UNDP Jobs - 13604- Consultant: Mid-Term Evaluation of Alternatives t

Consultant: Mid-Term Evaluation of Alternatives to DDT Usage in the Production of Antifouling Paint

Location :

Beijing, CHINA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

20-Dec-09 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

25 working days over a two-month period

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Antifouling paints containing DDT are mainly used on sea fishing ships. The 300,000 medium and small size ships widely distributed along its 18,000 km. coastline in China, which consume 10,000 MT antifouling paints, approximately half is DDT based antifouling paint, and the other half is TBT based antifouling paint. Because DDT is a Persistent Organic Pollutant, it can damage sea organisms and sea ecosystems, and be accumulated in the bodies of sea organisms when it is released into sea from the antifouling paints coated on the ships’ surface.

Use of DDT in this manner is not considered a permitted use under the Stockholm Convention, and there are no specific exemptions available to continue such production and use. As such, China is obliged to take action to address the use of DDT as additive in the production of antifouling paint.

In cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), a project titled Alternatives to DDT Usage in the Production of Antifouling Paint (hereinafter referred as ‘AFP project’) has been developed and got GEF Council approval on August, 2006, and GEF CEO Endorsement on July, 2007. The key objective of this project is to take measures to eliminate the use of DDT as an additive for antifouling paints, and to establish and promote the use of sustainable alternatives to DDT/TBT-based antifouling paints. The binding objective of the project is to eliminate the use of DDT in production of antifouling paint by conversion to non-toxic and environmentally friendly alternatives. In addition, the prospective objective of the project is to establish a long-term mechanism to protect marine environment and human health from pollution of harmful antifouling systems by supporting China to sign International Convention on the Control of Harmful Antifouling Systems on Ships (the IMO Convention) based on the technologies, experience and instruments obtained from phase out of DDT antifouling paint.

The MEP of China, through its Convention Implementation Office (CIO/MEP), and the UNDP will be respectively the national executing agency and the international implementing agency of this four-year project from November 2007 till December, 2011.

The objectives of the project will be to substitute DDT based antifouling paint by technically, economically viable, and environmental friendly alternatives, which can be promoted to eliminate other harmful antifouling systems including TBT based antifouling paint in order to protect marine environment and human health.

The project has identified 34 enterprises producing antifouling paints, of which 19 are producing DDT-based ones. Up to 2009, local project offices were established in the Shandong and Guangdong provinces and the sub-provincial city of Ningbo. Information materials have been produced and awareness raising activities are starting to motivate the concerned fishermen and others involved in the use of antifouling paint.

Duties and Responsibilities

The purpose of the evaluation is to evaluate the progress which has been achieved from the project beginning till now, and to help guide the project’s implementation from now till end of the project to realize its objective. The MTE is also meant to synthesize lessons to help improve the project design and implementation of project activities. The mid-term evaluation will do this by :

To briefly review development and policy environment relating to regulation on DDT and Anti-fouing Paint, commenting on how these might have affected project performance and assess the extent to which the project remained relevant to the needs of its targets;
To perform interim assessment of the extent to which AFP project has successfully accomplished its objectives in terms of activities, outputs and outcomes as defined in the agreed Project Document (logframe), and assess the likelihood of achieving them upon project completion;
To identify implementing partner’s institutional strengths and weaknesses, and identify potential options for improving AFP project, which could include modification of activities, project management responsibilities, schedule of activities and budget allocations, among others;
To evaluate the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of project outcomes. And to provide forward-looking recommendations to further consolidate successful aspects of the project and those that need to be improved in order to achieve project goals and objectives by the project ending.
To Promote learning, feedback and knowledge sharing on results and lessons learnt among the GEF and its partners.

Scope of Services

Under the supervision of UNDP CO in consultation with Implementing Partner of AFP Project, the mid-term evaluation team will accomplish the following tasks:

Review of the project design, planning and implementation
Whether problems to be solved by the project are clear, the project approaches and strategy are sound, and immediate objectives and outputs are properly stated and verifiable in the project logical framework;
Whether project problems to be solved still stand, project responses strategies and project adaptive management measures still relevant to national priorities and GEF strategies;
Whether the designed institutional arrangement for AFP Project has been performing effectively during the project implementation and allocated responsibilities among key stakeholders are still relevant
Whether timeframe of the project is feasible and practicable

Review of project performance

Timeliness and quality of inputs;
Timeliness and cost-effectiveness of activities undertaken;
Ability of the project to utilize efficiently the inputs available to it;
Quality and quantity of outputs produced;
Achievement of immediate objectives;
Factors that have facilitated or deterred the achievement of project objectives; and Co-funding mobilized till date
Project impact
To determine the extent to which the project objectives are expected to be achieved and what are the short-term and long-term impact of the project, including efficiency of the project, cost-effectiveness of the project, impact on DDT elimination in China, replication and dissemination of project results within and outside project areas; awareness raised of DDT-free AFP among the general public and decision makers.
To address how the intervention seeks to strengthen the application of the rights-based approach and mainstream gender in development efforts.

Sustainability of project outcomes

To analyze the risks and assumptions that are likely to affect the persistence of the project outcomes, including financial resources, socio-political, institutional and environmental risks.
Recommendations and lessons learnt
Success stories;
Problems in project implementation;
Lessons learnt;
Recommendations.
The team will use the information generated by AFP project including baseline and information generated by the M&E framework, and seek the necessary contextual information to assess the significance and relevance of the results.

In order deliver the evaluation tasks, the team will carry out the following activities during the assignment period:
- Review of background material and preparation of a tentative evaluation plan to be agreed with UNDP CO and FECO;
- Desk review of documents provided by UNDP CO and FECO attached to this TOR
- Interviews and discussions with relevant stakeholders including:
- Division V of FECO;
- UNDP CO and UNDP RCU as required
- Ministry of Finance and other related central government which involved in the project;
- Private sector representatives including painting enterprises which involved in AFP project;
- Industrial Associations;
- Local Project Management Office of the project sites;
- Local beneficiaries including representatives from local government and fishermen in three pilots;
- Subcontractors etc.
- Field visits to the three selected demonstration sites. At least visits should be made to 2 demonstration sites.
- Debriefing at the UNDP CO on the preliminary findings after the meetings and visits with participation of key stakeholders;
- Preparation and finalisation of evaluation report by incorporating any additional comments from the UNDP CO and FECO
Outputs

The consultant team is expected to deliver the following outputs:
- An evaluation report presenting evaluation results of the project, and recommendations for remaining timeframe of the project. The report should be submitted to UNDP CO within six weeks from the date when the consultants are contracted. The documents should be submitted in electronic format with both English and Chinese version, which shall be translated by the national evaluation consultant.
- Presentation of findings to UNDP CO and FECO as well as other key stakeholders in a wrap-up meeting in UNDP CO.
The findings of the evaluation will be used by Ministry of Finance as the GEF Focal Point in China, MEP as the implementing partner and UNDP to better adjust project strategy and approaches to guide the project implementation in the remaining period.
Duration of the Contracts

Four working weeks for International consultant and five working weeks for national consultant, including travel time required. The consultant will travel to Beijing, Shandong, Ningbo or Guangdong. The consultant will meet with government officials, project participants, and other stakeholders in order to evaluate the project implementation and impact. The travel schedule and logistics will be developed by UNDP CO in consultation with FECO. The national consultant will also work out the Chinese translation.

Payment Schedule

The travel advance will be paid upon signature of the contract for mobilization. The remaining payment is payable upon acceptance by UNDP of the evaluation report in its final form.

Responsibilities
- Documentation of the review
- Leading the mid-term Evaluation Team in planning, conducting and reporting on the evaluation based on these Terms of Reference.
- Deciding on division of labor within the Team and ensuring timeliness of reports
- Use of best practice evaluation methodologies in conducting the evaluation
- Leading presentation of the draft evaluation findings and recommendations in-country
- Presenting the findings to stakeholders at the wrap-up meeting Leading the drafting and finalization of the mid-term Evaluation Report.

Competencies

The mid-term evaluation team will consist of an international consultant and a national consultant. All the international and national consultants are expected to have relevant academic qualification and evaluation experiences. In addition, it is desired that the international and national consultants have as many as possible the following qualifications:

Project development, implementation and evaluation experience;
Familiarity with reduction and elimination of Persistent Organic Pollutants management in particular DDT and pesticides policies;
Expertise in economic and social development issues;
Knowledgeable about the relevant policies of the GEF;
Good communications and writing skills in English;
Knowledge of Stockholm Convention, integrated other related international conventions and regulations such like IMO convention etc;
Knowledge of GEF projects and project requirements;
Professional experiences in working in China and with Chinese counterparts.

Required Skills and Experience

Expertise in economic and social development issues;
Minimum of five years of project evaluation and/or implementation experience in the result-based management framework, adaptive management and UNDP or GEF Monitoring and Evaluation Policy
Familiarity in similar country or regional situations relevant to that of China
Experience with multilateral and bilateral supported chemical safety projects
Knowledge of international chemicals or antifouling paint industry best practices
Very good communication and report writing skills in English
Working experiences in China will serve as an asset.