Invitation to Tender

A: Yes, the call is open to international consulting firms, and you do not need to be registered in Ireland to be eligible to apply.

A: Yes. 

The mandatory requirements must be met by the proposed evaluation team. If the team members are from different organisations, that is no problem, and please do include details of the team composition and roles: an overview of the proposed evaluation team, including individual roles, qualifications, relevant experience and an indication of whether the team has worked together in any capacity before.

A: Concern does not provide an indicative budget range or ceiling. Concern requests that a realistic budget is included that caters for all aspects of the evaluation requirements in a reasonable and cost-effective manner.

A: The evaluation will include a minimum of five country-level evaluations, with final country selection determined post-award.

A: It is the responsibility of the evaluator to propose a justified costing approach, including assumptions on the number of country evaluations and any scalability of the design.

A: Annex 2 sets out suggested evaluation questions that can be used. Evaluation teams can refer to Annex 3 for the evaluation questions that have been stipulated by Irish Aid – these are mandatory. Final evaluation questions will be proposed by the selected evaluation team and confirmed in the inception report. It is the responsibility of the evaluator to propose how evaluation questions are structured, consolidated, and operationalised, ensuring that all mandatory ICSP questions are clearly addressed.

A: The evaluation will combine portfolio-level analysis with a minimum of five country-level evaluations. Country-level evaluations are intended to: 

• Triangulate findings and provide evidence against evaluation questions
• Outputs will include country reports and an overall final and synthesis report

It is the responsibility of the evaluator to propose an appropriate approach for synthesising country-level evidence into portfolio- and stream-level conclusions.

A: The evaluation must include assessment and scoring against the OECD-DAC criteria.

Concern uses a scoring scale of zero (unacceptable performance) to five (outstanding performance), as outlined below.

• 5 – Outstanding Performance
•  4 - Very good overall performance with a few shortcomings
• 3 – Good overall performance but with some minor shortcomings
• 2 – Acceptable performance but with some major shortcomings
• 1 – Less than acceptable performance with many major shortcomings
• 0 – Unacceptable performance

However, the evaluation team is not obliged to follow this exact method.

A: Yes, Concern has an AI policy.

A: As long as the requirements of the ToR are met, bidders can follow their own format.

A: The evaluation must be submitted to Irish Aid by the end of 2026, so there is no room for an extension to the timeline.

A: All streams of the ICSP should be covered and there should be at least five country evaluations.

A: The specifics would be agreed during the inception phase. 

A: The specifics would be agreed during the inception phase, but it’s likely that there will be a mix of approaches. 

A: Concern has research activities with a number of research institutions, including University College Dublin, University of Vermont, Consilient Somalia, and Gwoup Konbit Haiti as part of a three-year study exploring the role of social capital in building and strengthening resilience.  

Concern is collaborating with the Institute for Development Studies, University of Burundi, Statistical and Research Services Consortium, Liberia and the Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local, Niger exploring the role of SMEs in enabling micro-businesses and smallholder farmers to engage in food systems. 

Concern and Trinity College Dublin are examining the impact of incorporating gender transformative or couples dialogue training into the graduation approach in Malawi. 

In the Mandera Triangle, Tufts University is investigating drivers of child malnutrition as part of a partnership with Concern.

A: The specifics would be agreed during the inception phase but, it’s likely that this would be acceptable so long as the requirements of the ToR are met. 

A: This will be an independent evaluation. While travelling, consultants must adhere to Concern policies, including security policies and code of conduct.

A: Travel will be arranged by Concern in conjunction with the consultants. Estimated travel costs should be included in the overall budget.

A: The ToR states that the evaluation will include a minimum of five country-level evaluations, with the final country selection determined post-award through a prioritisation process. The inception report is expected to set out the final methodology, evaluation questions, and sampling approach.

Accordingly, bidders are welcome to include indicative sampling assumptions or approaches at proposal stage. However, detailed sampling design is expected to be further developed and finalised during the inception phase once priority countries are agreed.

A: The ToR and supporting documents emphasise learning, stakeholder engagement, and the generation of findings to inform the successor ICSP programme. The evaluation is intended to support learning for Concern, Irish Aid/DFAT, partners, and other stakeholders, and includes deliverables, such as validation workshops and synthesis reporting.

It is the responsibility of the bidders to propose an appropriate approach to stakeholder participation, validation, utilisation, and learning outputs within the overall evaluation methodology.