Scalability Diagnostics, Evidence Synthesis and Learning Products for Selected S

Scalability Diagnostics, Evidence Synthesis and Learning Products for Selected SOS Children's Villages Projects

Applying the IES Scalability Pathway to assess project’s scale readiness, synthesise evidence and learning, develop recommendations and learning products
1. Background

SOS Children’s Villages is a global federation working to ensure that children and young people who have lost, or are at risk of losing, parental care can grow with the relationships, support and opportunities they need to thrive. Member Associations (MAs) implement programmes in diverse contexts and require practical approaches to strengthen programme quality, use evidence, capture learning and increase the reach, depth and sustainability of impact.

The Innovation, Evidence & Scale (IES) Unit supports MAs and partners to move intentionally from priority challenges and promising solutions towards stronger evidence, continuous learning and appropriate scale. The IES Scalability Pathway provides a common framework with different routes to scale a project or programme, it sets out phases, innovation routes, evidence and learning roadmaps, quality gates and a toolkit for this progression.

Evidence and learning are integral to every phase of the Pathway. Evidence supports decisions on whether and how a project should be improved, adapted, replicated or positioned for wider influence. Learning helps make project experience accessible and useful to practitioners, leaders, partners and decision-makers.

This consultancy will support the practical application of the IES Scalability Pathway by helping selected MAs assess where their priority projects currently stand within the pathway, review and synthesise existing evidence and learning and make recommendations to strengthen evidence generation to support scalability. Through a structured diagnostic process, the consultancy will provide practical recommendations to inform project improvement and decision-making on pathways to scale. In addition, it will consolidate key evidence, learning and lessons from each project into accessible learning products that can support knowledge sharing, reflection and future programme development.
2. Objectives
2.1. General

Strengthen the capacity of selected Member Associations to determine where their priority projects stand within the IES Scalability Pathway, assess and synthesise existing evidence and learning and develop project-specific recommendations and learning products for each selected project.
2.2. Specific

- Review and assess available documentation for the 5 selected Member Associations’ focus projects (one project per country).

- Map each focus project's position within the IES Scalability Pathway and identify the evidence and learning currently available and critical gaps.

- Synthesise existing evidence and learning and develop project-specific recommendations on evidence generation priorities and pathways to scale.

- Develop at least 1 learning product for each focus project to capture and communicate key evidence, lessons learned and recommendations.

3. Scope and methodological approach

The consultancy will be supervised by the Innovation, Evidence & Scale (IES) Unit of SOS Children’s Villages International, which will provide strategic guidance, access to relevant framework documents and project information, consolidated feedback, and coordination with participating Member Associations (MAs).

The proposed approach should be guided by the following principles:

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Project maturity: projects at different stages will require different approaches, for example, early-stage projects may have limited evidence available and require a focus on identifying priority evidence needs, while more mature projects may require deeper synthesis of existing evidence and learning to inform scalability decisions.

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Locally owned processes: MA teams should be actively involved in the review and validation of diagnostics and the development of learning product