Freelance project evaluator Collapse
About the project
“Joining Forces: CSOs and Media for Accountability in Bangladesh” is a project implemented by Free Press Unlimited (FPU) and ARTICLE 19 Bangladesh and South Asia (A19) and funded by the European Union. It aims to promote collaboration on issues that are important and relevant to Bangladeshi citizens, stimulate the development of innovative solutions and facilitate knowledge exchange and mutual learning. Effective collaboration between the media and civil society is essential to achieve social change. Together, they can build forceful cases for greater accountability and powerful advocacy. In the course of three years (2023-2025), 21 alliances of civil society and media organisations have been selected to participate in the so-called Collaboration Lab. Participants received grants for their collaborative projects and participate in tailor-made coaching and capacity-sharing sessions.
Purpose of the assignment
The final evaluation is commissioned by FPU and A19 to achieve the following overall objectives:
to identify, verify and document progress against the Outputs, Outcome and Impact of the action. It will assess how stakeholders, contextual factors, project and resource management have influenced the results.
to identify key lessons and to propose practical recommendations for follow-up actions.
More specifically, the final evaluation aims to:
measure and document the results and impact achieved by the project—both intended within the project framework and unintended. Where it comes to impact measurement, the evaluation will specifically investigate whether and how the participants have benefitted from the collaboration efforts;
gain an understanding of what strategies were most effective in achieving the project results and contributing to impact;
measure the sustainability and likelihood of replicability of the project interventions;
provide recommendations for improvement of future similar actions.
For more information on the questions to be addressed, methodology (desk study, share fairs/data collection, synthesis phase) and expected reports and deliverables, please read the entire call below:
Expected Time Frame
The entire assignment (with all its components) will not last more than a maximum of 34 days (to be spread over a maximum of 10 months). The indicative time frame and deadlines for the deliverables are as follows:
April – May 2025: Selection of consultant & contracting
May – June 2025: Desk study, preparation work plan & development data collection tools (7 days)
June – December 2025: Share fairs (1 in June, 1 in October/November, 1 in November/December), further data collection, debriefing and draft reporting, 20 days
January – February 2026: Final report (incl. Executive summary), feedback and finalisation of report, 7 days
Your profile
Demonstrable experience of at least 5 years of conducing evaluations in an international development / human rights context, particularly with civil society or social/media/human rights development programmes funded by EU and other donors;
A very good understanding (based on previous experience) of the main M&E approaches (including the OECD-DAC criteria), methods and tools used to evaluate civil society (and preferably also media-focused) interventions (including approaches used in the international development context) and knowledge of programme design and implementation;
Experience with applying a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research techniques (preferably participatory), including analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data;
Experience with developing and facilitating participatory sessions aimed at learning and sharing, ability to manage diverse groups of stakeholder representatives and create an open, safe space conducive to the discussions of sensitive topics and equal sharing of experiences and opinions;
Sound knowledge of and experience with the civil society and media sectors in Bangladesh, a good understanding of the current socio-political context and its impact on trust between organisations and individuals, on marginalised communities and those working with them, and on freedom of expression;
Based in Bangladesh (preferably Dhaka), excellent command of both English and Bangla, ability and willingness to conduct sessions in Bangla and translate results to (written) English.
Good presentation and facilitation skills and overall good command of presentation tools, Excel and Word.
The consultant should meet the following requirements:
Adherence to the Code of Conduct for assignments of Free Press Unlimited (will be attached to the contract);
Comprehensive and systematic inquiry.
Honesty, integrity and respect for the people and projects under this action.
Interested?
Please send a brief technical offer containing methodology approach and work plan by the consultant, as well as the required support by FPU, A19 and local partners. The work plan shall include objective and evaluation questions, approach, methodology, and relevance and justification of proposal. It is accompanied with a draft time line with proposed activities.
The selection will be based on a competitive analysis of the submitted Expression of Interests, which should come with the CV of proposed Consultant(s) as well as quotation. Interested parties should send their Expression of Interest to teamasia@freepressunlimited.org before May 9, 2025.
