External Evaluation , Participative and Effective Budget Monitoring in Timor Leste

Terms of Reference 
Evaluation of “Participative and effective Budget Monitoring in East Timor through an enhanced Civil Society “Project 

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Background 

Luta Hamutuk was established on 20 June 2005 by a number of Timorese activists passionate about ensuring a participative and accountable development process, believing that only this would help ensure sustainable development in Timor Leste. Staffs are working with volunteers (Focal Points) to focus on the monitoring of basic infrastructure projects such as Roads, Clinics, Schools, irrigation, clean water, etc. The works also include influencing budgetary decisions at national level as well as monitor the spending at local level particularly in basic infrastructure projects. As Timor Leste budget mostly use revenues from oil and gas (extractives), monitoring transparency of the revenue flow is also an important part of the program. These programs reflect Luta Hamutuk's commitment to its struggle towards Economic Justice in Timor Leste. 

In 2010 Luta Hamutuk and CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) received funding support from the European Commission (EC) to implement a project entitled “Participative and Effective Budget Monitoring through an Enhanced Civil Society”. The project duration is 3 years which essentially to empower citizens and civil society in Timor Leste to participate and influence budgetary process at national level as well as monitoring the quality of budget spending in basic infrastructure projects. The project aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability by enabling citizens and civil society groups to participate in defining and monitoring sustainable development strategies. Women and men out of reach of mainstream services and resources and currently excluded from policy-making processes will benefit most. The project has 3 intersecting strategies which are directly relevant to the objectives in the EC call Guidelines: 

1. To empower citizens to understand the national budget process and actively participate in district-level budget and infrastructure monitoring and policy-making processes. This will ensure resulting budgets serve more closely the developmental needs of East Timorese citizens. The project will enable communities and citizens to exercise their civic rights within the rule of law. This is vital in East Timor where peaceful dissent is poorly integrated into civic life and interactions between Government and citizens can be acrimonious. In particular delivery of the project will help to ensure that state budget and development plan for construction of physical infrastructures that improve access to health care, education and markets are in free from corruption and taking into account the needs of the citizens. The project will ensure the participation of women and men and respond to their needs for information. 

2. To increase the capacity of civil society actors (CSAs) to participate in local decision-making processes and the monitoring of local Government budgets. In the East Timor context where many CSAs lack capacity, this will contribute to a more effective civil society and the promotion and adoption of sustainable development strategies that reduce poverty. The project will enhance and support LH’s ability to influence sustainable development strategies, building their technical capacity to monitor and advocate on policy making and the implementation of national budget processes and oil and gas revenues 

3. To facilitate interactions between State and Non-State Actors that support National and District (subsequently Municipal) administrations to fulfil their mandates, including mandates for revenue and budget transparency. Central to the project design is co-ordinated interaction between civil society organisations and District Government to raise public awareness, demonstrate transparency and accountability and ensure funds are spent as planned. 

Description of Project 

Overall objective :East Timorese citizens live in an inclusive and empowered society where district and national Governments are accountable for the transparent use of oil and gas revenues 

Specific objectives 

1. Citizens in target areas are empowered to participate in budget and infrastructure development monitoring and advocacy, at district and national levels 

2. Civil Society is strengthened and positively influences national Government transparency and accountability related to revenue, budget processes and infrastructure development 

Target Groups : 

Communities in nine districts (Lautem, Dili, Aileu, Liquica, Ermera, Maliana, Oecussi, Suai, Ainaro) particularly in remote villages affected by infrastructure development (roads, schools and health clinics); CSOs working on budget monitoring, health and education; women groups/NGOs; students; district officials, officials at Ministries of Finance, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Health, and Education; Members of Parliament 

Final Beneficiaries : 

Around 400 East Timorese CSOs and CBOs, more than 17,000 citizens who will benefit from road monitoring, more than 18,000 students who will benefit from school monitoring, almost 30,000 citizens who will benefit from health clinic monitoring 

Estimated Results : 

Increased participation in budget and infrastructure development monitoring; high quality national level budget, Petroleum Fund (PF) and infrastructure development monitoring; robust analysis of the national budget and PF and progress on implementing EITI; Government decisions on the national budget, PF and EITI are informed by Luta Hamutuk (LH) and other CSOs; LH and other CSOs have the information, knowledge and skills required to influence Government accountability and transparency; regional and international networking and advocacy by partners influences Government policy on revenue and budget transparency and accountability ToR for External Evaluation  ‘Participative and Effective Budget Monitoring in East Timor” 

Focus of External Evaluation 

Purpose of the external evaluation 

The evaluation aims to provide an objective assessment of the project achievements, constraints, performance, results, impact, relevance and sustainability of the project including provision of relevant lessons learnt and recommendations to project implementer and other stakeholders. 

Methodology Overview 

The Consultant will essentially employ qualitative approach in this project review including document review such as project proposal, reports, review of data or reports from third parties (government or non-government organizations), semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders such as Luta Hamutuk project staff and management, local leaders / authorities, existing CBOs / NGOs in the project location and focus group discussions with project beneficiaries. Aside, some case studies will be explored to highlight stories of changes or impacts. 

Scope of Evaluation and Questions 

The evaluation will examine the following aspects : relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, impacts and gender equity. Below are major questions to be addressed in the evaluation : 

I. Changes in Context and Review of Assumptions (Relevance) 

X Is the project design adequate to address the problem identified during preliminary assessment? 

X What internal and external factors that have influenced the beneficiaries to meet the project target? 

X Are the objectives and outputs of the project consistent with the overall objective and attainment of the specific objectives? 

X Do the overall and specific objectives address the needs or problems? 

X What was the level of local stakeholders (beneficiaries, local leaders/authorities, local CBOS/ NGOs partners) participation in the project design, implementation and monitoring? 

II. Results in terms of outputs achieved (effectiveness) 

X Did the program reach the expected number of beneficiaries (individuals, groups)? 

X Are the beneficiaries satisfied with the quality and delivery of activities? If not, in what way that the activities do not meet expectations of the beneficiaries and why? 

X What concrete improvements and changes have taken place (at the beneficiaries, etc) as a direct result of the program? 

X How well has the project performed in relation to achievements as compared to the outputs? 

X Are objectives realistic and appropriate? 

X To what extend were the objectives achieved or likely to be achieved? 

X What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives? To what extend does the intervention achieve its objectives? 

X What are the supportive factors and obstacles encountered during implementation? 

III. Assessment of Outcomes (Impacts) 

X How have the activities contributed to the project overall objectives? 

X To what extend the project contributed to the capacity building of the beneficiaries? 

X Has the project contributed to improving the ability of the project holders to use human, natural, financial and organizational resources efficiently and effectively? 

X What happened as a result of the project (intended & unintended) 

X What real difference has the activity made to the beneficiaries? 

X Has there been any negative or positive unintended impact for the beneficiaries through the project implementation? Why has this occurred and how were these addressed during the project? 

X Has there been an impact (positive or negative) on non-beneficiary households in the targeted community? 

IV. Achievement of projected performance indicators and targets (efficiency) 

X Did the project achieve the targeted number of project components? 

X Are the project benefits in keeping with the extent of the inputs and their costs and timelines? 

X Can input provision be improved? Were activities cost-efficient? 

X Were objectives achieved on time? 

X Is the project delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner? 

X How effectively have the financial resources and assets of the project been managed if compared with the achievements of the project objectives? 

V. Sustainability 

X Did the accompaniment activities include a relevant and well-managed exit strategy to ensure the sustainability of the benefits and the accompaniment for Luta Hamutuk 

X Can it be expected that the community organizations developed through the project will have the capacity and skills to continue after the end of the project implementation? How has this been addressed by Luta Hamutuk? 

X Did the project succeed to engage the local government, local NGOs/CBOs, and other stakeholders? 

X Can the benefits received from the project execution be provided and maintained at the community level by the beneficiaries and the community organizations? 

VI. Gender Equity 

X How has the project addressed men and women in disadvantaged positions (in terms of participation, increasing access to and control resources, sharing project benefits and decision making)? 

X Has the project had significant impact or changes on the roles of women in family and society? 

Expected Outputs 

1. A discussion with the Evaluation Committee regarding the methods proposed to sample a representative cross section of the village communities studied. 

2. A feedback session with each village visited to discuss and clarify key findings and observations. 

3. A presentation with the Focal Points and other stakeholders to discuss preliminary findings and analyses and to reflect upon lessons learned from the evaluation. 

4. Debriefing a draft of this report with the Evaluation Committee and project leadership staff. 

5. A final written report detailing the findings and conclusions of the evaluation with realistic recommendations for future programming. 

Roles and Responsibilities 

ã Team Leader (international consultant): The evaluation will be led by an external consultant known as the Team Leader. The specific responsibilities of the Team Leader are outlined below : 

1 Review and confirm with the Evaluation Committee the objectives of the evaluation, process and methods to be used, expected outcomes, and the format for the presentation of the results. 

2 Provide leadership to the Evaluation Team in developing appropriate interviewing techniques, preparing for village feedback sessions, and presenting preliminary findings and lessons learned to the project team. 

3 Coordinate the activities of the Evaluation Team and keep the Evaluation Committee informed of progress. 

4 Use a participatory approach that encourages discussion of the findings, and ownership of the conclusions and recommendations by all primary stakeholders. 

5 Upon completion of the final draft, discuss the results with the Evaluation Committee. 

6 Complete the final evaluation report, following the outline agreed upon with the Evaluation Committee. 

ã The team leader will be supported by a national consultant. 

ã Evaluation Team: The Evaluation Team will consist of Team Leader, national consultant and four team members from Luta Hamutuk project staff and will undertake the assessment in accordance with the guidelines set out in this ToR. 

ã Evaluation Committee: The Evaluation Committee will consist of the Executive Director and Luta Hamutuk Senior Management staff. Committee members will be available to the Team Leader for consultation on the general direction of the evaluation and to address any issues/concerns arising during the exercise. 

Qualifications of Team Leader 

1. Holds advanced degree in social sciences or relevant degrees 

2. Proven experience at least 5 years in project evaluation 

3. Speaks English fluently 

4. Understands East Timor governance context and structures 

5. Able to work independently as well as in a team 

6. Speaks either Tetum or Bahasa Indonesia 

Qualifications of National Consultant 

1. Holds advanced degree in social sciences or relevant degrees 

2. Proven experience in project evaluation with strong portfolio in Timor Leste 

3. Speak English fluently 

4. Able to work independently as well as in a team 
ToR for External Evaluation  ‘Participative and Effective Budget Monitoring in East Timor” 

Time Schedule 

The consultancy to be completed within a total of 30 working days

We plan to recruit external evaluators to undertake final evaluation of the EC project in Timor Leste (ETM 118). Two positions will be recruited : oInternational consultant 

o National consultant 

Applicants only need to submit their CV to lutahamutuk.timorleste@gmail.com by 18 November 2012.