Call for applications: Midterm Evaluation proposals under Mekong Thought Leadership and Think Tanks Program

Launch of the call: 25 April 2024

Application deadline: 15 May 2024, 23:59 (Bangkok/Indochina time)

Submissions of applications will only be accepted through online submission platform:

https://sei.submittable.com/submit/294621/mekong-thought-leadership-and-think-tanks-network-program-midterm-evaluation-mt

Background

As the Mekong Thought Leadership and Think Tanks Network Program (MTT) is well into its mid-term period and as scheduled within the Program Design Document, a Midterm Evaluation (MTE) is required as a systematic and objective assessment of the program. The MTE aims to provide credible evidence which can inform program management and highlight important lessons, including existing strengths and areas for improvement. MTE shall be conducted by independent external evaluator(s) to ensure the objectivity of the assessments. The total amount of the MTE will not exceed AUD25,000.00 (~USD 16,300.00), including personnel costs, travel/site visit costs (if any), etc.

Assignment

Purpose: The purpose of the MTE is to take stock of program progress and evaluate where the program stands against its set targets in terms of expected outcomes, outputs, and planned activities. The MTE serves as a guide for all parties concerned (DFAT, MTT Program Secretariat hosted in SEI Asia, MTT Program Steering Committee, and key partners) to help improve the implementation for the remaining period. The MTE shall include initial recommendations for enhancing the impact and sustainability of MTT Program outcomes, beyond its current period of implementation (2022-2025). Relevant stakeholders will consider these recommendations to conceptualise and design any follow-up investments and programs.

Stakeholder involvement: The main stakeholders in this review are DFAT, the MTT Program Secretariat, the Program Steering Committee, MTT grantees, and partners. The conclusions and recommendations from the MTE will be useful to all stakeholders. The conclusions and recommendations, therefore, to the extent deemed practical and useful, should:

• Comment on TORs, methodology and work plan
• Provide information and their views on programme progress and future perspective about the program
• Discuss and comment on preliminary findings of MTE
• Clearly articulate the conclusions and recommendations of the MTE

The MTE is to be designed, conducted, and reported to meet the needs of the program stakeholders. The applicants shall elaborate in the application how this will be ensured during the evaluation process. The evaluators and the main stakeholders will agree on who will be responsible for keeping the various stakeholders informed about the evaluation during the inception phase.

Submission of application

The application must contain an acknowledgment that the applicant has the technical, financial, and other knowledge requirements for performing the assignment within the timeframes specified in the TOR of the MTE. The application documents must include the following documents:

• Technical proposal:
  • The technical proposal (excluding appendixes) must describe how the assignment would be carried out and what competencies would be made available to the assignment in such detail as to enable an assessment against the application evaluation criteria as specified in the TOR.
  • It should include not more than 5,000 words. The CV of each member in the evaluation team (not more than 3 pages each) should be included in the appendix.
  • The template for the technical proposal is here.
• Financial proposal:
  • The assignment's total price must not exceed AUD25,000.00 (VAT and other taxes inclusive).
  • All costs must be given in Australian Dollars (AUD).
  • The application must include any and all costs for the assignment and state the total cost of the assignment, and be specified as:
    • Professional fee per day and person, and in total,
    • travel and all travel-associated costs, including accommodation and per diem compensations (to be reimbursed based on actual expenditures),
    • other costs (please specify).
  • The template for the financial proposal is here.

For more details of the call, please download the attached pdf.

Kindly submit your application online, email applications will not be accepted.