Achiziții de bunuri și contractări de servicii

Equal Rights and Independent Media - ERIM (formerly IREX Europe) is currently recruiting an experienced consultant (or a team of consultants) for the final external evaluation of an EU-funded project to support independent media in Moldova.

1. About ERIM

ERIM is a French-registered non-profit, non-governmental organisation aiming to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms and empower citizens so they are better able to access accurate and objective information and critically engage with the media and information they consume. ERIM’s approach emphasizes partnerships with local development organisations to expand capacity, build sustainable institutions and affect change through training, partnerships, education, research, and grant programmes.

2. Context and description of the project

The project to be evaluated is a one country project run by ERIM and funded by the European Union.The project is designed to accompany media professionals through their current challenges, by helping to maintain a critical mass of independent media capacity, in terms of different outlets as well as individual journalists and other media workers.

Target groups:

Moldovan independent media workers and journalists: Moldovan independent media (such as radio, television, newspapers or internet-based publications, that is free of influence by government or corporate interests) are the main target group of the project and a beneficiary.

Bloggers and fact checkers who already work or not in a local or national newsroom and want to develop their skills in documentation and verification of stories.

Independent media support organisations or individuals: individuals and organisations such as lawyers, financial experts, Media Hubs, media associations and networks, CSOs, security and social media experts, marketing experts and organisations and related experts for specialist needs of media are a target group for the project as they will be solicited to provide key expertise to independent media and content producers. Business and entrepreneurs: Moldovan businesses and entrepreneurs will be a target group of the project as they are a source of funding through new and creative monetization strategies for independent media.

Final beneficiaries:

Moldovan audience and society at large are the project final beneficiaries; however, they are also a target as they can be a source of potential support to independent media, financial in some cases (through crowdfunding and/or subscription etc). They are the final beneficiaries in that the project will support the Moldovan population’s resistance to disinformation with increased access to independent, quality information to secure a vibrant civil society and a democratic future for the country.

3. Objective of the external evaluation

The final evaluation’s purpose is to:

• review the implementation of the project and assess the actual impact of the project through qualitative indicators and success stories
• assess the level of achievement of the outputs and the objectives
• support ERIM’s efforts to capitalise on lessons learned from the program
• evaluate strengths and needs and provide recommendations for future relevant actions

4. Methodology

The consultant is requested to propose a methodological approach. The evaluation should at the minimum include desk research, key informant interviews (sampling to be decided In cooperation with ERIM), and writing of an inception report, draft and final evaluation report.

Secondary sources, to be gathered through

• Desk research: should include a review of all the material and documentation developed within the project, the reports of partners, beneficiaries and consultants, the tools created or adapted, including the monitoring and evaluation ones, etc. The consultant should collect all quantitative data from the logframe (list of activities, number of participants, number of supports, etc.).
• Monitoring reports conducted within the project including the ROM evaluation

Primary data sources, to be gathered through

• Semi-structured individual interviews: Individual interviews will be used to collect information from the key informants of the program like ERIM project managers, partners staff and consultants, as well as with representatives of the target groups/beneficiaries to get their in-depth opinions about their experience within the project, its success, strengths and weaknesses, and future course of direction. Interviews will be semi-structured as to allow comparability across interviews.

The consultant is expected to travel to meet with the project beneficiaries.

The evaluation of the project should consider the following OECD/DAC evaluation criteria:

• Relevance: Did the project appropriately respond to the needs and priorities of the target groups? What was the quality of the project design?
• Efficiency: How well were the means/inputs and activities converted into outputs? Were the activities implemented in line with the plans? Were they implemented and the outputs delivered in a cost-efficient manner?

• Effectiveness To what extent are the specific objectives achieved? What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives? Was the program managed effectively?

• Impact: What is the project’s contribution to the overall objective?

• Sustainability: Did “best practices” emerge from the activities, which of them are likely to continue beyond the program?

5. Deliverables

At the end of the inception phase, the consultant is requested to produce an inception report (15 pages maximum) describing the evaluation methodology, list of evaluation questions, evaluation sampling, updated timeframe, etc.

The consultant will also produce an evaluation report in English between 30 and 40 pages, including a table of contents, brief introduction, objectives and methodology, findings and conclusions per OECD criteria, as well as a list of recommendations and annexes (e.g. acronyms, list of persons interviewed, TOR, methodology, calendar, etc.). An executive summary should also be included summarising the overall lessons learned and recommendations.

The consultant will also be requested to prepare a presentation of the main findings and recommendations and to present the evaluation findings orally to the ERIM team and potentially to the EU representatives.

6. Organisation and Timeline

7. Application

Qualifications

• Degree or professional experience in civil society, human rights and or media related fields.
• At least eight years of experience in external evaluation, including EU funded projects.
• Experience in evaluation of actions of media support would be a strong asset
• Experience in evaluation of actions in Moldova would be a strong asset;
• Fluency in English and Romanian is mandatory. Please also mention your level of knowledge (if any) in speaking/ writing and reading in other languages;
• Availability and ability to work independently and on a flexible schedule.

You can apply individually or as a team of evaluators. In either case your application should consist of the following:

• 1-page expression of interest (highlighting relevant experience, daily rate and stating where you would be travelling from;
• technical proposal detailing your approach to evaluation of the project, including methodology proposal (maximum 10 pages)
• A financial proposal;
• An updated CV(s);
• Contact details for 2 references (per individual)
• If applicable, links to similar works

The maximum budget available for this evaluation is 10 000 EUR. Applications received past the deadline will not be considered.

Please send your application and financial proposal to simr_grants@erim.ngo – with the title “SIMR External evaluation” before 16^th of March 2026.