Final project evaluation consultancy

Background 

Forest Peoples programme (FPP) has been implementing the Advancing recognition and implementation of Indigenous peoples’ rights to improve land and resource governance and reverse environmental degradation in Congo and DRC Project since 1^st March 2024. The project will end in May 2026 and FPP is looking for a consultant to conduct the final project evaluation.  

The aim of the project is to contribute to strengthening the legal framework in Congo and DRC to support Indigenous Peoples (IPs) to be able to protect and manage their forest lands. This has been achieved through assessing current gaps in laws and policies of relevance to Indigenous Peoples, while simultaneously supporting them in both countries to document their customary use, to strengthen their community governance mechanisms, and to share their experiences and views on how to address gaps in law and policy. This research has fed into legal proposals and advocacy in specific ongoing law and policy reform processes connected to land, resources, climate and biodiversity in both countries. 

The project has been funded by Reversing Environmental Degradation in Africa and Asia (REDAA) and intends to contribute to two of its key outputs:    

REDAA OUTPUT 1: Evidence & actionable information. The project contributes to the integration and implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights related to lands and resources in key legal frameworks, through ensuring adequate information is available on existing legal gaps, as well as on Indigenous Peoples’ land and resource use, customary occupation, governance capabilities, and proposals for reform. Collected through action-research and consultations with indigenous communities, as well as legal research, this information will directly inform legal proposals for key ongoing law and policy processes connected to land, resources and the environment, and ensure the inclusion of these issues in processes from which they are currently largely excluded. 

REDAA OUTPUT 3: Capacity and institutional arrangements. FPP’s approach always involves working from the ground up and allowing communities to take the lead. This project will specifically support indigenous communities’ own development of community governance institutions, which is urgently needed in the Congo Basin to support more equitable and sustainable governance arrangements. The project also incorporates direct capacity building with indigenous peoples as well as supporting their direct participation, so that the capacity and representation of IPs is strengthened, and they are not mere passive recipients of information. This approach combines increasing indigenous peoples’ capacity to organize and collaborate internally with strengthening their voice externally. 

The evaluation will cover activities implemented by FPP and partners, including CECD and OCDH in Congo, and APEM in DRC. These activities include community-level action-research, national-level legal and policy analysis, or advocacy and engagement with reform processes.  

The evaluation will assess the following: 

• Identification of key project outcomes, including any unforeseen outcomes
• Whether project achieved its intended goals
• How the project contributed to relevant REDAA outputs
• To what extent did the project address Indigenous priorities (self-determination, FPIC and locally led initiatives) or take advantage of reform opportunities in Republic of Congo (RoC) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)?
• The appropriateness and effectiveness of the methodology used for different aspects of the work – community work, ensuring indigenous participation in national processes, technical and legal analysis, and legal and policy advocacy.  

The evaluation process will comprise at least the following elements: 

• Document review – including key project documents and reports by FPP and partners, as well as policy papers, technical contributions by FPP and partners to national and local legal and policy processes, and other relevant documentation.
• Interviews with key partner organisations, other civil society organisations of relevance, decision-makers and state institutions, and Indigenous Representatives and their organisations – either in person or online, depending on the evaluation schedule.
• One country visit to the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville plus one community visit)
• Additional verification with key actors of information collected
• A participatory approach ensuring full participation of indigenous representatives and organisations which have been involved in the project. Specific methodologies may be required to ensure this.  

Outputs 

The main outputs for this consultancy – all of which will be discussed and agreed with FPP – are as follows: 

1. An inception report, including a methodology proposal (including specific participatory methodology for ensuring indigenous participation), participatory approach plan and draft timeline for the evaluation.
2. Interview schedules and questions
3. A detailed programme and methodology for a community consultation
4. A draft outline of the final evaluation report
5. Final evaluation report (including an executive summary (2–3 pages), + recommendations) 

We expect that the whole process will take a maximum of 20 working days, and will be conducted between April and May 2026. 

Consultant profile 

• Proven evaluation experience, in-depth knowledge of the legal and policy framework affecting Indigenous Peoples’ land and resource rights in the Republic of Congo (RoC) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
• In-depth knowledge of the challenges of securing IP rights in both countries
• Experience of working at the intersection of human rights and environmental protection
• Experience and knowledge of the capacity challenges faced by Indigenous organisations and communities in both countries
• Knowledge of genuine participatory approaches
• A good understanding of FPP’s approach to working with partners
• Ability to draft the final report in English
• Full working proficiency in French in order to draft documents, and conduct interviews and meetings with project partners, indigenous representatives and other relevant actors in both countries. 

Financial terms  

The costs of one international return flight required for the assignment will be covered by the project. All domestic travel within the project scope area in the Republic of Congo will be arranged and paid for by the project. FPP also cover the consultant’s travel costs and per diems associated with field visits and, where applicable, community meetings. These costs should therefore not be included in the financial proposal.