Final Independent Evaluation of Strengthening Nexus Coherence and Responsiveness... Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : Palestine

Summary : Final Independent Evaluation of Strengthening Nexus Coherence and Responsiveness in the Palestinian Social Protection Sector

Deadline : 03 Aug 2024

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 104471789

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Competition : ICB

Financier : World Bank (WB)

Purchaser Ownership : Public

Tender Value : Refer Document

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Tender Details

Expression of Interest are invited for Final Independent Evaluation of Strengthening Nexus Coherence and Responsiveness in the Palestinian Social Protection Sector.

Closing Date: Saturday, 03. Aug 2024

Intervention Sector(s): Development

ILO/ ROAS is searching for an evaluator to undertake the final independent evaluation of the ILO Project “Strengthening nexus coherence and responsiveness in the Palestinian social protection sector”, funded by the European Commission.

The activities should take approximately 33 working days, with work expected to be undertaken during the period August 2024 to November 2024. The current call is asking for expressions of interest from interested consultants specialized in project evaluations. The Terms of Reference document is under draft and once finalized, further requests for proposals from short listed candidates may be requested.


Please see Background Information and draft TORs attached for further information.

Duration of the contract: Mid-August - November 2024

Application deadline: August 3rd, 2024 (11pm Beirut time)

Desired profile of the lead evaluator:

• Master-s degree in social sciences, economics, development studies, evaluation or

related fields, with demonstrated strong research experience.

• A minimum of 7 years- experience in conducting projects and programme evaluations, with demonstrated experience in development related programmes.

Previous experience in evaluations for UN agencies is required. Evaluation experience with the ILO is an advantage.
• Relevant regional experience and familiarity with implementation of programmes and projects in the region. Experience in the OPT region is an asset.

• Particularly, previous experience in evaluating social protection and nexus programmes is an advantage.

• Full proficiency in English. Command of Arabic is an advantage but not a requirement.

• Knowledge of the ILO and its normative mandate, tripartite structure and technical cooperation activities is an advantage


• Excellent communication, interview and report writing skills.

• Demonstrated ability to deliver quality results within strict deadlines.

• Facilitation skills and ability to manage diversity of views in different cultural contexts.

• The evaluator(s) must have no previous involvement in the delivery of the project under evaluation.

Information

Details

Project title

Strengthening Nexus Coherence and Responsiveness in The Palestinian Social Protection Sector

DC Symbol

PSE/21/01/EUR

Type of Evaluation

Independent

Timing of Evaluation

Final

Countries

Occupied Palestinian Territory


P&B outcomes

1, 2, 7, 8

SDG (s)

Goal 1.3

Duration

24 months

Start Date

July 2021

End Date

August 2024

Administrative unit

Regional Office for the Arab States (ROAS)

Technical Backstopping Unit

SOCPRO

Collaborating ILO Units

GEDI; DEVINVEST; DWT-Beirut;

Donor

European Commission


Evaluation Manager

Marwan TAWFEEQ

Budget

1, 500, 00.00 Euros

Introduction

The Occupied Palestinian Territory is home to about 4.8 million people, of which 2.9 million live in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the remaining 1.8 million live in the Gaza Strip. Two out of five Palestinians living in OPT are refugees; 40% of the population is under 14 years old and almost 70% of the population is younger than 30, while around 4% is over 65 years old.

For decades, the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been a highly fragile and conflict-affected environment. In 2023, the Fragile States Index rated it the world-s 34th most fragile context, scoring negatively on external intervention, security, state legitimacy, and economic decline indicators. The illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory has lasted for 57 years, stunting the economy through the 17-year blockade of Gaza and the withholding of increasingly large proportions of the Palestinian Authority-s revenues.

This state of fragility has dramatically increased since 7 October 2023, with the ongoing war and acute humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip, alongside growing violence, restrictions and economic challenges in the West Bank. The war has led to an approximately 1.7 million Palestinians being internally displaced as of April 2023. The overwhelming majority of Gazans are now estimated to be living in multidimensional poverty, and vulnerability is also on the rise in the West Bank.

Poverty and vulnerability trends across the West Bank and Gaza

Even prior to the COVID-19 crisis, both poverty and extreme poverty had increased throughout OPT since 2011. An increase in poverty was driven by a worsening situation in Gaza, mitigated somewhat by modestly declining poverty in the West Bank, prior to 7 October. Meanwhile, the overall share of the population classified as either poor or vulnerable to poverty had remained unchanged, meaning many who were previously considered merely vulnerable to poverty had ultimately slipped into poverty and deep poverty since 2011.

Poverty rates are relatively stable across the lifecycle, with significant shares of working poor. However, urban and refugee camp residents experience spikes in old age. In 2017, the poverty rate was highest among working age adults aged 26 to 35 years old. Between 2011 and 2017, poverty appears to have increased particularly for young children, young adults and the elderly (60+). However, a lack of significant variation in poverty across the life cycle suggests an important role for covariate shocks, rather than idiosyncratic life-cycle related events, in influencing poverty. While joblessness can often be associated with poverty, there are large numbers of households with working members—including many engaged in formal employment—who live in poverty. Persons with disabilities are 30 per cent likelier to experience poverty and 40 per cent more likely to experience extreme poverty than their non-disabled counterparts.

According to research conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the ILO[1]:

“as of 31 January 2024, 507, 000 jobs have been lost across the Occupied Palestinian Territory as a result of the hostilities, compared to an earlier job loss estimate of 468, 000. This includes 201, 000 jobs lost in Gaza and 306, 000 jobs lost in the West Bank. These job losses translate into daily labour income losses of USD 21.7 million. This figure increases to USD 25.5 million per day, when combined with the loss of income resulting from the partial payment of wages to civil servants and the reduced incomes of workers in the private sector across the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Social protection in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

Access to social protection is a human right. It is fundamental to protect individuals and their families across the life cycle, to build political stability, and to ensure societies- resilience to different types of shocks. Thus, social policies are vital to prevent and address current global risks, ranging from the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to refugee crises, forced migration, climate change, inequalities, and conflict.

Before 2024, the National Cash Transfer Programme (NCTP) was the main public social protection programme in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Managed by the Ministry of Social Development, the NCTP provided cash transfers to some 115, 000 households (70 per cent in Gaza) living in deep poverty through four quarterly payments per year. Transfers ranged from 750 to 1, 800 Israeli shekels per household per quarter. Previously, the planned annual budget for the NCTP amounted to approximately 517 million shekels (0.9 per cent of GDP), although budget execution has been significantly lower since 2018.

The NCTP depends heavily - and increasingly - on financial support from the European Union-s PEGASE mechanism (Mécanisme Palestino-européen de Gestion de l-Aide Socio-économique), and to a lesser extent from the World Bank and others. Until 2023, the NCTP targeted households below the national extreme poverty line, as well as vulnerable and marginalized households, specifically those whose members include persons with disabilities, elderly persons, orphans, people with chronic illnesses, and households headed by women. Targeting was achieved primarily through a proxy means test (PMT), developed and applied by the ministry-s staff and social workers, with the support of the World Bank, to rank families registered in the social registry from “poorest” to “wealthiest”.

Since 2018, NCTP payments have become less reliable and predictable, with the NCTP budget no longer being fully executed. While domestic revenues have increased and the PEGASE NCTP financial contribution has remained stable since 2018, overall overseas development assistance (ODA) has declined and clearance revenues due to the Palestinian Authority have been withheld by Israel, leading to a decline in social sector budget execution. The National Social Registry (management information system) was established with the support of the World Bank and is managed by the Ministry of Social Development since 2023.

Before 7 October 2023, the Palestinian Authority had made significant steps towards establishing a rights-based social protection system, moving towards protecting individuals throughout the stages of their life cycle. In the social protection sector, the earlier narrative of relief and safety nets had been on a trajectory towards more comprehensive national systems and social development. In September 2023, the Council of Ministers adopted the Ministry of Social Development-s new policy, which introduced individual social allowances for persons with severe disabilities and older persons over 65 years old without another source of income. Over one-quarter of older Palestinians live i

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