Background

UNDP’s corporate policy is to evaluate its development cooperation with the host government on a regular basis in order to assess whether and how UNDP-funded interventions contribute to the achievement of agreed outcomes, i.e. changes in the development situation and ultimately in people’s lives. Evaluating country programming therefore involves ascertaining whether and how UNDP has assisted in improving human development conditions, including for individuals, institutions and systems. Evaluation also helps to clarify underlying factors affecting development, to identify unintended consequences (positive and negative), to generate lessons learned and to recommend actions to improve performance in future programming.

These terms of reference are for an outcome evaluation of UNDP’s support to Zimbabwe in the area of good governance. Fostering and promoting good governance is an important part of the development agenda for the government of Zimbabwe. Good governance and respect for fundamental human rights and basic freedoms are prerequisites for sustainable human development. Accordingly, Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, which recognises the central importance of good governance in creating an environment that is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty. UNDP’s governance programmes support national government priorities as defined under the government’s Mid-Term Plan (MTP) and the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Social and Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET). A new constitution adopted in May 2013 lays the foundation for deepening democratic governance in the country.

UNDP works with the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), with other development partners and civil society, to build institutional capacity and promote sustainable development. Under the direction of the UNDP Democratic Governance Unit, UNDP provides programme and project support to various institutions and line ministries. UNDP acts as the lead agency in the area of governance within the Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF) and co-chairs the Governance and Human Rights Theme Group, contributing to the design, implementation and monitoring of joint programming and UNDP country program outputs. 

UNDP Zimbabwe is engaged with national efforts to strengthen the human rights architecture, critical in deepening democracy and enhancing people participation in governance affairs. In collaboration with the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission focus is on fostering a responsive justice delivery system, as well as fulfilment of human rights obligations, respectively. As part of firming the architecture, Civil Society Organisations capacities have been reinforced on human rights advocacy, monitoring and reporting. In recognition of strategic governance institutions, substantive support is rendered in such areas as the execution of results based management initiatives, strengthening of Parliament’s legislative, representational and executive oversight roles, and alignment of the local government policy and legislative framework to the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Creation of an enabling environment is a precursor to inclusive development. In this regard, peace building, dialogue, conflict resolution and management initiatives have been supported to facilitate and leverage strategic areas of governance interventions in Zimbabwe.

Duties and Responsibilities

The outcome evaluation will be carried out by an external team of evaluators, and will engage a wide array of stakeholders and beneficiaries, including national and local government officials, donors, civil society organizations, academics and subject experts, private sector representatives and community members.  

The outcome evaluation is expected to take a “theory of change’’ (TOC) approach to determining causal links between the interventions that UNDP has supported, and observed progress in good governance at national and local levels in Zimbabwe.  The evaluators will develop a logic model of how UNDP governance interventions are expected to lead to improved national and local government management and service delivery. In the case of these six governance related outcomes for Zimbabwe, a theory of change was not explicitly defined when the outcomes were established. The evaluators are expected to construct a theory of change for each of the outcomes, based against stated objectives and anticipated results, and more generally from UNDPs global governance and capacity development strategies and techniques.

Evidence obtained and used to assess the results of UNDP support should be triangulated from a variety of sources, including verifiable data on indicator achievement, existing reports, evaluations and technical papers, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, surveys and site visits.  

The following steps in data collection are anticipated:

Desk Review

A desk review should be carried out of the key strategies and documents underpinning the governance work of UNDP in Zimbabwe. This includes reviewing the ZUNDAF and pertinent country programme documents, as well as a wide array of monitoring and evaluation documents, to be provided by the UNDP country office.  
The evaluators are expected to review pertinent strategies and reports developed by the Government of Zimbabwe that are relevant to UNDPs governance support.  This includes the government’s Mid-Term Plan (MTP), the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Social and Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET), and other national reports, to be made available by the UNDP country office.

The evaluators will examine all relevant documentation concerning the 12 projects implemented within the governance area, including project TORs, evaluations, and technical assessment reports.

Field Data Collection

Following the desk review, the evaluators will build on the documented evidence through an agreed set of field and interview methodologies, including:
  • Interviews with key partners and stakeholders;
  • Field visits to project sites and partner institutions;
  • Survey questionnaires where appropriate;
  • Participatory observation, focus groups, and rapid appraisal techniques.

Competencies

Functional Competencies

  • Excellent knowledge of the UN Reform particularly UN coherence, coordination, accountability and management system;
  • Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
  • Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
  • Ability to work under pressure and remains calm;
  • Demonstrates strong leadership abilities.
Core Competencies
  • 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;
  • Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment;
  • Excellent communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork and adept in working with people of diverse cultural and social backgrounds;
  • An understanding of and ability to abide by the core values of the United Nations.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education
  • Minimum Master’s degree in economics, political science, public administration, regional development/planning, or other social science.

Experience

  • Minimum 10 years of international experience in public sector development, including in the areas of democratic governance, regional development, gender equality and social services;
  • At least 5 years of experience in conducting evaluations of government and international aid  organisations, preferably with direct experience with civil service capacity building;
  • Strong working knowledge of the UN and its mandate in Zimbabwe, and more specifically the work of UNDP in support of government and civil society in Zimbabwe;
  • Sound knowledge of results-based management systems, and monitoring and evaluation methodologies; including experience in applying SMART (S Specific; M Measurable; A Achievable; R Relevant; T Time-bound) indicators;
  • Excellent reporting and communication skills.
Language
  • Written and oral proficiency in English is required.

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