Terms of Reference (TOR) for Mid-Term Review and Final Evaluation

Name and title of the contact person:	Mr. Shadi A. Baker Project Manager Goethe-Institut shadi.abubaker@goethe.de
Name of beneficiary(ies) and affiliated entity(ies) in the action:	Goethe-Institut - Ramallah British Council
Title of the action:	Perform, Produce, Design: Reviving Cultural Heritage, Artistic Expression and Creative Industries
Contract	NDICI-GEO-NEAR/2024/ 450-696
Target country(ies) or region(s):	Palestine residing in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, or Diaspora, and European artists and/or organizations.
Project duration	The project started on April 2024 and will last for 3 years

List of Abbreviations 

PPD	Perform, Produce, Design
HRBA	Human Rights-based approach
EUNIC	European Union National Institutes for Culture
EU	European Union
MSMEs	micro-small-medium-sized enterprises
CCIs	Cultural Creative Industries (CCIs)
CSOs	Palestinian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
PSC	The Programme Steering Committee (PSC)
OECD/DAC	Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC)
HRBA	Human Rights-Based Approaches (HRBA)

The project is funded by the European Union, managed in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and the British Council, and involves partnerships with the EUNIC Palestine Cluster.

The overall objective of the programme, entitled Perform, Produce, Design: Reviving cultural heritage, artistic expression and creative industries, is to contribute to the promotion of a more sustainable creative economy and common cultural identity that supports diverse artistic and cultural expressions and heritage. The € 1.5 million programme will leverage Palestine’s rich cultural heritage and cultural creative sector to drive economic and social revitalisation in an increasingly fragmented and fragile society.

Its specific objective is to support Palestinian cultural entrepreneurs, independent creatives, cultural agents and artists including in more marginalised areas, to build artistic production capacity, networks, collaborate and develop markets.  
The programme is composed of three major arts and cultural results areas: (a) Site-Specific Performance Festival and (b) Arts Residency Programme in cultural heritage sites, and (c) Palestinian Design Month. These interventions will help partnerships, exchanges, and exhibitions, in particular with Europe, to grow, supporting and extending Palestinian’s cultural identity and cultural heritage reputation, as well as enabling women and young cultural actors to have opportunities to grow their practice, professionalise, and capture new showcasing, networking, or economic opportunities. Working with Palestinian and European partners and sponsors, the programme will support the visibility and preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage (such as historic sites, crafts, and storytelling amongst other practices), diverse artistic and cultural expressions, and cultural creative industries (CCIs) especially in the design sector.

Overall Objective (Impact): The programme will contribute to the promotion of a more sustainable creative economy and common cultural identity that supports diverse artistic and cultural expressions and heritage. It will leverage Palestine’s rich cultural heritage and cultural creative sector to drive economic and social revitalisation in Palestine. The programme design recognises that artistic expressions and cultural participation bring people together, foster social cohesion and shape a shared identity in Palestine amidst the everyday reality of restrictions and geographical fragmentation.

Specific Objective (Outcome 1):
Support Palestinian cultural entrepreneurs, independent cultural agents, creatives and artists, to build artistic production capacity, networks, collaborate and develop markets. Under this outcome, three outputs are proposed:

1. Output 1 (Result Area 1): Contemporary performing arts (theatre, dance and music) engaged in site specific performance to revive cultural heritage spaces.
2. Output 2 (Result Area 2): Artistic experimentation, exchange, and collaboration fostered through multidisciplinary art residency programmes in cultural heritage sites.
3. Output 3 (Result Area 3): Palestine Design Week has offered cultural entrepreneurs and start-up skills/capacity development and networking opportunities to sustainably build their careers. 

Target groups & beneficiaries

Programme participants are creatives and cultural entrepreneurs, mainly women and youth, in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. These include (emerging and established) cultural practitioners, visual artists, musicians, theatre directors, performers, sound technicians, designers, artisans – working independently, in informal creative groups, or as start-ups/micro-small-medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).  

Beneficiaries are the public in Palestine & Diaspora, whose access to, and participation in, creative expression and arts and cultural experiences, will be enhanced. Through the programme, immersive artistic and cultural perspectives will be brought to diversified Palestinian and European audiences through theatrical, artistic and design events, including through digital platforms, with focus will also directed to Palestine cultural heritage.

Programme Stakeholders: The Goethe-Institut and the British Council will directly implement this programme, with each organisation responsible for activities under their result areas (Result Area 1 led by the British Council and Results Areas 2 and 3 led by the Goethe-Institut). As the programme aims to foster a momentum that lasts beyond the programme period, the two organisations will consult, collaborate, support, or partner with key stakeholders in the arts and culture field. Working collaboratively with such a wide range of stakeholders in the cultural heritage and CCI will ensure that the programme interventions complement and build on existing initiatives, thus ensuring broad outreach, local ownership, and strong sustainability potential. While an updated stakeholder analysis will be conducted during the inception period, Goethe-Institut and the British Council’s longstanding experience have helped to identify the following consultation / coordination / cooperation / and partnership mechanisms:   

• Palestinian civil society organisations (CSOs)
• Universities
• Palestinian private sector (including large companies and banks) will be mobilised to sponsor artistic and cultural events and entrepreneurship hubs to incubate cultural MSMEs especially as related to Palestine Design Week will be identified.    
• Key European stakeholders include active EUNIC Cluster Palestine members; European embassies and consulates, as well as European arts institutions and audiences.  
• Palestinian public sector, including the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities, Ministry of Entrepreneurship & Empowerment.

Management Structure consists of:

1. The Programme Steering Committee (PSC)
2. An Advisory Board
3. A Management Board, composed of the two implementing organisations.
4. Operational team

In conclusion, a mid-term review and final evaluation is foreseen. The mid-term evaluation will enable potential adjustments to the programme implementation setting and/or logical framework due to changes in the operating environment. The final evaluation will provide an opportunity to assess the programme results in alignment with international evaluation standards (OECD/DAC criteria), in addition to cross-cutting issues, principles, and approaches such as value-based working approach, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The purpose of this TOR is to guide the Mid-Term Review and Final Evaluation of the PPD project. These evaluations are designed to assess the project’s performance, inform potential adjustments, and evaluate the project’s impact using the OECD/DAC criteria and other cross-cutting principles such as gender equality, women’s empowerment, and Human Rights-Based Approaches (HRBA).

• Mid-Term Review: To assess progress, identify challenges, and suggest adjustments to the program design and implementation based on changes in the operating environment.
• Final Evaluation: To evaluate the overall impact, sustainability, and alignment of the project’s results with its intended objectives and core values.

The contractor will conduct a mid-term, and a final evaluation of the intervention Perform, Produce, Design. The scope of the evaluations should cover all three Results Areas of the project as mentioned in the Chapter “Background”.

The evaluations will cover all components of the PPD project, including:

• The Site-Specific Performance Festival, the Arts Residency Programme, and the Palestinian Design Month.
• The effectiveness of the project in supporting Palestinian cultural entrepreneurs and fostering economic opportunities in the creative sector.
• The impact on marginalized groups (women, youth, and people in rural/marginalized areas).
• The preservation and promotion of tangible and intangible cultural heritage (historic sites, traditional crafts, storytelling).
• The extent to which the project has fostered collaboration between Palestinian and European cultural actors.

Both the mid-term and final evaluation should answer the following questions based on the OECD/DAC criteria as well as specific criteria in the EU context and the Goethe-Institut´s working approach.

• Relevance: Is the project addressing the cultural and economic needs of the target groups? Does it align with the broader goals of cultural heritage preservation and creative industries?
• Effectiveness: Are the project objectives being met? Are the outputs (e.g., events, training, residencies) contributing to the anticipated outcomes?
• Efficiency: Are resources being used in a cost-effective manner? Are there any inefficiencies in project delivery?
• Impact: What are the long-term effects of the project on the target groups, especially in terms of social cohesion, economic development, and cultural identity preservation? – to be assessed only during the final evaluation.
• Sustainability: Are the project’s benefits likely to continue beyond the project’s lifespan? What measures have been put in place to ensure the long-term viability of the project outcomes?
• Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Did the project effectively support women’s participation in cultural industries? Were gender considerations integrated into the project design and implementation?
• Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA): Did the project uphold human rights principles, ensuring inclusivity and the empowerment of marginalized groups?
• Value-Based Working Approach: Did the project promote ethical, inclusive, and participatory processes in its implementation?
• Intervention Logic, Monitoring and Learning: Is the intervention logic adequately presented in the Logical Framework Matrix? Are the monitoring processes in place and functioning properly to track the project´s progress? – to be assessed only within the mid-term evaluation.

Over and above the preliminary evaluation questions provided above, the contractor is expected to suggest additional evaluation questions that may be beneficial in assessing the intervention.

The potential contractor must submit the technical offer, including evaluation approach for and the envisaged methodology. The evaluations will adopt a mixed-methods approach to gather comprehensive quantitative and qualitative data:

• Document Review: Analysis of project reports, financial records, event documentation, and data collected during implementation.
• Surveys: Online or paper-based surveys with beneficiaries (cultural entrepreneurs, artists, women, youth) to assess their experience and outcomes.
• Interviews: Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, including project staff, partners (Goethe-Institut, British Council, EU representatives), and participants.
• Focus Group Discussions: Focus groups with marginalized communities, particularly women and youth, to explore the social and economic impact of the project.
• Site Visits: Observational visits to project events, including the performance festival and design month, to gather direct insights.

• External Evaluator/Consultant: An independent evaluator or team will be contracted to carry out the mid-term review and final evaluation. They will be responsible for designing the evaluation, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Project Management Team: Responsible for supporting the evaluator by providing access to relevant project documentation and facilitating interviews and focus groups with stakeholders.
• Key Stakeholders: Including funders, implementing partners, and project beneficiaries, who will provide feedback during the evaluation process.

The following deliverables are expected:

Mid-Term Review Report:

• Summary of findings.
• Recommendations for adjustments to the program design and implementation.
• Assessment of current progress against targets.

Final Evaluation Report:

• Executive summary.
• Intermediate report, presentation of evaluation results and discussion of suggested improvements
• Detailed assessment of the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability.
• Recommendations for future interventions or similar programs.
• Evaluation of cross-cutting themes (gender, HRBA, value-based approach).
• Language of the assessment: Both reports should be written in English, clearly structured, and include an annex with data collection tools (e.g., questionnaires, interview guides).
• For each deliverable, one feedback loop is foreseen. The contractor will receive feedback to the draft deliverables within 5 working days.

• Mid-Term Review: To be conducted 12 months into project implementation. The report should be submitted within one month of the review.
• Final Evaluation: To be conducted at the end of the project (24 months). The final report should be submitted within two months of the project’s conclusion.

Mid-Term evaluation Timeline:

• Contracting: March 2025
• Kick-off and preparatory meetings with the PPD team: 4th week of March 2025
• Finalization and validation of evaluation methodology: April 2025 – May 2025
• Research (desk and field research): May – Aug 2025
• Submission of the draft evaluation report: Sep 2025
• Submission of final evaluation report: Oct 2025
• Debriefing, follow up meetings, validation of the evaluation report by the management team: Nov 2025

Tentative period of assignment: From March 2025 until Jan 2026.

Final evaluation Timeline:
Dates to be confirmed

A detailed budget for the evaluation will cover:

• Evaluator’s fees.
• Costs associated with data collection (e.g., travel, survey tools).
• Administrative costs (e.g., report production, translation if necessary).

The mid-term and final evaluation reports will be shared with:

• European Union
• Goethe-Institut and British Council (implementing partners).
• EUNIC Palestine Cluster.
• Project beneficiaries and civil society actors.

The PPD project may work with the external service provider, represented by an individual/private expert or by a legal entity. The composition of the evaluation core team must be indicated in the technical offer.

General required qualifications for the evaluator/s:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in social and/or political sciences, culture, creative economy or another relevant field
• At least five-year experience in data collection (qualitative and quantitative), data processing, evaluation
• Experience with programs working with arts, culture or cultural heritage projects
• Experience of evaluation of EU funded projects
• Experience of evaluation of multi-country/ partner projects
• Proven experience of working with OECD / DAC criteria
• Relevant experience and profound understanding of Southern Neighborhood Region, Palestine and/or elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa region
• Excellent English/ Arabic language writing and communication skills

The management structure for the evaluation process should be provided in the technical offer. Including distribution of tasks among team members (in case of a team of experts), description of responsibilities and planned person-days.

The PPD project management team will do the steering of the evaluation process as well as will validate the results and approve final reports.

Interested evaluators or consulting firms must submit the following documents as part of their application:

Technical Proposal:

• Understanding of the TOR: A brief statement outlining the evaluator's understanding of the project and the objectives of the mid-term review and final evaluation.
• Approach and Methodology: A detailed description of the proposed approach to conducting the evaluation, including data collection methods, evaluation techniques, and a timeline of activities.
• Work Plan: A clear work plan indicating timelines, milestones, and deliverables for both the mid-term review and final evaluation as well as contributions of other actors (project partners)
• Team Composition (if applicable): Names, roles, and qualifications of the evaluation team members, including CVs of key personnel.
• Relevant Experience: A summary of the applicant’s past experience in conducting similar evaluations, particularly in the field of cultural or creative industries, gender equality, and human rights-based approaches.

Financial Proposal: A detailed budget proposal indicating all costs related to the evaluation, including:

• Professional fees (daily rates of each team member if applicable).
• Travel and accommodation (if applicable).
• Data collection tools and software.
• Administrative costs (e.g., report production, communication).
• Miscellaneous costs.

Previous Work:

• (Optional) Two examples of similar evaluation reports conducted by the evaluator/consulting firm, particularly in the areas of cultural heritage, creative industries, or development projects in fragile settings. It is recommended to submit examples for better evaluation.
• References: Contact details for at least three professional references who can attest to the evaluator’s previous work.

All proposals must be submitted by December 24, 2024, in a written bid at the Goethe-Institut – Ramallah in a sealed envelope. Late submissions will not be considered.

Goethe-Institut Ramallah
Al-Salam Street, Ramallah, West Bank
Tel. +972 2 2981922
 

Payments for the evaluation will be made in installments based on the successful completion of key milestones as outlined below:

First Installment – 20%:
Paid upon signing of the contract and submission of the inception report detailing the evaluation design, methodology, and work plan.

Second Installment – 30%:
Paid upon submission of the mid-term review report. The report should meet all the requirements as outlined in the TOR and be approved by the project management team.

Third Installment – 50%:
Paid upon submission of the final evaluation report and after acceptance of the report by the project management team and stakeholders.

Payment Conditions:

• Payments will be made upon receipt of an official invoice.
• All payments will be made via bank transfer to the evaluator’s account as specified in the financial proposal.
• Taxes and any other applicable fees will be the responsibility of the evaluator or consulting firm.