Interim Review of the implementation of East Europe Foundation’s Strategy 2021-2025

The review shall provide EEF with a technical and professional assessment of results, achievements, key challenges, lessons learnt to date from the implementation of the EEF Strategic Plan 2021-2025 and any recommendations for future programming.

1. Background

East Europe Foundation in Moldova (EEF) is a non-profit, non-political organization established as a foundation, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, the Law on Foundations and other Moldovan laws. EEF started its activities in June 2010. Previously EEF operated as a representative office of the Eurasia Foundation in Moldova since 1998.

East Europe Foundation’s mission is to improve the livelihoods of women and men and foster participation, decent work, environmental security, equality and non-discrimination, economic prosperity for rural population, unemployed, informal workers, persons with disabilities, Roma and other vulnerable groups. 

In January 2021 EEF launched the implementation of its Strategic Plan for 2021-2025, approved by the EEF Board of Directors on 11 June 2020. The Strategy and its programs are funded by Sweden, European Union, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.  The document consists of two inter-related programs with corresponding components conducive to their implementation, as illustrated below. 

 Civil and political rights and democratic governance:

Opportunities to exercise democratic influence will be expanded by enabling inclusive NGO platforms representing vulnerable groups to actively provide evidence-based input into design and implementation of selected public policies. Continuous CSO engagement in policy dialogue will determine national authorities to accept more recommendations during policy design but also to up-scale policy implementation. Capitalising on the network of partners throughout the country and the developed online platform for journalists (www.jurnalist.md) EEF will grow a new generation of community journalists, enabling them to report issues identified in their communities.  EEF and its partners will build upon the achieved results in the area of inclusive elections, advocating for political inclusion and strengthening the decision-making capacity of elected women, Roma, persons with disabilities.

Socio-economic rights and sustainable local development:

Social and economic rights of vulnerable women and men an in targeted communities will be better addressed through local NGOs representing vulnerable groups that actively mobilize disadvantaged women and men to (i) constructively engage with duty bearers, (ii) oversee local authorities’ performance, (iii) define and addressing most stringent community needs.  The program will enable local youth CSOs to facilitate involvement of young women and men in community assessment, fundraising, outreach, grant-making. Empowered youth groups will be supported to engage in meaningful policy dialogue with local authorities in order to demand fairer distribution of available resources, increased transparency and accountability.  Due attention will be paid to working with employment services and pilot innovative actions designed to better target and facilitate employment of NEET young women and men. Building on good practices achieved to date, EEF will empower local CSOs to engage in social service delivery and economic development targeting most vulnerable women and men.

EEF conducts operating programs and strategic grant-making. The primary difference between the two is the locus of responsibility for program outputs, and the mechanisms controlling financial expenditure. Grants allocate funding to outside partner organizations through a grant agreement, and the responsibility for delivery of project outputs rests entirely with the grantee. In running operating programs, EEF directly manages project activities and takes upon itself ultimate responsibility for delivery of outputs and project results. 

2. Objective

The review shall provide EEF with a technical and professional assessment of results, achievements, key challenges, lessons learnt to date from the implementation of the EEF Strategic Plan 2021-2025 and any recommendations for future programming. 

3. Scope of work

The review will consist of document reading, interviews and field visits, debriefing meeting, as well as presentation of an evaluation report. 

It is expected that the evaluation will be conducted throughout September  – November 2023 with a preliminary draft report submitted to EEF-M by 10 November, 2023.  The final report should be submitted to EEF no later than November 30, 2023. 

The review should provide answers to the following questions:

• Assess the relevance of the supported project in the country context.
• Assess progress in terms of major achievements, outputs and key challenges, measured against the indicators set out in the program document and connected project documents;
• How is EEF support perceived by stakeholders involved in its projects such as grantees, partners, public administration and donors?
• Assess the extent to which EEF engaged region-based and grass-roots NGOs in the program.
• Examine the extent to which organizations supported by EEF improved their organizational capacity.
• Examine how EEF mainstreamed gender equality into its work. Describe any efforts undertaken to advocate for gender equality.
• Consider the extent to which EEF managed to implement its environmental policy.
• Analyze the EEF capacity to adapt to changing environments, multiple crises emerged during 2021-2023, and to the emerging needs of its partners.
• Consider whether the work and results achieved impact on a more pluralistic civil society.
• How the support to EEF has been linked to the previous and current Swedish strategy.
• Assess the efforts undertaken to improve the EEF institutional performance.
• What lessons have been learnt during the first two years of implementation? 

4. Approach and method of work 

The definition and choice of methods for the implementation of the Assignment, shall be elaborated in the application, and be in accordance with common principles, such as those provided by the OECD/DAC criteria for evaluations. 

The Expert/Review Team will carry out its tasks through:

• Desk review of project documents and reports;
• Discussions with the staff members and grantees;
• Interviews with EEF Board of Directors Members;
• Interviews with donors, partners and stakeholders;
• Field visits to selected sites;
• Consultation meetings. 

5. The evaluator/evaluation team 

The evaluator/evaluation team should have relevant evaluation experience in the field of civil society development and program management. Proposals could be submitted by one or several individuals or by legal entities. The minimum requirements include:

• Experience working in Moldova and/or other countries of the former Soviet Union is highly desirable;
• Minimum three years of related experience;
• Qualified work experience with civil society organizations (CSOs);
• Working experience with international organizations would be an advantage;
• Excellent oral and written skills in English and Romanian. 

6. Selection criteria: 

• Experience of the evaluator/evaluation team in relevant fields (20%);
• The quality and applicability of methodology proposed (40%);
• The requested price for services (40%). 

7. Deliverables 

The key products expected from this evaluation are:

1. The evaluation methodology;
2. A comprehensive analytical report in English. The report should, as a minimum, include the following contents:

• Executive summary;
• Introduction;
• Description of the evaluation methodology;
• Analysis of the situation with regard to the outcome, the outputs, the activities, the inputs and the partnership;
• Key findings (including best practices and lessons learned);
• Conclusions and recommendations;
• Annexes: field visits, people interviewed, documents reviewed, etc. 

All deliverables will become the property of EEF. 

8. Application package 

The applicant should submit the following documents:

• CV reflecting the relevant experience of the applicant with at least 3 references;
• Examples of previous evaluations performed by the applicant if applicable;
• Short vision of achieving the task, including the evaluation methodology;
• A tentative timetable for preparation, field-work, analysis and finalization of the Report;
• Detailed budget for the evaluation in EUR (total price, daily fee, travel costs, communications, fees, etc.) 

9. Submission 

The deadline for submissions is August 6, 2023. 

The Terms of Reference can be accessed here: Interim Review of the implementation of East Europe Foundation’s Strategy 2021-2025 - FUNDAȚIA EST-EUROPEANĂ (eef.md)

The application should be sent to the following e-mail address: concurs@eef.md  with “Program evaluation” in the subject line. 

All questions regarding this task shall be addressed in written to Andrei Brighidin, EEF Director for Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, at andrei.brighidin@eef.md. 

For more information about East Europe Foundation, please access www.eef.md. Only selected applicants will be contacted. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.