Consultant to Conduct Project Evaluation

PROJECT EVALUATION THE “FROM UNIVERSITY TO COMMUNITY: Preparing a generation of professionals in sustainable development”

Introduction

Action for the City (ACCD) is an NGO established on December 22, 2006 under Vietnam Union of Science – Technology Associations (VUSTA). ACCD operates in 3 primary areas:

• Local capacity
• Public space
• Organic agriculture

The “From university to community: preparing a generation of professionals in sustainable development” project is implemented in Hoi An from Jan 2014 to August 2015. This project seeks to build capacity of university students in central Vietnam to work in grassroots development projects in four selected areas: public space, sustainable tourism, environmental education and organic agriculture. Through a Hoi An Sustainability Field School, the project offers students practical experience in the field as well as opportunities to serve in their home communities through small grants. 

Action for the City seeks a consultant to conduct a project evaluation. This evaluation aims to:

• Assess the relevance of the projects outputs and outcomes to the goal and objectives of the projects as well as to Irish Aid’s overall policy goal and objectives.
• Determine the long term impact and sustainability of the project; the value of the results to the intended beneficiaries

Scope of work

The evaluation should preferably use participatory approaches and there should be consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including beneficiaries, staff, management, government official, universities…

The evaluation will assess the achievement of the planned outcomes and objectives, and consolidate lessons learnt and make recommendations to relevant stakeholders.

In particular, the evaluation should address the following questions:

Relevance:  The evaluation should consider the extent to which the project addresses the needs and priorities of the target. It should also consider how the project fits in with the priorities and policies of the country and of Irish Aid.

Effectiveness: the evaluation should consider if the project design was the most effective means of achieving the objectives and the extent to which the objectives have been achieved taking into account the relative importance of each objective. The evaluation should examine how the inputs (financial, technical and human) contributed or hindered the achievement of the objectives.

Efficiency: The evaluation should assess whether the cost of the project can be justified by its results, taking alternatives into account.

Impact: The evaluation should determine the long-term effects of the projects, whether these are positive or negative, intended or unintended, and the relation to the overall goal of the project.

Sustainability: The evaluation should determine if the project outcomes and impacts will be sustained without continuing external financial or technical support.

Replicability: The evaluation should also determine whether a successful project or successful aspects of the project could be replicated.

Timeframe and location

- Timeframe: 25th August – 5th September 2015
- Location: Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An

Requirements

• Post-­graduate degree in social support/development of  programming /strategies;    
• Extensive knowledge of result-­?based management evaluation, ODA, procedures, as development, or related fields;   
• Extensive experience in conducting project/project evaluations, impact assessment, to provide strategic recommendations for continued well as participatory monitoring and evaluation methodologies and approaches;   
• Extensive experience in working with donors;   
• Demonstrated analytical, communication and report writing skills;   
• Excellent interviewing, public speaking at high levels;   
• Teamwork capacity to work with the target group representatives;  
• Fluency in written and spoken English; 

How to Apply

Interested candidates are invited to submit  CV(s) and evaluation proposal to Action for the City via email: [email protected] by August 20th, 2015.