Consultancy for Project Final Evaluation

Terms of Reference

FINAL EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT “I BELIEVE I CAN”

June 2021

I.            BACKGROUND

IBIC is a four-year project funded by the Ireland Embassy in Vietnam that runs from August 2017 to July 2021. The project is a partnership of the three partners, including Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment (iSEE) – a local NGO working for rights of minority groups, Center for Community Empowerment (CECEM) – an organization specialized in capacity development and community organizing, and the Pioneers Network for Ethnic Minority’s Voice (Tien Phong) – a grassroots network of EM people to promote pride, confidence and agency among EM communities, to develop indigenous knowledge and cultures, and to represent ethnic voices in public and policy advocacy in order to make contribution to an equal, diverse and sustainable development of Vietnam society.

IBIC project aims at ethnic minority (EM) communities and their representative organization, the Pioneers Network, have pride in their own value and culture, they are respected in society and their rights are protected by law through achieving the three following specific outcomes:

• Outcome 1: The Pioneers Network has improved their organizational capacity and received more recognition by EM communities, INGOs/VNGOs and GOs working in EM issues;
• Outcome 2: Targeted EM communities have improved their capacity to address community issues effectively through mechanisms of community organizing and share this learning with others;
• Outcome 3: Policy and popular discourse on EM-related issues recognizes ethnic minorities’ rights and value.

The project identified different strategies to achieve its objectives. It starts the change with individuals through infusion of pride – confidence - agency. EM individuals in the Pioneers Network then act as the role models for their community of being proud of their identity, self-confident of their ability, and self-determine of their life through initiating ideas and making the impossible possible. The Network acts as the core engine for a transformative social movement on EM rights.By working together in collective actions, they practice their rights in “created spaces”, be prepared with appropriate attitudes and capacities to participate in “invited spaces”, and knock to “closed spaces” to advocate for the rights of meaningful participation of EM groups in relating issues. They also represent themselves and change the dominant discourses on EM communities that produced by the majority, to promote dialogues for mutual understanding and respect of beliefs, values and cultural practices of different ethnic groups.

Project activities could be divided into three main groups, including (i) development for individual leadership and organizational capacity the Pioneers Network, (ii) initiatives by the Network’s members to modeling and inspiring the spirit of Pride – Confidence – Agency at local and national levels, (iii) public and policy advocacy for positive changes in discourses and policies relating to EM issues.

In July 2021, a final evaluation of the project will be conducted to assess the achievements of the project, to reflect the project’s strategies and approaches in realization of its objective, and to document key lessons learnt from the four-year journey. The evaluation report will be shared widely to different stakeholders to create open discussion on development philosophy and interventions in EM-related program. It is also expected that the evaluation will provide inputs for the project partners to design next steps in the future.

II.            SCOPE OF WORK

1.         Objectives

The evaluation will cover the whole project’s interventions at all levels of individual, community, network and society, and reflect it in a boarder context of development. Specifically, the evaluation will:

• Assess to what extend the identified objective and specific outcomes have been achieved, and identify impacts of the project in different aspects (if any);
• Assess the effectiveness and the sustainability of the project in term of power shifting, changing dominant discourses, and development of aspiration capacity of the grassroots;
• Analyze the distinctions of the project’s approaches and strategies as an “alternative to development”, and how they have contributed to project’s achievements;
• Generate lessons learnt at strategic and operational levels from achievements and challenges of the project;
• Recommend next steps for the EM movement in the future.

2.         Methodology

The Consultant(s) will propose an evaluation design and methodologies for data collection. It is anticipated that the Consultant (s) will utilize both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and that participatory tools and techniques will be employed. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, no fieldtrip is expected and online group discussions or phone interviews are preferred.

The evaluation is expected to be gender-sensitive, rights-based, inclusive, culturally-sensitive and comply with professional ethical standards. Innovative approaches that would foster interaction and learning across the partners would be welcomed.

III.            SELECTION CRITERIA FOR CONSULTANT(S)

The Consultant(s) is expected to have:

• Relevant degree in a related field of study, such as anthropology, culture study, social sciences, etc.;
• Excellent understanding of related issues such as ethnic minority, discourse, development, etc.;
• Demonstrable skills and experience in qualitative research methods in general;
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills;
• Flexibility and openness to work collaboratively with the project teams and local partners during the evaluation process.
• Fluency in English, ability to communicate complex information using simple and concise language.

IV.            DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME

Deliverables:

1. A Consultancy Proposalincluding evaluation design, methodology, plan and budget that will need to be approved before moving on to the next phase (including draft tools);
2. An evaluation draft report for comments;
3. The final evaluation report of publishable quality, including an executive summary;
4. A presentation of evaluation findings and recommendations.

All deliverables are in English.

Timeframe:

• 21^st June – 2rd July 2021: Selection of consultant(s)
• 5^th – 7^th July 2021: Desk review and detailed evaluation plan/tools design
• 8^th – 18^th July 2021: Data collection
• 19^th – 27^th July 2021: Draft report and feedback process
• 31 July 2021: Final report

Interested consultants please send their CVs and Consultancy Proposal to ntlinh@isee.org.vn before 30^th June 2021.

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