Background

High-quality evaluations are critical for results-based management, knowledge generation for wider use, and for accountability to programme partners. One of the requirements of the UNDP evaluation policy is that programme units – policy, practice, regional bureaus and country offices – ensure that evaluations inform programme management and contribute to development results. Therefore, UNDP has been increasingly emphasizing the need to carry out high quality decentralized evaluations.  As part of this process, the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) assesses the quality of the decentralized evaluations carried out each year. These  assessment findings are made available to the relevant UNDP Bureaus and programme units, and are reported to the UNDP Executive Board as part of the IEO Annual Report on Evaluation.

Decentralized evaluations include programme-level evaluations, outcome evaluations, and project evaluations. UNDP Bureaus and country offices develop Evaluation Plans, articulating the evaluations to be carried out during each 5 year planning cycle.  Approximately 200 - 250 decentralized evaluations get carried out world-wide each year.  UNDP Bureaus and Country Offices have discretion over which of their programmes and projects are evaluated, unless otherwise specified in partnership agreements with funders.  Of particular relevance to these terms of reference, all full size projects funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) require a final (terminal) evaluation upon closure.

In order to ensure continued support to our initiatives, UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Africa (RSCA) invites candidates to send their applications for inclusion in a Vetted Roster of external experts. The process for including candidates in the Expert Roster is described in the later sections of this advertisement

To be considered for inclusion in the roster, applicants would need to have one or more of expertise indicated in the competencies section of this adveristment 

Duties and Responsibilities

Tasks assigned in each individual assignment may include but not limited to the  following :

• Developing Inception report (including development of an evaluation matrix and Data collection tools);
• Undertake secondary research of the evaluand based on review of existing literature
• Develop evaluation  design, research questions and scope of work for undertaking primary research of the evaluand;
• Evaluation debriefings. Immediately following an evaluation, UNDP may ask for a preliminary debriefing and findings
• Developing the Draft  Evaluation report;
• Evaluation report audit trail: The programme unit and key stakeholders in the evaluation should review the draft evaluation report and provide an amalgamated set of comments to the evaluator. Comments and changes by the evaluator in response to the draft report should be retained by the evaluator to show how they have addressed comments.
• Final evaluation report.
• Presentations to stakeholders and/ or evaluation reference group (if required)

Capacity Development/Training:

• Where relevant and as indicated in the ToR,  develop Capacity Development Plan to address the identified capacity gaps and Conduct and/or Coordinate trainings and workshops.

Knowledge Management:

• Prepare  knowledge and communications products related to the projects/programs of the evaluand;
• Develop lessons learned and/or literature on best practices.

Competencies

To be considered for inclusion in the roster, applicants would need to have expertise in one or more of the following areas :

• Sustainable Development including -  Poverty reduction, Natural resource management, Development planning and risk management;
• Democratic governance - Enabling and strengthening Governance systems; Governance strengthening and innovation; Civil society engagement and inclusion; Integrity in public institutions;
• Resilience - Supporting recovery in all aspects from conflict (economic and governance); Preparing for and dealing with the consequences of natural disasters; and
• Environment and Energy - Water use and systems; Air pollution and quality; Land degradation; Coastal erosion; Efficient energy use.
• Programme Monitoring and Evaluation in the (related) areas above.

Required Skills and Experience

I. Education:

• Degree in either of or related fields :
  • Sustainable Development or any of the following-  Poverty reduction, Natural resource management, Development planning and risk management;
  • Socio economic or political  governance - Enabling and strengthening Governance systems; Governance strengthening and innovation; Civil society engagement and inclusion; Integrity in public institutions;
  • Environment and Energy - Water use and systems; Air pollution and quality; Land degradation; Coastal erosion; Efficient energy use.

II. Years of experience:

Following a vetting process, the successful candidates would be placed in one of the following bands:

• Band 1, Implementation Support: Master’s Degree in relevant field with minimum 3 years of relevant work experience, or Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field with minimum 5 years of relevant work experience;
• Band 2, Specialist Support: Master’s Degree in relevant field with minimum 7 years of relevant work experience, out of which minimum 3 years of international experience as a requirement;
• Band 3, Senior Advisory: Master’s Degree in relevant field with minimum 12 years of relevant work experience, out of which minimum 5 years of international experience as a requirement.
  • Demonstrated experience in research, analysis, policy support, programme and project development, theory of change, project management, knowledge management, and/or monitoring, reporting and evaluation;
  • Proven experience working with a wide variety of development actors including governments, international development organizations (including United Nations agencies), donors and other funding agencies, private sector entities, and/or civil society organizations including community groups, academia and the media;
  • Previous work experience in Africa Region is an asset.

III. Language:

• Fluency in spoken and written English.
  • or fluency in spoken and written French and intermediate fluency in English;
  • or fluency in spoken and written Spanish and intermediate fluency in English;
  • or fluency in spoken and written Portuguese and intermediate fluency in English

• For some assignments, the ability to set out a coherent argument in presentations and group interactions  is a requirement;
• Capacity to communicate fluently with different stakeholders (civil society, government authorities, local communities, project staff).

Applications should include:

• A cover letter, clearly identifying the “Areas of Expertise and Sub-Expertise ” as mentioned in the background section above;
• Updated Personal CV and Personal Information Form, including past experience from similar projects, and email, telephone and any other contact details for references;
• Daily professional Fee. This can be indicated on the cover letter 

Evaluation of Applicants:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies.

Stage 1:- Establishing a Roster :

Applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies specified above and will be evaluated as per following criteria;

• All applicants will be initially screened against the minimum requirements as in TOR and those meeting the minimum requirements will be long listed. 
• Long-listed applicants will be evaluated through a Desk review and/or interview against the following criteria based on evident in the submitted application.
• Demonstrated specialized expertise in a minimum of one of the action areas mentioned in the TOR: 40 points:
  • Sustainable Development - Poverty reduction, Natural resource management, Development planning and risk management;
  • Democratic governance - Enabling and strengthening Governance systems; Governance strengthening and innovation; Civil society engagement and inclusion; Integrity in public institutions; and
  • Environment and Energy - Water use and systems; Air pollution and quality; Land degradation; Coastal erosion; Efficient energy use;
  • Programme Monitoring and Evaluation in the (related) areas above.
• Demonstrated specialized experience (as applicable) in policy and strategy development, programme/project design, management, capacity development, knowledge management, research and documentation and Result based management, Developing Theories of Change, monitoring and evaluation aspects required for fulfilling the consultancy successfully – 40 points;
• Demonstrable educational qualifications and experience in conducting evaluations in the UN agencies in African region on Governance, Poverty reduction, Natural resource management and environment and energy-related projects– 10 points;
• Demonstrated language and communication skills: and ability to write reports in English and or French, presentations and briefs – 10 points.

Only those candidates who obtain a total technical score of 70 and above will be included in the roster

Successful candidates will be included in UNDP RBA Experts Roster for a period of 5 years, in one of the “bands” indicated above. However, the addition of an individual in the Roster does not guarantee a contract with UNDP. Qualified women are encouraged to apply.

Stage 2:- Evaluation and call off mechanism for specific assignment /Contracting/:

When a request for services arises, the roster manager shall contact the individuals included in the specific area of expertise with ToR, location and dates of the assignment seeking confirmation of availability, as well as other costs such as living allowance, travel cost, etc. The daily fee quoted by the individual during this application process shall remain as the ceiling fee and cannot be increased upwards for any offered individual assignment(s).

Consultants that confirmed their availability for Specific assignment will be evaluated in one of the two evaluation criteria that shall be clearly indicated in the respective assignment ToR.

Lowest price and technically compliant offer:

When using this method, the award of a contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as both:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and;
• Offering the lowest price/cost.

Responsive/compliant/acceptable can be defined as fully meeting the TOR provided.

Cumulative analysis:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should 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;
  • Technical Criteria weight; [To be determined];
  • Financial Criteria weight; [To be determined].

Only candidates obtaining the minimum point specified on the assignment ToR would be considered for the Financial evaluation