Terms of Reference - The Regional Environmental Center for ...

This project targets 120 people trained and involved in the activities directly, with a spillovereffect to another 430 as a minimum. The target groups are policy makers and legislators fromministries of justice and environment, judges and prosecutors, and practitioners from theenforcement agencies attached to the ministries of environment, forestry, and the interior.The Regional Environmental Center (REC) is implementing the project, as the secretariat forthe Themis cooperation platform, with the help of its country office network in thebeneficiary region.2. Purpose of the evaluationThe evaluation is intended to assess the relevance, performance, managementarrangements and successes and failures of the project, based on the benchmarks andindicators identified during the planning stage.The evaluation will, in particular:• seek to enhance the project impact by examining lessons learned for a possible newphase of the project;• provide accountability to the donor by determining whether the project objectiveswere met and resources were wisely utilised;• identify areas of improvement in the project;• clarify and tackle problems; and• obtain participatory feedback from the major stakeholders involved in the project.The evaluation will also:• provide suggestions on setting different priorities and goals;• provide suggestions on new strategic directions for the future; and• provide recommendations on the methodology, planning and implementation ofsimilar projects in the future, always keeping in mind that the final objective would beto contribute to the development of environmental protection in the beneficiaryregion.The main users of the evaluation will be the project management team, the donor and thebeneficiary countries.3. ObjectivesThe evaluation is commissioned by the REC, as implementing partner, following the rules ofthe donor (ADA) for accountability and quality assurance. The exercise is carried out in thefinal months of project implementation to assess the adequacy of the proposed instrumentsand the results achieved.The evaluation aims to review the results (outputs, outcomes, impacts) and assess theeffectiveness, efficiency and relevance of interventions with a view to providing conclusionsand recommendations.4. Subject and focus (scope)Unit of analysis and time period:The evaluation covers activities performed under the project “Promoting regionalcooperation in South Eastern Europe via networking within the authorities responsible for theenvironment and justice sectors (Themis Network)”, Contract n° 8284-00/2011 for the period2012-2013.Financed by Austrian Development CooperationPage 2 of 8