Overview:

The She Leads project represents a 5-year strategic collaboration involving Plan International Netherlands, Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands (DCI-ECPAT), African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), and Terre des Hommes Netherlands (TdH-NL). Its overarching objective is to empower girls and young women (GYW) by enhancing their influence on decision-making processes and fostering positive transformations in gender norms. Geographically, this initiative spans East Africa, the Sahel, West Africa, and the Middle East, including Lebanon.

The project’s multidimensional approach operates within three interconnected domains:

1. Civil Society Domain: Enhancing collective action among GYW within a gender-responsive civil society.
2. Socio-Cultural Domain: Cultivating the acceptance of positive social gender norms.
3. Institutional Domain: Enabling meaningful GYW participation in political decision-making processes.

Objectives & Methodology

The She Leads partnership in Lebanon, led by Plan International, sought an external evaluator for its Midterm evaluation. The specific objectives for this mid-term review include:

1. Assessing programmatic progress concerning output and outcome level basket indicators.
2. Reviewing and analyzing changes in context, associated risks, and mitigation policies.
3. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in the consortium’s performance, utilizing insights from data collected from GYW involved in the program.
4. Developing recommendations for the annual plan in 2024 and future programming.

The evaluation process builds upon existing documents, plans, and data, encompassing monitoring reports, annual plans, activity reports, and previously collected outcomes. Primary data collection methods involve qualitative techniques, such as Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), while desk reviews consolidate measurements of outcome and output level indicators. Ethical research principles, including the protection of children’s rights, confidentiality, and anonymity, are diligently adhered to throughout the data collection process. Key stakeholders for these reports encompass network teams, GYW groups, the consortium desk, the global steering committee, the Global GYW Board, and other advisory bodies affiliated with the She Leads project. Additionally, Country, Regional, and National offices (Cos, ROs, and NOs) are vital users of the evaluation findings.