The Hrant Dink Foundation (HDF) is currently seeking an evaluation consultant or team of consultants to undertake an evaluation of the project ‘Beyond Borders: Turkey - Armenia Travel Grant, Fellowship Scheme and Dialogue Programmes’ which has been taking place since October 2017 with the financial support of the UK Government’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, implemented in partnership with Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre.

Hrant Dink Foundation encourages direct contact of individuals and institutions in all fields between the two countries in collaboration with the civil society of both countries, independent of the political developments. The main aim of the activities within the scope of Turkey-Armenia Programme is to increase the direct contact and mobility between the two countries, the formation of common working areas in all fields and the creation of initiatives for the further development of relations.

Background Information

Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant

The Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant was designed as a pool to encourage non-profit civic initiatives and individuals including youth, university students, university clubs, civil society organisations, professional organisations, local youth initiatives, high school students and teachers, academics and researchers, journalists, sports clubs, businesses and local authorities, to travel to the neighbouring country for specific goals. The Travel Grant supported 131 individuals in 5 different rounds for their various activities such as partnership building and networking, feasibility visits, cross-border cooperation projects, project preparation meetings, exchange programmes, education and language-learning, academic cooperation, research and dissertation, volunteering in civil society organisations, joint productions in culture and arts, organisation of or participation in meetings, panels, seminars, conferences, workshops, exhibitions, concerts and similar events related to the above-mentioned thematic fields.

Turkey-Armenia Fellowship Scheme

The Turkey-Armenia Fellowship Scheme was launched to promote cross-border affiliation and cooperation of professionals from the two neighbouring countries, where exchange of expertise and lasting cooperation is much needed, such as academia, civil society, culture and arts, law and translation. Between 2017 and 2018, the Fellowship Scheme offered 12 professionals from Armenia and Turkey the opportunity to live and follow a special programme at a specific Host Organization in the neighbouring country for four to eight months. In addition to their activities in their host organisations, the fellows had the chance to attend meetings at different universities and institutions.

Turkey-Armenia Dialogue Programmes

The series of the dialogue programmes aims to foster new areas of possible programme opportunities between Turkey and Armenia within the light of the contribution by the experts who have participated in the programme. The programme aims at fostering ties and establish direct links between different areas of professions between the two neighbouring countries. The participants not only learn about the experiences of their colleagues on site but the programmes also play a very crucial role in getting insights into the culture and social and economic aspects of the neighbouring country. There were 6 different dialogue groups in the fields of journalism, architecture and public health.

The objectives of the evaluation for the Armenia Turkey travel grant, fellowship scheme and dialogue program activities which took place between October 2017 and March 2019 are:

1. Assess the achievement level of the programme impact, outcomes and outputs in accordance with the Result Framework and the Theory of Change. (This and other internal documents will be provided to the selected candidate only);
2. Examine how successful the Project is at achieving the targets noted against each of the key output indicators;
3. To provide an overview of the level of progress made through the programme activities and their results;
4. To assess the level of awareness that the programme activities have created regarding the importance and benefits of normalisation of Armenia-Turkey relations;
5. To assess the overall effectiveness of the programme and its contribution to the development of civil society and democratisation processes in Armenia and Turkey;
6. To assess the contribution of the programme activities in establishing people-to-people contacts and encouraging cross-border partnerships;
7. To assess the efficiency of the programmes activities in supporting the establishment of new ties between different organisations and institutions (both from Armenia and Turkey), which are working in different fields (value for money);
8. To provide a more detailed assessment of the results of Turkey - Armenia Travel Grant, Fellowship Scheme and Dialogue Programmes (both at the output and outcome level); selection criteria of the participants should be determined in consultation with the Hrant Dink Foundation;
9. To assess the communication/visibility aspect of the programme; and make recommendations on the improvement of these practices for the future;
10. To recommend actions that will increase the sustainability of the programme for the future efforts to normalise Armenia-Turkey relations;
11. To enable the Foundation to derive lessons from the activities implemented within the scope of the programme, as well as to identify the good practices; and to bring the implementers’ attention to possible follow-ups, unexpected positive and negative outcomes, and additional unplanned effects, if relevant.

The evaluation should include a combination of different information collection methods, including:

• Desk research, analysing the programme’s reports, publications, media coverage, website, etc.;
• In-depth interviews with project coordinations, partners, beneficiaries of the Programme. Possibly, and based on the need, other research tools can be used, such as focus groups.

Hrant Dink Foundation and Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre will deliver all the relevant programme documents, contact information of programme beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders. If needed, Hrant Dink Foundation (Turkey, Istanbul and Armenia, Yerevan) and Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre (Armenia, Gyumri) will provide office space that is equipped for focus group discussions and/or interviews.

The evaluation consultant or team of consultants should travel to Gyumri, Yerevan and Istanbul where most of the activities took place.

Intended Use of the Evaluation

The primary beneficiary of the evaluation will be the British Embassy Yerevan. The evaluation shall provide guidance to the British Embassy Yerevan on the future programming and investment in Armenia-Turkey normalisation as well as, generally, on support of Armenia-Turkey initiatives. British Embassy Yerevan might decide on sharing the results of the evaluation with other stakeholders in both countries. Upon British Embassy Yerevan’s approval, general findings of the report can be publicly shared.

The Hrant Dink Foundation and Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre will use the evaluation as a guide for their future Armenia-Turkey normalisation initiatives.

Timeframe and Reporting Requirements

Deadline for applications: 14 February 2019
Selection announcement date: 20 February 2019

The consultant or team of consultants should start their work on 22 February 2019, or as soon as possible.

The final evaluation report should be submitted to HDF no later than 22 March 2019.

Deliverables

The key product expected from this evaluation is a comprehensive analytical report in English covering issues as outlined that should, as a minimum, include the following parts:

• Executive summary
• Introduction
• Brief programme description
• Description of the evaluation methodology
• Analysis of the situation with regard to the impact, outcome, the outputs and the partnership strategy
• Analysis of opportunities to provide guidance for the future programming
• Key findings, including good practices and lessons learned
• Conclusions and recommendations (taking into account the changing political setting and the need to thoroughly justify any future financing in this regard)
• Annexes: ToRs, people interviewed, documents reviewed, etc.
• PDF or PPT presentation summarizing the report

Budget

Bidders should submit a pricing schedule setting out the rates of proposed contractors and the number of days it is proposed for each contractor will devote to the Project.

"Proposals should include a full budget plan for all costs including any travel expenses and VAT (in/from Armenia and Turkey, in-country transportation, accommodation, meals, and communication). All costs should be clear and transparent, with the number of days of each individual (if evaluator is an organization) working on the activity that they provide.

HDF can make a pre-payment of up to 30%, so the incumbent(s) could cover the logistical expenses. HDF will make the second (final) payment only after the final approval of the comprehensive analytical report (including the process of integrating comments in the final product).

Request for Bids

Applicants should submit a proposal in English that includes:

• Detailed description of the applicant’s or applicant team’s qualifications;
• Draft work plan and methodology. The applicant or applicant team should pay a particular attention to sequencing of travels and interviews and to the approximate amount of interviews proposed; they can indicate their preferences regarding the programme directions or activities to focus on. Any additional methodological consideration will be a plus.

Selection Criteria

Hrant Dink Foundation, in cooperation with Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre and British Embassy Yerevan, will select the winning candidate among the organisations or individuals submitting a complete bid by the proposal deadline.

The selection criteria will include the following:

• Degree to which the proposal adheres to the terms listed above;
• Quality of the proposed methodology;
• Qualifications of the applicant or a team of applicants, including past experience in evaluation of similar initiatives;
• Feasibility of the proposed methodology, work plan, and risk assessment;
• Ability to adhere to the time constraints of the proposed action plan ad timeframe;
• Value for money and a clear breakdown of the costs.

Application Process

Applicants should submit their proposals to the following address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: +90 212 240 33 61 (ext. 227)

Beyond Borders: Turkey-Armenia  Dialogue Programme, Fellowship Scheme and Travel Grant
are implemented by the Hrant Dink Foundation
in partnership with Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre
with the support of UK Government’s Conflict, Security and Stability Fund.
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