Tenders are invited for Independent Evaluation Services for Joint Galmudug & Puntland Peace Initiative Project. Closing Date: 20 Sep 2025 Type: Consultancy Summary CARE and its consortium members implemented SSF III Joint Galmudug & Puntland Peace Initiative Project in Mudug region. CARE is seeking to procure the service of an external consultant to undertake endline evaluation for the SSF III project that has high demands in terms of the quality of data and information to be collected, in order to generate robust evidence in peace building process, outcomes and impact. CARE has been working in Somalia since 1981, providing humanitarian relief and long-term development support with a strong focus on women and girls. Its work addresses the root causes of poverty through three mutually reinforcing areas: promoting education and gender equality by strengthening government capacity, building youth life skills, and supporting local organizations; advancing climate justice, food security, and nutrition through climate-smart agriculture, diversified livelihoods, WASH, and early warning systems; and delivering humanitarian assistance in emergencies, including food security, health, nutrition, education, protection, and recovery support, while promoting womens leadership in crisis response. Background Mudug sits at the administrative and social frontier between Puntland (to the north) and Galmudug (to the south), with Galkayo as the regions economic and political hub. The city itself is historically divided into northern and southern administrations, and the wider rural periphery is traversed by pastoral migration routes that shift seasonally with rainfall and rangeland conditions. This geography produces both interdependence and friction. Access to water points, rangeland, and markets links communities across the state line, while layered authority structures including state administrations, district councils, traditional elders, religious leaders, security actors, and civic groups compete or collaborate in managing everyday disputes. Over the last decade, localized violence in Mudug has periodically flared around land tenure and settlement growth in periurban areas, taxation and control of transport corridors, and resource use in dry seasons when herds concentrate around boreholes and berkads. These pressures are amplified by climatic shocks (droughts/floods), population movements (IDPs and returnees), and the proliferation of small arms. Clan relations, particularly among communities on both sides of the administrative boundary remain a critical factor shaping risk and resilience. While ceasefire understandings and dialogue platforms have reduced largescale confrontations in the region, the peace is fragile, with recurrent triggers including rumors and misinformation, youth mobilization, competition, and unresolved grievances from past incidents. At the same time, there are important peace assets to build on: established elders councils and districtlevel peace and security committees; joint incidentmanagement practices that have emerged around hotlines and adhoc negotiations; active womens and youth groups engaged in social reconciliation; and trusted radio and community media voices that can carry credible information across communities. However, these mechanisms are uneven in capacity and inclusivity, and they are not consistently linked across the state boundary limiting their ability to prevent escalation or to enforce agreements. Joint Puntland & Galmudug Peace Initiative (SSF III) was designed to consolidate and extend the fragile gains in Mudug region crossborder corridor. Led by CARE with local partners (PSA and CPD), the project combines four mutually reinforcing workstreams: Strengthening peace architecture at district and interstate levels so committees can mediate disputes, monitor agreements, and coordinate with security and administrative actors. Community conciliation and traumainformed social healing, using inclusive dialogue forums and followup support that connect elders, women, youth, IDPs, and minorities to practical problemsolving. Early warning that integrates community reporting with local government decisionmaking and links conflict monitoring to climatic and seasonal risk information. Peace journalism and media literacy, supporting ethical content production, rumor management, and public information that counters hate speech and reduce the risk of incitement. Geographically, implementation prioritizes active conflict corridors surrounding Mudug districts on both sides of the administrative boundary, with attention to grazing corridors, market towns, and transport routes where tensions concentrate. The approach is adaptive (Thinking and Working Politically), grounded in conflictsensitivity and DoNoHarm, and explicitly targets gender equality and social inclusion. The projects theory of change assumes that credible, connected, and inclusive local institutions, when paired with timely information and constructive narratives, can prevent escalation and transform dispute handling norms. To achieve this, the intervention formalized collaboration between Puntland and Galmudug peace and security structures through joint protocols, referral pathways, and shared incident tracking; enhanced dispute resolution quality by equipping committees with training, tools, and case management follow-up while ensuring womens and youth participation and accountability to communities; links climate and conflict risks via early warning and early response systems that track seasonal stressors such as water scarcity and migration surges; reduces rumor-driven violence through peace journalism and media literacy that elevate trusted voices and verification routines; and generates peace dividends by coupling conciliation with practical actions like access arrangements at water points or market regulations, thereby reinforcing trust and demonstrating tangible benefits from agreements. Together, these pathways aim to reduce the frequency and severity of incidents, increase perceptions of safety and trust, and institutionalize collaboration across the PuntlandGalmudug boundary so that peace is more resilient to shocks. Purpose & Objectives of the Evaluation The purpose is to provide an independent, credible assessment of project achievements at closure, and actionable recommendations for future peacebuilding investments in Puntland & Galmudug. Objectives: To assess the extent to which results (outputs outcomes) were achieved across the four objectives; identify most/least effective approaches and contribution to reduced violence, social cohesion, and institutional capacity. This will also examine how cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, conflict sensitivity/Do No Harm, safeguarding, and ethical practice were integrated and influenced effectiveness. To assess the extent to which the benefits and social gains of the project have impacted differently the various demographics of the area, in particular women and girls, marginalized groups and the sections of the population more frequently at odds with each other. To examine the fit with conflict dynamics, climate risks, local governance arrangements, and alignment with SSF III strategy and state/national policies. To review timeliness, resource use, partnership arrangements, and delivery modalities, including rapid response and adaptive management. To assess the durability of peace architecture, community platforms, earlywarning practices, and media coalitions; identify conditions for sustaining/replicating gains. Capture lessons learned through detailed case studies and human-interest stories that illustrate pathways of change, community perspectives, and lived experiences. Methodology The evaluation is expected to apply a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative tools to generate credible and actionable findings. It should be grounded such as the OECD-DAC criteria, while also being sensitive to the fragile and conflict-affected communities. The overarching approach should emphasize contribution analysis, looking at how the project has influenced observed changes, and ensuring evidence is triangulated from multiple sources. Appropriate sampling strategies that capture variations across Puntland and Galmudug, with deliberate inclusion of diverse groups such as women, youth, minorities, and displaced populations. This methodology should also demonstrate how both stable and conflict-affected areas will be reflected. The evaluation should draw on multiple sources, including project documentation, surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and case studies. We are particularly interested in approaches that capture community perspectives, institutional and peace structures experiences. Ethical standards will be critical and should be highlighted how safeguarding, informed consent, confidentiality, and referral mechanisms will be ensured. Quality assurance mechanisms should also be outlined to guarantee the reliability of data collection and analysis. Finally, the methodology should clearly describe how evidence will be analyzed and integrated, ensuring that findings are both rigorous and practical for program learning. And potential limitations should be acknowledged (e.g., access constraints, sensitivities, or data gaps) and propose realistic mitigation measures. Scope of Work Develop an inception report. Provide a concise overview of the proposed evaluation approach aligned to the ToR, including a highlevel methodology, sampling outline, analysis frame, ethical safeguards, risk management, data quality assurance (DQA) approach, and a draft workplan/Gantt. Attach draft instruments in annex. Prepare a detailed workplan and methodology. Translate the approach into sequenced tasks, roles, and timelines for evaluation, specifying roles, Tender Link : https://reliefweb.int/job/4175576/independent-evaluation-services-joint-galmudug-puntland-peace-initiative-project
