UNDP Jobs - 56784- International Consultant Outcome Evaluation

International Consultant Outcome Evaluation

Location :

Chisinau, MOLDOVA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

29-Jun-2015

Application Deadline :

09-Jun-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 days within a 3 months assignment (10 in country, 20 home based)

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

Moldova declared its independence in 1991 with the European integration becoming a strategic priority 8 years after. Since its independence the country engaged into a multitude of reforms across all sectors, in parallel developing policies and legal and institutional frameworks aiming at achieving the Democratic Governance standards. The most important reform thought to contribute to the major transformation is the Central Public Administration Reform launched in 2005. It intended to improve transparency and accountability of the public administration, establish a modern civil service system and strengthen the public finance management. In 2012, the Decentralization Strategy aiming at consolidating the capacities of the local public administration authorities and at improving the management and the quality of public services provided to the citizens had been approved. The provisions of the Strategy have been correlated with the relevant policies documents, the Reform of the Central Public Administration, and other reforms representing an operational continuity of the actions of the National Development Strategy. In order to move towards a participative and inclusive process of policy development, the National Participation Council (NPC) representing the Civil Society organizations had been established. Representatives of the NPC participate in the Government meetings and are consulted on the policies developed. These developments had been noted at the global level, as the Republic of Moldova was among five winners of the 2013 UN Public Service Awards for the set of initiatives on increasing decisional transparency and fostering participation of civil society in this process.

The State Chancellery is the leading central public authority responsible for the implementation of the above reforms and for coordinating the policies developed by the Line Ministries. Within the Central Public Administration Reform process (CPAR) it provided methodological guidance in the elaboration of the Institutional Development plans by the Line Ministries and other central administration institutions which identified the needs and set the actions for strengthening the financial, human and institutional capacities of the central public administration bodies. However, the linkage between strategic planning and finance planning is still weak, while the ex-ante policy impact assessment piloted through the CPAR has not been legally enacted. The overall capacity of the public administration to develop, implement and monitor policies in a transparent and participative manner is not sufficient for achieving a steady progress in the reform process. The implementation of the Decentralization Strategy faced many delays, the territorial-administrative reform is postponed again for another four years, and the official approval of the next phase of PAR is pending.

Against this background United Nations – Republic of Moldova Partnership Framework (UNPF) “Towards Unity in Action” and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Programme Document (CPD) 2013 – 2017 response is aimed at contributing to the establishment of a modernized public administration system properly capacitated to effectively and efficiently develop, budget, implement and monitor evidence-based policies in support of the country’s priorities and European integration objectives. Results achieved with the UNDP and UN Women’s assistance will contribute to the achievement of UNPF/CPD Outcome 1 which refers to increased transparency, accountability and efficiency of central and local public authorities. The assistance is provided through UNDP programmes and projects, as well as through the joint projects implemented in cooperation with the UN Women with co-funding by Donor partners, such as EU and the Governments of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Romania, and in collaboration with the national partners, such as the Parliament, the Central Elections Commission, the National Integrity Commission, State Chancellery, 15 other central Government institutions and the local authorities.

Duties and Responsibilities

This mid-term evaluation exercise is commissioned according to the in the Republic of Moldova Evaluation Plan. The evaluation covers Outcome 1 of the UNPF/CPD 2013 – 2017. The evaluation will put the major focus on assessing the progress achieved within the Outcome 1 “Increased transparency, accountability and efficiency of central and local public authorities” and the impact produced so far under the area of intervention, as well as draw conclusions and recommendations for eventual adjustments, and, to extend possible, lessons learnt for further programming and implementation of programme. The evaluator shall also give importance to assessing efficiency and to a possible extent effectiveness of the UNPF/CPD Outcome 1, whether the size if resources, both financial and human, and partnership strategies continue to be cost-effective and may be applied in continuation and/or revised/changed.

This is progress evaluation aims to assess the extent to which programme and project activities implemented with partners during 2013 – 2014 have contributed to the progress under UNPF/CPD Outcome 1, as well as to achievement of the set of targets, whether existing partnership with partners proved to be successful and relevant and overall whether UNDP and relevant UN Women (further referred to as UNW) supported activities have contributed to strengthening transparency, accountability and efficiency of central and local public authorities in compliance with the country’s EU integration agenda. The evaluation shall identify changes that happened during these two years as they relate to the development outcomes, the degree and level of these changes, i.e. enabling environment, organizational and/or individual levels. It shall also assess whether UN/DP’s strategic positioning in this area can be improved.

The evaluator shall take into account and rank the following items:

Status and degree of change in the Outcome, and factors influencing the Outcome;
Level of incurred changes: Enabling environment, Organizational and/or individual levels;
UN/DP’s strategic positioning on achieving the Outcome;
Relevance of the Outcome and outputs;
Partnership strategy;
Sustainability: whether there is ownership and capacity to maintain and manage development in the Outcome.

Please see attached ToR for more details

Competencies

Good understanding of Democratic Governance issues, including gender and human rights aspects;
Sound knowledge about results-based management (especially results-oriented monitoring and evaluation);
Proven knowledge of monitoring and evaluation policies and procedures of international financing agencies;
Familiarity with the political, economic and social situation in the Republic of Moldova;
Extensive research and analytical skills and report writing abilities;
Availability to work during the indicated /approved period;
Excellent communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University degree in Public Administration, International development or related fields;
Trainings in project management and monitoring and evaluation is an advantage.

Experience:

At least 7 years of work experience in the field of democratic governance, public administration, international development, including participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation;
Experience in conducting complex evaluations, especially in Democratic Governance field;
Working experience in Eastern Europe region.

Language:

Fluency in English;
Knowledge of Romanian and/or Russian will be an asset