EVALUATION SCOPE OF WORK

Impact Evaluation of the Youth Bank Program

EPF seeks an evaluation consultant(s) to conduct an impact evaluation of its Youth Bank Program. The evaluation shall provide an independent assessment of the Youth Bank Program’s impact on volunteerism and civic activism among youth in target communities.

The evaluation is scheduled to be completed by the third week of December (see timeframe below) .

Eurasia Partnership Foundation launched the Youth Bank Program (YB) in in 2007. The goal of the Youth Bank program is to increase the capacity of young people to engage as active citizens in the development of their communities. The specific objectives of YB are: (1) to increase volunteerism, community activities, and civic responsibility among youth and (2) empower young people, especially young women, representatives of national minority groups, and residents of the regions, to become more active in social and economic life.

The project's primary target group is members of the 12 Youth Bank committees in Georgia. The second target group includes other young people in the regions where Youth Banks operate. These young people are provided opportunities for community involvement and benefit from participation in community-based projects.

The program’s outcomes, which are to be measured in this evaluation, are manifold. By participating in the program, youth are expected to have increased capacity and motivation to design and implement community development activities aimed at serving the greater good. In the long-term, the program should result in increased civic engagement among young people. .

Background

Youth Banks are designed to allow young people aged 16 to 21 to increase opportunities for volunteerism and civic activism among other youth in their respective communities. Project participants learn how to manage small pools of grant money, which are distributed to support small-scale youth-led development projects in their communities.

Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) modeled the Youth Bank Program on the methodology developed by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland. Youth Bank starts from the premise that involving young people in projects they design and manage for themselves is the most potent way of engaging them in civic participation. The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland has helped EPF to train 110 Youth Bank members in Georgia to manage small grants for small-scale youth led development projects. EPF supported the Youth Bank members in overseeing grants to other youth in their communities, thus encouraging them to implement change within their own capacities. This further enables Georgian youth to recognize the changes they are capable of making.

Evaluation Objectives and Research Questions

Objective 1: Assess the program’s progress toward the goals of increasing volunteerism, community activism, and civic responsibility among youth.

• Has the Youth Bank grant-making training increased the capacity of young people to oversee grants to other youth in their communities? • Has the program built among target youth a sense of control over their environment and responsibility for their own actions? • Has the program helped young people to both define community problems and use creative and intellectual abilities to resolve them?

Objective 2: Promote youth adult partnership to protect and promote the rights and responsibilities of adolescents within their own communities

• Has the program supported the formation of youth-adult partnerships to help youth develop respect for adults without dependence upon them and take initiatives to reach out outside resources and source of support?

Objective 3: Institutionalize learning to capture and share lessons learned and best practices through local and international networks

• Have participants in the program shared their knowledge locally? How have YB mentors or graduates employed their knowledge? • How has participation in study tours improved the work of the Youth Bank committees? What did members share upon return that resulted in improved practices locally? • Have the program activities resulted in unintended consequences or impact?

Objective 4: Assess whether the program has empowered young women and ethnic minorities in the regions to become more active in community life

• Has the program helped ethnic minority youth to have perception that they belong and are valued • Has participation in the program increased young women’s engagement in either school based or extracurricular activities?

Other Areas of Investigation

• To what extent have Youth Bank committee members demonstrated increased activism in comparison with non-members, and can this difference be linked to their participation in the YB Program? • Have the program activities resulted in unintended consequences or impact, e.g. increased employability, better school performance, or increased life ambitions? • Have there been any negative consequences for participants because of participation in the program?

Evaluation Methodology

The evaluator will determine the evaluation design and methodologies per their capacity in order to meet the evaluation’s goal and objectives. Sources of Information

The EPF documents available for review include programmatic reports, project publications, site- visits reports, and related documents. The Evaluator will also have access to YB committee members and grantees in Akhaltiskhe, , , , , Dedoplistsqaro, , Tserovani, Gori, , Latali, and

Intended Use of the Evaluation

EPF expects that the following organizations will also utilize the evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations: • USAID/Caucasus Mission • European Commission Delegation to Georgia and Armenia • Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency • Georgian government, parliament, and judiciary bodies • CSOs directly or indirectly engaged in the projects and/or activities related to youth empowerment

Timeframe and Reporting Requirements

The evaluation consultant(s) is expected to produce the following deliverables: 1. Work plan for evaluation activities and data collection instruments , October 20, 2010 2. First draft due December 06, 2010 3. Final draft, due December 10, 2010 4. The evaluation resume in PPT form due December 14, 2010 5. Final report, December 15, 2010

The draft report shall include the following sections: 1. Description of evaluation goals and objectives; 2. Description of research methodology including data collection strategy, possible limitations and data analysis process; 3. Presentation of the main findings and conclusions of the assessment; 4. Lessons learned; 5. Redesign recommendations for EPF’s Youth Bank Program.

The final report shall include the following sections: 1. Executive summary in Georgian and English (max. 2 pages in English); 2. Description of evaluation goals and objectives; 3. Description of the research methodology; 4. Presentation of the main findings and conclusions of the assessment; 5. Lessons learned; 6. Redesign recommendations for EPF’s Youth Bank Program; 7. Annexes, including all data collection instruments, list of interviewees, etc.

The draft and final report will be submitted in English in MS Word format and should not exceed 30 pages. The document will be the sole property of Eurasia Partnership Foundation, which will retain the right to use it for internal and external purposes. In addition, the report may form the basis for a small publication in English and/or Georgian on the Youth Bank in Georgia that can be distributed to the broader community interested in the subject.

Budget

The budget for the evaluation is up to 10,000 USD for evaluation services, including expenses for transportation to and within the regions, accommodation, and per diem. Price competitiveness will be a consideration during the selection process, and all proposals exceeding the maximum will be declined.

Request for Bids

Eurasia Partnership Foundation seeks bids from individuals or organizations to conduct this evaluation. Applicants should submit a proposal in English that includes:

• Detailed description of the evaluator’s qualifications; • Description and justification of proposed evaluation methodology including sampling strategy, description of tools and techniques that will be used to collect and analyze information; • Draft work plan; • Budget.

All expenses must comply with Eurasia Partnership Foundation’s cost and travel procedures.

Selection Criteria

Eurasia Partnership Foundation will select the winning candidate among the companies or individuals submitting a complete bid by the proposal deadline. The selection criteria will include the following:

• Degree to which proposal adheres to evaluation questions listed above; • Quality of the proposed methodology; • Qualifications of the bidding organization and the personnel involved in the project, including past experience in evaluation of similar program • Cost-effectiveness of the proposal; • Feasibility of proposed methodology and work plan; • Ability to adhere to the time constraints of the proposed activities.

Review Process

Proposals can be submitted in hard copy at 3 Kavsadze Street 0179, Georgia to the attention of Suzi Patsatsia Alternatively, proposals may be submitted by email to [email protected] – please, indicate “Youth Bank Program Evaluation” in the subject line of your email.

Interested persons who have questions about this tender should email their inquiries to Maia Tavadze, Youth Integration Program Manager, [email protected] . The deadline for applications is September 30, 2010, 6:00 PM.

EPF senior management and program and evaluation staff will review the proposals. The decision on the selection of the winning evaluation team will be announced no later than October 7, 2010.