Critical Friend Evaluator to the ALLY Project At Finn Church Aid

The European Union-funded project Amplifying Leadership of Local Youth (ALLY) is hiring an independent consultant to be a “Critical Friend” Evaluator. The evaluator will participate in a number of the partnership meetings and project activities to evaluate the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact. The evaluator will conduct and submit a final evaluation and report. The application deadline is 08 March at 12 noon GMT.

This participatory, impartial and independent evaluation is to be conducted throughout the project by the “critical friend” approach, i.e. an independent external evaluator who will participate in a number of the project meetings and key activities to provide feedback and lessons learned to the Network. He/she will carry out an evaluation looking at the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact; one final report will be prepared including recommendations for follow up activities.

The specific objectives of the evaluation will be the following: Assess the implementation of project activities and initiatives in relation to the inputs, outputs and core deliverables as outlined in the project Description of Action, Timeframe of Action, and Logframe and in light of current context on an on-going basis.

1. Assess the coordination and management of project staff roles and responsibilities;
2. Assess the efficient use of funds by the project staff in relation to the Description of Action;
3. Assess the expected and unexpected outcomes achieved in terms of needs, relevance and appropriateness, and the contribution the consortium has made towards contributing to amplifying young people’s constructive voices and agency in addressing diverse factors of violent extremist narratives in South Asia
4. Provide concrete proposals based on evaluation, including recommendations from project partners and perspectives of those outside project staff, to enhance the relevance, outcome and impact of the project’s remaining activities and those of future projects of a similar nature; and
5. Make justified and well-founded recommendations on the possible continuation of the project and the necessary refinements to ensure maximum impact.

The scope of this evaluation covers the entire project timeline, from March 2020 until the end of the project in August 2022. The evaluation process, including a breakdown of phases and corresponding project activities, is detailed in Section 6 of the Terms of Reference. The maximum budget is €10,000.

Timetable:

Detailed proposal and finalization of evaluation method – March 2022

Project stakeholder meetings and activities and produce key recommendations for remaining activities – April/May/June 2022

Draft report – 18 July 2022

Finalize final report and verbal briefings – July/August 2022

TOTAL DURATION

5 months **

Full details can be found in the Terms of Reference, found in the announcement: https://www.peacemakersnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ally-extended-tor.pdf

Background:

The Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers (Network) is implementing the European Union-funded consortium project “Amplifying Leadership of Local Youth” (ALLY). The 30-month project began in March 2020 and is being implemented in consortium with Finn Church Aid (FCA), United Network for Young Peacebuilders (UNOY), Youth Development Foundation, Sri Lanka Unites, Rural Development Society, and Center for Communication and Development of Bangladesh.

The project intends to amplify young people’s constructive voices and agency in addressing diverse factors of violent extremist narratives in South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The Action builds on a number of previous projects and activities of FCA/Network’s programme in South and Southeast Asia since 2014 and best practices and recommendations by the member and partner organisations engaged in the region.

The project’s target group consists of 60 youth leaders from the 4 countries who are potentially engaged in community outreach and activism, and have interest and willingness to work on PVE. The project engages to develop their skills and capacities through a fellowship, training, mentorship, and other support. The project also directly benefits 88 youth from the targeted communities involved in research by increasing their understanding, skills, and capacities on PVE and research methodologies. 20 youth-led NGOs/CSOs will also directly benefit from the action through strengthened organizational capacity, networks and linkages, and increased national and regional outreach. The total budget for the 30-month project is €555,555.00.

Required Experience and Expertise:

Experience (minimum 4 years) with and knowledge of project conceptualization, planning, implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation;

Significant expertise (minimum 5 years) in areas of the prevention of violent extremism, mediation, peacemaking, peace and security, conflict, religion, comparative politics, and/or international relations;

Experience in the evaluation of at least 1 consortium project, preferably as sole evaluator or team leader;

Experience working on at least one peacebuilding project that included youth as project stakeholders;

At least one previous instance undertaking the role of highly participatory evaluation” and demonstrated ability to produce professional reports;

Bachelor’s degree required;

Working knowledge of English.