Terms of Reference
External Endline Evaluation Consultancy
Promoting Access to Water and Education (PAWE) Project Mandera County
IRK/PAWE/CONSUL/002/10/2026
ISSUED ON: Friday, 16th October 2026
CLOSING DATE: Thursday, 22nd October 2026 at 11:00 AM
October, 2026
Project: Promoting Access to Water and Education (PAWE) Project
Activity: External Endline Evaluation
Location: Mandera County
Duration: 28 days
1.0 BACKGROUND
IR Kenya started operations in Kenya in 1993 through a local CBO in Mandera District, Northern Kenya. It opened its fully-fledged office in March 2006 at the height of the drought in the Horn of Africa. Since then, it has been providing humanitarian and development assistance to vulnerable communities. Over these years, IRK has remarkably changed the lives of the vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. In January 2010 and October 2011, IRK extended its operation to Wajir County and Garissa County, to serve both the local community and refugees at Dadaab Camp. Islamic Relief Kenya is currently implementing programmes in the following sectors: Health and Nutrition; WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene); Sustainable Livelihoods and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR); Child Welfare/Protection & Education; and Emergency Response. Over the years, IR Kenya has implemented various development and relief activities which have remarkably changed the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Kilifi, Marsabit, Tana River and Kajiado Counties.
IR Kenya commits to standards which ascribe to program quality and improved programming. This obliges us to conduct an end-line evaluation study for PAWE Project – Mandera County, focusing on the specific areas of the project interventions to document intended and unintended changes that can be attributed to the project.
2.0 PROJECT SUMMARY
The Promoting Access to Water and Education (PAWE) Project is an 18-month integrated community support initiative implemented by Islamic Relief Kenya (IRK) in Mandera County. The project aims to empower vulnerable communities by addressing critical gaps in Education and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). It seeks to improve access to inclusive, safe and accessible education for children while increasing the availability of clean and potable water for households, schools and food production, thereby contributing to improved well-being and resilience among targeted communities.
The project combines infrastructure development with service improvement and capacity strengthening. Key interventions include the construction and rehabilitation of school infrastructure and boreholes, provision of education and learning materials, improvement of school WASH facilities, and installation of solar-powered water systems and associated infrastructure. Sustainability and community ownership are embedded in the project through capacity building of beneficiaries and relevant community structures, alongside active engagement of government departments at national, county and sub-county levels in the monitoring and technical supervision of Education and WASH interventions. The project is aligned with the Mandera County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) 2023–2027, IR Kenya's strategic priorities, and relevant NDMA plans.
Project goal/impact: Improved learning outcomes for children and enhanced access to clean, potable water for households in Mandera County
Project outcomes:
Outcome 1: Improved education facilities and materials for schools in Mandera County
Outcome 2: Increased access to potable water for targeted households and schools
Project outputs:
Output 1.1: 1500 pupils have access to quality education
Output 2.1: 3,000 households and 2 schools have access to clean portable water for household and livestock use
3.0 Purpose and Objectives of The Endline Evaluation
As the project approaches completion, IRK seeks to engage a qualified consultant/consultancy firm to conduct an independent external endline evaluation which will assess the extent to which the PAWE Project has achieved its intended objectives, outcomes and results against the established baseline and results framework. The evaluation will examine the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the interventions, identify intended and unintended results, and document key achievements, challenges, good practices and lessons learned. The findings and recommendations will support accountability to project rightsholders and stakeholders and provide evidence to inform the design and implementation of future integrated Education and WASH programming by IRK.
4.0 Evaluation Scope
The evaluation will assess the overall performance, results and sustainability of the 18-month PAWE Project, with particular focus on the following areas:
1. Implementation and achievement of results across the project’s key thematic areas of Education and WASH, including the extent to which planned outputs, outcomes and objectives were achieved against the project results framework and baseline findings.
2. Relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project interventions, including the extent to which they responded to the priority needs of targeted communities and the likelihood that benefits will continue beyond the project period.
3. Quality and functionality of project-supported infrastructure and services, including constructed or rehabilitated education facilities, WASH facilities, boreholes, solar-powered water systems and other associated infrastructure.
4. Community perspectives and satisfaction regarding the relevance, timeliness, appropriateness, quality and adequacy of the assistance and services provided, including perceived changes resulting from the project.
5. Cross-cutting considerations, including gender, disability and social inclusion, safeguarding, protection, conflict sensitivity and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), with particular attention to equitable access and participation of vulnerable and marginalized groups.
6. Effectiveness, accessibility, confidentiality and perceived safety of IRK's feedback and complaints mechanisms, including community awareness and utilization of available channels and the extent to which feedback was received, responded to and used to improve implementation.
7. Community ownership, institutional capacity and sustainability, including the effectiveness of capacity-building initiatives, participation of community structures, and engagement of relevant county and sub-county government departments in monitoring, management and continued support of project interventions.
8. Key lessons, good practices, challenges and unintended results arising from implementation, with practical and actionable recommendations to strengthen the design and delivery of future integrated Education and WASH programmes.
5.0 Methodology
The consultants will propose the most suitable study design, sampling methods and approach, sample size, data collection, and analysis approaches that are suitable for this project at the endline. This should be clearly outlined in the bidding document/proposal, and if qualified, at the interview stage, to have further discussion with the evaluation management team. The consulting team should propose respondents' interviews or data sources that can answer the log frame indicators and provide comparable statistics (meaningful comparison between baseline/needs assessment and endline) to document any changes.
6.0 Expected Deliverables
The following are the expected deliverables.
1. Inception report and data collection tools.
2. Draft report to be validated by the Islamic Relief Kenya and Islamic Relief Worldwide technical team.
3. Final Report after addressing inputs from both IRK and IRW technical teams (the report must be submitted in MS Word and PDF format as well as three printed copies, which should be handed to the IRK team upon completion of this activity).
4. Datasets for quantitative data in Excel format and KII and FGD transcripts in Word. Beneficiary data is personal data and MUST be protected within the IRK data protection policy, which will be shared with the consultant.
5. A PowerPoint presentation which summarises the entire study
In performing the activities related to the evaluation, the consultant is expected to strictly adhere to IRK, data protection and privacy policy, Child safeguarding, and the IRK code of conduct.
7.0 Roles and Responsibilities
Role/Responsibilities of the Consultant
• Develop an inception report detailing the study design, methodology, indicators, data collection tools, and work plan schedule for carrying out the assignment agreed in consultation with the MEAL coordinator
• Conduct a desk review of relevant project documents
• Develop quantitative and qualitative data collection tools in consultation with the MEAL Coordinator
• Conduct training for the data collection teams, including pre‐testing/piloting of tools
• Plan and coordinate quantitative and qualitative data collection
• Work with the IR Kenya project team in planning study logistics
• Conduct data quality assurance
• Review, clean, and analyze data collected
• Presentation of the preliminary findings for input from the IRK team and stakeholders
• Incorporate input from project stakeholders and submit a final report
• Produce Endline study report
Role of IRK
• Recruit an external consultant for the endline study
• Review and provide input on the consultant’s deliverables
• Guide on the engagement with the consultant
• Provide consultants with background documents, reports and available secondary data for review
• Provide oversight during data collection
• Ensure smooth flow of consultancy engagement processes, including all contractual...