Consultants needed for a Results Evaluation of Save the Children Denmark’s Strategic Partnership Programme with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Job Description

Save the Children Denmark (SCD) is seeking a consultancy team to conduct an end of programme evaluation of its Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) 2022-2026 with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

This evaluation’s aim is to assess the relevance, effectiveness, coherence, and sustainability of the SPA, with the
dual purpose of identifying and documenting key results and capturing key learnings from the current programme cycle to inform the design of the upcoming SPA 2027-2030.

SCD’s SPA programme covers 10 country programmes, 3 regional programmes and 4 global programmes covering Africa, Middle East and Asia and with an annual budget of 114 mio. DKK.

SCD is part of the Save the Children Alliance (SCA), the world’s largest independent organisation for children, with a presence across 113 countries. SCD is a key member of SCA, contributing to technical expertise, innovation, and advocacy to influence global child rights programming and policy.

Through its SPA with Danida, SCD plays a role in Danish development and humanitarian priorities by developing national resilience through partnerships with civil society, shifting the attention to fragile states, and focusing particularly on young people and girls as well as children on the move.

The SPA 2022-2026 focuses on marginalised children in fragile states with the overall objective of increasing the resilience of children, adolescents and youth and their communities affected by climate change, conflict and/or displacement is increased. The programme is implemented though:

• 10 country programmes: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Iraq, Mali, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan,
  Syria, and Yemen
• 3 regional programmes: Africa, Asia, and Middle East
• 4 global programmes: Education in Emergencies (EiE), Local Leadership, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), and Shifting the Power/Youth Engagement

SCD also received 16 top-ups between 2022 and 2024, primarily focused on humanitarian
response in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

The objective of this consultancy is to conduct an end of programme evaluation of the Danida-funded Strategic Partnership Agreement implemented from 2022-26 to identify and document key results and to inform design and implementation of the next SPA (2027-2031). The evaluation will focus on:

1. Identifying, analysing and documenting the most significant changes and outcome level results (intended and unintended) that the 2022-26 SPA programme has contributed to. The evaluation team will be expected to document results and sustainable changes created by the SPA 2022-2026 for affected people and relevant stakeholders in general and stated objectives in the programme and looking at the programme’s theory of change.
2. Extracting lessons learned and provide actionable recommendations to inform future programming, advocacy, and partnership models in light of the new Danish Development Strategy and ongoing sector reform.

The evaluation will apply the OECD-DAC criteria of relevance, effectiveness, coherence and sustainability to assess outcomes and determine recommendations for future programming and advocacy.

The evaluation will cover the entire SPA portfolio, including thematic, regional, and country-level programming, as well as the humanitarian flexible funding, co-financed projects, and top-up allocations in both development (LOT DEV) and humanitarian (LOT HUM) components. Please see the Terms of Reference (ToR) for further details: Terms of Reference.

The evaluation will pay particular attention to SCD’s thematic and cross-cutting approaches, with attention to documenting results of the SPA’s efforts in a) shifting the power and engaging adolescents and youth, b) driving forward local leadership, c) engaging children and vulnerable communities in climate action, and d) applying a gender transformation lens to programming. It will also assess how nexus progamming has contributed to sustainability, local ownership, and systemic change.

The evaluation is expected to apply the OECD DAC evaluation criteria across the SPA 2022-2026 to assess:

• Relevance and alignment with humanitarian and development sector needs and
  contexts the programme operates in
• Programme effectiveness in achieving intended and unintended outcomes
• Coherence, complementarity and alignment with local, national, and international interventions/strategies
• Long-term sustainability and local ownership of intended and unintended results

The evaluation will adopt an outcome-based, mixed-method design, integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches. The approach will focus on documenting significant outcomes and discovering how SPA activities/programmes have contributed to observed changes.

A mixed-methods approach is expected across a representative sample of SPA countries and
regions. Consultants are encouraged to employ participatory methods such as outcome harvesting to capture nuanced insights into how change has occurred. To complement qualitative analysis, the consultants may conduct a survey amongst affected people and beneficiaries to triangulate certain data.

In addition, the consultants are invited to explore conducting a small-scale tracer study to assess the long-term effects of SCD-implemented Danida-funded programming.

Two country visits to programme locations across the SPA portfolio are expected throughout this consultancy. The countries will be identified in consultation with SCD’s evaluation reference group, and relevant SCD staff, as well as assessments on security situation. It is expected that travel will take place in one country in Africa on in either Middle East or Asia.

SCD will NOT provide enumerators to assist with primary data collection. It will be a requirement of the study team to source additional external data sources to add value to the study, such as government administrative
data.

The evaluation must ensure that children’s voices and experiences are meaningfully represented, following Save the Children’s 9 Basic Requirements for ethical child participation. It must also be inclusive, ensuring participation from diverse groups of children and communities, including those with disabilities and those facing discrimination. Confidentiality, informed consent, and referral mechanisms must be in place to safeguard all participants.

• Inception report detailing methodology, sampling strategy, ethical considerations, and
  work plan.
• Data collection tools for both qualitative and quantitative data collection, interview
  guidelines, and data mechanisms
• Interim report/presentation including a summary of preliminary findings and identified issues/risks
• Draft evaluation report and final evaluation report summarizing findings aligned with key evaluation questions, lessons learned, and actionable recommendations
• Evaluation dissemination and learning workshop to present and discuss lessons learned and how to progress recommendations and incorporate into SPA 2027-2031.

The evaluation is expected to be conducted between December 2025 to March 2026, with the final evaluation report available at the end of March 2026.

The total level of effort is estimated at 60 workdays across the consultancy team, including two country visits and travel time (depending on location).

To be considered, the consultancy team members together must have demonstrated skills, expertise, and experience in:

• A minimum of 10 years designing, conducting and leading programme evaluations
• Solid and proven experience with applying OECD-DAC evaluation criteria in evaluations, particularly utilisation and learning focused evaluations
• Extensive technical expertise in the field of climate change and/or local leadership, gender transformative programming and youth engagement with a focus on life skills and vocational training
• Solid and proven experience with mixed-method evaluations, both design, conducting and leading. Experience with participatory evaluation methods, including outcomes harvesting, will be a strong advantage
• Solid experience with Danida-funded programme evaluation and the Danish Civil Society sector
• Knowledge and experience with Education, and MHPSS is an advantage
• Strong written and verbal (English and Danish) skills in communicating technical and/ or complex findings to non-specialist audiences (especially report writing and presentation skills)
• Fluency in Danish, English and French is a must. Arabic is an advantage
• Solid experience from the Humanitarian sector and with programming in fragile states.

Duration December 2025 - March 2026 (tentative)

Application deadline 23 November 2025

Total budget and remuneration for this piece of work is: 400,000 DKK

Save the Children seeks value for money in its work. This does not necessarily mean “lowest cost”, but quality of the service and reasonability of the proposed costs. Proposals shall include personnel allocation (role /number of days/daily rates/taxes), as well as any other applicable costs. Proposals should also include contingency measures for remote/hybrid data collection should travel be restricted due to security constraints.

Please note that all costs for data collection including hiring of enumerators and data collection team locally and all costs incurred with logistical arrangements such as domestic and international travel of consultants, accommodation, and rental of vehicles must be covered by the consultants and factored into the financial proposal to be submitted.

Application process

Submit the following by 23 November 2025 to complete your application as per the ToR requirements: Terms of Reference

• CVs and cover letter
• Technical proposal
• Financial proposal (all-inclusive rate, including estimated data collection and travel costs)
• Two (2) professional references
• At least two (2) recent final reports of comparable evaluations authored by the consultants
• Copies of registration certificates

Please send applications by email to evaluation@redbarnet.dk NO LATER THAN 23:59 CET 23 November 2025.

About the Organization

Save the Children Denmark (SCD) is part of the Save the Children Alliance (SCA), the world’s largest independent
organisation for children, with a presence across 113 countries. SCD is a key member of SCA, contributing to technical expertise, innovation, and advocacy to influence global child rights programming and policy.

More information