UNDP Jobs - 81078- Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

Location :

Tbilisi, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

08-Oct-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to 25 days in November - December 2018

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

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the support from European Union (EU) has been implementing monitoring of media coverage for the period of elections since 2010. In the years 2010-2017 UNDP and EU have concluded four separate pre-election media monitoring projects (Development of Media Monitoring Capacities in Georgia (2010-2012) Professional Media for Elections (2012-2014); Study and Research on Election Media Environment for 2016 Parliamentary Elections (2016); Study and Research on Election Media Coverage for 2017 Local Self-Government Elections (2017)). The fifth project titled “Study and Research on Election Media Coverage for 2018 Presidential Elections in Georgia” is underway.

These projects have aimed at supporting free and credible media environment for the period of elections in Georgia through implementing comprehensive research on performance of media during the period of elections. UNDP and EU have undertaken this exercise in partnership with local civil society organizations who implement the research.

The specific objectives of the projects were:

To improve media reporting standards through monitoring activities of Georgian media outlets during the elections.
To enhance capacities of CSOs in implementing evidence-based oversight of media performance and electoral developments.
To make public benefit from more balanced and unbiased media coverage that will allow them to make informed decisions during the elections and getting involved into the public debates.

For the purpose of evaluating the project results and its overall impact on the state of media in Georgia, UNDP is seeking Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. Since the separate media monitoring projects share the same objectives and are similar in their design, they should be understood as the part of the single undertaking directed at improving media environment in Georgia. The evaluation should seek to establish the overall results and impact of these projects together, rather than individually. The main purpose of the planned exercise is to evaluate all projects against the impact they had on media environment in the country, rather than results of the individual projects separately.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the UNDP Project Manager and overall supervision of Democratic Governance Team Leader, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist should seek to assess the overall impact of the media monitoring projects on the media environment in Georgia. The following objectives should be accomplished:

Assess the relevance and effectiveness of the Projects, as per Project Documents;
Asses the results of the Projects: whether the activities of the projects corresponded to the outputs and the outputs corresponded to the outcomes and overall impact of the project, as per project Logframes;
Assess overall influence of the Projects on media reporting and media environment at large in Georgia; establish the extent to which the projects contributed to free and credible media environment in Georgia;
Assess the positioning of the projects in the eyes of its beneficiaries and stakeholders;
Outline weak aspects and limitations of the Projects, if any;
Assess the need for similar undertakings in the future and, if considered necessary, provide recommendations how the initiative could be further improved.

Considering the objectives of the evaluation, it should seek to address the following specific questions:

Relevance

Were the projects relevant for UNDP goals and objectives in Georgia?
Were the projects relevant for EU goals and objectives in Georgia?
Were the projects relevant for Georgian journalists and media professionals?
Were the projects relevant for voters in Georgia at large?

Effectiveness

Were the resources (funding, time, human resources) adequate and used the best way possible?
Were the outputs achieved and, if yes, did this lead to achieving outcomes?
To what extent was the Project design adequate? How did it support and/or hinder achievement of the outcomes?

Impact

How were the projects perceived by involved partners and stakeholders?
What was the influence of the projects on the state of media in Georgia?
What was the influence of the projects on the work of journalists in Georgia?
Was the research on media coverage produced within the projects useful for journalists and media professionals in Georgia and, if yes, to what extent?
Did the projects meet the expectations of its partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries?
What were the major achievements of the projects?
What were the major failures of the projects?
What the projects could have achieved with the available resources but were unable to?
How did the projects address cross-cutting issues including gender and what it can do to improve in this direction?

Sustainability

To what extent will the benefits of the projects continue after its completion?
What are the major factors that influence the strong or weak sustainability of the projects?
What needs to be done and/or improved to ensure sustainability?

The evaluation should be inclusive and participatory involving all key partners and stakeholders in the analysis. The following methods should be used in data collection and analysis:

Desk Review of relevant documentation, studies, articles relating to the project, media monitoring activities and media environment in Georgia;
Interviews with relevant individuals in UNDP, EU, partner civil society organizations;
Interviews with key beneficiaries including journalists, media managers, CSO representatives and media professionals.

Ddeliverables and payment modality:

The Specialist will be paid a lump sum in three installments upon successful completion of the deliverables according to the following scheme:

Inception report outlining the evaluation methodology, workplan and proposed structure of the final evaluation report: within 5 days after signing the contract - 30% of the total fee;
A draft evaluation report and presentation of a draft evaluation report; containing main findings, analysis of the collected data and interviews and draft recommendations; a draft evaluation report should respond to the evaluation objectives and questions: up to two weeks - 40% of the total fee;
A final evaluation report encompassing comments and issues raised within the presentation of a draft evaluation report: within 5 days after presentation of the draft evaluation report - 30% of the total fee.

All reports need to be written in English.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
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:

Ability to work effectively within strict timeframe;
Ability to think out of the box and propose constructive solutions to problems;
Strong communication and interpersonal skills;
Excellent research and analysis skills;
Excellent report writing skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in social sciences, journalism, communications or a related field (minimum qualification requirement: Master's degree – 7 points, PhD – additional 2 points).

Experience:

At least 7 years of experience in Program and Project evaluation in development field; the experience in impact evaluation would be an asset (minimum qualification requirement: 7 years – 10 points)
Good knowledge of media environment in Georgia (minimum qualification requirement: 1-year experience related to media in civil society or a media outlet – 5 points; more than 1 year – additional 3 points);
Previous consultancy experience with UN or other international organizations would be an asset (3 points);
Proposed Methodology (minimum qualification requirement: Proposed methodology outlines realistic plan for evaluation and describes methodology at large – 6 points; specific methods for data collection and analysis (including the analysis of interviews) are offered – additional 4 points);
Competent in usage of basic computer office software.

IMPORTANT: Proposed Methodology (no more than 1 page) outlining the plan for evaluation and methods (both quantitative and qualitative) to be used in data collection and analysis should be sent to ana.dabrundashvili@undp.org.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English and Georgian, both written and oral.

Evaluation:

Offerors will be evaluated against a combination of technical and financial criteria provided in the below table. Technical criteria consist of a desk review (40 points) and an interview (30 points). Offerors obtaining minimum 28 points as a result of the desk review (criteria 1, 2, 3, 4) will be short listed and invited for an interview. Offerors obtaining minimum of 21 points as a result of the interview (i.e. minimum of 49 points in the technical criteria) will be considered qualified and requested to provide financial proposal for the assignment.

Financial Proposal

?The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount.