UNDP Jobs - 73546- International Consultant for the Government of th

International Consultant for the Government of the State of Eritrea and UN system SPCF 2013 – 2016 Final Evaluation

Location :

Asmara, ERITREA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

04-Sep-2017

Application Deadline :

15-Aug-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

90 working days (16 weeks)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

90 working days (16 weeks)

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 UNDP Eritrea Country Office is seeking a qualified international consultant to lead the SPCF 2013 -2016 final evaluation through a consultative process with government authorities and the UN System in Eritrea.

Objective of the evaluation:

The evaluation will be conducted based on United Nations Development Group (UNDG) and United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards and Evaluation and Ethical standards, as well as OECD/DAC evaluation principles based on the four evaluation criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability). The evaluation will assess the work of UN agencies in Eritrea along the following three dimensions:

Accountability: Assess the contribution of the SPCF 2013-2016 to national priorities and results, based on qualitative (perception) and quantitative evidence, articulating the changes that have occurred in a logical chain of results, which speaks to the accountability of the UN system.
Explanatory factors: Identify the factors that have affected the UNCT's performance and its contributions, answering the question of why the performance is as it is and explaining the enabling factors and critical bottlenecks; and
Continuous improvement:? Assess the effectiveness of the UN in implementing the SPCF, in particular the extent to which progress has been achieved and what difference it has made.? The evaluation is expected to generate actionable recommendations for improving UN contributions under the current programme cycle.

Given the context described above, the SPCF Evaluation will focus on programme and financial results and on issues of SPCF implementation, including a review of its design and the assumptions made at the beginning of the implementation period.

Programme design: This evaluation will also assess the SPCF Joint Programmes focusing on their effectiveness (including resources allocation) as its operational strategy.

The evaluation will equally look at the coordination architecture, operation, effectiveness, and impact of the Programme Planning, the SPCF Outcome Groups; the Programme Management and M&E Group; the Operations Management Team (OMT), and the UN Communications Group (UNCG) in supporting the implementation of the SPCF.

The evaluation will cover the period from 1st January 2013 to 31st December 2016.

Purpose

The SPCF 2013-2016 implementation ended on 31 December 2016. According to the UNDAF operation guidelines, it is mandatory for the government- UN collaborative framework to undertake a Mid-Term Review (MTR) as well as the final evaluation. The Mid-Term Review (MTR) which marked the mid - point of the SPCF (2013 – 2016) was conducted between July – September 2015. This provided required inputs to start preparatory work for the next SPCF (2017 – 2021). In addition, some UN Agencies particularly UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF were also able to utilize the results from the MTR to develop their respective Country Programme Documents (CPD) for the next Programme cycle (2017 – 2021). Given that the new SPCF (2017 – 2021) as well as respective Agencies Work Plans have been approved for implementation, the conduct of the final evaluation for the previous SPCF (2013 – 2016) is critical since the findings and recommendations will provide the needed lessons learned for the implementation of the current SPCF (2017 – 2021) and future ones. Thus the purpose of undertaking the evaluation is to:

Learn about what has worked, what has not and why, in the specific context of Eritrea and in the particular collaborative efforts of the UNCT;
Verify results achieved within the revised framework of the SPCF;
assess the effectiveness of the strategies and interventions used; and
Focus on aspects related to the implementation of the SPCF with the express aim of formulating lessons learnt and providing recommendations for improvements in the implementation of the current SPCF and UN Agencies’ programme cycle, including strategy, design and implementation arrangements.

Duties and Responsibilities

The International Lead Consultant will be responsible for coordinating the work of all other consultants, and will ensure the quality and timely preparation of all reports and documentation.

The key criteria for assessment are:

Relevance – defined as the responsiveness of the SPCF strategy and content, and its implementation mechanisms, to the needs and capabilities of the intended beneficiaries (including national institutions, communities, and policy frameworks);
Effectiveness – the extent to which SPCF results have been achieved;
Efficiency – the return on investment of human and financial resources in terms of delivering the development results, including reduced transaction costs and increased efficiency of SPCF implementation;
Impact - to the extent possible, the impact of SPCF on the lives of the people especially the poor and other vulnerable groups; and
Sustainability – the extent to which results can be sustained over time.

More specifically the consultant will complete the following tasks:

Review of GoSE Frameworks, Policies and Strategic documents available;
Review of UNCT documents, including SPCF1 planning documents, and annual and review reports; joint programme’s documents and reports; UNCT Retreat reports (including by UN working groups); UN Communication Group plans and reports, etc;
Review and analysis of secondary data sources produced by the GoSE;
Specific Agencies reports and evaluations;
Briefing and debriefing sessions with UN and the Government officials, as well as with development partners and implementing partners;
Interviews with key stakeholders, including Government counterparts, development partners, implementing partners and selected beneficiaries;
Focus group discussions or key informant interviews with beneficiaries;
Debriefing sessions with stakeholders to further explore their insights on the preliminary findings.

Competencies

Sound knowledge and understanding of UNDAF evaluations;
Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing;
English-language oral and written communications skills, especially for drafting and editing of reports as well as good presentation skills;
Strong technical writing skills; and
Excellent coordination and leadership skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimum Advanced academic degree (Masters/PhD) in economics, statistics, health sciences, gender studies, social sciences, and development studies, with specialized training in monitoring and evaluation

Experience:

Minimum of 10 years and more relevant experience in programme planning, reviews, monitoring and evaluation;
Knowledge and experience of development issues including health, water and sanitation, gender, human rights and related fields of the UN work;
Previous experience in conducting evaluation and programme reviews, especially in developing countries;
Familiarity with the UN system and with other development partners;
Proven experience with Results-Based Management (RBM) approaches and report writing;
Good understanding of gender and human rights mainstreaming into programmes;
Experience working with a wide range of sectors including high-level government entities, UN and civil society.

Language

Full command of and fluency in English, with a high degree of proficiency in writing in this language is a requirement.