Technical Proposal for External Final Review of the IZOLATSIA. Platform for Cultural Initiatives, project ZMINA 2.0
1. PROJECT BACKGROUND
Following the full scale war initiated on 24 February 2022 by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, an urgent need arose to provide emergency and resilience assistance to the Ukrainian authorities and the population. So we repurpose our project objectives and activities by foreseeing emergency assistance to the war-affected population and to supporting cultural CSOs, cultural institutions etc, activists and local authorities in charge of culture in Ukraine, artists, creators or cultural professionals for continuing cultural life and as a part of the national fight for freedom and independence.
By April, 2023 Zmina 2.0 reached 58 communities with up to 20000 direct beneficiaries within Activity 1 Addressing the immediate war-related population needs and continuing this activity till June including. Within Activity 2 Third-party funding scheme supporting cultural projects 27 projectswere funded and implemented and 44 more projects will be implemented by the end of the project as of July, 24 2023.
2. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF EVALUATION
The evaluator shall conduct this evaluation no later than July 21, 2023 including. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the performance of the ZMINA 2.0 project and ensure accountability towards the donor and public. At the same time, the evaluation will offer a learning aspect to all stakeholders.
Evaluator will focus on the results achieved, exceeded and not achieved by the project, with the explanation why some of the results were not reached, if any. The evaluator will assess if project’s target groups capacity increased, community resilience strengths, personal security and social cohesion supported through emergency assistance to the war-affected population and culture objects. And if the project empowered local communities and promoted their role in covering urgent needs of war-affected Internally Displaced Persons such as livelihood, access to basic services and cultural life.
To conduct the evaluation, the evaluator shall use mixed methods of evaluation, which is an integration of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. A key reason for mixing methods is that it helps to overcome the weaknesses inherent in each method when used alone. It also increases the credibility of evaluation findings when information from different data sources converges.
The evaluator will utilize the following methods:
1. Desk research – the evaluator shall review relevant project documents that will include but not limited to project proposal with the logical framework; narrative project reports; any presentations and photos from the project events; database of partners, lists of key project beneficiaries, etc. The project web site will be reviewed as well. Other relevant outside sources will be consulted – eg., web sites of other organizations dealing with similar issues.
2. Key informant interviews
Due to the war in the country, all interviews will be conducted by phone or through the Internet platforms. The evaluator shall conduct at least 30 interviews:
Project staff 4 people
Local authorities who cooperated with the project within Activity 1 – not less then 15% of general quantity
Subgrantee’s representatives who cooperated with the project within Activity 2 - no less than 15% of general quantity.
3. Focus group discussions or group interviews – Mini-focus groups can be organized with beneficiaries at the partners’ sites in the regions, on-line or off-line, if the military situation permits.
Suggested topics for discussions will be:
How beneficiaries perceive the quality, relevance and effectiveness of the Activity/event that they participated in;
How satisfied beneficiaries are with the event, its organization and content;
What has changed in the local communities with regards of ZMINA 2.0 project?
If their local mechanisms for supporting war-affected population were contributed and supported by ZMINA 2.0 activities?
Other topics for discussions are welcome from the participants. It is vital for this evaluation that the IZOLYATSIA’S managers provide access to all stakeholders, giving their contacts and supporting the interview schedule.
4. EVALUATION LIMITATIONS
Evaluation limitations – the evaluator recognizes the following limitations to the evaluation:
Continuation of military attacks all over Ukraine – limits to the field visit and one-on-one interviews. The evaluator will not be able to conduct onsite visits to the regions outside Kyiv and will have to adapt his/her work due to the social distancing requirements using more remote work and online format for meetings with project stakeholders.
The evaluator may experience certain difficulties in case of telephone communication with beneficiaries who are often confused, hearing an unfamiliar voice on the phone and suspecting some hidden agenda when receiving an unexpected call. Thus, the project staff will need to properly prepare people by explaining them in advance who will call them and why.
5. QUALIFICATIONS
At least 2 years of relevant professional experience working in projects/ initiatives/ entities of international assistance or evaluation of such projects;
experience at performance of measurement frameworks, tools and strategies for data collection, analysis and delivery of report;
Knowledge of RBM-based monitoring and evaluation;
Informed of the standards of work with the evaluation of the projects, funded by EU.
HOW TO SEND THE PRICING PROPOSAL FOR EVALUATION SERVICES:
Pricing proposal with the relevant experience - is required to submit in English via the platform.
DEADLINE for proposal submission: 17.05.2023
PREFERRED START DATE: 22.05.2023
End of the Project evaluation: 21.07.2023
Please note that due to the expected volume of pricing proposals, only candidates selected for the negotiation process will be contacted. Thank you for your understanding.
Privacy policy: The personal data we collect during selection processes is only used for the purposes of carrying out the selection process.
😢 Unfortunately, the application period for this program has expired.
