Evaluation Terms of Reference

Consultancy Services for Evaluation of Project titled: “Social Protection Program towards Improving Resilience of Refugees and Vulnerable Jordanians”

August 2025

1.Summary of Evaluation Terms of Reference

Medair is seeking an external consultant to undertake an evaluation for the Action titled “Social protection program towards improving resilience of refugees and vulnerable Jordanians”. The project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and implemented by Medair and its partners, aims to provide livelihood and economic empowerment opportunities, Multi-purpose and emergency cash assistance, disability inclusion and empowerment activities, as well as MHPSS, and health services.  to refugees and vulnerable host communities in Jordan, and to strengthen the capacity of local actors to have responsive and sustainable access to communities.  The evaluation will be conducted using the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria to assess the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, coherence, and sustainability. The findings will enhance accountability and learning for Medair and partners to support future programming.  The project is implemented in locations: Mafraq, Amman, Irbid, Zarqa (non-camp), Madaba, Balqa, Ajloun, and Jerash during the period from January 2023 to the end of December 2025.

2.Background and Context

Medair is a Swiss humanitarian aid organization. Globally, Medair works in shelter, health and nutrition, WASH, MHPSS, social protection, and cash and voucher assistance. Since 1989, Medair has been helping people in crisis, regardless of race, creed, or nationality, so that the world’s most vulnerable and difficult-to-reach people live in dignity, free from human suffering, and with hope for a better future. 

Medair has been working in Jordan in response to the Syria crisis since 2012, with 2025 marking Medair's thirteenth year of operations in Jordan. From an initial health emergency been consolidated into a series of stable needs-based responses focused on access to healthcare and social protection, with cash being used as the primary programming modality. Medair's past programmes in Jordan have included the provision of primary healthcare, cash-based winterization support, cash-for-rent, livelihoods for Jordanians and shelter assistance. As the context changes, Medair has adopted intervention strategies to meet the most pressing needs. Medair currently delivers health (cash for health and community health), emergency cash, CCM support for social protection and PSS for refugees and vulnerable Jordanians.

Medair is recognized as a sector leader for health due to quality programming and coordination and as a sector leader for social protection due to its unique approach of CCM and its willingness to work with the most challenging cases through vast service provision and internal and external referrals. Medair leads and collaborates with different entities to provide the best services and exchange experiences. Furthermore, it is a member of CaLP regional community of practice for social protection and cash and voucher assistance.

During the past ten years, Medair’s interventions have focused on the 82.6% of the Syrian refugee population residing outside a formal camp setting (UNHCR, 2022). As the humanitarian landscape in Jordan shifts towards a One Refugee approach and the move towards vulnerability-based beneficiary selection gains momentum. Medair recognizes that local organizations have better community acceptance, higher accessibility and high coordination with ministries and other local stakeholders in Jordan. Therefore, Medair has revised its approach in 2024 to include more partner-led activities, whilst concurrently providing institutional and technical capacity strengthening. Medair also established a partner network, that capitalizes on the technical strengths of the different organizations and strengthens cross learning and improves linkages and referrals.

Medair is committed to moving towards a responsible exit and handing over its activities to well-capacitated and seasoned national organizations. Additionally, Medair is adopting a nexus approach to move householdsit is serving away from vulnerability and dependency on humanitarian services and towards increased resilience through comprehensive intervention packages for CCM and livelihoods.

Project information

The project targeted the most vulnerable Jordanians and refugees who were vulnerable in two or more areas (livelihood, health, education, shelter, PSS, legal, protection, and cash). Over a period of six months, beneficiaries received cash assistance and case management support, alongside participation in a livelihood component.

This integrated approach enabled participants to improve their social protection and reduce vulnerabilities by identifying their needs, learning how to address them, becoming familiar with available service providers in their areas, and attending awareness sessions. The provision of cash assistance for six months allowed households to meet their basic needs with dignity and enhance their resilience. In parallel, the livelihood component equipped beneficiaries with knowledge, skills, and tools to generate sustainable income, through awareness sessions, business management and technical/vocational training, legal consultations, endowments for small businesses, and ongoing mentoring. A total of 540 individuals, equally male and female, benefited from these activities.

The project also strengthened the technical capacity of local NGOs. Medair worked with 10 LNGOs/CBOs across Amman, Irbid, and Mafraq to build their case management and referral capacities, providing tailored training on social protection and other relevant sector standards, national protection services, and referral mechanisms, alongside monthly learning exchange workshops[1].

Local Partners

Medair embarked on partnerships with 5 organizations, with different sectoral focuses. These local organizations receive referrals from Medair’s CCM component and deliver services in livelihoods, MHPSS, health, MPCA and disability. Medair supports these organizations to strengthen their capacity in operational areas, in addition to their technical areas.  Medair’s partnership model supports mutual learning and within this project, Medair encourages cross- learning through lessons learned, strategy and themed workshops within the network, and engages partners in monitoring, program reviews and project discussions.

The project also focuses on promoting linkages and learning across partners, whilst providing technical and operational capacity strengthening, to enable local organizations to impact communities in a collaborative and sustainable manner. Selected partners are forming a partners’ network that provides multi-purpose cash assistance, livelihoods, health and MHPSS awareness and referrals, and disability mainstreaming to communities, whilst benefiting from tailored capacity strengthening initiatives. The impact of this collaborative model of communities and local organizations as a whole, will be larger than that of individual organization activities.

3.Evaluation Purpose and Target Audience

1. Evaluation Purpose

The overall objective of the external evaluation is to provide an independent and in-depth assessment of the project’s performance according to the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria. This evaluation will focus on assessing the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact of the partnership model and the livelihoods component.

The specific objectives are to:

• Assess the relevance and appropriateness of the project design and implementation adequately responded to the specific needs of refugees and vulnerable host communities, with particular attention to the partnership model and livelihood support.
• Examine whether project resources (budget, staff, and time) were utilized efficiently to maximize impact, including the delivery of project (partner) activities.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the project and to what extent it achieved its stated objectives and outcomes, such as improved referrals between partner network members, improved partner organizational capacities, reducing health and psychosocial risks, decreasing reliance on negative coping mechanisms, and enhancing household resilience through livelihood interventions.
• Assess the effectiveness of coordination between the project, local authorities, NGOs, and other stakeholders, considering how the partner network contributed to avoiding duplication, improving referrals, and leveraging synergies with other initiatives.
• Assess sustainability and review the likelihood that project benefits will continue beyond their duration, with a focus on the strengthened institutional capacity of local NGOs, their operational sustainability, and the role of the partner network in maintaining community-level support structures.
• Evaluate the project’s coherence and alignment with broader strategies and interventions in the region, particularly in the areas of localization.
• Capture key lessons learned from the project’s implementation that can inform future humanitarian and development interventions, especially regarding the implementation of the partner network, and the different sectoral projects.
• Assess impact and measure the and the longer-term changes brought about by the project, including improvements in partner capacities, referral pathways and household resilience.

1. Target Audience

This EoP evaluation target audience:

• SDC – as the project’s main donor
• Medair
• Implementing partners
• Project staff as well as relevant Support Office Representatives

1.Evaluation Objectives and Key Questions

4.Approach and Methodology

Mix methods are suggested, including qualitative and quantitative primary data, project documents review along with secondary sources of information revision. The external consultant is expected to develop the design methodology - under Medair’s close supervision – that will be informed by the MEAL plan specified during project design. The design methodology, including sampling strategy, sample size, and instruments will be ready to use after field testing and final approval from Medair.

4.1Technical considerations

The sample size needs to be representative for the entire population across all five components: livelihoods, health, disability, MPCA, and MHPSS. All quantitative data has to be disaggregated by age, gender and nationality (Refugees, Host communities). The sample size will be calculated following a 95% confidence interval and 5-7% margin of error based on suggested budget.

The study will have to consider relying on primary data, as well as on projects documents data review produced and delivered throughout the implementation of the project, along with relevant secondary data resources.

Participatory approach is highly recommended for running the data analysis, using workshop method, with all project stakeholders (Medair’s and implementing partners).

Project documents and secondary sources review, along with FGDs/KIIs will be key elements for developing the project timeline, with identified factors hampering or delaying the project implementation, and the reaction of Medair and Implementing Partners per moment in time.

The methodology suggested for the end of project evaluation is:

Document Review:

• Review of key project documents, including the project proposal, logframe, progress reports, financial reports, and monitoring and evaluation data.
• Assessment of national basic needs strategies and relevant policies in Jordan.

Key Informant Interviews (KIIs):

• Conduct interviews with Medair staff (project managers, field staff), implementing partners, and local authorities.
• Collect six success stories highlighting the impact of the livelihood component, along with one to two success stories showcasing the impact of capacity strengthening and partner networking.

Focus Group Discussions (FGDs):

• Facilitate FGDs with beneficiaries, including refugees and host community members, to gather qualitative feedback on their experiences with the livelihood component.
• Facilitate FGDs with implementing partners to gather qualitative feedback on their experiences with capacity building and networking.

Surveys:

• Administer surveys to beneficiaries to assess the project’s contribution to achieving its objectives especially in accessing services and their satisfaction of the support received over the project period.

4.2Ethical considerations

In conducting this evaluation, the consultant must adhere to key ethical standards to ensure the process is respectful, transparent, and safeguards the rights of all participants. Informed consent must be obtained from all individuals involved, ensuring they understand the purpose of the evaluation and their right to withdraw at any time. Confidentiality and anonymity must be maintained throughout, with personal data securely handled to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure. The evaluation should follow the principle of "do no harm," particularly when addressing sensitive issues such as mental health and trauma, and be conducted with cultural sensitivity, respecting local norms and values. Gender and equity considerations are crucial to ensure that the voices of all groups—men, women, children, and marginalized populations—are included. Participation should remain voluntary, and the evaluator should avoid any conflicts of interest that may bias the findings. Additionally, the evaluation must comply with Medair’s data protection standards and ensure transparency and accountability throughout the process.

5.Timing and Deliverables

Responsibilities include the following: