Consultant Evaluateur Externe -ARTICLE 19 عودة إلى الفرص

Terms of Reference  

Référence N°AC#001/2023  

Project Title: Advancing the Recognition and Protection of Freedom of Expression, Information  and Association in Tunisia through the Engagement of Civil Society and Citizens in Reform  Initiatives  

Project Manager: Imen Ladjimi  

EA Outcome code(s):  

Evaluation type (tick all boxes that apply):  

 Baseline assessment  

 Mid term evaluation  

X Ex Post  

 Other (please specify):  

1.Introduction  

ARTICLE 19 is a global organization promoting and defending freedom of expression and  information. The realisation of our vision and mission is underpinned not only by freedom of  expression and information, but through other rights including belief, privacy, participation,  assembly and association and more. With offices in London, Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico,  Senegal, and Tunisia, and in collaboration with partners across the world, we strengthen national  capacities, and build or reform institutions and policies.  

With support from Open Society Foundation (OSF), ARTICLE 19 has implemented a $ 400,000/  48-month project (1 January 2019 – 31 December 2022) that aims to protect and advance Freedom of  Expression and Information (FoE/I) and Freedom of Association (FoA) in Tunisia by supporting  ongoing reform initiatives of governmental and independent institutions, while providing capacity  building, tools and methodologies to civil society and citizens to engage with those reforms and call  for institutional, legislative and policy change that promotes equal enjoyment of the right to freedom  of expression, prevent discrimination and responds to citizen needs to use their rights to FoE/I,  particularly in vulnerable and marginalized communities. The project also seeks to share knowledge,  experiences and lessons learned between Tunisia Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Human Rights  Defenders (HRDs), journalists and other stakeholders with their counterparts in key countries of the  MENA region to deal with the shrinking of the civic space, including through the engagement with  regional and international initiatives and fora. The project is implemented by ARTICLE 19’S MENA  Programme based in Tunisia. The project started on January 1st 2019 and extended until December  31 2022. 

2.The specific objectives of the project include:  

1. a) Support ongoing FoE/I and FoA reform initiatives through multi-stakeholder engagement  b) Strengthen the efficiency of CSOs to use FoE/I and FoA for better citizen engagement  c) Enhance media’s role in preventing hate & discriminatory speech during elections  
2. d) Reach and engage beneficiaries to increase the number of supporters and defenders of FoE/I and  FoA among A19 networks  

3.The main stakeholders for this review are:  

1. a) INTERNAL:  

 MENA Regional Director  

 Project team  

 Project consultants  

1. b) EXTERNAL:  

– Partners and beneficiaries Tunisian Commission on Access to Information and the Electronic  Administration Unit  

– The Independent High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAICA  – The Authority of Access to Information (INAI)  

– The secretariat of the Tunisian OGP steering committee  

– The Tunisian Press Council  

– UNESCO-Tunisia  

– HCDH-Tunisia  

– Civil society organizations defending FoE/I and other related freedoms  

– Journalists  

– Lawyers  

– Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT)  

– Express Fm private radio  

Regional partners  

– GCHR  

– SMEX  

4. Evaluation Objectives: This evaluation’s primary focus is to assess the project’s outcomes  achievement against the project’s objectives and impact desired as stated in the project proposal (See  Annex A ).The evaluation can extend to the design of lessons learnt and suggestion of  recommendations at different levels that contribute to the future development of ARTICLE 19’s  MENA work. To achieve these objectives, the evaluation will focus on answering the following key  evaluative questions:  
5. Effectiveness/Impact  

 What concrete outcomes were achieved against those stated in the original project  proposal1?  

 How successful was the project in endorsing multi-stakeholder’s common understanding  of progressive legislations and policies necessary to protect FoE/I and FoA ?  

1 If the project has a logical framework and/or ToC and/or M&E plan this must be referred to in the evaluation 

 How successful was the project in collaborating with institutional stakeholder, CSOs,  journalists and lawyers from various Tunisian regions?  

 To what extent has ARTICLE 19 strengthened collaboration between local CSOs from  various Tunisian regions to promote FoE, for the protection and guarantee of other  fundamental rights  

 To what extent has ARTICLE 19 enhanced Media Key stakeholders, journalists and  CSOs role and initiatives in promoting FoE and preventing hate & discriminatory speech  including during election ?  

 To what extent has ARTICLE 19 succeeded to increase lawyers’ understanding and  engagement to supporting and defending FoE ?  

 Were there any issues that limited the project’s overall effectiveness?  

 How ARTICLE 19 must capitalize on the results of this project in the future.  

2. Relevance  

 Assess the relevance of the action for its end beneficiaries and target groups  3. Sustainability  

 How durable are the outcomes of the project?  

 What lessons can be learned and what recommendations can be given?  

The questions given above are indicative. Candidates can add additional topics they consider  relevant if they wish.  

5. Methodology A brief, summarized Mixed methodology should be mapped out in the candidate’s  proposal. The successful bidder is expected to further elaborate their proposals in consultation with  ARTICLE 19 project staff.  
6. Timeframe, planning and budget  

The evaluator will be managed by Imen Ladjimi as designated evaluation manager(s).  

The evaluation will take 3 months starting the 1st of April and the draft report should be completed  by 15 June 2023 that a final report will be ready by 30 June 2023.  

The evaluator is asked to provide the following information in their applications:  

 A clear and detailed description of the evaluation methods and techniques they will use to  meet the objectives of the evaluation.  

 An estimated timeline for completing the evaluation, including key milestones and  deadlines.  

 A detailed breakdown of the costs associated with the evaluation  

 Information about the evaluator’s qualifications and experience, including relevant  credentials and relevant past evaluations.  

 A description of the expected deliverables from the evaluator, such as a report or  presentation.  

 References of previous similar evaluations. 

Interested applicants should send their expression of interest and financial offer to:  Sywar Haggui Barhoumi, ARTICLE 19 MENA Admin and Finance Manager: sywar@article19.org  

The subject of the email should be “External Evaluation: Advancing the Recognition and  Protection of Freedom of Expression, Information and Association in Tunisia through the  Engagement of Civil Society and Citizens in Reform Initiatives”.  

Deadline for submitting applications is February 26, 2023. 

7. Consultation outputs  

7.1. The evaluation report:  

The report is to be presented in English, should not exceed 30 pages, excluding annexes, and be  presented in Calibri Font 12.  

The executive summary should not exceed 2 pages. The structure can be adapted from what is set out  below in consultation with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer but must include  findings, analysis, conclusion and recommendations.  

 Executive summary: This should summarise the main findings and recommendations in a  concise manner.  

 Introduction: The first part should describe the background and context (summary of overall  project concept and design) as a basis for the analytical and evaluative sections that follow. The  introduction includes a short explanation of the purpose and objective(s) and the evaluation  methodology.  

 Analysis and major findings: This section focuses on the findings related to the questions listed  above under ‘Evaluation Objective’. The section not only lists the findings, but also contains an  analysis of the evaluator regarding these findings.  

 Conclusions. The conclusions follow logically from the main findings and the analysis but are  clearly distinguishable from these. The conclusions should provide answers to the main  evaluation questions. Please use table 1 below for the assessment of the different criteria. It  should include the project review rating table (see table 1).  

 Recommendations. The recommendations follow logically from the conclusions. They should be  actionable, ideally within a one-year timeframe, and prioritised to help develop ARTICLE’s  work.  

 Annexes  

o Terms of reference  

o List of institutions, organizations and persons interviewed and documents reviewed  o Other relevant documents  

Table 1 Project review rating 

Please use the following table for scoring the project’s performance in terms of relevance,  effectiveness, etc.  

Criteria Scoring* Explanation/Comments  

Relevance  

Effectiveness 

* Scoring:  

Highly Successful 

Successful  

Partially Successful  

Unsuccessful  

7.2. Debriefing session  

The consultant is required to schedule a debriefing session to discuss findings of the report with  ARTICLE 19. It is desirable for any knowledge and lessons learned from conducting an evaluation  to be shared across the organization, and an all staff meeting should be explored initially. At the very  least, this session should include the project manager and project team.  

The debriefing session should take place within 30 days of the report’s submission. The consultant is  encouraged to attend MENA ARTICLE 19’s office in person. However if this proves to be  logistically inconvenient it can be conducted remotely by mutual consent of both parties.  

8: Additional notes:  

Management Response: Evaluators should be aware that it is ARTICLE 19’s policy to draft a  management response to all evaluations undertaken on its projects. This will take place within 60  days of its submission.  

Transparency: It is ARTICLE 19’s policy that external evaluations contribute to its aims of  becoming a transparent and accountable organization. Evaluation reports will be published on its  website and will be shared with external stakeholders unless there are clear security risks with doing  so.  

Attachment annexes:  

ANNEX A: Original Project Proposal  

AC#001-2023_External Evaluation