Call for consultancy tenders:
ACTION BY CHURCHES TOGETHER ALLIANCE (ACT)
End of Project evaluation
ACT Alliance Climate justice project 2020-2021:
“Faith actors enhancing inclusive, ambitious and sustainable climate policy and action in accordance with the Paris Agreements and the Sustainable Development Goals”
Location: Home-based, no travel expected
Type of contract: Consultancy
Languages required: English
Experience required: 5-9 years
Consultancy target dates: 31/01/2022 – 28/03/2022
Duration: 15-20 days work
Application deadline: 12/01/2022
About ACT Alliance
ACT Alliance is the largest coalition of Protestant and Orthodox churches and church-related organisations engaged in humanitarian, development and advocacy work in the world, consisting of more than 135 members working together in over 120 countries to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards. For more details about the general work of ACT, please refer to http://www.actalliance.org/
ACT Alliance has been working on the issue of climate justice since its foundation in 2010. Since 2017, this work has been supported by project funds from Brot für die Welt. The current third consecutive project period 01/2020-03/2022 is to be evaluated as per the backdonor requirements of the German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ).
Terms of reference
ACT Alliance would like to engage a consultant for an end of project evaluation of its climate justice project 2020-2021 “Faith actors enhancing inclusive, ambitious and sustainable climate policy and action in accordance with the Paris Agreements and the Sustainable Development Goals”, as described within the Terms of Reference annexed below.
Deliverables
The consultant will provide:
- Inception report, to be submitted 11.02.2022 latest
- Project evaluation along OEC-DAVC criteria, as described in the ToR
- Draft of the final evaluation report, 18.03.2022 latest
- Final evaluation report, including recommendations and an executive summary (maximum 25 pages, not including annexes; in English) by 28.03.2022
Tender process
Only registered consultants or companies shall be considered. Qualified and interested parties should send their tender application to: recruitment@actalliance.org by 24.00 CET 12/01/2022
In your tender, please include:
- Expression of Interest, including time estimation
- CV of the consultant
- Justification of consultancy or company registration.
- Samples of/or links to previous consultancy work completed.
- List of 3 professional reference persons
- Financial offer: gross daily rate for the consultancy in USD, EURO or CHF – including administrative overheads, taxes and charges.
Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
Terms of Reference for “End of Project evaluation”
ACT Alliance Climate justice project “Faith actors enhancing inclusive, ambitious and sustainable climate policy and action in accordance with the Paris Agreements and the Sustainable Development Goals”
Introduction
ACT Alliance is the largest coalition of Protestant and Orthodox churches and church-related organisations engaged in humanitarian, development and advocacy work in the world, consisting of more than 135 members working together in over 120 countries to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards. For more details about the general work of ACT, please refer to http://www.actalliance.org/
ACT Alliance has been working on the issue of climate justice since its foundation in 2010. Since 2017, this work has been supported by project funds from Brot für die Welt. The current third consecutive project period 01/2020-03/2022 is to be evaluated as per the backdonor requirements of the German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ).
The approach of the current project phase has been three-pronged. First; to convene regional multi-stakeholder dialogues to discuss and share best practices to catalyse greater ambition and consolidate climate justice efforts of civil society, faith actors, women, indigenous peoples and youth to contribute to resilience building as envisioned in the Paris Agreement. Second; to develop and showcase best practices and lessons learned in community adaptation and resilience building; Third; to pursue ambitious advocacy, capacity building and mobilisation targeted at the UNFCCC and other multilateral processes and amplifying voices of faith actors at all levels, calling for ambitious reviews and implementations of the NDCs and provisions for climate finance to support communities on the front lines.
The objectives of the current project phase are:
To contribute to an inclusive, ambitious, and sustainable climate policy and action in accordance with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Relevant stakeholders have charted a common course of action for ambitious advocacy.
- Members of ACT Alliance forums have influenced their governments and the global climate change political agenda towards ambitious climate policy and action.
- Best practice in programmatic interventions to build resilience and adaptation have been disseminated and discussed by member churches and faith communities linked to ACT Alliance.
Background to the evaluation
Requirements of the indirect project funder, German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ), specify an evaluation of every third consecutive project phase. The purpose of this end of project evaluation is to assess the project period along the OECD DAC criteria, and to provide key learnings and recommendations on the project’s effectiveness and methodologic approach (trainings, dialogues, etc.).
Results will be used by the ACT Alliance Secretariat and structures, as well as ACT’s member and direct project funder, Brot für die Welt, to learn from the ongoing project and draw lessons for the future design of ACT Alliance’s climate justice programme.
Key questions
Key questions will focus on five out of the six OECD-DAC criteria:
- Relevance (The extent to which the intervention objectives and design respond to beneficiaries’, global, country, and partner/institution needs, policies, and priorities, and continue to do so if circumstances change.)
- How does the project fit to the relevant strategic climate processes and climate policy frameworks (national, international level?)
- To which extent are the objectives of the project still valid today?
- Coherence (The compatibility of the intervention with other interventions in a country, sector, or institution)
- How does the project enhance synergy building among faith actors and other societal stakeholders at the national level?
- Effectiveness (The extent to which the intervention achieved, or is expected to achieve, its objectives, and its results, including any differential results across groups.)
- To which extent have the project objectives and indicators been achieved /are likely to be achieved?
- How did the project implementation enable learning and leverage on lessons for better implementation?
- How was the project adapted to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what have been the lessons learned?
- Were activities implemented cost-efficiently?
- Were the activities implemented within the required timeframe?
- Were the methods chosen and applied in activity delivery enhancing delivery of intended results?
- Were there instances where you worked with other partners to reduce duplication?
- What is the assessment of the project’s sustainability as regards ACT Alliance’s influence on enhancing inclusive, ambitious and sustainable climate policy and action in national and international climate policy arenas?
Evaluation design/methods
At a minimum, the project period is to be assessed along the above OECD DAC criteria.
Methods could include:
- Desk review of key documents and recordings (project proposal, progress reports, memos, publications, ,meeting recordings, etc.)
- Approx. 15 key informant interviews with key stakeholders and target group representatives (members of ACT Alliance Climate Justice Reference Group and regional ACT Communities of Practice on climate justice, ACT member representatives in ACT Forums that were part of this programme, national government representatives in select countries, former ACT programme staff, ecumenical partner organisations such as World Council of Churches and others). Regions: MENA, Africa, LAC, but interviews to be conducted fully online.
- Others as appropriate
- Home-based, no travel expected
Process of the evaluation/time frame
- The evaluation should foreseeably be conducted during 21.02.2022-13.03.2022.
- Inception meeting for clarification and kick off should be held between 31.01.-11.02.2022
- The draft evaluation report is due 18.03.2022.
- The evaluation will be completed upon presentation of a final report by 28.03.2022.
Expected products
- Inception report, to be submitted 11.02.2022 latest
- Project evaluation along OEC-DAVC criteria
- Draft of the final evaluation report, 18.03.2022 latest
- Final evaluation report, including recommendations and an executive summary (maximum 25 pages, not including annexes; in English), 28.03.2022
Key qualifications of the evaluators
The evaluator shall have as minimum:
- At least 5 years experience in providing evaluation services on climate change related issues to NGO or government customers.
- Substantive expertise in quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation methods, especially regarding OECD DAC evaluations and key informant interviews with a range of stakeholders.
- Profound knowledge of climate mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage.
- Good understanding of global civil society working environment and multilateral processes within the UN with a particular focus on UNFCCC and the UN sustainable development and disaster risk reduction agenda.
- Advanced degree in climate change and environment studies, development studies, international relations, or any other relevant discipline.
- Fluency in written and spoken English and Spanish (for key informant interviews with Latin American stakeholders).
