TERMS OF REFERENCE

About the ASEAN Foundation

Three decades after ASEAN was established, ASEAN Leaders recognised that: there remained inadequate shared prosperity, ASEAN awareness and contact among people of ASEAN. It was of this concern that ASEAN Leaders established the ASEAN Foundation during ASEAN's 30th Anniversary Commemorative Summit in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on 15 December 1997.

After its establishment, the ASEAN Foundation has been tasked to support ASEAN's community-building efforts by promoting greater awareness of the ASEAN identity, human resource development, people-to-people interaction, and close collaboration among the business sector, civil society, academia, and other stakeholders in ASEAN.

We continue to complement ASEAN priorities. To date, we work to strengthen the ASEAN Community. We work in four thematic areas: education, arts and culture, media development, and community building. We provide support in the form of scholarships, fellowships, internships and exchanges. We organise meetings, conferences, roundtables and workshops in support of the ASEAN Community.

About KONNECT ASEAN

KONNECT ASEAN is a development project supported by the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Cooperation Fund and will serve as the ASEAN Foundation’s core arts and cultural programme. KONNECT ASEAN signals both an eagerness by ASEAN to revitalise its once integral role in contemporary visual arts and South Korea’s sincerity in establishing closer ties with ASEAN.

The project will celebrate Southeast Asian arts using different platforms e.g. exhibitions, educational outreach, community arts workshops and exhibits, and printed and digital documentation, and in the process explore and discuss social, political, economic, and environmental issues in the region. The artists' works and activities will engage and strengthen the public's understanding of ASEAN. Furthermore, the project intends to connect with the three major stakeholder groups of government, business, and civil society to achieve the vision of an ASEAN Community. Outcomes will provide permanent resources recording why ASEAN matters and its ongoing contribution to the region's growth, prosperity, and stability.

Furthermore, KONNECT ASEAN addresses the Strategic Plan for Culture and Arts 2016-2025 of the Senior Officials Meeting on Culture and Arts by contributing to realise strategic priority no. 4.1 which is to encourage a multi-stakeholder approach in promoting an ASEAN mind-set and identity to increase the appreciation for ASEAN’s histories, arts, traditions and values. At the same time, the KONNECT ASEAN addresses the work plan of ASEAN-Republic of Korea Plan of Action, 2016-2020 by promoting cooperation in the area of culture and arts.

Objective of the Evaluation

The objectives of the evaluation are as follow:

1. To document lessons learnt and best practices of the KONNECT ASEAN programme (learning purpose)
2. To examine and document the success factors which enables/disables the programme to create/not to create the impact

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultancy will take a broad overview of the programme area by gathering perceptions, aspirations, feedback and data from relevant project partners and stakeholders for objective analysis and conduct of the evaluation. The evaluation will look to underline the key factors that have either facilitated or impeded programme implementation. To this end, the evaluation will examine the overall performance and impact of programme components. The evaluation will result in producing a comprehensive evaluation report with findings, recommendations and lessons learned.

Scope of the Study

The External Evaluator is expected to ascertain whether the KONNECT ASEAN has been effective in reaching its main objectives. Beyond that, the external evaluator is also expected to examine and analyse how the programme has impacted ASEAN and ROK artists and creative workers, especially during the pandemic. Moreover, the evaluation is expected to examine and document the success factors that enables and disables the programme to reach the expected objectives which eventually will be used as the basis for the future programme focusing on arts and culture, to re-orient, re-direct, and re-structure the programme in the future when deemed necessary.

Evaluation Questions

To determine the programme's performance, results, and achievements, the main questions to be addressed in this external evaluation are:

Objective: Deepening understanding between ASEAN cultures leading to a stronger ASEAN identity in the region

1. Has the programme contributed to the objective? What significant changes, both positive and negative, intended and unintended, have occurred?
2. To what extent the programme has contributed to the achievement of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint, Strategic Plan for Culture and Arts 2016-2025 and ASEAN-Republic of Korea Plan of Action, 2016-2020?
3. What are the main factors influencing the achievement or failure of the project objectives?
4. To what extent were beneficiaries and stakeholders actively involved in all stages of program implementation?

Output 1: Increased appreciation of contemporary SEA and Korean art by art enthusiasts, through the organisation of art exhibitions

1. Has the project contributed to the output?
2. What change was evident to the art enthusiasts from the art exhibitions?

Output 2: Increased awareness & understanding of SEA and Korean contemporary art from the general public through Educational Outreach Programme

1. Has the project contributed to the output?
2. What change was evident to the general public from the outreach programme?

Output 3: Increased involvement of community artists in expressing their ideas in developing the ASEAN identity through Community Art Exhibits

1. Has the project contributed to the output?
2. What change was evident to the community artists from the Community Art Exhibits?

Output 4: Strengthened interaction and exchanges among community artists in ASEAN and Korea & the general public through Community Art Workshops

1. Has the project contributed to the output?
2. What change was evident to the community artists and general public from the Community Art Workshops?

Output 5: Increased availability of documentation related to contemporary SEA arts through Documentation and Resources

1. Has the project contributed to the output?

Sustainability of the Project

1. To what extent are the benefits of the program likely to continue after implementation ends?
2. What are the main factors that affected the achievement or not of program sustainability?

 
Format

The External Evaluator is suggested to propose the format and the process of data collection

Methodology

The External Evaluator is to propose the suggested methodology. The consultant should provide details about how they will approach the task within the consultancy role.

Key Informants

The External Evaluator shall propose their suggested sampling number for each of the below informants categories.

• Partners: organisations collaborating under KONNECT ASEAN
• Stakeholders: donors, ASEAN, ASEAN Sectoral Bodies
• Beneficiaries: artists, communities, visitors, vendors, participants, involved in KONNECT ASEAN

Expected Outputs

The main outputs of the External Evaluation will be:

1. Inception Report - not exceeding 15 pages excluding annexes. The inception report should include: (Maximum 5 days)

• A brief summary of the desk review
• Project review including an analysis of the agreed overall outcomes and indicators on which the result of the programme will be assessed
• The detailed proposal on evaluation objectives, key conclusions and recommendations from the evaluation so far, evaluation question, approach and methodologies, preliminary list of stakeholders to be interviewed and the elaborated analytical framework for the assessment, instruments, timeline, and process /progress indicators

The ASEAN Foundation's team will review/comment and endorse the Inception Report as appropriate before the consultant(s) commence the next stage activities. Note that  revisions might be needed prior to the approval.

1. Main Report – not exceeding 35 pages excluding annexes. The main report should include: (Maximum 15 days)

• Executive Summary (2 to 3 pages): The summary would need to be extractable and read as a standalone report. It will serve as an effective means of communication and will clearly answer the questions posed especially regarding impact.
• Introduction (1 to 2 pages): The introduction will provide details on background, project description, risk potential, and other information related to the programme or evaluation process introduction.
• Evaluation (4 to 6 pages): The Evaluation will provide details on the purpose and objectives of evaluation, evaluation questions, evaluation phases, and methodology limitations.
• Findings (10 to 12 pages): This section will provide in-depth details on relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and overall achievement on impact in terms of the agreed outcomes and indicators, and key success factors (the key factors that helped or hindered impact in relation to the key areas identified in the "scope of work" section)
• Conclusions (1 page)
• Lessons learnt and best practice (3 to 5 pages): This section will articulate the key lessons learnt and best practice from the KONNECT ASEAN Programme.
• Implications and recommendations for the ASEAN Foundation for future improvement of the KONNECT ASEAN programme (3 to 4 pages)
• Annex including stories of change, list of interviews, evaluation timeline, and document/sources reviewed.

The ASEAN Foundation's team will review/comment and endorse the Main Report as appropriate. Note that a few revisions might be required prior to the approval

Qualification and Experience

• An advanced university degree in social sciences, international development, economic development from a recognised university
• Residing in ASEAN or ASEAN national
• Minimum of 7 years of doing project/programme evaluation, research/impact assessment of the projects
• Extensive knowledge of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning theory and practice
• Experience in evaluating international development programme using qualitative and quantitative methods and participatory methodologies
• Strong interpersonal and facilitation skills, cultural and gender sensitivity in working with a range of stakeholders
• Experience in ASEAN arts and culture projects
• Relevant publications on the relevant research/impact assessment
• Excellent communication skills incl. presentation and writing skills

Consultant Selection

Consultant(s) will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria and percentages:

• 40%: Profile of the consultant(s), prior experience in research/impact study, publications on relevant research/impact study
• 20%: Financial proposal
• 40%: Rough draft of the External Evaluation proposal

How to Apply

1. All interested applicants whether individuals/organisations/institutions to send application, stating the position with the following documents to [email protected] with a copy to [email protected] – a) application letter and a rough proposal of the External Evaluation (the final version of the proposal will be established upon discussion with the ASEAN Foundation's team),
2. curriculum vitae,
3. samples of Evaluation report and
4. financial proposal specifying a total lump sum amount highlighting deliverables, including travelling cost when deemed necessary.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: 12 March 2022