See full Terms of Reference
1. Introduction
The ‘Step Up the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation of Children’ (SUFASEC) programme is implemented by the Down to Zero (DtZ) Alliance with Terre des Hommes Netherlands (TdH NL) as lead and Child Rights Coalition Asia (CRC Asia), Conexión, Defence for Children – ECPAT Netherlands (DCI-ECPAT), Free A Girl Netherlands (FAG NL) and Plan International Netherlands as Alliance members. The programme builds on previous DtZ experience 1 taking into account the complexity and local context regarding sexual exploitation of children (SEC) in the 12 implementing countries. In Asia, the Alliance works in South East Asia in Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Thailand and in South Asia in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. In Latin America the Alliance works in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Guatemala. In total we work with over 25 local implementing partners (see partner list per country in Annex 4) and with different stakeholders (see Annex 5). The donor for the SUFASEC programme is the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). The overall goal of the SUFASEC programme is that “Children in all of their diversity are better protected from sexual exploitation”, contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 3 (ensure healthy lives and promote well-being) and 5.2 (eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls) and to results areas 1 and 4 of the Dutch SRHR Policy. The long-term impact will be reached through three interlinking Outcomes that address different dimensions (social norms, protective environments, and laws/policies/systems):
● Outcome 1: Children and youth and their communities successfully challenge social norms and harmful practices related to sexual exploitation of children.
● Outcome 2: Children and youth have access to and are supported by strengthened protective environments
● Outcome 3: Children and civil society meaningfully participate in holding duty bearers, including government and local authorities to their obligations towards improved implementation of laws, policies and systems. See more info in the End-term Evaluation Terms of Reference.
2. Scope of the end-term evaluation
In its final year of implementation, Down to Zero Alliance seeks to commission an externally and independently-led End Term evaluation. The End-Term Evaluation process shall be guided by the guidelines for evaluation of the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department of MoFa and the 17 evaluation criteria of the IOB (Annex 7). Furthermore, the evaluation conduct (evaluation methodology, data-collection and analysis), and corresponding products, will need to abide by the IOB Evaluation Quality criteria. Apart from the IOB evaluation quality criteria, the evaluation also has to assess progress towards SUFASEC objectives and evaluate the coherence, effectiveness and the sustainability of the programme (based on the three mentioned OECD DAC criteria). The three selected criteria are cross-cutting across the overall vision and goal of the SUFASEC programme. It is important to mention that, although the evaluation should focus on the three mentioned criteria, consultants could highlight other aspects beyond these criteria if needed.
● Coherence: how well does the intervention fit with the local context, with the local needs and with the work of the other stakeholders?
● Effectiveness: is the intervention achieving its objectives? including any unexpected results across Outcomes?
● Sustainability: Will the benefit of the intervention last? The End-Term Evaluation provides progress information on indicators within the results areas of the overall ToC. The evaluation will identify which pathways of the ToC worked as expected, where assumptions held true, if and where course corrections were done and if they were useful. Considering the programme’s design, using participatory methods is highly recommended. Programme budget and expenditure will also need to be evaluated by the external consultants. We also expect the analysis to be guided by gender/inclusion and children/youth engagement lenses as crosscutting themes.
● Gender and inclusion: how well did the intervention promote gender equality and include activities and strategies that are inclusive and accessible to all genders and other forms of exclusion and that effectively contribute to transform the unequal and to exclude power relations.
● Child-centeredness: how did the programme consider children’s voices, participation, and best interests (this includes ensuring activities are age-appropriate, engaging, and designed with the children’s developmental stages in mind) and how did the programme transform adult-centredness. Finally the Down to Zero Alliance acknowledge the importance of an inclusive approach to MEAL and we therefore ask consultants to effectively address diversity, collaborative learning, use participatory methods and remove barriers that prevent women, LGBTIQ+ persons and other marginalized groups from participating (such as language, educational attainment, ethnic affiliation/religion, cultural values, gender stereotypes or financial barriers). In the ETE Evaluation Consultants should also give a special 5 focus on the unexpected/unintended impacts of the programme on women and girls in all their diversity, LGBTIQ+ persons and other marginalized groups.
2.1 Evaluator/s
Optimally (if the right candidates will be identified) the End-Term Evaluation will be conducted by two consultants/consultancy companies 2 (one for the Asia Region and one for the Latin American Region), who will closely collaborate with each other in order to align their approaches and data collection tools. Both consultants will need to develop together a common Final End-Term Evaluation Report including both results. Alternatively a single consultant, with experience in both contexts will be selected and asked to work on both regions. Evaluators from the Global South are strongly encouraged to apply and collaboration with young-emerging local evaluators is recommended. The evaluators will be independent, i.e. they have not been involved in the design or implementation of the project.
2.2 Evaluation Period
The evaluation will cover the entire duration of the SUFASEC programme, from its inception in March 2023 to its conclusion in February 2026. This period encompasses all phases of the programme implementation and key Outcomes achieved. 2.3 Geographical Scope The evaluation will focus on the following countries and regions where the SUFASEC programme is implemented:
● Countries in Asia: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, The Philippines, Thailand
● Countries in Latin America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala
● Cross-Alliance Collaboration Initiatives […]
● Lobby and Advocacy Activities: targeting law enforcement, private sector engagement, and policy enhancement (Asia and Latin America)
The consultants are expected to conduct a preliminary analysis, including analysis of context and cross cutting themes for all DtZ Programme and then further narrow down the geographical scope of the in-depth evaluation while maintaining representation of the programme and of both implementation regions. For the in-depth analysis we recommend selecting 2 countries per region (2 in Asia and 2 in Latin America). The in-depth geographical scope of this End-Term Evaluation will need to be proposed by the consultants based on set specific criteria, which he/she will need to present as part of their proposal, based on the evaluation objectives and evaluation criteria. In the 4 in-depth countries consultants are 2 Called “consultants” from now on in the TOR 6 expected to also collect in-person primary data, where in the remaining 8 countries on-line data collection can be applied. In the 4 in-depth countries consultants are expected to collect data on all Outcome and Intermediate Outcome level indicators (see Annex 6), whereas for the 3 indicators linked to the Basket Indicators (SRH001, SRH015-019, SRH021-026) data need to be collected in all 12 countries. For the Outcome indicators, it is required to analyse to what extent the programme contributed to achieving results. A summary of the expected geographical scope can be found here:
● In 4 in-depth countries: Primary data collection (including in-person data collection) for all Outcome and Intermediate Outcome level indicators
● In the 8 other countries: Primary data collection (in person or online) at least for the 3 Outcome level Basket Indicators. Other result Framework indicators may be measured by the consultants based on his/her methodological approach to answer the different evaluation questions.
8 Qualification and skills Required
The consultants will be required to meet the following criteria. They should have:
● Demonstrable success in a relevant academic study (masters level) and proven mixed-methods research backgrounds in relevant fields (SEC, SRH, etc.);
● Excellent conceptual and analytical skills, demonstrated in a professional environment;
● Experience in conducting complex, multi stakeholder, multi-country and child-centred, gender sensitive, ethical, inclusive and context relevant evaluations (Example of previously accomplished Evaluations are welcome);
● Excellent facilitator skills with learning-oriented mindset
● Proven knowledge and/or experience evaluating programmes on child rights issues, specifically in SEC; ● Ability to deliver on time and on budget;
● Fluency in spoken and written English (for the Asia Region) and Spanish (and ideally Portuguese) for the Latin American Region.
● Experience with evaluations in one or more of the DtZ Alliance´s programme regions/countries (consultants based in one of the SUFASEC countries are encouraged to apply).
● Proven ability to work in an international team and to evidencing how collaboration with a consultant in another region is within the candidate’s skill set.
● Independence from Down to Zero programma, i.e. no involvement in design or implementation of the programme.
How to Apply:
Interested consultants will be required to submit an Expression of Interest in the form of a short proposal, which should demonstrate adherence to the above requirements. Please make sure it is clear if you are applying for Asia Region, for Latin America Region or for both. The proposal (max 10 pages) should include:
– Description of the Evaluation design (including evaluation matrix, evaluation questions, limitations of the evaluation and ethical considerations)
– Description of methodology including:
o Description of both primary and secondary data collection methods, and both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods
o Sampling
o Selection Criteria for the geographical scope of the evaluation
o Data management and analysis plan
o Tentative work plan
– Financial proposal (include personnel allocation (roles / number of days / daily rates / taxes), as well as any other applicable costs)
Together with the proposal, the candidates should also submit a cover letter explaining their main motivation, the CV of principal investigator/s and a work sample of previous evaluation conducted. The alliance seeks value for money in its work. This does not necessarily mean "lowest cost", but quality of the service and reasonableness of the proposed costs. The selection of the appropriate candidate will be done as following:
● Review of the received proposal. The proposal will be judged using the following criteria: see ToR ETE Evaluation, p. 20
Interview of shortlisted candidates (the criteria summarised in the table above will be used to decide which candidate will be invited for an interview) If interested in applying for this consultancy, please send your Application Letter and Proposal by the 11th of May 2025 to the SUFASEC Programme Manager Monique Demenint (m.demenint@tdh.nl). Any question to this ToR and on the assignment should be shared to Monique Demenint or using the Q&A link by the 30th of April 2025.
Please read the full Terms of Reference.
