Research service: Conduct a three-country evaluation of the effectiveness of the “Freedom Rising” program

The Freedom Fund is a global fund with the sole aim of helping end modern slavery. We fundamentally believe in the power of local and lived experience leadership, as we have seen how leaders who are deeply connected with their communities are able to drive the change that is needed to end exploitation in these communities. However, we have also noticed limited opportunities and support available for frontline leaders to develop their leadership skills. Individuals from marginalised groups, including women and survivors, face additional barriers.

The Freedom Rising program emerged to address these gaps and support the growth of a diverse movement that can drive systemic change required to end slavery. The Freedom Rising program is a transformative leadership program that aims to provide space for leaders to reflect, analyse, experience, practice, and action change to achieve their mission. The main objective of Freedom Rising is to grow and strengthen anti-slavery movements that are shaped and led by women, survivors, and individuals from marginalised groups.

The Freedom Fund is seeking to understand the impact of the approach implemented by the Freedom Rising program across India, Nepal and Brazil on its participants, their organisations, and broader antislavery movement within the program’s implementation areas. The researcher(s) selected to conduct this evaluation will be assessing the effectiveness of the program against the outcomes that were developed during its latest monitoring & evaluation framework review, which serve as guidelines for implementation. A core element of this evaluation will be the assessment of the curriculum’s success in achieving these pre-established outcomes.

Individual researchers, organisations and consortia are invited to submit proposals for this research. Given that this evaluation spans multiple countries, the Freedom Fund is prepared to assist the chosen research team or researcher in identifying appropriate data collectors in each country. Nevertheless, we are keen to learn if you currently have any existing connections in India, Nepal, or Brazil that could potentially facilitate this process. Priority will be given to researchers or teams that have connections in either of the three implementing countries.

The Freedom Fund anticipates this to be a combined seven-month project, with planning commencing in May 2024 and final reports due in November 2024. A fee of roughly USD 55,000 has been made available for this evaluation, although budgets that are higher or lower would still be considered if the costs are well justified. Budgets will be reviewed with respect to the strength of the proposal in meeting the project objectives in a cost-effective manner – we do not simply prioritise the lowest budget.

Please click here to access the full Request for Proposals document.