Final Evaluation of Advancing Political Pluralism and Transparency in Sri Lanka and Maldives (APPT) (January 2024 – December 2025)

Internews overview

Internews is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to empower local civil society worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect and the means to make their voices heard. For more information about the organization please visit: www.internews.com

Project overview

Upholding democracy with good governance depends on the understanding and awareness of those who hold the power to elect. Both Sri Lanka and Maldives have been facing challenges in their electoral processes. This includes a lack of voter education that often results in poor, impulse-based voting decisions, a lack of political will and training of electoral officials to implement electoral reforms, and a shortage of representation for women and youth in the political process. Both countries face challenges related to human rights violations, freedom of expression and assembly, and hate speech against marginalised populations. These issues make it difficult for meaningful electoral reforms to be adopted and enforced. Yet, opportunities exist to engage in dialogue with key electoral stakeholders including the election commission, election monitoring bodies, civil society, and local communities to build awareness and consensus on the right way forward. In order to work on some of these issues, Internews Europe, together with local co-applicants in Sri Lanka, Centre for Policy Alternatives(CPA) and Sri Lanka Unites (SLU) and, local Maldivian co-applicant, the Society for Peace and Democracy(SPD) are currently implementing the 24-month Advancing Political Pluralism and Transparency in Sri Lanka and Maldives (APPT) project.

Overall objective:

The overall objective of APPT is to protect human rights, fundamental freedoms and democracy in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

The specific objective is to enhance democratic governance in Sri Lanka and Maldives, with a specific focus on improving the integrity, transparency and accuracy of electoral processes, as well as supporting political pluralism and inclusiveness.

Theory of Change:

This action posits that IF civil society groups representing women, youth (including young women), and/or other marginalised groups are trained in voter rights, political education and political pluralism and inclusiveness; AND IF media, civil society, government agencies, and other key actors are provided with opportunities to discuss and raise awareness about electoral reforms AND IF the capacity of media and civil society groups are strengthened to produce quality, credible, fact-based electoral content to promote and raise public awareness around political pluralism, inclusiveness and democratic engagement; THEN civil society groups and media can effectively advocate for strengthening electoral reforms and institutional practices, and citizens will be well-informed about and engage in electoral processes, leading to enhanced democratic governance in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Advancing Political Pluralism and Transparency in Sri Lanka and Maldives (APPT) project is designed based on the following methodology:

***Tailored Skills Training:***Media sources and journalists at both local and national levels often lack the skills to produce high impact content that adequately covers issues of public importance relating to elections in both countries. To build trust, local journalists need to develop stronger storytelling skills and improve their baseline knowledge of election processes that can enable them to effectively reach their communities with much needed reporting. Internews has therefore designed appropriate and contextualised training curricula modules that will strengthen the capacity of journalism trainers, aswell as journalists. The trainings are informed by the completion of the Election Information Assessments and build upon Internews’ extensive organisational resources and Asia regional experience in implementing similar curricula. Internews’ training and capacity building approach is made uniquely comprehensive through exhaustive attention to all aspect of media capacity development.

***Mentoring, story grants and innovation:***Mentoring and support to local and independent media and journalists is key to amplifying the impact of election reporting-focused activities and has supported trainees to put their improved skills into action and increase the quality and quantity of fact-checked journalism available to populations in both countries on election-related issues.

Partnerships: Internews strives to be a leader in mutually accountable partnerships with organisations based in the communities we serve. Building lasting partnerships is a core component of the Internews mission and to our 2025 strategic framework. To this end, Internews developed Guiding Principles for Accountable Partnerships that set standards for how Internews works with key project partners. These guiding principles are: joint design and ownership, independence, safety and risk mitigation, performance and redress, and sustainability and self-reliance. This Action has been designed with these guiding principles at its foundation. that set standards for how Internews works with key project partners.

Partner-led innovation: Further, based on the principles of partner-led development, this Action favours wherever possible the generation of solutions to challenges faced by media, information and CSO actors themselves, and the design of appropriate associated development actions. Through the quarterly learning sessions partners will have the opportunity to collaborate, share and build on their actions, and troubleshoot any challenges and adaptations. Internews hopes to bring international sectoral experience to the local expertise of the co-applicants to facilitate innovation across all project partners.

Evaluation Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of the final external evaluation is to assess the effectiveness and impact of our work and inform learning. The selected consultant will collaborate with Internews to collect information about the usefulness and trustworthiness of the election related content produced by the project. This is to understand whether stories produced by project are perceived as informative, trustworthy and responsive to the needs of information consumers of election related content. This evaluation has the following principal tasks, which must be assessed in the context of the political and environmental challenges that the project faced during implementation:

• Evaluate the project's progress in achieving goals and objectives, examining qualitative and quantitative signs of potential impact.
• Assess the sustainability of results, specifically focusing on the project's role in enhancing the capabilities of journalists, journalism teachers, and students to create high-quality election reporting content.
• Evaluate its contribution to countering mis/disinformation through the application of fact-checking skills and knowledge of the reform process. Measure the audience engagement and interaction with project-produced content using proxy measures.
• Examine external factors beyond Internews' control, such as violence occurring in the lead-up to elections (attacking on journalists, torching on public/private property, fight between political groups), that influenced the project's outcomes, necessitating adjustments to project activities. Assess the impact of changes in the operational environment throughout the project's lifespan and their effects on project activities.
• Identify and analyze the intended and unintended effects of the program on beneficiaries.
• Derive insights and best practices from the project, offering key recommendations to improve future interventions.

The primary intended users of this evaluation are Internews and donor representatives, to use the findings to make decisions about future media development programming and funding strategies in the region. Local implementing partners (CPA, SLU, and SPD) will utilize both the findings and the evaluation process to improve their organizational procedures and strengthen their own monitoring and evaluation capacities. The evaluation aims to generate evidence-based knowledge to inform the design of future election reporting initiatives and contribute to broader understanding of effective media capacity building approaches.

Evaluation Scope and Methodology

The evaluation covers the project implementation period from January 2024 to December 2025 and should encompass the entire scope of the project. Ideally, the work will be carried out in Sri Lanka and Maldives by an evaluator who understands the context and has relevant language skills.

The evaluation should employ the Development Assistance Committee of the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD-DAC) criteria for assessing aid effectiveness, and a gender and inclusion lens should be applied throughout the evaluation process. It examines the impact of the action on beneficiaries and the sustainability of results. Internews employs international best practices, OECD/DAC evaluation criteria, one of the most widely prominent and adopted criteria of aid effectiveness. The criteria will be used to evaluate various aspects of the interventions including relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. The questions provided below can serve as a guide for the project's evaluation and are open to discussion and agreement during the evaluation inception phase.

Relevance:

1.1.To what extent did the project design address the most critical election reporting and media capacity needs of diverse stakeholder groups in Sri Lanka and Maldives?

1.1. To what extent did the project's theory of change assumptions about the relationship between journalism capacity building and improved election reporting quality prove valid in practice?

Coherence:

2.1 Internal Coherence: How well did its different components work together to achieve objectives?

2.2 External Coherence: To what extent is the project aligned with relevant national and international development priorities, and how effectively did it coordinate with other similar interventions in both countries?

Efficiency:

3.1: How effectively did the project optimize the use of time and resources across different countries and intervention types?

3.2: What factors most contributed to efficient or inefficient use of project time and resources?

Effectiveness:

4.1. To what extent did the project achieve its core objectives of enhancing journalist and trainer capacity for high-quality, fact-checked election reporting?

4.2: Are there any unintended outcomes (positive or negative) as a result of the project?

4.3. What were the main contributing factors that enabled project success, and what were the main challenges/barriers to hindered achievement?

4.4 How well did the project adapt its approaches in response to political security, and operational challenges during implementation?

4.5. How did project effectiveness differ across target groups (journalists, trainers, outlets) and between Sri Lanka and Maldives, and what factors explain these differences?

Impact:
5.1. To what extent did the project contribute to improving electoral transparency, reducing mis/disinformation, and enhancing citizen access to quality election information?

5.2: What specific differences has the project made to the lives and work of direct beneficiaries (journalists, trainers, media outlets)?

Sustainability:

6.1: To what extent are the skills, tools, and approaches developed through the project likely to be sustained by journalists, trainers, and media outlets beyond project completion?

6.2: How effectively has the project built sustainable capacity within partner organizations (CPA, SLU, SPD) to continue media development and innovation work independently?

6.3: What are the early signs that improved journalism practices and professional networks will continue and evolve beyond the project period?

The final set of evaluation questions along with the methodology will be agreed in the inception phase.

Data collection tools

The evaluation will primarily concentrate on key donor performance indicators (EC outcome/output indicators), utilizing pertinent survey tools to assess project performance and success. The evaluator should address logistical and time challenges, adapting to respondents' schedules and needs where feasible. The evaluation and associated research must adhere to Internews' policies and protocols regarding data protection and security, following ethical guidelines for participant confidentiality and privacy. Ensuring the secure transmission of data at all stages of the evaluation is paramount. A non-disclosure agreement will be integrated into the consultancy contract.

The evaluator is encouraged to propose any specific evaluation approach. The methodological approach and design of the evaluation will be collaboratively developed and agreed upon by Internews and the evaluator. The evaluator will assume responsibility for its complete implementation. The methodological approach should be participatory, inclusive, gender-sensitive, and culturally appropriate. The evaluator is expected to present the evaluation methodology, including the proposed sampling of stakeholders to be engaged, during the first week of the evaluation period. This methodology will be defined, discussed, and agreed upon with Internews.

Ideally, the evaluation will employ a mixed-methods design combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess the Advancing Political Pluralism and Transparency project. Data collection will draw from both primary and secondary sources. A thorough document review will examine program materials including project reports, monitoring data, election journalism outputs, training materials, and innovation documentation. The evaluation should encompass, though not necessarily be limited to, the following data collection tools:

• Desk Review: Conduct a comprehensive review of relevant project documentation, progress reports, previous pre- and post-workshop surveys, and assessments.
• Qualitative Interviews: Conduct individual and/or group interviews with project stakeholders, either online or in person.
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): Facilitate FGDs with beneficiaries and stakeholders, including representatives from Internews, the donor, partners, and NGOs operating in the same domain.
• Online Surveys: Implement an online survey with stakeholders and beneficiaries if deemed relevant to gather additional insights.

These methods aim to ensure a thorough evaluation by combining document analysis, stakeholder perspectives through interviews and surveys, and in-depth discussions with key participants.

The evaluation and associated research must adhere to Internews' policies and protocols regarding data protection and security, following ethical guidelines for participant confidentiality and privacy. Ensuring the secure transmission of data at all stages of the evaluation is paramount. A non-disclosure agreement will be integrated into the consultancy contract.

Expected Deliverables

The evaluator is tasked with submitting:

1. The inception report outlining the comprehensive evaluation methodology, tools and evaluation matrix
2. The evaluation report is clearly structured to document the evaluation findings and recommendations. The evaluation report will encompass the main findings, conclusions, recommendations, and a record of lessons learned. The evaluator will first present a draft report for feedback from Internews. In considering the comments provided, the evaluator will exercise independent and impartial judgment to refine the final report. The final version should not exceed 30 pages, excluding annexes and the executive summary (including compelling photos of relevant activities if available). The report must include:

• An executive summary highlighting the main findings, conclusions, and recommendations;
• A detailed methodology section, making explicit the limitations of the evaluation;
• An analysis of the project performance of the project in terms of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability;
• An analysis of the technical aspects and main achievement of the project;
• Analysis of the underlying factors that affected the achievement of the project results; and
• Recommendations that are specific, action-oriented, and tailored to all relevant stakeholders.

1. PowerPoint Presentation
2. Impact Insight Brief (Policy Brief) (maximum 6 pages including figures and compelling photos)

All evaluation deliverables, including the Inception Report, Evaluation Matrix, Final Report, and any supplementary materials, must be submitted in English and follow Internews evaluation templates and quality standards. The required templates and style guidelines will be provided to the selected evaluation team during the contracting phase

Timeframe

Internews anticipates that around 8-10 weeks will be needed to conduct this evaluation. The evaluator is expected to work a maximum of 25 working days and finish the assignment by 15 November 2025.

Activity Est. due date Est. LOE Share of milestone payment
Signing agreement 20%
Conduct desk review 5 September 2025 3 days
Inception Report including Evaluation methodology and design,

evaluation matrix and data collection tools 20 September 2025 3 days 20%
Data collection 01 October 2025 8 days 15%
Draft report 30 October 2025 7 days 15%
Integrate feedback and finalize report 10 November 2025 2 days
PowerPoint presentation & Impact Insight Brief 15 November 2025 2 days 30%
Total 25 days

Supervision of the Consultant

The consultant will be under the direct supervision of the APPT Project Manager and Regional Research and Evaluation Manager. Internews’ staff will facilitate the consultant needs for the purpose of the evaluation.

Essential Qualifications

• Knowledge of implementing projects in Sri Lanka, Maldives or Asia-Pacific Region.
• Master’s degree in social sciences, international development, evaluation, or related field.
• At least 5 years’ experience conducting evaluations.
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative M&E data collection and analysis methods.
• Fluency in spoken and written English, and local languages.
• Excellent intercultural communication skills/cultural sensitivity and the ability to forge strong cross-cultural relationships demonstrated through previous experience.
• Strong facilitation, presentation, writing, and communication skills.

Desirable

• More than 5 years’ experience as a professional evaluator for international development projects.
• Experience conducting evaluations for media development projects.
• Experience working in different countries across Asia.