External Evaluator for PRECT

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

Internews is seeking an External Evaluator to conduct a final evaluation for its project that aims to protect and promote citizens’ rights to privacy and freedom of expression online in Thailand. The evaluation will help Internews assess project performance, achievements, and implementation, identify good practices and lessons learned, and evaluate potential impact on beneficiaries and the sustainability of results.

LOGISTICS

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so candidates should apply soon.

This is a limited-duration position, with an expected end date of 30 January 2025.

OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF BELONGING

We are an organization of dynamic, mission-driven individuals who are passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are an EEO employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

SCOPE OF WORK

Background

Through the Protecting Free Expression and Counter Censorship in Thailand (PRFECT) project, Internews worked with two local partners to implement activities aiming to protect Thai citizens’ rights to privacy and freedom of expression online with the objectives listed below and are currently seeking a qualified candidate to conduct a final evaluation for the project.

Project Goal & Objectives

The goal of the PRFECT project is to protect and promote Thai citizens’ rights to privacy and freedom of expression online through the following objectives:

Objective One: Improve civil society’s capacity to systematically monitor and report on legislation, technology, and practices that infringe on Thai citizens’ right to freedom of expression online.

Objective Two: Expand protections for Thai citizens through increased advocacy on online privacy rights, using existing national and international legal frameworks.

Objective Three: Promote increased public awareness of the rights to freedom of expression and privacy online.

Expected Key Results (Intermediate Outcomes)

• Improved technical capacity among journalists and civil society actors to monitor and report on legislation restricting freedom of expression and online privacy.
• Civil society and data protection specialists are better equipped and supported by a network of peers and experts to identify community data protection needs and solutions through their work.
• Constructive dialogues fostered between government and non-government stakeholders through advocacy on reforms on legislation related to freedom of speech and digital rights.
• Enhanced information sharing between social media platforms and groups impacted by content moderation.
• Journalists are better equipped to navigate online censorship, surveillance, and legal restrictions on freedom of speech.
• Increased awareness among the public on freedom of expression and privacy online.

Project Beneficiaries: The people who will directly benefit from the project include activists, artists, content creators, journalists, human rights defenders, legal experts, trainers, university students and key civil society organizations and non-government stakeholders, with a particular emphasis on women, youth and the LGBT community located throughout the country.

Project structure: The PRFECT project was managed by Internews Thailand country team, with oversight and guidance provided by Internews’ Asia-Pacific Regional Office. The Thailand team implemented some activities and worked with two local partners to achieve their targets.

Evaluation Purpose and Objectives

The evaluation covers the project implementation period from September 2022 to December 2024 and should encompass the entire scope of the project. The purpose of the evaluation is to assist Internews to assess the performance of the project and to inform learning. The evaluation should assess what has been achieved; how it was implemented; whether the theory of change, including the project design and assumptions, is accurate; what are the good practices emerging from the project, and what are the lessons learned. It also looks at the potential impact of project activities on beneficiaries and sustainability of results.

The primary audience for the evaluation includes Internews team in Thailand and regionally in Asia, who will use the findings for learning and decision-making. Secondary users include local partners, who will apply the insights to enhance their interventions. The funder may also utilize the evaluation for accountability and informed decision-making.

Key Objectives

• Incorporating OECD/DAC criteria, assess the performance of the project.
• Identify and analyze the intended and unintended effects of the program on beneficiaries.
• Identify good practices and lessons learnt from the project and the underlying factors that contribute to the achievement of the project
• Provide recommendations to improve future interventions

Evaluation Scope

The evaluation will use the Development Assistance Committee of the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD/DAC) criteria, which is one of the most widely prominent and widely adopted criteria for review of aid effectiveness. The criteria used to evaluate development interventions (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability) are undoubtedly the most known and adopted features that emerged from the OEDC/DAC evaluation guidelines.

The following general guiding questions are expected to be addressed through the evaluation.

Relevance:

• Did the theory of change hold true?
• Has the project responded to the needs of the target groups and continued to do so when circumstances have changed?
• To what extent were lessons learned from the project challenges and successes and how were they applied to improve and adjust implementation to remain relevant?
• Coherence:
• To what extent have other interventions (particularly policies) supported or undermined the project intervention, and vice versa? (external coherence)
• How compatible is the project with Internews strategies and other interventions in Sri Lanka and Myanmar implemented by Internews? (internal coherence)

Effectiveness:

• What results have been achieved in the implementation of the project? What were the contributing factors to the achievement of the project? What were the main challenges/barriers to achieving the implementation of the project? How well did the project adapt to the significant political and security challenges during implementation?
• Have the right things been done to achieve the project aim? Have the planned project objectives and outcomes been achieved (or likely to be achieved), if not, what is needed to close the gap and improve potential for longer-term outcomes?

Efficiency:

• Are the resources and inputs converted to outputs in a timely and cost-effective manner?
• Is the project achieving the planned outputs in line with the planned resources?

Impact:

• What are the tangible outcomes (positive and negative) as a result of the project? Has there been a positive or negative impact on beneficiaries as a whole? How has this impact been ascertained?

Sustainability:

• Are the results sustainable? If so, how? Particular focus will be given to:
  • The implementation of a comprehensive journalist capacity-building initiative that includes training, boot camps, and mentoring with production-focused grants, ensuring both skill acquisition and practical application by participants
  • Strengthening key relationships between media and government counterparts—as well as media and civil society—which are key to expanding the use of Freedom of Information Laws and scaling up advocacy for increased government transparency.

Approach and Methodology

The evaluation shall be carried out in accordance with Internews guidelines. In conducting the evaluation, the evaluator must ensure that the evaluation approach will be as inclusive and participatory as possible and oriented toward reinforcing local ownership through respectful engagement with all partners, including local beneficiaries and stakeholders. The evaluation shall be designed to allow opportunity for stakeholders and beneficiaries of the project to express themselves – either through primary data collection, validation meetings, or through other means.

Internews believes that rigorous evaluations are founded on essential principles, approaches, and methods that form an integral part of the evaluation process. Evaluators are expected to incorporate the overarching principles as follows:

• Impartiality and independence: Evaluations should be conducted with objectivity and free from bias or undue influence. Evaluators should maintain an unbiased stance throughout the evaluation process and report findings and conclusions based on evidence and acknowledge any limitations of the findings.
• Credibility: Evaluations should be based on reliable data, sound methodologies, and transparent reporting to ensure that findings are trustworthy. Evaluators should employ appropriate data collection and analysis methods, clearly communicate limitations, and provide sufficient evidence to support conclusions.
• Use and usefulness: Evaluations should be designed and conducted in a manner that promotes their practical application and contributes to organizational learning and decision-making. Evaluators should engage stakeholders throughout the process to ensure that the evaluation addresses relevant questions and provides actionable recommendations.
• Ethical conduct: Evaluations must adhere to ethical standards, including respect for participants, informed consent, and confidentiality. Evaluators should weigh the risks and benefits of the evaluation and implement measures to minimize harm. If raw data, such as interview or focus group discussion notes, must be shared with a third party for reasons like translation or data analysis, it should be de-identified to protect participants’ privacy.
• Transparency: Evaluations should be conducted with openness and honesty, and the evaluation process, methodology, and results should be clearly documented and communicated to stakeholders. Evaluators should disclose any potential conflicts of interest and limitations of the evaluation.

Timeframe and deliverables

This evaluation should be completed by January 30, 2024. The evaluator will submit an inception report detailing the evaluation methodology and tools, followed by a final report.

Inception Phase

Before data collection begins, the evaluator must finalize the evaluation design (inception report), which requires approval from the Internews Regional Evaluation and Research Manager. During the inception phase, the evaluator will refine the evaluation approach and methodology, including evaluation questions, research methods, data collection tools, and synthesis methods, in consultation with key stakeholders.

The inception report is expected to be submitted no later than December 16, 2024. The inception report should be written in English and be no longer than 20 pages (excluding the annexes) and must include:

• Background: The objective and purpose of the evaluation; scope of the evaluations (including key evaluation questions, geographic coverage, timeframe); information about the project being evaluated
• Evaluation approach: Evaluation principles, analytical approach, evaluation questions and sub questions
• Evaluation methodology: Data collection and analysis methods, stakeholder sampling and selection, evaluation synthesis methodology, anticipated limitation of the methodology and the mitigation plan
• Evaluation process: Overview of the process and next steps; quality assurance; resource requirements and logistical supports needed from Internews; workplan
• Annexes: Evaluation matrix detailing how the evaluator shall answer the evaluation questions, data collection tools, stakeholder map, selected stakeholders, list of persons consulted at the inception phase, list of documents reviewed at the inception phase, agenda for the data collection phase

Final Evaluation

The final evaluation report is expected to be submitted no later than January 30,2025. This report will document the evaluation activities, results, key findings, conclusions, recommendations, and lessons learned. The evaluator will first submit a draft report for Internews’ feedback, then incorporate comments while applying independent and impartial judgment to finalize the report. The final evaluation report will be in English and no longer than 30 pages, excluding annexes. The report must include:

• Executive summary: Highlighting the main findings, conclusions and recommendations. (1-2 pages)
• Methodology section: A clear summary of how the methodology as planned in the inception report is implemented and any limitation to the evaluation (3-4 pages)
• Findings section: Provide a clear answer to the evaluation questions backed by analysis of the evidence gathered throughout the evaluation (15-20 pages)
• Conclusions section: (1-2 pages)
• Recommendations section: The recommendations shall be made as specific as possible, action-oriented, and tailored to all relevant stakeholders (i.e. Internews and the donor) (1-2 pages)

Management of Evaluation

The evaluation will be managed by Internews Regional Evaluation and Research Manager who will quality–assure the evaluation products submitted by the evaluator. Internews staff in Thailand will facilitate the consultant needs for the purpose of the evaluation.

QUALIFICATIONS WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Required

• Master’s degree or higher in social sciences, international development, evaluation or related fields;
• At least 5 years’ experience conducting evaluations for international development or media development projects in difficult contexts;
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative collection and analysis methods;
• Experience with social network analysis methods;
• Fluent English and able to communicate well in Thai;
• Excellent inter-cultural communication skills/cultural sensitivity and the ability to forge strong cross-cultural relationships and build trust demonstrated through previous intercultural experience;
• Strong facilitation, presentation, writing and communication skills.