Final Evaluation Consultancy – Sudan

Promediation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization (under the French law of 1901), led by professionals who combine high-level expertise in mediation and negotiation with extensive field experience in Africa. Involved in various processes since 2006, the team has been working since 2012 in support of peace processes and conflict prevention efforts in Africa, particularly in the Sahel and the Maghreb, but also in the Gulf of Guinea.

Promediation is looking for a consultant to implement an evaluation on a mediation project in Sudan

1. National project context

Following the political transition in Sudan, a peace process had resumed between the transitional government and the armed and unarmed opposition movements from the various marginalized areas of Sudan. The signing of the “Juba Agreement for Peace in Sudan” also referred to as the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) between the transitional government of Sudan (TGoS) and the rebel armed movements on October 3, 2020 in the capital of South Sudan marked a new step in Sudan’s political transition.

The coup on 25 October 2021 and the following agreement between Prime Minister Hamdok and Head of the Sovereign Council, General al-Burhan, have brought about new dynamics with regards to the transition in Sudan, with effects on the situation in Darfur and peace implementation, as well as the engagement of the international community with the Sudanese authorities.

While the political situation in Sudan and Darfur has remained unstable and fluid since the coup, the armed conflict which began on 15 April 2023, between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has also had massive implications for Darfur. While fighting between the two sides has affected most of the main cities in Darfur, it has also degenerated into intercommunal fighting in several areas, compounded by the reliance on tribal militias and on recruitment on a tribal basis by the two belligerents.

2. The project

Promediation has been working in Sudan since 2019, focusing our activities on supporting the peace process in Darfur and in Eastern Sudan, and the country’s democratic transition.

This project, “Supporting peace and stabilization in Darfur through dialogue and mediation”, ran from March 1, 2022 to February 29, 2024, under the contracting authority of European Union’s Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI).

In this context, Promediation has developed an Action aimed to contribute to the peace and stabilisation process in Sudan by supporting peace implementation in Darfur and facilitating efforts at reducing local tensions through dialogue and mediation. In the conduct of its operations and in the face of a highly volatile national situation, Promediation regularly assessed new political and security developments and amended its programmes accordingly. Overall, the activities carried out were devoted to accomplish a set of five key objectives:

1. Supporting the peace process in Darfur in its progress in line with the objectives of the civilians.
2. Supporting inclusive initiatives and dialogue processes in Darfur at the local level (West Darfur).
3. Ensuring that local populations’ needs and constraints are better included in the peace and stabilization process at the State and regional level in Darfur.
4. Supporting a more inclusive and representative Darfur peace process.
5. Ensuring that side effects in Darfur of the war between SAF and RSF are contained.
6. Objectives

The purpose of this consultancy is to assess the results achieved by the project through a final evaluation. The purpose of this study is to collect various data to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the impact of the project on local mediation initiatives and target groups engagement in the areas of intervention and the perception of the project by all the actors involved.

The specific objectives of the evaluation will be to i) assess the progress made towards the achievement of the expected results of the project, ii) assess the relevance of the theory of change (the logic of the approach) proposed by the project, as well as its effectiveness and efficiency, iii) evaluate the level of satisfaction of the various key players with the project itself and the results achieved, iv) identify the main lessons to be learned from the implementation of the project, as well as good practices that can be replicated. This last point requires particular attention from the evaluator, in order to benefit the organization’s potential future projects.

3. Responsabilities

With this in mind, the consultant will be tasked with:

• Developing research tools to assess the perception and satisfaction of target groups. These tools and questionnaires will be implemented by the consultant during its interviews with target groups and key interlocutors

• Undertaking a mission to the region (Sudan if the situation allows it, or Nairobi, Kampala, Addis Ababa, Cairo) to conduct semi-structured interviews with the target groups as well as interviews (KIIs) with key interlocutors in the implementation of the project. To do this, a mission to the region of about 10 days is to be expected. Transportation and living costs are not covered directly by Promediation and should therefore be included in the financial offer proposal. For stakeholders not available to meet in person, the consultant will carry out phone interviews.

• Analyze all the data collected to identify trends and new areas of priority action for the future

• Work in collaboration with the rest of the team to aggregate existing data.

• Write the external evaluation study and present the conclusions to the Promediation team.

• Knowledge of mediation and mediation work is an asset.

4. Evaluation questions

This final evaluation should answer the following questions:

A. Relevance

• Are the interventions relevant to the context?

• Do the objectives and expected results meet the needs of the target populations?

• Is the results framework (indicators) defined relevant and suitable for measuring results?

B. Effectiveness

• Have the expected results been achieved?

• What are the external factors that contributed to the achievement or not of the Outcomes?

• What are the main difficulties encountered and what are the causes?

C. Efficiency

• To what extent have the resources (financial, human and informational) invested in the implementation of the activities been used in an optimal manner with regard to the results achieved? Were the resources sufficient in relation to the results achieved?

D. Sustainability

• What was the degree of ownership of the project by local authorities and/or communities?

• To what extent will the positive changes in the field continue in the future?

• To what extent have national capacities been strengthened? If so, at what level?

E. Cross-Cutting Themes

• To what extent has the project contributed to the promotion of gender in the interventions?

• To what extent has the project contributed to the social inclusion of groups usually excluded from decision-making processes and consultation mechanisms?

• Has the project contributed to the promotion of women’s participation in the activities in question?

6. Methodology and expected deliverables

A. Methodology

The international consultant will decide on a combination of qualitative and quantitative method for data collection and analysis.

• The project documents will be submitted to the international consultant for a documentary review: project document, minutes of meetings, monitoring and evaluation framework, various work plans, periodic reports, mission reports.

• Data collection and data analysis will be done by the consultant and will aim to consult stakeholder groups at the community level.

• Key informant interviews: the assessment should include interviews with key project stakeholders in the region, institutional partners, civil society experts, key project staff.

• Structured and semi-structured telephone interviews: project staff and key informants residing outside the country can be approached by telephone, e-mail. Evaluators can also use these tools for other data collection.

  B. Expected deliverables

The main deliverables of this evaluation are:

• Work plan: the consultant will have to produce a simple document which presents the understanding of the mandate, methodology to be followed, distribution of tasks between the members of the team and chronogram of the intervention. This document will be based on initial consultations with the Promediation team to refine the methodology. This document will be submitted to Promediation for approval at the start of the consultancy.

• Presentation of quantitative and qualitative collection tools

• Weekly note: a regular progress report to update on the progress of the work, review the work plan if necessary, and identify the questions to be resolved during the duration of the consultancy. This weekly note will be brief and not exceed 1-2 page(s).

• Presentation of preliminary results and draft evaluation report: the evaluator will make a presentation of the preliminary results to the Promediation team and submit a draft report for comments.

• Final evaluation report: the Promediation team will take a maximum of 10 days to consolidate their comments for the evaluator, who will have a maximum of 10 days to finalize the report including a summary in English.

C. Estimated budget

Budget for the evaluation cannot exceed 25 000 EUR, including all taxes and expenses.

Skills and qualifications required

• Master’s degree or equivalent in humanities or other relevant fields with a minimum of 5 years’ professional experience
• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience specifically in managing and conducting evaluations of peace and security, social cohesion, stabilization and peacebuilding projects.
• Ability to demonstrate experience with formal and informal approaches to data collection and analysis.
• Good understanding of the political-security context and dynamics in Sudan, good understanding of dynamics in Darfur.
• Acute interpersonal skills, ability to establish a relationship of trust with interlocutors, open to change, able to receive and integrate feedback.
• Fluency in Arabic would be an asset.