Terms of Reference
Consultancies to Develop Strategic Plan Outcome Reports
Title:
Development of Oxfam Australia Strategic Plan Outcome Reports
Consultant:
5 consultants
Responsible to:
Performance Analysis Team Leader
Accountable to:
Program Performance Manager
Duration:
10 days
Budget
Daily rates between $600 and $800 will be considered
TOR Last Revised:
April 9 2015
Background
The Oxfam Australia Strategic Plan (2014-2019) guides the organisation’s programs and advocacy
and campaigns initiatives that are implemented in developing countries and Australia. The Strategic
Plan (2014-2019)1 establishes commitments to:
establish specific measures and indicators of outputs and results
collect relevant quantitative and qualitative data
use the data to assess our progress and
use the findings of those assessments to make appropriate changes to our work, in order to
continue to work towards achieving our goals.
In December 2015 Oxfam Australia’s (OAU) Performance Analysis Team will submit the first Strategic
Plan Outcomes Report to the Board and the Management Team.2 The Outcomes Report will provide
an organisational level perspective on progress towards five prioritised OAU Strategic Plan results.
The five results to be addressed in the Outcomes Report are:
Goal 1 Right To Be Heard
o Result 1.2: More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be identifying their
priorities and determining how those priorities are addressed, and
o Result 1.3: The networks, organisations and communities we work with will have
more influence on the policies and practices of governments, private sector
organisations and other groups at local, national and global levels
Goal 2 Gender Justice
o Result 2.1: More women and women’s organisations will have decision-making roles
and influence at local and national levels, and
o Result 2.2: More women and girls will be living free of violence and the fear of
violence.
Goal 3 Saving Lives
o Result 3.3 The scale, reach and effectiveness of our responses to humanitarian
crises will be increased
1
2
See https://www.oxfam.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2014_strategic_plan_fa_web5.pdf
OAU Strategic Plan Outcomes Reports will be submitted every two years in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
The Outcomes Report will be used by the OAU Board and Management to assess accountability for
Strategic Plan commitments and as an input to decision making about the strategic direction of
OAU’s portfolio. The findings from the Outcomes Report will also be shared with staff to inform
cross organisational learning, thematic strategies, monitoring and evaluation and development of
existing and new initiatives.
Purpose
Outcomes Reports for each of the five prioritised results will provide an organisational assessment of
progress towards Strategic Plan commitments. The reports produced by consultants for each of the
five prioritised results will be incorporated by the OAU Performance Analysis Team into the overall
Outcomes Report. The OAU Outcomes Report will contribute to decision-making and learning at
organisational and program and project levels.
Methodology
The approach to the Outcomes Report will be a synthesis of program and project data inputs
(evaluation and mid and annual reports). The synthesis will be carried out by external consultants
(five, or one for each of the prioritised results). The assessment criteria for the synthesis will be
guided by Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Frameworks already developed by OAU for
each result. These frameworks include Outcomes Hierarchies, which summarise current OAU
strategies and broad pathways of change to outcomes in five result areas. The Outcome Hierarchies
are supported by guiding qualitative questions and quantitative indicators which aim to help OAU to
assess programs contributions to these outcomes. The MEL frameworks are based upon existing
program MEL, literature reviews, and internal and external consultations. Consultants will conduct
analysis and complete their report against the questions and indicators specified in the MEL
frameworks for each of the prioritised results.
The MEL frameworks include prompts for assessing the participation and access to program and
project benefits of women, young people and people with a disability. These reflect OAU
development approach and program policy commitments. The synthesis and Outcomes Reports are
expected to integrate and explicitly address these cross-cutting issues.
The Outcomes Reports developed by consultants will include narrative analysis, short illustrative
examples and summarised quantitative data.
Key stakeholders for consultation
Thematic Advisors relevant to each prioritised Strategic Plan result
Program and project staff for select interviews
Program Performance Unit Manager
Performance Analysis Team
Ethics
Work associated with this TOR will be guided by OAU’s Guidelines for Research Ethics.
Outputs
Outcomes Reports for each of the five prioritised Strategic Plan results including analysis and
findings that identify evidence of Oxfam’s contribution to positive changes in people’s lives, gaps in
the evidence, assessment of effective strategies within result areas and identification of risks and
emerging trends. The Outcomes Reports produced by consultants will include narrative analysis,
short illustrative examples and summarised quantitative data.
Uses
The Outcomes Reports produced by the consultants will be used by the OAU Performance Analysis
Team to complete the overall Outcomes Report. The primary audience for the Outcomes Report is
the OAU Board and Management Team. The Outcomes Report primarily fulfils an accountability to
provide an assessment of progress towards Strategic Plan results and as an input to decisions about
the strategic direction of OAU’s portfolio.
To ensure that the investment in Outcomes Reporting is capitalised, the Performance Analysis Team
will ensure the Outcomes Report contributes to:
development of thematic program strategies;
strengthening thematic monitoring and evaluation approaches and evidence base;
cross program learning and development with managers and staff; and,
external communications about Oxfam contributions to positive changes in people and
communities lives and Oxfam program approaches.
Management
Consultants will be managed by the Performance Analysis Team Leader. The Program Performance
Unit Manager provides overall management of Outcomes Reporting.
Process
Task
1
Output (if any)
Estimated
hours, day/s
Participate in initial brief and meetings with OAU Performance Analysis
Team.
5hours (over the
10days
TOR)
2
3
Prepare brief project plan indicating when outputs will be completed.
Review and analyse program and project evaluation and mid-term and
annual reports. Document analysis against OAU questions and indicators in
template provided. Develop illustrative examples from project
documentation.
Project Plan
Summary of data
analysis
in
format provided
by OAU
1hour
4days
4
Identify and conduct select OAU program and project staff interviews to
address data gaps and confirm analysis.
Interview
summary
1days
5
Draft Outcomes Report in format provided by OAU.
Draft report
2days
6
Incorporate OAU feedback into draft Outcomes Report.
Final report
1.5days
7
Develop & deliver presentation summarising analysis in draft Outcomes
Report.
Presentation
draft report
of
4hours
8
Provide feedback on process and methodology
Feedback to OAU
2hours
10 days
Key Deliverables
1. Brief project plan
2. Analysed data in format provided by OAU
of
the
3. Draft Outcomes Report in format provided by OAU
4. Final Outcomes Report in format provided by OAU
Recruitment Qualifications
The successful candidate will fulfil the following criteria:
Education:
Experience:
Minimum of Master level degree or equivalent in Social Science, International
Development or related field.
A minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in international development work
focused on MEL.
Demonstrated experience in conducting synthesis or systematic evaluations
preferably with the purpose of contributing to strategic decision making.
Capacity to and experience in developing and implementing interviews as a
confirmatory data source.
Specific experience in one of the Strategic Plan prioritised result areas i.e. programs
implemented by NGOs that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s
self-determination and International NGOs in the thematic areas of governance and
citizenship, violence against women, women’s leadership and humanitarian
responses.
Strong analytical skills and ability to conduct social research including gender
analysis.
Demonstrated and high level proficiency in writing clear and concise analysis and in
developing reports that include visual representation of data.
Ability to prepare reports under time constraints.
Excellent interpersonal and liaison skills with international and local development
agencies and stakeholders. For the development of the Outcome Report for OAU
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’s Program, demonstrated experience
working and communicating with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in
culturally appropriate and respectful ways.
Based in Australia, preferably Melbourne and available to complete work for the TOR
between June and beginning of August 2015.
Recruitment process
Applicants should submit an EOI:
Addressing the criteria above
Clearly specifying which of the prioritised results reports is/are of interest
Indicating a daily rate (rates between $600 and $800 per day will be considered)
Including an example of an evaluation that is written by the applicant and that is relevant to
one of the five prioritised results for OAU Outcome Reporting
Attaching the applicants CV
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview.