UNDP Jobs - 67364- Individual Consultant - End of Project Evaluation

Individual Consultant - End of Project Evaluation of ZIMSTAT

Location :

Harare, ZIMBABWE

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Aug-2016

Application Deadline :

21-Jul-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

30 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 working days

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

The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) designed and implemented a five year National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) for the period 2011-2015. The NSDS provided the country with a comprehensive framework for the compilation and development of statistics to enable decision makers at all levels to plan and execute appropriate positive changes in a more coordinated and efficient manner. Statistics have remained relevant for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development interventions, including the MDGs, and the current SDGs and ZIMASSET.

Given the then fragmented nature of support to statistics in the country, this project, titled ‘Support to ZIMSTAT and the National Statistical System’, was devised in August 2012 to help create a coordinated approach to strengthening the capacity of ZIMSTAT and the National Statistical System (NSS) through a system-wide approach (SWAP) of pooled funding. This approach was expected to engender coherence and reduce transaction costs in the coordination of support to the development of statistics. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was designated to manage the pooled fund which included funds from from the UK Department For International Development (DFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and UNDP. Implementation of the project was overseen by a Steering Committee comprised of Zimstat, UNDP, DFID, USAID, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.

The goal of the Project was to strengthen the capacity of ZIMSTAT and the NSS to generate and disseminate timely and reliable poverty and economic statistics to facilitate evidence-based development planning. The Results-Based-Management (RBM) framework for the Project was organized around the following five key outputs: Addressing Zimstat’s capacity needs; Advocacy and awareness raising; Strengthening the coordination role of ZIMSTAT in the National Statistical System (NSS); Strengthening ZIMSTAT’s ability to produce key statistics in a timely manner; and effective Project Management.

This end of project Evaluation follows an Assessment of Development Results, conducted in 2014. It is expected that the lessons learned and findings generated will feed into future support to statistics as well as Zimstat’s future strategic planning.

Evaluation purpose

UNDP commissions evaluations to capture and demonstrate evaluative evidence of its contributions to development results at the country level as articulated in both the Zimbabwe UN Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF) and UNDP Country Programme Document (CPD). This final project evaluation is carried out within the overall provisions contained in the UNDP Zimbabwe Evaluation Policy, and will be conducted in fulfilment of UNDP’s evaluation rules and regulations. To that end, the evaluation aims to assess the impact of the ‘Support to ZIMSTAT and the National Statistical System’ project, by assessing the outcomes of the project against its original purpose and objectives. It will be used to inform Zimstat’s internal processes, as well as to support partners’ future support to statistics.

The evaluation should provide plausible links between project inputs and outcomes/impact, and document lessons learnt for use in implementing similar activities including the successor NSDS2 (2016- 2020).

The specific objectives of the evaluation are to assess;
The extent to which the project strengthened the human and organizational capacity of ZIMSTAT to produce timely and reliable statistics.
The extent to which the project has promoted the use and understanding of the value of statistics among key stakeholders in the NSS.
Whether the project was successful in strengthening the coordination role of ZIMSTAT within the NSS.
The project’s contribution to the availability of key statistics required to facilitate formulation and implementation of development policies.
Lessons learnt and provide recommendations for future activity.

Duties and Responsibilities

Evaluation scope and objectives

The evaluation covers all the project interventions over the life of the project from 2012 to 2016, and will be conducted in a manner consistent with the principles of gender equality, the rights-based approach, and human development as appropriate. The evaluation will assesses the extent to which project initiatives have addressed the issues of capacity, awareness raising, co-ordination, and timeliness of the production of statistics.

The end of project evaluation will assess:

The relevance and strategic positioning of this project’s support to Zimstat;
The strategies that UNDP employed in project, and whether they were appropriate for achieving planned objectives;
The impact of the capacity building of relevant partners during the project period;
The progress made towards the achievement of each project output, specifying gaps and further required interventions;
The overall contribution of the project to the strengthening of the National Statistical System capacities;
The evaluation will be national in nature, in line with the coverage of the project, and should incorporate the needs of both producers and users of data, as well as other stakeholders within the National Statistical System.

Evaluation questions
The evaluation assessment will include the following:

Relevance

Assess the relevance and strategic positioning of UNDP support to Zimbabwe in general and specifically in supporting capacity strengthening of relevant partners in the National Statistical System;
Examine the extent to which the project’s design related to, or responded to the challenges facing the sector;
Interrogate how the project’s strategies tackled the causes of those challenges especially the root causes, and whether or not it was informed by genuine consultations of relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries, including women;
Assess whether the activities and outputs of the project were consistent with the overall goal and the attainment of its objectives;
Assess whether the activities and outputs of the project were consistent with the intended outcomes and to what extent UNDP’s selected method of delivery was appropriate to the development context.

Effectiveness

Assess the existing frameworks and strategies adopted by the UNDP in providing support to the project’s partners including partnership strategies, engagements, and whether they were well conceived for achieving planned objectives;
Did the project accomplish its intended outputs? How have they contributed to the outcome?
What are the unexpected outcomes or consequences? What are their implications?
Did the project achieve its results?
Has UNDP been effective in advocating best practice and desired goals?
What contributing factors and impediments enhance or impede UNDP performance in this area?
What evidence is there that UNDP support contributed towards an improvement in institutional strengthening and ZIMSTAT’s capacity ?
Taking into account the technical capacity and institutional arrangements of the UNDP country office, is UNDP well suited to support Zimstat and the National Statistical System in Zimbabwe?
Is UNDP perceived by stakeholders as a strong partner in the area of support to statistics?
How effective has UNDP been in partnering with development partners, civil society and private sector?
Has UNDP utilized innovative techniques and best practices in its programming in this area?

Efficiency

What could be done to ensure a more efficient use of resources in the country context?
What are the main administrative constraints/ strengths?
To what extent have the project or project outputs been efficient and cost effective?
Has there been an economical use of resources?
Are the monitoring and evaluation systems that UNDP has in place helping to ensure that projects are managed efficiently and effectively?
Has UNDP been efficient in building synergies and leveraging with other programmes and stakeholders in Zimbabwe?

Sustainability

What is the likelihood that the project interventions are sustainable?
What mechanisms have been set in place by UNDP to support Zimstat to sustain improvements made through this initiative?
What changes should be/should have been made in the current set of partnerships with national institutions, CSOs, UN Agencies, private sector and other development partners in Zimbabwe, in order to promote long term sustainability?
All evaluation questions should include an assessment of the extent to which project design, implementation and monitoring have considered Human Rights and Gender Equality issues.
Based on the above analysis, the evaluator is expected to provide overarching conclusions on UNDP results in this area of support, as well as recommendations on how UNDP could adjust its future programming, partnership arrangements, resource mobilization strategies, and capacities to ensure that support to statistics fully achieves its outcomes and is positioned for sustainable results in the future. The evaluation is additionally expected to identify best practice and offer wider lessons.

Methodology

The Consultant is expected to propose appropriate tools and a detailed methodology, to be used in conducting an assessment of the performance of the project. The Consultant is also expected to provide a detailed work plan in the proposal. This evaluation is expected to take a “theory of change” (TOC) approach to determining causal links between project interventions and observed progress in the capacity of both Zimstat and the National Statistical System. The evaluator will develop a logic model of how UNDP interventions in this area are expected to lead to a strengthened Zimstat and National Statistical System, based on the stated objectives and anticipated results.The evaluator is expected to include the following components in their methodology:

Desk review of relevant documents;
Discussions and key informant interviews with UNDP-Zimbabwe; Zimstat, and Key partners;
Site visits;
Consultation meetings and interviews with partner institutions, funding partners and other stakeholders.

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. Evaluation findings should be based on facts, evidence and data. This precludes relying exclusively upon anecdotes, hearsay and unverified opinions. Findings should be specific and concise and supported by quantitative and/or qualitative information that is reliable, valid and generalizable.

Evaluation ethics

This evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation’. The Consultants must safeguard the rights and confidentiality of information providers, interviewees and stakeholders through measures to ensure compliance with legal and other relevant codes governing data collection and reporting. The Consultants must also ensure security of collected information before and after the evaluation to ensure anonymity and confidentiality of sources of information where that is expected. The information, knowledge and data gathered in the evaluation process must be solely used for the evaluation, and not for other uses, unless it is with the express authorisation of UNDP and partners.

The UNDP Zimbabwe Country Office will select the Evaluator through an open process in consultation with Zimstat. UNDP will be responsible for the management of the Consultant and will in this regard designate focal persons for the evaluation and any additional staff to assist in facilitating the process (e.g., providing relevant documentation, arranging visits/interviews with key informants, etc.). UNDP will take responsibility for the approval of the final evaluation report in liaison with the Project’s Implementing Partner.

The designated focal point will assist the Consultant in arranging introductory meetings with the relevant parties. The Consultant will take responsibility for setting up meetings and conducting the evaluation, subject to advanced approval of the methodology submitted in the inception report. The UNDP Country Office will develop a Management Response to the evaluation within six weeks of report finalization.

UNDP will convene an Advisory Panel comprising of technical experts from the Project’s partners and UNDP to enhance the quality of the evaluation. This Panel will review the inception report and the draft evaluation report to provide detailed comments related to the quality of methodology, evidence collected, analysis and reporting. The Panel will also advise on the conformity of evaluation processes to the UNEG standards.

Time Frame of Assignment

The Consultant is expected to carry out the Assignment within 30 days of contract date. The draft Report is to be submitted in soft copy within 20 days of contract signing and is to be finalized in close collaboration with UNDP and Zimstat.

Evaluation products (deliverables)
Inception Report

The inception report will be due one week after contract signing, and should include a detailed methodology, work plan, time line, tools and protocols. The inception report will be discussed and agreed with ZIMSTAT and UNDP before commencement of the evaluation.

Power point Presentation of Preliminary Results.

The team will provide a presentation of the preliminary findings to ZIMSTAT, UNDP and other key stakeholders within a week of data collection.

Draft Evaluation Report.

A draft of the evaluation findings is to be submitted for comments and feedback.

Final Evaluation Report.

The final evaluation report will be submitted to ZIMSTAT and UNDP in electronic format within 7 business days of receiving comments on the draft report.

The suggested contents of the evaluation report is as follows:

Title;
Table of contents;
Acronyms and abbreviations;
Executive Summary;
Introduction Background and context;
Evaluation scope and objectives;
Evaluation approach and methods;
Data analysis;
Findings and conclusions;
Lessons learned;
Recommendations;
Annexes.

Data and Records.

All raw data, analysis tables and records are to be submitted to UNDP upon completion of the assignment.

The major output from the Assignment will be the Final Project Evaluation Report.

Competencies

Core competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Advocates and 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 favoritism.

Functional competencies:

Excellent reporting and communication skills;
Strong writing skills;
Strong interpersonal and networking skills;
Fluent in written and spoken English (Shona and Ndebele are an advantage).

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimum Master’s degree in Statistics, Economics, Social Sciences, Development Studies or related qualification or other relevant field

Experience:

At least ten years working knowledge of the National Statistical System in Zimbabwe;
Of which at least 5 years of experience in evaluating development projects;
Experience of working in the area of statistics in the region
Have proven consultancy experience in RBM with the use of the logical framework approach and M&E methods and approaches (including quantitative, qualitative and participatory data analysis), training in M&E system implementation, facilitating learning oriented analysis sessions of M&E data with multiple stakeholders, information analysis and report writing;
At least ten years working experience in M&E systems.

Language:

Fluency in English and Shona/ Ndebele, both oral and written.

Application procedure:

Applicants are requested to upload the following documents:

A copy of their latest updated P11 Form which can be downloaded from this website - http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.;
Technical Proposal;
CV;
Please do not submit Financial Proposal at this stage. This will be requested at the appropriate time.

Incomplete applications will not be given consideration.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF attachment as the system only allows upload of one document;
Please note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.

Evaluation criteria:

The Consultant will be evaluated based on qualifications and the years of experience, as outlined in the qualifications/requirements section of the ToR. In addition, the Consultant will also be evaluated on the following methodology:
Technical Criteria weight: 70%.
Financial Criteria weight: 30%.
The award of the contract shall be made to the 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 Terms of Reference.