Terms of Reference – External Final Evaluation of the EU-funded project “Win-win for Vietnam”

Terms of Reference – External Final Evaluation of the EU-funded project

“Win-win for Vietnam”

Deadline: 5 October 2023 (Vietnam time)

1. Background on the project to be evaluated

The "Win-Win For Vietnam - Establishing An Effective Cooperation Mechanism Between Business Sector And Civil Society Organisations In Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility & Creating Shared Value Actions Toward Achieving Sustainable Development Goals In Vietnam" project (in short, "Win-win for Vietnam" project) will contribute to establish an enabling environment for local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to network with business sector in Vietnam as well as facilitates local CSOs’ initiatives in promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Creating Shared Values (CSV) focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 16 and 17. The project will simultaneously raises enterprise’ awareness on CSR and CSV toward achieving the specific SDGs and enhances local CSOs' capacity in collaboration with private sector in Vietnam as well as connects both sides together to foster the collaboration’s effectiveness between Vietnamese CSOs and business sector in CSR, CSV actions which meet the SDGs. As a result, the project will contribute to gain local ownership and reduce financial dependence on international donors for Vietnamese CSOs by leveraging CSR and CSV funds as well as improving their capacities of networking, cooperating with corporate sector, project design, branding and multi-stakeholder communication.

The project is implemented by a consortium including the following organisations: Institute for Research on Development Communication (RED), Vietnam - the lead and the partner Pro NGO! e.V. (Germany) in 43 months, starting from 1st September 2020. The project is co-funded by the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam.

Currently RED is seeking for local expert(s) or a team of experts to conduct an external final evaluation for the project.

2. Project Description

3. Purpose and scope of the final evaluation

The aim of the external final evaluation is to evaluate the project’s implementation from  1 September 2020 – 31 March 2024 in response to the project’s objectives and targets as well as its sustainability.

The evaluation report should include an assessment of the project implementation’s results, the impacts and sustainability of the project, identification of lessons learnt, success stories and best practices as well as relevant recommendations.

* Note: To save time, the evaluation expert(s) need to refer to the project's external mid-term evaluation report (English & Vietnamese) for the period from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2022 . (The project will provide a full version after signing the contract.)

The evaluation of the project should consider the following OECD/DAC evaluation criteria:

• Relevance: Appropriateness of the project strategy to the actual needs and priorities of the target groups/beneficiaries. Is the project strategy appropriate and logic to attain the objectives? Does the project appropriately respond to the needs and priorities of the target groups? What is the quality of the project design?
• Coherence: Compatibility of the intervention with other interventions in a country, sector or institution. Is the project duplicating current efforts in the field? Is the project compatible with the partners other projects and action?
• Efficiency: Measures the outputs -- qualitative and quantitative -- in relation to the inputs. How well are the means/inputs and activities converted into outputs? Are the activities implemented in line with the plans? Are they implemented and the outputs delivered is a cost-efficient manner?
• Effectiveness: Contribution of the project results to the achievement of the project objectives. To what extent are the specific objectives achieved / are likely to be achieved? What are the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
• Impact: The positive and negative changes produced by the project, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. Main effects resulting from the project on the local social, economic, environmental and other development indicators. What is the project’s likely contribution to the overall objective?
• Sustainability: Likelihood of a continuation in the steam of benefits produced by the project after the period of external support has ended. Are the results, services and benefits of the project likely to continue after donor funding has been withdrawn?

4. Evaluation approach and methods

The evaluation could include desk research and/or surveys and/or interviews and/or focus group discussions:

• Desk research: should include a review of all the material and documentation developed within the project, the reports of the events organised, the tools created or adapted, including web-tools and other relevant reports of activities, survey etc. The consultant should collect all quantitative data from the logframe and internal ROM report.
• Surveys: The consultant can consider to carry out survey(s) among the target beneficiaries of the project in Vietnam;
• Key Informant Interviews/Focus group discussions: The consultant could carry out interviews/group discussions with the project’s implementing organisations as well as with representatives of the target groups/beneficiaries. The interviews/group discussions can be taken place online or offline.
• Output of the evaluation: The consultant is requested to produce an evaluation report in English and Vietnamese (30-35 pages/report), including a table of contents, executive summary, brief introduction, objectives and methodology, findings, lessons learned, best practices, recommendations, and conclusion. Please note that annexes (e.g. acronyms, list of persons interviewed, interview guide, calendar, consent form, etc.) should also be included, but not part of the page limit of the report.
• All raw data obtained during this process are in the possession of the contracting entity (the Win-Win for Vietnam project).

5. Expected Deliverables

1. Inception report, including (1) a detailed work plan, (2) a detailed methodology, (3) list of proposed interviewees and (4) tools for the evaluation, such as interview guide, survey, consent form, etc. (could be in English or Vietnamese)
2. Draft evaluation report (could be in English or Vietnamese)
3. Deliver a presentation of the key findings of the project’s final evaluation at the Project Closing Ceremony in Ha Noi on Friday, 1 March 2024
4. Final evaluation report in English and Vietnamese addressing the evaluation questions based on feedback upon the draft report.
5. Evaluation database includes all primary data collected, such as surveys, transcripts or notes of the focused group discussions, interviews, photographs (if any), videos (if any) and all the corresponding consent forms.

6. Profile and qualifications of the consultant

Applicants may be individuals or teams of consultants.

Key qualifications should be:

• Relevant degree(s) in social sciences or development studies
• Proven experience with and knowledge of participatory qualitative and/or quantitative research methods and sampling strategies (at least 3 years of experiences)
• Proven experience in conducting project evaluation
• Sound understanding and experiences with Vietnamese CSOs and business sector in Vietnam
• Excellent communication and written skills in English and Vietnamese
• Proven capacity to present data concisely and clearly
• Previous experience in distant researches and strong skills in modern communication technologies will be an asset.
• Disclosure of conflict of interest

7. Deadline and submission of expression of interest (EoI)

RED invites interested consultants/consultancy teams to submit the following EoI documents by 5 October 2023 (Vietnam time):

1. Expression of interest outlining how the consultant(s) meets the selection criteria and their understanding of the ToR (max. 1 page)
2. Financial proposal
3. CV(s) of the consultant or all consultancy team members
4. At least 1 example of similar pieces of work completed recently

The EoI shall be sent to center@red.org.vn and chau.bui@pro-ngo.org with “Win-win for Vietnam-External final evaluation proposal” as the email subject. Any questions to the study should be directed to center@red.org.vn.

8. Budget & Payment

The consultant should submit the total budget in the proposal with detail breakdown including applicable government taxes. 50% of the contract amount will be paid after the approval of the inception report, and the remaining 50% amount will be paid after submission of all the required deliverables as mentioned at point 5 of this ToR.

The proposed budget for the consultant should include all relevant costs, such as professional fees, travel, local transportation, etc.). The maximum budget for the job is 6,490€ (equivalent to about 169,486,350 VND (temporary exchange rate: 26,115 VND/1 EUR and may change according to the actual situation) including all costs and taxes.

9. Provisional timeline

10. Selection Criteria

• Proposed methodology 
• Relevant experience
• Financial offer with breakdowns per unit
• Sample of the previous relevant assignment 

11. Use of the evaluation

• Implementing organizations, project team and partners
• The donor (EU)
• Part of the evaluation report might be published to share lessons learnt and best practice.

12. Confidentiality and data ownership   

The consultant(s) will ensure that the study will respect and protect the rights and welfare of the people and communities involved and is technically accurate and reliable, conducted in a transparent and impartial manner, and contributes to organisational learning and  accountability.

The consultant will protect the confidentiality of those participating in the survey at all stages. All data and products are confidential and are the property of the project. No data or other information from this study will be released to third parties without the written approval of the project. The consultant will hand over all database generated from this evaluation (interview records, meeting minutes, survey results, etc.) to the project and will destroy information and material after all data and original documentation has been delivered to the project team at the end of the contract./.