Title of project: Mobilising Networked Civic Action to Counter Violent Extremism Online and Offline in Cameroon—EWER Phase (#defyhatenow Cameroon)

Title of the consultation: Call for manifestation of interest: recruitment of a consultancy firm to carry out the mid-term evaluation of the project “Mobilising Networked Civic Action to Counter Violent Extremism Online and Offline in Cameroon—EWER Phase (#defyhatenow Cameroon) for the years 2023 & 2024

Type of contract: Consultancy

Duration of the consultancy: 90 days

Firm: Association Civic Watch through the #defyhatenow Cameroon initiative

Funded by: German Federal Foreign Office, Division S04 

1. Description 

Background

The “#defyhatenow initiative Cameroon” project constitutes a significant initiative aimed at mitigating violent extremism in Cameroon. Launched in 2019, its primary objective is to confront the intricate challenges arising from the surge of hate speech, ethnic conflicts, and violent extremism within the country. The project embodies a collaborative endeavour to foster peace, reconciliation, and social cohesion, with a specific focus on the persistently conflicted Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon. 

Justification

The project is structured around several key objectives and delineated outcomes. These encompass the reduction of hate speech, the implementation of digital media literacy training, the establishment of “peace clubs” in educational institutions, the orchestration of academic symposiums addressing hate speech, the reinforcement of intercommunal and intercultural dialogues, advocacy initiatives with elected officials, and engagement with content creators and influencers in the diaspora.

Engaging a diverse array of stakeholders, including youth, educators, media professionals, community leaders, elected officials, influencers, and diaspora members, the project relies on pivotal collaborations with local and national organisations. Technological mechanisms are employed for the monitoring of online hate speech and the analysis of social media data. The overarching objective is to cultivate a more inclusive, peaceful, and resilient environment in Cameroon by combating hate speech, fostering dialogue and intercultural understanding, and enhancing the capabilities of local actors in preventing violent extremism.

The external evaluation of our activities within #defyhatenow is of crucial importance for several fundamental reasons. Firstly, it would allow us to obtain an impartial and independent perspective on our actions, ensuring an objective examination. This impartiality is particularly valuable to avoid any potential bias that could arise from internal self-evaluation.

Furthermore, an external evaluation would strengthen the credibility of #defyhatenow among our stakeholders, donors, and the public. The inherent transparency of such an evaluation demonstrates our commitment to accountability and contributes to building trust in our initiatives.

The external evaluation would also play a crucial role in validating the results we have reported. This would provide independent confirmation of the effectiveness of our strategies and generate tangible evidence of the real impact of our interventions. Also , inform decision-makers on the basis of evidence, for better decision-making.

Moreover, external evaluators could identify specific areas requiring improvements, thus offering us the opportunity to strengthen our practices and optimise our results. This evaluation would also serve as a mechanism for continuous learning, allowing us to draw lessons from our experiences to improve our future actions.

2. Description of the assignment

The consultant(s) are called upon to provide the steering committee with details of the stages in the project’s implementation, from data collection, processing, and analysis to the production of results. This includes a presentation of the; 

• resources used
• tools used during the study such as; KoBo Toolbox, PowerBI (or equivalent MEAL tools), and data analysis tools.
• the study period
• evaluation criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability)
• the recommendations

3. Scope of work

3.1. Profile of the consultant or consultancy firm

• The lead consultant should possess a university degree in any field, preferably Social Sciences. A Postgraduate Degree will be an added advantage.
• The study will be carried out by a consultancy legally registered in Cameroon and up to date with its tax obligations.
• Proof of having carried out at least three similar studies in the last 5 years.
• Understanding and adherence to the organisation’s principles, vision, and mission, including a commitment to confidentiality.
• Knowledge of issues specific to the humanitarian sector, particularly in peace and social cohesion.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and French.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and report writing skills.
• Mastery of techniques for gathering and processing information: documentary research, reading files and archives, direct observation, focus group discussions, statistical surveys, and questionnaires.
• Quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques.

4. Assessment steps

The consultant(s) are expected to adhere to the following steps when carrying out the evaluation.

• File review and interviews with the selected firm’s personnel, 
• A timeline of the assignment duration with details of how the various stages of the exercise will be implemented. 
• The consultant must communicate regularly with Association Civic Watch on the progress of the work.
• Make a formal presentation of the results to the whole #defyhatenow team at the end of the project.

4.1 Scope of the Survey

Areas of intervention: The project is implemented in the administrative regions of the crisis areas, namely the North-West, South-West, Littoral, Far-North, North, Adamaoua, and East, as well as the neighbouring regions.

The consultant(s) is not obliged to travel to the regions in which the initiative has activities but will be expected to collect data from identified respondents in sample regions. The consultant is therefore expected to present an adapted methodology for collecting data, details of which should be in the inception report. This will be finalized in consultation with the #defyhatenow thematic guidance for adapting strategic initiatives. The respondents will be derived from the following target beneficiaries in consultation with the #defyhatenow initiative and partners such as:

• Leaders;  religious leaders, heads of schools, community leaders, etc
• Women
• Activists
• Media practitioners
• Youths and/or teenagers
• Students (primary, secondary/high school, college, university, etc)
• Representatives from selected human rights, technology-oriented firms, and peacebuilding organisations
• Elected officials and government members

Table 1: List of indicators for which reference values must be determined

Impact	Evaluate the rate of mitigation of conflict and hate speech among young men and women (media professionals, community leaders and the civil society) in project intervention areas.
Output	Number of media professionals who have participated in the project’s training courses on fact-checking and disinformation.Number of peace clubs created and strengthened for peacebuilding in schools (North-West, South-West, and Littoral)Number of civil society organisations that have implemented the use of resources (Field Guide)Number of civil society organisations that have implemented the use of resources (Field Guide) as tools for conflict prevention and resolution.Number of young people trained in peace technology using the Askotec kit
Effect	Percentage of young people who know some practical measures for conflict prevention and resolutionPercentage of former AFF grantees who have strengthened the Early Warning Early Response systemPercentage of young people and women directly and indirectly involved in awareness-raising activities and training on reducing hate speechPercentage of young people who know some practical measures for conflict prevention and resolutionProportion of community and religious leaders involved in conflict resolution and community dialogue.Level of involvement of officials, local elected representatives, and administrative managers in the peace-building process

4.2: Expected evaluation results

• The target indicator benchmarks (table 1, disaggregated by gender) are known;
• Relevant recommendations are formulated to guide the implementation of the implementation;

5. Deliverables of Evaluation

The consultant(s) is/are expected to provide the following tools and an action plan describing the various points:

• The definition of a methodology

• An updated schedule for field data collection detailing the programme of visits; or contact with respondents 
• An inception report
• A first draft report
• All the collected data, interview transcripts, and summaries.
• The list of all respondents reached during the study.
• A PowerPoint presentation of a draft report to #defyhatenow with a focus on findings and analysis of interesting findings.
• Survey values as per the indicators in the results framework.
• Final evaluation report, maximum 40 pages (excluding annexes), and in English.

The draft and final study report need, as a minimum, to contain the following components:

• The survey background
• Deviations from the TOR and/or inception report.
• Indicator by indicator data with survey values broken by geography and disaggregated by gender and age
• Brief analysis of interesting findings
• Lessons learnt from data collection to inform the endline study process
• Link to raw data

5.1 The appendices

Annex 1: Description of the indicator approach (method(s), sampling framework, etc.), including survey values as per the indicators in the results framework.

Annex 2: Data collection tools used (questionnaires, interview guides)

Annex 3: Full Terms of Reference of the Evaluation

Annex 4: The list of all respondents reached during the study

6. Technical evaluation

6.1 Score Schedule in terms of points

1. Candidates knowledge of the subject matter(20)
2. Candidate’s relevant academic qualifications (10)
3. Candidate’s relevant experience with relevant research methods (10)
4. Candidate’s knowledge and familiarity with country (10)
5. Candidate’s relevant language skills (5)
6. Candidate’s analytical, communication, and report-writing skills (5)

Sub-total Consultant (s): 60 points

1. To what degree does the proposal show understanding of the task? (10)
2. Have the terms of reference been addressed in detail? (10)
3. Is the conceptual framework adopted appropriate for the task? (10)
4. Is the sequence of activities and the planning logical, realistic, and promising efficient implementation of the contract? (10)

Sub-total Methodology: 40 points

Total Technical Score 100

How to apply

Candidates and firms interested in this consultancy should submit a technical proposal and a financial proposal. This assignment is reserved for Cameroonian nationals currently living in the country only.  

Submissions are expected on or  before September 13, 2024 via email to [email protected]  with the subject line ‘Offer : #defyhatenow Cameroon Project Evaluation consultancy’.