Terms of Reference for Hiring a Consultancy Firm to Conduct a Final Evaluation of Ijwi Riranguruye Ry’itangazamakuru (IRI) Project

Terms of Reference for hiring a consultancy firm to perform a final evaluation of Ijwi Riranguruye Ry’Itangazamakuru (IRI) project.

1. Introduction and Background

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) Rwanda is seeking the services of a qualified consultancy firm to perform comprehensive final evaluation of the project titled: “Protecting and Promoting Responsible Freedom of Expression, Enhancing Access to Information and Improvement of Digital Media Literacy in Rwanda (PPRFR)", locally called "Ijwi Riranguruye ry’Itangazamakuru" (IRI).

Since November 2023, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) jointly with the Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development (GLIHD), has been implementing a three-year project funded by the European Union (EU). The intervention addresses critical challenges arising from rapid internet penetration, evolving information technology, and the proliferation of digital media outlets in Rwanda. Specifically, it targets issues such as limited access to public information, variable quality in digital content, and low levels of critical digital media literacy among the public.

To address these gaps, NPA and GLIHD designed an integrated approach combining mass public awareness campaigns on digital media literacy with targeted technical and ethical capacity strengthening for accredited digital media practitioners, informal content creators, citizen journalists, and key duty bearers.

Overall, the project seeks to contribute to addressing limited access to information, limited quality of the content that digital media feeds the public with and responsible exercise of freedom of media in Rwanda.

2. Project Summary 

Running from November 2023 to December 2026, the three-year IRI project was designed to address systemic challenges stemming from rapid digital transformation, high internet penetration, and the proliferation of digital media outlets including social media platforms in Rwanda. The project specifically responds to critical gaps in digital media literacy, limited public capacity to critically evaluate online content, and operational barriers faced by media actors in exercising responsible freedom of expression.

The overarching goal of the IRI project is to enhance freedom of expression and access to information for media practitioners, citizens, and decision-makers across Rwanda. To achieve this, the intervention centers on three main streams: empowering media creators to publish ethical content, building critical media literacy among citizens, and promoting a supportive legal and policy environment through duty-bearer engagement.

Direct boundary partners of the project include both accredited digital media practitioners and informal digital content creators or citizen journalists. Through tailored technical assistance, ethical reporting workshops, and capacity-strengthening initiatives, the project equips these actors to produce high-quality, balanced, and responsible public content. The underlying logic is that empowering content creators improves their satisfaction with press freedom while simultaneously raising public satisfaction with the quality and credibility of available digital media.

At the same time, the project engages key duty bearers including local and national government authorities, law enforcement agencies, and media regulators to foster a rights-respecting environment that protects freedom of opinion, press freedom, and public access to information. On the demand side, mass public campaigns and community engagement initiatives empower citizens across different demographics to critically assess digital media, detect misinformation, and safely navigate the online space.

Geographically, the IRI project operates across 10 selected districts of Rwanda: Nyarugenge, Bugesera, Kirehe, Gatsibo, Gisagara, Nyamagabe, Huye, Nyamasheke, Ngororero, and Musanze.

3. Objectives of the assignment 

The primary objective of this final evaluation is to deliver an independent, evidence-based assessment of the performance, achievements, outcomes, and overall impact of the IRI project over its three-year lifecycle. 

Specifically, the evaluation will:

• Assess the extent to which planned project outcomes and outputs were achieved.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of capacity building and awareness interventions among boundary partners and duty bearers.
• deliver accountability to the donor (EU), key institutional stakeholders, partners, and beneficiaries.
• detect best practices, key challenges, and actionable lessons learned to guide future digital rights, media development, and freedom of expression programming in Rwanda.
• deliver a set of concrete and actionable recommendations for improvement of similar programming in the future.

4. Scope of work 

The selected consultancy firm will be tasked with managing and executing all phases of the final evaluation, ensuring high technical standards, methodological rigor, and compliance with local statutory requirements in Rwanda.

Without limiting the firm’s operational methodology, the specific tasks under this assignment are structured across three main execution phases:

Phase I: Inception, methodological design & regulatory compliance

• Establish, mobilize, and oversee a qualified core research team and field assist staff, ensuring clear task allocation matched against the specific technical expertise required for this evaluation.
• perform a comprehensive evaluate of all relevant project documentation, including the original proposal, baseline study, MEAL frameworks, progress reports, training packages, media monitoring outputs, and contextual research to map evidence of change.
• create a comprehensive operational inception report detailing the methodology, sampling design across the 10 districts, risk management strategy, and an evaluation matrix aligned with the six-standard OECD-DAC evaluation criteria (Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact, and Sustainability). 
• Design, pre-test, and finalize all quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments in both English and Kinyarwanda.
• produce and submit all required technical documentation to secure necessary statutory permissions, including pre-authorizations from the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) and the research clearance/visa from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), as applicable.

Phase II: Data Collection, Processing & Analysis

• organize and oversee ethical, gender-responsive, and inclusive data collection across target boundary partners, duty bearers, and citizens in the 10 project implementation districts.
• Oversee strict quality control, data cleaning, and full textual transcription of all audio/visual recordings collected during qualitative field sessions (KIIs and FGDs).
• Securely archive and deliver clean, anonymized raw datasets (quantitative data files and qualitative transcriptions) to NPA alongside field documentation.
• Process and analyze primary and secondary data using appropriate statistical and qualitative software, triangulating evidence across different respondent groups to derive clear, validated findings.

Phase III: Reporting, Validation & Dissemination

• Produce a clear, analytical, and concise draft evaluation report detailing key findings, systemic challenges, best practices, and actionable recommendations.
• Plan, facilitate, and present preliminary findings during a validation workshop with key project stakeholders, including NPA leadership, EU representatives, and media sector partners.
• Incorporate feedback from NPA and stakeholders to produce a polished, high-quality Final Evaluation Report.
• produce supplemental dissemination materials such as an executive brief, presentation slides, or infographic summaries to assist the sharing of evaluation findings with broader audiences.

5. Relevance of the assignment and use of evaluation findings 

5.1 Relevance of the Assignment

Conducting the final evaluation of the IRI project at this stage is critical for Accountability to Donors and Stakeholders, timeliness for media sector evolution and empowering target boundaries and partners:

• As a three-year project implemented in partnership with EU, the evaluation fulfils the requirement for independent performance verification, ensuring transparency regarding the utilization of resources and the achievement of agreed outputs and outcomes.
• Given the rapid pace of digital transformation, online media expansion, and regulatory discussions in Rwanda, evaluating the project’s strategies provides timely, empirical evidence on what approaches effectively enhance digital media literacy and responsible freedom of expression.
• The evaluation measures the tangible shifts in capacity, ethical content production, and rights awareness among direct boundary partners including accredited journalists, informal content creators, citizen journalists, and duty bearers. 

5.2 Potential Use of Evaluation Findings

• Draw definitive, evidence-based conclusions regarding overall project achievement against set targets, indicators, and intended outcomes within the 10 target districts.
• Extract critical operational lessons identifying successful strategies, implementation bottlenecks, and unexpected outcomes to inform NPA and EU adaptive management and guide the design of future media development and human rights interventions in Rwanda and the broader region.
• Feed directly into evidence-based policy dialogues, multi-stakeholder forums, and advocacy initiatives aimed at improving the legal, policy, and operational frameworks governing digital media, access to public information, and freedom of expression in Rwanda.
• Serve as a reference document for local civil society organizations (CSOs), media regulatory bodies, academic institutions, and development partners working on digital rights, media literacy, and civic space engagement

6. Preferred Methodology & Evaluation Approach

The consultancy firm is expected to propose a robust, mixed-methods evaluation methodology that combines both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques. This approach should ensure data triangulation, methodological rigor, and gender-responsive inquiry to effectively answer all evaluation questions.

Without limiting the consultancy firm’s technical creativity, the proposed evaluation design should incorporate the following core elements:

6.1 Data Collection Techniques

• Comprehensive analysis of project documents, baseline report, MEAL frameworks, progress reports, training materials, and relevant national media policy documents.
• Sampling across target communities within the 10 implementation districts to assess citizen digital media literacy levels, critical consumption habits, and perception of digital content quality.
• In-depth, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, including NPA and GLIHD project leadership, EU representatives, media regulatory bodies, law enforcement officials, and local government duty bearers.
• Disaggregated group discussions with direct boundary partners (journalists, informal content creators, citizen journalists) as well as community members.
• Identification and documentation of specific success stories or institutional shifts resulting from project interventions.

6.2 Methodological Plan & Quality Assurance

The technical proposal must include a detailed operational plan featuring:

•  A clear, statistically sound, and purposive sampling strategy covering the 10 target districts (Nyarugenge, Bugesera, Kirehe, Gatsibo, Gisagara, Nyamagabe, Huye, Nyamasheke, Ngororero, and Musanze).
•  A clear plan demonstrating how qualitative findings, quantitative survey data, and secondary documentation will be cross verified to draw validated conclusions.
• Strict adherence to research ethics, informed consent protocols, respondent anonymity, gender sensitivity, and secure data storage standards.
• A detailed timeline mapping out key tasks, field deployment schedules, deliverable milestones, and team member responsibilities.

7. Assignment Timeline & Key Deliverables

The execution of the commissioned assignment shall take place from September 15th, 2026, to November 30th, 2026. The assignment is expected to require a maximum of 30 cumulative working days, distributed across the key deliverable phases. Interested consultancy firms must include a detailed operational work plan and implementation schedule in their technical proposal. The technical proposal shall be submitted separately from the financial proposal.

Deliverable 1: Inception report and evaluation design (5 days): The evaluation team will evaluate the relevant project documents, comprehensive inception report will, at minimum, include the design of the evaluation with the following details: i) a detailed evaluation design matrix; ii) draft questionnaires and other data collection instruments or their principal features; iii) the list of potential interviewees and sites to be visited; iv) identified limitations to the evaluation design, and v) an updated schedule. The inception report should be submitted within two weeks from contract signing. Any revisions to the questions in the inception report should be documented in writing in the evaluation report and are subject to pre-approval by the quality assurance team of NPA. 

Pre-Field work briefings quality alignment (1 working day): Following the signing of the contract and before undertaking fieldwork, the evaluation team will hold an in-house briefing sessions as per need to discuss the team's understanding of the assignment, initial assumptions, evaluation questions, methodology, and work plan, and to clarify any questions or logistic needs. These sessions will involve NPA programme team, and Donor will be consulted and involved as appropriate. 

Field data collection and draft report presentation (20 days): Execute quantitative and qualitative fieldwork across all 10 target districts (Nyarugenge, Bugesera, Kirehe, Gatsibo, Gisagara, Nyamagabe, Huye, Nyamasheke, Ngororero, and Musanze). Clean, transcribe, and analyze primary data, and produce a well-structured draft evaluation report. Complete Draft Final Evaluation Report detailing preliminary findings, key lessons learned, and strategic recommendations submitted for NPA and EU evaluate.

Stakeholder validation and final evaluation report (4 days): The evaluation team will take no more than 4 business days to respond/incorporate the final comments from NPA, GLIHD and EU. The evaluation team leader will then submit the final reportno later than November 30th, 2026.

8. Required Qualifications & Expertise

The successful consultancy firm must meet the following profile:

• Firm Profile: Legally registered consultancy firm with a minimum of 7 years of institutional experience conducting project evaluations in media development, digital rights, human rights, or democratic governance in Rwanda or the broader region. To this end, they shall submit, as part of their offer, at least two most recent certificates of good completion and at least two contact details of references who know the quality of their work and can therefore testify to their technical and ethical competence.
• For local consultancy firms, their application must be accompanied by a certificate of registration, valid RRA tax clearance and RSSB compliance certificate. The international consultancy firms must submit a proof of valid business registration issued by a competent authority in the country of incorporation and other relevant certifications (e.g. taxes and social security clearances) by competent authorities either in Rwanda or in their country of registration.
• International companies must demonstrate that they have previous work experience in Rwanda and prove their understanding of local context. It is mandatory, however, that the international firms must detect and partner with an experienced local firm or local expert (s) who have good understanding of Rwandan governance context. To this end, a teaming or partnership agreement/statement dully signed by all parties must be incorporated as part of their application. 
• guide Consultant / Team Leader should have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in journalism/media studies, Law, Human Rights, International Development, or Social Sciences. Minimum 10 years of professional experience leading complex evaluations, preferably for EU-funded interventions. CVs of key experts (max 3 pages per CV should be submitted. The Team Leader (TL) will need to be physically present in Rwanda during the evaluation period and will be ultimately tasked with the overall management of the evaluation team, Coordinating the implementation of the evaluation, assigning evaluation responsibilities and tasks, Authoring the final evaluation report in conformity with these ToRs.
• Key Experts: Demonstrated expertise in qualitative/quantitative research methods, local media regulatory frameworks, digital media trends, and gender-responsive research techniques.
• Language Proficiency: High-level fluency in English and Kinyarwanda across the research team.
• One sample of a recent, unedited final evaluation report written by the guide Consultant would be an added advantage.
• Contact details of three professional references for similar evaluations should be submitted 

9. Evaluation criteria and scoring 

A quality-based selection method that prioritises the soundness of the technical offer will carry more weight over the pricing indicated in the financial offer. NPA reserves the right though not to award the tender to the best technical offer in case no middle ground about the pricing negotiations can be reached or in case the entity emerging as best offeror did not pass the due diligence. 

Technical offer: 

10. How to submit the offers 

A technical offer not exceeding 10 pages, annexes excluded, and a separate budget must be virtually submitted to nparwandaprocurements@npaid.org with the mention “IRI Final Evaluation Offer’’ under the subject heading before or not later than the August 31st 2026 at 4:00 p.m. Kigali local time.

Please note that the technical offer needs to clearly demonstrate how the different objectives of this assignment will be addressed methodologically (including the sequencing of the qualitative versus quantitative methodology) and how the different elements of the scope of work will be handled. 

Financial offer (taxes inclusive) with detailed budget items, units and unit costs as well as budget notes relevant for each budget line will also be submitted separately via the same email address mentioned above. All relevant costs including travel and accommodation must be included in the budget for the consultancy as NPA will NOT cover any separate costs related to this activity.

The available budget for this evaluation is 26,000 EUR which is approximatively 43,304,560 million Rwandan Francs (Rwf). Financial offers beyond this budget ceiling will be rejected. 

NPA will hold prior discussions with short listed interested consultants/firms to deliver further clarification to the ToR to ensure quality final offers. Short listed consultants/firms will be contacted by NPA for a meeting/ interview prior to a final revision of the technical proposal and budget. Applicants will be notified about their bidding outcome before 15th of September 2026.

Please note that the technical offer should, in addition to demonstrating the understanding of this intended work, include a critique of the actual Terms of Reference, and make technical suggestions about what needs to be improved and how with a view to ensuring high-end quality products. 

11. General Terms and Conditions 

All rights reserved to Norwegian People’s Aid. NPA reserves all right to reject all applications not fulfilling the requirements associated to this request. NPA will not be responsible or liable for any cost and time allocated by applicants to the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest. NPA reserves the right to engage other companies or individual consultants if required. 

Any conflict of Interest involving an applicant must be fully disclosed to NPA. When failed to discose any conflict of interest, the application will be disqualfied and no award will be made in such case. 
 

Done at Kigali on the 31st July 2026.