Background

The project was designed to support improved and effective management of protected areas as well as sustainable use and management of mountain pastures and forests, and biodiversity conservation in two snow leopard landscapes (Western Tian Shan and Pamir Alay) of Uzbekistan.

Project Goal, Objective, Outcomes and Outputs/activities

The project objective is “To enhance the conservation, and sustainable use, of natural resources in the biodiverse high altitude mountain ecosystems of Uzbekistan”.

In order to achieve the project objective, the project is structured into four components, with each component comprising a complementary suite of two to three outputs.

Component/Outcome 1:               Landscape level planning and management decision-making. The first component will enhance the quality of information on key ecosystems, habitats and species of the high altitude mountains that are home to snow leopard and prey populations. Information collected under this component will be used to support sectoral land use planning and decision-making in these mountainous regions. Work under this component will be focused around two key areas of project support: (i) Improve the quality of environmental information for state cadastre in the snow leopard distribution range (Output 1.1); and (ii) Enhance the state of knowledge on snow leopard and prey populations (Output 1.2).

Component/Outcome 2:               Strengthening key biodiversity areas. The second component will seek to expand and build the management capacity of the core conservation zones and high conservation value forests located within the two targeted snow leopard landscapes. Outputs and activities in this component will be directed at securing the conservation security of the key snow leopard and prey migration corridors within the two snow leopard landscapes. Work under this component will be focused around three key areas of project support: (i) Strengthen the conservation tenure, and improve the management effectiveness, of the core conservation zones in Ugam-Chatkal National Park (Output 2.1); (ii) Extend, and improve the conservation security of, Gissar Strict Nature Reserve (Output 2.2); and (iii) Enhance community involvement in, and beneficiation from, the protected areas (Output 2.3).

Component/Outcome 3:               Sustainable economic development incentives for communities. The third component will seek to encourage more sustainable levels of use of the high altitude pastures and indigenous forests located within the two targeted snow leopard landscapes. Outputs and activities under this component will contribute to improving the ecological integrity and productivity of forest and grassland habitats in the snow leopard landscapes. Work under this component will be focused around two key areas of project support: (i) Incentivize the adoption of more sustainable pasture management practices (Output 3.1); and (ii) Reverse the trend of unsustainable forest use in, and degradation of, natural forests (Output 3.2).

Component/Outcome 4:               Promoting cooperation and collaboration. The fourth component will promote improved cooperation and collaboration in the conservation of snow leopard and their ecosystems. It is envisaged that more integrated planning, stronger cooperative governance structures and improved institutional and individual capabilities of all partner agencies and institutions will improve the collective national capacity to conserve and sustainably use snow leopards, their prey and their ecosystems. Work under this component will be focused around two key areas of project support: (i) Improve inter-agency coordination in conservation, monitoring and enforcement (Output 4.1); and (ii) Strengthen the capacity for trans-boundary planning and management (Output 4.2).

The project implementation period is 2017-2022. The time is based on activities that will provide implementation of best practices, their assessment and primer dissemination of recommendations on their replication in other similar regions of Uzbekistan. Building of sufficient capacity and practical know-how within essential state institutions and local authorities will take too long to allow project sustainability. One of the main lessons learned by UNDP and other development partners in Central Asia in the last 15 years is that to change and reform existing institutions and mind-sets is an extremely time-consuming process if it is to be achieved effectively. This has been a clear lesson from most of UNDP and other development actors’ initiatives in the area and a key reason for many projects to not achieve the full results expected. Thus, it is of paramount importance that in the project a realistic timeframe for the systematic implementation of the various project activities is planned in order to mitigate this risk. This is an additional reason why the timeframe of 5 years has been considered necessary.

The project budget planned for the period of implementation is given in the table below. The actually used donors’ funds are indicated by UNDP and GEF (6,509,863$).

The project will instigate institutional change with the true understanding and support of the institutions themselves for the change to be effective and sustainable. The major aim of the project is to build the experience, know-how and technical capacity of key national, regional and district level institutions so that they themselves are better able to understand and deliver change that responds to the evolving natural resources use situation in Uzbekistan. This is the most significant factor in making such institutions sustainable and continuing to be sustainable despite inevitable climate and economic “shocks” that may occur in the future.

The project activities are implemented under coordination of Goscomecology of Uzbekistan, as the national implementation agency of the project. Goscomecology is responsible for regulatory framework related to ecology, environmental protection and biodiversity use and conservation. Ministries and agencies of the country are involved in the project implementation through a mechanism of interactions through Goscomecology and are represented with members of the national Project Board (project steering committee).

Duties and Responsibilities

The TE report will assess the achievement of project results against the planned results, and draw lessons that can both improve the sustainability of project outcomes, and aid in the overall enhancement of UNDP programming. The TE report promotes accountability and transparency, and assesses the extent of project accomplishments. The final evaluation will focus on the delivery of the project’s results as initially planned, and as updated after the mid-term evaluation. The final evaluation will look at impact and sustainability of results, including the contribution to capacity development and the achievement of global environmental benefits/goals.

The TE will assess project performance against expectations set out in the project’s Logical Framework/Results Framework (see ToR Annex A). The TE will assess results according to the criteria outlined in the Guidance for TEs of UNDP-supported GEF-financed Projects.

The Findings section of the TE report will cover the specific topics listed below. A full outline of the TE report’s content is provided in ToR Annex C.

The asterisk “(*)” indicates criteria for which a rating is required.

Findings

i. Project Design/Formulation

- National priorities and country driven-ness, including stakeholder involvement in project design

- Theory of Change

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- Gender equality and women’s empowerment

- Social and Environmental Standards (Safeguards)

- Results Framework: project logic and strategy, indicators

- Assumptions and Risks

- Lessons from other relevant projects (e.g. same focal area) incorporated into project design

- Planned stakeholder engagement during implementation

- Linkages between project and other interventions within the sector

- Management arrangements

ii. Project Implementation

- Adaptive management (changes to the project design and project outputs during implementation)

- Actual stakeholder participation and partnership arrangements

- Project finance and co-finance, including planned and actual co-financing levels, and the relative importance of actual co-financing in project implementation

- Monitoring & Evaluation: design at entry (*), implementation (*), and overall assessment of M&E (*)

- Implementing Agency (UNDP) (*) and Executing Agency (*), overall project oversight/implementation and execution (*)

- Risk Management, including Social and Environmental Standards (Safeguards)

iii. Project Results

- Assess the achievement of outcomes against indicators by reporting on the level of progress for each objective and outcome indicator at the time of the TE and noting final achievements

- Relevance (*), Effectiveness (*), Efficiency (*) and overall project outcome (*)

- Sustainability: financial (*), socio-political (*), institutional framework and governance (*), environmental (*), overall likelihood of sustainability (*)

- Country ownership

- Gender equality and women’s empowerment

- Cross-cutting issues (as relevant: poverty alleviation, improved governance, climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster prevention and recovery, human rights, capacity development, South-South cooperation, knowledge management, volunteerism, etc.)

- GEF Additionality

- Catalytic Role / Replication Effect

- Progress to impact

iv. Main Findings, Conclusions, Recommendations and Lessons Learned

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- The IC will include a summary of the main findings of the TE report. Findings should be presented as statements of fact that are based on analysis of the data.

- The section on conclusions will be written in light of the findings. Conclusions should be comprehensive and balanced statements that are well substantiated by evidence and logically connected to the TE findings. They should highlight the strengths, weaknesses and results of the project, respond to key evaluation questions and provide insights into the identification of and/or solutions to important problems or issues pertinent to project beneficiaries, UNDP and the GEF, including issues in relation to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

- Recommendations should provide concrete, practical, feasible and targeted recommendations directed to the intended users of the evaluation about what actions to take and decisions to make. The recommendations should be specifically supported by the evidence and linked to the findings and conclusions around key questions addressed by the evaluation.

- The TE report should also include lessons that can be taken from the evaluation, including best practices in addressing issues relating to performance and success that can provide knowledge gained from the particular circumstance (programmatic and evaluation methods used, partnerships, financial leveraging, etc.) that are applicable to other GEF and UNDP interventions. When possible, the IC should include examples of good practices in project design and implementation.

- It is important for the conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned of the TE report to include consideration of gender equality and empowerment of women.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling 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 favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of and work experience with biodiversity and ecosystems related projects, including those funded by the GEF;
• Competence in adaptive management;
• Excellent training, facilitation and communication skills;
• Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines;

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in natural sciences, natural resource and environmental management, development studies, economics, or other closely related field;
• Relevant extensive (at least 10 years) work experience and proven track record with policy advice and/or project development/implementation in biodiversity, ecosystems, or natural resources management (including at least some experience with biodiversity conservation and natural resource management projects) in transition economies is required;
• Experience working with the GEF or GEF project evaluations within the past seven years including experience with SMART based indicators is required;
• Experience working with international technical assistance projects in the Eastern Europe countries or CIS region in the past seven years (experience in Uzbekistan will be an asset) is strongly encouraged;
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender and natural resources, experience in gender responsive evaluation and analysis;
• Excellent communication and presentation skills;
• Demonstrable analytical skills;
• Project evaluation/review experience within United Nations system will be considered an asset;
• Experience with implementing evaluations remotely will be considered an asset

Language requirements:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required, knowledge of Russian will be a strong asset.

Application Process:

Interested candidates need to apply online at www.jobs.undp.org and upload requested documents in Part 4 of Procurement Notice no later than March-18, 2022 (New York time). Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows you to upload a maximum one document. Your on-line application submission will be acknowledged to your email address provided in application. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Link to application at the UNDP Job Site - https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=105216 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work).

You can review detailed Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference and download templates from the UNDP Procurement Notices Site following the link: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=88800 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work).

Applications submitted via email, incomplete applications or received after the closing date (March-18, 2022) may not be given consideration.

For more detailed information about UNDP Uzbekistan please visit our website at www.uz.undp.org. UNDP is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified female candidates, people with disabilities, and minorities are highly encouraged to apply. UNDP Balance in Manage Policy promotes achievement of gender balance among its staff at all levels. Requests for clarification must be sent in writing to pu.uz@undp.org, ensuring that the reference number above is included in the subject line. UNDP shall endeavor to provide such responses to clarifications in an expeditious manner, but any delay in such response shall not cause an obligation on the part of UNDP to extend the submission date of the Proposals, unless UNDP deems that such an extension is justified and necessary.