South Sudan: Country Programme Evaluation 2026

Feb 17, 2026 (Deadline: 2026-03-04) | Finn Church Aid
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Finn Church Aid (FCA) is the largest Finnish development cooperation organisation and an important provider of humanitarian assistance. FCA is a rights-based and faith-based organisation founded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. FCA operates in 12 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. It works with the most vulnerable people, regardless of their religious beliefs, ethnic background, or political convictions and contributes to positive changes by supporting people in fragile and disaster-affected areas.

FCA’s vision is a world comprised of resilient and just societies where everyone’s right to sustainable livelihood, quality education and peace has been fulfilled. FCA is committed to the rights-based approach, and our work is guided by international human rights standards and principles. Empowerment and participation are key in all FCA’s interventions. Inclusivity, equality, local ownership, transparency, accountability, Quality and Accountability and Do No Harm constitute important core values and approaches that guide FCA’s work.

FCA Global Strategy (2022 onwards) is the highest-level strategy document for FCA. FCA’s Global Programme translates the strategy into practice and sets the overall framework for our programme work. FCA specialises in three thematic priority areas: Right to Livelihood (R2L), Right to Quality Education (R2QE) and Right to Peace (R2P). During the Global Programme 2022-2025 period, the cross-cutting issues were gender equality and social inclusion, climate action and environmental sustainability conflict sensitivity and do-no-harm. FCA’s working modalities are development cooperation, humanitarian assistance, advocacy, and investments.

Background of the evaluation

FCA has supported humanitarian and development programmes in Sudan since 1972 through local organizations and in 2010, FCA established a local presence in South Sudan by opening an office in Juba. FCA is implementing projects in Jonglei, Western Equatoria, Central Equatoria, Unity and Lake States. In 2025, South Sudan Country Office (SSUCO) employed 72 national and 5 international staff members. The country program’s annual budget has more than doubled in the past few years, increasing from € 4 million euros in 2020 to 8,7 million euros in 2024. Donors of the country programme include e.g. the European Commission, Education Cannot Wait and the Finnish Foreign Ministry.

FCA’s work in South Sudan is guided by the organisation’s global strategy and the global programme (GP). FCA South Sudan’s vision is a society where people can claim and enjoy their rights to participate equitably, as active citizens, in social, economic, environmental, and political development of their societies. FCA South Sudan adopts a rights-based and result-driven strategic approach to humanitarian and development interventions, guaranteeing that our work aligns with the UN’s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. FCA's operations include long term development cooperation, humanitarian assistance and advocacy, and our focus is on three main thematic areas, Right to Quality Education (R2QE), Right to Livelihood (R2L) and Right to Peace (R2P). The country strategy makes a commitment to quality, accountability and sustainability. It puts emphasis on leadership, professional management of people and long-term planning of all human resources. Furthermore, it seeks active collaboration with donors and uses financial resources in an ethical and effective way. The programme is a mix of direct implementation and joint implementation with local and international partners such as South Sudan Council of Churches, Save the Children and Norwegian Refugee Council. Notably, during the period under evaluation FCA has played a key role in management of South Sudan's Education Cannot Wait Fund that involves also partners such as World Vision and Plan International.

Under Right to Peace (R2P), FCA SSUCO contributes to inclusive political and peacebuilding processes at multiple levels. We support meaningful participation of diverse groups (including traditional and faith-based actors, women, and youth) in dialogues and peace support efforts. We actively promote the leadership of women and youth in peacebuilding, ensuring their voices shape lasting solutions. During the period under review (2022-2025), FCA and its partners have focused especially on initiatives that create space for women’s voices to be heard, valued, and acted upon. Through targeted capacity-building workshops, leadership trainings, and inclusive community forums, women have gained the confidence and tools needed to articulate their concerns, influence policies, and lead peacebuilding efforts. Between 2022-2024, these actions reached approximately 41,000 women.

Under Right to Quality Education (R2QE), FCA promotes education for children and youth, with a focus on access, retention, successful transitions, and lifelong learning. FCA enhances the accessibility and quality of vocational education, equipping youth with market-relevant skills and competencies. FCA also links vocational training with employment opportunities, and support career guidance and counselling to help individuals realize their rights and potential especially in fragile contexts. FCA works in partnership with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, civil society organizations, the UN, the Teachers without Borders (TwB) network and community structures to strengthen the education sector. Between 2022-2025, FCA’s commitment to education extended to resilience-building initiatives, including the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) programme and an Education in Emergency Project. These initiatives aimed to provide continuous learning opportunities amidst ongoing crises. Activities encompassed community mobilization, child protection in education, mental health, and psychosocial support (MHPSS), school infrastructure development, and teacher training. In 2024, FCA Uganda and FCA South Sudan also jointly designed a cross-border education programme to address barriers to education for internally displaced South Sudanese children in South Sudan and for South Sudanese refugee children in Uganda. The programme aimed to ensure that both displaced, returnee and host community children gained improved access to safe, protective, and inclusive emergency education and livelihood support. Between 2022-2024, the country programme reached approximately 111,000 learners.

Under Right to Livelihood, FCA SSUCO provides emergency support through cash and in-kind food assistance. We also support agricultural production, fishing communities, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), as well as small businesses and producer groups—fostering sustainable livelihoods and community resilience. FCA’s active involvement in the Food Security (FSL) cluster and the Cash Technical Working Group in South Sudan underscores its commitment to coordinate humanitarian response. In 2022-2025, FCA provided cash assistance to vulnerable households not only to cover basic needs but also to open opportunities for cash recipients to invest in livelihoods activities such as subsistence farming, and small-scale businesses. Between 2022-2024, cash programming reached over 1,300 households. Beyond cash support, FCA invested in long-term community resilience, establishment of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) to bring local people together to build savings, access loans, and support each other’s financial growth. To ensure sustainability, FCA trains VSLA members in bookkeeping and financial management, equipping them with the tools to track, save, and grow their resources effectively. In 2022-2024, VSLA support reached more than 66,000 people

Furthermore in 2022-2025, FCA has provided humanitarian assistance in response to natural and man-made disasters such as floods and internal conflicts which let to massive displacements. FCA has supported refugee escaping conflict in neighboring Sudan. As part of FCA South Sudan’s ongoing response to support refugees and returnees, we continue to for example provide dignity kits to girls who would otherwise go without the basic essentials needed to manage their menstruation safely and confidently.

Rational, purpose and priority objectives of the evaluation

Country programme evaluations in FCA serve two-fold purpose, strengthening accountability on the one hand and learning and programme development of the organisation on the other hand. FCA is certified against the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) of quality and accountability, which creates an obligation to evaluate performance and use that learning to improve the quality and effectiveness of our work. Hence, FCA uses learnings and recommendations from evaluations not only to ensure accountability towards stakeholders but also to further develop our programming and operations.

South Sudan Country Programme’s previous evaluation dates to 2018. The year 2026 is a particularly favourable moment for stock-taking, as the country programme has had to adapt to evolving circumstances in the country and developments in the donor landscape, and a country strategy revision is planned for 2026.

Against this background, two objectives are set for the South Sudan country programme evaluation of 2026:

1. Capturing the successes and challenges of the country programme between 2022 -2025 as well as factors contributing to them.
2. Providing recommendations for FCA’s future programming in South Sudan, and opportunities to create synergies in implementation of regional projects with FCA’s Uganda country programme considering the opportunities and threats of the operational environment.

The results and recommendations of the country's programme evaluation will be used both internally and externally. Within FCA, the evaluation will support FCA’s country strategy revision in South Sudan scheduled for 2026-2027 as well as the operationalization of the Global Programme 2026-2029. Externally, FCA will also use the evaluation report in its engagements with donor organizations, incl. the Finnish Foreign Ministry, and local stakeholders in South Sudan.

Scope of the evaluation

The evaluation will cover FCA’s country programme in South Sudan between 2022-2025 including

• the strategic themes of right to livelihoods, right to quality education and right to peace
• the modalities of development, humanitarian aid, and advocacy, including the triple nexus
• rights-based approach and the cross-cutting issues of GESI (Gender equality and Social Inclusion) climate action and environmental protection, and conflict-sensitivity and Do No Harm (including safeguarding)
• The geographic locations of Juba, Malakal, Fangak, Yei, Pibor, Guit, Minkaman, Kajokeji, Lainya, and Pochalla.
• Collaboration with FCA Uganda in 2024 (the Country Office in Kampala and Palorinya refugee settlement)
• Collaboration with South Sudan Ministry of General Education and Instruction, Ministry of Peace-building, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Livestock, and Ministry of Environment, South Sudan Council of Churches, South Sudan NGO forum, national and international partners.

How to Apply:

Deadline for submission of offers is on 04 March 2026, 11:00 Finland Time

Please download the complete ToR and annexes from the link below.

Candidates must send their offers through the electronic supplier portal, no later than the deadline mentioned above using the link below. The complete tender dossier can also be downloaded from the link below.

https://tarjouspalvelu.fi/kirkonulkomaanapu?id=596992&tpk=756fe17c-1b35-4503-82cd-9ac7e8e2ac1d

Proposal submissions via email are not accepted.

Any tenders received after the deadline will not be considered. Incomplete or partial bids and bids outside the budget range will be rejected.

No tender may be changed or withdrawn after the deadline has passed.

The candidate shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the offer and the Contracting Authority will in no case be responsible or liable for these costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the procurement process.

Questions regarding the terms of reference and evaluation must be sent using the supplier portal.

For any technical difficulties, you may contact us at procurement@kua.fi

The candidate shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of the offer and the Contracting Authority will in no case be responsible or liable for these costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the procurement process.

The proposal is to include the following documents:

• Annex 3: Tender submission form (including the required supporting documentation)
• Annex 5: Technical Proposal (using FCA’s template)
• Annex 6: CV (including a short summary of relevant competences and previous evaluation work conducted) by using FCA’s CV submission form
• 3 examples of recent evaluation work
• 3 recommendation letters from previous contract providers
• All other documents required as part of eligibility criteria