EVALUATION END OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE USAID/EGYPT COMBATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN (CVAWC) [January 2015] This publication was produced at the request of the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared independently by Mendez England & Associates. END OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE USAID/EGYPT COMBATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN (CVAWC) Final Report 25 January 2015 Prepared under RFTOP No. SOL-263-14-000009 Submitted to: USAID/EGYPT Submitted by: Brenda Lee Pearson (Team Leader) Hanan Kwinana (Evaluation Specialist) Ghada El Sherif (Local Specialist) Contractor: Mendez England & Associates 4300 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 103 Bethesda, MD 20814 Tel: 301- 652 -4334 www.mendezengland.com DISCLAIMER The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government ACRONYMS CEOSS Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services CIDA Canadian International Development Agency COP Chief of Party CPC Child Protection Committee CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CSR Corporate Social Responsibility CVAWC Combating Violence Against Women and Children DG Democracy and Governance DCPC District Child Protection Committee ET Evaluation Team FGD Focus Group Discussion FGM Female Genital Mutilation GBV Gender Based Violence GOE Government of Egypt GCPC Governorate Child Protection Committee INGO International Non-Governmental Organization KII Key Informant Interview ME&A Mendez England & Associates MOE Ministry of Education MOH Ministry of Health MOI Ministry of Interior MOJ Ministry of Justice MOSS Ministry of Social Solidarity NCCM National Council for Childhood and Motherhood NCW National Council for Women NGO Non-Governmental Organization ODG Office of Democracy and Governance PMP Performance Management Plan RFP Request for Proposal ROL Rule of Law SO Strategic Objective SOW Scope of Work TO Task Order UN United Nations UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UPR Universal Periodic Report USAID United States Agency for International Development VAC Violence Against Children VAW Violence Against Women VAW Study Violence Against Women Study VSLA Village Savings and Loan Association CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................... i Evaluation Purpose .................................................................................................................... i Project Background .................................................................................................................. i Evaluation Design, Methdology, and Limitations ................................................................ i Findings ......................................................................................................................... ii Recommendations ................................................................................................................... iii 1.0 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Evaluation Purpose & Synopsis of Task ................................................................. 1 1.2 Evaluation Audience ................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Evaluation Questions ................................................................................................. 1 2.0 PROJECT BACKGROUND ........................................................................... 2 2.1 Development Context .............................................................................................. 2 2.2 Overview of CVAWC ............................................................................................... 3 2.3 CVAWC Tasks ............................................................................................................ 4 3.0 EVALUATION METHODS & LIMITATIONS ............................................ 4 3.1 Evaluation Methodology ............................................................................................ 4 3.2 Limitations .................................................................................................................... 6 4.0 FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS ......................... 8 4.1 Q1: What are the factors that enabled or constrained the implementation of the activity and ITS results? ................................................... 9 4.1.1 Findings .......................................................................................................... 9 4.1.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................... 11 4.1.3 Recommendations ..................................................................................... 11 4.2 Q2. What activity interventions were continued by the NCW, NCCM, CPCs, and benefitting NGOs after the activity conclusion and why? .......... 12 4.2.1 Findings ....................................................................................................... 12 4.2.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................... 14 4.2.3 Recommendations .................................................................................... 14 4.3 Q3: how efficiently were the activity’s resources utilized? ............................. 14 4.3.1 Findings ....................................................................................................... 14 4.3.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................... 16 4.3.3 Recommendations .................................................................................... 17 4.4 Q4. Based on evaluation findings, what are the lessons learned in addressing violence against women in Egypt? ..................................................... 17 4.4.1 Findings ....................................................................................................... 17 4.4.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................... 18 4.4.3 Recommendations .................................................................................... 18 4.5 Q.5 How Were gender related dynamics and issues addressed in the implementation approach? ...................................................................................... 19 4.5.1 Findings ....................................................................................................... 19 4.5.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................... 20 4.5.3 Recommendations .................................................................................... 20 4.6 Q6: how has the operating Environment for the NCW, NCCM and beneficiary NGOs changed over the past 3 years? ........................................... 21 4.6.1 Findings ....................................................................................................... 21 4.6.2 Conclusions ............................................................................................... 21 4.6.3 Recommendations .................................................................................... 22 4.7 Q7: What should be the follow-on programmatic focus for USAID/ Egypt in this subsector, and what would be an ideal implemanation structure in terms of partnering with international organizations? .............. 22 4.7.1 Recommendations .................................................................................... 22 5.0 CHALLENGES ............................................................................................. 24 6.0 FUTURE DIRECTIONS .............................................................................. 25 6.1 CSO/NGO Network ............................................................................................... 26 6.2 Street Child Bank ...................................................................................................... 26 6.3 Family House Model ................................................................................................ 27 6.4 VAW Study ................................................................................................................ 27 6.5 Al Horreya Reception House for Street Children ............................................ 28 7.0 REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 30 ANNEXES Annex 1: Evaluation Scope of Work Annex 2: Evaluation Schedule Annex 3: Evaluation Design and Methodology Annex 4: Evaluation Design Matrix Annex 5: Interview Guides / Data Collection Instruments FIGURES Figure 1: Project Evaluation Score Based on Data Analysis Figure 2: Summary of CVAWC Strengths and Weaknesses i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EVALUATION PURPOSE This is a report on the End of Project Performance Evaluation of the Combating Violence Against Women and Children (CVAWC) Project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Egypt. CVAWC was implemented nation-wide, with activities in 25 of Egypt’s 27 governorates, by Chemonics International during the period May 2007 – May 2012. The total cost of the project was $18,001,597. The evaluation of CVAWC was conducted during the period October – December 2014, by a team assembled by Mendez England & Associates (ME&A) with headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. The purpose of the evaluation was to: 1) learn to what extent the activity contributed to the achievement of the intended results; and 2) provide insights into future decision-making for the USAID/Egypt Office of Democracy and Governance (ODG). Further, the evaluation will help USAID explore the most and least effective elements of CVAWC in terms of implementation and relationships with counterparts and how USAID can maximize the lessons learned for future investments in human rights / combating violence against women and children. This evaluation covers CVAWC’s entire implementation period. The information revealed by this evaluation will guide USAID/Egypt in identifying entry points and potential implementing partners for follow-on activities in Egypt. PROJECT BACKGROUND USAID/Egypt designed a groundbreaking and courageous bilateral assistance project to address Egypt’s high prevalence of domestic violence against women and children. Abuse and exploitation are a significant problem in the country, particularly for street children and children residing in state institutions. In May 2007, USAID/Egypt awarded a five-year, $17.8 million Task Order (TO) to Chemonics International Inc. and subcontractors Blue Law International and Social Planning, Analysis and Administration Consultants to implement the CVAWC activity. The purpose of CVAWC was to provide technical and financial support to two organizations – National Council for Women (NCW) and National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) which represented the prime governmental entities advocating for improvements in the situation for women and children and engaging in initiatives that promoted and protected their rights. EVALUATION DESIGN, METHDOLOGY, AND LIMITATIONS To conduct the CVAWC evaluation, the Evaluation Team (ET) collected qualitative data from a broad range of stakeholders and beneficiaries to ensure independence of the evaluation process as well as accuracy and completeness of the subsequent conclusions, recommendations, and lessons learned. The ET utilized techniques that balance each other, such as: individual and group responses; semi-structured interviews; analysis of existing information; and data sets. As CVAWC ended in May 2012, this evaluation concentrated on gathering qualitative data rather than analyzing the quantitative results (primarily training outputs) highlighted in Chemonics’ End-of-Project Final Report. Data was collected using the following methods:  Critical desktop review of materials related to CVAWC, such as annual and quarterly reports, work plans, success stories, performance management plans (PMPs), contract modifications, and other sources of reference that would validate their findings and ii conclusions, in addition to documents produced by United Nations (UN) agencies, the World Bank and others that are related to human rights, gender studies, and the Egyptian Amended Child Law (see Section 7.0 for a list of references).  Interviews with USAID, Chemonics, and former leadership of NCW and NCCM.  Over 20 semi-structured interviews with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international NGOs (INGOs), donors, journalists, Government of Egypt (GOE) officials, and former staff of NCW and NCCM.  Focus group discussions (FGDs) with NGO grantees.  Field visits to Cairo, Alexandria, and el Minya.  Direct observation to cross-check information. During the implementation, the ET encountered a number of limitations inherent to the design of this evaluation. Some of the more relevant limitations are listed below:  Operating environment and time constraints. As the operating environment in Egypt for USAID-funded activities in this area has changed considerably since the events of January 2011, the ET had to recreate what has happened since the project’s end in 2012 in the legal, policy, and institutional environment in order to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the project’s objectives. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations are influenced by newly imposed restrictive laws regulating funding for NGOs.  Selection bias and threats to validity. Although the ET made concerted efforts to interview a broad cross-section of stakeholders formally involved in CVAWC, we encountered resistance and refusals to meet. Due to Egypt’s current climate of political and legal uncertainty, many stakeholders stated that the risk of meeting with Americans connected to USAID was too high at this time. For example, the ET was only able to meet with 2 out of 2,674 GOE officials who participated in CVAWC trainings. Therefore, this evaluation faced the possibility of: ‐ Selection bias: those respondents who were interviewed might differ from those who were not in terms of their perspectives, experiences, and opinions. ‐ Threats to validity: the ET was unable to meet with large enough samples of some project stakeholders and beneficiaries to ensure that the opinions of those individuals they did meet with present sufficient evidence to support their claims.  Inevitable gaps and missing data elements. Given the breadth of the project, the time since its conclusion, and the dramatic changes of the political context on the ground, there were inevitable gaps and missing data elements. The ET tried to identify alternative data sources in order to triangulate areas where the information is missing, incomplete, or contradictory. While important, these limitations did not prevent the ET from gathering the information and data needed to draw conclusions and make recommendations for similar, USAID-funded projects in the future. FINDINGS Main findings from the evaluation include:  Civil society and NGOs are operating under uncertain conditions because Egypt has harsh penalties for undefined interventions and activities. iii  NGO activity interventions that continued after the conclusion of CVAWC and demonstrated the most sustainability include: empowerment services such as vocational training, handicraft and livelihood projects, and grants and loans; and legal empowerment services such as access to legal documents, and registration of marriages and births.  NGO activity interventions that previously targeted women and children as separate cohorts have evolved to include a “whole family” approach. Specific examples include the children’s bank in el Minya, the “family house model” that provides counseling to all family members when an individual woman or child is at-risk, and the expansion of support services at the Al Horreya facilities in Alexandria.  From 2007-2011, the public discourse about violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC) was more inclusive and not as stratified, which may be attributed to the publication of the VAW Study. The VAW Study findings remain relevant today despite the GOE’s newly developed gender based violence (GBV) objectives that focus on public harassment. Other CVAWC project outputs, aside from the VAW Study, remain relevant. Several INGO and NGO leaders requested copies of CVAWC outputs such as the guide for evaluating detention facilities, training materials for social workers, and the NGO grant management guidelines.  The successful adoption of amendments to the Child Law in 2008 had an additional benefit in that it increased GOE officials’ interactions with NGOs, and introduced them to international standards and conventions for the treatment of juveniles and children at risk. The relevance and effectiveness of trainings delivered to GOE judges and prosecutors were consistently rated very highly by all stakeholders.  Of the more than 50 individuals interviewed by the ET, no one mentioned the CVAWC media activities aside from the VAW media trainer. There is no assessment of the media activities in the Contractor’s Final Report or anecdotal information collected during the evaluation that allows the ET to access and measure the impact of this activity, which seems to be minimal. RECOMMENDATIONS Main recommendations include the following:  Any future activity needs to take account of the restrictive environment and the perceived high risk of engaging with foreign donors such as USAID.  Stakeholders repeatedly stated that there is a need for a national network or structure that links the national agenda to community-based activities run by NGOs.  It may be feasible to work through a respected multilateral organization or INGO as an intermediate step while the future status of the NCW, NCCM, and local NGOs is determined in the coming years.  Future programming may benefit from conducting a situational analysis of current NGO activities and capacities and consider operating on a smaller scale in areas where NGO interventions have proven to be sustainable such as NGO activities linking women and children in Upper Egypt.  Future activities may focus on social and economic empowerment underpinned by legal assistance as a way to reduce violence against women and children.  The VAW Study is still relevant; USAID should fund a report (by respected Egyptian academics and/or research institute) to validate and update the findings. 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 EVALUATION PURPOSE & SYNOPSIS OF TASK This is a report on the End of Project Performance Evaluation of the Combating Violence Against Women and Children (CVAWC) project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Egypt. CVAWC was implemented by Chemonics International during the period May 2007 – May 2012 for a total cost of $18,001,597. It was implemented nationwide, with activities focused on research-based analysis and support to the policy-enabling environment primarily in Cairo and grant disbursements to NGOs in 25 of 27 governorates of Egypt. The evaluation of CVAWC was conducted by a technical team assembled by Mendez England & Associates (ME&A). The team included: Ms. Brenda Lee Pearson (Team Leader), Ms. Hanan Kwinana (Evaluation Specialist), and Ms. Ghada El Sherif (Local Specialist). They were assisted by Ms. Laila Kamal (Logistics Specialist/Interpreter). The evaluation was conducted from October 2014 – January 2015 and covered the project’s entire implementation period. The main goal of the evaluation was to: 1) learn to what extent the activity contributed to the achievement of the intended results; and 2) provide insights into future decision-making for USAID/Egypt Office of Democracy and Governance (ODG). Further, the evaluation focused on whether the project activities were well-conceived, how the activity was implemented, what it achieved, whether expected results occurred, whether the activity was effective, and how it is perceived, valued, and sustained. The main thrust of the Evaluation Team’s (ET) mission was to determine the extent to which CVAWC was successful in: 1) improving the response capacity of the National Council for Women (NCW), the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), and the non￾governmental organization (NGO) community; and 2) increasing the number of women and children who receive assistance. The ET learned about the project’s performance strengths and weaknesses and how Egyptian NGOs may have benefitted better from technical assistance. In pursuit of these findings, the ET answered a specific set of evaluation questions posed by USAID/Egypt, and completed a document review (see Section 7.0 for a list of references and Annex 8 for notes from the review). 1.2 EVALUATION AUDIENCE The results of the evaluation will be used by the USAID/Egypt ODG team and may be utilized by the USAID/Washington Middle East and Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance Bureaus, as well as implementing partners NCW and NCCM. Specifically, USAID will integrate the report recommendations into future activities and share lessons learned with other stakeholders; the Contractor will learn about its performance strengths and weaknesses; and NCW and NCCM will learn more about how to better benefit from technical assistance provided by the international community. 1.3 EVALUATION QUESTIONS As per the Scope of Work (SOW), the ET was asked to answer a set of evaluation questions, outlined below: 2 1. What are the factors that enabled or constrained the implementation of the activity and its results? 2. What activity interventions were continued by the NCW, NCCM, child protection committees (CPCs) and benefiting NGOs after the activity conclusion and why? 3. How efficiently were the activity’s resources utilized? 4. Based on evaluation findings, what are the lessons learned in addressing violence against women in Egypt? 5. How were gender-related dynamics and issues addressed in the implementation approach? 6. How has the operating environment for the NCW, NCCM, and beneficiary NGOs changed over the past 3 years? 7. What should be the follow-on programmatic focus for USAID/Egypt in this sub-sector (new/different opportunities) and what would the ideal implementation structure be in terms of partnering with international organizations (including US contractors) as opposed to local organizations? As presented in the Evaluation Design Matrix (Annex 4), each major question was further elaborated and operationalized through a series of sub-questions around which evaluation findings are presented. 2.0 PROJECT BACKGROUND 2.1 DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT The 2005 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey1 starkly revealed the magnitude of family violence: more than half of Egyptian women who had ever been married and were between the ages of 15 and 49 had been subject to some form of physical violence. A staggering 70% of mothers interviewed admitted to addressing behavior problems by hitting their children. The deep-seated violence against women and children was not limited to class, education, or geography. At the time of the survey, it was taboo to discuss domestic violence, female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking in young girls and boys, and the appalling conditions of juvenile detention centers. Yet, a few public champions were visible and small openings to introduce change seemed possible. USAID/Egypt entered into discussions with the Government of Egypt (GOE) to address these issues through bilateral aid assistance. The main objectives were to improve the policy-enabling environment, raise public awareness, and provide basic services to abused women and children via the government and civil society. An agreement was reached in 2007 for USAID/Egypt to work through two national public institutions: NCW and NCCM. The Councils represented 1 Half of the women interviewed believed that a man is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she disobeys him. The most widely accepted reason for wife beating was “going out without telling the husband” (40%), and about one-fifth of women believed that “burning the food” was a justifiable reason for a husband to hit or beat his wife. The 2005 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey was financed in part by USAID and is available online at: http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR176/FR176.pdf. 3 the prime governmental2 entities advocating for improvements in the situation for women and children and engaging in initiatives that promoted and protected their rights. The Councils were founded and closely affiliated with then First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, a distinct advantage before President Mubarak’s departure; an enormous liability after. 2.2 OVERVIEW OF CVAWC USAID/Egypt designed CVAWC as a project under the Democracy and Governance (DG) Rule of Law (ROL) pillar. Due to the sensitive nature of the issues and the restrictive political environment in Egypt in 2007, it was not possible to link the project to a broader human rights agenda. CVAWC, therefore, focused on national-level public policy outcomes and outputs specific to improving services to women and children who are victims of violence. Based on interviews with former USAID staff, the ET learned that there were extensive discussions about whether to design one project that integrated activities for both women and children or to develop two separate requests for proposals. In the end, USAID decided it would be more cost-effective to join the activities under one contract. In May 2007, USAID/Egypt awarded a Task Order (TO) to Chemonics International Inc. to implement the CVAWC activity. According to the award, the project aimed to contribute to USAID/Egypt’s 2000-2009 Strategic Plan Goal: Globally Competitive Economy Benefiting Egyptian Equitably. The expected result of the project was to improve the response capacity of NCW, NCCM, and the NGO community, as well as increase the number of women and children who receive assistance. In implementing CVWAC, Chemonics was charged with: 1. Developing a results framework with indicators and an implementation plan including sequencing and a timeline that would result in achieving these results in consonance with USAID’s Strategic Objective (SO) 21: “Initiatives in Governance and Participation Strengthened.” 2. Collaborating with and drawing upon services provided through other USAID/Egypt DG activities such as the Family Justice activity which provided family dispute mediation and the Professional Media Development activity which could help the CVAWC activity form alliances with journalists for information dissemination. 3. Collaborating with the donor community. The award contract was modified eight times; most were made to incrementally fund the activity. Modification 7, dated January 17, 2012, included the following addition to the contract: “Long-term sustainability shall be incorporated into all of Contractor’s work, which will focus on building the ongoing capacity of its GOE counterparts and NGO grantees to continue project-supported activities following project closeout. The Contractor’s annual work plan for the final year of the project shall include a section summarizing all activities aimed at ensuring that project counterparts have the capacity to continue project-supported activities into the future. Additionally, the Contractor shall include in its final report written recommendations on how project-supported activities can be sustained and extended after project closeout.” Modification 8, dated March 4, 2012, decreased the TO ceiling price from $18,001,597 to $17,823,999. 2 The NCW was established by Presidential Decree No. 90 in February 2000 and was chaired by H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. The NCCM was established by Presidential Decree No. 54 in 1988 and is headed by the Prime Minister. 4 2.3 CVAWC TASKS NCW was the principal partner for the violence against women (VAW) component of the project, while NCCM was for the Violence against Children (VAC) component.3 The CVAWC TO specified two primary tasks and expected results to be achieved in coordination with these two public institutions and NGOs: 1. Task 1: Increase the capacity of the NCW and NCCM to advocate for policies that protect women and children. By improving the policy-enabling environment, USAID/Egypt believed that legal and institutional changes would protect the rights of women and children. The project also focused on providing better access to information on gender based violence (GBV), increasing awareness of selected government officials and opinion leaders through targeted trainings, and having the media treat the issues more sensitively. 2. Task 2: Increase the capacity of the NCW, the NCCM and the NGO community to respond to violence against women and children. CVAWC aimed to improve the response capacity of NCW, NCCM, and the NGO community so that there would be a measurable increase in the provision of services for victims of abuse. The Councils, which are not implementing agencies, were supposed to advise on grants given to the NGO community and others in order to provide services that helped prevent violence against women and children and treat victims of such violence. The Contractor, Chemonics, was expected to assist in strengthening the capacity of NCW and NCCM to advocate for policies by providing technical assistance, training support, and commodities. These advocacy activities were to help strengthen the legal framework and policies at key GOE institutions and strengthen the capacity of both Councils. 3.0 EVALUATION METHODS & LIMITATIONS 3.1 EVALUATION METHODOLOGY The evaluation methodology was carefully designed to respond to the evaluation questions outlined in the SOW and discussed above, as well as to document the results of project interventions, assess project delivery against intended results, and provide insights into future decision-making for the USAID/Egypt ODG. The evaluation focused on the most and least effective elements of the CVAWC activity in terms of implementation, relationships with counterparts, and how USAID can maximize the lessons learned for future investments in human rights and combating violence against women and children. The evaluation was designed to be: 1) participatory, significantly engaging and giving voice to the perspectives, ideas, and experiences of the key stakeholders, and beneficiaries; 2) multi￾dimensional, utilizing a variety of overlapping evaluation techniques to document, refine, and bring nuance to findings and recommendations; 3) evidenced-based, rooted in documented quantitative and qualitative results; and 4) useful. On-going engagement and dialogue with 3 See Annex 10 H for more fulsome descriptions of the NCW and NCCM. 5 USAID/Egypt enabled the ET to refine evaluation questions, identify key informants, and generate findings that will provide the Mission and implementing partners with useful recommendations for future programming. Per the evaluation SOW (Annex 1), the ET utilized a mixed-method approach including a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques, including individual and group responses, semi￾structured interviews, and analysis of existing information. This approach maximized primary field research opportunities, helped correct for the limitations inherent in each technique, and highlighted key findings, areas of agreement, divergences, and contradictions in findings. The ET adjusted the data collection methodologies in order to respond to limitations and opportunities during fieldwork, while also maintaining methodological rigor. The evaluation obtained primary data from:  Critical desktop review of materials related to CVAWC, such as annual and quarterly reports, work plans, success stories, performance management plans (PMPs), contract modifications, financial documents, training guides, success stories, grant materials, the final report, USAID correspondence, photographs of facilities that were refurbished, and other sources of reference that would validate their findings and conclusions. A complete list of the project documents can be found in Section 7.0.  Literature review of documents produced by United Nations (UN) agencies, the World Bank and others that are related to human rights, gender studies, and the Egyptian Amended Child Law (see Annex 8 for notes from the review).  Interviews with USAID, Chemonics, NCW, and NCCM staff.  Over 50 semi-structured interviews with leadership from 22 of 33 NGOs that received grants, international NGOs (INGOs), international donors, GOE officials, and journalists.  Three focus group discussions (FGDs) with NGO grantees in different cities, including: 1) Cairo, attended by nine NGOs from Cairo, Giza, and Sharkeya; 2) Alexandria, attended by three NGOs from Alexandria; and 3) El Minya, attended by five NGOs from Minya and Sohag. The ET was unable to conduct FGDs with beneficiaries, see Section 3.2 Limitations.  Field visits to Cairo, Alexandria, and el Minya. These governorates were selected because they were the locations where a majority of still active NGO grantees were able to attend FGDs and KIIs. NGO leaders who could not participate in person were interviewed by phone. Further, the ET conducted a site visit to the Al Horreya facility in Alexandria to witness the use of resources and gradual expansion of services since CVAWC initial investment in refurbishment.  Direct observation to cross-check information. Given the difficulty in obtaining interviews with key stakeholders, the ET determined that it would not be useful to include surveys as part of its evaluation methodology. The predicted low response rate and generally limited internet access in the country were significant factors. Therefore, the ET had to rely more extensively on CVAWC project documentation in lieu of KIIs with a larger number of stakeholders, especially GOE officials, and a mini-survey. 6 Data Analysis Plan Data collected using the above methods was processed, consolidated, and analyzed. The analysis was based on an Evaluation Matrix developed during the first phase of the evaluation process and considered the following questions: Effectiveness:  To what extent were the objectives achieved?  What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives? Efficiency:  Were activities cost-efficient?  Were objectives achieved on time?  Was the implemented in the most efficient way compared to alternatives?  How many people have been affected? Sustainability:  To what extent did the benefits of the project continue after donor funding ceased?  What were the major factors which influenced the achievement or non-achievement of sustainability of the project? Quantitative data collected was limited due to the passage of time since the project’s completion, destruction of NCW headquarters and all its archives and the NCCM’s lack of cooperation in this evaluation. Qualitative data was analyzed by converting responses to open-ended questions into quantitative variables. Sessions from FGDs were transcribed in Arabic. Respondent information was linked to the transcript, which allows disaggregation of results by different characteristics like gender, education, ethnicity, etc. Using qualitative data in this way allowed the ET to quantify the most common factors and themes for each project, while also noting and allowing consideration of unusual or unique responses. For qualitative data resulting from stakeholder interviews, where much of the evidence was anecdotal or inferred, the ET used triangulation, whenever possible, to identify any inconsistencies and ensure reliability. Triangulation helped the ET to reduce the “response bias” in which respondents tend to tell the evaluators what they want to hear. The VAW and VAC are such distinct activities that using automated software content analysis would have skewed evaluation results. The ET used the qualitative and quantitative data collected from the KIIs and FGDs to triangulate the data manually using ‘Inductive and Deductive’ analysis and theme development. 3.2 LIMITATIONS The ET faced a number of limitations in the design and during the implementation of this evaluation that stemmed from the current political environment and reluctance of some stakeholders to meet the ET. These limitations include:  Selection bias and threats to validity. The ET faced enormous difficulties because many informants were unavailable, unreachable, or declined to be interviewed because of Egypt’s current climate of political uncertainty and laws that seem to frighten many citizens. Many 7 stakeholders stated that the risk of meeting with Americans connected to USAID was too high at this time. Specifically:  Due to current political constraints and inadequate contact information, the ET was only able to meet with 2 out of a total of 2,674 GOE officials from the Ministries of Justice, Interior, and Social Solidarity who participated in CVAWC trainings.  After CVAWC ended in 2012, some NGOs involved in the project lost contact with other involved NGOs, especially in governorates outside of Cairo, and many cut their ties with NCW and NCCM. Further, the ET was unable to meet with the NGO grantee located in the Sinai. However, through extensive outreach efforts, the ET was able to confirm that about 28 of the 33 CVAWC NGO grantees were still active.  Although the ET obtained contact information for several journalists who participated in the CVAWC media and public awareness activities, only one (a trainer) agreed to cooperate with the evaluation.  It proved impossible for the ET to meet with former project beneficiaries. Therefore, the ET made extra efforts to locate NGOs that delivered services to beneficiaries and relied on the self-reporting of the NGOs to determine the number of beneficiaries that they continue to serve since the CVAWC activity ended. Based on data collected from the 22 NGOs that participated in KIIs and FDGs, the ET was able to rank beneficiary services by popularity. The ET used the same methodology as is utilized for conducting meta-analysis but on a much smaller scale.  CVAWC refurbished and equipped reception houses in order to improve services to street children, including three reception houses for street children, two buildings at the Dur El Tarbeya Child Reception Center compound, and child courts in Cairo and Giza, It also refurbished and equipped Dur El Tarbeya’s main kitchen, dining room, and two playgrounds. Unfortunately, the ET did not receive permission from the Ministry of Interior (MOI) and Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS) to conduct site visits. The ET did, however, visit the Al Horreya facility in Alexandria but can only comment on this single project procurement.  Halo bias. There is a tendency for respondents to under-report socially undesirable answers and alter their responses to approximate what they perceive as the social norm (halo bias) or the response desired by the interviewer. To mitigate this limitation, the ET stressed the respondent confidentiality and anonymity.  Recall bias. Many of the staff of international implementing partners and donors has left Cairo since 2012; current staff had little or no recollection of the CVAWC activity.  Operating environment and time constraints. As the operating environment in Egypt for USAID-funded activities in this area has changed considerably since the events of January 2011. The ET had to recreate what has happened since the project’s end in 2012 in the legal, policy, and institutional environment in order to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the project’s objectives. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations are influenced by newly imposed restrictive laws regulating funding for NGOs. Thus, some of the project’s achievements are under threat of being rolled back are entry point openings for similar activities. Readers should be aware that, because of the above limitations, there were inevitable gaps and missing data elements. Although the ET tried to identify alternative data sources through other 8 implementing partners, such as INGOs and USAID-funded implementing partners, to triangulate areas where the information is missing, incomplete, or contradictory, we cannot formally generalize these findings to the larger body of current or former USAID/Egypt VAW and VAC activities or to other related programs in Egypt. From a strict methodological standpoint, because the ET could not select evaluation participants or sites at random and was unable to meet with project beneficiaries and only a small number of GOE officials, we cannot be certain that the people with whom we met are representative of the broader population of program participants or stakeholders. Yet despite these limitations, and the challenges of any study that relies to a great extent on memory, opinion, interpretation, and the collection of divergent perspectives within a context that remains highly politicized and fraught, the evaluation represents an innovative approach that has generated a series of key findings, themes, ideas and suggestions which we believe should prove useful to USAID/Egypt, the NGO community in Egypt, and others. 4.0 FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS The ET utilized a scoring method to quantify the overall relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of CVAWC, as shown in Table 1 below, and assigned an overall score to each after the data analysis. No score was given to the project’s impact, as this would have been unreflective due to the change in political and social contexts and the fact that the project ended almost two years before the evaluation took place. Table 1: Project Evaluation Score Based on Data Analysis Overall Quality Ratings by Criteria: 1=low, 2=adequate, 3=good Relevance 2 Effectiveness 3 Efficiency 1 Impact n/a Sustainability 2 The ratings are based on the project’s overall strengths and weaknesses, summarized in Table 2 below, as identified during the evaluation and on the subsequent findings pertaining to each evaluation question, as detailed later in this section. Table 2: Summary of CVAWC Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths Weaknesses 1. Flexibility of Chemonics in adapting to changing objectives and political uncertainly 2. Project activities continuously adapted to Egyptian context 3. Creation of partnerships amongst GOE, NGOs, religious & tribal leaders, media 4. NGO capacity building resulted in expansion of services to most vulnerable women and children 1. Technical design approach could not meet some of the project’s overarching objectives 2. Objectives changed frequently, resulting in weak and inconsistent M&E 3. Resistance to institutional capacity building at NCW and NCCM 4. Grant Management; Chemonics management, low capacity of NGOs, NCW/NCCM interference 9 The following section details the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of each of the seven overall evaluation questions. 4.1 Q1: WHAT ARE THE FACTORS THAT ENABLED OR CONSTRAINED THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACTIVITY AND ITS RESULTS? 4.1.1 Findings Enabling Environment  The NCW and NCCM mandates specifically targeted women’s empowerment and the protection of children. First Lady Suzanne Mubarak’s support for both Councils provided strong political will and incentives to GOE officials, and, according to KIIs and FGDs, it is unlikely that either VAW or VAC activities would have been allowed to reach such a high level of discussion in the GOE without her support. In fact, much of the advocacy for these issues was conducted behind the scenes in order to gain support from key ministries and members of parliament. The First Lady’s advocacy bolstered and gave credibility to the leaders of NCW and NCCM. Thus, the two Councils succeeded in mobilizing the executive and the legislative branches of government to achieve significant legal reforms.  CVAWC, in coordination with NCW, supported the gathering, analysis, and publication of detailed data that was assembled in a groundbreaking study on GBV, the Egypt Violence Against Women Study (the VAW Study). Initially, an international advisor was to lead the research and drafting but local stakeholders refocused the research to engage renowned Egyptian experts and academics to produce the study, which increased its legitimacy and acceptance. As such and according to many people involved at the time, the GOE and the Egyptian public could not easily dismiss the study’s findings because of the high credibility of its authors.  The VAW Study’s findings and 31 actionable recommendations enabled NCW to identify national-level interventions such as training key GOE officials, designing a public policy to be delivered throughout the media, expanding services at the 27 governorate branches, adopting specific legal and regulatory reforms that would make it easier to report crimes like VAW, and targeting areas for grants to local NGOs. The VAW Study also recommended an integrated approach to legal, health, social, and psychological counseling services, which became the focus of many NGO grants under CVAWC.  From 2007-2008, CVAWC supported NCCM with its strategy and ongoing efforts to amend Egypt’s Child Law, which established new systems to strengthen protections for children and secure their rights in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This important legislative achievement provided a framework for action but was dropped during the political upheaval in 2011 and its aftermath because the new government was unsupportive of the issue.  CVAWC supported NCW and NCCM to hold targeted trainings for GOE officials, NGOs, and other stakeholders to increase their awareness of VAW and VAC in Egypt. In total, CVAWC trained and provided assistance on how the new Child Law was to be implemented to more than 6,000 individuals, including about 2,500 GOE officials from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), MOI, MOSS, and Ministry of Education (MOE). NGOs 10 participated in more than 2,000 information sessions and trainings that explained how the grants mechanism functioned. Due to the low initial capacity of NGOs, there was a great deal of training assistance and support at the pre-award stage. Other trainings included helping journalists increase public awareness of VAW and VAC issues.  The new CPCs created under the amended law were established to provide integrated services to children at risk and were to be comprised of legal professionals, judges, prosecutors, social workers and NGOs. CVACW supported extensive trainings for them. However, due to the change in Government and its new priorities, all CPC activities were discontinued due to lack of interest and funding  CVAWC grants significantly strengthened the capacities of NGOs across the country to raise awareness of children’s rights, provide urgently needed services to vulnerable children, and support initiatives in these areas, such as trafficking and transactional marriages. During discussions with the ET, several NGO leaders noted that although capacity building was not an objective of the grants it was an unintended benefit. They also noted significant improvements in financial management, documenting success stories, and writing better proposals. Constraining Environment  The close association of NCW and NCCM leadership with First Lady Suzanne Mubarak and the GOE proved both beneficial and detrimental. These associations helped NCW and NCCM attain political and legislative support for VAW and VAC initiatives but also tainted their reputations and ultimately led to the removal and replacement of the leadership after the political upheaval in January 2011. NCW and NCCM leadership underwent many changes after the events of January 2011. The Secretary Generals of both organizations have already changed several times and are expected to do so again following parliamentary elections in 2015. It is believed that NCW headquarters were burned in 2011 because of its close physical proximity to National Democratic Party headquarters, which was targeted because of its association with the Mubarak Government. NCCM lost its status as an independent body that reported directly to the Prime Minister and was placed under the authority of the Ministry of Health (MOH) after the Ministry of Women and Population was dissolved. The new VAW framework and action plan were delayed because of the political transition during the post Mubarak period.  NCW, in particular, had little or no direct involvement with the NGOs that implemented CVAWC activities so there were no reinforcing linkages between community-based services and national public policy. NGOs had extensive contact with the Contractor’s staff but no connection to the NCW structure. During FGDs, several NGO leaders complained that they received no direct support or assistance from NCW and mentioned that they viewed NCW’s involvement as politically motivated, especially as related to the grants process and requirement to brand all NGO activities and products with the NCW logo. Other key contacts, such as INGOs, also noted that the NCW structure was impenetrable and that they had requested that NCW issue a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to explain the institutional structure and reporting relationships.  The evident barriers and suspicions between the GOE and NGOs were present throughout CVAWC’s duration because important stakeholders, such as judges, prosecutors, and 11 police, had rarely before interacted with NGOs. However, the mutual distrust between GOE officials and NGOs was somewhat mitigated under CVAWC through trainings and increased interactions at the community level. Tensions between the GOE and NGOs resumed to pre-2007 levels during and after the events of 2011. Many of the CVAWC judges and prosecutors were reassigned to new postings in different governorates and focused primarily on public security issues. The NGO leaders lamented the breakdown in community relations in the FGDs. 4.1.2 Conclusions 1. The VAW Study and its evidence-based approach helped to ensure that efforts to tackle VAW were “grounded in Egyptian realities, and met the needs of Egyptian women and society.”4 The predominance of the study’s Egyptian authors and relegation of international advisors to the background ensured that the resulting NCW national strategy and action plan were viewed as indigenous and not imposed from international donors or intended to tarnish the image of Egypt. 2. The VAW Study’s findings were an important first step by the NCW to facilitate integrated NGO services for women, including legal, health, social, and psychological5 . 3. The passage of amendments to the Child Law provided a framework for integrated services to children at risk that included GOE officials from MOJ, MOI, MOE and MOSS. Several stakeholders said the advocacy campaign for the Child Law also introduced GOE officials to international standard and conventions for the first time. 4. The legal establishment and composition of the CPCs ensured that GOE officials and NGO leaders worked in tandem. CPCs reduced barriers between the GOE and NGOs. CVWAC trainings delivered by partner stakeholders also contributed to improved perceptions and communications. 5. Civil society and NGOs are operating under uncertain conditions because Egypt has harsh penalties for undefined interventions and activities and the perceived risk of engaging with foreign donors such as USAID. 6. Some of the project’s achievements are under threat of being rolled back as the public space shrinks for implementation of similar activities. 4.1.3 Recommendations  The CVAWC activity benefitted from the goal-oriented agenda of the NCW and NCCM leadership but there is little evidence that CVAWC could be implemented in the current political environment given the changes in NCW and NCCM leadership, mandates, and structures. The weak linkages between the GOE and NGOs have been severed in most communities due to NCW’s collapse and suspension of the CPCs. At this current juncture, it is difficult to recommend that USAID partner with NCW and NCCM for national-level follow-on activities similar to CVAWC due to their current status and estranged relations with former NGO grantees. 4 VAW Study, p. 62 5 VAW Study, p. 60 12  The VAW Study was groundbreaking in its breadth and scope on a topic that was considered taboo in Egyptian culture and society. The VAW Study and its public launch established a baseline of the problem in Egypt and raised public awareness. Its findings and its 31 actionable recommendations generated GOE interest in adopting a national strategy and action plan. Future USAID activity in this area should incorporate the lessons learned from CVAWC, especially the importance of the local perspective by renowned Egyptian authors.  The VAW Study is still the most relevant material on the topic of GBV. NCW, in cooperation, with UN agencies is conducting a follow-up study, although it will not share the same focus as the VAW Study. USAID should lend support to the new study on GBV and conduct a follow-up report (by renowned Egyptian academics and/or research institute) to validate and update the findings of the original VAW research.  NCCM’s legislative achievements were the main catalyst for action so any further activity in the area of children’s rights and protection should be rooted in the legal framework. Related to this, GOE officials and segments of the educated public are aware of Egypt’s standing in international conventions and this knowledge holds significance to them.  Any future activity needs to take account of the restrictive, uncertain operating environment for Egyptian civil society and NGOs, and the perceived risk of engaging with foreign donors including USAID. 4.2 Q2. WHAT ACTIVITY INTERVENTIONS WERE CONTINUED BY THE NCW, NCCM, CPCS, AND BENEFITTING NGOS AFTER THE ACTIVITY CONCLUSION AND WHY? 4.2.1 Findings NCW In cooperation with local and international partners, NCW led development of the National GBV Strategy in response to public discourse on the need for an approach to combating GBV, particularly public harassment, and national mechanisms and tools to support reporting, referral systems, and prosecution of such incidences. The strategy built on the CVAWC strategy, VAW Study, and UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Egypt. In response to the 2014 Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Report (UPR), targeted trainings for prosecutors and judges continued utilizing CVAWC outputs to support the GOE’s effort to combat human trafficking and address cases of sexual and domestic violence by enhancing key investigative and prosecutorial capacities. The Report provided 25 actionable recommendations pertaining to women’s overall empowerment, increased political and economic empowerment, combating women’s trafficking and illiteracy, and training and capacity building for judges and police officers to better handle VAW cases.6 Accordingly, the UN agencies working in Egypt have started to combine their efforts to address some of these recommendations in collaboration with the GOE before the next Egypt report in April 2019. 6 Universal Periodic Review, UPR Info. Egypt Recommendations http://www.upr info.org/database/index.php?limit=0&f_SUR=52&f_SMR=All&order=&orderDir=ASC&orderP=true&f_Issue=All&searchReco =&resultMax=300&response=&action_type=&session=&SuRRgrp=&SuROrg=&SMRRgrp=&SMROrg=&pledges=RecoOnly. Accessed December 2014 13 NCCM NCCM engages with the UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Terre des Hommes, and Plan International to bring the CPCs back into the agenda of GOE authorities. In cooperation with UNICEF, NCCM conducted a mapping study of child protection systems in Egypt with the aim of identifying gaps and recommendations, and developing a roadmap to strengthen child protection services. This was a reaction to the Egypt CRC report submitted in 2011, which recommended that the GOE strengthen coordination between NCCM and the Ministries of Defense, Military Production, Interior, Foreign Affairs (Refugee Affairs Department), Education, Justice, and Information, as well as the meaningful involvement of CPCs in coordination efforts.7 Although the ET was not able to meet with current NCCM leadership or staff, it is evident from FGDs that NGOs dealing with VAC issues require assistance to draft district-level CPC by-laws to make them effective as coordinating and supportive mechanisms. According to KIIs, justice sector professional trainings continue to use CVAWC project outputs, including comprehensive training manuals, checklists for assessing facilities as alternatives to detention [in cooperation with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)], and legal analysis checklists for reviewing and analyzing cases brought under the Amended Child Law, to ensure knowledge and skills transfer to fulfill their roles and responsibilities in Egypt’s new child protection system. The National Center for Judicial Studies currently utilizes the training manual to raise the capacities of newly appointed judges in the juvenile justice system and to reinforce training for judges and prosecutors in the areas of juvenile sentencing, and separation of juveniles and adults in detention. CPCs Although CPCs received capacity building activities from CVAWC and other national and international organizations, according to KII and FGD participants, only very few committees are active at the district level in the Cairo, Giza, Sharkeya, Sohag, and Port Fouad Governorates. Unofficial engagement of some CPC members was initiated at the request of NGOs to resolve community-based issues. District CPCs (DCPCs) and governorate CPCs (GCPCs) are not adequately funded, if at all, and are comprised of volunteers, which is not sustainable. NGOs NGOs have continued some activities despite reduced funding but are very limited in their ability to implement them. Legal assistance projects have reduced services because of the costs associated with obtaining official documents. NGOs working in VAC have increasingly expanded their counseling and operational activities to include all family members, not just children. Based on experiences from the last four years, NGOs in Sohag, el Minya, and Alexandria reported better results when additional family members are included in mediation efforts. Continuing activities are focused on high demand services such as economic services, legal assistance, and low-cost awareness raising activities. The CVAWC-developed Family House Model approach to counseling support that targeted at at-risk families proved to be a successful 7 Office of the High Commission on Human rights, Concluding Remarks - The Convention on the Rights of Children – Egypt CRC Report 2011- p.2 http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/Egypt/CRC.C.OPAC.EGY.CO.1.pdf 14 format for family mediation. It has been replicated on a smaller scale through community-raised donations in the Governorates of Sohag, el Minya, and Aswan in Upper Egypt. 4.2.2 Conclusions 1. Continuation of VAW and VAC activities is driven by the needs of beneficiaries as identified by NGOs at the community level and INGO and donor reporting. 2. Many of the VAW and VAC activities implemented by NGOs have evolved into family￾focused activities and are proving to be comprehensive as well as sustainable, such as the family mediation approach of the Family House Model, Street Children Bank. 3. The current viability of CPCs is uncertain. 4.2.3 Recommendations  USAID should consider reissuing and distributing CVAWC outputs such as training manuals, checklists for assessing facilities as alternatives to detention, legal analysis checklists for review, and analysis of cases brought under the Amended Child Law to develop capacities of judges/prosecutors.  The Family House Model and Street Children Bank projects are entry points to social and economic empowerment as well as interventions targeting families.  NCCM previously managed an effective coordination system for child policies and programs while CPCs provided important integrated service support to NGOs. Informal linkages remain but there should be a concerted effort to encourage the revitalization of CPCs in the communities where NGOs are still active. 4.3 Q3: HOW EFFICIENTLY WERE THE ACTIVITY’S RESOURCES UTILIZED? 4.3.1 Findings The CVWAC activity was unique for USAID globally. According to USAID staff involved in the project design, the activity was not a perfect fit for ROL programming within the DG strategic framework but USAID staff did not let this hinder programming and its potential achievements. As a consequence, the CVAWC PMP had only three US State Department/F Bureau ROL indicators that imperfectly tracked and captured anticipated outcomes and outputs. Second, CVAWC’s strategy and objectives shifted greatly in the third year from that of affecting the policy enabling environment to piloting interventions at the community-level. Despite this large reconfiguration of project outputs and outcomes, the monitoring and evaluation framework and indicators were not adjusted. Therefore, it is difficult to measure the efficiency of how resources were utilized over time. Through KIIs and FGDs, the ET tried to assess how basic resources were utilized in terms of contributions to the human rights agenda, financial management, operations, and human resources. Contributions to Human Rights Agenda NCW had difficulty articulating what it wanted to achieve through the project and did not view CVAWC as a human rights project. Its leadership also expressed frequent reservations about tarnishing the image of Egypt. According to former USAID staff, the Contractor’s staff, and NGOs, NCW was more effective in influencing the policy environment than in implementing 15 and administering grants. NGOs and INGOs expressed frustration that the NCW structure was “impenetrable” and difficult to access, which resulted in disruptions and tensions between NCW and the NGO grantees that received funding to provide community-based VAW services The CVAWV activity was to collaborate and draw upon services from other USAID/Egypt DG activities. The ET identified and contacted two stakeholders who were familiar with the Family Justice Project which provided family dispute mediation and was co-located inside the NCCM premises along with CVAWC. One key informant indicated that the Family Justice Project was not large enough to have a multiplier effect and offered little to CVAWC as a partner. The ET did not hear of any benefits from the Professional Media Development Activity, which focused on forming alliances with journalists. Financial Management CVAWC was designed to provide GOE with bilateral assistance support through NCW and NCCM under one contract. Both Councils provided some technical input and negotiated directly with USAID during the project design stage. Working under the bilateral agreement meant that GOE counterparts were held responsible for promulgating and advancing CVAWC objectives. Their leadership interpreted this to mean that all contract resources should be divided equally between the two Councils, leading to competition. Neither Council, however, was familiar with USAID contracts or accustomed to the large presence of the Contractor and USAID in managing the contract and activities, leading to protracted “disagreements” and delays in the start-up and grants activity. Therefore, project funds were reallocated frequently. Operations The USAID Mission understood that NGO capacity was low and their grant management skills were likely to be weak, so CVAWC developed grant guidelines. The Mission Director approved an action memo that USAID/Egypt would be an active advisor for the grants and would not relinquish responsibility under a grant. Thus, the CVAWC grants mechanism was restrictive and presented limitations because USAID and the Contractor were very involved at the pre-award stage. According to FGDs with NGO leaders, all grants, however, also needed to be approved by NCW and NCCM who used their veto power frequently. CVAWC administered $4 million in grants to 33 NGOs, although there was a nearly one-year delay before the first grants were awarded. The ET heard conflicting reasons for the slow start. The Contractor discussed the NGOs’ low capacity and the very specific community-based interventions that were unique to the circumstances of each governorate. Other key informants, on the other hand, said that the Contractor was not adequately prepared and “wasted a lot of time in redefining, recognizing, and managing the goals.” Several INGOs also mentioned that it is very difficult to build NGO capacity in the normal project cycle of 2-3 years because of the low capacity and isolated nature of NGOs in Egypt. The INGOs also stated that they, too, had to overcome similar hurdles in working with community-based NGOs in Egypt. Human Resources The technical support provided by the Contractor included a field office in Cairo with team leaders and other staff located directly in NCW and NCCM headquarters. According to former USAID and Contractor staff, there was an informal mid-term review that resulted in several noteworthy reallocations of staffing and resources. Following this review, project staff were realigned and shifted away from activities aimed at increasing public awareness of VAW and VAC and the direct interaction with journalists and screenwriters, internal media monitoring 16 operations, and the placement of public service announcements on media outlets were discontinued. The Contractor’s budget, however, does not specify what percentage of the budget was designated for these activities. There were significant changes in staffing over the duration of the project. For example, institutional capacity building project staff decreased from 5 to 0, grants management staff increased from 3 to 10, and VAC/NCCM staff increased from 3 to 8. The ET conducted a thorough document review but did not find a narrative or explanation about why these changes occurred. Although the Contractor was not obligated to seek formal approval for staff changes other than the two key personnel, the ET had expected to find some written documentation between the Contractor and USAID regarding these changes and reflected in a realigned budget. 4.3.2 Conclusions 1. CVAWC was a courageous and uncharted endeavor for USAID that was shoehorned into the ROL/DG results framework, which somewhat explains why the PMP and indicators, did not fully capture or measure the project’s overarching achievements and innovative nature. By comparison, CVAWC is aligned nicely within the USAID 2013 Democracy, Human Rights and Government framework. 2. The CVAWC project structure was unwieldy and did not have the desired integrative and crosscutting benefits of uniting VAW and VAC activities. A great deal of time was lost due to the resistance of the Councils to accept the planned institutional capacity building support. NCW and NCCM are now more familiar with USAID bilateral assistance. Working under the bilateral agreement meant that GOE counterparts were held responsible for promulgating and advancing the CVAWC objectives. 3. The CVAWC grants mechanism was very restrictive but at the same time necessary because the NGOs’ capacities were very low. USAID and the Contractor were obliged to be deeply involved in the pre-award stage and to provide continuous and labor-intensive oversight. No grants were administered in the first year – a considerable delay. The Contractor tripled the size of the grants management team during the project and all $4 million of designated grants were eventually disbursed. The Contractor eventually met its objectives. 4. The activities related to media monitoring, outreach to journalists and screenwriters, and public service announcements were dramatically decreased but the ET did not find sufficient written documentation to account for the shift in 2009 away from activities designed to increase public awareness of VAW and VAC. One key informant mentioned that these activities were too vague, too expensive, and had results that were too difficult to measure, which seems to be a reasonable explanation for discontinuation of these activities. 5. Of the more than 50 individuals that the ET interviewed, none mentioned the CVAWC media activities aside from the VAW media trainer. The Contractor’s Final Report contains no assessment or anecdotal information of the media activities that would allow the ET to access and measure the impact of this activity, which seems to be minimal. 6. In retrospect, it would have been helpful and informative to conduct a formal mid-term review to assess project objectives and the required number of key personnel and other staff. The discontinuation of activities related to increasing public awareness, and the 17 reduced focus on institutional capacity building should be explained. The ET did not find any references to the rationale for changing earlier objectives and activities in the quarterly reports or work plans. Given the sizeable adjustments in staff allocation, one would expect to find a record of discussions between USAID and the Contractor. 7. As noted in the methodology and technical challenges, the ET was able to visit only one CVAWC refurbishment because the GOE’s MOI refused to grant permission to other sites. Thus, the ET cannot comment on the efficient use of $2 million designated for refurbishing juvenile detention facilities and reception houses for street children. 4.3.3 Recommendations  The inherent rivalry between the Councils was a distraction. There are many indications that CVAWC may have been more efficient, and perhaps more successful, if the VAW and VAC activities were separated under two contracts. The Contractor provided common services in project management, grants administration, human resources, and finance to both Councils, which, although it may be considered an efficient use of resources based on principles of economy of scale, resulted in significant time and resources being lost. Based on the experience of CVAWC, USAID/Egypt should distinguish VAW and VAC as two separate and distinct activities that involve different constituencies and, therefore, require separate contracts in any future assistance programs.  USAID/Egypt should proceed cautiously in funding future media activities that have the objective of influencing public opinion since there is no indication that these CVAWC activities had an impact on changing public attitudes towards VAW and VAC.  It would have been beneficial for USAID to have conducted a mid-term evaluation of CVAWC because of the change in its objectives, staffing, and resource allocation. It is recommended that USAID conduct mid-term reviews of similar projects that provide direct grants to local NGOs in order to ensure efficient and timely disbursement of grants funding. 4.4 Q4. BASED ON EVALUATION FINDINGS, WHAT ARE THE LESSONS LEARNED IN ADDRESSING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN EGYPT? 4.4.1 Findings The VAW Study was key in defining areas of intervention at the institutional level and in identifying targeted stakeholders such as judges, prosecutors, and media representatives including screenwriters. However, according to key informant interviews (KIIs) and FGDs with a large cross-section of stakeholders, including NGOs and other INGOs that have a long history of operating in Egypt, there is less willingness to discuss violence against women today than in 2009 after the release of the VAW Study. While broader issues of other types of GBV such as social, economic, and political empowerment are acceptable at a public level, issues of physical violence, and in particular domestic violence, are difficult to tackle. At the community level, NGOs were instrumental in identifying underlying causes of violence, supporting key community leaders such as religious and tribal leaders who could assist in interventions, and in implementing popular activities such as vocational training and legal assistance, as effective methods to reduce VAW. There was a disconnection, however, between activities conducted at the institutional and community levels. NCW could have had greater outreach and collaboration with local NGOs 18 through its 27 governorate branches but the communication between NCW headquarters and its branches was weak. The project would have benefited from a more robust resource mapping of NCW, which would have clarified the best avenues to enhance the effectiveness of NCW and its branches. Monitoring of and compliance with activities and policies to reduce VAW was weak during the project as NCW’s low technical capacity did not allow it to fulfill this part of its mandate. Discussions with NGOs and INGOs corroborated this, as did discussions on future monitoring of such policies and interventions. Stakeholders stated that self-reporting is the current and expected future trend and that NGOs work in parallel to government institutions. Stakeholders repeatedly stated that the political will to address VAW is tied to the Councils’ leadership and national institutions rather than to the institutional structure. The choice to pursue certain avenues or topics was directed by NCW leadership and the same structure was true for various ministries involved in CVAWC activities. This phenomenon was evident during the lead-up to the ET’s KIIs. For example, NCCM’s new Secretary General has publicly advocated for again reducing the legal age for children to be tried as adults. This public stance represents a huge volte-face for NCCM and threatens to undo NCCM’s biggest legal achievement. 4.4.2 Conclusions 1. There is a great need to build and reinforce linkages between community-based evidence and national level policy dialogue. At the macro level, NCW adhered to its mandate to promote and to advocate for certain GBV policies that were not controversial in general public opinion (trafficking and transactional marriages are viewed as perpetrated by foreigners against Egyptian women and girls). At the micro-level, NGOs had greater outreach, anecdotal and quantitative evidence that did not reach the necessary institutions, and therefore was not influential in national decision-making. 2. NGO interventions specific to community needs demonstrated the most success and sustainability. Economic empowerment services, such as vocational training, access for handicrafts and to markets, grants and loans, and legal empowerment services such as access to legal documents and registration of marriages and births, remain in high demand. 3. There is a great danger that hard-fought legislative gains achieved before 2011, such as increasing the legal age of marriage, will be reversed or turned back due to the lack of political will and changes in leadership based on recent media coverage. Any reversal of laws could have serious implications and set precedents for other gains achieved during the reign of the former First Lady. Therefore, strategic alliances and action plans for the reduction of VAW interventions must be sufficiently institutionalized so that future changes in high level NCW and NCCM leadership do not derail hard fought gains, especially when leaders publicly expressing personal opinions at odds with the Councils’ mandates. 4.4.3 Recommendations  National policy is determined without the benefit of evidence-based solutions while at the same time community-based NGOs have limited contact with national decision makers. The CVAWC activity encouraged NCW and NCCM national leaders to interact and also linked community-based NGOs across sectors and governorates. There is great need for reactivating former networks and fostering new ones. It may be feasible to work through a 19 respected INGO to form a coalition or network of NGOs and connect them to national decision makers if appropriate.  NCW has lost much of its national monitoring function as the new GOE makes ministries responsible and accountable for achieving results. This new decentralized approach will rely on self-reporting by the MOJ, MOI, MOSS, MOE and other GOE stakeholders. A credible national institution or research organization should assume this monitoring role if the NCW is unable.  From 2007-2011, VAW discourse was larger, more inclusive, and not as stratified as today. There is a need to link smaller initiatives to a more comprehensive approach. Ongoing NGO activities linking women and children in Upper Egypt show great merit and may be a good entry point for future interventions. The NGOs in el Minya, Sohag and Aswan seemed to be proponents of a more holistic approach to the reduction of violence within the family. 4.5 Q.5 HOW WERE GENDER RELATED DYNAMICS AND ISSUES ADDRESSED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH? 4.5.1 Findings CVAWC was specifically designed to tackle violence against two subsets of people – women and children. The VAW component of the project inherently looked at uneven gender relationships in decision-making processes and their impact on violence directed at women. Cultural and religious traditions often perpetuated uneven gender relations in communities. These gender discrepancies were addressed through conducting specific awareness-raising sessions with Muslim and Christian religious leaders, tribal leaders, and other prominent community leaders – almost all exclusively male. These participants were then better able to structure arguments against VAW to their constituents based on interpretation of religious texts and accepted behaviors. There was a general understanding, reinforced by the VAW Study that separate counseling and awareness sessions were needed for male and female participants so as not to taint information, subjugate participants to unwarranted harassment, or cause duress to any person. Further, some of the trainings for media personnel that dealt with portrayal of VAW separated male and female participants. The counseling sessions offered through NGOs’ religious leaders were secular but leaders from different faiths came together for roundtable discussions. Transactional marriages and trafficking in women and children were also identified in the VAW Study as additional issues of concern in combating violence against women and children. NCW and NCCM integrated these topics into their activities and focused on including all members of the family household in counseling sessions to reduce overall risk. NGOs noted that economic empowerment of women was a factor that contributed directly to the reduction of VAW; income generation by females enhanced their status within the community and the home. Consequently, many NGOs requested funding for these types of activities in the second round of CVWAC grants. The ET disaggregated all the data collected on project participants and beneficiaries by gender. Table 3 shows the data on participants of various activities, including repeat participants who attended more than one training. Table 3: Participation in CVAWC Activities by Gender 20 Activity Total Male Female CVAWC participants at events (workshops, roundtables, awareness sessions meetings) 6, 148 3,345 2,803 CVAWC participants at all trainings (social workers, media, judges/prosecutors, NGOs capacity building) 4,523 2,050 2,473 Beneficiaries of VAW Grantees 14,398 7,664 6,734 Beneficiaries of VAC Grantees 9,160 5,599 3,561 Finally, at the grassroots level, NGOs in Egypt have shown that economic empowerment of women is a factor in reducing VAW. CVAWC was expanded to include an economic empowerment component during Phase II based on NGO grantees’ observations and assessments that improved female economic empowerment led to more joint family decision￾making and had a mitigating effect on VAW. 4.5.2 Conclusions 1. During project implementation, action was taken to ensure that gender dynamics which were sensitive and could affect activities, service delivery, and overall outcomes were taken into consideration. The involvement of community and religious leaders facilitated addressing sensitive issues related to gender dynamics in the family and community. 2. To effectively reduce violence against women and children, and have a sustainable impact, a holistic approach that targets all family and community members is necessary. This approach should not only focus on corrective measures, but also on preventive measures for families at risk, by addressing the underlying gender relationships. 3. Economic empowerment is a key factor in reducing VAW in Egyptian communities. 4.5.3 Recommendations  Future activities need to address ways in which power dynamics result in male domination in family relationships. Based on the ET’s literature review, findings specific to Egypt show that while wealth alone is not a determining factor in reducing spousal violence, involvement in decision making at the household level significantly reduces violence in the home. This causal relationship between economic empowerment and shared decision-making in the home is cited by many Egyptian-specific studies. Another determining factor is educational attainment of girls and women beyond secondary school.  Given the successful engagement of religious and tribal leaders in addressing gender based issues at the community level, future interventions should include these important stakeholders.  Economic empowerment activities, such as vocational training and entrepreneurship for micro and small medium enterprises, would be good entry points for future interventions aimed to reduce VAW in Egyptian communities. 21 4.6 Q6: HOW HAS THE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT FOR THE NCW, NCCM AND BENEFICIARY NGOS CHANGED OVER THE PAST 3 YEARS? 4.6.1 Findings CVAWC was a groundbreaking and courageous project designed by USAID/Egypt that attempted to raise public awareness of the extent to which violence against women and children exists in Egyptian society. Talking about the subject was taboo in 2007 but through extensive and persistent negotiations with GOE, USAID/Egypt, the Contractor, and implementing partners designed a national strategy to combat violence against women and children. The political will to proceed with this project in 2007 was sporadic but sufficient to improve the policy-enabling environment and to fund community-based services that provided assistance to the most vulnerable segments of society: abused women and children. NGOs have expressed fear and reluctance to work in the human rights area of DG programming. The current operating environment in Egypt for USAID-funded activities in the field of violence against women and children has changed considerably since the events of January 2011. The new focus has shifted to GBV topics such as harassment in the public sphere and the economic cost of GBV in the work place. Concrete legislative achievements associated with CVAWC’s objectives are under threat of being reversed, including lowering the legal age of marriage, lowering the age at which children may be criminally liable, and abandoning funding for and interest in CPCs. The current NCW and NCCM leadership was unwilling to cooperate with this evaluation, although a mid-level representative from NCW did participate in a KII. NCW and NCCM leadership has changed repeatedly because of the former Secretary General’s close relationship with the Mubarak regime and the previous political leaders in the GOE. The ET had to recreate what has happened since 2012 in the legal, policy, and institutional environment in order to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the project’s objectives. The new 2014 Constitution upholds the mandates of NCW and NCCM but NCCM is now under the auspices of MOH. Based on more than 50 interviews, NGO leaders repeatedly stated that it was not the right time to conduct activities that specifically address VAW and VAC issues. Rather, NGOs suggested family-based and economic empowerment approaches. 4.6.2 Conclusions 1. NCW and NCCM have experienced a sharp reduction in national stature and political influence. Although, some of the larger NGOs have gained visibility, they are still too isolated and small-scale to play convening roles and to affect national policy decisions. 2. The programmatic focus has shifted from VAW to GBV, which will likely result in a more stratified project-based approach that emphasizes public harassment and workplace harassment. NCW, with support from UN agencies, is developing an economic costing model that will measure the economic loss in GDP due to gender based harassment. The ET observed that as the public space shrinks for VAW and VAC activities, fewer bilateral 22 donors are investing in this area. The multilateral UN agencies are leading initiatives in the GBV sector and guiding new research studies. 3. The new GBV priorities and required GOE actions are diffused across more ministries (MOJ, MOI, MOSS, MOE, MOH), each of which is accountable only for its own activities, so that there is no single national monitoring body – as previously performed by NCW. Therefore, there is a gap in and need to monitor and integrate operational level outputs to the national outcome level. 4.6.3 Recommendations  In order to reach beneficiaries directly, and to effectively address VAW at the community level, it is best to focus on partnerships with local NGOs. NCW and NCCM continue to work at a policy level and have become even more distant from NGOs in their networks. Furthermore, the reach of NCW has been greatly weakened with the absent role of its governorate branches under the current context. Based on FDGs with NGOs in Cairo, Giza, Sharkeya, Alexandria, el Minya, and Sohag, the NCW and NCCM structures do not have any role at the community-based level of activities. Therefore, a grants mechanism similar to that of the CVAWC activity has no practical application at present.  According to KIIs, the current GOE focused on issues related to public harassment and conditions in the work place and seems willing to tackle these issues now because they are perceived as breaches in security and public civility due to the post-2011 fray. This presents a small but tangible opening for donors and INGOs to work with the GOE on related issues. USAID can and should support these initiatives but not necessarily through grants to NGOs.  Based on FGDs and KIIs with 22 NGO leaders, the ET recommends that VAW and VAC activities be viewed and described more generally as social and economic empowerment and legal assistance rather than specifically as VAW and VAC, as was the case under CVAWC. Currently, there is more opportunity for USAID to support VAW activities through this more nuanced approach than under the previous CVAWC configuration of the issue. 4.7 Q7: WHAT SHOULD BE THE FOLLOW-ON PROGRAMMATIC FOCUS FOR USAID/EGYPT IN THIS SUBSECTOR, AND WHAT WOULD BE AN IDEAL IMPLEMANATION STRUCTURE IN TERMS OF PARTNERING WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS? 4.7.1 Recommendations  The medium and long-term impact of CVAWC support provided to NCW and NCCM from 2007-2012 is difficult to assess two years later but several conclusions can be drawn. First, lack of cooperation with the ET is a sign that future cooperation may be contentious. The ET had little or no interaction with the current leadership of either Council. The CVAWC project trained 2,614 GOE officials from various ministries but only two willingly participated in the evaluation. Second, it may take some time for the leadership and structures of NCW and NCCM to adapt to the realities of working with international partners. The NGOs’ refrain that it is not the right time may apply equally to engaging NCW and NCCM on VAW and VAC issues. 23  Throughout KIIs and FGDs, stakeholders repeatedly stated that there is a need for a national network or structure that links the national agenda to community-based activities run by NGOs. NCW has lost much of its national monitoring function as the new GOE makes ministries responsible and accountable for achieving results. This new decentralized approach will rely on self-reporting by the MOJ, MOI, MOSS, MOE and other GOE stakeholders.  A credible national institution or research organization should perform this monitoring role if NCW is unable. It may be feasible to work through a respected multilateral or INGO to form a coalition or network of NGOs that work in the VAW or GBV and VAC sector. This type of mechanism may be viewed as an intermediate step while the future status of NCW, NCCM and local NGOs are determined in the coming years.  According to the VAW Study, the magnitude of violence against women and children in Egypt is daunting, especially in Cairo. Future programming may benefit from operating on a smaller scale in areas where NGO interventions have proven to be sustainable. In order to reach beneficiaries directly and effectively address VAW at the community level, it is best to focus on partnerships with local NGOs. It is recommended to convene the 22 active CVAWC NGO grantees and other NGOs working in this area. Further, special attention should be given to geographic areas where there are clusters of NGOs that cooperate and share common objectives. For example, ongoing NGO activities linking women and children in Upper Egypt show great merit and may be a good entry point for future interventions. The CVAWC NGO grantees in el Minya, Sohag, and Aswan are also proponents of a more holistic approach to the reduction of violence within the family. The ET also saw clear evidence of efficient use of resources and that the CVAWC investment had served as catalyst for further expansion of services The Al Horreya facility in Alexandria. See Section 6 for Further Directions.  It would be helpful to conduct a situational analysis of the current NGO interventions and their capacities. For example, the future activities may need to focus more on economic empowerment, including microenterprise, as a way to reduce VAW in Egyptian communities. Such activities, including vocational training and marketing of goods, could be good entry points for future interventions.  The VAW Study still provides the most relevant information on the topic of GBV. NCW, in cooperation, with UN agencies is conducting a follow-up study but will not share the same focus. USAID should lend support to the new study on GBV and conduct a follow-up report (by renowned Egyptian academics and/or research institute) to validate and update the finding of the original VAW research.  NCCM’s legislative achievements were the main catalyst for action so any further activity in the area of children’s rights and protection should be rooted in the legal framework. Related to this, GOE officials and segments of the educated public are aware of Egypt’s standing in international conventions and this holds significance to them.  The current leadership of NCW and NCCM did not participate in this evaluation. There is no clear or expressed indication that the Councils are interested in discussing these findings, conclusions and recommendations but efforts should be made to present this evaluation to the new leadership, regardless of cooperation. 24 Regrettably, there was no consensus on ideal implementing structures for Egyptian organizations or NGOs to partners with international organizations. Some bilateral donors, like the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), are increasing their contributions to the UN agencies based in Egypt rather than providing bilateral assistance to the GOE. In the short-term, there are no obvious GOE structures or partners to replace NCW and NCCM. International donors are very limited in their ability to provide grants directly to NGOs without passing through a public institution. USAID/Egypt requested that the ET recommend potential implementing partners for follow-on activities. The ET posed this evaluation question to more than 50 stakeholders and received varied suggestions for implementing structures that may be amenable to working with international donors. Regrettably, there was no clear or obvious choice of an implementing partner for follow-on gender based activities. Indeed, it may be advisable to settle on an intermediate solution such as working through multilateral organizations like UN agencies or INGOs (which have field operations) for the next two to three years rather than investing heavily in a new government counterpart to replace NCW and NCCM. 5.0 CHALLENGES In addressing Evaluation Question 3, a detailed analysis was presented of the key factors affecting the operating environment for NCW, NCCM, and beneficiary NGOs over the past three years. This section briefly reviews the main issues extant within Egyptian society at the time of project operations that challenged the CVAWC Project. 1. Political upheaval and events of January 2011-June 2012: When the CVAWC contract was awarded in 2007 there were political leaders quietly supportive of raising difficult issues previously considered taboo in Egypt. National leaders were willing to speak about these issues, which led to legislative changes, development of strategic action plans for government interventions at the national and community levels, and the formation of CPCs. There was an emerging consensus for sweeping reforms and public education campaigns. Through extensive and persistent negotiations, the Contractor and implementing partners designed a national campaign to combat violence against women and children. From the project start-up in 2007 through 2011, CVAWC established and maintained good working relationships with the GOE at the national level with the NCW and NCCM leadership. These relationships provided the support and platforms for important contributions to the policy enabling environment. However, CVAWC was greatly affected by and its project objectives underwent a significant transition due to the political upheaval and breakdown in security in January 2011 and the fact that there were no longer any visible national advocates of or champions for VAW and VAC activities. CVAWC’s national level relationships, including with the GOE, were dissolved, and the project became unable to influence media, government officials, and national leadership, causing it to shift focus away from influencing the national policy enabling environment to working with NGOs at the local community level. This had a cascading effect on the increasingly reduced ability of CVAWC to keep a broader, national focus on VAW and VAC objectives as the Contractor was forced to adopt a smaller scale, stratified technical 25 approach. In interviews, NGO leaders lamented the lack of support and funding to continue with CVAWC activities and mentioned that the public space for addressing VAW and VAC has become noticeably smaller and riskier for NGOs. 2. NCW, NCCM, and NGO low capacity: CVAWC aimed to improve the response capacity of NCW, NCCM, and the NGO community for be a measurable increase in services for victims of abuse. NCW and NCCM (to a lesser degree) had little direct involvement with the NGOs that implemented CVAWC activities, which had two consequences: 1) NGOs could not access national networks or platforms to help develop skills and institutional capacity; and 2) there were no reinforcing linkages between community-based interventions and national public policy. The NGOs had no prior experience implementing USAID grants so the Contractor and USAID were deeply involved at the pre-award stage of grant making. Implementing USAID grants proved challenging for grantees who needed to spend a substantial amount of time and resources on preparing grant applications and developing the requisite skills to administer and financially manage the grants. 3. No history of interaction between Government of Egypt and NGOs: the evident barriers and suspicions between the GOE and NGOs were present throughout CVAWC’s duration because important stakeholders, such as judges, prosecutors, and police, had rarely before interacted with NGOs. The mutual distrust was somewhat mitigated under the project through trainings and repeat interactions. These burgeoning linkages, however, have dissipated in the absence of general security in Egypt and the flaring of violence and demonstrations between January 2011 and June 2012. Furthermore, the demise of the CPCs during this period severely reduced contact among the stakeholders, making it difficult for the project to adhere to its implementation plan timeline. 4. Project Design of CVAWC: the project structure was unwieldy and did not have the desired integrative and cross-cutting benefits of uniting VAW and VAC activities. A great deal of time was lost due to the resistance of the Councils to accept the planned institutional capacity building activities. There was also an unrealistic expectation that public attitudes towards violence against women and children could be influenced solely through a national public awareness campaign based on the evidence found in the VAW Study. There were many assumptions by the Contractor and implementing partners that the media could be persuaded to play a positive and consistently constructive role but that hope was not materialized. 6.0 FUTURE DIRECTIONS Based on the findings and conclusions in this report, the ET recommends that future strategic directions not be framed exclusively in a human rights context. The programmatic focus can, however, be tied to social and economic empowerment, underpinned by legal assistance. The ET was impressed that several NGOs continued activities that were initiated under the CVAWC project due to high demand by beneficiaries. These sustainable activities should be considered as promising entry points for future activities. 26 6.1 CSO/NGO NETWORK The national NGO networks connecting VAW and VAC activities were broken when the CVAWC project ended. There is a need to link smaller initiatives to a more comprehensive approach so that community-based evidence informs national public policy priorities. At the same time community-based NGOs rarely have opportunities to engage with national decision makers. Many stakeholders listed a need for reactivating former NGO networks and fostering new ones that link NGOs to GOE officials. Although, some of the larger NGOs have gained visibility, they are still too isolated and small-scale to play convening roles and to affect national policy decisions. The ET recommends reconvening the CVAWC grantees in order to conduct a situational analysis/resource mapping to assess current activities and capacities. The CVAWC NGO grantees have accumulated close to six years of experience and have made programmatic adjustments and experimented with different methodologies. A notable change has been the move away from activities with a narrow focus on only either women or children to a “whole family” approach that addresses the needs of all family members in order to better solve the root causes of violence. The NGOs have also identified high priority needs such as: 1) economic empowerment services, including vocational training, access to markets, and grants and loans; and 2) legal empowerment services, including access to legal documents, registration of marriages and births. These are the potential entry points for future assistance. Since political circumstances hastened the closeout of CVAWC activities and the disruptive environment in 2012 did not allow for adequate time to capture all of the lessons learned that were specific to the NGO activities, a gathering of all the active CVAWC NGOs could facilitate discussions about lessons learned and future ambitions. Such a gathering could be held in Cairo as a side meeting at a national conference or a series of smaller meetings held in a few governorates; NGO leaders should determine the venue. The NGO leaders themselves may have suggestions on how to reactivate or create a new network. This may also be an opportunity to reissue and recirculate the CVAWC outputs that were successful, such as the VAW Study and guides to VAC activities. At a minimum, a reunion of NGOs will generate new anecdotal and qualitative data that does not normally reach the national public policy level. 6.2 STREET CHILD BANK CVAWC created the Street Children Bank in el Minya as a particularly innovative idea mixing corporate social responsibility (CSR), microfinance, children’s services, and NGO community networking. The El Minya NGO community trained beneficiaries on conducting feasibility studies and managing small projects. As part of encouraging contributions or funding under the CSR umbrella, they reached out to 20 businessmen and organized meetings with media representatives were invited to introduce them to the innovative program ‘Street Child Bank’ and to gain support. With the NGO’s own contributions, those from the private sector, Caritas, and directly from 42 children provided the seed capital to establish a street child bank which was managed by street children. Children, 15 years and above, and their families could then obtain micro credit to establish their own projects to provide economic empowerment to at-risk families and their children, who normally spend most of their time working on the streets to provide income for their families. Family loans were issued at an interest rate of 10%, from which 7% was invested in offering health and school enrollment services to street children 27 and 3% was retained to cover administrative costs. The bank provided loans to 106 families during CVAWC and continued financing 2250 family loans in cooperation with Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) micro-loans unit and receiving coverage in the press in year 2014. As a result of the NGO community capacity building interventions, the NGO community began cross-project collaboration with PLAN International on providing small village loans under the Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA)8 and promoted the creation of savings groups (12- 15 members) mainly for women. The group issued loans from the saving pool, based on the members' needs, for starting small income-generating projects. VSLA has proven to be very successful in providing continuing support to women who are now empowered to contribute to and take decisions about domestic financial issues. 6.3 FAMILY HOUSE MODEL The Family House Model provides mediation and counseling services for families in communities where domestic violence was evident. It addressed the challenge of discussing family-related cultural taboos with outsiders. Located in the Giza Governorate, the NGO community piloted a participatory approach that engaged all family members to discuss violence issues and work together to find solutions through ‘Family House’ meetings. A group composed of an NGO facilitator, a respected community leader (Ra’edat Refeyat), a religious leader, and a social worker visited families and conducted meetings. They gathered three to four generations of family members and intervened to assist households in resolving differences. At first, family members refused to attend meetings but the facilitator convinced them to do so and then led discussions about the problems and responsibilities of each family member. During the meetings, problems were analyzed, underlying reasons highlighted, and the whole family reached a consensus on the steps needed to reach a solution. By the end of the meeting, the family shared a vision of living together peacefully and committed to changing their behaviors. The ‘Family House’ proved to be a successful model in family mediation and counseling and was replicated in projects and scaled-up within different communities to resolve GBV problems within families. The model was introduced in ‘I’m Here’ Project (Anan Hona), which addressed the male patriarchal culture that does not accept women leaving the home to work. During family meetings, films with educational content were shown to initiate dialogue and facilitate solutions to family problems in a peaceful manner. 6.4 VAW STUDY The CVAWC VAW Study remains the most comprehensive report on VAW in Egypt. Not only was it instrumental in defining the main issues, it was also key in outlining the attitudes of various stakeholders on relevant issues. The resulting 31 actionable recommendations formed the foundations of the national CVAW framework that was developed during the project. The findings remain relevant to date. Currently, UNFPA is supporting NCW to utilize the study in two ways: 8 Plan International – Banking on Change - Village Savings and Loan Association - https://plan-international.org/where-we￾work/africa/egypt/what-we-do/village-saving-and-loans-association-vsla-programme/ 28 i. To update the data in the study and conduct a survey on the economic cost of VAW ii. To use the information to update the GBV national strategy, and develop an action plan with partners A strong entry point for USAID would be to participate in the ongoing survey and update data in partnership with NCW/UNFPA. Once this is complete USAID could then develop a comparative study that would assess the differences between the VAW Study and the newly commissioned one to identify differences in trends and attitudes from 2009 to 2014-2015. The findings of this comparative study will not only validate certain areas where interventions continue to be necessary but will pinpoint community attitudes towards interventions that are acceptable under the current socio-economic and political contexts which could serve as entry points for USAID programs and activities. The comparative study can also expand on the section of the VAW Study which mapped services available to women to include services and programs offered by INGOS, NGOs and other donors. This will enable USAID to better identify complementary programs, and potential partnerships. 6.5 AL HORREYA RECEPTION HOUSE FOR STREET CHILDREN The Al Horreya NGO in Alexandria is a model of a successful service provider of holistic services to street children and that could be expanded to other governorates. Under CVAWC, the NGO received funding for rehabilitation and for a mobile unit. The ET concluded that this was a sound, sustainable investment that can serve as a catalyst for further expansion of services in other governorates. This is one area where USAID can provide future funding to further support services for the VAC component. Established in 1964 as a juvenile detention center, Al Horrya expanded in 1994 to work with street children. It has since evolved as an umbrella organization for 15 NGOs working with street children in Alexandria. It still houses a juvenile reception center with a protocol of understanding with the MOI, which operates the facility for up to 45 juveniles that have committed soft crimes. The services offered for street children have expanded over the years to accommodate their needs and currently consist of:  Day reception center: There are approximately 10-15 rotating children (numbers increase in the summer).  Overnight shelter: There are 30 permanent children (numbers increase in the summer).  Mobile unit: Provides health services to children who do not wish to come to the center. There are approximately 40 regular recipients.  Health unit: Provides medical checkups, emergency room care, a pharmacy, and protocols for cooperation with five hospitals in Alexandria for surgical interventions if necessary and with government institutions to reduce any radiology costs. A main goal of the health unit is to complete medical files for each child it receives.  Vocational training: Workshops for carpentry, bamboo furniture making, and printing.  Legal services: In collaboration with relevant government institutions, efforts are especially directed at issuing birth certificates and ID cards.  Rehabilitation center: Working with children from the age of 16-17 to provide psychological and vocational rehabilitation in order to prepare them to leave the shelter 29 when they turn 18 and can no longer stay at the center. Al Horreya provides these rehabilitation services to children from other shelters and government institutions in Alexandria. There are currently 86 children receiving rehabilitation services. 30 7.0 REFERENCES DOCUMENT NOTES PROJECT CONTRACTUAL DOCUMENTS CONTRACT Concept Development of a Human Rights Activity: Team Meeting Agenda, outlining activity concept Egypt Human Rights: Violence against Women and Children Project. Task order under the REDI Justice IQC. Technical Volume. RFTOP No. 263-07- 023 Chemonics. Submitted to USAID/Egypt. May 6, 2007. Egypt Human Rights: Violence against Women and Children Project. Task order under the REDI Justice IQC. Cost Volume. RFTOP No. 263-07-023 Chemonics. Submitted to USAID/Egypt. May 6, 2007. USAID, Chemonics signed project Contract and cover sheet. May 19, 2007 Memorandum of Action, USAID DG to Mission Director, Approval of Grants under program. January 30, 2007. TOM, CVAWC project status post January 2011. No date or author specified CONTRACT AMENDMENTS Amendment 8, Decrease in funding ceiling. Signed March 4, 2012. Amendment 7, Increase in task order, modify sections, approve travel and salary budget. Signed January 17, 2012. Amendment 6, Incremental funding up to Dec.2011. signed March 17, 2011 Amendment 5, Incremental Funding to June 2011. Signed August 31, 2010. Amendment 4, Incremental funding and realignment of budget. Signed April 8, 2010 Amendment 3, Restrictions on certain foreign purchases. Signed March 23, 2009. Amendment 2, Incremental funding to June 2010. Signed June 1, 2009 Amendment 1, Incremental funding to march 2009, amendments to certain clauses. Signed march 3, 2008. PROJECT QUARTERLY AND ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS Combating Violence against Women and Children: Final Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, June 4, 2012. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY12 Second Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, April 30, 2012. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY12 First Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, January 31, 2012. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY11 Fourth Quarterly and Annual Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, October 30, 2011. 31 Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY11 Third Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, July 30, 2011. Combating Violence against Children: FY11 Third Quarterly Progress Report by NCCM. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, July 30, 2011. No date specified. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY11 Second Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, July 30, 2011. Combined NCW and NCCM FY11 Q2 reports Combating Violence against Women: FY11 Second Quarterly Progress Report by NCW Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, July 30, 2011. No date specified Combating Violence against Children: FY11 Second Quarterly Progress Report by NCCM. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, July 30, 2011. No date specified Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY10 Fourth Quarterly and Annual Progress Report and. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, October 30, 2010. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY10 Third Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, July 30, 2010. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY10 Second Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, April 30, 2010. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY10 First Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, January 31, 2010 Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY09 First Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, January 30, 2009. Missing Q2,3,Annual Reports FY09 Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY08 Fourth Quarterly and Annual Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, October 30, 2008. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY08 Third Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, July 30, 2008. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY08 Second Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, April 30, 2008. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY08 First Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, January 30, 2008. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY07 Fourth Quarterly 32 and Annual Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, October 30, 2007. Combating Violence against Women and Children: FY07 Second Quarterly Progress Report. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt, July 31, 2007. (Combines Q2 and Q3) CVAWC Grant Compendium. Grant Activities. No date. PROJECT ACTIVITY REPORTS MEETINGS USAID, NCW workplan Review Meeting. October 5, 2011. Minutes of meeting, CVAWC project COP and Cairo DG. March 2 No year specified Minutes of meeting, with Chemonics acting COP. July 5, 2010. Minutes of meeting, Cairo/DG NCCM project liaison. October 21, 2007. Steering Committee minutes, CVAWC at NCW. September 30,2010 SITE VISIT AND EVENT REPORTS Site visit DG, Workshop on Trafficking in women at NCW. March 28, 2012 Site visit COR DOG Office, Discussion of close-Out Activities. May 6, 2012 Site visit DG, Closing Event. March 25, 2012. Site visit DG, Launch of Framework of National Strategy to Reduce Violence Against women. December 4, 2011. Event Brief, HAWWA (Grant Recipient) Conference on Transactional Marriage. October 18, 2011. Site visit COTR, Dar El Tarbeya Refurbishment. August, 22, 2011. 2 images available Site visit CTO, Launch of Cairo Governorates CPCs training. August 20, 2009. Event Brief, VAW retreat April 14-15, 2009. No author Field trip Report, 3 day training for prosecutors. December 16, 2008. PROJECT ADMINISTRATIVE COMMUNICATIONS Grants procurement manager/Acting COP, email re: issues related to closing. May 06, 2012. Financial Review Memorandum re: Internal Audit sampling 27% of expenditures from Feb.201-Feb.2011. June 15, 2011. CVAWC AWP updates and Amendments-VAW Component. April, 17, 2011 USAID, letter to Secretary General. Approval of NCW AWP 2009. USAID, AWP 2009 Revised NCW PMP, operational program indicators. Cairo/DG, Email re: First Annual Workplan Comments. July 31, 2007. Cairo/DG, Email re: extension of workplan due date. June 25, 2007. Key Operating Assumptions and Questions, VAC component, prior to development of first annual plan. WORKPLANS 33 Combating Violence against Women and Children: Fifth Annual Work Plan, October 1, 2011-May 12, 2012. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt. Combating Violence against Women and Children: Fourth Annual Work Plan Revised, March 30, 2011-September 2011. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt. Combating Violence against Women and Children: Fourth Annual Work Plan, October 1, 2010- September 2011. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt. Combating Violence against Women and Children: Third Annual Work Plan, October 1,2009 -September 2010. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt. Combating Violence against Women and Children: Second Annual Work Plan, October 1, 2008-September 2009. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt. Combating Violence against Women and Children: First Annual Work Plan, July 1, 2007- September 2008. Unpublished report prepared for USAID/Egypt. PROJECT OUTPUTS NCCM NCCM success stories: Child Bank in Minya, Media, Religious dialogue, el Goura CDA, CPCs, Prosecutors NCCM Reports: Child Law analysis; Child rights in Islam and Christianity; CPC analysis (English & Arabic) NCCM Report on CPC Training NCCM Report on Structure of CP General Committees and sub￾Committees NCCM Checklist for Legal Aid Program-matrix NCCM CPC Information Brochure (Arabic) NCCM List of international child-related conventions ratified by Egypt Checklist for M&E of Child Social Service Providers NCCM Q & A on amendments to Child Law (English and Arabic) NCCM: introduction to short stories by children relating to Child Law, by one VAC Grantee in Manshiet Nasr (Arabic) Technical Report and Recommendations for Dar El Tarbiya No author Information packages/ training material on: UN regulations on managing juvenile detainees, protection of juveniles deprived of their liberty; non￾custodial measures for juveniles; for the prevention of juvenile delinquency; justice for child witnesses and victims of crime. (Arabic) Not clear what purpose of material is Technical Assessment reports for 4 vocational training centres in 4 districts in Assiut. July 2011 (Arabic). Technical Assessment report for 1 vocational training centre in in Sohag. July 2011 (Arabic). Technical Assessment report for 1 vocational training centre of the 34 Kawthar NGO. July 2011 (Arabic). Technical Assessment report for 1 vocational training centre in in Port Said. June 2011 (Arabic) Technical Assessment reports for 2 vocational training centers of 2 NGOs in Alexandria. May 2011. (Arabic) Technical assessment reports for 2 vocational training centers in 2 districts in Aswan. May 2011. (Arabic) Guide for dealing with juvenile detainees. Published by Ministry of Justice supported by NCCM. USAID and Ministry of Justice. Training manual on child’s rights to be used in training for prosecutors. (Arabic) Proposal for the Evaluation of vocational training and rehabilitation centres in Egypt-a checklist. Arabic and English NCW NCW success story, completion of VAW study Training toolkit on violence; identifying battered women; psychological counselling for battered women; providing support to battered women; violence and unreported violence; prevention of domestic violence Surveys to assess beneficiary satisfaction with women’s counselling centers. English and Arabic. Surveys to assess needs of staff in women’s counselling centers. English and Arabic. Violence Against women Study. Summary of findings. April, 2009. English and Arabic Introductory chapter to VAW Study. April 2009. Literature Review on Violence against women. April, 2009. Report on media and Violence against Women. April, 2009. chapter in full study on VAW Overview of Services on violence against Women. April, 2009. Secondary Analysis of Violence against Women from Demographic and Health Survey. April 2009. chapter in full study on VAW Review of the Legal and Regulatory Structure. April, 2009. chapter in full study on VAW Survey Results, Violence Against women. Secondary analysis of Violence Against women from Women’s Empowerment Survey. April, 2009. chapter in full study on VAW Media coverage of Violence against Women. Rights of women under personal Status laws. For Service providers of battered Women. (Arabic) Listing women’s protection and Reception Centers. (Arabic) Guide on the legalities of marriage between Egyptian Women and foreigners. Accumulated Report on Transactional Marriages in Sharkeya, Giza, Cairo. 2011. English and Arabic. Operation Manual for Women’s Counselling Centre’s. (Arabic) 35 Information on operation of women’s Shelters (Arabic) Official National/International Documents UNCRC findings, Egypt 2011. Scanned copies of various issues of Official National Newspaper, in which by Law all conventions, laws, amendments have to be published and become public knowledge. Issues display all national regional and international conventions that Egypt abides by in relation to the child. Final Evaluation Communications CVAWC Grantee contact sheet ANNEXES ANNEX 1 – EVALUATION SCOPE OF WORK SECTION C – DESCRIPTION / SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK End of Program Performance Evaluation of USAID/EGYPT Combating Violence against Women and Children Activity (2007-2012) I. INTRODUCTION The Combating Violence against Women and Children activity, managed by the USAID/Egypt Office of Democracy and Governance (ODG) under contract to Chemonics International Inc., was a five-year, $18 million award. The activity was selected because it met USAID’s criteria for evaluation as a “large” activity, exceeding in dollar value the mean project size for the operating unit. The findings from this end of program performance evaluation will be used to better inform future ODG decision-making and programming in the area of gender-based violence. By evaluating the activity and the extent to which it achieved its intended results, ODG hopes to strengthen its future program design and management. II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION A. Identifying Information Activity Title: Combating Violence against Women and Children Award Number: Contract # 263-I-02-06-00018-00 Award Dates: May 13, 2007 – May 12, 2012 Initial Ceiling: $18,001,597 and LE 408,173 Implementing Organization: Chemonics International Inc Geographic Areas: Multiple governorates (Cairo, Alexandria, Minya, Sohag, Qena, Port Fouad, others) Evaluation Manager: Ms. Taly Lind, Deputy Office Director, Office of Democracy and Governance, USAID/Egypt B. Development Context USAID/Egypt’s decision to support the protection of the rights of women and children was informed by discussions with government officials, civil society representatives, press accounts, studies, and surveys. For example, findings from the 2005 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey9 indicated that nearly half of all ever-married women ages 15-49 had been subject to some form of physical violence. Half of the women interviewed believed that a man is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she disobeys him. The most widely accepted reason for wife beating was “going out without telling the husband” (40%), and about one-fifth of women believed that “burning the food” was a justifiable reason for a husband to hit or beat his wife. At least 2/3rds of women who were victims of violence did not seek assistance. Some felt that it was “no use” seeking help; others felt it was not important or accepted the violence simply as “part of life.” In addition, the survey reported 70% of mothers interviewed addressed behavior problems by hitting their children. USAID/Egypt support for the protection of the rights of women and children was expressed in an amendment to the Activity Appraisal Document dated September 18, 2006, that approves of funding for “A five-year Human Rights Program ($22,000,000, FY2006-2010).” This funding includes explicit approval for activities “to strengthen legislation and regulations that protect the rights of particularly vulnerable groups, namely women and children” and “to increase the ability of Egypt’s civil society and quasi-governmental entities to address human rights violations and respond to acts of violence against women and children.” USAID/Egypt began supporting Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) and National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) in 2007. The organizations represented the prime governmental10 entities advocating for improvements in the situation for women and children and engaging in initiatives that promoted and protected their rights. Some local and international civil society organizations were also active in this area, though they faced operating restrictions, including widely-known difficulties obtaining legal registration. The 2006 amendment to the AAD addressed critical assumptions that were made at the time. There was a high level of willingness on the part of the national councils to work with USAID. USAID believed that there was a true commitment on the part of the councils to contribute to the success of the proposed activity. III. Activity Objectives and Approach In May 2007, USAID/Egypt awarded a Task Order (TO) to Chemonics International Inc. to implement the Combating Violence against Women and Children (CVAWC) activity. According to the award: The program contributes to USAID/Egypt’s 2000-2009 Strategic Plan Goal: Globally Competitive Economy Benefiting Egyptian Equitably. The expected result of the project is to improve the response capacity of NCW, NCCM, and 9 The survey was financed in part by USAID and is available online at http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pdf/FR176/FR176.pdf. 10 The NCW was established by Presidential Decree No. 90 in February 2000 and was chaired by H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. The NCCM was established by Presidential Decree No. 54 in 1988 and is headed by the Prime Minister. the NGO community and increase the number of women and children who receive assistance. The results are designed to directly support the achievement of Strategic Objective 21: Initiatives in Governance and Participation Strengthened. The award contract was modified eight times. Most modifications were made to incrementally fund the activity. Modification seven, dated January 17, 2012, included the following addition to the contract: “Long-term sustainability shall be incorporated into all of Contractor’s work, which will focus on building the ongoing capacity of its Government of Egypt (GOE) counterparts and Non￾Governmental organization (NGO) grantees to continue project-supported activities following project closeout. The Contractor’s annual work plan for the final year of the project shall include a section summarizing all activities aimed at ensuring that project counterparts have the capacity to continue project-supported activities into the future. Additionally, the Contractor shall include in its final report written recommendations on how project-supported activities can be sustained and extended after project closeout.” Modification eight, dated March 4, 2012, decreased the task order ceiling price from $18,001,597 to $17,823,999. Primary Tasks and Expected Results of award # 263-I-02-06-00018-00: Two primary tasks and expected results were specifically indicated in the Task Order: Task 1: Increase the capacity of the NCW and NCCM to advocate for policies that protect women and children. Expected Results: 1) Better access to information on gender-based violence 2) Increased influence over public policy by NCW and NCCM 3) Legal and/or institutional changes that protect the rights of women and children. Under this task, the Contractor was expected to assist in strengthening the capacity of NCW and NCCM to carry out their mandates and to advocate for policies that protect women and children by providing technical assistance, training support, and commodities. The advocacy activity was to help strengthen the legal framework and policies at key GOE institutions and strengthen the capacity of both councils. The Contractor was required to provide support that enables NCW and NCCM make available information about the legal rights of women and children and advocate for passage of laws or policies to prevent violence against women and children. The Contractor was also charged with assisting the NCW and NCCM to increase awareness of the government officials and opinion leaders about international and regional human rights covenants; provide information about human rights violations; and encourage the GOE to implement the proposed legislation and institutional reform. For violence against women (VAW): In order for NCW to more fully address the problem of gender-based violence in Egypt, there was a need for additional information. The Contractor, in close collaboration with the NCW, was to conduct an assessment documenting the nature and extent of violence against women in society and in the family. The assessment was to use quantitative and qualitative research methods. Drawing upon survey methodology and data from existing information, the quantitative survey was meant to generate statistics estimating the prevalence of the problem, types of abuse, attitudes of women, and causes and consequences of physical, psychological, and mental abuse. The qualitative research component was to provide additional background information on the sociocultural and legal context of women’s rights in Egypt. Based on the findings, the NCW was expected to identify appropriate interventions; make recommendations to the GOE, NGOs and donors to prevent violence; and specifically identify appropriate interventions for support under this activity. For violence against children (VAC): One area of interest to NCCM was the juvenile justice system. The Contractor was to build the capacity of NCCM and assist it to advocate for policies, practices, and activities that maximized the chances of youth involved in the juvenile justice system to develop into healthy, productive adults. Task 2: Increase the capacity of the NCW, the NCCM and the NGO community to respond to violence against women and children. Expected Results: Improve the response capacity of NCW, NCCM, and the NGO community; increase collaboration between the NCCM and entities interested in building and supporting reception houses that commits all participants to clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and contributions; enhance provision of services for victims of abuse; and increase the number of women and children who receive assistance. Working in close collaboration with NCW and NCCM, the Contractor was to assist the councils, the NGO community and others to provide services that help prevent violence against women and children and treat victims of such violence. For violence against women: The Contractor worked with USAID and NCW to set up a grants program to support NGOs in their efforts to a) respond to the type of violence identified as a result of the diagnostic study conducted under Task 1 and b) promote awareness campaigns where needed on violence against women. For violence against children: The Contractor was charged with supporting NCCM to implement its National Plan for Combating Violence Against Children by improving the quality of existing reception houses for children at risk and street children11 and then, based on lessons learned, expanding the number of reception houses. The Contractor was also required to provide training, technical assistance and commodities to assist NCCM in their effort to provide children at risk and victims of violence with a safe, secure shelter and other fundamental services. In consultation with USAID, the Contractor was expected to assist NCCM to develop and manage alliances with international and local entities interested in building and supporting the reception houses. The purpose of encouraging and fostering this partnership was to coordinate, increase and sustain the impact of efforts, resources and interests for establishing and supporting reception houses in Egypt for children at risk and street children. The intent was to 11 There are approximately thirty reception houses throughout Egypt operated by NGOs and by the Ministry of Social Solidarity. encourage and capitalize on the corporate social responsibility of Egyptian and multinational firms and NGOs to assist the GOE in its efforts to combat violence against children. In collaboration with USAID and NCCM, the Contractor was to develop a grants program for NGOs to respond to the cases of abuse and violence against children and assist in the operation of the reception houses. The grants program also planned to assist NGOs to promote awareness regarding violence against children and street children. The Contractor also was expected to collaborate with and draw upon services provided through other USAID/Egypt Democracy and Governance activities. One proposed example was the Family Justice activity, which could help provide information about family dispute mediation. Another proposed example was the Professional Media Development activity, which could help the CVAWC activity form alliances with journalists for information dissemination. The Contractor was also required to collaborate with the donor community. The Contractor was charged with developing a Results Framework with indicators, and an implementation plan including sequencing and a timeline, that would result in achieving these results, in consonance with USAID’s Strategic Objective (SO) 21: “Initiatives in Governance and Participation Strengthened.” The Contractor developed a framework and a performance management plan (PMP) that followed the standardized USAID program structure and not one specific for the activity. The PMP was aimed at measuring progress toward achieving the expected results set out in the task order. The PMP combined operational reporting indicators tailored to fit CVAWC’s work with qualitative indicators to measure impact. Activity Counterparts The National Council of Women was established by presidential decree in 2000, the NCW’s stated role is to recommend policies for the advancement of women and advocate and mobilize support for those policies. Its branch offices are reportedly run by volunteers that coordinate the efforts of NGOs in their governorates. The branch offices are also meant to provide information on women’s issues to the central council to use in formulating and advocating for policy reforms. The council continued to operate after the January 25, 2011 uprising, despite debate about its future and negative press coverage about its affiliation with the former regime. The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood was established by presidential decree in 1988. The council’s primary role is to protect vulnerable children and advocate for policy reform. When the activity began, the NCCM was an independent body that reported directly to the prime minister. In March 2009, it was placed under the authority of the Ministry of Family and Population. After January 25, 2011, NCCM was placed in the portfolio of the Minister of Health (but separate from the Ministry of Health. C. Reported Results In its final report dated June 4, 2012, the Contractor reported that working in partnership with NCW, NCCM and NGOs across the country, CVAWC provided technical assistance, training, mentoring, and grant funding to reduce violence against women and children as follows: To combat VAW, the activity:  Supported the gathering, analysis, and publication of detailed data that was assembled in a groundbreaking study on gender-based violence, the Egypt Violence against Women Study  Supported NCW’s development and public launch of a comprehensive strategy framework for combating VAW  Supported civil society organizations in identifying causes underlying the phenomenon of transactional marriage in their communities, and in developing advocacy campaigns and other activities to reduce this form of human trafficking  Enabled the NCW and local NGOs to develop and implement locally appropriate, coordinated community responses to gender-based violence, including advocacy, raising public awareness, and direct service initiatives To combat VAC, focusing on two groups of at-risk children: children in conflict with the law and street children, the activity:  Supported implementation of 2008 amendments to Egypt’s Child Law that established new systems to strengthen protections for children and secure their rights in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Activities included assisting with the drafting of executive regulations; standing up and training members of child protection committees created under the amended law, and identifying the resources they need to function effectively; training legal professionals, judges, prosecutors, NGOs, social workers, and media representatives on the amended law, and creating local capacity to continue/expand that training; and raising public awareness of the amended law.  Refurbished facilities for at-risk children, including Dur El Tarbeya (DET), a large multipurpose residential facility for boys in Giza. CVAWC also trained social workers at  Dur El Tarbeya and created a certification program for social workers who work with children through NGOs.  Strengthened the capacities of NGOs across the country to raise awareness of children’s rights, provide urgently needed services to vulnerable children, and supported initiatives in these areas.  Details of tracked indicators were provided in the final report in support of these achievements, along with lessons learned and recommendations. IV. Relevant Documentation A broad range of background documents apart from activity documents are available to better understand the context of this activity. These may include documents that relate to human rights, UN VAW study, UN reports on gender, and the Egyptian Amended Child Law. The Contractor website for the CVAWC activity is still available at: http://www.Chemonics.com/OurWork/OurProjects/Pages/Combating-Violence-against￾Womenand-Children.aspx. The evaluation team will be provided with a package of briefing materials, including:  CVAWC deliverables and publications, including the study on violence against women conducted with NCW  List of benefiting NGOs (33 NGOs in 27 governorates in Upper and Lower Egypt, in addition to Sinai Peninsula), including contact information  Contact information for Chemonics, NCW, and NCCM  Activity PMP and workplan and performance indicators  Activity Approval Document Amendment #2, 2006, “Strengthened Democracy and Governance in Egypt”  Request for Proposal  Contractor’s Proposal and the Task Order  Activity contract and amendments  Activity quarterly and annual reports, in addition to any ad-hoc work plans and management reviews  Budget information  CVAWC Final report V. End of Program Evaluation Rationale A. Evaluation Purpose and Use The purpose of the evaluation is to: (1) learn to what extent the activity contributed to the achievement of the intended results; and (2) provide insights into future decision-making for USAID/Egypt ODG. B. Audience and Intended Uses The audience of the evaluation report will be the USAID/Egypt ODG team, the USAID/Washington Middle East and Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance Bureaus, implementing partners, NCW, and NCCM. The executive summary, expanded executive summary final report, and recommendations will be provided to the NCW, NCCM, and other donors in Egypt working on human rights activities. A copy will be posted to the publicly accessible USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC). USAID will integrate the report recommendations into future human rights activities and share lessons learned with other stakeholders; the Contractor will learn about its performance strengths and weaknesses; and the NCW and NCCM will learn more on how to better benefit from implementing partner technical assistance. It is expected that both counterparts will have the opportunity to discuss how the CVAWC activity assisted them and how this type assistance could better benefit them in the future. C. Evaluation Framework and Questions USAID is most interested in exploring the most effective and least effective elements of the CVAWC activity in terms of implementation and relationships with counterparts and how USAID can maximize the lessons learned for future investments in human rights / combating violence against women and children. The evaluation must answer the following questions: 1. What are the factors that enabled or constrained the implementation of the activity and its results? 2. What activity interventions were continued by the NCW, NCCM, Child Protection Committees (CPCs) and benefiting NGOs after the activity conclusion and why? 3. How efficiently were the activity’s resources utilized? 4. Based on evaluation findings, what are the lessons learned in addressing violence against women in Egypt? 5. How were gender-related dynamics and issues addressed in the implementation approach? 6. How has the operating environment for the NCW, NCCM, and beneficiary NGOs changed over the past 3 years? 7. What should be the follow-on programmatic focus for USAID/Egypt in this sub-sector (new/different opportunities) and what would the ideal implementation structure be in terms of partnering with international organizations (including US contractors) as opposed to local organizations? VI. Evaluation Design and Methodology A. Evaluation Design This performance evaluation is intended to focus on whether the project activities were well conceived, how the activity was implemented, what it achieved, whether expected results occurred, whether the activity was effective, and how it is perceived, valued, and sustained. Evaluators must use a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods to generate answers. B. Data Collection Methods The evaluation team must develop data collection tools that are consistent with the evaluation questions to ensure high quality analysis. The evaluation team is required to share data collection tools with the USAID evaluation program manager for review, feedback and/or discussion with sufficient time for USAID’s review before they are applied in the field. The evaluation team must start work on a review of all the documents cited in the Existing Information section prior to arriving in Egypt. The local evaluation team members must complete the review prior to the international team’s arrival. The data collection methodology must be comprised of a mix of tools appropriate to the evaluation’s research questions. These tools may include a combination of the following:  Review CVAWC documentation (e.g., quarterly reports, annual reports, deliverables);  Key informant interviews, focus group discussions with NCCM, NGOs beneficiaries, and if circumstances permit, service beneficiaries; and,  Desk review and studies on human rights’ constraints identified by USAID/Egypt DG  Human Rights, GOE (NCW, NCCM & Child Protection Committees (CPC)) and other sources (e.g. World Bank, UN Women). Interviews Key informant interviews may include, but may not be limited to:  The Contractor’s staff (at headquarters and in-country)  NCW staff  NCCM staff  Beneficiary NGOs  Participants of NGO training / social workers  Staff of international donor partners involved in human rights activities Focus Groups Focus group discussions must be held with beneficiary NGOs and their social workers, and if permissible, with clients of social workers at the beneficiary NGO. Please see the section on Methodological Strengths and Weaknesses for further information. C. Data Quality Standards The evaluation team shall ensure that the data they will collect clearly and adequately represents answers to the evaluation questions, is sufficiently precise to present a fair picture of the performance, and is at an appropriate level of detail. D. Data Analysis Methods Prior to the start of data collection, the evaluation team must develop and present for USAID/Egypt approval of a data analysis plan. The plan must detail how focus groups and key informant interviews will be transcribed and analyzed; what procedures will be used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data from key informant and other stakeholder interviews; and how the evaluation will weigh and integrate qualitative data from these sources with quantitative data from indicators and activity performing monitoring records to reach conclusions about the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities implemented for combating violence against women and children. Documents to be reviewed must include the contract and changes thereto (see background section), quarterly/final and any other reports from the implementing partner, performance monitoring plans (PMPs), activity level indicators and reporting thereon, and findings from data quality analyses (DQAs). USAID/Egypt expects the evaluation team to present strong quantitative and qualitative analysis, within data limitations, and availability of interviewees, that clearly addresses key issues found in the research questions. USAID/Egypt is looking for new, creative suggestions regarding this evaluation, and it is anticipated that the implementer must provide a more detailed explanation of the proposed methodology for carrying out the work. The evaluators should consider a range of possible methods and approaches for collecting and analyzing the information required to assess the evaluation objectives, including disaggregation by gender and geographical region. The methodology must be discussed with and approved by USAID/Egypt evaluation manager. E. Methodological Limitations A clearly articulated development hypothesis was not formulated prior to activity implementation. Key informant interviews and review of key deliverables are suggested as a primary data source for this evaluation. Unfortunately, there are a series of limitations on the availability of key personnel and key deliverables: The three Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs) who managed the contract for USAID/Egypt are no longer employed by USAID/Egypt. Some of them may still be available as key stakeholders. Their contact information will be given to the evaluation team. Given the possibility of unavailability of interviewees due to the fluid political environment post January 25, 2011, the evaluation team may not be able to cross-check key informant characterizations of changes in the NCW and NCCM performance through direct beneficiary interviews or observation. Since the January 2011, NCW has undergone many changes: 1. NCW headquarters was destroyed by fire, along with perhaps all relevant documents, computers and archives. NCW recently moved to new premises, where it is possible some relevant documents were saved and moved. 2. Since the NCW was run by the former First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, many key personnel resigned. The Chemonics home office director for the second half of the activity has confirmed her availability and willingness to participate. She is based in Washington, DC. Locally hired staff hired by Chemonics may also be available in Egypt despite no longer being employed by Chemonics. USAID/Egypt has confirmed the availability and willingness to participate of at least one representative from nine beneficiary NGOs. It is possible that representatives from some of the remaining 24 NGOs may also be willing to participate. The evaluation team is expected to make a good-faith effort at contacting the remaining 24 NGOs. Participants of NGO trainings may be difficult, if not impossible, to interview as key stakeholders due privacy laws and cultural sensitivities involving the subject matter. USAID/Egypt is cognizant of these difficulties and only expects the participation of trainees where legally permissible and socially acceptable. In Egypt it is anticipated that some interviews may be conducted through translators by the international team required for this evaluation. As a result, some differences in language could enter the interview process and interview notes taken and analyzed by the evaluators in Egypt may not capture the full intent or meaning offered by the key informants. USAID expects that all threats to validity be discussed and documented in the evaluation planning stage – including what will be done to minimize threats to validity, notified all team members and USAID team in the implementation phase and detailed in the final report. VII. Team Composition USAID encourages the participation of local experts on evaluation teams, including in the roles of evaluation specialist and team leader. USAID staff may participate on evaluation teams when their participation would be beneficial for skill development and not present a conflict of interest or a threat to validity, or their engagement in the evaluation would help to ensure the use of evaluation results within USAID. All attempts should be made for the team to be comprised of male and female members. Members of the evaluation team must consist of a team leader, two specialists, and an administrative coordinator/translator. Team membership (individual selection) must be finalized at the time of contract signing. Team members will be required to provide a written disclosure of conflicts of interest, per USAID Evaluation Policy. Team Members: A mix of four senior and mid-level consultants with a combination of expertise in human rights’ issues, implementing and evaluating USAID DG programs, monitoring and evaluation, and combating violence issues. At least one team member should be fluent/professionally proficient in spoken Egyptian Arabic. 1. The team leader must possess at least ten years of international performance evaluation experience. Experience in projects related to combating violence, institutional analysis/strengthening and evaluation of USAID democracy and governance projects is required. Excellent oral and written skills are required. Responsibilities of team leader:  Finalize and negotiate with USAID/Egypt the evaluation work plan;  Establish evaluation team roles, responsibilities, and tasks;  Facilitate the Team Planning Meeting (TPM);  Ensure that the logistics arrangements in the field are complete;  Manage team coordination meetings in-country and ensure that team members are working to schedule;  Coordinate the process of assembling individual input/findings for the evaluation report and finalizing the evaluation report;  Lead the preparation and presentation of key evaluation findings and recommendations to USAID/Egypt team prior to departing Egypt 2. The evaluation specialist must have at least seven years of experience with qualitative/quantitative research methodologies and, preferably experience in evaluating democracy and governance projects. 3. The subject matter expert must be Egyptian national with at least five years of combined work and study on combating violence in Egyptian society. The local consultant should also assist the team to better understand different cultural and social issues related violence against women and children in Egypt. S/he must also assist in communications and interviews with local stakeholders. Previous knowledge of the USAID/Egypt DG portfolio is preferred. 4. The local logistics coordinator/translator must be a local consultant, who will provide logistical, administrative, clerical, and translation support to the team. He/she must have at least four years of experience in an administrative/logistics support and experience in translation. Evaluation Management A. Logistics USAID will provide overall direction to the evaluation team, identify key documents, and assist in facilitating a work plan. USAID will assist in arranging meetings with key stakeholders identified by USAID prior to the initiation of field work. The evaluation team is responsible for arranging other meetings as identified during the course of this evaluation and advising USAID prior to each of those meetings. The evaluation team is also responsible for arranging vehicle rental drivers as needed for site visits around Cairo. USAID can assist with hotel arrangements if necessary but the evaluation team must be responsible for procuring its own work/office space, computers, Internet access, printing, and photocopying. The evaluation team is also responsible for procuring and paying for translation services for interviews, reports and any other evaluation related task. Evaluation team members will be required to make their own payments. USAID personnel will be made available to the team for consultations regarding sources and technical issues, before and during the evaluation process. B. Scheduling Work is to be carried out over a period of approximately 7 weeks, with fieldwork completed within the first four weeks and final report and close out concluding by the seventh week. The starting date of the evaluation is expected to begin on September 30th, 2014. A six-day workweek will be authorized. The expectation is that preparation time, first two/three days must be in the U.S. will include a review of documents, including those that will be provided electronically by the USAID/Egypt DG Office. Interviews should be arranged by the Contractor’s staff. Field work must be primarily in Cairo; however, appropriate site visits to beneficiary NGOs throughout Egypt must form part of the work plan. The oral debriefing must take place by the end of the sixth week. The final time line for performance must be negotiated between USAID/Egypt DG team and the evaluation team subsequent to their arrival in Cairo. ANNEX 2 – EVLAUATION SCHEDULE ◄August 2014 ~ October 2014 ~ December 2014 ► Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Oct 19 20 21 22 23 Award Made 24 Conference call w/USAID Home 25 26 27 Review Materials Home 28 Review Materials KII w/Chemonics Project Team Home 29 Submit Methodology Plan Home 30 Review Materials Home 31 Review Materials Home Nov 1 2 3 Review Materials Home 4 Submit Work Plan Home 5 Travel to Egypt 6 7 Arrive in Cairo Cairo 8 Team Planning Meeting Cairo 9 In-Briefing w/USAID Cairo 10 KII w/Former NCW SG Cairo 11 KII w/Former NCCM SG Cairo US: Veterans Day 12 KIIs w/Former COTR, UNFPA, CARE, Former COTR, Former COP Cairo 13 KII w/ABA FGD w/8 NGOs Cairo 14 Cairo 15 Team Meeting Draft Work plan & methodology Cairo 16 Meetings w/Former VAW TL, Former VAC TL Cairo 17 Meetings w/Journalist, Former Chemonics Grant Manager, NCW Call 3/Port Fouad NGO Cairo 18 Mid-Briefing w/USAID Meeting w/USAID Gender Expert Call w/Quena NGO Cairo 19 Travel to Alexandria, prepare for FGD Alexandria 20 FGD w/6 NGOs Meeting w/Al Horreya Reception House Alexandria 21 Travel to Cairo Cairo 22 Team Meeting, FGD Analysis Cairo 23 Meeting w/Former NCW Branch Manager T1: Minya T2: Sohag 24 FGD w/5 NGOs T1: Minya T2: Sohag 25 Meetings w/UNICEF & UNWOMEN, Cairo/Giza Reception House Cairo 26 Meetings w/Judget, NCCM Cairo 27 Analyze Data Cairo US: Thanksgiving 28 Cairo 29 Team Meeting, Analyze Data Cairo 30 Meeting w/USAID Cairo Dec 1 Analyze Data, Write Draft Report Cairo 2 Analyze Data, Write Draft Report Cairo 3 Meeting w/USAID Cairo 4 Write Draft Report Cairo 5 Cairo 6 Write Draft Report Cairo 7 Write Draft Report, Travel Home 8 9 Submit Draft Report 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Receive USAID Comments 17 18 Integrate Comments Home 19 Integrate Comments Home 20 21 22 Integrate Comments Home 23 Submit Final Report & Expanded Executive Summary 24 25 26 27 ANNEX 4 – EVALUATION DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Suggested Evaluation Tool Stakeholders Name Stakeholder Reach out Desk Review: The Desk Review includes literature review of different secondary data sources and documents addressing the situation of street children and GBV in Egypt; CRS, MDGs, CEDAW, UNICEF as cross cutting references and other reports will be reviewed; Human Development reporst, International labor Organization publications, CAPMAS government data reports and other related reports and sources. Also, other reports will be reviewed including (but not limited to) project documents like Study of VAW in Egypt and related 31 policy recommendations, Assessment Study of the quantity & quality of services offered to street children and women, quarterly/annual progress reports, results framework, PMP, mid-term review (if any) and Management Response to the findings, other donor-produced data/reporting that is relevant to this evaluation, and other documents relevant to the evaluation. - - Mini-survey: A semi-structured questionnaire will be used for the mini-survey to be administrated to the beneficiaries (women subject to GBV and Street Children /children in conflict with law) in the targeted governorates. Capturing the perception and voices of the women & street in this exercise will enrich the information collected particularly regarding to the quantity and quality of services provided in shelters /reception houses and interventions provided by CVAWC. Beneficiaries: women subject to GBV Street Children /children in conflict with law) Beneficiaries can be reached through NGOs/CSOs, residential /drop-in shelter & detention managers Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and community reflection sessions: FGDs and community reflection sessions will be conducted with different groups of CPC (at district & governorate levels) / Juvenile Justice / Prosecutors / Judges /Social Workers/shelter managers for women/community leaders (Raedat Refyat) so as to capture their views on how they feel-see the progress being made in their communities and how they feel-see the issue of women subject to GBV and Street Children /children in conflict with law the street children/children in conflict with law, express what type of information is important for them, how they can easily access such information and also how they can utilize it for their development as well as influencing policies at local and district level. This will also capture their perceptions pertaining to the root causes of the issue and will assess the skills/knowledge/abilities that are internalized after receiving training & capacity development interventions from CVAWC project. CPC ( at District & Governorate levels) Juvenile Justice Prosecutors Judges Social Workers/shelter managers for women Community Leaders (Raedat Refyat) Religious Leaders NCW & NCCM assistance is required for identification & reaching out to CPC at District & Governorate levels / Juvenile Justice / Judges /Social Workers’ Syndicate - Training Attendees List with contact details is needed from Chemonics to organize the FGDs Focus Group Discussions (FGD): will be conducted with Educators and training providers to assess relevance of the training program offered to different target groups and to assess their capacities in training impact evaluation. Educators Training Providers Chemonics team members assistance is required for providing contact details of Educator & Training Providers present in Training List of Final Report Focus Group Discussions (FGD): will be conducted with a representative sample of NGOs guarantees who received to assess to what extent has the grants Or in-kind assistance CSOs NGOs CSOs list is provided by USAID – Verification of contact details in the list Suggested Evaluation Tool Stakeholders Name Stakeholder Reach out (goods & services) contributed to/catalyzed piloting initiatives designed to reduce violence against women and increasing quantity/quality of services to women victims of violence and to increasing the type and quality of services provided to street children by NGO-operated Reception Houses (Residential Shelters, Drop-in Centers) and Mobile Units (Caritas). and schedule appointments Focus Group Discussions (FGD): will be conducted with media (visual & audio –TV & Radio) (print & broadcast – newspapers & drama production) to assess the role /attitudes / practices of media in preventing and combating violence against women, violence against children and in implementing & advocating for new systems for dealing with children in conflict with the law. Media (visual & audio –TV & Radio) (print & broadcast – newspapers & drama production) Identification and reach out can be organized by Evaluation Team Structured/Semi-structured interview and one-day workshop: will be conducted with the personnel involved in the implementation of the CVAWC project and some of the project staff in the managing level. This will be used to closely get to know their capacity and level of knowledge in the different project interventions. To ensure the quality outcomes of these interviews, a user-friendly questionnaire will be prepared and test in some areas; open-ended, probe questions…etc. A one-day workshop will be conducted where project team members (USAID personnel or other stakeholders can join in) to assess their capacities in M&E practices, identify gaps in project design, introduce "Participatory DME" basics to design logical models for CVAWC two components as well as to prioritize key actors and data sources during the evaluation process. PMU / Program Staff members/ Consultants commissioned by Chemonics USAID assistance is required to identify and reach out to available PMU / Chemonics team members – if possible, contact details / Skype IDs for those who currently reside outside Egypt Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and In-depth Interviews: will be conducted with key decision makers, prominent government/state actors, policy makers in the field of ‘GBV/VAC’, and Private Sector Actors. The interviews will not be formal or structured and the general approach to an interview will (1) Begin with an easy-to-answer question to put the interviewee at ease and start conversation. This could include asking about the interviewee's role and background on the project or inquiring about any previous project experiences. Most people enjoy talking about their work, and this will get the interviewee speaking freely, (2) Gradually steer the discussion to the interviewee's areas of responsibility on the project to determine how things are going from his or her perspective, and what issues are personally important, (3) Determine the interviewee's broader perspective of the project, including opinions about the people he or she interacts with, sends work to, or receives work from, and the interviewee's view of the project overall, (4) Determine what the interviewee considers to be the key issues or concerns about the project and ask what he/she would do about these issues, if the interviewee had the authority and resources to address them. NCW/NCCM State Actors Key decision makers & Policy makers USAID and Chemonics team members assistance is required for identification & reaching out to former and present NCW/NCCM/State Actors Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and In-depth Private Sector Actors USAID and Chemonics Suggested Evaluation Tool Stakeholders Name Stakeholder Reach out Interviews: will be conducted with selected Private Sector (PS) actors who contributed CSR support (in-kind, technical, and/or financial) to CVAWC and to help street children. The purpose of interviewing PS actors to assess CVAWC support to PPP and strengthening of ‘Funding’ mechanisms to increase the quantity of corporate contributions. KII tools can help Chemonics and USAID in future programming, identification of programmatic focuses, and designing various interventions at the local and regional levels. team members assistance is required for identification & reaching out to Private Sectors actors Round Table Discussions (RTD) with Multi￾stakeholders: This will be designed and applied with a sample of the key stakeholders & decision makers who are directly involved in GBV the street children including the local partners & NGOs actually present in this community & actively participating in addressing the special needs of women & children, the governmental staff working at Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS); the social defense department staff, and other associations. The main purpose of the RTD is to capture their point of views/perceptions about the issue. The outcomes of this tool will help in ‐ Suggesting innovative & creative interventions that might help in the social re-integration of street children and how to better address VAW, ‐ Identifying the lessons learned for scaling up the quantity and quality of services provided (i.e. Technical/Financial Sustainability measures), and for ‐ Setting the ‘Way Forward’ for further programming and policy issues/recommendations Government Entities / State Actors: Ministry of Health & Population / Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS), Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Family & Planning (MOFP), and others Donors: UNICEF, ILO, IOM (counter-trafficking grant program) ,United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), WHO, and others Local / INGOs/CSOs: Save the Children, Plan International, CARITAS, and others Other projects that CVAWC collaborated with like USAID-funded Family Justice Project USAID can send an ‘official’ invitation letter by email for targeted groups of stakeholders to attend the RTDs. USAID can make it a compelling event to communicate and publicize its achievements in CVAWC. Other participatory tools: Success Stories will be used with NGOs, local communities, children, and women to assess their level of knowledge, capacity and skills in seeing and feeling the progress made in their communities and to what extent they were empowered to advocate for their issues and have their voices heard by the decision makers at local and district level. NGOs Local communities Beneficiaries: Women, children CSOs list is provided by USAID – Verification of contact details in the list and schedule appointments ANNEX 4 – EVALUATION DESIGN MATRIX CVAWC EVALUATION MATRIX No. Evaluation Questions and Sub-Questions Data Source Methodology Data Analysis Question 1: How were gender-related dynamics and issues addressed in the implementation approach? (Relevance) 1.1 To what extent are the objectives of the program still valid?  Quarterly/annual reports  Project records  Document review  Qualitative content analysis 1.2 Are the activities and outputs of the program consistent with the overall goal and the attainment of its objectives?  Project Staff interviews  Individual interviews KII/group interviews /FGD (State Actors, NCCM, NCW, CPC / Juvenile Justice / Judges /Social Workers, CSOs)  USAID interviews  Project records/reports  Document review  Content analysis  interviews  Qualitative content analysis 1.3 Are the activities and outputs of the program consistent with the intended impacts and effects?  Project records  Document review  Enumeration/quantitative analysis Question 2: What should be the follow-on programmatic focus for USAID/Egypt in this sub-sector (new/different opportunities) and what would the ideal implementation structure be in terms of partnering with international organizations (including US contractors) as opposed to local organizations? (Relevance) 2.1 What new/different opportunities that USAID/Egypt need to capitalize on in future CVAWC programming? Why? Has those opportunities changed after the 25th Jan revolution? How?  Secondary literature  Project Staff interviews  Individual interviews KII  USAID interviews  Document review (desk review)  Interviews  Narrative content analysis 2.2 How do you envisage the ideal implementation structures of future CVAWC programs?  Project Staff interviews  Individual KII/group interviews /FGD (State Actors, NCCM, NCW, CPC / Juvenile Justice / Judges /Social Workers, CSOs, Media)  USAID interviews  Content analysis  Interviews  Qualitative content analysis 2.3 To what extent would the political, cultural, and religious sensitivities affect programmatic focus and ideal implementation structures?  Project documents  Individual KII/group interviews (State Actors, NCCM, NCW, CPC / Juvenile Justice / Judges /Social Workers, CSOs, Media)  USAID interviews  Content analysis  Interview  Qualitative content analysis 2.4 What are the pros & Cons of Programmatic focus on new/different opportunities Vs Holistic (Integrated) Approaches to address VAWC?  Individual KII/group interviews/FGD (State Actors, NCCM, NCW, CPC / Juvenile  Content analysis  Interviews  Qualitative content analysis Justice / Judges /Social Workers, CSOs, Media)  USAID interviews Question 3: What are the factors that enabled or constrained the implementation of the activity and its results? (Effectiveness) 3.1 To what extent were the objectives achieved / are likely to be achieved?  Individual interviews KII/group interviews/FGD (State Actors, NCCM, NCW, CPC / Juvenile Justice / Judges /Social Workers, CSOs)  Project staff interviews  Private Sector interviews  USAID Interviews  Content analysis  Interviews  Qualitative content analysis 3.2 What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?  Individual interviews KII/group interviews/FGD (State Actors, NCCM, NCW, CPC / Juvenile Justice / Judges /Social Workers, CSOs)  Project staff interviews  USAID Interviews  Content analysis  Interviews  Qualitative content analysis 3.3 How did the program address hurdles to implementation of activities / How did program catalyze the improvements of service provided to beneficiaries?  Project staff interviews  Private Sector interviews  Content analysis  Interviews  Qualitative content analysis Question 4: How efficiently were the activity’s resources utilized? (Efficiency) 4.1 Were activities cost-efficient?  Project documents/records  Project Staff interviews  USAID Interviews  Records, minutes, reports review/analysis  Interview content analysis  Qualitative content analysis 4.2 Were objectives achieved on time? Question 5: How has the operating environment for the NCW, NCCM, and beneficiary NGOs changed over the past 3 years? (Impact) 5.1 What has happened as a result of the program or project and why?  Individual interviews KII  Stakeholders’ focus group/interviews  Success Stories  Multi-stakeholders RTD  Project Staff interviews  Interview content analysis  Stakeholders’ focus group and interview content analysis  RTD content analysis  Staff interview content analysis  Qualitative analyses of individual, staff and stakeholders interviews  Narrative content analysis Question 6: What activity interventions were continued by the NCW, NCCM, Child Protection Committees (CPCs), and benefiting NGOs after the activity conclusion and why? (Sustainability) 6.1 To what extent did the benefits of a program or project continue after donor funding ceased?  Individual interviews KII/group  Interviews content analysis  Qualitative content analysis interviews /FGD (State Actors, NCCM, NCW, CPC / Juvenile Justice / Judges /Social Workers, CSOs)  Success Stories  Project Staff interviews  USAID Interviews  Success Stories analysis  Narrative content analysis 6.2 What were the major factors which influenced the achievement or non-achievement of sustainability of the program or project? Question 7: Based on evaluation findings, what are the lessons learned in addressing violence against women in Egypt? (Sustainability) 7.1 What are the major achievements and challenges?  Individual interviews KII  Stakeholders’ focus group/interviews  Lessons Learned / Success Stories  Multi-stakeholders RTD  Project Staff interviews  Interview content analysis  Stakeholders’ focus group and interview content analysis  Lessons Learned / Success Stories analysis  RTD content analysis Staff interview content analysis  Qualitative analyses of individual, staff and stakeholders interviews  Narrative content analysis 7.2 What lessons have been learned and are they being applied? 7.3 To what extent can the lessons learned contribute to further programming? ANNEX 5 – INTERVIEW GUIDES / DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS Focus Group Discussion (FGD) guide and Key Informant Interviews (KII) – NGO guarantees • Short introduction: describe your role, the main activities, and achievements. • What capacities did you build on – what activities remain now (services, shelters, etc…)? • Did you target the same beneficiaries or services are offered to different groups? • Describe your interactions with NCW/NCCM – easiness/difficulty. • Describe your interaction with Chemonics. • What are your contributions to CPCs formation in this governorate? • In your opinion, what are the key priorities for future interventions? Why? Key Informant Interview (KII) guide - International NGOs • Short introduction – your role, main activities, achievements • What was the driving factor influencing the achievements? • To what extent did the VAW Study contribute to your programmatic design? • Describe your interactions with UN organizations, INGOs, NGOs, ministries, other stakeholders • How do you describe your relationship /interactions with NCW and NCCM? • How do you describe the linkages between the policy and grassroots levels? • Did the country context change after 25th of Jan Revolution? Priorities shift? The political will, legislative enabling environment? • What type of partnering or implementation structures may work better in future programs? Key Informant Interview (KII) guide - GoE Public Sector • Describe your role within the project - What the major achievements? • What were the capacity building topics? What continued after project? • Describe your engagement with the CSOs. • Describe your interaction with NCW/NCCM. • Describe your interaction with Chemonics. • In your opinion, what are the key priorities for future interventions? Why? • What is the CPCs current status? • In your opinion, what are the key priorities for future interventions? Why? Key Informant Interview (KII) guide – NCW/NCCM Former Leadership • What were the main objectives of the VAW/VAC project at NCW/NCCM? • How was the environment at NCW/NCCM supportive of implementing the project? What were the main facilitating and constraining factors? • In your opinion, what were the main successes of the project? • What are components that you would have approached differently, and why? • Are you aware of any of the project activities that are still being continued at NCW/NCCM? • How do you view the current environment at NCW/NCCM with regards to current issues of CVAWC? • What is your opinion on future activities and interventions on CVAWC? • What was the structure of CPC’s? • What was their relationship with NCCM? • What is the current status of CPCs? Key Informant Interview (KII) guide – Former Chemonics project staff members • To extent were the objectives achieved? • What where the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives? • How were gender-related dynamics and issues addressed in the implementation approach? • What were some of the specific factors that influenced your working relation with NCW, NCCM, NGOs? • Which other donors contributed to the impact or success of the outcomes? • What type of partnering or implementation or implementation structure may work better in these new conditions and country context? • Do you have any suggestions or thoughts about follow-on activities? • What are most effective and least effective elements of the CVAWC in terms of implementation and relationships with counterparts? • How can USAID maximize lessons learned for future investments in Human Rights and CVAWC? Key Informant Interview (KII) guide – USAID/Egypt personnel Project Design: • How were the NCW and NCCM organizations involved in the design stage? • Did the institutions express a need or willingness to participate capacity development activities? • What other stakeholders were involved or was there a resource mapping or needs assessment survey conducted? • What was the thinking behind combining the VAW and VAC components? USAID Strategic Objectives: • What were the factors used to determine that the CVAWC will fall under the Rule of Law/DG component? Did you view the outcomes within a legal framework? • What were the expectations (indicators) to meet USAID Strategic Objectives? • The PMP included common indicators; did these capture the full impact of the project? Grants Management: • How did you envision the grants component being administered? By the NCW and NCCM, pass-through or administered by contractor? • Did you have any sense of the NGO capacity before the CVAWC activity? • Why do you think the process was slow? Project Achievements • The most noteworthy at the macro and micro levels? • Which are the most sustainable, given the current political climate? • Chemonics’ Project Management, what comes to mind?