Background

In 2011, The Government of Rwanda and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), jointly initiated a two years project to Support the Strategic Capacity Building Initiative (SCBI).The main purpose of the project was to support the Government of Rwanda – particularly the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning   (MINECOFIN) and other institutions in the Centre of Government to address critical capacity constraints hindering the realization of the goal of vision 2020. The project also aimed at strengthening sector-level policy coordination function within the Prime Minister’s Office. The project was implemented through the Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat (PSCBS).

• Selected government institutions trained on relevant skills;
• Institutional audit developed for selected government agencies;
• Capacity building plans developed and implemented;
• The PMO staff provide high quality policy analysis;
• Capacity building for relevant PMO staff.

Objective of the Project ” Support to Capacity Building Initiative (SCBI)”

The overall objective for the project is to enhance the linkage of Government priorities, focused delivery, coordination and harmonization of the initiative and its actual implementation. The project supported the strengthening of the capacity of the Rwandan Counterparts through skills and knowledge transfer, coaching mentoring and work closely with international technical experts who are practioners in selected fields. The project contributed to improved policy coherence through the strengthening of the policy coordination function within the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). The project also supported capacity building with the aim of creating a step change in the quality of the upstream policy advisory services, currently at the disposal of the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Project has been implemented for 22 months (November 2011-August 2013).This end of project evaluation focuses on the entire implementation period. The evaluation is forward looking and will capture effectively lessons learnt and provide information on the nature, extent and where possible, the potential impact and sustainability of the SCBI project. The evaluation will assess the project design, scope, implementation status and the capacity to achieve the project objectives. It will collate and analyze lessons learnt, challenges faced and best practices obtained during implementation which will inform the programming strategy in the next programming phase 2013-2018 in response to the EDPRS2 priorities.

The emphasis on learning lessons speaks to the issue of understanding what has and what has not worked as a guide for future planning. It will assess the performance of the project against planned results. The evaluation will assess the preliminary indications of potential impact and sustainability of results including the contribution to capacity development and achievement of sustainable development goals. The results of the evaluation will draw lessons that will inform the key stakeholders of this evaluation who are the Government of Rwanda- through the NCBS, PMO, MINECOFIN and UNDP. The evaluation will generate knowledge from the implementation of the SCBI project by the various implementing partners in collaboration with UNDP and the Government of Rwanda and reflect on challenges; lessons learnt and propose actionable recommendations for future programming.

The support to SCBI end of Project evaluation will assess the effectiveness of the implementation strategy and the results. This will include the implementation modalities, co-financing UNDP/GoR roles and responsibilities, coordination, partnership arrangements, institutional strengthening, beneficiary participation, replication and sustainability of the programme. The evaluation will include review of the project design and assumptions made at the beginning of the project development process. Project management including the implementation strategies; project activities; it will assess the extent to which the project results have been achieved, partnerships established, capacities built, and cross cutting issues of mainstreaming gender, human rights and south-south cooperation have been addressed. It will also assess whether the project implementation strategy has been optimum and recommend areas for improvement and learning

Candidates should apply by sending the following documents to the only email address at offers.rw@undp.org:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how he/she will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.
  

Duties and Responsibilities

The support to SCBI End of Project evaluation will be carried out in accordance with UNEG Evaluation Norms and Standards of Evaluation and Ethical Standards as well as OECD/DAC evaluation principles and guidelines and in full compliance with the DAC Evaluation Quality Standards (206). This is a summative evaluation involving qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the support to SCBI implementation and performance and to make recommendations for the next programming cycle.

The support to SCBI End of Project Evaluation will be carried out through a wide participation of all relevant stakeholders including the One UN, the GoR institutions, as well as development partners, and right holders. Field visits to selected project sites; and briefing and debriefing sessions with UNDP and the Government officials, as well as with development partners is envisaged. Data collected should be disaggregated (by sex, age and location), where possible.

In order to use existing sources/information and avoid duplication, data will be mainly collected from various information sources through a desk review that will include the comprehensive desk review and analysis of relevant documents, information, data/statistics, triangulation of different studies, etc. Data will also be collected from stakeholders’ key informants through interviews, discussions, consultative processes, and observations in field missions. This phase will be comprised of:

Review and analysis of relevant documents including the GoR programmatic documents & reports, the UNDP/UN Rwanda programmatic documents & reports, recent studies and research reports, developmental and social reports, (see list attached and relevant links)

Critical analysis of available data with regards to the national guiding documents as well as the intended UN inputs to the GoR. The SCBI End of Project Evaluation will benefit from and use optimally the data collected through the Country-Led Evaluation of DaO, the UNDAF MTR reports, Independent Evaluation of DaO, UNDAF End of Programme Evaluation and independent project evaluations.

The support to SCBI End of Project Evaluation will take cognisance of One UN Annual Reports, the Country-led Evaluation, the UNDAF Mid-Term Review Reports, Independent Evaluation of DaO, and other agency evaluations/reports to determine the effectiveness of the Delivering as One modality to support achievement of national priorities. 

The support to SCBI final Evaluation should also take into account the lessons learned from the Country-led Evaluation and Independent Evaluation, UNDAF Evaluations in terms of:

• Response to the national development objectives (project relevance);
• Creating a common, coherent and results-oriented strategy for successor project;
• Facilitating joint programmes to the extent possible (reducing overall transactions costs).
  

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly.

Functional Competencies:

Leadership:

• Capacity to engage with a wide audience of diverse background.

Technical Skills:

• The suitable candidate for this consultancy shall have extensive experience in  research and possess well-developed  data collection skills.

• Good understanding  of knowledge management.

Planning and Management:

• The consultant needs to demonstrate a proven record in the field of  programme formulation, monitoring and evaluation.

• The consultant will have written and oral fluency in English.  Knowledge of French and or Kinyarwanda is an added advantage.

Teamwork:

• Ability to establish and maintain good working relations with colleagues in multi-cultural environment.

Required Skills and Experience

• At least a master’s degree in Public Policy, International Development, Development Economics/Planning, Economic, Public Administration, and Management and in any other related university degree.

Experience:

• Extensive expertise, knowledge, and experience in the field of evaluation of development programmes
• At least 10 years of experience in working with international organizations and donors;
• Experience of programme formulation, monitoring and evaluation.

• Fluency in English. Working knowledge in French is an added advantage; and
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Fluency in spoken French will be and added advantage.