Call for Tenders: Project Evaluation for "The Europe-Ukraine Desk"

n-ost has been implementing the pilot project “The Europe-Ukraine Desk”, funded by the European Commission, with the aim of amplifying Ukrainian perspectives in Western European media. Running from January 2023 to April 2025, the project has fostered collaboration between EU and Ukrainian media actors, strengthened Ukraine-related expertise, and supported cross-border reporting.

This final evaluation seeks not only to assess the project's effectiveness and impact but also to identify key lessons for a potential follow-up initiative. It draws on monitoring data collected during implementation as well as newly gathered participatory insight.

The project evaluation should be conducted between 28 April 2025 and 30 June 2025. The expected workload is approximately 20 working days, with a maximum budget of €13,000 (including taxes).

1. Purpose of the Evaluation

The primary purpose of this evaluation is to:

• Assess the overall performance of the project against its objectives, expected results, and indicators.

• Evaluate the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of project activities.

• Identify key lessons learned and provide recommendations for a potential scale-up or future programming.

• Scrutinize the sustainability of the projects in terms of personnel, material, financial and technical aspects.

2. Scope of Work

The evaluators will:

• Review project documentation (e.g., project agreement, logframe, activity reports, publications, internal regulations, newsletter editions and metrics, programmes of the events etc).

• Analyse quantitative and qualitative monitoring data collected during implementation.

• Design and carry out participatory data collection with stakeholders (interviews with the project team and participants of different project activities).

• Assess progress against the indicators outlined in the project’s logical framework.

• Explore the project’s contribution to structural changes and cross-border journalistic cooperation.

• Identify unintended results (positive or negative).

3. Evaluation Questions

The evaluators will address the following:

• Relevance: Were the project’s objectives aligned with the needs of target groups (journalists, media outlets, public)?

• Effectiveness: To what extent were the planned results achieved?

• Efficiency: Were resources used optimally in implementing activities?

• Impact: What change has the project contributed to in media representation of Ukrainian issues?

• Sustainability: Are the results likely to be sustained beyond the project duration?

• EU added value: To what extent has the project supported EU goals in media development and enlargement?

4. Methodology

The evaluators are expected to propose a methodology that includes:

• Desk review of project documents and monitoring data.

• Interviews with project staff, trainers, journalists, and beneficiaries.

• Use of participatory methods to ensure voices of all relevant stakeholders are included.

• The methodology must be gender-sensitive and inclusive.

n-ost will provide access to data, documents, and stakeholders for interviews.

5. Deliverables

1. Inception Report (1 week after contract): Methodology, timeline, and tools.

2. Draft Evaluation Report (5 weeks after contract): Key findings and preliminary conclusions.

3. Final Evaluation Report (7 weeks after contract): Final version, including recommendations.

4. Presentation of Findings (8 weeks after contract, by June 30, 2025): Delivered to the n-ost project team in a virtual meeting.

The evaluation will result in a written report in English, not exceeding 20 pages. The report should provide a comprehensive assessment of the project’s activities and present clear conclusions that help guide future recommendations for the Europe-Ukraine Desk's continuation and development.

6. Required Qualifications

We are looking for a team of evaluators (at least two) or an organisation who have

• proven experience in evaluating EU-funded projects.

• experience in evaluation media projects.

• knowledge of media development, journalism training, and Eastern Europe context.

• strong skills in participatory evaluation and qualitative methods.

Please send your detailed offer by April 22, 2025 to Antonina Rybka (rybka@n-ost.org). She will also be happy to answer any questions you may have about the call for proposals, the project and the evaluation.