team will be available to support the evaluation process:

A quality assurance process will be integrated into the evaluation as follows:

The terms of reference (ToR) will be agreed upon between the evaluation manager and the evaluator or evaluation firm, for its initiation and implementation. The inception report will be reviewed by the evaluation manager, and the project team, the evaluator or evaluation firm will include the changes and observations, and finalized only with the approval of the evaluation manager and IOM regional office. The final report will be reviewed by the evaluation manager and the project team, reviewed by the evaluator or evaluation firm, and finalized only after the acceptance of the evaluation manager and IOM regional office. The final evaluation report will be reviewed by the evaluation manager and the project team, and finalized only after the approval of the evaluation manager and IOM regional office.

10.Time schedule

In this section, an indicative time schedule should be developed in order to provide an overview of the full duration of the evaluation. The workplan should be organized by the activities that are to be conducted and the expected amount of time (how many days, weeks or months) allocated for completing each activity. 

Overall, An indicative schedule for the evaluation is provided below, to be finalized in agreement with the evaluator or evaluation firm. The dates included assume the start month for the evaluation (September 2025) and anticipate the commitment of the evaluator or evaluation firm for 2 months of full-time work.

11.Evaluation budget

The costs of the evaluation firm (fees and indirect costs) will be covered.

12.Evaluation requirements

IOM is requesting the services of an independent external evaluator or evaluation firm. The evaluator can reside in any Central American country and must demonstrate previous experience in conducting evaluations in any of the countries covered by the project.

Education and Experience:

At least 5 years of experience in conducting project or program evaluations; in the case of the lead evaluator of the evaluation firm, at least 3 years of experience of the evaluation team. Solid experience with the application of quantitative and qualitative research methods and analytical tools. The lead evaluator or evaluation firm must have a master's degree or equivalent studies in any field related to social sciences, public policy, migration, or gender. Demonstrated solid understanding of issues related to migration governance, gender-based violence, human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, border management, climate change, resilience, among other topics related to migration. Experience or understanding of regional coordination mechanisms on migration is an advantage.

Competencies:

Excellent analytical, oral, and written communication skills in both English and Spanish. Experience in data collection both in-person and remotely. Ability to create graphics and synthesize findings using dashboards and innovative data collection and data visualization. Experience in preparing and analyzing written reports. Experience in leading research on regional or subregional projects. Experience working in institutional environments with complex agendas. Demonstrates cultural, gender, religious, race, nationality, and age sensitivity and adaptability. Knowledge of the regional context including Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean. Ability to work with minimal supervision and meet deadlines established in the work schedule.

Languages: proficient both on Spanish and English.

13.Submission of application

A call for evaluators based on the evaluation ToR must also include a section outlining the requirements for submitting an application. 

This should include the following: 

Interested parties in this evaluation are expected to submit a technical and economic offer. The offer should include a cost estimate, including the necessary costs to carry out the evaluation.  The documents should contain evidence of the implementation of evaluations or similar work. The Curriculum Vitae of the evaluator or participants of the evaluation firm should be included as annexes to the technical proposal (not exceeding 4 pages in the CVs, using Times New Roman font 12).  Candidates must submit their technical and economic offer no later than November 07, 2025. Applications submitted after this date will not be considered. Pre-selected candidates will be invited to an interview.