Consultant to carry out review for Policy project

Diakonia is looking to contract an external consultant to carry out the review for the B.O.L.D.-Policy project. This is to ensure that the project remains on the right track, achieves its goals and objectives, and meets its expected results.

Background

Diakonia is a Swedish non-profit development organization working around the world together with local partners for a sustainable change for the most vulnerable people of the world. Our Head office is based in Stockholm, Sweden and the organization currently works through local offices in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia and supporting various local partner organisations. Diakonia’s vision is a Just, Equal, and Sustainable World. Our mission is to change unfair political, economic, social and cultural structures that generate poverty, inequality, oppression and violence for the fulfilment of the rights of all people to live a life in dignity.

In Thailand, Diakonia is jointly implementing the Building Organisations & Local actors Dialogue (for)-Policy project (B.O.L.D.-Policy) with our local partners, Center for Girls Foundation (CFGF) and The Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF). The project is funded by the European Union (EU) which the project’s duration is from 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2027. The Overall Objective (Goal) is to foster Thai CSOs’ role as actors of inclusive, gender-responsive socioeconomic development and governance with the Sub-Objective (Outcome) aim at to enhance CSOs’ participation and representativeness of women’s, youths and children’s voices in local and national socioeconomic policy dialogue in Thailand.

There are three main Expected Results (Output) to achieve this objective namely:

Output 1.1 Enhanced women´s CSOs, CBOs and networks’ capacities and engagement opportunities for policy dialogue with local authorities (LAs) in Chiang Rai,
Output 1.2 Enhanced CSOs, youth and children-focused networks (Lanna Child Rights Coalition - LCRC), capacities and policy dialogue engagement opportunities with duty-bearers in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai,
Output 1.3 Strengthened capacities of women, youths, and indigenous CSOs/CBOs networks from the North, Northeast, and South regions and engagement opportunities with national and local governments to claim economic and social rights.

The project sites for Output 1.1 are located in 8 districts of Chiang Rai, with a focus on working with women’s networks and District Quality of Life Committees (QoLs). Meanwhile, the target areas for Output 1.2, which focuses on working with youth groups and LAs, include 11 sub-districts across 7 districts in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son. For Output 1.3, the target areas are primarily located in the North, Northeast, and South of Thailand, with key target groups being women, youth, and indigenous networks.

Since the project is planned to conduct a Mid-term Review after 23 months of implementation, a Terms of Reference (ToR) has been launched to recruit an external consultant to carry out the review for the B.O.L.D.-Policy project. This is to ensure that the project remains on the right track, achieves its goals and objectives, and meets its expected results. The findings and recommendations from the review will be used to assess progress against the work plan and expected outputs. They will also support informed decision-making on the future direction of the project during the remaining implementation period, and explore opportunities for extension, building additional network connections, and potential replication.

For the B.O.L.D.-Policy project details. Please visit https://www.diakonia.se/en/where-we-work/asia/thailand/

Purpose of the Mid-term review

The primary intended user of the Mid-term review is the B.O.L.D.-Policy project team. The findings and recommendations will be incorporated into the implementation of the project during its remaining duration. The review is planned to ensure that project implementation is on track and the expected results can be achieved. The Mid-term review is also designed to enable implementing partners to gather lessons learned and use the findings to improve project implementation. Tenderers should clearly explain how they will ensure this is achieved during the Mid-term review process. Finally, the Mid-term review report will be submitted to the European Union (EU).

Objective and scope of the review

The objectives of the Mid-term review are as follows:

To assess progress and key results against the work plan and expected outcomes, including project indicators
To identify challenges and lessons learned during the first two years of project implementation, as well as areas for improvement
To develop recommendations for project stakeholders—particularly the project team—based on analysis and synthesis of evidence gathered through the data collection process

The Mid-term review will assess the progress and key-results of the project implementation covering the period from 1st January 2024 to 30th November 2025. It will evaluate the project's relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, and the outcome. The review will be based on document analysis, data collection, and subsequent analysis to generate findings and recommendations. The data collection is conducted with target groups and various stakeholders across target areas.

Criteria and key-questions

The criteria and key-questions for the Mid-term review are as follows:

Relevance:

Is the project doing the right things?

Coherence:

How well does the intervention fit?

Effectiveness:

Is the intervention achieving its objectives?

Efficiency:

How well are resources being use?

Outcome:

What difference does the intervention make?

Approach and Methods

It is expected that the consultants describe and justify an appropriate approach/methodology for data collection and review process in the tender. The consultants should take into consideration appropriate measures for collecting data in cases where sensitive or confidential issues are addressed and avoid presenting information that may be harmful to some target groups and stakeholders. The data collected shall represent and reflect the views of target groups and stakeholders.

Time schedule and deliverables

It is expected that a time and work plan is presented in the tender. The first draft of mid-term review report should be delivered no later than 31st January 2026 and the final report by 15th February 2026.

Qualifications and competencies

The Mid-term review may be conducted by a single consultant or a team with the following qualifications.

Competence and experience in reviews and evaluations, quality assessment and results-based management in development cooperation.
Have a good knowledge on promotion human rights, women rights, children rights, and indigenous rights.
Experience working with some or all of Diakonia’s intervention areas (democracy, human rights, gender justice) and mainstreaming perspectives (gender, environment, conflict), including promotion SDGs
Experience and proven track records of evaluation work of civil society in Thailand, especially the areas of human rights, women rights, children rights, and indigenous rights. The projects funded by EU is preferred. The policy advocacy projects is a plus.
Proficiency in English, especially report writing. Ability to communicate Thai language and local language is a plus.

If it is a team, one person shall be assigned as the team leader with the overall responsibility for the review. The team leader shall have experience in leading the evaluation. A CV shall be included for each team member and contain the full description of the consultant’s qualifications and professional work experience.

Roles and responsibilities

The contact person at the Diakonia is Sompong Asakit (somepong.asakit@diakonia.se). The contact person should be consulted if any problems arise during the implementation timeframe.

The consultants will arrange logistics, accommodation, booking interviews, preparation visits including any necessary security arrangements. Some assistance will be offered by Diakonia upon request.