Background

In response to the ongoing conflict situation in the southernmost provinces of Thailand and in the prospect of future peace process, this project will align its implementation strategy with international practices of peace building and conflict prevention. The Southern Thailand Empowerment and Participation (STEP II) Project will combine both conflict prevention elements and peace building activities in all deliverables. The project is formulated in consultation with CSOs, local authorities, government agencies and relevant stakeholders and is designed to foster a societal resilience and local capacity for peace in resolving the protracted conflict situation associated with local insurgency in the southern border region of Thailand.

The STEP II Project's overall objective is “to foster a resilient society in the southern border provinces of Thailand through expanding participatory planning and sustainable livelihood activities, a holistic approach to justice, and progress towards [a] peaceful society.”  Within Thailand’s development context, the project seeks to integrate peace building and conflict prevent elements in order to achieve the following specific objectives:

• To broaden peace processes with inclusive participation of all peace networks.
• To enable the vulnerable groups to access effective legal services and receive quality legal protection from the key duty bearers
• To empower communities and populations in need with skills and resources to successfully establish and manage community development initiatives based on locally appropriate and sustainable practices that contribute to improved human security and social cohesion

With regard to peace building activities, the STEP II project takes a two-pronged implementation approach: expanding horizontal peace building and anchoring project activities in the national stabilization process.  Having established an enabling environment and the broader inclusion and participation of civil society during the first part of the project (horizontal peace building), the project implementation in phase 2 then seeks to anchor these enhanced mechanisms for interaction into existing structures and institutions that feed the national stabilization process.  In regard to conflict prevention, deleterious factors stemming from local grievances that will potentially feed in the loop of conflict will be deterred through the promotion of the livelihoods of the vulnerable groups and the improvement of the rule of law.  Success in livelihoods and rule of laws will be building blocks that are used to consolidate progress made in terms of social cohesion and to enhance the likelihood of linking local level peace building to the national process.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of this assignment is to assess the result of the “Southern Thailand Empowerment and Participation (STEP II)” Project on following aspects.

•               To review the project performance and assess its achievement

•               To identify lesson learned and provide recommendations for the use of result and further replication by the Royal Thai Government and relevant stakeholders

•               To explore the possibility of UNDP being involve in the future activities in the issue of peace building, social cohesion, livelihood improvement, and any other interesting issues.

The scope of work includes:

1. Review of the project design, implementation and its achievement. In addition to completing a standard project evaluation, the evaluator shall focus on:

• Identifying and analyzing the results and impacts of the project on the capacity of local peace networks; CBOs, CSOs, and NGOs, in Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat Province through better access to peace information and broader participation in peace process.
• Assessing if and how the project contributes to empowering vulnerable groups to access to justice.
• Assessing if and how the project contribute to social cohesion and trust building in community level.
• Analyzing if and how the project is able to sustain social cohesion and community resilience through livelihood improvement, and whether or not further upscaling/replication took place.

2. Identification of lessons learned and recommendations. Lessons learned (both positive and negative) and tools/instruments used to achieve the expected results, especially which have been used for capacity building, access to justice, and livelihood improvement activities, should be documented. In collecting the lessons learned, the evaluator should look into the innovative and catalytic aspects of the project and relate them to recommendations for future practices for social cohesion in the Deep South.

3.  Exploration of the possibility for UNDP future participation in peace building in the Deep South. Based on lessons learned, the recommendations should also be made to UNDP for future programme participation in peace building and social cohesion in the southernmost provinces of Thailand.

The following is the key guiding questions for determining the scope and focus of the evaluation:

• Is the project relevant and appropriate to the current governance, conflict situation and development situation in Thailand?
• Is this project able to broaden participation of local peace networks in peace process, and provide them with multiple access to information?
• Is this project able to build capacity of local community leaders and religious leaders to provide gender sensitivity alternative dispute resolution?
• Is it able to empower the vulnerable groups to access to justice and did it raise any critical issues on justice system considered important by vulnerable groups to be improved by the government?
• Did it strengthen cooperation between between Muslims and Buddhists?
• Did it contribute to conditions for social cohesion and trust building between local communities and local authorities.
• Did it strengthen the role of women in peace process and economic well-being?
• Did it address any livelihood issues?
• Has it initiated any pilot activities that can be replicated in the future?
• Did it provide due emphasis to gender in the context of initiatives it supported?

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Specific deliverables during the assignment are as follows:

• Deliverable 1: Initial scope and schedule of project evaluation plan;
• Deliverable 2: Draft evaluation report for comment and review
• Deliverable 3: A final evaluation/assessment report which incorporated comments and suggestions

Institutional Arrangements:

The Consultant will report to the Programme Specialist, Democratic Governance and Social Advocacy Unit, UNDP Thailand, and work in close collaboration with STEP II Project Manager, Progarmme Associate of UNDP Thailand, STEP II local staff, and relevant counterparts.

Duration of Assignment, Duty Station and Expected Places of Travel:

The Consultant will work on a home-based basis but requires travels within Bangkok and to Songkhla provinces for interviews with relevant partners. The consultant may be required to visit project sites in Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat if needed (to be determined upon development of evaluation plan and schedule). STEP II project manager will help arrange meetings with beneficiaries in the south. The total duration of the evaluation will be maximum 31 working days (included 4 days in Songkhla for stakeholder interviews) during the period of about 6 weeks starting 15 June to 4 August 2017.

Competencies

Managerial Competencies:

• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Ability to work with minimal supervision;
• Ability to lead formulation and evaluation of development programs and projects;
• Consistently approach work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Ability to build strong relationships with clients and external actors;
• Having previous experiences in the country and/or the region and good networks within the different sectors of society in order to be immediately operational will be an asset.

 Functional Competencies:

• Strong analytical skill
• Ability to work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural team
• Strong motivation and ability to work and deliver under pressure and short deadlines
• Excellent communication and organization skills
• Strong networking and interpersonal skills
• Full computer literacy and experience in working with PC-based equipment and using MS-Office (Excel, Words, PowerPoint)

Required Skills and Experience

I. Academic Qualification:

• Thai national with Master Degree in International Development, Public Administration, Social Science, Political Science, or other related fields

II. Technical Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years relevant professional experience in the area of project design, monitoring and evaluation;
• Past experience in project management and other development projects is an advantage;
• Demonstrated ability to effectively conduct research on policy, governance system and related issues;
• Demonstrated ability to advise government institutions in an effective and cooperative manner;
• Familiarity with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Result-based Management, Human Rights-based Approach;
• Knowledgeable in national and provincial governance system as well as key players in development, justice system, and security in Thailand.

III. Language:

• Excellent command of English and Thai (speaking, writing, listening and reading);
• Strong skills in written communication in English, particularly in preparing issue-based papers, reports, and presentation.

Payment Terms:

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum amount in Thai Baht.

The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs to Songkhla, 4 days living allowance (included accommodation and meals) in Songkhla and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. In case travel to Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat is needed, the local transport and lunches will be provided. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

Payment terms:

• First payment upon the submission and approval of the Initial scope and schedule of project evaluation plan and draft evaluation report for comment and review - 70% of total contract amount;
• Second payment upon the submission and approval of a final evaluation/assessment report which incorporated comments and suggestions - 30 % of total contract amount.

UNDP will not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent. The provided living allowance will not be exceeding UNDP DSA rates. Repatriation travel cost from home to duty station in Bangkok and return will not be covered by UNDP.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

• Technical Criteria weight; 70%
• Financial Criteria weight; 30%

Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment. Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 490 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Requeired Documents:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications, experience and suitability to undertake the assignment. All supporting must be part of the detailed CV and uploaded as one single PDF document:

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
• A cover letter that briefly describe a methodology to undertake assignment and why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment
• Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price supported by a breakdown of costs (in Thai Baht), as per template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.

Annexes:

ANNEX I – TOR_ STEO II National Project Evaluator

ANNEX II - General Conditions:

ANNEX III - Financial proposal and Offeror's Letter To UNDP Confirming Interest and Avail for IC

All documents can be downloaded at : http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=37757