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UNDP seeks 3 international consultants for the evaluation of the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) project. Interested candidates should apply for one of the positions only. Candidates should clearly indicate in their applications which of the 3 consultancies they are applying for, and whether they are also interested in assuming the team leader role.

Project evaluations assess the efficiency and effectiveness of a project in achieving its intended results. They also assess the relevance and sustainability of outputs as contributions to medium-term and longer-term outcomes. Project evaluation helps UNDP-GEF to manage results, and serves to reinforce the accountability of project managers, country offices, and technical advisors. Additionally, project evaluation provides a basis for the evaluation of outcomes and programs, as well as for strategic and programmatic evaluations and assessment of development results, and for distilling lessons from experience for learning and sharing knowledge. In UNDP, project evaluations are mandatory when required by a partnership protocol, such as with the Global Environment Facility.

These Terms of Reference are for the final evaluation of the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change project, hereafter referred to as PACC, and the subsequent extension, PACC+.

PACC is a multi-country project funded by the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) under the Global Environment Facility (GEF), with a grant of US$13.125 million. PACC+ is financed though a US$7.86 million grant from Australian Aid, and builds on PACC.

The SCCF financed project began implementation in February 2009. UNDP is the GEF implementing agency for the PACC project, and the Secretariat of the Regional Pacific Environment Programme (SPREP) the implementing partner of UNDP. The project has activities in 14 Pacific Island countries. Mid-way through its implementation phase, an AusAid grant of US$7.86 million was provided to compliment the PACC objectives with an additional set of activities (referred to as the PACC+ project). Australia’s contribution came in 2011, and builds on existing project delivery mechanisms in order to facilitate the replication and scaling up of practical adaptation measures and strengthen overall implementation of the project through increased program support and knowledge management activities.

The overall goal of the PACC and PACC+ projects is to reduce vulnerability and/or to increase adaptive capacity to the adverse effects of climate change in the key development issues identified by participating countries, namely coastal zone management, food security and food production, and water resources management. The project has aimed to significantly improve the effectiveness of the response of Governments and beneficiaries in the targeted countries to climate change risks in the Pacific. The projects were also seen as means to contribute to the Pacific Island Countries United Nations Development Assistance Framework  (UNDAF) 2013 - 2017 outcome: Improved resilience of Pacific Island Countries, with particular focus on communities, through integrated implementation of sustainable environment management, climate change adaptation/mitigation and disaster risk management. The projects supported participating countries through three closely interrelated outcomes including (1) integrating climate change into national and sector strategies, (2) implementing on-the-ground demonstration measures in pilot communities to reduce vulnerability in the context of climate changes in coastal areas (Cooks Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa and Vanuatu); food production (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Palau and Solomon Islands); and water management (in Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Tonga, Tokelau and Tuvalu) (3) raising awareness on climate change matters and capturing and communicating project experiences and lessons learnt.

The PACC project was originally designed to close in 2012. For a number of reasons, the project has been extended until December 2014. The activities funded from the replenishment from AusAid are due to be completed by December 2014. This evaluation will review achievements of the PACC and PACC+ Project, financed with SCCF funds, from February 2009 until Q42014. The terminal evaluation 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. As outlined in the next section, the evaluation will also assess the strengths and weaknesses of the project design (relative to results achieved or not), implementation arrangements, monitoring and adaptive management and sustainability of project outcomes, including the project exit strategy. The findings of the evaluation will aid in the overall enhancement of future UNDP programming on climate change adaptation.

Devoirs et responsabilités

UNDP supported GEF financed projects are vehicles through which UNDP meets its obligations to specific Governments as agreed in UNDP country programming as well as regional and global programs. The evaluation will assess the extent to which the project results were successfully mainstreamed with priorities agreed between the various Governments of the Pacific island countries participating in this project and UNDP including poverty alleviation, improved governance, the prevention and recovery from natural disasters, and gender.

The project evaluation will be undertaken in accordance with UN evaluation norms and policies and should maintain a clear focus on results. The evaluation team is responsible for revising the approach as necessary and present its methodological proposal as part of their inception report to UNDP on the progress of the terminal evaluation. Evaluation methods should be selected for their rigor in producing conclusions based on evidence against the evaluation criteria. The evaluation team will also respond to the questions and comments raised on the evaluation by internal and external reviewers of the results ascertained.

An overall approach and method for conducting project terminal evaluations of UNDP supported GEF financed projects have developed over time. The evaluators are expected to use the criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact in the evaluation, as defined and explained in the UNDP Guidance for Conducting Terminal Evaluations of UNDP-supported, GEF-financed projects. The evaluators are expected to draft a set of questions covering each of these criteria, and complete, discuss, validate, justify and submit this matrix as part of an evaluation inception report. The matrix shall also be included 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, UNDP Country Office, SPREP, project country teams, UNDP GEF staff (both in the region and at HQ) and other key stakeholders. The evaluator is expected to conduct field missions to selected project countries (see bottom of this textbox for the specific countries).

Interviews will be held with the key organizations and individuals, a list of stakeholders to consult will be provided for the evaluators, and consultations will be held with key stakeholders on the ground. If possible, the consultants will liaise with M&E consultants that are assisting the PACC and PACC+ country project management units. The evaluator will review all relevant sources of information, such as the project document, log frames, project reports – including project implementation reviews (PIR), project budget revisions, midterm review and associated management response, progress reports, GEF focal area tracking tools, project files and any other materials that the evaluator considers useful for the conduct of an evidence-based Terminal Evaluation.

Any additional documentation that the evaluator seeks will be made available by UNDP and its partners where available. If any are not available, the evaluator will be provided an explanation as to why the requested documentation is not available and this will also be taken into account in the final terminal evaluation including rating for overall performance of the project.

The evaluation report must include a chapter providing a set of conclusions, recommendations and lessons for future multi-country programmes on adaptation in the Pacific. To the extent that recommendations and lessons can be applied in other similar political, geographic, socio-economic contexts, these should also be highlighted.

The evaluators will assess the extent to which the project is achieving impacts or progressing towards the achievement of impacts that were sought as per the SCCF Council approved project document. Key findings that should be brought out in the evaluations include whether the project has demonstrated: a) Verifiable improvements in policy for vulnerability-reduction related to emerging climate risks b) Verifiable demonstration measures in pilot communities to reduce vulnerability in coastal areas, crop production and water management c) Verifiable improvements in capacity to plan for and respond to changes in climate.

The consultants should propose a time schedule in line with the suggested time frame below, where total duration of the evaluation is estimated to be 74 days, divided as follows: Coastal management 24 days, water management 25 days, agriculture 16 days. An extra 9 days will be added to the contract of the evaluator assuming the team leader role. The days are days/person, travel time to Samoa and all project countries inclusive:

Activity:

  • Arrival Samoa, start-up + preparations & submission of inception report: 1-10 October 2014;
  • Project country missions: 15 Oct – 05 Nov 2014;
  • Debrief after missions, presentations of 1st draft evaluation report (Samoa), incorporation of feedback: 5-10 November 2014;
  • Collection of final data for 2nd draft: 10-20 November 2014;
  • Submission final report (team leader only): 20-25 November 2014;
  • Deadline of submission: 10 December 2014.

You can access the full online TOR using the following navigation path to read about the Deliverables.

S:\Operations Unit\Human Resource HR\Human Resources\Job Descriptions\Final Evaluation PACC\ToR - Evaluation PACC MW.doc

Please also note that when submitting the final evaluation report, the evaluator is also required to provide an ‘audit trail’, detailing how all received comments have (and have not) been addressed in the final evaluation report.

The principal responsibility for managing this evaluation resides with the UNDP MCO in Samoa. The UNDP MCO will contract the evaluators. The evaluators are expected to organize their own travel arrangements to the countries they will evaluate, with the support of the UNDP Samoa MCO’s operations unit. The SPREP project team will be responsible for liaising between country coordinators and the team of evaluators to set up stakeholder interviews, arrange field visits, and coordinate between the government and national coordinators.

Expected Field missions to project countries are as follows:

Position 1 – coastal management: Cook Islands, FSM, Samoa;
Position 2 – Food and agriculture: Fiji, Solomon Islands;
Position 3 – Water management: Tokelau, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu.

Compétences

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

  • Ability to apply conceptual models in evaluation of projects;
  • Strong IT skills.

Management and Leadership:

  • Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
  • Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
  • Demonstrates ability to manage complexities.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

  • Master’s degree or equivalent in environmental, political or natural sciences, agriculture, engineering, or other closely related field.

Experience:

  • Minimum of 8 years relevant professional experience and extensive project evaluation;
  • Some knowledge and experience in evaluation of GEF projects;
  • Knowledge and experience of the Pacific region is preferable.

Language:

  • Fluency in English both written and verbal.

Note