External Evaluator – Yemen Programme

Call for expressions of interest: External evaluator, Yemen project

Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights is a London-based international initiative focused on developing civilian-led monitoring of violations of international humanitarian law or human rights; securing accountability and reparation for those violations; and developing the practice of civilian rights.

Ceasefire is currently looking for an external evaluator or evaluation team to carry out an independent evaluation of its two-year project, ‘Improving protection for the rights of civilians in Yemen.’

Background to the project

The purpose of the project was to protect the rights of vulnerable civilians in Yemen and to promote their access to justice and accountability.

It sought to fill a strategic gap in building the capacity of civil society to monitor and document violations of the rights of civilians in the armed conflict, ensuring that impartial information from the ground was made available to inform UN mechanisms and wider international scrutiny, and to secure documentation essential for accountability and reparation.
The project combined capacity building for Yemeni human rights defenders, production and dissemination of monitoring information, safeguarding of documentation, and international advocacy in pursuit of improved protection for civilians affected by the conflict.

Key project activities included:

• Development of a digital security strategy with provision of secure internet resources and technical support
• Three capacity-building workshops for Yemeni human rights defenders in monitoring and documenting violations
• One comprehensive publication on violations in the Yemen conflict, in English/Arabic, with targeted launch
• International advocacy missions before the UN and other international mechanisms and delegations

A copy of the full project proposal and results matrix (logframe) will be shared with the appointed evaluator(s).

Evaluation Objectives

The objectives of the evaluation are:

• To evaluate the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact of the project in relation to its planned outputs, outcomes and impact
• To determine whether changes in the external environment affected project implementation and whether the project was able to respond to those changes in an appropriate and timely manner
• To document any other problems encountered during the project implementation and assess how successfully they were overcome
• To identify any unplanned results (positive or negative) and explain how they arose
• To assess the contribution of Ceasefire’s work in Yemen vis-a-vis the work of other organisations or individuals
• To extract lessons learned from the project design and implementation process and present them in the form of recommendations for future initiatives

At a minimum, the evaluator or evaluation team will be expected to carry out the following:

• Read all project materials (including notes of meetings, activity reports, training evaluations)
• Hold detailed discussions about project implementation, results and impact with key staff members from Ceasefire and its Yemeni partner organization
• Correspond with a sample of at least 20 activists trained under the project
• Correspond with at least 5 international advocacy targets to seek out opinions on the project and its impact

Report submission, timetable and budget

Due to the coronavirus situation, the consultant will not be expected to undertake any travel to complete this evaluation. Applicants should provide details in their workplan as to the data collection methodologies they propose in order to complete the evaluation in light of the current circumstances.

A draft evaluation report (min. 15 pages) should be submitted by 30 November 2020. Ceasefire will aim to provide comments within 5 working days and the consultant will be expected to submit the final report, including a 1-page executive summary, by 18 December 2020.

The total budget available for this evaluation is £6,000.

Applicant Criteria

The successful evaluator or evaluation team will have the following expertise:

• Extensive knowledge of human rights and international humanitarian law, including awareness of relevant debates and international standards
• Very good knowledge of Yemen (conflict dynamics, politics, governance, social issues, gender)
• Experience of carrying out or evaluating training, capacity-building, and advocacy activities for international NGOs
• Familiarity with the challenges of working with small NGOs in difficult contexts
• Strong track record of completed external evaluations for comparable projects
• Full fluency in both Arabic and English (speaking, reading and writing)
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, gain the trust of staff and partners, and handle sensitive information in a professional manner

The evaluator must be independent of Ceasefire, its donors, partners, and project beneficiaries.