Background

The UNDP project Support for Low Emission Development in South East Europe (SLED) provides support to national and local level to enhance the capacities for climate change mitigation and adaption enhanced.  Kosovo's citizens are the poorest in Europe with an average annual per capita income (PPP) of $7,400. Unemployment, around 45%, is a significant problem that encourages outward migration and a significant informal, unreported economy, followed by improper use of natural resources. The poverty makes Kosovo especially vulnerable to any climatic changes.

In Kosovo, framework laws in the area of Climate Change are either in place or in the process of adoption. The institutions needed to implement EU standards are also in place but their capacity to implement and enforce legislation at central and local levels must be strengthened. The budget devoted to the sector is insufficient, while at the same time environmental and climate change mitigation and adaptation concerns are not mainstreamed into other policies.

The project will explore opportunities for capacity for climate resilient development at national and local level, Low emission climate resilient strategy and action plan development and Promotion of sustainable energy policies and programs and enhance public awareness in municipalities concerning energy efficiency.

The project is a 2.5 years initiative and started its implementation on July 2013 and has finalizing date of December 2015. It has a budget of 420,000 EURO funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation Funds.

The project consists of the three main outputs: 1) capacity  for climate resilient development strengthened at national and local level, 2) low emission climate resilient strategy and action plan developed and 3) promote sustainable energy policies and programs and enhance public awareness in municipalities concerning energy efficiency. ensure

The monitoring of the SLED project is being done by both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Qualitative self-assessment data is collected from each training cycle. Central indicators for the outputs 1 and 2 are the prepared policy documents and the monitoring of their integration in the central level policy making. All activities of the project are monitored in quantitative terms, whether by e.g. the number of participants,(disaggregated by gender) affected municipalities or the existence of a specific assessment or strategy drafted within the component.

This final project evaluation is being conducted to provide conclusions and recommendations about the relevance, impact, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project.  The overall responsibility for managing the evaluation will be with the Inclusive Growth Programme of UNDP Kosovo. SLED project will provide support to the evaluators by organising meetings with key partners and will work closely with the evaluators to provide required information.
The evaluation will be carried out by a group of 2 evaluators (1 international and 1 local) whose combined expertise can cover the following areas:

• Climate Change;
• Energy Efficiency;
• Capacity development.

The 2 Evaluators to be contracted for this evaluation will be independent and will not have been involved in any way with the UNDP SLED project. The international evaluator will have the role of team leader. He/she will be responsible for the design of the methodology for the evaluation (including the draft report), for the distribution of work and roles, for coordinating the work of the team and for consolidation of the draft and final reports.

Beneficiaries and stakeholders

The main beneficiaries of the project are the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP), Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Economic Development, Kosovo Energy Efficiency Agency, Municipalities. Other stakeholders are the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, the Ministry of Infrastructure, and the Ministry for European Integration, together with the University of Pristina, relevant civil society organizations and the private sector.

The main objective of Support Low Emission Development (SLED) project is to support the Government of Kosovo to mainstream climate change concerns into sectoral and overall Kosovo’s development priorities, thus enabling Kosovo to deal with climate change-related issues, and consider it not only as a separate horizontal issue but as an issue of sustainable development.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of Assignment

This final project evaluation is being conducted to provide conclusions and recommendations about the relevance, impact, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project. The evaluation should enables UNDP Kosovo, the donor and other stakeholders to draw lessons from the integrated implementation approach for future similar undertakings and to assess what are the next steps that may need to be taken to ensure the sustainability of the actions undertaken and by whom.

The overall objective of the evaluation is to assess the extent to which the specific project outputs have been achieved and what progress (attributable to the project) was made towards achieving the outcome “Support for Low Emission Development”.

Specific objectives are:

• To evaluate the relevance of the project for the main beneficiaries;
• To evaluate the efficiency of the project and to assess the appropriateness of the integrated approach of the project;
• To evaluate the effectiveness  of the project;
• To identify factors directly influencing the level of achievement of the desired results;
• To evaluate the impact of the project;
• To identify areas in which the implementation mechanism could have been improved;
• To identify the level of the ownership by local actors of the project results and provide prioritized list of recommendations for actions (with respective addressees) in case of any identified need for improvement;
• To identify factors contributing to effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the actions implemented;
• To identify institutional and individual capacity development efforts’ impact on sustainability of results;
• To evaluate the sustainability of the project.

In case of identified barriers for achieving the desired results or identified needs for improvement, the evaluation should provide UNDP Kosovo with a prioritized list of recommendations for actions, with respective addressees for each recommended action or approach.

Scope of work

The geographic scope of the project is Kosovo (project municipalities: Pristina/Pristina, Fushe Kosove/Kosovo Polje, Obiliq/c, Gllogoc/Glogovac, Drgash/s, Shterpce/Strpce, etc).

The International Evaluator in cooperation with Local Evaluator will undertake:

Desk review Phase (2 working days)

• Comprehensive desk review of various sources, relevant publications, research papers, etc.;
• UNDP will provide the specialist with electronic versions of relevant documents. The specialist will study the documents as a preparation for this assignment (PRODOC; Annual work plans (2); Midterm progress reports (2); Annual progress reports(2); Media coverage files ; List of other documents that can provide background information is provided under Annexes)

Field visit (4 working days)

• In close coordination with Local Evaluator, the International Evaluator will undertake field work in Kosovo: discussions with key national and international interlocutors and stakeholders and UNDP, (A list of stakeholders and contact details will be by UNDP)
• Site visits will be organized to project locations to conduct interviews (of both individuals and groups) to develop further intelligence on project operations, management, decision-making and implementation arrangements and in order to identify the relevance of the project. Field visits will additionally include interviews with Austrian Development Agency, Government Representatives and NGOs that deal with research and independent researchers, as well as other Institutions involved in relevant area of work.  UNDP office will arrange translation and transportation services as needed.

Draft report (3 working-days)

• Based on desk research, questionnaire results and field visits, the evaluator will provide a draft report to UNDP. Comments will be provided within 5 working days.

Final report (2 working-days)

• Based on desk review, survey results and field visit the evaluators will produce a report.

The evaluation report should be complete and logically organized. It should be written clearly and understandable to the intended audience.  The final report must include, but not necessarily be limited to, the elements outlined  below:

• Title and opening pages;
• Table of contents;
• List of acronyms and abbreviations;
• Executive summary;
• Introduction;
• Description of the intervention;
• Evaluation scope and objectives;
• Evaluation approach and methods;
• Data analysis;
• Findings and conclusions;
• Recommendations;
• Lessons learned;
• Report annexes.

A final report will be finalised by the evaluator 10 days after the feedback is provided.
The following evaluation criteria and related evaluation questions are proposed for the evaluation process; however these can be expanded and modified by the evaluators:

Relevant evaluation criteria/Key questions suggested 

Relevance: Is the project  relevant for the main beneficiary?

• Has the initiative tackled key climate change issues?
• How relevant was the choice of capacity on climate change interventions for the stakeholders?

Effectiveness: To what level the project has reached the results stated in the project document?

Sustainability:  Will the project results last in time?

• Are there jeopardizing aspects that have not been considered or abated by the project actions?
• Has ownership of the actions and impact been transferred to the corresponding stakeholders?
• Have the beneficiaries the capacity to take over the results of the project and maintain and further develop the results?
• Which measures to ensure sustainability have proved more effective?
• What capacity on climate change products and/or measures are available/easily replicated by the municipality?

Impact: Is there evidence of long lasting desired changes?

• Has the initiative influenced policy making at different levels?
• Has the project impacted the desired target actors and how?
• To what degree the project contributed to the development taken place in regards the project goals?

Is there evidence that institutional systems/mechanisms are in place  which:

• Supports further capacity for climate resilient development at national and local level,
• Implement the low emission climate resilient strategy and action plans
• Promotes sustainable energy policies and programs and enhance public awareness in municipalities concerning energy efficiency

Efficiency: Have resources been used efficiently?

• Have efforts for integrated approach been made appropriately?

Stakeholders and Partnership Strategy

• Who are the major actors and partners involved in the project and how were their roles and interests?
• Was the partnership strategy effective

Evaluability:Can the project be evaluated credibly?

• Were intended results (outputs, outcomes) adequately defined, appropriate and stated in measurable terms, and are the results verifiable
• Were monitoring systems in place?

Theory of Change or Results/Outcome Map

• What are the underlying rationales and assumptions or theory that defines the relationships or chain of results that lead initiative strategies to intended outcomes?
• What are the assumptions, factors or risks inherent in the design that may influence whether the initiative succeeds or fails?

Gender:

• What effects were realized in terms of gender equality, if any?
• Were women and men distinguished in terms of participation and benefits within project?

The evaluation criteria and related  evaluation questions are proposed for the evaluation process; however these can be expanded and modified by the evaluators:

• The response to the above questions should be followed by specific short and long term recommendations that could be undertaken by UNDP or the stakeholders.These analysis has to be done for each output and for the overall project.External evaluators are responsible for refining the evaluation methodology, evaluation questions, carrying out the evaluation and delivering UNDP Kosovo with a draft report and a final report.

The key stakeholders, those involved in the implementation, those served or affected by the project and the users of the evaluation should be involved in the evaluation process.

Deliverables/ Outputs Target

Draft report 

• This stage provides the first analysis and results of the evaluation, drafts the first findings and conclusions and allows for feedback and completion of any missing data by the UNDP project and Programme.

Estimated Duration to Complete

• 3 days.

Due Dates

• November 2015.

Review and approval required

• Programme Coordinator/ IG Environment and Energy.

Deliverables/ Outputs Target

Final report   

• The final report is produced after a review of the first draft and it should provide the complete content of the report as per the main outline proposed under section 4 item d. Reporting.

Estimated Duration to Complete 

• 2 days .

Due dates

• November 2015.

Review and approval required

• Programme Coordinator/ IG Environment and Energy.

Deliverables / Final Products Expected

Report __ Final Evaluation of the Support for Low Emission Development (SLED) Project.

Scope of price proposal and schedule of payments

Presentation of Offer

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability;
• 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 on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

Payment on is made on upon confirmation of deliverables by the Programme Coordinator UNDP Kosovo.

• 50% by the delivery draft final report;
• 50% by the delivery of the final report.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%.

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight; [70%]
* Financial Criteria weight; [30%]

Criteria 

• Technical.

Weight  

• 70%.

Max. Point

• 70 points.

Education: 10 points.
 

Relevant Experience in the evaluation processes associated with energy efficiency, renewable energy and environment.  20 points
Familiarity with the Kosovo legislation framework on climate change and energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency:  5 points.
Language knowledge:  5 points.
Proposed methodology of work: 30 points.

Criteria:

• Financial.

Weight

• 30%.

Max. Point

• 30 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (point) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Application Instructions:

• Click on the "Apply now" button;
• Input your information in the appropriate Sections: personal information, language proficiency, education, resume and motivation. You can type in, or paste your short Resume into the last box;
• Upon completion of the first page, please hit "submit application" tab at the end of the page. On the next page, you will be asked to upload your Resume. Instead of uploading your Resume, please submit a fully completed and signed UNDP Personal History Form (P-11);
• System will only allow one attachment. All docs (P11, academic qualifications/diploma) should be included as one attachment
• Without the completed and signed P11, your application may not be considered. The UNDP Personal History Form can be downloaded at this link:http://www.ks.undp.org/content/kosovo/en/home/operations/jobs

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstrates experience in gender equality;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills;
• Demonstrates substantial experience in gender equality. Actively promotes gender  equality in all Project activities.

Functional Competencies:

• Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter;
• Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior and high-ranking members of international, regional and national institutions;
• Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality project reports;
• Demonstrates transparency and provides feedback to all those who will contribute to the evaluation;
• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a fairly big team;
• Ability to operate under strict time limits.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in climate change or relevant field ( Environment or Energy) or a closely related field.

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in climate change issues, renewable energy and energy efficiency;
• Proven specialised expertise in climate change and energy;
• Demonstrated experience with project evaluations;
• Knowledge on mainstreaming gender equality in climate change issues;
• Experience in dealing with national government partners;
• Experience of work in countries of the region would be an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English.