Antecedentes
- At the national level, the Programme helps enhance governmental departments' capacity to support improved governance and development in the regions and municipalities of the country, using decentralized cooperation modalities.
- At the regional/local level, the Programme assists in strengthening local stakeholders' capacities in planning and managing integrated territorial development. The project operated at different levels to support local administrations in carrying out monitoring processes and in improving planning documents and action plans.
- At the international level, the Programme has made use of decentralized cooperation modalities to promote the exchange of innovations, experiences and good practices with Southern and Northern Countries. The aim has been to promote Albania and bring its cultural, economic and social reality into an international contest.
- Support to the national government in outlining and implementing decentralized and regional development policies to achieve the MDGs and contribute to the implementation of the National Strategy for Development and Integration' goals in a coordinated way and in partnership with various stakeholders.
- Enhancement of regional and local governments’ and other stakeholders’ capacities, in the selected regions, in local planning, implementation and monitoring processes and provision of support during the implementation of their regional development strategies.
- Linking and establishment of partnerships among European, Albanian and other regional and local Authorities and communities to set up development interventions aimed at the implementation of local plans and strategies.
- Support to achieving the MDGs by fostering cultural dialogue and European integration of Albania.
- Strengthened capacities of Local Economic Development Agencies in Vlora and Shkodra region (AULEDA and TEULEDA) through technical assistance. The LEDAs’ staff is trained on development of business plans, project management, organizational development, creation of new partnerships, etc., focusing on economic activities that benefit the disadvantaged.
- Fostered economic development by carrying out surveys on agro-food value-chains in both regions, providing guidelines for regional administrations, LEDAs and local producers on how to increase the economic value of 14 typical assets in each region. Together with AULEDA and TEULEDA managed a guarantee fund scheme providing, during 2010- 2012 alone, with 14 bank micro-loans to small family businesses and start-up SMEs up to a total of 1,2 M USD prioritizing the young, women and unprivileged.
- Enhanced the coordination of development projects on the territory, by providing expert support to regional authorities to carry out two Strategic Planning (SP) processes (one in each region) focusing on the sustainability of tourism. The latter were launched at a national level though the participation of the Albanian Prime Minister and other relevant local and regional partners. In each Programme region ART GOLD 2 has started to implement a number of projects identified within the SP, considered as development priorities and/or development entry points by the County Partnership Councils (CPC).
- Supported national as well as county level governments of Vlora and Shkodra in designing and implementing project initiatives in line with the relevant government priorities of development
- Fostered knowledge and innovation through the organization of two key International Conferences on European integration, knowledge, innovations and democratic governance of development and several other county level workshops and forums.
- Fostered the sharing of knowledge related to good practices by establishing partnerships with the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, universities in both Programme regions and local authorities in setting up pilot Laboratories of Local Human Development, a mixed academic and non-academic local development training programmes. The laboratories involve a combination of fieldwork, academic tutoring, lectures and peer-learning.
- Increased capacity building through activities at the local and county levels, ensuring that around 100 local government officials are certified in design of project and budget actions with a focus on inter-municipal cooperation on joint socio-economic issues.
- Initial discussions on new potential partnerships with decentralized cooperation actors are ongoing and linked specifically to the present implementation stage of the Programme.
Deberes y responsabilidades
- assess the relevance of the overall project and the extent to which the development intervention's objectives were achieved;
- assess the effectiveness, , impact and sustainability of the project;
- look at the project as a whole, identifying good practices and lessons learned to be used as a knowledge base for developing future technical assistance packages;
- analyze strategies and implementation modalities so as to provide recommendations to be integrated in the planning process in Albania;
- review the project sustainability and potential life-long impact on Albania’s social and economic conditions.
- Finally, the evaluation will review: the initiatives aimed at:
- the strengthening of decentralized policy and democratic governance with particular regard to integrated local development;
- supporting central and local governments to coordinate and link Italian and European contributions in supporting integrated local development;
- implementing local plans and strategies to achieve the MDG at the local level
- Relevance: The evaluation team will assess the degree to which the project takes into account the local context and development problems. The evaluation will review the extent to which the objectives of the project are consistent with beneficiary requirements and needs, and assess whether the approach was coherent with the Country's policies and Poverty Reduction Strategy objectives. The evaluation will also review the extent to which the project design was logical and coherent, and it will assess the link between activities and expected results, and between results and objectives to be achieved.
- Effectiveness: The evaluation will assess the extent to which the Programme's objectives have been achieved, compared to the overall project purpose. In evaluating effectiveness it is useful to consider: I) if the planning activities are coherent with the overall objectives and project purpose; 2) the analysis of principal factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives.
- Impact: The evaluation will assess the main impact effectively achieved by the ART GOLD Project in the context of reference. Even if the evaluation exercise is in-itineris, it is suggested to assess the probability that the objectives will be achieved, and if the project is able to reach the intended purpose within its planned conclusion.
- Sustainability: The evaluation will assess the project capacity to produce and to reproduce benefits over time. In evaluating the project sustainability it is useful to consider to what extent intervention benefits will continue even after the project is concluded and the principal factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the project sustainability.
- Work plan – within two days of the start of the assignment. The evaluation team will submit the wok plan which will include a detailed approach and methodology and schedule. In particular, the work plan will require a clear approach to data collection and work organization to examine the project in its full scope. The work plan will be evaluated by the project’s Steering Committee for quality and content, upon which clearance to proceed with the full evaluation will be granted.
- Preliminary findings and draft evaluation report – within 10 days of the start of the assignment, the evaluation team will share a draft report indicating the scope of assessment in key components for validation by the Steering Committee and other stakeholders. The purpose of this report is to demonstrate progress on the assignment and adherence to the TORs, and will identify any evaluation issues that may need further clarification before completion of the in-country mission.
- Presentation of findings – within 12 days of the start of the assignment a presentation of findings and preliminary recommendations to key stakeholders will be carried out through a workshop. The purpose of this session is to provide opportunity for initial validation and support further elaboration of the evaluators’ findings and recommendations.
- Final evaluation report – within 15 days of receiving the consolidated comments from stakeholders, the Evaluation Team will submit a final document that addresses relevant comments and provides comprehensive reporting on all elements of the assignment. This report will be submitted to the ART GOLD 2 Albania Steering Committee for clearance.
- Summary of the report - a two-page summary of the Project Evaluation Report should be provided in addition to the fully fledged evaluation report.
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Project outline
- Methodology
- Analysis
- Findings
- Best Practices and Lessons Learned
- Recommendations
- Relevant Annexes, for example: a) List of people interviewed; b) List of acronyms; c) Evaluation work plan and TOR; d) List of key reference documents
- Desk review - Review of key project documents - (2 working days)
- Field visit -The evaluation team visits project sites, interviews stakeholders and beneficiaries and gathers additional information. (Evaluators and Project team) - (5 working days)
- Report drafting - The evaluation team drafts the evaluation report (4 working days)
- Workshop - Workshop on the presentation of the draft report – (2 working days)
- Final report - The evaluation team finalizes the report embedding the comments (2 working days)
- UNDP Albania
- Ministry of Interior
- Ministry of Tourism, Youth and Culture, Health
- Select members of the Project Local Working Groups in Vlora and Shkodra
- Regional Council of VIora
- Regional Council of Shkodra
- TEULEDA (Local Agency for Economic Development in Shkodra)
- AULEDA (Local Agency for Economic Development in Vlora)
Competencias
- Knowledge of decentralized cooperation mechanisms and approaches
- Excellent analytical skills
Habilidades y experiencia requeridas
- Advanced Post-University Degree in International Development Cooperation, Economics or closely related field of studies.
- Substantial knowledge in the field of, and 7-10 years of experience with project evaluation in development cooperation contexts
- Experience in international project evaluation
- Prior organizational experience in the evaluation of projects executed by UNDP (standalone or as part of an international consortium) an advantage
- Excellent communication and report-writing skills in English
Please submit the following to demonstrate your interest and qualifications by explaining why you are the most suitable for the work:
- Financial Proposal - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days and any other costs such as per diems, travel and incidental expenditures in Tirana and project sites).
- Personal History Form for SCs and ICs. Interested individuals must submit their applications online through UNDP Online Recruitment System. Correspondence (either in hard or soft format) will not be considered until the advance stage of the selection process. Applicants are encouraged to fill and sign a P11 Form and submit it on the online application. The P11 Form to be Downloaded here
- Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) for SCs and ICs;
- Merge your P11, financial proposals and other relevant documents into a single file The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded;
- Click on the Job Title;
- Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and click “Submit Application;”
- Upload your application; You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.