Towards open, fair and sustainable Europe in the world – EU Presidency Project 2019-2021 (First phase: Romania, Finland and Croatia January 2019 – June 2020).
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Tender invitation for external evaluator to support the project Towards open, fair and sustainable Europe in the world – EU Presidency Project 2019-2021 (First phase: Romania, Finland and Croatia January 2019 – June 2020).
EU Presidency Project is seeking an external evaluator to carry out real-time learning evaluation of the project using the Critical Friend methodology. Deadline for receipt of applications is 22 February 2019.
I.About the project
The six upcoming presidencies of the EU Council from 2019 to 2021 represent an important opportunity to advocate responsible political decision making and active global citizenship for an open, fair and sustainable Europe in the world. Therefore, the six national NGO platforms and CONCORD (the European confederation of Relief and Development NGOs) have joined their forces to ensure long-term consistency and coherence between the individual presidencies.
The project will enhance a joint approach by European development NGOs towards EU development policy at member state and European levels. The engagement of CONCORD will bring a multiplier effect by involving its wider membership in Europe and giving wider European visibility to the project activities. CONCORD will also bridge project activities with European level processes in Brussels.
The project will have common objectives for all presidencies and consist of both national and European level activities. There will be four focus areas – red threats – running across the six presidencies: Agenda 2030 and policy coherence for sustainable development, European development cooperation, human rights, and the role of civil society. The project will also have specific priority themes for each presidencies, following national priorities and presidency programmes.
The Project will be implemented in two parts with two separate contracts with the European Commission. The two contracts will share objectives and results framework, and they will be guided by a single steering group consisting of representative of the six national platforms and CONCORD. This tender covers the first contract that is the presidencies of Romania, Finland and Croatia from January 2019 to June 2020.
Move to longer, combined Presidency Projects is aimed to ensure better coordination and consistency of Presidency Projects, complementarity within CONCORD, and greater effectiveness through longer-term strategic planning and approach. As this is the first time that the Presidency Project covers longer period than one single Presidency, it is important to collect lessons learned on the planning, management and implementation of the project for the next rounds.
II.Purpose
The purpose of the consultancy will be to:
- Contribute to the project’s learning culture, support the project on harvesting and showcasing the lessons learnt.
- Facilitate self-assessment by project stakeholders and support the project Steering Group and Project Manager in guiding the project
III.Critical Friend Methodology
The Critical Friend is not a classic evaluator. The job is not primarily about counting outputs according to a logframe (although producing a substantial final evaluation according to EC standards is part of the work). The key mission of the Critical Friend is to support the key actors to achieve the expected results, enable real-time learning and provide immediate feedback after an evaluation round so as to ensure the implementation of the project in the best possible way.
We have chosen to apply the Critical Friend methodology to not only develop and evaluate the implementation of the project, but also to improve our own capacity, our ways of working and our conceptions as we strive to achieve the project’s objectives.
This methodology, identifying gaps and opportunities via real-time engagement, rather than resorting to lessons learned at the end of the project, will assist the project in navigating within the set criteria and by giving us tools to react to changes in a timely manner.
IV.Tasks and deliverables
The evaluator is expected to perform the following tasks:
- Review project documents to date, carry out a desk review of relevant project measurement tools and conduct inception meetings with the coordination team.
- Interview staff and Steering Group members, partners and other relevant stakeholders in order to gain an understanding of the project’s aims.
- Participate in selected project activities;
- Conduct consultative workshops with staff and key stakeholders
- Participate in staff and Steering Group meetings.
- Work as a dialogue partner for the key actors of the project in terms of project
progress and give feedback on any improvements, gaps and potentialopportunities.
Main deliverables
- Reports: inception report, mid-term progress report and final evaluation report.
V.Management and support
The consultancy work involves working in close collaboration with the project staff and Steering Group across 4 European countries. The overall management responsibility of the evaluation lies with the Finnish Development NGOs Fingo, the project lead based in Helsinki, Finland.
VI.Consultant Requirements
Applicants may be individuals, groups of individuals with a designated team lead, or consultants. Applicants must have at a minimum the following qualifications:
- Experience in conducting evaluations to a high standard;
- Demonstrated experience of applying a Critical Friend methodology;
- Demonstrated experience of evaluation in the non-profit sector;
- Demonstrated experience of evaluation involving qualitative data and ‘soft’ outcomes;
- Demonstrated experience of evaluating projects that are funded by the European Union
- An understanding of the nature of capacity development work;
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English language.
VII.Application process
Application process
Applications are to be sent no later than 22 February to rekry@fingo.fi. Applications will be reviewed, and the candidates shortlisted by an evaluation committee set up for the selection. A few suitable candidates will be interviewed prior to final decision.
How to apply
Interested applicants should submit a tender including the following: A. Technical Offer
The technical offer (no more than 6 pages excluding annexes) should include the following sections:
- Evaluation methodology: Describe your overall approach and evaluation methodology including, but not limited to, evaluation questions, evaluation design and methodology.
- Relevant experience: Provide details of projects of similar scope, complexity and nature you have worked on previously.
- Specific expertise: Describe your level of knowledge and expertise in applying the Critical Friend methodology.
- Key personnel and staffing: Describe the key personnel. Include CVs (no more than 2 pages each and attached as annex) of key personnel who will be part of the proposed plan.
- Timeline: Include a detailed timeline of key activities.
- Two references (including telephone numbers) and web links to previous work (if available).
B. Financial Offer
The financial offer should include a line-item budget and a budget narrative. The cost estimates used to prepare the budget should be presented in Euro. The tenderer should include his/her proposed daily rate, including all costs. Value for money will be considered in tender evaluation. Reasonable and receipted travel and accommodation costs related to the execution of the tasks in this Terms of Reference will be covered, based on prior agreement and subject to certain conditions.
The overall value for this contract is between €30,000 and €39,000
VIII.Timeframe
The consultancy is to be carried out from Mid-March 2019 until the end of the project’s implementation period, June 2020.
Call for tenders issued: 21 January 2019
Deadline for receipt of applications: 22 February 2019
Review for applicants: 25th February – 8th March 2019
Commencement of work: Mid-March 2019
Contact details and further information:
(From 4th of February onwards)
Email: jussi.kanner@fingo.fi
Tel: +358 40 7544 883
