Evaluation of the operation of the Centre for Civil and Political Rights 2015-2023

Terms of Reference

Background

The Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre) carried out the first external evaluation in 2015 regarding its operation between 2008 and 2014, in which Centre’s first Strategic Plan 2015-2017 was also taken into account. In 2018, CCPR Centre further developed its Strategic Plan 2019-2023. With the conclusion of the period of the latest Strategic Plan, CCPR Centre plans to carry out its second external evaluation of its operation covering the period of 2015-2023.

Objective

The evaluation should assess the overall operation of the CCPR Centre between 2015 and 2023.

Principles

The evaluation should be carried out with particular focus on the following principles:

• Relevance: Does the Centre’s mandate suit the problems identified? Is it relevant to the needs of its target group and beneficiaries and how can it be adapted to better reach them?
• Impact: What contribution did the Centre make to the change it wanted to see? What were the final results of Centre’s activities during the years? What can the Centre undertake to improve its impact and the documentation thereof?
• Effectiveness: How far has the Centre delivered on its intended outputs and results? Could the Centre achieve similar or better results with different methodology(ies)? How could things be done better in the future?
• Sustainability: Are the results sustainable? Is CCPR Centre support/involvement still required to achieve lasting results and where?
• Gender perspective: Has the Centre valued a gender-perspective in its work, both in substance and with its partners, and how can it improve this perspective?

Timing

March 2024: recruitment of an external evaluator

April-July 2024: evaluation carried out by the consultant

August-Sept 2024: conclusion of the evaluation with the production of an evaluation report

Methodology

The evaluation should be carried out through a combination of methodologies and include at least:

• Review of documents: all documents containing relevant data and information for the evaluation are provided to the evaluator by the Centre including its annual reports, mission reports, minutes of Board meetings and other internal documents as well as Centre’s Strategic Plan 2019-2023 and the previous evaluation report.
• Interview with Centre officers: All officers of the Centre, including Director, Board members, regional and national coordinators should be approached for interviews. In addition, former staff and interns who worked at the Centre during the period covered by or relevant to the evaluation may also be approached for interviews or questionnaire survey. Interviews can be conducted in-person or remotely (online).
• Interview and/or survey with stakeholders: relevant stakeholders, whom the evaluator should identify in consultation with the Centre officers (contacts should also be provided by the Centre to the evaluator) are approached for interviews and/or questionnaire survey. Stakeholders to be approached in any case include: member of the Human Rights Committee and its Secretariat as well as representatives of national, regional and international civil society organisations and Human Rights Defenders who collaborated or cooperated with, or were assisted by, the Centre. Interviews can be conducted in-person or remotely (online).

In addition, the external evaluator may propose other methodologies, which after agreement with the Centre can be employed in the evaluation.

Recruitment of an independent external evaluator

The external evaluator will be recruited through a transparent, fair and thorough selection process. The position will be publicly advertised, while recommendations from partners and previous evaluator are also taken into account. The selection will be based on at least: review of necessary documents such as CV and sample works, in-person or online interview(s) and communication with reference persons.

Expected outcome and evaluation report

The evaluation should present its findings, in accordance with the principles listed above, and make recommendations for the Centre to improve its operation and address shortcomings. A final evaluation report should be produced and shared with the officers of the Centre and other stakeholders including external actors participated in the evaluation process and donors.

The final evaluation report should have at least:

• Introduction including methodology and overview of the evaluation
• Findings including matters that may not be specified in this document but identified relevant for the purpose of evaluation
• Conclusion and recommendations

In addition, case studies should be presented to highlight the findings of the evaluation. Any other information and documents relevant to the purpose of the evaluation should be attached to the final report.

Budget

Proposals should be made in the framework of 20 days of work and maximum evaluation budget of CHF 15,000.