Statement of Work for Endline Evaluation of U.S. – Ghana Child Protection Compact Partnership

Purpose

The purpose of this endline evaluation is to determine the extent to which the Child Protection Compact Partnership (CPC) model has been effective in bringing about improvements in the Ghanaian government’s response to child trafficking in Ghana, considering the fundamental anti-trafficking strategies: prosecution, protection, prevention, and partnerships.

The endline evaluation is the third phase of a multi-phased quasi-experimental evaluation, which will assess key factors in the Ghanaian government’s continuing response to child trafficking; it will compare achievements with the baseline and midline conditions in the three target regions and comparison regions.  The endline evaluation will seek to measure the effectiveness of all CPC components and help the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (the TIP Office) to determine the effectiveness of this type of partnership and shape future partnerships.

Background

The U.S.-Ghana CPC is a first of its kind five-year program in which the TIP Office combined negotiated commitments of a foreign government with substantial targeted anti-trafficking foreign assistance to international organizations and non-governmental organizations (IOs/ NGOs ($5 million) aimed at enhancing the foreign government’s capacity to identify child trafficking, implement a coordinated interagency response that results in comprehensive care and  reintegration of child trafficking victims, prevent re-trafficking of child victims, and effectively investigate trafficking allegations and prosecute traffickers.  Following many months of collaborative meetings between the TIP Office and Ghanaian ministry staff, on June 23, 2015, the first CPC was signed between the U.S. and the Government of Ghana with four participating ministries – the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Interior; and the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations.  The TIP Office awarded cooperative agreements totaling approximately $5 million in September 2015 to support two implementing partners (International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Free The Slaves (FTS)) to work collaboratively with Ghana-based NGOs and the four Ghanaian ministries at the national level with implementation focused in three regions of the country – Central, Volta, and Greater Accra.  Grantee project activities commenced October 2015 with a planned end date for the two grants of 9/30/2019.  In 2019 the TIP Office intends to award IOM an additional $375,000 to continue its activities through 12/30/2020, and FTS an additional $925,000 to extend its community-based activities through 3/30/2021 in new communities in Volta, Oti, Central, Greater Accra, Eastern, and Brong Ahafo Regions.  (Note: in 2018 the government of Ghana split the Volta Region into two regions: Volta and Oti.)

Each of the four ministries in the CPC Partnership was selected because of its mandated role and responsibility for addressing child trafficking in Ghana.  Through the CPC Partnership, these ministries committed to the activities briefly summarized below:

1. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection:
   1. providing leadership and coordination for Ghana on implementation and fulfillment of the commitments outlined in the Partnership
   2. convening the Human Trafficking Management Board and the CPC Partnership Technical Working Group
   3. supporting the establishment and operation of at least one DSW-administered shelter for child victims of trafficking
   4. ensuring DSW staff receive training
   5. providing comprehensive services for increasing numbers of child trafficking victims
   6. conducting public awareness efforts

2. The Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department:
   1. designating a prosecutor in each of the three regions to lead Ghana’s child trafficking prosecutions
   2. advising the Ghana Police Service (GPS) and Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) on the preparation of all child trafficking dockets
   3. ensuring prosecutors are trained to successfully prosecute child trafficking cases using victim-centered techniques.

3. The Ministry of Interior/GPS/GIS:
   1. providing personnel who specialize in human trafficking investigations
   2. increasing the number of child trafficking arrests and investigations
   3. ensuring participation of investigators and prosecutors in training to enhance their skills in TIP and in the use of victim-centered techniques

4. The Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, Labor Department:
   1. ensuring that labor inspectors receive TIP training in strengthening cooperation with DSW, GPS and GIS and providing TIP education programs in selected communities that helps District and Community Child Protection Committees to facilitate the reintegration of child trafficking victims who return to their communities.

The midline evaluation, which evaluated the first two years of the program (10/1/15 – 9/30/17), collected and analyzed data from the national, regional and district level in five regions – three CPC-focused regions: Volta, Central, and Greater Accra; and two counterfactual regions: Eastern and Ashanti – in order to determine the extent to which the CPC Partnership was achieving its objectives (prevention, protection, prosecution, and process improvement), and to identify key obstacles, so that mid-course corrections could be made.  Using some of the same methodology and questions as the baseline assessment, the midline evaluation also assessed programmatic and contextual factors that contributed to measureable change in commitment of government resources and political will for combating child trafficking.  Data from the midline evaluation was cited by the TIP Office in high-level dialogues with GoG ministry representatives in 2018 to note progress and remaining challenges.

The endline evaluation will utilize data from the baseline and midline evaluations and collect and analyze data from 10/1/17 through 5/15/20, using comparable methodology and questions as the baseline and midline assessments.  It will also assess programmatic and contextual factors that contributed to measurable change.  Prior to finalizing its evaluation methodology the evaluators will also be required to assess with the TIP Office and Free the Slaves the impact of newly-funded CPC activities that may commence in Eastern Region in 2019 and recommend how to deal with Eastern Region’s shift from being a comparison region to a region with CPC Partnership activities.

Scope of Work

The contractor will conduct an endline performance evaluation with the objective of providing the TIP Office and the Government of Ghana information on the progress made by Ghana towards meeting its eight CPC objectives.  This will provide the opportunity for critical input on the CPC Partnership’s contribution to change in the Ghanaian government’s capacity, commitment of resources, and political will for combating child trafficking.

Ghana’s objectives under the CPC Partnership are:

Prosecution

1. An increased number of successful investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators of forced child labor and child sex trafficking

Protection

2. Provision of comprehensive, gender sensitive, trauma-informed care and case management services with appropriate community integration and follow-up for an increased number of child trafficking victims
3. Establishment and implementation of procedures for proactive identification and removal of children from trafficking situations, including children in forced child labor in the fishing industry
4. Establishment and operation of a systematic referral mechanism with protocols for timely interagency response to suspected cases of child trafficking

Prevention

5. Increased public awareness of the nature of child trafficking, its devastating impact on children, and the importance of prevention
6. The increased use of livelihood options for families with children at risk of trafficking or removed from trafficking situations

Partnership

7. Improved interagency coordination of anti-trafficking efforts
8. Implementation of mechanisms for data collection designed to monitor indicators of anti-trafficking program outcomes supported through this Partnership and which can be sustained to track key government interventions, such as the number of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions in child trafficking cases and the numbers of child trafficking victims identified and who receive services

In addition to evaluating progress on the eight objectives, the TIP Office would also like to know:

• What elements of the CPC Partnership are perceived as having had the most positive influence on combating child trafficking in Ghana?
• What strategies are potentially replicable and useful for other CPCs?

As part of the endline evaluation’s key informant interviews, the TIP Office requests follow-up on some questions that were asked of key informants in the baseline and midline assessments:

• What training have you received on child trafficking? How have you used the training?
• What TIP-related Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) exist? How have you used these SOPs?
• What are your procedures for tracking and reporting cases of child trafficking?
• For CY 2019, what were the regional and national government statistics on the number of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of child trafficking cases, the number of child victims identified, and the provision of services for these victims (disaggregated by age, gender, and type of trafficking, to the extent possible)?

In terms of disaggregation of data for the evaluation, the TIP Office would like government data disaggregated by ministry, region, and level (national, regional, district).  Interior Ministry data should distinguish GPS from GIS.  Disaggregation should be consistent with data collection forms developed for the government’s CPC reporting.

Previous Assessments/Available Data

A baseline assessment of the Partnership’s three regions, with counterfactual of two comparison regions (Ashanti and Eastern), was carried out by Westat in 2016, with the following objectives:

1. Collect quantitative information for the year 2015 on estimated numbers of rescues, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for child trafficking cases, among other statistics
2. Verify the existence of SOPs, referral mechanisms and interagency collaborations
3. Gather qualitative information on the quality and implementation of tools and procedures.

The assessment reported on a total of 91 key informant interviews (KI) comprised of 67 government officials from the four ministries involved in the CPC and 24 NGOs across five regions of Ghana (the three target regions: Greater Accra, Central, and Volta; and two comparison regions: Ashanti and Eastern).

A separate baseline was conducted by Free the Slaves to look at the prevalence of child trafficking in 34 communities where they are working, and to learn more about some of the drivers of child TIP.

DevTech conducted the midline evaluation in 2017-2018, with 83 key informants composed of 72 government officials from the four CPC ministries and 11 NGOs across the five previously named regions.

Monitoring and assessment data available for recent years of the Partnership include:

• Quarterly reports, notes from meetings, site visit reports (from two grantees)
• Data the Government of Ghana submitted for the annual TIP Report, which is/will be summarized in the 2018 and 2019 Ghana TIP Report narratives
• A 2018 annual CPC activity report submitted by Ministry of Gender Human Trafficking Secretariat
• Summary Findings and report from FTS follow-up assessment and the USAID Sustainable Fisheries Report

Data Collection and Evaluation Design

In October 2016 a baseline assessment was completed that used a mixed methods design to study the three target regions of the CPC and two comparison regions, chosen for their geographical proximity to the target regions, and for their socio-economic and cultural similarities.  Although the comparison regions were shown to have some differences from the target regions, the TIP Office asked that the midline evaluation continue this quasi-experimental design, including key informant interviews with officials of each of the four ministries: a minimum of one national-level official from each ministry, one regional-level official from each ministry in each of the five regions, and one district-level official per ministry in two districts of each of the five regions.

We ask that a comparable methodology be used for the endline, but with a larger number of interviews and focus groups, including community-level focus groups with child protection committees and more interviews with shelters and NGO staff who were interviewed in the baseline.  We expect that a focus group discussion and key informant interviews with the Technical Working Group will be useful, as well as key informant interviews with the implementing grantees and other IOs/NGOs.  The TIP Office asks for evidence of the credibility of the data gathered and methodological triangulation.  Prior to finalizing its methodology the evaluators will also be required to assess and recommend how to address counterfactual region(s), given that CPC program activities in the Eastern Region may have commenced in 2019.

We anticipate that the team lead and a local staff member would need a two-week period in Accra for planning the fieldwork, gaining support for the evaluation from some national-level ministry staff, and performing some initial interviews.  The primary period of fieldwork would involve two international-level and two local staff and entail 12 days in Greater Accra and 24 days among the other four regions.

Evaluation Team Qualifications

The contractor shall propose staff it deems appropriate to optimally meet the requirements.  The team needs expertise in human trafficking and evaluation methodology.  It should also have knowledge of local criminal justice and social service processes, a role that may be provided by Local Team Members hired as subcontractors or consultants.  All team members should understand the differences between child labor and child trafficking/forced child labor.

The TIP Office expects that staffing requirements for this impact evaluation will include representation of all of the labor roles listed in the chart, except that the Project Financial Analyst will be called on only if needed.  At the concept paper stage of this evaluation, the contractor will submit a list of proposed key and other personnel with confirmed availability within the agreed timeframe of the scope, brief resumes, and two to three references for each proposed staff.  It is preferred that the key personnel are full-time employees of the contractor; however, the contractor may subcontract for tasks or positions if required in order to obtain personnel with requisite experience and skills. All proposed personnel are expected to be assigned to the evaluation and shall be considered Key Personnel. The lead evaluators may be supported in basic research activities by lower level personnel.  Any substitutes to the proposed team must be approved by the COR and CO before they begin work.  Substitutes shall have the same qualifications and level of experience as previously approved evaluation staff.   At least one team member should be a resident of Ghana.  In some cases, if additional expertise is required, more team members may need to be added.  In addition, a staff member of the TIP Office with experience in evaluation may serve as an observer on portions of the site visits.  All team members will be required to provide a signed statement attesting to a lack of conflict of interest, or describing an existing conflict of interest.  The TIP Office will review conflicts of interest and has the right to refuse participation of team members as a result.

The TIP Office will not provide equipment for personnel in support of this effort.  The majority of the work will be completed off-site and in the field by the chosen contracting firm(s).

Estimated Level of Effort

Information below constitutes government estimate for this project. Contractor is free to propose alternatives with justification.

1. Team Lead to provide leadership and management of the development of the concept paper, the final evaluation plan, data collection and analysis, the written evaluation report, and oral presentation of findings. Responsible for maintaining regular contact with the TIP Office and for ensuring informant protection is in place with ethics policy and IRB, if available (est. 68 days)
2. Team Member/s (including Member/s from the host country), work to review background research and develop proposed methodology, level of effort, team composition and qualifications, key evaluation questions, and anticipated challenges; to draft timeline with key deliverables and milestones and evaluation budget.  Team Members will work on evaluation plan and data collection tools, organize and provide data collection, train any enumerators and verify data quality.  Work with the Data Analyst and Team Lead on analysis and on writing of evaluation report.  May participate in meetings to disseminate evaluation findings.  Local Team Member provides information on criminal justice and social service processes in the country of evaluation (est 124 days)
3. Data Analyst, who performs data analysis using software and presents data in easy-to-understand graphic formats (est 30 days)
4. Financial Analyst, as needed, for determination of cost/benefit analysis or other economic analysis (est 0 days)
5. Administrative Support staff (est 28 days)

Stakeholders/Audience for This Evaluation

Planning the endline evaluation will involve the TIP Office’s CPC, Evaluation, and Program Team members and the Government of Ghana; also involved will be the two implementing partners who support the CPC Partnership, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Free the Slaves (FTS), and their two sub-grantees, International Needs Ghana (INGH) and Right to be Free. Other stakeholders who will be following the results of the evaluation will be State Department policy makers and program managers; Members of Congress and Congressional staff that work on TIP-related authorizations and appropriations; Embassy Accra; the DOS Africa Bureau; USAID and the Department of Labor staff working on child labor and child trafficking issues; International Justice Mission (IJM); and the Department of State’s Evaluation Community of Practice.

Start of the Contract

The contractor will begin work within a month of the award of the contract and will work over a one year period.

Deliverables and Timetable for Ghana Endline Performance Evaluation

The evaluation report will focus on what the Partnership has achieved; how it was implemented; whether expected results occurred; how it is perceived; and other questions pertinent to Partnership design, management and decision-making.

At a minimum, the following components will be required; timeframe to be developed with the TIP Office:

• Consultation – The TIP Office will notify Contracting firm(s) of potential evaluation. The TIP Office and Contracting firm consult in person, by phone and/or through written comments to discuss plans for continuing an impact evaluation and to discuss possible key questions. Start date of the evaluation is determined with COR.
• Desk Review & Concept Paper – Contractor does preliminary background research on the Partnership, including previous assessments and monitoring (e.g. logic models and quarterly reports), contextual situation, public datasets and recent literature to get an updated understanding of the issues to be studied and consults with key stakeholders to define elements of the evaluation plan. By 12/15/19 contractor submits a concept paper with proposed methodology, level of effort, proposed team composition and qualifications, proposed key evaluation questions, anticipated challenges, draft timeline with key deliverables and milestones, documentation of consultations with key stakeholders, and draft budget for the evaluation.
• Evaluation Plan – By 3/1/20, contractor submits the final evaluation plan including data sources, intervals of data collection, and cost-effective and flexible performance measurement tools for collecting consistent and reliable data for the baseline assessment. The data collection tools must be tested and the evaluation strategy and tools reviewed with stakeholders prior to data collection.  The contractor shall seek to get approval from any relevant IRB, and the evaluation plan must be approved by the COR before data collection begins.
• Data Collection – Completed by 5/15/20 – Contractor meets with stakeholders on site visits, collects and analyzes data, and verifies data quality. To the extent possible, data collection is performed by local enumerators. Data collectors provide preliminary findings in an out-briefing to stakeholders at the end of the site visits.
• Analysis and Evaluation Report – Contractor does data analysis and provides an evaluation report for all evaluation activities, with data reported in visual presentation through charts, graphs, geocoding, and mapping, when possible. This draft report is submitted by 7/15/20 or as agreed upon by the COR and Contractor. This report will become final no later than 8/15/20, after the TIP Office comments on the draft and approves the end product.   Main body of the report does not exceed 50 pages (exclusive of annexes). Report includes key findings and recommendations, and should be written so that it may be presented as a public document.  The report shall include:
  • Title Page (including US flag)
  • Executive Summary of not more than 5 pages, suitable as a stand-alone document
  • Background and context of the intervention
  • Evaluation questions
  • Methodology
  • Limitations of the methodology
  • Findings
  • Conclusions
  • Recommendations on how to improve the CPC Partnership model broadly (i.e. not necessarily Ghana-specific)
  • Statements regarding any significant unresolved difference of opinion by funders, implementers, and/or members of the evaluation team
  • Annexes should be submitted as separate files and include:
    • The SOW, sources (with no personally identifiable information), and all tools used in the evaluation, such as questionnaires, checklists and discussion guides.
    • Raw quantitative and qualitative data should be provided in a Microsoft Excel electronic file, anonymized as needed for protection of the informants.
  • The final report must be submitted in Word in a 12-point font, and the Report should be compliant with the Section 508 Program for the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations.
• Oral Briefing of the Recommendations/Dissemination Presentation: The evaluation team should provide at least a one and a half hour briefing, with PowerPoint, to Washington D.C. stakeholders on the evaluation report and its findings, conclusions and recommendations/implications for other CPC Partnerships by 7/30/20, or as agreed upon by the COR and contractor.  The evaluation team should also provide a shorter subset of PowerPoint slides to be used by the TIP Office to present key findings and conclusions in other public settings.  The TIP Office will provide the necessary space and video technology to include country stakeholders, if appropriate. The total time spent preparing and delivering the oral presentation is not expected to exceed 15 hours. Reports of foreign assistance-funded evaluations are posted publicly, if possible.

Reporting

The contractor shall maintain open, timely, and effective communications with the COR, resulting in a relationship that proactively addresses potential problems with flexible, workable solutions.

Monthly Reports:  The contractor shall have a phone consultation with the COR once per month and submit monthly reports in English to the TIP Office no later than fifteen days after the end of each month.  These reports shall summarize progress and status of the major activities being undertaken in relation to the requirements of this evaluation; comparison of actual accomplishments with the deliverables established for the period of the report; deviations from the work plan and explanations of such; indications of any problems encountered and proposals for remedial actions as appropriate; and projected activities for the next reporting period.  Data measuring progress on each of the indicators selected as part of a monitoring plan shall be included in each report.

Final Report and other final deliverables:  The contractor shall deliver a draft final report and annexes to the COR no later than 7/15/20, along with a draft Executive Summary and drafts of the two PowerPoints.  The contractor has until 8/15/20 to complete the final report after the draft report is returned by the COR.  The report must be submitted in a format that is Section 508-compliant, for public posting.

Security

No security clearance is required for this evaluation.

Position Location & Hours

The physical work location is at the contractor’s site or in the field.  The TIP Office is at 2025 E Street,Washington, DC 20006.  The TIP Office core hours are the core hours of the DOS.

Government Furnished Equipment and Assistance

Contractor will provide own office space, computer, phone and other required equipment and supplies necessary to complete all job requirements.  Contractor will be responsible for obtaining visas and accommodations for site visit.  The TIP Office will assist contractor in gaining access to Partnership written materials and key personnel.