Introduction

Selam is seeking an experienced consultant to conduct a midterm evaluation of the Connect for Culture Africa (CfCA) project. This evaluation will assess the progress, challenges, and impact of the program against its objectives and provide actionable recommendations for the remaining implementation period. The final evaluation report is expected to be presented in August 2025.

Background of the CfCA Project

The Connect for Culture Africa project is a five-year regional initiative (2023-2027) designed to strengthen cultural networks, advocate for increased public investment in the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), and promote the role of culture in democratic, social, and economic development. The project is implemented in collaboration with local partners in Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Tanzania, with outreach to other African countries.

The core objectives of CfCA are:

• Long-term objective: To contribute to an increased political will that translates to budget proposal, budget bills in some of the targeted countries, and in countries where the process is in a more advanced stage, in decision on increased budget allocation to the culture and creative sectors.
• Program Objective: To contribute to increased voice among culture actors, reflecting their different realities, enhancing their capacity to influence and participate in democratic and transparent budget processes aiming at securing resources to the culture and creative sectors

To achieve these objectives, the CfCA project work towards four integrated outcomes:

• Outcome 1: A consolidated, inclusive, and rights-based driven network advocating for investing in culture.
• Outcome 2: The network is engaged in an inclusive, age and gender representative, and constructive policy dialogue with regional and national duty bearers in at least five countries targeting national budget processes and culture policies.
• Outcome 3: Young women and men culture actors have successfully participated in regional and national creative residency programs enabling their skills development and empowerment and contributing to showcases used in national and regional advocacy campaigns
• Outcome 4: Demonstrated increased awareness among duty-bearers in targeted countries and the general public on the importance to invest in inclusive culture and creative industries.

Purpose of the Midterm Evaluation

The midterm evaluation aims to:

• Assess the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence, sustainability, and impact of CfCA to date.
• Identify key achievements, gaps and lessons learned in implementation and explore associated underlying reasons for achievement or non-achievement
• Evaluate the functionality and inclusiveness of the regional and national cultural network.
• Review advocacy strategies as well as intervention approaches and their effectiveness in influencing national and regional policy dialogue.
• Assess how CfCA integrates gender equality, youth participation, and inclusion of marginalized groups.
• Provide actionable recommendations for optimizing the remaining program period.

Key Evaluation Questions

The consultant will assess to what extent CfCA, so far, has achieved its attended outcomes as formulated in the CfCA results framework. This includes addressing the following key questions:

Relevance & Coherence:

• How well does the program align with regional and national cultural policy frameworks and development priorities?
• Are the advocacy efforts in line with AU and national commitments on culture funding?

Effectiveness & Impact:

• To what extent have the program outcomes been achieved so far?
• What have been the major enabling and limiting factors for success?
• How effective has CfCA been in strengthening regional cultural networks and mobilizing key stakeholders?
• What strategic adjustments and innovations can be implemented in the remaining program period to enhance CfCA’s impact both at the national and regional level
• What are the key lessons learned when it comes to the CfCA design and implementation approaches and strategies?

Efficiency:

• How well have resources been allocated and utilized?
• Are there any implementation bottlenecks affecting efficiency?

Sustainability:

• What is the likelihood that results and partnerships established under CfCA will be sustained beyond the program period?
• How well is the program fostering ownership among partners and network members?

Scope of Work

The evaluation will cover the period from project inception (January 2023) to mid-2025, focusing on activities in Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Tanzania. The consultant will:

1. Conduct a desk review of key project documents, including the program application, results framework, monitoring reports, project tracker, and policy documents.
2. Engage with project partners, stakeholders, and beneficiaries through surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions.
3. Assess the program’s advocacy activities and how they align with regional and national policy processes.
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of the network-building strategy and stakeholder engagement.
5. Analyze financial and administrative structures to assess resource allocation efficiency.
6. Develop an evaluation report with findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Methodology

The consultant will adopt a mixed-methods approach, including:

• Desk review of program documents.
• Key informant interviews with CfCA partners, government representatives, and AU stakeholders.
• Focus group discussions with artists and cultural advocates.
• Surveys/questionnaires targeting program beneficiaries and stakeholders.
• Field visits (where feasible) or virtual engagement with country partners.

Deliverables and Timeline

Evaluation Work Plan:

Within one week of the award of the contract, the consultant shall complete and present a draft work plan for the evaluation to the IPC.

The work plan will include:

1. Members of the evaluation team, delineated by roles and responsibilities;
2. Anticipated schedule of evaluation team data collection efforts;
3. Proposed evaluation methodology
4. Evaluation Report outline

Evaluation Design:

Within 2 weeks of approval of the work plan, the consultant must submit an evaluation design to Selam.

The evaluation design will include:

• Detailed evaluation design matrix that links the Evaluation Questions from the TOR to data sources, methods, and the data analysis plan;
• Draft questionnaires and other data collection instruments or their main features;
• List of potential interviewees and proposed selection criteria and/or sampling plan (must include sampling methodology and methods, including a justification of sample size);
• Limitations to the evaluation design.

Final Exit Briefing:

The consultant is expected to hold a final exit briefing to discuss the status of data collection and preliminary findings. This presentation will be scheduled as agreed upon during meetings with the team.

Draft Evaluation Report:

The report will address each of the questions identified in the ToR and any other issues the consultant considers having a bearing on the objectives of the evaluation. Any such issues can be included in the report only after consultation with Selam. The specific submission date for the draft evaluation report will be determined in the evaluation work plan.

Final Evaluation Report:

The evaluation team will be asked to take no more than 10 working days to respond to and incorporate the final draft evaluation report. The evaluation team lead will then submit the final report to Selam.

EVALUATION SCHEDULE

Consultant Qualifications

• Proven experience in evaluating regional advocacy programs within the African context. Experience with cultural programs is an advantage.
• Strong knowledge of cultural policy and creative industries in Africa.
• Expertise in rights-based approaches, gender inclusion, and participatory evaluation methods.
• Familiarity with African Union policy processes is an advantage.
• Experience in qualitative data collection through key informant interviews, focus groups Discussions etc.
• Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills.

Interested consultants should submit:

1. A technical proposal detailing their approach to the evaluation.
2. A financial proposal including daily rates and estimated costs.
3. CV(s) of the consultant(s) highlighting relevant experience.
4. Sample of previous evaluation work.

Applications should be sent to alma@selam.se. 

Contact Information

For any queries regarding this ToR, please contact Selam’s International Project Coordinator at alma@selam.se.