Terms of Reference: EU SEE Mid Term Evaluation

Hivos is seeking a qualified consultant or consulting team to conduct a Mid Term Evaluation of the European Union System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (EU SEE) program.

About EU SEE

The EU System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (EU SEE) is a five-year program that is implemented by a global consortium composed of organizations and Network Members across 86 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, the Americas and the Caribbean. The Consortium Partners include CIVICUS, Democracy Reporting International (DRI), the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), Forus, Hivos (lead consortium partner) and Transparency International.

The partnership implements and maintains an Early Warning Mechanism and offers Monitoring Methodology to document changes and sheds light on critical trends in the enabling environment (EE) for civil society. EU SEE equips civil society, governments, and stakeholders with actionable insights to address challenges and leverage opportunities effectively. It focuses on addressing deterioration in the enabling environment and supporting opportunities for improving the enabling environment for civil society.

About the assignment

The evaluation will be conducted over a structured timeline to ensure timely delivery of key milestones, with a focus on participatory engagement, iterative feedback, and validation at both country and global levels.

Hivos is seeking to recruit a Global Evaluator(s) to conduct the mid-term evaluation of the program. The evaluation will be participatory and will incorporate input from all relevant stakeholders, including consortium partners, network members, flexible support mechanisms stakeholders, and other key actors such as representatives of the EU.

The mid-term evaluation will provide an independent assessment based on two integrated objectives:

  • Accountability: Assess the performance of EU SEE in line with its commitments to the EU.
  • Learning and Strategy adjustment: Generate evidence and insights on effectiveness, coherence, relevance and sustainability that will inform the remaining period of the project and enable EU SEE to adapt towards achieving enhanced outcomes.

The evaluation will be conducted over a structured timeline to ensure timely delivery of key milestones. The current timeline is as follows:

  • Inception report – 31 May 2026
  • Data collection – June-August 2026
  • 1st draft evaluation report – 20 October 2026
  • Final report – 30 November 2026

Download the full Terms of Reference (PDF)

In the Terms of Reference, you will find information about the objectives, scope, deliverables, timeline and requirements for this particular assignment.

Submission

The submission should be sent to eusee-info@hivos.org with the subject “EU SEE Mid Term Evaluation Proposal” in the subject line by April 20, 2026. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.