Terms of Reference: End-Term Evaluation Consultancy - CBM Global, kenya

The consultant reports to: (“Manager”)Country Programme Manager, CBM Global KenyaDescription of consultancyFinal Evaluation of the “EQuaLISED” project).1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALECBM Global Disability Inclusion is a dual mandate and partnership-based organisation working alongside people with disabilities in the world’s poorest places to fight poverty and exclusion and transform lives. Driven by Christian values, we seek out and work with the most marginalised in society, irrespective of race, gender, age or religion, recognising the equal worth of every individual. Drawing on over 100 years’ experience and world-leading expertise in disability-inclusive community development and humanitarian action, inclusive eye health and community mental health, CBM Global works with partners to break the cycle of poverty and disability, treat and prevent conditions that lead to disability and build inclusive communities.CBM Global Vision: An inclusive world in which all people with disabilities enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential.CBM Global Mission: Fighting to end the cycle of poverty and disability.CBM Global works to implement development and humanitarian projects in partnership with organisations of persons with disabilities in the areas of community based inclusive development, humanitarian action, inclusive eye health & neglected tropical diseases and community mental health. We work in over 20 countries, investing in long-term, authentic partnership with the Disability Movement and maximising our impact through a coordinated mix of inclusive community-based programmes, local to global advocacy and delivering disability inclusion technical assistance to other organisations.About the ProjectThe EQuaLISED Project, short for Enhancing Quality Living: Inclusive Systems Enabling Disability, is a 2 year project that aims to improve the rights and participation of people with disabilities, primarily focusing on persons with mental health and psychosocial disabilities. The project is implemented in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and focuses on disability inclusion with a particular emphasis on mental health and psychosocial disabilities — areas often characterised by high stigma, invisibility, and low prioritisation. The evaluation is limited to Kenya.In Kenya, the project is implemented by Basic Needs Basic Rights (BNBR) Kenya. CBM Global and BNBR have a long-standing partnership in the implementation of community mental health projects in Kenya. BNBR Kenya is a leading national organization specializing in mental health and psychosocial disability, bringing more than two decades of expertise in holistic, community-based mental health care. BNBR’s work integrates capacity development, community mental health services, livelihoods support, research, and policy influence, making it a strategic partner in advancing disability inclusion and mental health rights in Kenya.As the lead implementing partner in Kenya under the EQuaLISED programme, BNBR plays a central role in empowering persons with disabilities—particularly those with mental health and psychosocial disabilities—to claim their rights, participate meaningfully in community life, and access quality services. Through its well-established approaches, BNBR directly contributes to shifting attitudes, strengthening systems, and improving the well-being of people with disabilities in alignment with CBM Global’s programme priorities.EQuaLISED works to change attitudes, strengthen community and governmental systems, promote inclusive policies, and empower Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) to lead advocacy and decision-making. Recognising the intersection between disability, mental health, economic exclusion, and climate vulnerability, the programme combines community-level change, economic empowerment, and systemic policy transformation to create an enabling environment for all people with disabilities.The aims to improve mental health and disability inclusion in Kenya and Zimbabwe through four interconnected outcomes. Outcome 1 focuses on strengthening community mental health and well-being by promoting positive attitudes toward people with disabilities, enhancing support for children with disabilities in schools, and increasing the advocacy capacity of OPDs. Outcome 2 seeks to ensure that persons with disabilities—particularly those with psychosocial disabilities—participate equally in community life and have improved access to affordable, quality, and inclusive health services, resulting in greater uptake of mental health services across all health system levels. Outcome 3 prioritises economic empowerment by expanding sustainable livelihoods and building vocational and entrepreneurial skills tailored to climate change and crisis-related vulnerabilities, thereby improving the economic resilience of persons with disabilities. Outcome 4 aims to achieve broader systemic change by promoting disability inclusion within government, civil society, and development sectors.2. PURPOSEThe purpose of this consultancy is to undertake a comprehensive end‑term evaluation of the EQuaLISED project’s progress in Kenya, measured against planned results, outcome indicators, and budget allocations as outlined in the project design documents. The evaluation will assess both the achieved and potential impacts of the programme, while identifying underlying factors contributing to outcomes that may not have been fully attained.The evaluation will examine how project inputs—such as mental health and psychosocial support services, community outreach, capacity development for OPDs, strengthened referral pathways, inclusive livelihood initiatives, and policy influencing efforts—have contributed to outcome-level changes. These include improved mental health and community well‑being, enhanced participation of persons with disabilities in community life, increased uptake of affordable and inclusive mental health services, strengthened resilience and economic empowerment, and greater disability inclusion within government and civil society systems.The evaluation will generate key lessons on factors that contribute to or hinder access to inclusive, community-based mental health and disability services; changes in community knowledge, attitudes, and practices relating to psychosocial disability; the effectiveness of OPDs’ engagement in advocacy and planning processes; and the programme’s contribution to building resilience and improving the socio-economic well‑being of persons with disabilities. It will also explore the programme’s contribution to inclusive governance, health systems strengthening, and climate-adaptive livelihood improvements.The evaluation must provide credible, reliable, and evidence‑based findings to support ongoing learning. The results will be used to guide future disability-inclusive programming within CBM Global and its partners, informing strategic direction for mental health, inclusive development, and systems-strengthening interventions.The evaluation team is expected to adopt a highly participatory and inclusive approach, ensuring close engagement with OPDs, persons with psychosocial disabilities, community structures, government ministries and departments, implementing partners, and CBM Global country teams. Inclusion of OPD representatives as core members of the evaluation team is required to ensure lived-experience perspectives shape analysis and interpretation.At a minimum, the evaluation will explore:* Overall project performance in relation to its strategy, objectives, and quantitative and qualitative indicators defined in the project documents and implementation arrangements. * Project coordination, including internal collaboration between CBM Global and implementing partners (BNBR Kenya), and external coordination with OPDs, government institutions, health systems actors, and community stakeholders. * Inclusiveness and accessibility of the project for persons with disabilities, with particular attention to persons with psychosocial disabilities. * Accountability to affected people, including how the project strengthened local capacity, mitigated risks of negative effects, and ensured effective communication, participation, safeguarding, and feedback mechanisms. * Lessons learned and good practices, along with actionable recommendations to inform CBM Global’s operational and strategic decision-making in inclusive mental health, disability-inclusive health systems, livelihoods and economic empowerment, OPD engagement, governance, and advocacy.3. SCOPEThe evaluation will cover all components and activities within the EQuaLISED Project over the project period (May 2024 to April 2026). It will cover project documents including design documents, activity, narrative and financial reports, results framework, mid-term review report, and all documentation captured during the project, among other project documents. In this regard, the successful consultant/s will be required to assess the project results, review the methodological approaches, and capture the lessons learned. Additionally, the evaluation should explore the strengths and weaknesses of the project and highlight the factors influencing the effective and efficient (as well as ineffective and inefficient) implementation of project activities and their contribution towards the realization of the project objectives and overall goal. Also, the evaluation should determine what other results (positive and negative, intended, and unintended) can be identified in the project. Based on the assessment, the evaluation should draw conclusions regarding the outcomes of the project, as well as identify good practices, and formulate recommendations for similar future projects.The anticipated scope of work includes, but is not necessarily limited to assessing the following:* An assessment of the relevance of the project’s design, scope, and priorities, including the validity of objectives, theory of change, programme components, and implementation strategy. This includes reviewing the extent to which the project’s planned results and approaches were appropriate to the needs of persons with disabilities—particularly persons with mental health and psychosocial disabilities—and aligned with national and community contexts in Kenya. * An in-depth review of the implementation of various project components with a view to identifying the level of achievement of the planned project outputs, the contribution to institutional development and sustainable human capacities and in cases of not effective achievement, and analysis of the underlying reasons with recommendations for improvements, specifically assessing the following * project management (technical capacity and management experience of the implementing partners) in achieving the expected results. * project components, including cross-cutting issues disability inclusion, gender equality and social inclusion, safeguarding of children and adults-at-risk. * monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning through results framework and program quality framework. * project communication strategy to ensure project visibility to donors, partners, stakeholders and the public. * Partnership, participation and stakeholder engagement particularly looking at the engagement of OPDs, persons with disabilities and the wider disability movement. This should include roles and responsibilities, capacity in relation to engagement in design and delivery of the project, and the level of participation of stakeholders in the achievement of the desired outcome, as well as the effectiveness of such participation. * Assessment of the early potential impact of project interventions. Possible gaps/ weaknesses in the current project design and possible interventions and measures that could be continued to support the partners in the future. * Review of project risks and external considerations that influenced programme delivery or outcomes, including political, economic, environmental, and social factors. This includes risks such as climate‑related shocks, economic instability, and contextual challenges experienced within the operational environments (such as the religious extremism as witnessed in Kilifi County) * Partnership, participation and stakeholder engagement particularly looking at the engagement of persons with disabilities, OPDs, and the wider disability movement. This should include roles and responsibilities, capacity related to engagement in the design and delivery of the project, the level of stakeholder participation in achieving the desired outcome, and the effectiveness of that participation. Any opportunities to strengthen this would also be encouraged. * An analysis of the early potential outcomes and emerging impact of the project, including: * Changes in mental health and well‑being at community level. * Improvements in attitudes toward persons with psychosocial disabilities. * Increased visibility and participation of persons with disabilities in community life. * Uptake of inclusive mental health and psychosocial support services within public health facilities. * Economic resilience and livelihood improvements for persons with disabilities. * Contribution to disability‑inclusive systems and policy shifts at local and national levels. * The evaluation should also identify design gaps, weaknesses, and opportunities for strengthening future programming. * Recommendations for future direction, strategies and areas of project focus as per the findings. * General lessons learned and best practices that can be considered in the planning and design of future institutional strengthening interventions for the government and partners.Apart from the above, project’s end-term results should be rated in the following aspects:* Relevance: The extent to which the intervention objectives and design respond to beneficiaries, global, country, and partner/institution needs, policies, and priorities, and continue to do so if circumstances change. * Efficiency: The extent to which the intervention delivers, or is likely to deliver, results in an economic and timely way. * Effectiveness: The extent to which the intervention achieved its objectives, and its results, including any differential results across groups. * Impact/Outcomes: The extent to which the intervention has generated or is expected to generate significant positive or negative, intended, or unintended, higher-level effects. * Sustainability: Assess the likelihood of results becoming sustainable with specific focus on capacity and ownership over the process. * Coherence: The compatibility of the intervention with other interventions in a country, sector, or institution.4. TIMEFRAME AND DURATIONThis consultancy is anticipated to cover a maximum of 20 days in March 2026, and the final report should be shared by the first week of April 2026. The assignment will include an inception meeting, data collection visits to the projec…