TERMS OF REFERENCE
Project Mid-Term Review:
PROTECT: Promoting Collective Effort Towards Resilience and Tolerance in Indonesia
Search for Common Ground (Search) Indonesia is seeking to hire a consultant to carry out a mid-term review for its project "PROTECT: Promoting Collective Effort Towards Resilience and Tolerance in Indonesia." Search Indonesia seeks to procure the services of an independent, external consultant(s) to design, plan and conduct a rigorous project mid-term review for this consultancy. This review aims to document project achievements and lessons learned from the 24-month project on promoting freedom of religion/beliefs and protecting minority rights in Indonesia.
Background of the Organization
Search (www.sfcg.org) is an international peacebuilding organization that strives to find local solutions to today's toughest violent conflicts — and save millions of lives in the process. It works in 33 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the USA. It works with governments, civil society, state institutions, youth, women, media organizations, and other stakeholder groups to promote peace, reconciliation, tolerance, and collaboration across dividing lines.
Search has been working in Indonesia since 2002. As a diverse country, Indonesia is facing challenges in managing social harmony and tolerance within the heterogeneous society. Search, in collaboration with local partners, is supporting the process of building peaceful culture through media programming, dialogues, outreach activities, and capacity strengthening. Search Indonesia works primarily with youth, especially in universities and schools, government agencies and officials, and communities in vulnerable areas to prevent violent extremism as one of the challenges to peace and tolerance in Indonesia.
Background of the project
Despite its reputation as a diverse country, in recent years, Indonesia has experienced an increase in instances of intolerance towards vulnerable marginalized groups, enabled both officially by discriminatory government policies and practices, as well as informally by ultra-conservative groups and figures, and religious leaders who promote intolerance through sermons. The COVID-19 crisis has also sparked a rise in intolerant discourse targeting minority groups, with online and offline misinformation scapegoating minority communities for the pandemic. To overcome these challenges, there is a great need to support existing advocates for tolerance and to mobilize additional support to include and advance the voices of marginalized and 'hard to reach' groups within civil society and decision-making processes and government policies.
Search, Yayasan Satu Keadilan (YSK) in Bogor, Jaringan Kerjasama Antar Umat Beragama (Jakatarub) in Bandung, and the KAKAK Foundation in Solo implement a project to increase understanding about the importance of religious tolerance while broadening 'whole of community' collaboration and raising awareness at the public and government levels around the importance of protecting the rights of 'hard-to-reach' minority groups.
With the approaching end of its first phase of the implementation period, the project needs to be reviewed to enable Search and the project partners to document the project's key achievements, lessons learned, and areas that can be further improved in the next phase of the project.
Project Objectives
The project's overall objective is to empower minority groups and allies to address barriers to the rights and freedoms of minority groups in Indonesia.
The theory of change of the project is IF religious and other minorities are better connected with their communities and civil society actors AND religious leaders and media actors are able to advocate for religious tolerance and rights protection, THEN the protection of human rights of religious minorities will be better enforced.
The project's specific objectives are:
Objective 1: To build the capacity of CSOs working on tolerance to perform outreach and engagement with 'hard to reach' minority groups to increase their community-level impact.
Objective 2: To empower journalists and social media influencers to detect and respond to dangerous misinformation, such as religious-motivated hate speech and persecution of religious minorities.
Objective 3: To provide religious leaders with the skills and opportunities to collectively advocate for religious tolerance and protection of rights.
Target groups for the project:
- The primary group is the most vulnerable group prone to intolerance and discrimination in both Internum and Externum sectors. They include;
Ahmadiyya, Shia, Baha'i, Christian Protestants and Catholics, local faith believers (e.g., Sunda Wiwitan, Sapta Darma, Putra Ibu Pertiwi, Simbok Kuoso, Sumarah, and Kepribaden), atheists, former militant groups of Islamic Front Defenders (Front Pembela Islam/FPI), Hizbut Tahrir of Indonesia (HTI), as well as ex-convicted terrorists. - The secondary group is part of the community that is not necessarily affiliated with religious organizations. However, their individual religious expression is prone to discrimination and neglect. The group includes;
Women and youth across all religions and beliefs. - The tertiary group is part of the minority groups who is not necessarily affiliated with a religious background and are often not included in the discussion on diversity. This group is still a rather new discourse on Indonesia's freedom of religion, belief, and tolerance. This group includes;
People with disability (PWDs) and gender minority groups (LGBTQ) across all religions and beliefs. - Other actors who also play a significant role in promoting and protecting FORB and tolerance in Indonesia will also be engaged as the key entry points to advocate FORB and tolerance under the program. These actors are identified as the followings;
Government (both local and national authorities) officials such as the Ministry of Religious Affairs, National Centre for Religious Harmony (Pusat Kerukunan Umat Beragama/ PKUB), as well as law and human rights counselors of DGC and Komnas HAM, civil society organizations, journalists, reporters, and editors of news agencies, social media influencers, religious leaders, religious counselors, and the Interfaith Harmony Forum (Forum Kerukunan Umat Beragama/ FKUB).
The project outputs and activities include the following:
Based on the PITT that was updated in June 2023.
- 4 capacity building for CSOs in target areas with 100 participants.
- 8 interfaith dialogues in target areas with 161 participants.
- 3 journalists training with 31 journalists fellowship and 24 social media fellowship.
- 6 religious roundtables with 146 participants.
- 2 religious leaders training with 35 participants and 2 FKUB training with 32 participants.
- 1 advocacy campaign with 20 CSO participants.
Objectives of the Review
Search as an organization is committed to conducting reviews for its projects in order to maximize the effectiveness of its programming and engage in continuous improvement and learning within programs and across the organization. The review will be conducted in consultation and participation with key relevant stakeholders, appropriate community groups, or key civil society individuals. The mid-term review intends to measure the project's immediate impact, specifically whether the stated goal, objectives, and results have been met.
The review aims to document achievements of the expected results and lessons learned through a participatory process engaging Search, CSOs, local communities, and other key society stakeholders. The review will aim to ascertain if and how the project yielded its intended results.
Review criteria and key review questions
The review will be based on the OECD-DAC peacebuilding Evaluation Criteria (relevance, effectiveness, intermediate impact, efficiency, and sustainability), investigating their set of questions and utilizing and/or addressing the performance indicators described in the project document:
Relevance
- To what extent the project intervention is relevant to addressing the current conflict dynamics surrounding the evolving trend of intolerance in the target areas?
- To what extent could this project engage with all the relevant community groups and stakeholders?
- To what extent did this project comply with the targeted community needs and existing issues?
- What is the relevance of the interventions as perceived by beneficiaries and stakeholders?
- How relevant were the instruments (capacity-building workshops, community dialogue sessions, etc.) used during the project to the local communities' needs and capacities?
- How relevant are the target areas considering conflict dynamics in those areas?
- How did this project maintain its relevance amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the political, economic, and social challenges in the target areas?
Effectiveness
- What are the major outputs and outcomes of this project vis-a-vis the log frame?
- To what extent were the project and its activities successful in achieving its stated intermediate level of goals and objectives? What major factors are contributing to the achievement or non-achievement of objectives?
- To what extent has the project been effective in building multi-stakeholder coordination and collaboration in FORB efforts in the target area?
- How effective were the training sessions in building the capacities of FORB practitioners to better efforts on the FORB process?
- How effective were the dialogue sessions, fellowship, and other activities in shifting participants' attitudes and behavior, and relationships toward tolerance and diversity?
Efficiency
- Have resources (funds, human resources, time, expertise, etc.) been allocated strategically to achieve outcomes? Have resources been used efficiently?
- Have project funds and activities been delivered in a timely manner?
Intermediate Impact
- How has the project contributed to creating better coordination and collaboration on FORB efforts within state institutions, CSOs, and local communities?
- How has the project been successful in fostering critical thinking among key community leaders? How has the project contributed to FORB efforts in target locations?
- How has the project contributed to enhancing the roles of key actors (local CSOs, religious leaders, FKUB, journalists, and social media influencers) in actively engaging the 'hard-to-reach' communities and addressing hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation? Has there been a collaboration between target beneficiaries in the FORB area?
- How has the project contributed to reducing intolerance views among society in target areas?
- What are the interventions' broader changes, positive or negative, intended or unintended, in the context?
Sustainability
- To what extent have the participating stakeholders, government agencies, youth, and community members taken ownership of the project or planned or already stated independent new initiatives?
- How have the participating stakeholder been applying knowledge and skills gained from the training to their work?
- How the project contributed to the local partners to enhance their capacities in project management and financial management?
Do No Harm
- Has there been any evidence of problems or risks arising from this project implementation?
- Have any agreements or amicable solutions been taken constructively to solve the issues?
Coordination
- Did the project consortium coordinate and communicate properly with the participating stakeholders, vulnerable marginalized community members, and local governments?
- Have any challenges faced in consortium during the life of the project been dealt with properly and amicably?
Lesson learned:
1. What are the major lessons learned that would help inform similar initiatives in the future?
2. What could have been done differently to make the project of higher quality and of greater impact?
3. What are the good practices emerging out of this project implementation?
In addition to the above lines of inquiry, the review is expected to provide information on specific indicators listed in the Project Tracking and Monitoring Evaluation Plan, taking into account that some of the targets and/or indicators may change depending on ongoing discussions with the donor:
- Percentage of minority group members in target areas who claim to have stronger support systems for securing their rights (disaggregated by location, gender, and age).
- Percentage of PROTECT local CSOs that participated in the training and report incorporating more minority groups in their initiatives (disaggregated by location).
- Percentage of fellowship participants who report on new topics related to tolerance outside the fellowship (disaggregated by location, gender, and age).
- Percentage of targeted religious leaders who cultivated a new partnership as a result of PROTECT-organized activities (disaggregated by location, gender, and age).
- Percentage of advocacy training participants invited to advise a government office or relevant authorities on issues related to minority rights or religious freedom (disaggregated by location, gender, and age).
The review is also expected to generate data on 2-3 Global Impact Framework indicators through the survey. The indicators (not more than 3) will be shared during the inception phase.
a) Approach
The SFCG review approach is grounded in our work's guiding principles: participatory, culturally sensitive, committed to building capacity, affirming and positive while honest and productively critical, and valuing knowledge and approaches from within the context. SFCG and the hired reviewer will agree upon a joint set of review standards when negotiating the final contract of agreement.
b) Scope
The review will cover project activities/initiatives that are implemented in three (3) project locations; Greater Bogor, Greater Bandung, and Greater Solo. The review sample should adequately cover the project target areas and be representative of the key stakeholders and intended beneficiaries.
c) Methodology
The review will employ both quantitative and qualitative methods. Both quantitative and qualitative data will be analyzed with gender, age, location, and ethnicity/religion disaggregation. The qualitative and quantitative findings are expected to be synthesized in accordance with the project indicators.
The sampling methodology for the tools and/or instruments will be designed by the consultant, referring to the project's Monitoring Tracking, and Planning and in coordination with the Search Project Manager, Project Officer, DME Officer, and the Senior Regional DME Specialist. The total sample size should be drawn from the total target population of the project locations. The sample size should be agreed upon with SFCG before signing the contract. A reasonable sample size should be proposed using a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error.
The data collection process could be included but not be limited to the project's key actors' discussions (Search team, key stakeholders, beneficiaries, trainers, and other consultants that Search hired during the project).
FGD: Focus group discussion will be conducted to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the project amongst beneficiaries of the project. This should be conducted at least six FGDs consisting of 4 in-person FGDs in the Bogor and Bandung area and 2 online FGDs for the Solo area. One FGD also should be conducted with Search and its partners.
KIIs: Semi-structured interviews will be the chosen tool for engaging with the project beneficiaries to assess the review's intermediate impact and lesson-learned aspects. The consultant should approach the most vulnerable group prone to intolerance and discrimination that have been involved in the project's activities, including any representatives of women groups, youth groups, and disability groups in three project areas. At least 30 KIIs should be interviewed, where 20 KIIs in Bogor and Bandung are preferably conducted face-to-face and 10 KIIs in Solo are optionally conducted by phone or online.
Online survey: Structured survey will be sent to all beneficiaries that have not participated in FGDs or KIIs to evaluate the relevance, effectiveness, intermediate impact, sustainability, potential harm, and lessons learned from the review. It is essential that a minimum of 60% of all beneficiaries from the three project areas (Bogor, Bandung, and Solo) complete the online survey.
Furthermore, as part of the data collection and analysis process, the consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles:
- Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: The consultant should make the most of the existing information and the full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Consultants should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique his or her work. He or she should clarify the review's limitations and results.
- Competence: Consultants should possess the abilities, skills, and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
- Honesty and integrity: The consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, and any risk that certain procedures or activities produce a misleading review of information.
- Respect for people: Consultants respect respondents' and program participants' security, dignity, and self-worth. The consultant is responsible for being sensitive to and respecting differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age, and ethnicity.
Key Duties of Consultant
- Collect, analyze, and document information related to religious freedom and the protection of religious minority groups in Indonesia and other assigned areas, gathering information from NGOs, religious groups, and academics; and monitoring national and international media.
- Develop assessment instruments with SFCG input through a comprehensive inception report in English. The KII and FGD checklists need to be translated into Bahasa Indonesia once approved by ILT.
- Interview selected key informants and conduct FGDs with the beneficiaries and related stakeholders.
- Produce a report based on a report template agreed upon with SFCG Indonesia and furnish a set of recommendations based on research findings and best practices to counter or prevent extreme narratives.
- Present research findings to SFCG Indonesia and its stakeholders.
- The consultant may be requested to join a reflection meeting held by Search in Jakarta to observe the overall project reflection process and or conduct an exclusive interview with the project consortium (tentative in July 2023, the date is to be determined).
Deliverables
The final deliverables of the review will include the following documents:
● 6-10 pages long (excluding annexes) of inception report containing a review plan matrix outlining the specific data collection strategy, responsibility, data collection tools/draft questionnaires, and a detailed work plan within 10 working days after signing the contract. The KIIs and FGDs checklists (detailed) and survey questions should be annexed. The plan should consider the following principles:
a) Inclusiveness, the methodology should include a wide range of viewpoints, specifically gender and age sensitivity.
b) Mixed-method approaches both qualitative and quantitative methods, need to be present in the methodology.
c) The rigor of evidence-gathered information needs to be reliable and transparent.
● A draft final review report for review by Search staff within (3 weeks) of the completion of the data collection.
● A fully English-edited final review report (in MS Word format), is due within (5 weeks) of the completion of the data collection. The report should be no more than 30 pages (excluding appendices) and be based on the requirements in the Search External Evaluation Guidelines (available on the web), including actionable, data-based recommendations for Search and suggestions for similar future programming.
● Final electronic copies of all data collected (including survey data entered through Excel; the format needs to be approved by Search before use; and notes of all FGDs done).
● The final review summary report should strictly be written in the English language and should be around 3-4 pages
● The tentative structure of the mid-term review report will be as follows:
1) Cover page
2) Executive Summary of key findings and recommendations.
3) Introduction, including brief context description (max 300 words) and project overview (max )
4) Methodology
5) Review findings, analysis, and conclusions with associated evidence and data are clearly illustrated. The findings section should be subdivided into sub-chapters according to the review criteria.
6) Recommendations for the future, which should be practical and linked directly to findings and conclusions;
7) Appendices, including review tools, questionnaires, and brief biography of the reviewer.
● Search will maintain consultants' independence in writing their findings. Both the final and the summary report will be credited to the consultancy team and will be placed in the public domain, including on the Search website (www.sfcg.org/ilt/evaluations) and the global learning and sharing on Portal ConnexUs (www.cnxus.org).
Budget
This total mid-term review will be budgeted up to USD 9,000. The consultant(s) should propose a detailed budget to cover all review activities. Travel costs to conduct KIIs must be reflected as well in the budget proposal.
Duration & Deadlines
The duration of the contract will be a total period of 10 weeks to begin from 10 July 2023 to 17 September 2023. The consultant will negotiate final dates and deadlines with the Search Indonesia DM&E Officer.
Logistical Support
SFCG will provide preparatory and logistical assistance to the reviewer, which includes:
● Background materials (project proposal, implementation plans, progress reports, success stories, etc.)
● Quantitative and qualitative documentation of project activities.
● List of potential Interviewees (and their contact information) for KIIs and FGDs
● Technical assistance with the review and approval of tools and reports.
● Meeting arrangements with stakeholders and beneficiaries
Team Members
The review will be conducted by an individual/consultancy managed by the review focal point at Search with technical oversight from the Senior Manager of ILT.
Reviewer's Competencies
Search seeks an experienced reviewer(s) with the following qualifications:
● Master's degree in conflict resolution, international relations, a related social science field, or statistics
● Having past experiences doing reviews and research involving quantitative and qualitative data collection in experience in peacebuilding projects.
● Understanding of the country's context, especially Indonesia's violent extremism and interreligious dynamics.
● At least 5 years of experience in project review and conducting baseline and final evaluations, including collecting and analyzing data from interviews, surveys, focus group discussions, etc.
● Sound knowledge of research methods and data collection skills
● High level of speaking and writing proficiency in English
● Strong communication and writing skills
● Understanding of and experience working with civil society organizations
● Ability to be flexible with time and work schedule
All interested and qualified candidates are requested to submit a letter of interest, technical and financial proposals, three samples of previous work (in English), plus curriculum vitae through phandayani@sfcg.org cc: @farrasya@sfcg.org by 8 July 2023
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