Request for Proposal for Liberia Project Evaluation
Request for Proposal of Services:
Final Evaluation of the Carter Center’s Strengthening Citizen Voices to Advance Electoral Reform and Democratic Governance in Liberia
Summary
The Carter Center is seeking a consultant to conduct a final evaluation of a program funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
The Carter Center’s Democracy Program seeks to advance democratic elections and governance in Liberia consistent with universal human rights. During Liberia’s 2017 presidential and House of Representatives elections, with support from the Government of Sweden, The Carter Center capacitated the Liberia Election Observation Network (LEON), an umbrella organization with national coverage and a presence in each of Liberia’s 73 electoral districts. (LEON) was formed as a nonpartisan civil society network of four large Liberian organizations representing all aspects of society, including women, youth, people with disabilities, and religious groups. It comprises the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), Liberia Crusaders for Peace (LCP), the Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY), and the National Union of Organizations for the Disabled (NUOD).
With Carter Center support, LEON trained and deployed Liberians to observe and report on the 2017 presidential and legislative electoral process. It had long-term observers in each of the country’s 73 electoral districts and over 1,000 short-term observers at work on each election day. LEON’s nonpartisan observers reported on the electoral process in real time using online tools. Using this information, LEON issued reports and press statements on aspects of the electoral process and emerged as a recognized and respected voice on election-related issues in Liberia.
Since the 2017 elections, The Carter Center conducted a second phase of programing with LEON from 2018 – 2021 to gather and share information about governmental issues, encourage citizen engagement, build confidence in government, and support peaceful electoral processes. Through its initiatives, the project seeks to strengthen citizen voices to advance electoral reform and democratic governance. The project includes a focus on women, youth, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities and is focused on six main areas of activity: advocating for electoral reform; encouraging constitutional reforms; observing legislative by-elections; monitoring the legislative branch to improve transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement; conducting surveys and discussion groups to ensure citizen input on legislative and government programs; monitoring the effects of social media on Liberia’s democracy. The program also included cross-cutting activities to support LEON’s organizational capacity and development.
The total timeline for the evaluation is estimated to be 10 weeks or less. Travel to Liberia is contingent on proposed evaluation methodology and health and safety concerns related to COVID-19.
Background and Context
The Liberia Elections Observation Network (LEON) was launched on May 25, 2017, as a partnership between The Liberian Crusaders for Peace (LCP), the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), the Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY), and the National Union of Organizations for the Disabled (NUOD). This newly formed network serves as a unique platform
in the Liberian political landscape that emphasizes the participation and representation of marginalized segments of the Liberian people, in particular women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
The steering committee guides program implementation, sets organizational policy, and manages public, narrative, and financial reporting. Currently, a seven-person secretariat includes finance and logistics officers along with regional coordinators, who also serve as national-level observers/analysts. All the secretariat personnel are currently part-time. LTOs operate in each of Liberia’s 73 electoral districts, apart from Monrovia where each team covers two districts.
Programming has been conducted in two phase, with phase one focused on LEON’s formation and observation of the 2017 national elections and phase two focused on building LEON’s organizational capacity and engaging in substantive programming in the field of democracy and governance during the period between elections. While we hope that an evaluation can do a review of work around the 2017 national elections with national elections in 2023, we anticipate that majority of review of this evaluation will be focused don this second phase of programming.
Qualifications
At least 10 years of experience conducting program impact evaluations for NGOs, international organizations or other relevant institutions
Demonstrated ability to conduct field research and to use participatory evaluation methodologies, including collecting data through interviews, surveys and focus groups
Extensive knowledge with elections, human rights, and democracy and governance programming and the Liberian context (preferably work experience in the country/region)
Extensive knowledge with civil society, capacity building, and non-partisan civil society election observation
Strong written and verbal communication skills in English
Adaptability and experience working in remote and conflict-prone areas
Please send CV, cover letter, a short technical proposal (max 5 pages), including consultant fee expectations to liberiarecruitment@cartercenter.org. Include in the subject line: SIDA Evaluation Candidate [Your Name]. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.