1
TERMS OF REFERENCE
External evaluation of the regional “Living with Dignity” project
implemented in three countries of Central Asia:
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
in the period of three years (1st April 2022 to 31st March 2025).
I.
BACKGROUND
Project goals, description.
International Alert, one of the world’s leading peacebuilding organisations, is seeking to contract a qualified team of evaluators to conduct final evaluation of its regional “Living with Dignity –reducing violence against women and girls in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan” project implemented for three years in three countries of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) and funded by UK FCDO. The evaluation will result in a high-quality report (also with a brief Summary report) and presentation in the English and Russian languages outlining findings and recommendations for the future programming, supported by anecdotal stories and case studies.

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT
1. Main goal of the assignment
•An analysis of the extent to which the outcomes achieved correspond to those formulated in the project proposal documents, including results framework
•The strengths and the weaknesses of project implementation
•To assess the project impact and outcomes in relation to the prevention of VAWG
•To assess safeguarding and conflict sensitivity of the project activities
•Recommendations and lessons to be learned for future work on prevention of VAWG

Underpinning the evaluation will be the following targeted questions:
➢Have the right things been done? (relevance)
➢Has the project achieved its objectives? (effectiveness)
➢How well have resources been used? (efficiency)
➢What results have been achieved? What difference has the project brought? (effectiveness, impact, cost/effectiveness)
➢How could things be done better in the future?
➢Are the results sustainable? To what extent have local governments involved in the project been influenced to change practices as a result of the project or adopt its methodology? To what extent will project beneficiaries’ mental health and business remain stable after the project completion?
➢Do the results compare with alternative interventions to achieve similar objectives? (relative effectiveness, impact, cost/effectiveness)
➢Has the project created additional outcomes/ results?
➢Has the project adhered safeguarding protocols and ‘do no harm’ approach?

2. Requested services
The team of expert are expected to provide the following services, including prior to the start of the mission:
1.Conduct briefing meetings with the Alert project coordination and partners teams and donor to understand the scope of the work and discuss work plans, format of the report, and other related questions
2.Prepare work plan/timeline of the evaluation process with specific deadlines for each activity.
3.Prepare methodology of the evaluation for review and approval by Alert
2Upon the approval of the methodology, team of experts should:
4.Undertake desk review of all available project documentation, including proposal documents, familiarisation of intervention methodology called Living with Dignity (including previous phases), analysis of quarterly narrative reports and results framework submitted to the donor, and analyse other project resources such reports from project partners. Research reports (including formative/ baseline and endline research) from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will be made available to the evaluation team.
5.Collect primary data from in-depth interviews and focus groups discussions with the beneficiaries and stakeholders in the various project locations and contexts.
6.Prepare final evaluation report (1 file in English language) and the brief Summary report (both in English and Russian) as well as a short presentation (2 files in English and Russian) covering the following content:
•Background and context (description of the project; theory of change)
•Evaluation objectives (goal and scope)
•Evaluation questions and criteria
•Evaluation team (team composition and roles, including the International Team leader and national evaluation experts from the three respective Central Asia countries participated in the project)
•Methodology (description of design, data sources, collection methods and analysis, limitations to the methodology, ethics of data collection)
•Findings and conclusions (relevance, beneficiary feedback, overall effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, impact)
•Recommendations for future programming and proposed interventions for further effective SGBV in the region
•Annexes (final version of terms of reference, data collection instruments, list of stakeholders, evaluation matrix, beneficiary data sheet, data collection protocol)
•Summary report
Note: International Alert and FCDO reserve the right to edit, request changes/clarifications to the report, and the evaluation team will be required to liaise closely with the editorial team of both organisations to ensure that all comments/feedback are integrated to the final report.

5. Budget
Interested parties should submit their financial package (along with the narrative proposal) that should include a budget for all costs associated with the evaluation. This must include team’s remunerations (including taxes), all travel, field visits and other relevant costs associated with designing and conducting evaluation and producing report and presentations.

6. Duration
Implementation of the contract is foreseen to start in early February 2025 and should be finished by the end of March 2025 with presentation of the results (findings and recommendations) to the engaged International Alert team, donors and other audience as required.

7. Expertise required
All submitted applications must have at least 4 members of evaluation team, with the 1 leading evaluator responsible for narrative consolidation, and supported by other 3 team members in terms of data collection and analysis in each country.

A successful team will have:
– University Degrees in Sociology (Master’s or PhD preferred), peacebuilding, security/ political studies, International relations or other relevant area;
– Proven track record of conducting and leading evaluations at International level of development projects focusing on gender empowerment/ SGBV working at the grassroots level, with experience of conflict prevention and dialogue preferable (ideally 10+ years);
– Demonstrable understanding of ethics surrounding SGBV research;
– Fluency in Russian and English (Tajik, Kyrgyz, Uzbek is an advantage);
– Excellent skills in report writing.

8. Objectivity and confidentiality
The objectivity and quality of experts’ judgements are crucial for the credibility of the system. Any information acquired under this contract other than that described in the report, is to be treated as confidential. No information of commercial nature may be communicated or used for commercial purposes.
9. Tender procedure
When applying for this assignment the team is invited to submit the following documentation:
•Curriculum/a Vitae with citizenship indicated
•Sample of previously produced evaluation reports
•Financial package with the detailed Budget and samples of other contracts proving the consultancy rates.
Only bids by a team of evaluators will be considered.

The application package should be submitted to the following address with subject title: Living with Dignity: Independent Evaluation
IMarlen@international-alert.org
Kyrgyzstan@international-alert.org
Admintjk@international-alert.org