Background

In the Global Assessment Report of 2011, the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction placed the Philippines third among the most disaster prone countries in the world by virtue of its exposure to natural hazards and the vulnerability of its exposed population. This situation is aggravated by new external threats like climate change, which has induced more intense meteorological and meteorologically triggered hazard events within the last decade, resulting in increased deaths and economic devastation, especially in areas unprepared for such phenomena. From recent past hazard events, meteorological and meteorologically induced hazards are becoming more dominant, particularly in Region 2, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Region 6, resulting in significant losses.

Although the Philippines has a long history of disaster management and adaptation to weather extremes, the current  capacities of its concerned national institutions, local government units and impacted communities are insufficient, and quickly outstripped to cope with the growing adverse impacts of natural hazards because of a rapidly changing climate. Capacities of both national and local duty bearers and local claim holders to estimate when and how big the impacts are going to be, as well as, to draw up the appropriate coping/adaptation responses need to be developed quickly to ensure the survival of the most vulnerable.

Therefore, Project ReBUILD seeks to improve the governance framework in Region 2, CAR and Region 6, by putting in place the necessary enabling policy environment, mechanisms, systems and tools. It also aims to improve the competencies of the concerned personnel to address disaster risks from natural hazards and climate change, which set back development gains and make the vulnerable poor population poorer.

Specifically, Project ReBUILD aims to assess the disaster vulnerabilities of the cities and municipalities surrounding the Cagayan River Basin (Region 2 and CAR) and the Jalaur River basin (Region 6), to geological, meteorological and meteorologically-induced hazards due to climate change. The result will provide the basis for priority mitigation and actions like community based and managed early warning systems and integrated contingency planning and mobilization. The Project will also enhance the competencies of the concerned local government units on mainstreaming climate/disaster risk management into local land use and development planning and regulatory processes. To increase the resilience of vulnerable communities, the Project will support the development of climate resilience livelihoods and risk sharing/transfer models. The Project will also help cull and organize knowledge on climate/disaster management for vulnerable communities. 

The projects expected outputs are the following:

1. Climate/disaster risk vulnerabilities of the Cagayan River Basin (Region 2 and CAR) and the Jalaur River Basin (Region 6), including cities and municipalities around these river basins assessed
2. Priority climate/disaster mitigation actions for priority cities and municipalities around the Cagayan and Jalaur River Basins developed
3. Climate/disaster risk management mainstreamed into the planning and regulatory processes of cities/municipalities within and around the Cagayan and Jalaur River Basins
4. Socio-economic resilience of the poor and most vulnerable in Cagayan and Jalaur River Basins Developed and
5. Local knowledge management (KM) systems for communities around the Cagayan and Jalaur River Basins established. 

Project ReBUILD was approved in 2012 and commenced operations in 2013.  It is administered by the United Nations Development Programme.  The New Zealand Aid Programme (NZAP) provided fund amounting to UD$ 1,749,735.40.  This consists of the original fund of US$1,227,272.00 and an additional fund of US$522,463.40 in late 2015. While the 2014 Annual Progress Report (APR) stated that majority of the expected outputs were delivered constraints were reported. In the February 2015 Project Board Meeting, it was reported that the funds could only cover a limited number of localities.  Moreover, it also put forward issues that have implications in replicating the model at a national scale.  These included: (i) inadequate data available to facilitate conduct of climate vulnerability and disaster risk assessment (CVDRA) and that probabilistic hazard maps are needed for the conduct of CVDRA; (ii) delays experienced in drawing up hazard maps since available maps provided came in 1:50 scale that is not very useful for planning at the municipal/city and barangay level; (ii) problems in generating exposure data, particularly lack of funds as an issue for those areas with large number of households.

Noting the constraints, a calibration was done.  An Exit Strategy and Sustainability Plan (ESSP) commenced in 2017, with the goal of ensuring that gains of the Project can be sustained and scaled up by the CCC. Observing the gaps in terms of in delivering critical support to the localities the E2S2 seeks to provide practical tools in a systematic manner in the journey of the locality from conducting climate vulnerability and disaster risk assessment; planning, programming and budgeting for appropriate interventions; and implementing appropriate interventions. Support services needed, at the point of view of the localities, are being determined in order to transform from a state of climate-vulnerability into one that is climate-smart locality (refer to Figure 1). The CCC can use this to further strengthen convergence for seamless delivery of support services to LGUs to increase resilience to natural hazards and climate change

Duties and Responsibilities

The evaluation shall be conducted to assess Project performance vis-à-vis its targets and expected results, and its contribution relative to its overall objective. The exercise will cover the implementation period October 2012 – December 2017. The evaluation team will cover the Project’s pilot cities and municipalities as well as partners and stakeholders. It shall take into consideration the different municipality/city characteristics and implementation contexts (e.g. socio-economic conditions, class of municipalities, extent of damage in the coverage areas), and the total value and variety of projects per area. The sampling strategy shall form part of the evaluation team’s inception report.

Target respondents include key informants from the covered pilot localities and partners, including government, particularly at the local level or regional offices of the HLURB, NEDA, DENR, RBCO, NAMRIA, OCD, DILG, Provincial governments of Cagayan and Iloilo, academic partners, and civil society partners. At the city/municipality level, the respondents should include the Mayor’s Office, Planning Office, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Environment and Natural Resources Office, Engineering Office, Social Welfare Office, and Agriculture Office among others.

Specific objectives of the evaluation include:

• To assess Project ReBUILD performance relative to its objectives and targets as stated in its results framework, Exit Strategy and Sustainability Plan (ESSP) and M&E Plan documents
• To assess the appropriateness of the Project’s overall/per component implementation framework, methodologies and strategies in achieving the set objectives, outputs and results as well as in putting in place models or practices which the government, partners and the communities could adopt in building and achieving physical, economic, social and institutional resilience in their future projects;
• To assess the effectiveness and efficiency in the use of Project resources to meet target outputs and results
• To analyze factors, including the Project management/operational set-up, and its degree of influence in the achievement or non-achievement of target outputs and results
• To assess the relevance and effectiveness of the Project’s partnership and other implementation strategies and highlight which among these methodologies and approaches could be sustained or replicated by government agencies, LGUs and communities
• To determine national and local capacities developed and the level of participation of stakeholders in the achievement of the outputs and results and
• To document and draw up lessons learned, good, replicable and/or innovative practices, cross-cutting issues (e.g. gender mainstreaming, human rights, DRRM, resiliency-building, beneficiary selection, stakeholder participation) and recommendations on appropriate project strategies to improve future programming on post-disaster rehabilitation and resilience building
• To put forward some policy and programme recommendations to UNDP as direct implementer of the project

The Evaluator will have to conduct on-site validation and interface with respondents to be included in key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The Evaluator would likewise have to consider weather conditions and availability of respondents (particularly government officials and remaining Project Team members) in programming field visits and interviews.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional and technical competencies:

• Strong knowledge of the latest theories and concepts in urban development and sustainable cities in the Philippines and broader region;
• Strong analytical and research skills;
• Familiarity with current actors working on urban development challenges in the Philippines;
• Strong communication skills and ability to communicate with different stakeholders;
• Excellent in oral and written communication; have skills to write independent reports, documents, maintain systems and procedures in administering programs.

Required Skills and Experience

he Individual Evaluation Consultant will have responsibility during all phases of the evaluation, particularly in ensuring the high quality and timely completion of evaluation processes, methodologies, and outputs. S/He will lead the implementation of the evaluation design, guide the methodology and application of data collection instruments, and lead the consultations with stakeholders. At the reporting phase, s/he is responsible for putting together the first comprehensive draft of the evaluation report, and in producing the succeeding draft and final reports based on inputs from the Project Team, UNDP Country Office, and stakeholders. The Individual Evaluation Consultant should possess the following qualifications:

Education:

• Advanced degree in Development Management, Public Administration, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management,  Climate Change,  Economics, Social Sciences, Community Development or equivalent work experience

Work Experience:

• At least ten (10) years of progressively responsible experience in development research, evaluation of development projects, or project management, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and management, and governance
• Demonstrated strong knowledge and experience in the application of monitoring and evaluation methods for development projects; experience in conducting terminal evaluation, specially UNDP-managed projects, an advantage
• Familiarity with the Project areas and ability to speak the local languages of pilot areas an advantage 

Language:

• Fluency in the English language and proven ability to write high-quality technical reports (Evaluator will be required to provide work samples)

S/he should not have been involved, in any way or the other, in designing, executing or advising in any component, sub-projects and activities of Project ReBUILD that is covered by the evaluation. Failure to declare this information prior to the award of contract may be considered as ground for cancellation of the engagement.

Applicants are requested to submit the following documents to procurement.ph@undp.org :

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability that indicates the all-inclusive lumpsum contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, 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;
2. 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;
3. At least two final/published version of terminal evaluation reports will be required for submission, along with the CVs, to provide the UNDP Proposal Assessment Team an idea on how the prospective service provider package reports (i.e., quantitative and qualitative presentation of findings and recommendations);
4. Plan of Approach and Methodology

We encourage applicants to visit http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=42671  to access the Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and view the complete details of Terms of Reference.

In view of the volume of applications UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.