Background

In accordance with UNDP and GEF M&E policies and procedures, all full and medium-sized UNDP support GEF financed projects are required to undergo a terminal evaluation upon completion of implementation. These terms of reference (TOR) sets out the expectations for a Terminal Evaluation (TE) of the Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change through Coastal Afforestation (CBA-CCF) in Bangladesh.

Objective and Scope:

The project was designed to: reduce vulnerability of coastal communities to the impacts of climate change-induced risks in four of the most vulnerable coastal areas of Patuakhali, Bhola, Noakhali and Chittagong Coastal Forest Divisions. The project ‘Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change through Coastal Afforestation (CBACC-CF)’ is funded by the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and UNDP Bangladesh. The objective of the CBACC-CF project is to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to the impacts of climate change-induced risks, and to strengthen institutional mechanisms to support these communities to adapt to climate change impacts.

The project is the second LDCF-funded adaptation project in Asia and innovative in the way that it brings together climate change adaptation and sustainable economic development through coastal afforestation. As a pilot, the project is working across 14kms of Bangladesh’s 710km coastline which is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Expected project outcomes are:

• Outcome 1: Enhanced resilience of vulnerable coastal communities and protective systems to climate risks;
• Outcome 2: Climate risk reduction measures incorporated into coastal area management frameworks;
• Outcome 3: National policies revised to increase climate risk resilience of coastal communities;
• Outcome 4: Learning, evaluation, and adaptive management enhanced.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Terminal Evaluation (TE) will be conducted according to the guidance, rules and procedures established by UNDP and GEF as reflected in the UNDP Evaluation Guidance for GEF Financed Projects.

The objectives of the evaluation are to assess the achievement of project results, and to draw lessons that can both improve the sustainability of benefits from this project, and aid in the overall enhancement of UNDP programming.

Evaluation Approach and Method:

An overall approach and method for conducting project terminal evaluations of UNDP supported GEF financed projects has developed over time. The evaluator is expected to frame the evaluation effort using the criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact, as defined and explained in the UNDP Guidance for Conducting Terminal Evaluations of UNDP-supported, GEF-financed Projects. A  set of questions covering each of these criteria have been drafted and can be found in Annex C of the document attached. The evaluator is expected to amend, complete and submit this matrix as part of  an evaluation inception report, and shall include it as an annex to the final report.

The evaluation must provide evidence-based information that is credible, reliable and useful. The evaluator is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach ensuring close engagement with government counterparts, in particular the GEF operational focal point, UNDP Country Office, project team, UNDP GEF Technical Adviser based in the region and key stakeholders. The evaluator is expected to conduct a field mission to Dhaka, including the following project sites: Borguna, Noakhali, Bhola and Chittagong. Interviews will be held with the following organizations and individuals at a minimum: Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Forest Department (FD), Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI), Department of Fisheries (DoF), Department of Livestock Services, local administration, community organizations formed through the project and project beneficiaries.

The evaluator will review all relevant sources of information, such as the project document, project reports – including Annual APR/PIR, project budget revisions, midterm review, progress reports, GEF focal area tracking tools, project files, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the evaluator considers useful for this evidence-based assessment. A list of documents that the project team will provide to the evaluator for review is included in can be found in Annex C of the document attached in the above mentioned link.

Evaluation Criteria & Ratings:

An assessment of project performance will be carried out, based against expectations set out in the Project Logical Framework/Results Framework (see  Annex A of the document attached), which provides performance and impact indicators for project implementation along with their corresponding means of verification. The evaluation will at a minimum cover the criteria of: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact. Ratings must be provided on the following performance criteria. The completed table must be included in the evaluation executive summary. The obligatory rating scales are included in  Annex D of the document attached.

Project Finance / Cofinance:

The Evaluation will assess the key financial aspects of the project, including the extent of co-financing planned and realized. Project cost and funding data will be required, including annual expenditures.  Variances between planned and actual expenditures will need to be assessed and explained.  Results from recent financial audits, as available, should be taken into consideration. The evaluator(s) will receive assistance from the Country Office (CO) and Project Team to obtain financial data in order to complete the co-financing table below, which will be included in the terminal evaluation report.

Mainstreaming

UNDP supported GEF financed projects are key components in UNDP country programming, as well as regional and global programmes. The evaluation will assess the extent to which the project was successfully mainstreamed with other UNDP priorities, including poverty alleviation, improved governance, the prevention and recovery from natural disasters, and gender.

Impact

The evaluators will assess the extent to which the project is achieving impacts or progressing towards the achievement of impacts. Key findings that should be brought out in the evaluations include whether the project has demonstrated: a) verifiable improvements in ecological status, b) verifiable reductions in stress on ecological systems, and/or c) demonstrated progress towards these impact achievements.

Conclusions, Recommendations & Lessons:

The evaluation report must include a chapter providing a set of conclusions, recommendations and lessons.

Implementation Arrangements:

The principal responsibility for managing this evaluation resides with the UNDP CO in Bangladesh. The UNDP CO will contract the evaluators and ensure the timely provision of per diems and travel arrangements within the country for the evaluation team. The Project Team will be responsible for liaising with the Evaluators team to set up stakeholder interviews, arrange field visits, coordinate with the Government etc.

Evaluation Timeframe:

The total duration of the evaluation will be 25 days over a time period of 2 months according to the following plan:

• Preparation - 3 working days;
• Evaluation Mission - 12 workingdays;
• Draft Evaluation Report - 8 workingdays;
• Final Report - 2 workingdays.

Evaluation Deliverables:
 

The evaluation team is expected to deliver the following:

• Inception Report - Evaluator provides clarifications on timing and method (No later than 2 weeks before the evaluation mission);
• Presentation - Initial Findings (End of evaluation mission);
• Draft Final Report  - Full report, (per annexed template) with annexes (Within 2 weeks of the evaluation mission);
• Final Report* - Revised report (No later than 2 weeks before the evaluation mission)

*When submitting the final evaluation report, the evaluator is required also to provide an 'audit trail', detailing how all received comments have (and have not) been addressed in the final evaluation report.

Team Composition:

The evaluation team will be composed of 1 international and 1 national evaluator. The international consultant will serve as the team leader and will be responsible for finalizing the report. The international consultant will have the overall responsibility for developing the evaluation methodology, leading the evaluation, and delivering the key products expected from the evaluation, including coordinating the inputs from the national consultant. The national consultant will provide professional back up and support with local consultations, translation, and arrangement of local meetings. The evaluators selected should not have participated in the project preparation and/or implementation and should not have conflict of interest with project related activities.

Payment Modalities for the Consultancy:

• 1st Payment (10% of the Total Contract Amount) - Following submission of inception report and certified by the contract administrator;
• 2nd Payment (40% of the Toatl Contrcat Amount) - Following submission and approval of the 1st draft terminal evaluation report and certified by the contract administrator;
• FInal Payment (50% of the Total Contract Amount) - Following submission and approval (UNDP-CO and UNDP RTA) of the final terminal evaluation report and certified by the contract administrator.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Professionalism

• Flexibility to make ad-hoc changes as and when the need arises;
• Ability to perform under stress;
• Willingness to keep flexible working hours;
• Ability to engage with high ranking Government Officials and provide policy advisory support services;
• Good understanding of disaster management in South Asia / Bangladesh, including field experience;
• Full conceptual and practical understanding of activities, legal framework of the government.

Teamwork

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations as a team member, in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect.

Communication

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
• Excellent writing skills in the compilation of high level quality documents in English language.

Corporate Competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Evaluator Ethics:
Evaluation consultants will be held to the highest ethical standards and are required to sign a Code of Conduct (Annex E) upon acceptance of the assignment. UNDP evaluations are conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG 'Ethical Guidelines for Evaluations'.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Post Graduate degree in relevant field;
• Professional background in fields related to Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, Community Development or Integrated Coastal Zone Management

Knowledge and Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience;
• Knowledge of UNDP and GEF;
• Previous experience with results-based monitoring and evaluation methodologies;
• Technical knowledge in the targeted focal area(s): with academic (relevant Post Graduate University Degree) and professional background in fields related to Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, Community Development or Integrated Coastal Zone Management.

Language:

• Excellent English writing and communication skills.

Evaluation of Candidates:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis: The candidates will be evaluated through Cumulative Analysis method. When using the weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will 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.

**Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% marks i.e. 49 marks in the Technical evaluation would be considered for Financial evaluation.

Technical Evaluation Criteria (Total 70 marks):

• Work experience in relevant technical areas specially Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, Community Development or Integrated Coastal Zone Management - 25 marks;
• Experience in result based management practice, methodologies as well as applying SMART target based evaluation - 25 marks;
• Experience in evaluating GEF Funded Project - 10 marks;
• Relevant Project Evaluation/Review experiences - 10 marks.

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks):
Financial proposals from all technically qualified candidates will be scored out 30 marks based on the formula provided below. The maximum marks (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal.

All other proposals will receive points according to the following formula:

• p = y (µ/z).

Where:

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
• y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal;
• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal;
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Important note for Applicants

Interested applicants are requested to submit their financial proposal along with the application. Please note that, application in this system allows to attach only one document. Interested candidates are requested to prepare their CV's and Financial Prioposal as one document and upload that single document (CV + Financial Proposal) while applying.

The template for Financial Proposal can be found in the below link:
http://www.bd.undp.org/content/dam/bangladesh/docs/Jobs/Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal-Template%20for%20Confirmation.docx

Travel:

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of a most direct economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources. In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.