Terms of Reference (ToR) for the End-of-Grant Evaluation
Project Title: Enhancing Geospatial Information Management for Anticipatory Action Decision Makers
Funder: German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO)
Implementing Organisation: MapAction
Evaluation Period: July– September 2025
1. Background
Between July 2023 and June 2025, MapAction implemented the grant “Enhancing Geospatial Information Management for Anticipatory Action Decision Makers”, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO). The project aimed to strengthen the application of geospatial information management (GIM) in humanitarian anticipatory action (AA), including through the development of sub-national risk models under the INFORM initiative, providing stakeholder and process Landscape Mapping, risk model support, GIS & IM support to enhance and enable AA Frameworks and support to Emergency Responses.
2. Evaluation Purpose
The purpose of this end-of-grant evaluation is to assess the programme’s achievements, relevance, effectiveness, sustainability, and impact, while extracting learning to inform future strategy and fulfil accountability to GFFO. The evaluation will also review the quality of collaboration with INFORM and other stakeholders.
3. Evaluation Scope and Focus
The evaluation will consider the quality and outcomes of:
● GIM landscape assessments and stakeholder engagement
● Sub-national risk model implementation
● Emergency deployments and learning integration
● Support for sustainable anticipatory action frameworks
4. Evaluation Stakeholders
The results of this evaluation are intended for internal use by the MapAction Technical Function, the Programme and Partnerships Function, the MEAL Function and the Income Function. Results and findings will be shared with the programme funder, GFFO. Relevant
results and lessons identified will be shared externally outside MapAction where there is the potential to contribute to wider practice and policy dialogue regarding data and information management in the humanitarian sector.
5. Evaluation Methodology
The consultant or consultancy team will lead the evaluation and be supported by the Head of MEAL, the Director of Programmes and Partnerships and the Director of Income. The independent evaluation will help ensure an objective assessment of the above elements and can draw on the information collected as part of MapAction’s MEAL framework.
A predominantly qualitative approach is expected to be taken to generate evidence and insights for the four sub-purpose areas of inquiry through a set of key evaluation questions. These areas and question sets will be informed by the OECD DAC evaluation criteria. Draft areas and questions are below. These will be finalised by the consultant/s following a desk review of project documentation in collaboration with the evaluation manager. This evaluation can be conducted remotely and no travel is foreseen.
6. Key Evaluation Questions
● How effective were the programme outputs and outcomes?
● How relevant were the interventions to partner needs?
● How satisfied were MapAction partners?
● Are tools and models sustainable?
● What impact did the project have on AA and decision-making?
● What lessons can guide future projects?
7. Limitations, risks and mitigating measures.
Bias will be reduced by an evaluator or evaluation team external to MapAction and by triangulating findings. Accuracy of results and feasibility of recommendations will be strengthened by sharing back draft findings with stakeholders to confirm these correctly reflect their views and collaboratively developing recommendations.
The scope of the areas of inquiry described above is broad and assumes a willingness from internal and external programme stakeholders to engage with the evaluation exercise in the way we have seen for other evaluations. Timings below depend on stakeholder and team availability. Giving sufficient lead time and enough space between activities will help ensure that the evaluation is delivered to plan.
8. Roles and Responsibilities
Role | Who | Resp. |
Evaluation Commissioner | Director of Programmes and Partnerships | Approval and sign off of the evaluation and findings |
Evaluation Manager | Head of MEAL | Ensuring evaluation delivery is on track and needs of evaluation team are met |
Evaluation Team | Consultant/ consultancy team | Delivery of evaluation |
9. Evaluation Deliverables
● Inception report (max 3 pages)
● Interview tools
● Findings & recommendations workshop
● Final evaluation report (max 25 pages)
● Executive summary (max 4 pages)
● External insights content
10. Duration, Timing and Schedule
Start: July 2025
End: September 2025
Estimated 21 working days
11. Budget and Submission of Proposals
Budget ceiling: £12,500
Submit:
● Cover letter
● CV(s)
● Relevant work example
● 2 referees
12. Equal Opportunity Statement
MapAction is committed to equality and inclusion. All applications will be assessed based on relevance, quality, and cost-effectiveness.