External evaluation of the “Ideas Box Initiative” co-financed by French Development Agency (AFD)

1. Objectives of the evaluation

The purpose of the tender is to recruit the consultant(s) to carry out the external evaluation of the Ideas Box Initiative project in Iraq and Lebanon, which is implemented by BSF and its local partners, with the financial support of the French Development Agency (AFD)

The external evaluation will aim at assessing the impact of the project, through the achievement of the objectives and expected results and, more generally, the extent and quality of the changes brought about by the project among users and Ideas Box facilitators.

The study will focus on the project’s actions implemented in the Middle East:

• 3 Ideas Boxes deployed in Lebanon, in partnership with the Lebanese organisation Amel Association International (Amel);

• 1 Ideas Box deployed in Iraq, in partnership with the international organisation Acted.

The evaluation should focus on the qualitative rather than quantitative changes that the Ideas Box project would have contributed to, with regard to the project’s objectives and indicators concerning non-formal education, psychosocial support and social cohesion. The evaluation shall be focussed on the activities in Lebanon concentrating most of the project activities.

This evaluation will be carried out by an external evaluator(s), i.e. not involved in the project, in order to have the most objective view possible on the achievement of the project objectives and results.

2. Expected tasks and services

The evaluator(s) will be expected to perform the following tasks

· Literature review and study of existing data

· Definition of the overall approach and methodology, sampling and collection techniques (surveys, focus groups, observations, etc.), which will be submitted to BSF and the implementing partner in each country for validation

· Development, implementation and adaptation of data collection and analysis tools to be deployed in the evaluation

· Data collection during missions to each deployment site, according to the methodology (ies) approved by BSF and its partners

· Processing, cleaning and analysis of the collected data

· Production of interim reports following each field mission

· Presentation of the results to the teams and stakeholders following each mission

· Production of a final report containing all the data and analyses carried out

· Formulation of recommendations to reinforce the actions implemented within the framework of the project, by BSF and its partners

· Delivery to BSF of the raw data collected with a note describing the data sets and the processing applied to them

3. Methodology of the evaluation

The evaluator will propose a methodological note for the evaluation. This note should specify the method(s) that will be used to evaluate the various objectives and results of the project, and their consistency with Tool Sheet 5 “Principles of project evaluation and capitalisation”, taken from the AFD Methodological Guide for CSO support mechanisms (Annex 2). It will also explain the proposed methodology for collecting data in each field (collection methods, preferred qualitative evaluation techniques, frequency and duration of missions in particular).

The evaluator will carry out all the steps he/she deems necessary to formalise his/her opinion. He/she shall request from BSF all details, information or documents necessary for the exercise of his/her mission.

Due to the current health crisis, meetings with BSF staff in France and in Jordan will be conducted remotely whenever possible.

4. Conduct and scope of the evaluation

Within one month of the signature of the contract, a scoping meeting will be organised by BSF with the evaluator, in order to validate together the scope and the methodologies implemented for the evaluation. The project partners in Iraq and Lebanon will be involved, as far as possible, in this meeting.

This meeting will enable the evaluator to produce a scoping note containing his recommendations for the evaluation. This note will specify the objectives and results to be evaluated, including the definition of indicators if necessary, and propose a more precise timetable for the evaluation.

The external evaluation will then take place during several missions to each of the 4 Ideas Box deployment sites in Lebanon and Iraq, in order to collect the data needed for the analysis.

An interim evaluation report will be produced and submitted to BSF following each field mission. A final evaluation report will be submitted to BSF following the last mission.

The final evaluation report shall be submitted to BSF by 31 January 2023 at the latest. The evaluation missions will be carried out in the interval between the signature of the contract and 31 January 2023, according to the schedule proposed by the evaluator(s) and validated by BSF.

5. Expected deliverables

The expected deliverables are the following:

· A scoping note which will set out the evaluator’s main recommendations for the conduct of this evaluation (definition of indicators, collection methodology)

· Data collection and analysis tools, presented and validated by BSF, in a modifiable format

· Cleaned data collected, accompanied by an explanatory note describing the processing of the data, if necessary

· Intermediate reports following each field mission of the study, in a modifiable format

· Final evaluation report (electronic version) including the analysis of the achievement of each objective and result defined with BSF as well as recommendations for the further implementation of the project

· A Powerpoint presentation of the final evaluation report

All deliverables might be written in French or English. In this last case, BSF will handle the translation from English to French.

6.Tender schedule

Deadline for requesting clarifications from Bibliothèques Sans Frontières 15^thJuly 2021

Deadline for submission of bids (date of receipt, not date of dispatch) 31^stJuly 2021

Notification of award to successful bidder 3^rdSeptember 2021

Signature of contract 10^thSeptember 2021

BSF reserves the right to pre-select certain offers in order to enter into a competitive dialogue with the pre-selected companies.

3. Budget

The maximum total budget for the whole external evaluation is 26.000 euros including all taxes and field missions.

4. Questions and clarifications

If BSF, on its own initiative or in response to a request from an applicant, adds or clarifies information to the tender documents, this information will be sent in writing and shared with all other potential bidders at the same time.

Tenderers may address their questions in writing to the following address, ideally by e-mail, or by post, up to fifteen (15) working days before the deadline for submission of tenders, indicating the tender reference.

Name of the Contact: Frédéric Murat (Head of the International Desk) and Caroline Bedos-Esteban (Operations Manager)

Adresse : BSF, 8-10 rue de Valmy, 93100 Montreuil

Tel : + 33 (0)7 62 66 45 91

Mail : [email protected] / [email protected]

Any tenderer seeking to arrange a private meeting with BSF during the tender period will risk being excluded from the tender procedure.