Antecedentes

The UNDP Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) 2012-2016 was approved by the Government of Mongolia and the UNDP Mongolia in January 10, 2012. It is based on consultations with the Government of Mongolia, United Nations agencies, civil society organizations and development partners. The document aligned to the national development goals and objectives and represents UNDP’s contribution to the development priorities identified in the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) for 2012-2016.

The Country Programme (2012-16) is aligned to a set of three thematic areas based on national priorities: (1) poverty reduction and achievement of MDGs, (2) democratic governance, and (3) environment and sustainable development. Together, areas are strategically focused and linked to support key results, achieve and sustain progress on the MDGs, and reflect UNDP’s comparative advantages and resource availability.

Since the inception of the Country Programme, UNDP has conducted two CPAP reviews (2012/2013 and 2014) and a number of project evaluations measuring progress against established CPAP targets. As a result of the review process and in conjunction with national counterparts, targets and indicators at output and outcome level were revised and adjusted taking into account evolving national development priorities and context.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Evaluation purpose and objectives

Consistent with UNDP policy guidance all outcomes to which UNDP is contributing through aligned activities and planned outputs must be monitored. The programme evaluation is an opportunity to review the strategic course, relevance and effectiveness of the implementation of the country programme especially its contribution to outcome-level results. The evaluation exercise in the year of 2015 now provides an opportunity to undertake a comprehensive review of UNDP contribution to the country’s development. The evaluation findings will guide programmatic planning, advising if necessary to make changes to the country programme, as well as the allocation of resources. In addition, it will used as a tool to plan for the next phase of the programme for 2017-2021.

The exercise allows UNDP to engage key stakeholders to discuss achievements, lessons learned and adjustments required in response to an evolving development landscape and changing national priorities.

The purpose of the evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of contributions of the country programme outputs towards achieving the established outcomes, with the following six  objectives:

• Reviewing the extent to which relevant outputs contributed to each outcome and identify factors the particular initiatives have or have not been successful;
• Assessing the mechanisms/methods by which outputs lead to the achievement of the specified outcomes;
• Review of factors influencing the effectiveness of UNDP’s contribution, by identifying concrete evidence of the UNDP contribution to outcomes;
• Assessing the continual relevance of the UNDP’s contributions, including applied strategies and partnerships towards each outcome taking into account the emerging development challenges and opportunities (if and which programme processes e.g. strategic partnerships and linkages are critical in producing the intended outcome);
• Identifying lessons learnt and adjustments to the UNDP’s contributions in view of improving their relevance, effectiveness and efficiency over the remaining CPAP period (factors that facilitate and/or hinder the progress in achieving the outcome, both in terms of the external environment and those internal to the portfolio interventions including: weaknesses in design, management, human resource skills, and resources);
• Provide key recommendations/directions for the next Country Programme cycle (2017-2021), advising on what to strengthen and/or introduce in the new programme.

Evaluation scope

The Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) is derived from the UNDP Executive Board approved Country Programme Document. The results chain links the CPAP outputs to the UNDAF outcomes. The CPAP defines 3 broad outcomes with multi-year annual targets, demarcating achievements for the duration of the Country Programme:

• Outcome 1: Economic development is inclusive and equitable, contributing towards poverty alleviation (which has 3 outputs);
• Outcome 2: Strengthened governance for protection of human rights and reduction of disparities (which contains 3 outputs) and;
• Outcome 3: Improved sustainability of natural resources management and resilience of ecosystems and vulnerable populations to the changing climate (includes 5 outputs).

The evaluation will assess the quality, quantity and timeliness of progress towards delivering intended results.  It will include an assessment of the performance of programmes and on-going and recently completed projects and consider lessons learned from annual project reviews, project evaluations and the results of previous annual CPAP review exercise in order to define progress achieved in meeting stated outcomes.

Methodology

Through an inception report, the team of evaluators will design an evaluation matrix detailing how the evaluators intend to answer the evaluation questions including evaluation designs, data collection methodologies, and sampling strategies. The inception report shall include a timeline and establish clear roles and responsibilities among team members. The overall approach and methodology applied should ensure the most reliable and valid answers to the evaluation questions and criteria within the limits of resources.

During the evaluation, the evaluation team is expected to apply the following approaches for data collection and analysis:

• Desk review of relevant documents (project document with amendments made, national policy documents, CPAP review reports, ROARs, project evaluations, midterm/final, progress reports, donor-specific, etc.);
• Discussions with the relevant UNDP programme and project staff;
• Interviews with and participation of partners and stakeholders;
• Field visits to selected provinces;
• Consultation meetings and/or focus group meetings as necessary.

The evaluation is suggested to consist from three main stages: 1) preparation and planning, 2) in-depth data collection, and 3) analysis and report writing.

Team composition

Individual consultants will be recruited to compose an evaluation team, which will consist of one international consultant as a team leader and three nationals as the members of the team. A member of the team should be free from conflict of interest and be independent from the UNDP Mongolia Programme, not being involved in any stage of the design, planning and implementation of the programme or projects in the specified period.

Evaluation Team Leader (international consultant - one position announcement) responsible for overall coordination of the evaluation team, and for the overall analysis and quality of the report and timely submission of the evaluation report to the UNDP. Specifically, the Evaluation Team

Leader will perform the following tasks:

• Lead and manage the evaluation mission;
• Design the detailed evaluation scope and methodology (including the methods for data collection and analysis);
• Decide the division of tasks and responsibilities within the evaluation team;
• Lead and conduct analysis of the outcome, outputs and partnership strategy (as per the scope of the evaluation described above)
• Present evaluation findings;
• Draft the evaluation report using the inputs from the team members;
• Finalize the whole evaluation report.

Competencias

Functional Competencies:

• Extensive knowledge of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods
• Strong analytical skills and ability to deliver high quality reports;
• Understanding of policy-making and capacity development issues in Mongolia;
• Understanding of Mongolian government systems, especially policy and budget development at the national.
• Ability to work efficiently and independently under pressure, handle multi-tasking with strong delivery orientation.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Master degree or higher in public policy, political science, public administration, economics, regional planning, development studies or other relevant field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years, in design, monitoring, management and evaluation of development projects and programmes;
• Technical knowledge and experience in UNDP thematic areas and cross-cutting issus such as gender, rights-based approach and capacity development;
• Experience in leading evaluation teams. Excellent inter-personal, teamwork, and cross-cultural communication skills
• Experience in working with government agencies (central and local), civil society organizations, international organizations, UN Agencies, and Donors. Direct experience working in Mongolia is an asset;
• Experience working in policy and advocacy works on development issues, particularly in developing countries and/or countries in Asia Pacific region;
• Experience and expertise in conducting evaluations of the programmes including demonstrated experience in UN evaluations or other development partners;
• Experience in Mongolian context and understanding of development context and challenges in Mongolia is an advantage.

Language:

• Excellent command of the English language, spoken and written.

Application procedure

As this site has limited feature, a comprehensive TOR along with other documentations has been posted on UNDP Procurement Notice site, kindly refer to below link. http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=25067

All interested individuals highly recommended to thoroughly examine the TOR and use the soft templates provided.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• Dully completed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and Submission of Financial Proposal using the template provided by UNDP;
• Expression of interest letter;
• CV showing educational background and experience;
• List of publications and/or evaluation reports;
• 2 reference letters related to the assignment and contact details of referees;
• Brief evaluation methodology and approach how the proposed evaluation can be conducted.

Financial proposal with a clear indication of all inclusive fee (consultancy fee per day, travel/DSA, admin costs, etc) in the template provided by UNDP.

Evaluation

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• b) 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%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points of the technical criteria would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

If you have any questions, pls send to bids.mn@undp.org