Terms of Reference End of Project Evaluation for Empowering Women, Youth, and Marginalized Groups for Inclusive Governance and Peace in Sierra Leone Project

Development, Economics, Gender Studies, International Development
Sierra Leone, Freetown
June 20, 2026
Full Time
Application ends: July 6, 2026

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Job Description

Terms of Reference

End of Project Evaluation for Empowering Women, Youth, and Marginalized Groups for Inclusive Governance and Peace in Sierra Leone Project

  • Our Program in Sierra Leone

Talking Drum Studio Sierra Leone (TDS-SL) is a registered non-profit peacebuilding organization in Sierra Leone. TDS-SL envisions a peaceful, prosperous, and well-governed society where conflicts are resolved peacefully and do not escalate into violence or war. Its mission is to empower communities, groups, and individuals to promote peace, actively participate in public life, hold duty bearers accountable, and contribute to nation-building through media engagement, civic participation, and community-driven initiatives. Through its work, TDS-SL strives to strengthen democratic governance, social cohesion, and inclusive development throughout Sierra Leone. TDS-SL’s primary areas of engagement  include: (1) strengthening inclusive governance at the local level; (2) supporting peace and conflict prevention, particularly as they relate to the worsening social and political  divides across the country; (3) strengthening a culture of public and democratic debate  and inclusive political processes; and (4) facilitating access to reliable, timely, and  unbiased information, that empowers the voices of all, via the production of media  programming and engagement with our network of media partners and local CSOs. Our work seeks to amplify the most marginalized voices, including women, youth and persons with disabilities (PWDs) as well as engage rural communities that are often sidelined from public and social life.

The Project 

Talking Drum Studio Sierra Leone (TDS-SL), in partnership with the 50/50 Group and Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) successfully implemented a multi-year (2024-2026) Irish Aid-funded project titled “Empowering Women, Youth, and Marginalized Groups for Inclusive Governance and Peace in Sierra Leone’ which aims at strengthening women’s participation in democratic and inclusive governance, accountability, peacebuilding, and development in Sierra Leone. Building on previous Irish Aid-supported initiatives ‘’Women Unite! Strengthening Women-led Social Cohesion and Accountability in Post-Election Sierra Leone’’ 2018 – 2021, ‘’Strengthening the Role of Women for Inclusive Governance and a Peaceful Society,’’2022-2024, the project was implemented across Port Loko, Kambia, Tonkolili, Karene, and Moyamba districts.

The project’s target beneficiaries are Women Groups (WCSGs), Women-led Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), young people, Male Champions, local journalists, partner radio stations, Traditional and Religious leaders, elected Leaders, local stakeholders. Throughout the implementation period, the project engaged women’s groups, male champions, journalists and partner radio stations, traditional and religious leaders, local councils and other stakeholders, while ensuring the active inclusion of youth and persons with disabilities.

The project’s focus has been on promoting women’s representation in decision-making processes, strengthening citizen participation in budget transparency and accountable governance, access to information and enhancing collaboration between women’s groups and stakeholders, deepening peace and social cohesion, advancing gender-responsive policies, women’s socio-economic and political empowerment and strengthening citizens-stakeholder dialogues and platforms for improved service delivery. 

The overall aim of the project is to strengthen women’s role in promoting democratic, accountability and inclusive governance in Sierra Leone. This overall aim is supported by the following corresponding objectives and expected results:

Objective 1: To increase women’s representation in decision-making, strengthen their role in budget transparency and accountable governance processes. 
  • ER 1.1: Women-led groups and elected leaders have increased capacity to promote good governance and accountability for effective service delivery.
  • E.R 1.2: Increased citizen’s (women, youth and PWDs) role in budget transparency and accountability processes
Objective 2: To strengthen collaboration and linkages between WCSGs, CSOs and relevant institutions for the sustainability of peace and cohesion efforts 
  • ER 2.1: Increased women’s participation in achieving peaceful and violence-free communities
  • ER 2.2: Strengthened collaboration with state and non-state actors deepen peace and stability in the communities
Objective 3: To sustain gender responsive policies and economic empowerment of women (including WCSGs, youth and PWDs) 
  • ER 3.1: Increased acceptance, awareness, and commitment of stakeholders for the implementation of gender-focused laws. 
  • ER 3.2: Women (including PWDs and other vulnerable groups) are economically empowered and contribute meaningfully to local development efforts

2. Goal and Objectives of the Evaluation

This final evaluation will be conducted by an external consultant, who will assess how the project achieved its desired outcomes, reached its direct and indirect beneficiaries and contributed to broader development objectives in line with OECD DAC Evaluation criteria: Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact, Sustainability, Learning and Replicability. This evaluation will in the process seek to answer key evaluation questions and measure key project outcomes as against a set of indicators to inform future initiatives for women’s empowerment and participation in public life. The end of project evaluation will be based on mixed methods and will evaluate the transformation of attitudes and behaviors of the target groups through a set of performance indicators. Lessons learned and recommendations will be shared with the donor, partners, beneficiaries and other key stakeholders through a set of engagements organized by the evaluator in collaboration with project partners.

Objectives

The objectives of the evaluation are summarized below: 

  1. To evaluate the project in terms of its Effectiveness, Efficiency, Relevance, Coherence, Impact, Sustainability, Learning and Replicability.
  2. Assess the degree to which the project has achieved its desired goal and expected outcomes, and measure key indicators as outlined in the project’s results framework and project description.
  3. To document key lessons and learning for scale up and replicability 
  4. Evaluate the transformation of attitudes and behaviors of the target groups 
  5. Assess the project’s contribution to inclusion, gender equality, peace and social cohesion, climate governance, women’s empowerment and accountability

3. Evaluation Methodology

The evaluation will require a mixed method approach based on feedback from partners, beneficiaries and stakeholders collected through Key Information Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, Desk Reviews, Baseline data, Observations and Lessons Learned in the project implementation areas. Essentially, the evaluation is expected to cover the following areas:

  • Literature review: The studies should review relevant project documents produced before the implementation of the project including the project proposal, log frame, work plans, and other documents associated with the project.
  • Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with Project Stakeholders: A set of key informant interviews should be conducted in selected chiefdoms in project districts where the project is being implemented with relevant key stakeholders and institutions. A list of key informants should be pre-selected 
  • Baseline data – provides the starting point against which project results and changes can be measured. By comparing baseline and endline data, the evaluation should determine the extent to which the project achieved its objectives, assess progress over time, and identify the outcomes and impact attributable to the intervention. 
  • Observation – it allows the evaluation to directly verify and assess changes that have occurred because of the project. It provides firsthand evidence of outcomes, helps validate information gathered through interviews and offers insights into behaviors, practices, community conditions and strengthens the reliability and credibility of evaluation findings by complementing other data collection methods. 
  • Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): The evaluation/firm is expected to conduct FGD in selected chiefdoms in the project districts mentioned above, targeting project participants in the selected communities. These FGD discussions should provide data that should target project participants like women, girls and youth and the project stakeholders highlighted above using a pre-designed focus group discussion guide.

Key Evaluation Questions

CriteriaKey Evaluation Questions

Relevance

  • To what extent is the project relevant to the identified needs of the target beneficiaries and the context central to women’s participation in SL?
  • How do the project beneficiaries/participants perceive the relevance of the project vis-a-vis their needs? How relevant is the project against the national objectives of peace, accountability and social cohesion and in the project districts?
  • How does the project match with the Irish Government Aid priorities in SL? How does the project match with the SL government’s policies and programs on accountability and social cohesion on promoting women’s role in post-conflict SL?
  • To what extent did the project achieve its overall objectives?

Coherence

  • To what extent is there synergy and linkages between the project and other projects and programs in the targeted districts? 
  • To what extent are the intervention’s design, delivery and results coherent with national gender equality and rights, including the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act and other national legislations that promote women’s rights?
  • To what degree did the project duplicate or overlap with the work of other national, and or local, actors?
  • How well did the project’s strategy align with the broader mandate, norms, and strategic goals of the implementing organizations?

Effectiveness

  • To what extent were the intended project goals, outcomes and outputs achieved and how? To what extent did the project reach the targeted beneficiaries at the project goal and outcome levels? How many beneficiaries have been reached?
  • How did the project structure, strategies and tools support effective delivery? 
  • How effective has the project been in responding to the needs of the beneficiaries, and what results were achieved? 
  • To what extent has the project contributed in building (women leaders’, women CSO’s and Groups)’ capacity to carry out social cohesion and peacebuilding activities and skills to strengthen local level (at institutional and individual leaders’ level) accountability?
  • How has the project promoted networking and knowledge sharing among women CSOs, groups and local leaders?
  • To what extent has the project provided a platform for collective engagement of local authorities and elected officials?
  • How has the project contributed to enhance the responsiveness of elected leaders towards their constituents?
  • To what extent was the project able to provide positive narratives for peace, social cohesion and local level accountability among target groups?
  • To what extent was the project able to enhance citizen’s understanding of local governance, and the development process?
  • How did the policy dialogues influence local level policy making?
  • Did the project contribute to increased participation of women in local level election? If yes, how? 
  • Did the project contribute to shifting the attitudes of men towards women’s participation in public affairs? If yes, how? 
  • Did the project positively influence demand and supply mechanisms?

Efficiency

  • Was the process of achieving results efficient? What factors contribute to implementation efficiency? 
  • How far the results achieved justified the cost incurred – were the resources effectively utilized? How did it perform from the perspective of planning vs Execution?
  • Was there any coordination/networking with other organizations like ICPNC Peace Ambassador or similar initiatives? To what outcomes? Did project activities overlap and duplicate other similar interventions (funded nationally and/or by other donors)? To what outcomes?
  • Could a different approach have produced better results? If yes, how and why? 
  • How efficient were the management and accountability structures of the project? 
  • How was the project’s collaboration with the Embassy of Ireland in Sierra Leone 
  • How cost-efficient was the project structure (consortium approach) to delivering the results of the project on scale? Why so?

Impact

  • What are some of the striking changes (either personal or community based) because of the project?
  • Is the intervention transformative – does it create enduring changes in norms – including gender norms – and systems, whether intended or not? 
  • Has the intervention caused a significant change in the lives of the intended beneficiaries/target groups?  
  • How has the project contributed to institutionalized democratic, holistic and sustainable peace in target districts?
  • How has this project contributed to promoting peace, social cohesion and local accountability in the target communities?
  • How has this project contributed to strengthening the role of women and local governance and accountability of leaders?
  • How has this project contributed to increasing citizens’ access to information and awareness around social cohesion and governance processes in SL?

Sustainability

  • To what extent are the benefits of the project likely to be sustained by local and national capacities after the completion of this Project? If not why? 
  • What is the likelihood of continuation and sustainability of the Project outcomes and benefits after the completion of the project? 
  • What are the key factors that will require attention to improve the prospects of sustainability of the project outcomes and potential for replication of approach? 
  • Has the project generated the buy-in and credibility needed for sustained impact. 
  • Is there an exit strategy to phase out the assistance provided by the project including contributing factors and constraints?
  • Assess whether the consortium-wide resource mobilization strategy for the project was appropriate and effective – has the partnership strategy been appropriate and sustainable?
  • Will the achievements in gender equality persist after the conclusion of the intervention? Have processes contributed to sustaining these benefits? Have mechanisms been set up to support the achievement of gender equality in the longer term? 
Learning and Replicability
  • What are some of the key lessons learned because of this project that can be shared and replicated?
  • What worked well and what could have been done better? 
  • How can we improve the radio program production and timely broadcast?
  • What are the recommendations for similar future interventions?
  • What are the long-term plans for supporting local CSOs (50/50 and BAN) to address their need for continuous engagement before and after elections for peace, social cohesion and accountability to be maintained?

  • Geographic Locations

The targeted project districts are Port Loko, Karene, Kambia, Tonkolili and Moyamba but the successful candidate will engage TDS and partners for the selection of communities for the evaluation. 

  • Ethical Considerations including safeguarding etc)

TDS attaches high importance to ethical considerations and safeguarding in our work, and it is required that the successful consultant takes into consideration the following key issues in conducting this assignment. 

  • Consultants should adhere to the contractual terms and conditions with TDS-SL, code of conduct and safeguarding policy including clauses in relation to confidentiality, data protection and intellectual property rights. 
  • The evaluation should be free of bias, and the consultancy team should ensure that they are not unduly influenced by the views or statements of any party.
  • The findings should be credible and based on reliable data and observations. Reports should show evidence of consistency and dependability in data, findings, judgements and lessons learned; appropriately reflecting on the quality of the methodology, procedures and analysis used to collect and interpret data. 
  • The consultants should respect people’s rights to provide information in confidence and make participants aware of the scope and limitations of confidentiality. 
  • Informed consent should be sought from all participants, using a standardized procedure that should be adapted for the specific exercise.  
  • Participants should be selected fairly in relation to the aims of the evaluation. Care should be taken to ensure that marginalized or otherwise excluded groups are represented as appropriate. This includes people with a cognitive impairment, intellectual disability or a mental illness. People with disabilities should have full capacity to participate and should not be excluded solely due to their disability.

Timeline and Deliverables of key tasks

ActivityDeliverableTime Allocated
Evaluation Design, methodology and detailed workplan Inception Report 3 Days
Inception Meeting and Initial Briefing
Documents review and stakeholder consultations

Draft Evaluation Report

20 Days

Field Visit
Data Analysis, debriefing and presentation of draft evaluation report
Validation Workshop1 Day
Finalization of Evaluation Report incorporating additions and comments provided by all stakeholders and submission to TDS

Final Evaluation Report

 4 Days

  • Logistical Support

The consultant/firm should be responsible for providing their own logistics for data collection and this must be budgeted into the study.  In addition, TDS-SL and partners will share the following elements with the consultant: Background materials including the project proposal and logical framework, M&E plan, baseline report, and narrative reports. 

How to apply 

Required Qualifications and Expertise for Lead Evaluator 

The Evaluator (individual or firm) shall have the following expertise and qualifications:

  • At least a master’s degree in public policy, Gender Studies, International Development, Development, Economics/Planning, Economics, Peace Studies, International Relations/ Diplomacy or any other relevant university degree;
  • At least 7 years of experience in doing surveys and/or research. Experience in evaluating peacebuilding and governance programming will be an added advantage. 
  • Extensive expertise, knowledge, and experience in the field of peacebuilding, local level governance, governance and demand accountability, local engagement platforms that foster trust and collaboration between citizens and security sectors and local authorities on conflict management.
  • Experience of project formulation and evaluation and practical experience of end line studies in Sierra Leone or a similar context.
  • Excellent written and verbal Communication skills is English. Experience in the local Sierra Leonean language including Krio will be an added advantage. 

The offers will be reviewed according to the following criteria:

  • Consultant’s ability to conduct mixed method studies, knowledge of methodology and field of research;
  • Research experience in areas of peacebuilding, programming and governance;
  • Consultant’s ability to complete the study in a timely manner;
  • Consultant’s capacity to recruit local data collection teams;
  • Quality of reports proposed by the consultant as a sample;
  • Other: quality of the writing of the Consultant will also be evaluated.

Submissions

The application file must include:

  • A technical offer of maximum 8 pages which will include:
  • A detailed methodology, including the main research questions;
  • A short proposal for the organization of data collection and supervision of enumerator/ teams;
  • An updated curriculum vitae of the Evaluation Coordinator of up to 4 pages;
  • In annex: 2 examples of studies/qualitative research conducted for other organizations as principal investigators.
  • A detailed financial offer which will include:
  • Consultant fees;
  • Costs related to the recruitment of accelerated field data collection teams;
  • Other items deemed necessary.

Interested qualified and experienced person, groups of persons or firms must apply on or before the 6th July 2026 to talkingdrumstudio@tds-sierraleone.org outlining availability in line with the approximate timeline.