I.                      Background

We Effect is a development organisation founded by the Swedish cooperative movement in 1958 to support the development of democratic organisations and societies. In our international development cooperation programmes, we are applying a human rights-based approach to support people living in poverty to secure their rights.

We Effect operates through regional offices in 20 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa, collaborating with local CSOs, farmer organizations, cooperative federations, and other democratic organizations. For more information see www.weeffect.org.

With financing from Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), a project for rural development aiming for a Market System Development (MSD) approach is being implemented in North Macedonia: Income Increase and Socio-Economic Empowerment of Vulnerable and Marginalized Groups from Rural and Sub-Urban Areas 2021–2023, IISEE, in collaboration with (at this stage) 1 national organization in North Macedonia – National Federation of Farmers (NFF).

The main outcomes of the project are:

·         Outcome 1. Rural enterprises, small farmers/producers grow and provide more income and employment opportunities for the people from the rural area, women, and youth in particular.

·         Outcome 2. Local communities are resilient and sustainable, providing support in rural development, especially for poor members of the communities in the selected market systems.

·         Outcome 3. More Roma people have the capacities and the access to the job market, to take up employment and business opportunities in the selected market systems.

·         Outcome 4. Organisational development.

II.                  Objective, scope of the assignment and main tasks

The main objective of the assignment is to assess the programme’s success and confirm early signs of the impact, and to identify lessons learned (which can be used for a possible next phase of the project).

Based on the proposed methodology, the Consultant will conduct a mid-term review of the project and deliver Interim report covering the period of April 2021- December 2023.

The midterm review will integrate a clear set of recommendations with list of options for  improved project results. The Consultant will assess the alignment of the undertaken interventions with the needs of the project’s target groups and the core values and principles of We Effect as an international development organization:

-          Gender Equality

-          Rights Based Approach

-          Climate Justice

-          Conflict Sensitivity

The midterm review should include (but not limit to) the following:

·         Collecting relevant data to analyse the extent to which the project outcomes and results have been successful.

·         Provide independent assessment of the mid-term projects achievements, strengths and identify the problems and constraints that have been encountered from the start of the implementation of the project to date.

·         Analyse the process of implementation from the perspective of participation of the right-holders, members of the rural communities and the partner organisations and analyse the changes that have occurred within the right-holder households and the targeted communities.

·         Assess the need and relevance of a continuation of the project into a potential new phase.

• Conduct interviews with a sample of the market actors.

The IISEE project has identified the following market systems and sectors of interventions in which it operates:

Mid-term review shall be conducted as a combination of desk and field research, implementing the following tasks:

The Consultant will base the advisory support on desk analysis of the project documents, interviews with project staff and selected market actors.

The following project documents for the above-mentioned desk analysis will be provided by the IISEE Project:

Ø  Project document

Ø  List of interventions, their current status and selected partners

Ø  Intervention concept notes, intervention plans (including result chains, business models, MRM plans)

Ø  IISEE Project Progress reports

Ø  Baseline survey report

Ø  IISEE Project result framework

Ø  We Effect Europe Regional Strategy 2023-2027

Ø  We Effect Global Strategy 2023-2027

These documents will be sent by IISEE Project to the Consultant upon signing the cooperation contract and at least ten days before field visits take place. The assignment will be charged from the budget line 4.6.1 Mid-term evaluation.

III.              Location of assignment

Desk research shall be performed at the residence location of the Consultant, while the field research shall be performed in the selected locations in North Macedonia and in Skopje in the office premises of We Effect’s IISEE Project. Unless agreed differently, it is estimated that the Introduction meeting with the IISEE Project Team and We Effect, the Kick-off meeting with the Swedish Embassy in North Macedonia, as well as the Debrief workshop will take place online.

IV.               Expected deliverables

Under this assignment the following deliverables are expected: Draft and final Interim (Midterm Review) Report with all annexes.

The Interim Report should include:

a.       an abstract   

b.      executive summary

c.       background of the local context and the activities being evaluated

d.      the evaluation purpose and main evaluation questions

e.       the methodology

f.        the limitations to the evaluation

g.       findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

The executive summary should not be longer than 3 pages in length and summarize the purpose, background of the project being evaluated, main evaluation questions, methods, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and lessons learned.

All findings, conclusions and recommendations will be consistent in reflecting gender equality, rights-based approach, as well as environmental impact and conflict sensitivity perspective, providing an insight how the project has integrated these cross-cutting thematic focuses and identify the opportunities for improvement.

The recommendations will be leveraged to directly guide the We Effect Europe Region staff and IISEE Project Team in strengthening programming, making necessary adjustments (if needed) and therefore, will need to be specifically tailored to We Effect and Partner Organisations.

The Annexes to the report shall include, but are not limited to:

o   All data collection and analysis tools used in conducting the review, such as questionnaires, checklists, and discussion guides; and

o   All sources of information properly identified and listed.

All deliverables shall be written in English.

Tentative timeline for conducting the expected tasks is as presented in the Table below:

V.                   Qualification Requirements

Key qualifications and competences of the Consultant include:

·         Minimum undergraduate university degree in a field of relevance for the assignment (e.g., social sciences, economics, finance, business, agroeconomics etc.) or for degrees in non-relevant fields at least 5 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation shall receive equal merit.

·         General track record in monitoring and evaluation of minimum of 5 (five) economic development projects.

·         Specific track record of at least 1 (one) assignment as an External Evaluator/Reviewer of programmes/projects based on the Market System Development Approach.

NOTE: This is a mandatory requirement. Non-compliance is ground for disqualification from the evaluation process.

Additional merits:

·         Ability and willingness to undertake the assignment with tight deadlines.

·         Experience of working with Sida funded projects

·         Experience in dealing and cooperating with stakeholders (clients, beneficiaries, respondents, etc.) of various profiles across the board relative to the nature of the assignment (IFIs, development organizations, NGOs, interest groups, guild associations, etc.)

VI.               Duty travel & accommodation

The assignment requires travel to, stay in, and travel within North Macedonia during no more than 5 working days. Related to duty travel for this assignment, planned travels to and within North Macedonia, Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) and accommodation will be handled and covered directly by the Applicant. Following We Effect Policy on Duty Travel, accommodation is accepted in reasonably priced hotels/guest houses and the preferred means of transportation shall be the most economical means consistent with reasonable comfort and safety, i.e. only costs transportation in economy class. Such costs should be included in the financial offer of the Applicant. We Effect shall not be liable for any costs exceeding the projected price in the financial offer.

VII.            Coordination & reporting

Planning, timing, implementation, and reporting of the activities will be in coordination with We Effect and IISEE project team and approved by the Team Leader.

VIII.        Timeframe

The Consultant will be engaged between 20 February 2024 and 30 April 2024[IP1] .

The estimated workload is between 12 (twelve) to 15 (fifteen) days during the entire contracted period.

IX.               Process of application

The Applicant should submit the following two sets of documents no later 22^nd of January 2024 [IP2] by the end of working day 16:00 CET:

A) Technical Proposal should be submitted as attachment (single PDF) via the Impactpool website and include the following:

1)      CV of the Consultant.

Note: Please structure your CV to reflect the required information stipulated in section V Qualification Requirements from this ToR

2)     Reference table of the Consultant’s experience listing completed relevant projects/assignments with information on:

o   Name of the project;

o   value of project (in EUR, USD, GBP etc.);

o   project’s donor/contracting party;

o   project’s stakeholders/beneficiaries with whom the applicant directly cooperated during the assignment

o   brief description of your assignment;

o   year the assignment was conducted;

o   links to projects/activities reports.

3)     Proposed methodology for implementation of the Mid-term Review

4)     Declaration of relationships (signed) – see section XII.

B) Financial Proposal should be submitted SEPARATELY as attachment (in PDF) via email at info_roeu@weeffect.org and marijan.djima@weeffect.org. The email’s subject should strictly follow this naming string: “MID-TERM REVIEW CONTRACT – FINANCIAL OFFER – [Name of Applicant]”. The financial offer should be prepared based on the following criteria:

5)      The financial offer should be expressed as lump sum price in EUR, valid for the entire assignment. The offer shall be inclusive of all applicable local taxes and related expenses to the assignment (e.g., income tax, VAT, insurance, legal fees, transportation and transfers, accommodation, DSA, etc.). For costs related to travel & accommodation, please refer to section VI of this ToR. Offers submitted in currency other than EUR, for the purpose of evaluation, will be converted by We Effect into EUR as per OANDA’s average daily rate applicable for the date of the submission deadline.

Any questions/needs for clarification can be sent to info_roeu@weeffect.org latest by 15^th of January 2024 [IP3] 12:00 o’clock CET.

The selected Applicant will sign a Service Contract with We Effect.

Please note, We Effect requires services from a qualified individual consultant. Consultants complying with the qualification criteria who want to participate but wish to be contracted through a company/business or their corporate employer are welcome to apply. However, evaluation will be made solely on the Consultant’s experience whereas the company’s experience and background will not be taken into consideration.  In such case, we suggest that the application is formally submitted by the company specifically indicating the Consultant’s name on which behalf they apply.

NB: A Copy of Diploma for completed degree in a field of relevance for the assignment will be asked prior signing Service Contract.

X.                   Selection Criteria

Incomplete applications and applications received after deadline will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all the requested documents.

Please note that the financial offer is all-inclusive and shall consider various expenses incurred by the Consultant during the contract period (e.g., fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services, e.g., health and travel insurance, legal fees etc. etc.).

Best value for money principle will be considered by using a weighted scoring method to evaluate the combination of the applicants’ qualification (70%) and financial offer (30%).

·         When using this weighted scoring method, the contract will be awarded to the bidder whose application has been evaluated and determined to be: Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and

·         Having received the highest combined score out of a weighted technical and financial evaluation specific to the solicitation

Technical evaluation (70%):

The technical evaluation of the received applications will consist of:

·         Evaluation of educational background in a field of relevance for the assignment (10%)

·         Evaluation of professional experience (45%)

Ø  Evaluation of experience in monitoring and evaluation of economic development projects (15%)

o   Minimum 5 projects –           11%

o   6-8 projects – 12%-14%

o   More than 9 projects –           15%

Ø  Evaluation of experience in external review of MSD programmes/projects (30%).

NOTE: This is a mandatory requirement. Non-compliance is grounds for disqualification from further evaluation.

o   Minimum 1 project – 21%-23%

o   2-3 projects – 24%-29%

o   More than 4 projects –           30%

·         Evaluation of the proposed methodology for the Mid-term review in connection to selected methodological approach, suggested data collection methods, analysis method and elaborated rationale why the chosen methods are deemed best for this assignment (15%)

o    Satisfactory – 11%

o    Solid –                         12%-14%

o    Excellent –                 15%

Only Applicants who will reach the threshold of 70% (min 49 points out of 70) of the technical qualification will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation (30%)

The evaluation of the financial offers will be conducted in the following manner:

·         The offer with the lowest price shall receive the total of 30 points

·         The other offers with higher prices shall receive the respective score according to the following formula:

XI.               Terms of payment

The terms of payment for this assignment will be specified in the Service Contract and its respective annexes. Payment will be made via bank transfer in one instalment upon approval by We Effect of the submitted deliverables, performance report with monthly time sheets and documentation.

XII.           Declaration of relationships

Applicants are strongly encouraged to describe any present or past business or personal relationships with:

·         closely associated party from We Effect;

·         We Effect’s Regional Office in Skopje;

·         We Effect’s employees;

·         We Effect’s governing bodies; or

·         Partner organizations (previous and current) to We Effect IISEE project: National Roma Centrum, Rural Development Network, National Federation of Farmers.

A closely associated party (persons, physical or legal) as per We Effect’s definition is considered a person who has the possibility to exert control over, or significant influence on, the other person when it comes to financial and operative decision-making concerning an activity.

Business relationships do not refer solely to contracting arrangements but also to one-off engagements. Personal relationships do not refer solely to immediate family, but also to extended relatives, friends, and acquaintances.

The purpose of the Declaration is to disclose relationship information which makes the application and evaluation process more transparent and supports the bids in their relevance according to conditions on the open market.

Declaring any relationship shall NOT disqualify the Applicant from the procurement but rather contribute to more transparent evaluation process.

MISCONDUCT

If you want to alert We Effect on suspected discrimination, corruption or other serious misconduct during the procurement process, do not hesitate to use our Whistleblowing System.