Equal Rights and Independent Media
December 2023
Terms of reference – Final external evaluation
Emergency Support for Ukraine (ESU)
1. Context of the project
ERIM is a French-registered non-profit, non-governmental organisation providing innovative projects to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, foster pluralistic civil society development, and reduce conflict. ERIM’s approach emphasizes partnerships with local development organisations to expand capacity, build sustainable institutions and affect change through training, partnerships, education, research, and grant projects.
2. Objectives of the project
The ESU+ program is a 24-month project, starting in May 2022, funded by the European Union and run by ERIM in partnership with Black Sea Trust, East Europe Foundation, Human Rights House Foundation, Belarusian Human Rights House and Human Rights House Tbilisi. The project aims to strengthen the resilience and effectiveness of war affected CSOs and civil society actors affected by the war in Ukraine, including independent media and human rights defenders.
Donor : EU
Title : “Emergency Support to civil society and media in response to the Ukraine war” (ESU)
Duration: 2 years
Location: Ukraine and host countries (such as Moldova, Georgia and Armenia).
Lead organization: ERIM
Budget: 5,7 M €
The target groups of this project are:
1. Ukrainian civil society organisations (CSOs)
2. Ukrainian civil society actors
3. CSOs and Civil Society Actors (as per the definitions in 1 and 2 above but not in Ukraine,) in host countries working to support Ukrainian refugees.
Project’s overall objective: CSOs and civil society actors affected by the war in Ukraine can continue their work, either inside their countries or by escaping war zones or countries that are affected by the conflict.
Specific objectives:
SO 1: CSOs and civil society actors affected by the war in Ukraine can continue their work, either inside their countries or by escaping war zones or countries that are affected by the conflict.
SO 2: to strengthen resilience in Ukraine and the EaP countries receiving refugees against disinformation and pro-Russian propaganda, whilst promoting tolerance and understanding between ordinary citizens and refugees and between groups of refugees.
Activities:
1. Emergency Fund
Through an emergency fund, the project provided immediate support to CSOs and civil society actors. This includes:
– Individual relocation grants (transport, temporary accommodation, health services…)
– Relocation grants for CSOs or support to create hubs for displaced organizations/media
– Legal support
– Psychosocial/anti-burnout/anti-trauma support
– Core support for CSOs and media (office rent, equipment, salaries, legal support for registering organizations abroad…)
– Support for activities (creating platforms, hotlines/call centers, offering services to the IDPs and refugees, however not humanitarian support)
– Support to CSOs based in host countries who are supporting Civil Society in exile
2. Medium to Long-term capacity building Fund
– Training and capacity building more generally
– Registering in new locations, setting up offices, equipment, etc.
– Strategy retreats to adapt to new context
3. Advocacy actions
– Support for advocacy activities and media campaigns, encouraging collaboration between media and other CSOs and partnerships between different organisations and civil society actors. Examples may include:
– Media campaigns to raise awareness on the difficulties faced by women IDPs and the laws and regulations that should be changed to support them in future.
– Success stories of active members of civil society who find ways of helping people, how their idea works at the local level, how it can be brought to the national level, best practices how to organize mutual assistance and support;
– Monitoring initiatives that provide accurate information at the local, regional and/or national level on the war.
3. Objectives of the evaluation
The final evaluation will focus on the two years of implementation of the project (June 2022 – May 2024).
The objectives of the final evaluation are:
• To review implementation of the project
• To assess the level of achievement of the outputs and the objectives
• To evaluate impact of the grants for emergency support and capacity development for CSOs’ and civil society actors
• To provide recommendations and lessons learned to implementing partners
The evaluation should include the following criteria. Priorities will be given to the analysis of impact and sustainability.
- Relevance:
– Is the project initial design and strategy relevant to the changing context of implementation?
– In relation to the context of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, was the project able to reply to the needs of target groups and final beneficiaries on the ground?
- Coherence:
– Does the project contribute to synergies and interlinkages with other actors or interventions in the project target countries
- Efficiency:
– Were the activities implemented in line with the plans?
– Is the project managed effectively, including financial and human resources management, proper work planning, reporting, budgeting, and monitoring
- Effectiveness:
– Do the project results contribute to the achievement of the project specific objectives?
– What are the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the specific objectives?
– How has the project adjusted to these dynamics?
- Impact:
– How are small, medium or large civil society organizations differently impacted by the project?
– Does the project contribute to help civil society in the target countries to overcome the impact of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation?
– What are the direct and indirect changes produced by the project?
- Sustainability:
– To what extent do the grants contribute long lasting effects?
– Are supported CSOs mores sustainable as a result of the project?
– Do “best practices” emerge from the activities, which of them are likely to continue beyond the project?
– Should other strategic priorities be addressed in future similar projects?
4. Methodology of the evaluation
The evaluation will include desk research, interviews and writing of the final report:
- Secondary sources, to be gathered through
– Desk research: review of the material and documentation developed within the project, logframe the reports of the events organised, relevant reports, surveys, etc.
– the M&E tools created, including the grants monitoring tables, beneficiaries tracking table, questionnaires, and grants progress scales.
– Final external evaluation
- Primary data sources, to be gathered through
– Semi-structured individual interviews (preferably in person): Individual interviews will be used to collect information from the key informants of the project like project partners, experts and consultants and beneficiaries to get their in-depth opinions about the project; its success, strengths and weaknesses, and future course of direction.
– Interviews and focus groups with implementing partners
– Interviews and focus groups will be held online and offline, depending on availabilities and possibilities (or not) to travel.
5. Deliverables
- Inception report (max 2 pages) giving a brief description of the project being reviewed and the consultant’s methodology, list of evaluation questions, evaluation sampling, updated timeframe, etc.
- Final report: evaluation report in English, between 20 and 30 pages, including a table of contents, brief introduction, objectives and methodology, observations, lessons learned and conclusions as well as a list of findings and annexes. and annexes (e.g. acronyms, list of persons interviewed, TOR, methodology, calendar, etc.). An executive summary should also be included summarising the overall lessons learned and recommendations.
- Short presentation to the project partners, reviewing the main conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation. This presentation (in Power Point) will then be used by ERIM and its partners to present the results to external stakeholders.
6. Organisation and timeline
TRAVELS
If the conditions allow, the consultant will collect data in person and travel to one or several countries where the project is implemented (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia).
PROVISIONAL CALENDAR FOR THE FINAL EVALUATION
7. Application
Qualifications
- Degree or professional experience in human rights and or media related fields
- At least five years of experience in external evaluation, including EU funded projects
- Experience in the evaluation of CSO and independent media capacity building and media and information literacy projects would be a strong asset
- Experience in conducting evaluations in a challenging environment is mandatory. Knowledge of secure communication tools is strongly recommended.
- Fluency in English and Ukrainian is mandatory. Please also mention your level of knowledge (if any) in speaking/ writing and reading in other languages of the project countries (Georgian, Romanian)
- Availability and ability to work independently and on a flexible schedule.
You can apply individually or as a team of evaluators. In either case your application should consist of the following:
- Expression of interest, highlighting relevant experience, motivation, and daily rate (2 pages max.)
- A technical proposal detailing your understanding of the main issues of the assessment and the context, a methodology proposal as well as an indicative timetable (maximum 6 pages)
- A detailed financial proposal including travel expenses from your country of origin
- An updated CV(s)
- Contact details for 2 references (per individual)
Fee:
- Up to 12,000€
How to apply
Please send your application and financial offer mentioning “Final Evaluation ESU” before 23rd December 2023 to [email protected].
Deadline: 23-Dec-23