Antecedentes

Safeguarding diverse ecosystems ensures invaluable services essential for sustainable development and improvements in human wellbeing. The livelihoods of individuals and the economic productivity of firms are highly dependent on sustainable supplies of water, forests, ­fisheries, fertile soils, pollinators, coral reefs, mangroves and other forms of biodiversity. This is especially the case for the poorest people directly dependent on natural resources and those enterprises active in economic sectors such as agriculture, hydropower and tourism. Biodiversity thus plays a central role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) is a global partnership addressing the biodiversity ­finance challenge in a comprehensive manner. The Initiative provides an innovative methodology enabling countries to measure their current biodiversity expenditures, assess their ­financial needs in the medium term and identify the most suitable ­finance solutions to bridge their national biodiversity ­finance gaps.  The BIOFIN methodology includes the following main steps:

• Policy and Institutional Review
• Biodiversity Expenditure Review
• Finance Needs Assessment
• Biodiversity Finance Plan
• Implementing Finance Solutions

Implemented from 2012 to 2018, thirty countries currently participate in BIOFIN, coordinated by a global UNDP-managed team supporting the development and use of the methodology. The global team works with interdisciplinary national teams, customizing the methodology to the national context in each country. At the national level, BIOFIN works under the leadership of ministries of ­finance (treasury), economy, planning and environment to bring together a core group of national stakeholders, including the private sector, to rethink the most suitable fi­nance modalities for biodiversity. Activities are implemented through in-depth consultation with a strong focus on capacity development. Partnerships are another important feature of the BIOFIN methodology in each country, in particular with related initiatives such as WAVES, TEEB, PEI, UN-REDD, GIZ ValuES and relevant conservation ­finance projects including those under the UNDP-GEF portfolio. At the regional and global level, BIOFIN enables participating countries to exchange experiences through a variety of South-South cooperation mechanisms such as regional and global workshops, the BIOFIN website, dedicated webinars and other platforms.

BIOFIN is supported by the European Union (EU) and the Governments of Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Flanders. As a multi-donor initiative BIOFIN includes around US$ 29 million, with a contribution of Euro 4 million from the European Union (EU) out of the total amount. The EU contribution includes support to eight countries: Chile (replacing Argentina in 2013), Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Philippines, Seychelles, South Africa and Uganda, and runs from October 2012 to December 2016. In accordance with UNDP and EU M&E policies and procedures, all UNDP supported projects are required to undergo a terminal evaluation upon completion of implementation. 

In this light, UNDP-GEF is seeking the service of an evaluation expert to conduct the final evaluation for the Biodiversity Finance Initiative, BIOFIN-EU supported Project.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Scope of the assignment:

The evaluation will cover the period 2012-2016 and it will cover the BIOFIN countries funded by the EU. It will address the results of BIOFIN implementation. The central research question of the evaluation is:

To which extent did BIOFIN achieve the expected results?

The evaluation is to identify lessons learned (positive and negative) and recommend/suggest potential improvements to the program components and activities for ongoing and future work. This will inform management decision making of strategic policy and planning, coordination, and any other adjustments of the program and its implementation.  

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 EC evaluation standards and the UNDP Guidance for Conducting Terminal Evaluations of UNDP-supported Projects. An overall approach and method for conducting project terminal evaluations of UNDP supported projects can be found in the Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results. Also, the EC Guidance Document on M&E can be found here.

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'.

Project Evaluation Criteria and questions:

The evaluation will follow the UNDP and EU evaluation criteria:

• Relevance: Relevance looks at the relationship between the needs and problems identified and the objectives of the intervention.  The extent to which the objectives of a development intervention are consistent with beneficiaries’ requirements, country needs, global priorities and partners’ and donors’ policies.
•  Effectiveness: The extent to which the development intervention’s objectives were achieved. The evaluation should form an opinion on the progress made to date and the role of BIOFIN in delivering the observed changes. If the objectives have not been achieved, an assessment should be made of the extent to which progress has fallen short of the target and what factors have influenced why something hasn't been successful or why it has not yet been achieved.
• Efficiency: A measure of how economically resources/inputs (funds, expertise, time, etc.) are converted to results.
• Sustainability: The continuation of benefits from BIOFIN after the project ends. The probability of continued long-term benefits.
• Impact: Positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by BIOFIN, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended (in this case early effects and foreseen mid-term or long-term changes).

Evaluation questions:

Relevance: [Rating: 2. Relevant (R), 1. Not-relevant (NR)]

• To what extent is BIOFIN still relevant?
• To what extent have the (original) objectives proven to have been appropriate for the focused countries?
• How flexible has BIOFIN been in response to changing environments?
• How aligned is BIOFIN with the countries’ needs, as well as EU and UNDP objectives?
• Are there lessons learned which would improve the work of BIOFIN on gender mainstreaming in the future?
• Are there lessons which would improve the BIOFIN M&E work in the future?

Effectiveness: [Ratings: 6: Highly Satisfactory (HS): no shortcomings; 5: Satisfactory (S): minor shortcomings; 4: Moderately Satisfactory (MS); 3. Moderately Unsatisfactory (MU): significant shortcomings; 2. Unsatisfactory (U): major problems; 1. Highly Unsatisfactory (HU): severe problems]

• To what extent have the objectives been achieved?
• What are the expected and non-expected results observed by the evaluation?
• What have been the quantitative and qualitative effects of the intervention? (tangible and intangible)
• To what extent can these changes/effects be credited to BIOFIN?
• What factors influenced the achievements observed?

Efficiency: [Ratings: 6: Highly Satisfactory (HS): no shortcomings; 5: Satisfactory (S): minor shortcomings; 4: Moderately Satisfactory (MS); 3. Moderately Unsatisfactory (MU): significant shortcomings; 2. Unsatisfactory (U): major problems; 1. Highly Unsatisfactory (HU): severe problems]

• How has BIOFIN established synergies with related initiative at the global and national level and what have been its results?
• To what extent are the costs involved justified, given the changes/effects which have been achieved?
• To what extent are the costs proportionate to the benefits achieved? What factors are influencing any particular challenges?
• What factors influenced the efficiency with which the achievements observed were attained?
• To what extent has the intervention been cost effective?

Sustainability [Ratings: 4. Likely (L): negligible risks to sustainability; 3. Moderately Likely (ML): moderate risks; 2. Moderately Unlikely (MU): significant risks; 1. Unlikely (U): severe risks

• Capacity building
• Will BIOFIN benefits continue in time once the EU project is over?
• Are there any policy frameworks/policy results to sustain BIOFIN initiative in time?
• What are the main alliances/partnerships from BIOFIN?
• Is there any potential for replicability processes?
• What evidence can be observed toward a shift in thinking about the benefits of the application of the BIOFIN methodology and the relevance of adopting additional finance solutions?

Impact:

• Global and national level impacts [Ratings: 3. Significant (S), 2. Minimal (M), 1. Negligible (N)]

Additional ratings where relevant:

• Not Applicable (N/A)
• Unable to Assess (U/A)

Specific evaluation tasks:

The evaluation methodology shall include at least the following:

• Desk research / literature review;
• Interviews with key stakeholders (potential missions to UNDP office in New York and/or Brussels);
• Field visit to 4-6 countries;
• Interviews with the BIOFIN national team members, UNDP representatives, national level partners, and authorities;
• Interviews and/or focus groups with other relevant stakeholders in the field involved in BIOFIN implementation;
• Interviews and feedback from European Commission (EC) representatives;
• Debriefings with key stakeholders to share preliminary findings and include feedback on those findings to the report;
• Debriefings with BIOFIN Steering Committee (SC) at the end of the visit to share preliminary findings;
• Preparation of the final Evaluation Report with a chapter providing a set of conclusions, recommendations and lessons.

The consultant will be responsible for developing an inception report with a detailed methodological framework for the evaluation. The consultant is free to suggest other and/or additional methods and questions that have not been indicated above. The evaluation report shall describe the evaluation method and process, and discuss validity and reliability. Limitations and shortcomings should be explained.

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 and consultations with all key stakeholders and government counterparts in the countries visited during field missions. Additional project participants and other key stakeholders from the remaining participating countries will be consulted by email and telephone, as well as, through appropriate survey techniques.

The evaluator will review all relevant sources of information, such as the project document, Logical Framework, project Annual Work Plans, country reports, project budget and financial reports, progress reports, project files, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the evaluator considers useful for this evidence-based assessment (all provided by UNDP). The Evaluation will assess they key financial aspects of the project, including the extent of co-financing planned and realized. Project costs and funding data will be required. The evaluator will receive assistance from the BIOFIN team and Country Office (CO) to obtain financial data.

Outputs to be delivered:

The Consultant will be primarily home-based with missions to selected BIOFIN countries, and work under the supervision of the BIOFIN Manager, on the following:

• Develop an inception report with the proposal for the methodology and draft work plan– to be submitted within 10 days from the contract signature;
• Implementation of the work plan including desk review of documentation, interviews, undertaking mission travel to the target countries and key stakeholders, etc.  (after the approval of the inception report and timeline/work plan);
• Preparation of a PowerPoint presentation of the preliminary findings in the field (at the end of the evaluation missions);
• Draft evaluation report for presentation to the Global team (and if needed for review by the BIOFIN Global Steering Committee members) (Within 2 weeks of the evaluation missions);
• Final evaluation Report with ratings, lessons learned and recommendations (Within 1 week of receiving UNDP comments on the draft Report).

The key product expected from the terminal evaluation is a comprehensive analytical report written in English. The terminal evaluation Report will be a stand-alone document that substantiates its findings, conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned. The report will provide convincing evidence to support its findings/ratings. The report, together with its annexes, will be submitted in electronic format in both, MS Word and PDF format. 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. 

Information on working arrangements:

• Estimated level of effort including travel: 50 days;
• The Consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for execution of the tasks under this assignment;
• The consultant will engage with the Supervisor by email and Skype on an as needed basis;
• The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own working station (i.e. laptop, internet, phone, scanner/printer, etc.) and must have access to a reliable internet connection;
• Payments will be made upon submission of the deliverables, a detailed time sheet and certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the Supervisor on days worked (with a “day” calculated as 8 hours of work) and satisfactory delivery and acceptance of outputs.

Travel:

• Missions to 4-6 selected core BIOFIN countries to meet the BIOFIN management.  Location to be determined and any other relevant country. Missions will be selected by region and decided at a later stage in collaboration with the donor based on potential value to learning, with approximately 4 working days in each country;
• Any necessary mission travel must be approved in advance and in writing by the Supervisor;
• The Advanced and Basic Security in the Field II courses must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
• Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director;
• Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under https://dss.un.org/dssweb/; 
• The consultant will be responsible for making his/her own mission travel arrangements in line with UNDP travel policies;
• All travel expenses related to mission travels will be supported by the project travel fund and will be reimbursed as per UNDP rules and regulations for consultants. Costs for mission airfares, terminal expenses, and living allowances should not be included in financial proposal.

Competencias

Corporate:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

Technical:

• Good knowledge in the planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;
• Adequate understanding of environmental finance concepts and programming;
• High degree of familiarity with UNDP and EC monitoring and evaluation concepts;
• Proven experience and good track record of project final evaluations.

Professionalism:

• Capable of working in a high pressure environment with sharp and frequent deadlines, managing many tasks simultaneously;
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills;
• Exercise the highest level of responsibility and be able to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner.

Communication:

• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills;
• Communicate effectively in writing to a varied and broad audience in a simple and concise manner;
• Good command of video communication software packages such as GotoMeeting and Skype are an asset.

Teamwork:

• Works well in a team to advance the priorities of BIOFIN and UNDP as a whole;
• Projects a positive image and is ready to take on a wide range of tasks;
• Focuses on results for governments requesting support;
• Welcomes constructive feedback.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Master’s degree or higher in development studies, statistics, economics, environmental studies or another relevant field (max 5 points).

Experience:

• At least 10 years’ demonstrated expertise in the area of project and programme cycle management (max 5 points);
• At least 10-15 evaluations conducted on development projects/programmes (mid-term and/or final evaluations) (max 10 points);
• Significant evaluations experience on global or regional projects/programmes evaluations is an asset (max 5 points);
• Experience in biodiversity and sustainable development finance related projects is an advantage (max 5 points);
• Experience with UNDP policies, procedures and practices particularly in relation to project development and implementation and/or working experience in an international organization is an advantage (max 5 points);

Language requirements:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language (max 3 Points);
• Good command of Spanish and/or Russian is a strong asset (max 2 points).

Evaluation method:

• Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated;
• Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the technical criteria will be weighted at 70% and the financial offer will be weighted at 30%;
• The technical criteria [education, experience, languages (max 40 points), interview (max 30 points), and submission of writing samples (max 10 points)] will be based on a maximum 80 points;
• Only the top three scoring candidates obtaining 28 points or higher from the review of qualifications (education, experience, languages) will be considered for the interview, submission of writing samples;
• Candidates obtaining 56 points or higher from the review of the qualifications, writing samples and interview will be considered for financial evaluation;
• Financial score (max 100 points) shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal of those technically qualified;
• The financial proposal shall specify an all-inclusive daily fee.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal must additionally include a breakdown of this fee (including number of anticipated working days and all foreseeable expenses to carry out the assignment);
• Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

Documentation to be submitted:

• Applicants must submit a duly completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P11) to be downloaded from the below link;
• Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.

Kindly note you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents in one single PDF file to attach).

UNDP Personal History form (P11) required of all applicants:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.

General Conditions of Contract for the ICs:

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.