Consultant Blueprints for Gender Project Final Evaluation

The Blueprints for Gender Equality (BLUEPRINTS) has been implemented in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The scope of the evaluation is to cover 2022-2026 with data collection conducted across all four countries. Quantitative and qualitative data are to be collected.

Blueprints for Gender Equality (BLUEPRINTS)

Recruitment of Project Final Evaluation Consultant

Introduction: Cuso International (Cuso) is a development organization that works to reduce poverty and inequality through the efforts of highly skilled volunteers, collaborative partnerships and compassionate donors. We envision a world where all people can realize their potential, develop their skills and participate fully in society. Cuso international works in developing countries across the world. 

The Blueprints for Gender Equality (BLUEPRINTS) has been implemented in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines since 2022 with an end date of March 2026 at a value of CAD $2.5 million.  The project aims to build the capacity of local governments to better integrate gender into policies, programs and service to better address the needs, interests, perspectives and rights (NIPR) of women and other vulnerable groups.

Scope of BLUEPRINTS:

• Strengthen the knowledge and skills of MDA’s staff to better apply a gender and human rights approach to the design of policies, programs, and services.
• Improve design and implementation of tools for monitoring, measuring and evaluating impact and results with specific focus on collection and analysis of gender disaggregated data.
• Develop tools and mechanisms to integrate gender participatory budgeting in planning of policies, programs and services.
• Improve engagement between MDAs, citizens, particularly women and other vulnerable groups, and civil society groups, including women’s and human rights organizations.
• Develop and implement mechanisms to collect and analyze feedback from women and vulnerable groups to feed into the design of policies, programs, strategies and services (PPSS).
• Increase accountability and transparency mechanisms in policies, programs and services provided to women and other vulnerable groups.
• Implement communities of practice and mechanisms for regional knowledge sharing and learning about in the integration of GESI into policies, programs and services as well as increase coordination between MDAs and regional actors across the Caribbean.

Geographic Location of the Project: Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines.

Data Collection Process will involve:

-Online data collection such as interviews and surveys via teleconferencing and videoconferencing.

-In-Person data collection such as focus group discussions will be led by the In-Project Country Support Officers.

Objectives of the Final Project Evaluation:

The endline evaluation will assess the impact, effectiveness, and sustainability of the project. The specific objectives are to:

• Assess the achievement of the ultimate, intermediate, and immediate outcomes from all angles- expected, unexpected, positive and negative.
• Assess Delivery and Effectiveness of Outputs
• Measure the indicators in the PMF, to ascertain the results at the end of the project.
• Evaluate Efficiency and Accountability
• Evaluate the operational effectiveness of the project such as volunteer placements
• Evaluate Sustainability
• Capture Project Best Practices and Lessons Learned including project design (for example utilizing the Gender Divisions as the anchor partner, multi-country design, remote program management etc).
• Provide findings, conclusions and recommendations based on the results and lessons to inform strengthening of Cuso's programming

This evaluation is intended to be participatory in nature, actively and meaningfully engaging implementing partners, as well as project participants (particularly women and girls and vulnerable groups), to the greatest extent possible, in both its design and implementation

Scope of the Evaluation:

The scope of the evaluation is to cover 2022-2026 with data collection conducted across all four countries.

Quantitative and qualitative data are to be collected. The estimated population per project location is 50. Data is to be collected using the disaggregates as per the PMF.

Role of Cuso International

To support the consultant in this evaluation, Cuso International staff will

• Provide all necessary project documents to the consultant
• Review the data collection tools developed by the consultant based on the agreed methodology to ensure that they address all key study questions
• Monitor data collection activities and review quality-control procedures in the field
• Hold weekly meetings with the consultant to update Cuso International on the progress and help address any issues/troubleshooting together with the consultant
• Review draft report submitted by consultant and provide feedback, and
• Support the administrative preparations necessary to conduct the evaluation.
  • Support the financial logistical preparations necessary to conduct in-person data collection processes
  • Support the introduction of the consultant to project partners

Tasks of the Evaluation, Key Deliverables, and Timelines

Cuso International Jamaica is seeking to engage the services of a consultant to conduct and produce the final project evaluation report for the BLUEPRINTS project in line with the above objectives by collecting the required qualitative and/or quantitative data from project staff, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), civil society organizations (CSOs), In- Country Project Support Officers (ICPSOs) and community participants. The selected consultant will conduct the evaluation and produce a high-quality report that answers the evaluation questions above. S/he is expected to undertake the following key tasks as part of the evaluation process:

• Review relevant project documents
• Develop an inception report detailing the study methodology, data collections tools, and field work plan required to carry out the evaluation including project reports, baseline and midline reports.

• Creation of data collection tools for local partners (MDAs, CSOs, WROs, ICPSOs and community participants) in each of the four countries based on performance indicators and targets through which progress toward expected outcomes and outputs will be measured.
• Conduct training of the BLUEPRINTS Team to support the data collection process.
• Conduct data collection for the various indicators relating to beneficiary ratings of the degree of change they have experienced and supported interventions by local partner organizations. Data should be validated by local partners and should be gender-sensitive and disaggregated by socio-economic status, gender (if self-identified), age, ethnicity, geographic location and any other relevant category
• Complete data analysis from sources of data for each outcome and output indicator in each country.
• Participate in regular calls and meetings with the responsible Cuso International Jamaica Senior Manager and Canada MEAL staff to plan for and report on all activities leading to delivery of the final report
• Coordinate closely with responsible Cuso International staff on the development and implementation of logistics for data collection/field work
• Review and translate the data collection tools into the local language to support the capture of valid and reliable data, as needed
• Collect quantitative and qualitative data, as may be required
• Review data quality throughout the data collection process and provide an update of data quality issues to Cuso International throughout the data collection period
• Ensure adherence to all ethical standards such as informed consent process, de-identification of data, protection of study documents, and protection of the confidentiality of the participants
• Weekly check in or report on the progress of data collection to the Cuso International MEAL Specialist and Senior Manager.
• Complete data analyses and preliminary results processes to draft evaluation report
• Disseminate and present draft report to relevant stakeholders in-country for validation
• Complete validation processes with relevant stakeholders and Cuso International to finalize evaluation report
• Prepare project results infographics to highlight successes
• Prepare project results document to inform the development of Blueprints 2.0

Key Deliverables and Timelines

This evaluation is expected to last not more than 25 working days – see table below. The expected outputs of this evaluation, which are all set to be completed by end of January 2026, are as follows:

• Inception report detailing the evaluation approach, methodology, and data collection tools
• Preliminary findings (in a presentation or Word document format)
• Final evaluation report (including executive summary, methodology, findings, analysis, case studies, lessons learnt and recommendations) as well as project results infographics and project highlights document
• PowerPoint presentation summarizing the final evaluation report.

The evaluation is expected to be completed within 12 weeks from the contract start date. The proposed timeline is as follows:

Qualifications & Experience of the Consultant

Cuso International seeks expressions of interest from a consultant with the following qualifications, skills, and experience in conducting project evaluations. Key requirements of the Consultant(s) include:

• Post-graduate degree in sociology, economics, livelihoods, education, development, or a related field or other fields related with strong background in gender-sensitive programming.
• Proven experience of conducting evaluations using qualitative and quantitative methods
• Experience conducting research with marginalized and vulnerable populations
• A strong record of following ethical research procedures including informed consent and maintaining confidentiality
• Good interpersonal skills including the ability to conduct discussions with a diversity of project stakeholders including rights holders and duty bearers
• Strong presentation, facilitation, communication and team coordination skills
• Ability to adhere to timelines
• English language skills required, with good knowledge of local language(s)

• Evidence of having carried out similar evaluations previously in the Caribbean, preferably using a gender-sensitive approach or in economic growth/livelihoods sector – a list of organizations for which similar studies have been conducted should be shared showing the following: organization, evaluation title, contact person, phone number, email address. Samples of approved evaluation reports written by the consultant might be assessed.

• Demonstrated experience in assessing project implementation in an international assistance context.
• Demonstrated experience in socioeconomic and labour integration of vulnerable populations (including displaced populations, migrants, refugees, women, 2SLGBTQI+ groups, among others).
• Demonstrated experience in gender equality, and/or gender research, and/or the application of gender equality considerations into development programming.
• Demonstrated experience in handling ethical risks in programming around sensitive issues, both in program delivery and in M&E.

Application and Bid Evaluation Processes

All interested individual consultants should submit a technical proposal detailing their understanding of the assignment, methodology proposed, timeframe, qualifications, and a list of similar assignments conducted. In addition, the consultant should submit a financial proposal in a separate filename. 

The evaluation scoring will be 70% for the technical component and 30% for financial component.

Further, consultants are required to submit the following documents/information demonstrating their suitability for the assignment: (a) up-to-date Curriculum Vitae (CV) including experience in similar projects and at least two references. All these documents should be sent to the HR email provided  before October 27, 2025.

The technical bids will be reviewed based on their responsiveness to this Terms of Reference and the criteria listed. Proven experience of conducting evaluations using qualitative and quantitative methods, experience conducting research with marginalized and vulnerable populations, and evidence of having carried out similar evaluations previously will be strongly considered.

The financial bid will only be evaluated if the technical bid achieves a minimum threshold of 70% and is considered qualified through the supplier selection process. Proposals failing to obtain this minimum technical threshold or those which will not be considered qualified through the supplier selection process will not be eligible for further consideration. 

A detailed Terms of Reference is available for reference. All interested applicants are to send email for this additional information.