UNDP Jobs - 56951- National Consultant to Conduct a Mid-term Evaluati

National Consultant to Conduct a Mid-term Evaluation for the Project - Mitigating the Impact of Syrian Refugee Crisis through Support to Host Communities

Location :

Amman, JORDAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

14-Jul-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

15 working days

Languages Required :

Arabic English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

15 working days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Syria has forced hundreds of thousands of Syrians to flee and seek refuge in neighboring countries; UNHCR reported that more than 1,400,000 Syrians had fled from Syria to border countries in the region. Jordan has been particularly affected by this influx of population, in particular after July 2012, when a sudden increase in Syrian refugees into the country was reported. The Government of Jordan estimates today that around 600,000 Syrians have entered its territory since March 2011, and the number is expected to reach 1,200,000 by the end of 2013 (GoJ estimates). As of August 2013, UNHCR has registered 462,437 Syrians seeking assistance, and 54,553 refugees are awaiting registration. In July, approximately 30,000 refugees arrived into Jordan; it is 1000 arrivals per day in average. At a similar pace, by the end of December 2013, one can say that there will be around 650,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan.The current UN planning figure has now been re-evaluated to up to 484,000 in need of assistance by 2013, and the influx is likely to persist or increase depending on the situation in Syria. In 2012, the Government of Jordan, with support from UN agencies and bilateral donors, opened a tented camp and several transit facilities to help cope with the growing influx of Syrian refugees.

Nevertheless, the large majority of the Syrian refugee population continues to be hosted outside the tented camps, in Jordanian communities. It is estimated that more than 70% of the refugees have settled in urban areas, whether with family relatives or in rented housings. According to the government estimations, most of the refugees outside the camps are concentrated in the governorates of Irbid, Mafraq, followed by Amman and Zarqa. While initial population movements included family of Jordanians of the Northern governorates or better-off Syrians, the vast majority of new arrivals are essentially destitute and vulnerable families.

The present situation is placing a considerable burden on local Jordanian host communities, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities, fuelling social tensions and stressing national fiscal and natural resources. As Syrian refugees are granted access to basic public services, the pressure on water and electricity supply, education, health, sanitation and solid waste management, has drastically increased, especially where the majority of refugees have settled. Crowding effects in the local market, in particular with regards to housing and labour, are widely reported in the Northern governorates, at times resulting in local tensions and increased hostility from the host population.

In view of the current economic and social situation of the country, it was inevitable that the influx of Syrian refugees would be acutely felt in the Northern Governorates of Irbid, Mafraq and Zarqa that are host to the largest population of refugees relative to their population, and in particular in the cities of Ramtha and Mafraq that reported huge population increases. The impact is commensurate on the demand for public services (education, solid waste management, health, water, electricity and other sanitation). Not only Jordan's energy, sanitation, water, health and education services are strained to the limit, but also local market dynamics, in particular the job and housing markets.

The education sector, in particular, has reportedly been severely impacted by the crisis. More than 50% of the registered Syrian refugees in urban settings are under 18 years of age; resulting in additional pressure translating in school crowding, and the recurrent adoption of double shifts, which have previously been phased out. Similar overcrowding of primary health care facilities in Ramtha and Mafraq are noted, with shortages of medicines and increasing financial difficulties of health facilities to cover their utility costs. The situation is also problematic for water, with increasing water shortage in a country that is already one of the most water-scarce in the world. Significant challenges are faced in solid waste management and disposal, with an estimated additional 60t/day, exceeding by far the collection and disposal capacities of municipalities.

On the livelihoods front, Syrian refugees are crowding the market and pushing out Jordanian workers in specific sectors, such as hospitality, retail, trade and construction. Competition also materializes through the opening of new businesses (with Jordanian sponsor), in the above sectors. Syrians are perceived to be more skilled and hardworking, and accept lower wages, below minimum wages (JD 195) and without any type of social security or medical insurance. The widespread perception that Syrian refugees have taken over the local economy in Mafraq and Ramtha is worrying, as it may spur local tensions. On the housing sector, crowdedness and increases in rental prices have been reported. This situation is particularly problematic for vulnerable Jordanians populations who cannot afford to pay for the raise. Assessments by NGOs noted that the lack of housing stock in Mafraq City temporarily displaced a number of Jordanian families.

The strain on local resources has resulted in raising local tensions in host communities. A study on the tensions in host communities affirmed that the principle cause of tension is the competition over local resources caused by the refugee influx. Tensions occur mostly over housing and rental prices, competition for jobs, and differences in culture and tribal loyalties.

The present crisis comes at a difficult time for Jordan. Despite many efforts to engage in economic stabilization and liberalization, the country faces real economic and social challenges. The current budget deficit exceeds 8.2% of the GDP in 2012, and the national public debt has risen above the 60% legal limit to reach up to 74.6% of GDP, with a foreign aid dependency rate of around 26.4% of the GDP in 2011. Based on the Standby Agreement signed with the IMF in 2012, the Government initiated structural reforms and fiscal consolidation measures, including lifting of subsidies, which led to widespread popular protests throughout the country- expected to increase following additional measures.

Jordan continues to face persisting high unemployment levels (currently at 12.2% in 2012), with a high mismatch between demand and supply in the labor market. Although the Jordanian working age population is young and increasingly skilled, the country has one of the lowest economic activity rates in the world. Female unemployment levels are also strikingly higher than male unemployment levels, reflecting lower participation in the labour market, although they constitute a higher percentage of university graduates. Poverty levels in Jordan have remained high, where relative poverty slightly increased to 14.4% in 2010, with striking regional disparities. As an example, out of 27 pockets of poverty identified by the Government of Jordan (sub-districts with poverty rates exceeding 25%), 6 pockets are to be found in the Mafraq governorate, and 31.9% of the population in Mafraq is below the poverty line, making it the governorate in Jordan with the highest percentage of the poor. Around 15% of the population in Irbid is under the poverty line, with the proportion of poor population out the total poor population being 20.5%, the highest after Amman. With a budget of JD 87 million in 2012, the National Aid Fund, Jordan’s main public safety net mechanism, only caters for 89,000 households, or 486,000 people, representing 7.5% of the population.

Given the protracted nature of the Syrian crisis and taking into account its social, economic and fiscal burden on the country, the need of a comprehensive, coordinated and durable response becomes a priority. In this context, UNDP elaborated a programme document for responding to the challenges posed by the influx of the Syrian refugees and the pressures they exert on the Jordanian host communities.

The program objectives are:

The overall goal of the programme is to contribute to sustaining social and economic stability, with particular focus on the Northern governorates, and to safeguard the hard won human development gains of Jordanians;
The immediate objective of the programme is to respond to urgent needs of crisis-affected Jordanian host communities, and thus to contribute to preserving the humanitarian protection space for the Syrian refugees, while supporting Jordanian host communities to increase their absorption capacity and mitigating any possible tensions between Syrian refugees and hosting communities.

The proposed strategy is two-pronged:

Investing in quick-impact interventions for rapid employment creation and support to basic social services, that are geared towards sustaining stability, in particular in the Northern governorates;
Translating these quick wins into longer-term gains and durable solutions to contribute to some of the issues addressed in national development plans and strategies, in particular with regard to sustainable employment creation, enhanced local capacity for service delivery and local economic development;
The programme is designed with full acknowledgement of the limited absorptive capacity of the labour market in certain areas, of the absorptive capacity of the available social and economic services/infrastructure (social basic and productive), and of the current inequality of wages between men and women and of the disparity between rural and urban areas, that shall be addressed during the implementation of this project. It also acknowledges the weak available capacity in governmental institutions, especially in municipalities and non-governmental organizations- issues addressed in the programme.

Purpose of mid-term evaluation

A mid-term evaluation of this project is needed to build on the outputs results as the the project has been extended vertically and horizontally and resources were mobilized implement more outputs until the end of 2016.

The objectives of the mid-term evaluation will mainly focus on:

Evaluating the achievements of the project outputs and their contribution to the outcome;
Assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the project;
Identifying issues encountered through implementation;
Drawing lessons learned through the project implementation;
Identifying the national institutions that would benefit from the evaluation and recommend types of actions needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Within the context outlined above, UNDP seeks to recruit a national consultant to conduct a mid-term evaluation of the project: “Mitigating the Impact of Syrian Refugee Crisis through Support to Host Communities”

The scope of the evaluation should cover the following:

The project objectives, inputs, outputs and activities and their relevance to the outcome statement;
The implementation and selection at geographic areas, and target groups;
Issues and challenges related to the implementation of the project;
Level of cooperation and support of the responsible and relevant parties.

Methodology

The consultant is expected to work with the project team and with the Socio- Economic Analyst at UNDP Jordan.

Based on the objectives and scope of work outlined above, the consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks during the evaluation process:

Review of relevant documents including: documents on national policies related to the project, the Project Document, progress reports, and all relevant documentation related to implementation including: gap analysis, assessment reports and activity reports;
Conduct interviews and roundtable meetings with project stakeholders and partners;
Any other methods the consultant finds valuable to determine the best methods and tools for collecting and analyzing data.

Below are the required activities and expected outputs, based on the objectives and scope of work stated above, respective timelines/deadlines and number of working days:

Evaluation inception report containing proposed methods, proposed sources of data, and data collection procedures, proposed schedule of tasks, activities and deliverables in addition to evaluation matrix; after conclusion of necessary meetings, after Review of documents.Within 3 working days;
A first draft of the evaluation results, including findings/ recommendations that should be considered in any next phase of the project, within 5 working days.

Final evaluation report: the report should include the following sections, within three working days:

Title page;
List of acronyms and abbreviations;
Table of contents, including list of annexes;
Executive summary;
Introduction: background and context of the programme;
Description of the project – its logic theory, results framework and external factors likely to affect success;
Purpose of the evaluation; key questions and scope of the evaluation with information on limitations and de-limitations;
Approach and methodology;
Findings; summary and explanation of findings and interpretations;
Conclusions and recommendations; lessons learned;
Debriefing meeting on evaluation results with stakeholders, within four working days.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Ability to work under pressure against strict deadlines;
Ability to think out-of-the-box;
Ability to present complex issues persuasively and simply;
Ability to contextualize global trends in accordance with the dynamics of the operating (working) environment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in public administration, or related discipline.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years’ Experience in development Issues including experience in evaluation;
Experience in development Issues and earlier experience in evaluation;
Extensive experience in fields of income generation and development;
Solid knowledge of the Jordanian natural context, government structure and national policies;
Experience in evaluation.

Language:

Fluency in English is required.

Skills:

Full computer literacy.