Call for Expressions of Interest – External Evaluation of HD’s Local Mediation in Francophone Africa

Purpose

The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) seeks to commission an evaluation of its local level mediation efforts within the Francophone Africa region. This self-funded and self-initiated evaluation aims to critically reflect on the nature and value of select HD efforts in Francophone Africa, contributing to organisation-wide learning on the role and strengths of its local mediation approach. It will inform HD’s future approach to local mediation, which is of key strategic relevance for the organisation.

Scope and approach

The evaluation will consider the strategy, approach, and achievements of HD’s local level mediation in its Francophone Africa region over a multi-year period. To do so, it is expected to primarily use a case study method that considers 2-3 specific HD operations within the region, including in the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea. Although the evaluation will focus on efforts within this geographic region, HD views this evaluation as a learning exercise and is keen to identify insights applicable to its operations in other parts of the world.

It is anticipated that the evaluation will be completed primarily as a remote exercise, with some limited travel to HD office(s) in the region possible.

The precise evaluation dates will be determined in discussion with the selected evaluators. This assignment will include approximately 35 days of work undertaken by a small team and should be completed by 30 November 2024.

Team composition

HD seeks to engage a small team, with relevant evaluation, mediation and peace sector expertise. Collectively, the evaluation team members will have the following:

• Demonstrated evaluation experience, including in designing ‘fit-for-purpose’ approaches.
• Strong understanding of, and experience in, conflict mediation or peace sector work.
• In-depth knowledge of the political-security context, local culture, conflict dynamics, and armed actors in West Africa and the Sahel, particularly the Liptako-Gourma region. Experience working in the region highly desired.
• Experience in conducting desk- and field-based research and handling politically sensitive information.
• Fluency in French is required. Good working knowledge of English is desired.

Expressions of Interest

Should you be in a position to help us meet these needs, please reach out to Danielle Hull (dhull@hdcentre.org) in HD’s central M&E team to informally express your interest by 30 June 2024. After this deadline, we will share a copy of the full evaluation Terms of Reference and further information on the application process. We look forward to hearing from you!