Call for evaluators: Uzbekistan
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Title
Call for evaluators: Uzbekistan
Final evaluation: Terms of Reference and Call for Expressions of Interest
Name of the project: Empowerment of vulnerable communities through building effective and sustainable civil society
Deadline for applications: 11/04/2025 at 23:59 CET
1. Project background information
Minority Rights Group Europe (MRGE), a Budapest-based non-governmental organisation has been implementing a two-year programme between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2025, funded by the European Commission, which aims to contribute to a resilient and inclusive society in Uzbekistan. The programme focuses on vulnerable and marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities, women, youth, and persons with disabilities (PwD). It aims to promote human rights awareness and fundamental freedoms by engaging and supporting local civil society organisations (CSO) in democratic governance. MRG works withactivists and civil society organisations, including ethnic, linguistic, national, and religious minorities, indigenous peoples and visible minority communities.
This programme aims to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of vulnerable groups in Uzbekistan, who are suffering from discrimination, violence and stigmatization more broadly. MRG has strived to achieve this by strengthening the capacities of local civil society organisations (CSOs), grassroots organizations, human rights defenders and civic activists to exercise their fundamental freedoms and monitor the implementation of human rights commitments at local, regional and national levels. We have also developed tools for sound and participatory monitoring and advocacy efforts to build an environment where citizens are empowered right-holders and encouraged to become civil society actors.
See more about the programme here.
2. Evaluation objectives, criteria, and questions
Evaluation objectives:
- To assess the EU evaluation criteria (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact) in relation to the objectives and outputs set out in programme documents.
- To assess the programme design (i.e. logframe, choice of indicators and targets)
- Based on the findings of the evaluation, to develop a set of suggestions and key recommendations for MRGE and its partners’ future and continued activities.
- To report to the EU on the use of their resources in the programme.
Evaluation criteria and Key Evaluation Questions:
- Relevance (i.e., How well has the intervention responded to local needs? To what extent did the intervention benefit all target groups equally?)
- Effectiveness (i.e., Has the intervention achieved its outcomes and outputs? To what extent and how were the constraints foreseen and overcome? What unintended outcomes were achieved?)
- Efficiency (i.e., How well were the resources used? How well was the program budgeted for? What internal and external factors contributed to and/or hindered implementation efficiency?)
- Impact (i.e., What broad changes has the intervention contributed to generate?)
- Sustainability and participation (i.e., Will the benefits last? How effective were the exit strategies? To what extent did target groups and communities participate in the design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of the program? Did the intervention receive buy-in from the authorities?)
- Project design and delivery (i.e., Were all the activities delivered as planned? Was the Theory of Change valid and/or the Logframe solid?)
- Monitoring Evaluation and Learning system (i.e., What was the quality of the MEL system, including MEL plan, data collection and storage tools? Were the reports informative?)
- Partnerships (i.e., What partnership relationships have developed between MRG and the partners and amongst the partners? How successful were they?)
- Donor-specified and MRG cross-cutting results (i.e., Did the intervention contribute to promote gender equality? Was a human rights-based approach used?)
- Learning and recommendations (i.e., What are the main learned lessons and best practices from the program?)
In addition to the above, the evaluator(s) is expected to ensure compliance with donor’s evaluation criteria.
For EU projects, evaluators should refer to the evaluation criteria illustrated in the EU ‘Better Regulation toolbox’, (pp. 404-414). The full EU policy ‘Evaluation matters’ is available here. For a technical overview and introduction to the EU evaluation process and methodology, please see ‘Methodological bases for evaluation vol. 1’.
3. The principles that will guide the evaluation
The evaluator should take into consideration and respect gender and cultural sensitivity throughout the whole evaluation process. Appropriate ethical procedures should be established and included in the inception report and a formal ethical statement should be submitted. The evaluator is responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all the information gathered during the evaluation, particularly personal data of the beneficiaries and project staff, and the content of project documents.
4. Key deliverables
- Evaluation workplan/inception report
- Preliminary findings (max. 3-5 pages) at the mid-term of the evaluation period
- Final evaluation report (20-25 pages, excluding annexes), including an Executive Summary (2-3 pages) in an accessible, easy-to-read format. The final evaluation report will be full and detailed for internal use and for submission to the donor.
All deliverables should be written in English.
5. Key tasks
- Read all programme materials and review feedback from programme partners (including notes of meetings, publications, media coverage, training evaluations, monitoring reports).
- Hold detailed discussions regarding programme implementation, results and impact with MRGE and partner staff.
- Meet with/speak to select programme participants.
- Visit programme locations and speak to community members and officials. Visits should be arranged independently and should not rely on programme staff, nor should programme staff be present. There is a final conference in Tashkent in May/June 2025, where the evaluator is expected to be present and carry out evaluation in person.
Please note: the evaluator is tasked with handling issues related to security, weather conditions, logistical challenges, limited access to resources, and other relevant matters.
6. Evaluator(s) qualification and expertise required
- Extensive knowledge of and experience in human rights and minority rights
- Good knowledge of Uzbekistan and the Central Asia region, including political, social, legal, media context, particularly with regards to the situation of vulnerable groups.
- Experience with comparative evaluations and strong track record of evaluations carried out in similar advocacy and capacity building projects, preferably funded by the European Commission
- Ability to speak, read and write English fluently.
- Ability to speak, read and write Russian and/or Uzbek at a good level
- Experience in training, advocacy and work with smaller NGOs would be an asset
The evaluator will need to be independent of MRGE and its partner organizations, its donors, and its beneficiaries and will need to demonstrate that no perceived or actual conflict of interest would arise during the evaluation. The evaluator will need to work within the timeframe outlined below.
The evaluator will need to be able to demonstrate the ability to gain the trust of the partner organizations and beneficiaries targeted in this project.
7. Budget
Budget: Gross 4,000 EUR (including applicable taxes, contributions, or 27% Hungarian VAT depending on the applicant’s status, travel costs etc.).
For guidance on creating a budget for evaluations, refer here.
Candidates must supply a detailed estimation of the total cost of the evaluation.
Some budget headings to consider in the evaluation budget are:
- Personnel (e.g., evaluator(s), research assistant, support staff) per day or lump sum – if lump sum, the number of workdays will be agreed with MRG and reflected in the work plan and budget.
- Travel (e.g., transportation, per diem, travel mobilization expenses, class of travel)
- Supplies, equipment and direct communication costs such as phone, fax, email, internet, postage
- Translation
- Copying and printing
- Workshops, FGDs, and other data collection costs (i.e., design, verification, utilization)
- Facilitation of use by intended users.
8. Timeframe and Submission
The evaluator will start working before the project ends but some data will only be available after the project has closed (31 May 2025).
- The evaluation should be carried out between 1 May and 15 July, 2025.
- An inception report should be submitted by 15 May, 2025
- Final conference in Tashkent (TBD) – physical presence required
- Preliminary findings should be submitted by mid-June 2025
- A draft evaluation report should be submitted no later than 30 June, 2025. MRGE and partners will have 8 working days to comment on the draft. A final report must be submitted no later than 15 July, 2025.
If you are interested, please apply by filling out the application form by 11 April, 2025, 23:59 CET.
9. Application documents:
- CV (if the evaluation will be carried out by a team, all team members’ CVs should be submitted)
- Cover letter – indicating relevant experience, knowledge and how you meet the requirements
- Workplan – including: evaluation approach and methodology, data collection strategy, data analysis plan, the plans for country visits (number and types of people and groups to be contacted), timeline, team composition (if the evaluation is going to be conducted by a team), and budget. These plans will be finalized in the inception report phase.
- Examples of, or links to, evaluations completed by the candidate/team members with similar elements
- Declaration of absence of conflict of interest
Apply here
ECV Uzbekistan Programme Evaluator
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