Final Evaluation “Women as Agents of Change in Syria” Programme

We work in both conflict-affected and humanitarian contexts, supporting women’s rights and peace building with a long-term perspective. We strive to be a flexible and reliable partner for women’s rights organisations in these contexts, supporting them to adapt their work to the state of conflict and emergencies.

Dawlaty is a non-governmental organization that works with civil society partners and marginalized groups, in particular, young men and women, to achieve a democratic transition. To do this, Dawlaty often organizes workshops, webinars, and gatherings to shed light on the important matters at hand as well as try to bring the voices of its beneficiaries to the forefront of the discussion

Kvinna till Kvinna has supported women human rights defenders and partner organisations in Syria since 2009 and is currently implementing with Dawlaty the two-year programme, titled “Women as Agents of Change in Syria” supported by the European Union (EU) represented by the European commission.

Kvinna till Kvinna is looking for consultant/s to carry out an evaluation of the progress of the results of the programme (2024-2025).

The programme “Women as Agents of Change in Syria” implemented by Kvinna till Kvinna and Dawlaty, aims to contribute to the sustainable and equitable development of communities in Syria and to the full enjoyment of all human rights by all. The project focuses on strengthening the capacity of local women rights organizations (WROs) to focus on the gender equality and inclusion of women and girls.

The programme is expected to achieve two outcomes, with the following set of outputs:

Outcome 1: Syrian Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs) have increased capacity to operate effectively and sustainably to increase women and girls’ participation.

Output 1.1. 1 WROs have improved internal policies, procedures, and organisational structure and have improved skills and thematic knowledge to implement their programmes

Output 1.2. WROs have increased access to relevant networking and advocacy arenas.

Outcome 2: Women are empowered to increase their political participation and have increased access to economic opportunities.

Output 2.1.1 Women’s professional capacities (technical and soft skills) and knowledge around community dialogue, mobilization and advocacy are enhanced and can effectively disseminate this to women in their communities.

Output 2.2. 2 Women-led grassroots groups have increased knowledge of women’s political participation, enhanced capacities to implement effective campaigning around women’s rights, and can effectively disseminate this to women in their communities.

Kvinna till Kvinna’s main target group is Syrian women’s rights organizations, long-term partners of Kvinna till Kvinna, who operate across Syria. The target group of Dawlaty are women and women-led grassroot groups, who focus on various aspects related to women’s rights and empowerment including but not limited to legal support and awareness of legal rights for women, protection, capacity building and skills development, as well as advocacy.

Intended Users

The intended users of the evaluation are the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, partner organisations and EU.

Objectives and scope of the evaluation assignment

The consultant/s is to perform an assessment to evaluate Kvinna till Kvinna and Dawlaty’s progress on the expected results of the programme “Women as Agents of Change in Syria” (2024-2025).

The objectives are to:

1. Assess the progress that has been made towards the outcomes
2. Identify and document lessons learned and good practices to inform and strengthen Kvinna till Kvinna’s future programming.
3. Formulate recommendations for Kvinna till Kvinna on how to build on successes and to improve future programming.

In addition, the consultant/s will collect qualitative stories of change to support reporting on several qualitative indicators. Consultant/s will be expected to use the Most Significant Change (MSC) methodology.

Guiding questions

The overall objective is to evaluate the programme in relation to OECD/DAC Criteria[1] of overall effectiveness, relevance, efficiency, sustainability, and impact.

Evaluation questions can be added and/or refined by the evaluator(s). A more elaborated list of evaluation questions with adjustments made for the specific programme and different target groups shall form part of the inception report.

Effectiveness:

5. To what extent has the programme achieved its expected outcomes/results?

• What has contributed to this and how and where has the change occurred? Who benefitted the most and the least? Why? Are there any unintended outcomes?

Relevance:

• To what extent were the achieved results (programme objectives, outcomes, and outputs) relevant to the needs of women and girls in Syria, and to the overall advancement of women’s rights in Syria?

5. How has the choice of thematic focuses (Political participation and women´s economic empowerment) been relevant? Where and to whom?

Efficiency:

5. To what extent has the programme been efficiently and cost-effectively implemented?

• What challenges – if any – have impacted the timeliness of the programme implementation?
• To what extent has the consortium been effective in achieving the programme's objectives, and how well have the member organizations collaborated to deliver results?

Sustainability:

• How likely is the programme to achieve sustainability in the long term, and what factors contribute to or hinder its sustainability?

5. What are the learnings/insights of target groups of Kvinna till Kvinna and/or partner organisation and/or critical areas for Kvinna till Kvinna and/or partner to take into consideration for a future programme phase?

Impact:

• To what extent has the programme initiated a change process that suggests potential long-term impact? What early signs exist of lasting impact resulting from the programme?

Methodology

The assignment will be conducted in accordance with the OECD/DAC Evaluation Criteria[2]

The assignment will ensure that the methodology approach includes an

understanding of:

• A feminist approach, based on key values of transparency, intersectionality, inclusiveness, sensitivity and a rights-based approach.

• The values set forth in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and Accra Agenda for Action[3] including ownership, harmonisation, alignment, results and mutual accountability.

The consultant(s) shall develop and propose a methodology for the evaluation, which should include both a desk review of relevant documentation, and interviews with representatives from Kvinna till Kvinna’s offices, Dawlaty and partner organisations, target groups and other stakeholders during the process and/or holding focus group discussions (FGDs).

The evaluation should as far as possible be based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and participatory (including the Most Significant Change method to collect qualitative stories of change), involving target groups to the greatest extent possible. The selection of interviewees, should be discussed with Kvinna to Kvinna and Dawlaty to ensure ethical considerations and do no harm principle. Any limitations of the stakeholders defined as relevant by the consultant(s) shall be made explicit and their consequences shall be discussed with Kvinna till Kvinna as soon as possible including any ethical or security considerations that these are based on.

It is the responsibility of the consultant(s) to schedule appointments for interviews/FGDs, and to conduct all logistical arrangements for the assignment. Contact details and key support documents will be provided by Kvinna till Kvinna.

Deliverables and tentative timeline

Start of Assignment (including start-up meeting)

June 2025

Inception Report including detailed methodology, preliminary findings/analysis from the initial desk review, refined evaluation questions, data collection tools, and final workplan

(to be developed in close consultation with Kvinna till Kvinna staff)

 August 2025

Data collection and analysis

September-October 2025

Draft Evaluation Report including operational recommendations

December 1st, 2025

Validation workshop, where findings and recommendations are presented and discussed for Kvinna till Kvinna and Dawlaty.

December 10th, 2025

Final Evaluation Report

December 23rd, 2025

Total of approximately 40 working days (including workshop to present and discuss results). The available budget is 20,000 EUR (incl. taxes).

Tender proposal content

• CV(s) and descriptions of the evaluator(s) involved in the assignment, including information on evaluator(s) language skills, country of residence and contact information.
• Technical proposal including methodology and work plan for implementation of the assignment, in accordance with this ToR and including methods for data collection and ensuring quality and a participatory approach (max. 6 pages).
• Budget (in EUR) incl. VAT and all expenses in accordance with the financial framework of this ToR.
• References to previous assignments similar to the assignment presented in this ToR.

Financial Framework

The consultant/s’ fees shall be specified as fees per day (per person, if applicable) including taxes, social security contributions and VAT. The total budget for the assignment (20,000 EUR) shall cover all the costs, including salaries, travel, insurance, and per diem and any other expenses related to the assignment. Contracted consultants cannot further subcontract the assignment. In case the proposal includes a team of evaluators, the division of work shall be presented.

Qualifications

The Consultant(s) must have:

• Previous experience from conducting similar evaluations, including experience with Most Significant Change methodology.
• Strong social science research background.
• Solid experience of working with gender and/or feminist theory, civil society, and development cooperation, preferably from the MENA-region and with proven knowledge of the Syria context.
• Solid experience of working on Syrian context

• Previous experience of rights-based analytical evaluation work in the context of international development cooperation and civil society.
• Experience with programme design and theory of change, participatory approaches, and stakeholder engagement.
• English and Arabic (spoken) language proficiency.
• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in social sciences or other related disciplines.
• Excellent analytical and communication skills with strong commitment to delivering timely and high-quality results.
• Previous experience of conducting evaluations of EU-funded programmes will be considered a merit.