Call for Applications: Impact Assessment of eCTAC Course

SUMMARY

The International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ), seeks to commission an independent review of the impact of its Online Counter-Terrorism Academic Curriculum (eCTAC) Course. This document outlines the IIJ’s requirements and the process by which interested parties should apply to undertake the impact assessment.

BACKGROUND

The International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ), located in Malta, has a mission to deliver innovative and sustainable capacity-building through the implementation of counter-terrorism-related, rule of law-based good practices developed by the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) and other international and regional fora.

Since its inauguration in 2014, the IIJ has trained more than 8,500 criminal justice practitioners from 125 countries through its interactive capacity-building workshops – in Malta and abroad – that enhance the competencies of parliamentarians, judges, prosecutors, police, prison and other criminal justice practitioners to address terrorism and related transnational criminal activities within a rule of law framework. The IIJ delivers capacity-building training tailored to the needs of the regions it serves, including North, West and East Africa; the Middle East; and select engagement in the Balkans, and Central, South and Southeast Asia. For more information on the IIJ, please visit the IIJ’s website at http://www.theiij.org.

In 2020, the IIJ launched an Academic Unit to provide in-depth courses to criminal justice practitioners aimed at filling critical knowledge gaps necessary for successfully countering terrorism and transnational crime. The Academic Unit’s initial course offering – in the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic – was the innovative Online Counter-Terrorism Academic Curriculum (eCTAC) Course. The eCTAC brings investigators, prosecutors, and examining judges together in an intensive, cutting-edge course on proactive investigations and prosecutions of terrorist cases – equipping them with the skills and knowledge to successfully intervene in terrorist plots before attacks occur. As such, the course emphasises effective inter-agency coordination, international judicial cooperation, and special investigative techniques. The eCTAC employs the flipped learning approach, which shifts initial instruction to the individual learning space prior to the online sessions, resulting in the transformation of live sessions into a dynamic learning environment where participants apply the skills and concepts they are learning. The eCTAC builds crucial practitioner capacity for proactive investigations and prosecutions of terrorism cases and expanding practitioner knowledge on gathering evidence to disrupt terrorist activity. In addition, the eCTAC focuses on practical skills and introduces criminal justice officials to useful tools in order to increase the effectiveness of their work, ending with a dynamic international simulation to put these skills and tools into practice. Unlike many other online trainings, the eCTAC combines this emphasis on practical skills and knowledge, dynamic exercises, and expert instruction and facilitation by international practitioners into a dynamic course in this online format.

SCOPE OF REVIEW

The IIJ is seeking applications from parties (including individual consultants, for-profit firms, non-governmental organisations, think tanks, and academic or research organisations) that can demonstrate a capability to deliver a high-quality impact assessment. As the eCTAC was delivered in Arabic, English, and French, applicants that can demonstrate competencies in all three languages will have an advantage.

The IIJ is seeking an independent impact assessment of its eCTAC course since its launch in late 2020. To date, the IIJ has delivered eight course iterations in Arabic, English, and French with practitioners from 31 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The IIJ is interested in a review of the curriculum’s relevance, impact, and benefit-cost ratio across the alumni of these eight courses. Namely, the IIJ anticipates the impact assessment to evaluate the following:

1. What has been, if any, the impact of the eCTAC course for course participants? This should include a compelling set of tangible evidence (qualitative and/or quantitative) and can include changes in participants’ awareness or understanding of important issues or frameworks as well as changes in practice, policy, training, or operational decisions in their own work, that of their units, or more broadly. The assessment should determine (to the greatest extent possible) how the changes were brought about, their significance, and their sustainability (i.e., if they are likely to last).
2. How relevant is the eCTAC course for frontline criminal justice practitioners in the focus countries? (Relevance in this instance refers to both the curriculum’s relevance to participants’ context as well as to participants’ work in the criminal justice system.)
3. What is the value for money of the eCTAC course? (This would include a light-touch benefit-cost analysis as compared to relevant online and in-person capacity building activities as well as by, whenever possible, estimating value to non-financial outputs and impacts (e.g., educational, networking, synergies, and approaches.)
4. What lessons learned on online learning and the flipped learning approach developed during eCTAC courses can be applied to other IIJ capacity building initiatives?
5. What improvements can be made in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of IIJ courses?

Much of the primary materials have already been completed and gathered by the IIJ. The successful applicant will receive the relevant documentation and M&E materials for the eight courses, including anonymised pre- and post-tests, post-course feedback and impact survey responses, transcripts and video interviews conducted by the IIJ with approximately 40 eCTAC alumni (reflecting 25% of the total number), and opportunities to interview relevant IIJ staff and course alumni. Applicants are welcome to propose their own research questions and methods for the impact assessment. The final draft of the evaluation must be completed by the end of November 2023.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested parties should submit a proposal (of no more than seven pages) that includes the following components:

1. Cover sheet with a summary of the proposal;
2. Profile of the applicant, including the names and qualifications of the key member(s) of the team;
3. Track record and examples of similar impact assessments;
4. Proposed approach and methodology;
5. Timeline for the assessment and deliverables; and
6. Financial proposal for the full cost of the impact assessment in terms of number of days anticipated multiplied by proposed daily rate. Please note that no other costs will be considered beyond consultancy fees.

Applicants must submit an electronic copy of the proposal clearly referencing “eCTAC IMPACT ASSESSMENT 2023” in the subject line to hr@theiij.org by 23:59pm CET on 11 September 2023. Late submissions or those that do not conform to the format or submission requirements will not be considered.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Applications that meet the requirements will be assessed by the following weighted criteria:

• (50%) Quality of proposal (applicability and relevance of the assessment methodology, clarity of the workplan, and reasonability of the timeline);
• (10%) Demonstrated track record in impact assessments; and
• (40%) Value for money.

CONTACT

Questions or requests for further information regarding this call for applications may be directed to IIJ Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Quentin Balthazart, at balthazartq@theiij.org.