Terms of Reference (ToR) Endline Evaluation of the ADVANCE Project

1. Background

The Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD), with funding support from the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (FELM), has been implementing the ADVANCE Project since January 2022. The project aims to improve the quality of life and opportunities for persons with disabilities by ensuring they are aware of their rights and that those rights are respected. This is pursued through the promotion and implementation of inclusive laws, policies, and practices, as well as by strengthening coordination mechanisms among stakeholders.

The project has been implemented in Adama (Oromia Region), Bahir Dar (Amhara Region), Dilla (South Ethiopia Region), Hawassa (Sidama Region), and Addis Ababa City Administration. It focuses on three main pillars: enhancing the advocacy capacity of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), empowering persons with disabilities to advocate for their rights, and building the capacity of public authorities, justice sector institutions, and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) to promote and monitor disability rights.

As the ADVANCE Project approaches its completion in December 2025, ECDD has decided to engage an external consultant to evaluate the overall performance of the implementation of the ADVANCE Project..This evaluation will assess the progress made toward achieving the project’s objectives, examine the effectiveness of implementation strategies, and generate key lessons and recommendations to inform future disability inclusion and rights programming in Ethiopia and beyond.

2. Purpose of the Evaluation

The main purpose of the endline evaluation is to:

• Assess the extent to which the project has achieved its objectives and intended outcomes.
• Evaluate the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability of the outcomeand impact of the project.
• Identify best practices, challenges, and lessons learned.
• Assess the inclusivity and accessibility of the project for persons with various types of disabilities (physical, sensory, intellectual, etc.).
• Provide actionable recommendations for future programming and scaling.

3. Evaluation Objectives

The evaluation will specifically aim to:

• Measure changes in key outcome indicators from baseline to endline.
• Compare planned vs. achieved outputs and outcomes.
• Assess the relevance of the project in addressing the needs of the target right-holders;
• Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the project implementation.
• Examine the impact of the project on rights holders and institutions.
• Assess the sustainability of project results and institutional changes.
• Assess the coherence, the compatibility of interventions, the synergies and interlinkages among interventions, and the consistency of the intervention with other actors’ interventions in the same context.
• Identify gaps, challenges, and recommendations for future programming.
• Assess how the project adapted to contextual changes (e.g., conflict, policy shifts, disability rights enforcement mechanisms
• Evaluate the extent to which the project ensured the active participation of women and youth with disabilities.

4. Scope of the Evaluation

• Geographic coverage: Adama, Bahir Dar, Dilla, Hawassa, and Addis Ababa
• Timeframe to be covered: July 21- August 31, 2025
• Thematic areas: Disability Rights Awareness and Empowerment, Advocacy and Institutional Capacity of OPDs and CSOs, Policy and Legal Frameworks for Disability Inclusion, Public Sector and Duty Bearer Engagement
• Target groups: Persons with disabilities, OPDs, government actors
• Disaggregation: Disaggregation of data by sex, disability type, and project area

5. Evaluation Questions

The evaluation will address, among others, the following questions:

Effectiveness

(How well the project achieved its objectives and delivered results)

• To what extent have the project objectives and outcomes been achieved?
• What were the key factors that contributed to or hindered success?
• To what extent did the project contribute to systems-level or policy changes for disability rights?
• What changes (positive or negative, intended or unintended) occurred?

Efficiency

(How well resources were used to achieve results)

• How efficient was the project implementation and resource use?

Relevance

(How well the project aligns with local needs, priorities, and context)

• How compatible was the intervention with other interventions in the country, sector, or institution?

Sustainability

(How likely the results and systems will be sustained over time)

• How sustainable are the project outcomes and institutional changes?

Inclusion

(How well the project included and addressed the needs of marginalized groups, especially persons with disabilities)

• How inclusive and participatory was the project in its approach?
• Were the accessibility measures (communication, infrastructure, materials) adequate for full participation of persons with disabilities?

6. Methodology

The evaluation should use a mixed-methods approach, including:

• Desk review of project documents (proposals, reports, M&E data, etc.)
• Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with project staff, partners, government officials, and leaders of OPDs
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with right holders
• Surveys using KoboToolbox
• Observation (site visits where applicable)

The consultant will develop a detailed evaluation methodology and tools during the inception phase. The methodology should ensure ethical consideration and an informed consent process, participation of diverse stakeholders, OPDs, particularly persons with disabilities, and be gender sensitive.

7. Deliverables

• Inception Report: Includes methodology, data collection tools, workplan (within 7 days of contract start)
  1. Develop survey methodology.
  2. Give a detailed plan of the survey: tasks, activities, deliverables.
• Draft Evaluation Report: Submitted for feedback
• Final Evaluation Report: will include the feedback on the draft report, both verbal feedback from the presentation session, as well as written feedback.
  The report will clearly present the evaluation methodology, the findings along with the questions formulated under ‘detailed evaluation objectives’, conclusions and recommendations and an executive summary. In annexes, the places visited, a list of persons and documents consulted, the evaluation schedule, people interviewed, questionnaires of (semi-) structured interviews, and an overview of expenses.
• Presentation of Key Findings to the organization and partners

 

ECDD and the FELM team will review and provide comments and endorse the inception report as appropriate for the consultant to commence the next stage of activities.

programme

Presentation of results: The preliminary results and recommendations from the draft final report will be presented and discussed in a meeting with FELM and ECDD.

8. Duration and Timeline

The assignment is expected to be completed within 30 working days, starting from July 21, 2025, and ending by August 29. Below is an indicative timeline:

Activity	WEEK
	July Week 3	July Week 4	August Week 1	August Week 2	August Week 3	August Week 4
Preparations	x
Desk research	x
Inception report		x
Field research (Data collection)			x	x
Analysis and Draft Report writing and submission of the draft Report				x	x
Revision of draft report					x
Submission of final report						x
Final report approved						x

 

Team Composition and Qualifications

The evaluation will be conducted by an external consultant/team with the following qualifications:

• Advanced degree in social sciences, development studies, M&E, or relevant field
• A good record and experience in conducting end-line or midterm evaluation.
• Prior experience in working with persons with disabilities and knows how to organize the evaluation process in an inclusive way.
• Demonstrable experience of producing quality reports, on the basis of solid data gathering and in-depth interviews.
• Demonstrable experience of working with/evaluating NGO work.
• Demonstrable experience with participatory and disability-inclusive methodology.
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English. Knowledge of Ethiopian local language(s) and culture is an added advantage.
• Experience in using digital data collection tools (e.g., KoboToolbox)
• Preference will be given to teams that include persons with disabilities as evaluators or advisors.
• Knowledge of Ethiopian disability policies and regional legal frameworks is an advantage

10. Selection criteria

The Technical and Financial Proposals will account for 70% and 30% respectively of the selection criteria, broken down as follows:

CRITERIA	SCORES
TECHNICAL PROPOSAL:
Experience related to the task (Knowledge of Ethiopian disability policies and regional legal frameworks is an asset)	20%
Qualifications of team member(s) (Teams with persons with disabilities as evaluators or advisors are preferred)	15%
Disability Inclusion related experience	10%
Methodology	25%
BUDGET PROPOSAL:	30%
Total	100%

11. Management and Coordination

The evaluation will be managed by the Project Team and Monitoring & Evaluation team of ECDD. The consultant will report to ECDD, and work closely with project teams and local partners.

12. Budget and Payment

A competitive budget will be provided, covering consultancy fees, data collection, travel, and report production. Payments will be made in tranches, tied to the successful completion and approval of specific deliverables.

• 20% upon approval of the inception report
• 40% upon submission of the draft report
• 40% upon approval of the final report