Background

Project Background:

"Capacity Strengthening of Local Self-governing Bodies” (CSLSB) project aims to strengthen capacities of local hurals (local councils) to fulfil their representational and oversight mandates for improved accountability of local governments and local service delivery. This is an ongoing project with 4 specific outputs: i) A National Training Programme for local elected representatives is developed and institutionalized; ii) Improved downward accountability of elected representatives through promoting citizen participation in decision making; iii)  Increased oversight capacity of local hurals; and iv) Lessons integrated into legal and policy framework for local self-governance (see Project Document).

Since the CSLSB project was launched in March 2013, the project made a significant progress, especially with regard to the National Training of elected representatives and increasing hurals’ visibility, openness and transparency, and experience sharing among them through an integrated portal website. (see Project Annual Progress Report for 2013, 2014, and Project Progress Report for the 1st half of 2015). Geographically, the project covers all 21 aimags, 330 soums, and 9 districts of Ulaanbaatar, with selected activities such as grants being announced on a competitive basis. The project works closely with local NGOs working in the area of local government, and relevant academic and research institutions. The CSLSB is being implemented by the Parliament Secretariat and funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) under its broader support to decentralization and public participation. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Evaluation Purpose:

The purpose of the evaluation is:

• to assess the extent to which the CSLSB project activities are effective (contributes to achievement of the project’s stated objectives), sustainable (ability to continue after the project is completed), and implemented in efficient and timely manner;
• to validate/document stories about concrete results and change from the perspective of target groups and stakeholders, and
• to provide recommendations for the next phase of the project.

Endicative evaluation questions:

In general, the evaluation exercise shall use the standard OECD/DAC Evaluation Criteria for Evaluation of Development Assistance namely: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. Below is a list of indicative questions for evaluation of the CSLSB project:

Achievement of outcomes (results) – progress:

• What are main intended and unintended outcomes of the project? What are the most important changes?
• What are the specific achievements by Outputs? How do the four outputs link and relate to each other? To what extent have the project outputs contribute to the project intended outcome?
• What are the main factors (positive and negative) that affect achievement of the outputs? What was the effect of the change in project implementation modality?   
• What are the mechanisms for quality assessment and assurance of project activities, especially of those activities related to capacity building?
• Does the project create synergy with other local governance/public participation projects and activities?
• To what extent has gender been mainstreamed both at process and results level?

Sustainability/Institutionalization:

• To what extent was sustainability considerations taken into account in the design and implementation of the project activities? Is there evidence that capacity and knowledge generated by the project will be used beyond the project lifecycle? How effective are strategy/approaches used in institutionalization of the National Training Programme?
• To what extent the new processes, tools or initiatives are owned by target groups/stakeholders?
• Are there signs of replication and up-scaling? What are they and how to encourage that?

Lessons learned and recommendations

• What are the key lessons learned or best practices and key critical risks?
• Is there a need to change/adjust the project implementation strategy in order to achieve the project objectives while using the remaining resources effectively and efficiently?
• More broadly, what are future recommendations for parliament support porgramme?

Methodology:

The evaluation team shall refer to UNDP Evaluation Handbook for the overall evaluation framework. Proposed tasks of the evaluation team include, but not limited to, the following:

• Desk review of all project/s related documents, including project workplans, progress reports, manuals, publications, and the websites;
• Interviews with key stakeholders, including government and non-government organizations (for a more complete list of stakeholders, please refer to the project reports);
• Interviews with representatives of donor organizations and other development partners working in the country;
• Field trips to 2 aimags and 2 soums;
• Any questionnaire or survey to be conducted must take into account the geographical scope and duration of this evaluation work.
• Submit initial findings of evaluation to key stakeholders for comments before finalizing the evaluation report.

Deliverables:

• Evaluation inception report (in English) – to be submitted by the end of the first week of the assignment, before going into the full fledged data collection. It should detail the evaluators’ understanding of what is being evaluated and why, showing how each evaluation question will be answered by way of: proposed methods, proposed sources of data and data collection procedures. The inception report should include a proposed schedule of tasks, activities and deliverables, designating a team member with a lead responsibility for each task or product. The inception report provides the programme unit and the evaluators with an opportunity to verify that they share the same understanding about the evaluation and clarify any misunderstanding at the outset;
• Draft evaluation report and presentation (in English and Mongolian) – to be submitted by the end of third week, for review by key stakeholders to ensure that the evaluation meets the required quality criteria;
• Final evaluation report (in English and Mongolian) – to be submitted by the end of fifth week, incorporating feedback from stakeholders. 

Duration and Composition:

The evaluation is expected to be done in 2 months, starting from 15 September 2015. Two consultants (one international and one national) will be mobilized through individual contracting modality. The international consultant will serve as the Team Leader and have ultimate responsibility for delivering results. He/she will be responsible for quality and timeliness of all deliverables and will guide the national consultant.

Time allocation for Team leader/International Consultant:

22 working days over 2 months, including 6 days of desk review, 10 working days of mission to UB and provinces, and 6 working days of report writing.

Travel:

• International travel will be required to Mongolia to undertake the assignment;
• Individual Consultant(s) are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries;
• Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb.

Evaluation Ethics:

Evaluations in UNDP will be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation’, and must follow the procedures to safeguard the rights and confidentiality of information providers, for example: measures to ensure compliance with legal codes governing areas such as provisions to collect and report data, particularly permissions needed to interview or obtain information about children and young people; provisions to store and maintain security of collected information; and protocols to ensure anonymity and confidentiality.

Implementation Arrangements:

The evaluation team shall report to UNDP Deputy Resident Representative (DRR).  The Governance team shall provide relevant project related documents, and assist in organizing field trips and debriefing meeting. UNDP will provide office space and meeting room during mission in Ulaanbaatar, if required.   

Application Procedure:

Qualified and interested candidates are requested to apply on-line using this site www.jobs.undp.org

Due to limitation in uploading several documents, applicants are advised to compile all documents into a single attachment and upload the attachment while applying on line.

Recommended presentation of Offer:

• Expression of interest letter;
• CV showing educational background and experience; (P11 shall be required from the selected candidate)
• List of publications and/or evaluation reports;
• 2 reference letters related to the assignment and contact details of referees;
• 3 pages short essay on effectiveness of international assistance to developing countries in the area of  local governance and a brief outline of how the proposed evaluation can be conducted;
• All inclusive Financial proposal with a clear breakdown of costs (consultancy fee per day, travel/DSA,admin costs if any, etc).

Note:

While preparing your financial offer, kindly note that the standard for all travel authorized by UNDP for individual subscribers is economy class and the UN’s Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rates USD197 for Ulaanbaatar and USD72 eslewhere, which should provide indication of the cost of living in a duty station/destination. Individuals on this contract are not UN staff and are therefore not entitled to DSAs. All living allowances required to perform the demands of the ToR must be incorporated in the financial proposal.  

For further questions and clarifications, please contact UNDP Mongolia at bids.mn@undp.org.

Payment Schedule:

The UNDP standard method of payment is the output-based lump-sum scheme and the payment will be made upon satisfactory completion of deliverables in upto 2 installments scheduled as follows:

• 1st: 20% of the total fee to be paid upon submission and acceptance of the Inception Report;
• 2nd: 80% of the total fee to be paid upon submission and acceptance of the Final Evaluation Report.  

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

Applications will be assessed on a basis of a cumulative analysis that will evaluate both the technical suitability and the financial proposal. The weight of the technical criteria is 70%; the weight of the financial proposal is 30%. Only candidates with a minimum of 70% in the technical evaluation will be considered for the financial evaluation.

Breakdown for technical evaluation - 100p.

Technical Criteria/Obtainable Points:

• Educational background – 20 points
• Experience – 50 points
• Essay and proposed methodology – 30 points

The applicant receiving the highest combined score that has slo accepted UNDP's general terms and conditions will be awarded the contract.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Proven conceptual and analytical, organizational development and inter-personal skills.

Functional Competencies:

• A strong record in designing and leading evaluations;
• Technical competence in undertaking complex evaluations which involve use of mixed methods;
• Ability to liaise with a myriad of stakeholders and partners, including government, civil society, international organizations and grassroots organizations;
• Ability to plan, priotize and produce quality results in meeting established goals;
• Excellent data collection, analytical and writing skills, with a proven ability to focus on practical outputs.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced degree in relevant fields (e.g. public administration, political science, sociology)

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience of working in the area of local governance;
• Proven experience of programme and project evaluations in other countries;
• Experience of working with government agencies (central and local), civil society organizations, and international organizations;
• Understanding of the Mongolian development context and experience of leading evaluation team,  is an asset;
• Strong analytical and reporting writing skills;
• Good interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills. 

Language:

• Fluency written and oral English.