Background

The Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI) is a joint Global Programme between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Environment, that supports country-driven efforts to mainstream poverty-environment linkages into national, sectoral and district development plans and budgets. The intended Global Programme Outcome (2013-2017) is: “Enhanced implementation of development policies, plans and budgets that combine environmental sustainability and poverty reduction to contribute to inclusive and sustainable development goals”.

PEI, operates in 20 countries, of which 7 in Africa that are supported by the PEI Africa regional team. In Rwanda PEI is in its 3rd Phase, having been established in 2005 and implemented through the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA). The first phase of PEI (until May 2007) focused on the integration of environment into the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) and on conducting background studies aimed at building the environmental, social and economic rationale for poverty-environment mainstreaming. The second phase (officially ended in December 2011, but with extension to 2013) aimed at integrating environment into policy formulation, development planning and public sector budgeting at national and local levels. The third phase, which will end by December 2017, tries to consolidate these achievements and ensure that environment and natural resources management are effectively mainstreamed into the sectors’ policies and plans and in the District Development Plans (DDP). The stated Objective of the PEI Rwanda 3rd Phase is: “Rwanda has in place improved systems for sustainable management of natural resources, clean renewable energy resources and use, human rights and gender equity, environment and climate resilience improved” (aligned with - UNDAP Outcome 1.3 for 2013-2018).

In 2015/16 the project conducted an Internal Review, which resulted in re-prioritizing PEI Rwanda’s available resources to the following 3 main Outputs:

• Strengthened capacity for sustainable environment, natural resources management and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Increased awareness and more effective participation of stakeholders in environment and development policy-making and planning processes at both district, national and international level.
• Project coordination and monitoring

Evaluation purpose

With the current PEI project coming to an end on 31 December 2017, REMA and UNDP are commissioning a final evaluation to draw relevant and pertinent conclusions on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact of PEI interventions, which can be used to inform a proposal for the prospective UNDP-UN Environment Joint Global Programme (“Poverty Environment Action on SDGs”, or “PEAS”), that will run in concurrence with the new Economic Development & Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS-3) currently under development by the Government of Rwanda, and align with a new United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP) that will run concurrently with the EDPRS.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope

The thorough final evaluation covers the implementation period of the project of the PEI Phase-3, as implemented by REMA and supported by UNDP and UN Environment through the UNDP Country Office (CO) and the PEI Africa team. The analysis should be established through desk studies of relevant programme and other national documents, including from Government, UN, PEI, etc., and should refer to the indicators and targets in the relevant results frameworks. This should also entail in-depth consultations with relevant stakeholders, including from government, UN, PEI management, Sector ministries, Districts, NGOs / CSOs, private sector and others, either through individual or group interviews (list to be established at start of consultancy), following the Tasks and Methodology outlined below. The Final Evaluation should be aligned with the principles established in UNDP’s Evaluation Policy and the UN Evaluation Group’s Norms and Standards for Evaluation. The scope of the final evaluation covers all activities undertaken in the framework of the project. This refers to:

• Planned outputs of the project compared to actual outputs and the actual results as a contribution to attaining the project objectives.
• Problems and necessary corrections and adjustments to document lessons learnt.
• Efficiency of project management, including the delivery of outputs and activities in terms of quality, quantity, timeliness and cost efficiency.
• Likely outcomes and impact of the project in relation to the specified goals and objectives of the project.

The programme will be evaluated in the basis of the DAC evaluation criteria:

• Relevance: measures whether the project addresses an important development goal and whether its objectives are still valid.
• Effectiveness: measures whether the project activities achieve their goals.
• Efficiency:  measures the cost effectiveness, i.e. the economic use of resources to achieve desired results.
•  Sustainability: measures whether the benefits of the project are likely to continue after donor funding has been withdrawn. The project needs to be environmentally as well as financially sustainable.
• Impacts of intervention:  measure the positive and negative changes produced by the project, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended.

Moreover, the evaluation should take into consideration the following:

• Assess the relevance and appropriateness of the Project in terms of: achieving the outputs as per the Project Document; meeting the needs of REMA; contributing to UN and Rwanda’s relevant outcome level goals
• Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the Project in terms of the implementation of activities that achieve outputs and outcomes, following up on lessons learned.
• Establish the impact and sustainability of the Project, and the extent to which the approach and implementation of the Project contributed to sustainable poverty-environment mainstreaming in Rwanda and addressed cross cutting issues including gender
• Review the Project Design and Management structures, in terms of achieving clear objectives and strategies, the use of monitoring and evaluation, the level of coherence and complementarity with cross-sectoral sustainability strategies, and the appropriateness of management structures
• Make clear and focused recommendations that may be required for enhancing the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of a future poverty-environment mainstreaming programming in Rwanda.   

Evaluattion questions

The Evaluation should be guided by the following evaluation questions, which are based on the evaluation criteria mentioned above and that are provided as a general framework:

Relevance and appropriateness

• Was the project relevant, appropriate and strategic to REMA goals and challenges?
• Were the activities and outputs of the project consistent with the intended impacts and effects?
• Was the project relevant and appropriate to contribute to the Global PEI Programme Document outputs and Outcome?
• Was the project relevant, appropriate and strategic to the mandate, strategy, functions, roles, and responsibility of REMA as an institution and to the key actors within that institution?
• Was the project relevant, appropriate and strategic to the national institutional mandate and UN system development goals in Rwanda?
• Was the project relevant, appropriate and strategic to donor policy in Rwanda?
• How was the project aligned with the national development strategies (EDPRS 2, Vision 2020)?

Effectiveness and efficiency

• To what extent were the objectives achieved?
• Were the actions to achieve the outputs and outcomes effective and efficient?
• Were there any lessons learned, failures/lost opportunities? What might have been done better or differently? What were the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
• How did the project deal with issues and risks?
• Were the different outputs achieved?
• What progress toward the outcomes has been made?
• Were the resources utilized in the best way possible?
• Were the resources (time, funding, human resources) sufficient?
• Was the programme implemented in the most efficient way compared to alternatives?
• To what extent the design, implementation and results of the project have incorporated a gender equality perspective and human rights based approach? What should have been done to improve gender and human rights mainstreaming?
• Are there any management challenges affecting efficient implementation of the project? What are they and how are they being addressed?

Impact and sustainability

• Will the outputs/outcomes lead to benefits that are sustainable beyond the life of the existing project?
• Were the actions and result owned by the local partners and stakeholders?
• Was the capacity (individuals, institution, and system) built through the actions of the project?
• What is the level of contribution of the project management arrangements to national ownership of the set objectives, result and outputs?
• Were the modes of deliveries of the outputs appropriate to promote national ownership and sustainability of the result achieved?
• Did the Project contribute to sustainable poverty-environment mainstreaming in Rwanda?
• Did the Project address cross cutting issues including gender and human rights?
• What has happened as a result of the project?
• How many people have been affected?
• Has the project contributed or is it likely to contribute to long-term social, economic, technical, environmental changes for individuals, communities and institutions related to the project?
• What difference has the project made to beneficiaries?
• Does the programme have a clear exit strategy?

Project design

• To what extent did the design of the project help in achieving its own goals?
• To what extent did the design reflect the priorities, outputs and outcome of the PEI Global Programme Document?
• Were the context, problems, needs and priorities well analyzed while designing the project?
• Were there clear objectives and strategy?
• Were there clear baselines indicators and/or benchmark for performance?
• Was the process of project design sufficiently participatory? Was there any impact of the process?
• Was there coherence and complementarity by the project to other stakeholders engaged in the agenda in Rwanda?

Project management

• Are the project management arrangements appropriate at the team level and project board level?
• Was there appropriate visibility and acknowledgement of the project and donors?                                                              

Methodology

Based on UNDP guidelines for evaluations, and in consultations with UNDP Rwanda, the evaluation will be conducted in an inclusive and participatory manner, involving principal stakeholders in the analysis. General guidance on evaluation methodology can be found in the UNDP Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results, the UNDP Guidelines for Outcome Evaluators, and UNDP Outcome-Level Evaluation: A Companion Guide to the Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results). UNDP’s Evaluation Policy provides information about the role and use of evaluation within the M&E architecture of the organization.

The evaluation should use a mixed methods approach, drawing on both primary and secondary, quantitative and qualitative data to come up with an overall assessment backed by clear evidence.

During the evaluation, the consultant is expected to apply the following minimum approaches for data collection and analysis:

• Desk review of relevant documents including progress reports and any records of the various opinion surveys conducted during the life of the Project;
• Review of indicators in relation to baseline and targets and project results;
• Key interviews with the national counterparts, project and CO management;
• Briefing and debriefing sessions with the Project Board;
• Interviews and focus groups with partners and stakeholders, government officials, service providers including NGOs, CSO partners and donor partners, etc.
• Lead a validation workshop to present the main findings to clients and stakeholders

The Draft and Final Evaluation Reports should clearly:

• Identify the output and outcome achievements for the period 2014-2017;
• Analyze challenges to the project’s implementation and achievements;
• Highlight the lessons learnt from the project related to results achieved, the process followed and strategy applied to provide recommendations;
• Include where relevant and available good practices, success stories, anecdotes;
• Analyze added value of project implementation and value for money of interventions.                                                                    

Deliverables     

• Inception Report, including the understanding of the consultant of the TORs, methodology framework to be used, workplan, draft Table of Contents and Outline of the Final Report, and list of documents and stakeholders to consult. To be delivered latest 1 week after start of the assignment.

Draft Evaluation Report, including: Executive Summary; Introduction (including context, scope, methodology);

Key Findings and Conclusions. Where relevant and possible, specifically outline role, impact and issues of UNDP assistance, as well as an outline of other providers related specifically to project implementation;

• Recommendations (corrective actions for on-going or future work);
• Summary review matrix/project RRF and achievement by objectives and outputs;
• Annexes (mission reports, list of interviewees, list of documents reviewed, etc.)

The Draft Evaluation Report should be delivered latest after 1 month after start of the assignment, with comments to be provided by REMA, PEI, UNDP, and initial findings presented in a Validation Workshop. Full evaluation outline template can be found in the annexes.

• Final Evaluation Report, following above mentioned structure, and including comments of stakeholders and from the validation workshop, should be delivered latest after 2 months of starting the assignment, to be commented upon by REMA, UNDP and PEI.

Evaluation criteria

• Minimum MA / MSc. in Economy, public management, rural development, international relations, sociology or related studies, with specialization in Environment / Natural Resources an advantage – 10 Points;
• Minimum of 8 years’ post-graduate work experience in international development assistance, with working experience in Africa and Rwanda in particular is an advantage – 10 Points;
• Minimum of 5 years of proven Monitoring and Evaluation experience of international development assistance programmes, including for UN - 25 Points;
• Experience with Environment & Natural Resources assistance programmes – 10 Points;
• Experience with economic or public management support programmes, preferable in developing countries – 5 Points;
• Knowledge of Poverty – Environment Mainstreaming principles and practices – 5 Points;
• Clear Methodology for undertaking the Evaluation – 25 Points;
• Excellent written and spoken knowledge of English. Knowledge of French is an advantage – 5 Points;
• Computer literacy, and experience with editing and presenting reports – 5 Points.

Competencies

• Able to work independently and deliver on time with quality;
• Hability in working with teams and clients in a multi-cultural environment;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Consultant requirements

Education:

• Minimum MA / MSc. in Economics, public management, rural development, international relations, sociology or related studies, with specialization in Environment / Natural Resources an advantage.

Experience:

• Minimum of 8 years’ post graduate work experience in international development assistance;
• Of which minimum of 5 years of proven Monitoring and Evaluation experience of international development assistance programmes, including for UN;
• Of which minimum of 5 years’ work experience in developing countries, with working experience in Africa and Rwanda in particular an advantage;
• Experience with Environment & Natural Resources assistance programmes;
• Experience with economic or public management support programmes, preferable in developing countries;
• Knowledge of poverty-environment mainstreaming principles and practices;
• Computer literacy, and experience with editing and presenting reports.

Language:

• Excellent written and spoken knowledge of English;
• Knowledge of French an advantage.

How to apply:

Candidates should apply by presenting the following documents:

• 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 (e-mail and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment and a methodology, if applicable, on how he/she will approach and complete the assignment
• Methodology that describes the way the evaluation will be undertaken
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided

Interested consultants are required to submit an expression of interest and relevant Curriculum Vitae that demonstrates the qualifications, skills, experience and track record to deliver the services required and that reflects an understanding of key issues relating to the scope of work. Please also provide three contactable references.  In addition to that the consultant shall submit a joint technical and financial proposal.

Technical and Financial Proposals should be submitted by email to the below address:

Delivery address: UNDP Rwanda, P.O. Box 445, 12 Avenue de l'Armée, Kigali, Rwanda, and Attn: Head of Procurement Unit, Or by email address at: offers.rw@undp.org not later than 29th September 2017.