Background

In accordance with UNDP and Adaptation Fund (AF) M&E policies and procedures, all regular UNDP supported AF financed projects are required to undergo a terminal evaluation upon completion of implementation. These terms of reference (TOR) sets out the expectations for a Terminal Evaluation (TE) of the Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water Resources and Food Security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar (PIMS# 4703).

UNDP Myanmar, with funding from Adaptation Fund is currently implementing a Climate Change Adaptation project - “Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water Resources and Food Security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar.” The project aims to reduce the increasing impacts of climate change on agricultural and livestock production cycles in the dry zone of Myanmar - the impacts of increasing temperature and evaporation, declining water availability, and intensifying weather events especially flash floods and cyclones.

The Dry Zone is one of the most climate sensitive and natural resource poor regions in Myanmar. The dry zone covers approximately 54,390 square kilometers and represents about 10% of the country’s total land area. The present population in the Dry Zone is estimated at 18 million people. It constitutes 34% of the country’s total population of about 53 million. The population density is 123 people per square kilometer, making it the third most densely populated region in Myanmar.

Across the Dry Zone, water is scarce, vegetation cover is thin, and soil is degraded due to severe erosion. The region is characterized by low annual rainfall that ranges between 508 and 1,016 mm per annum with high variability and uneven distribution. The monsoon rain is bimodal with a dry period during July when dry desiccating winds blow from the south. The undulating land, composed mainly of sandy loam with low fertility, is subjected to severe erosion under rain and strong winds. The average mean temperature in the Dry Zone is about 27° C and the temperature often rises to about 43° C in the summer period. This dry environment with its other natural limiting factors has led to conditions of growing food insecurity and severe environmental degradation.

The major economic activities in the Dry Zone are subsistence farming such as paddy, sesame and groundnut and small-scale livestock rearing. Agricultural productivity is low and the farmers are heavily dependent on products from the natural forest especially fuel wood, pole, post and fodder to support their living and livestock. Many landless people are working as seasonal farm labourers, migrating to urban regions during non-planting time to find temporary employment.

The project operates in five townships in the Sagaing, Mandalay and Magway Regions – Shwebo and Moneywa townships in the Sagaing region, Myingyan and Nyaung Oo townships in the Mandalay Region, and Chauk township in the Magway Region. The townships were selected on the basis of observed temperature extremes, frequency of drought per year, and the impacts of climatic parameters on food security. An additional criterion for township selection was the potential to access ground and surface water resources – vital prerequisites for small irrigation and water management schemes. The direct beneficiaries of the project are marginal farmers in rain-fed areas and landless workers whose access to arable land is severely threatened by erosion and land degradation. Special emphasis is placed on women and female-headed households within this vulnerable group.

The project targets approximately 50,000 households from 280 villages. The target populations are largely categorized into the following three types of beneficiaries: First group is landless farmers, who make up about 60% of target population; second group is marginal/small farmers whose landholding is less than 2.5 hectares and they make up about 25% of target population; and the third group is farmers who have landholding larger than 2.5 hectares.

Absence of community water infrastructure for both domestic and agricultural purposes is a critical constraint in building the resilience of these communities to future climate change impact. This project aims to deliver the following key outputs to build community resilience to climate change:

1. Enhancing water capture and storage capacities in 280 villages to augment irrigation and domestic water supply during the dry periods
2. Protecting and rehabilitating 6,141 hectares of micro-watersheds through Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) to increase natural water retention and reduce erosion
3. Establishing 3,983 hectares of community-based agro-forestry plots in private and communal lands to conserve soil and water
4. Introducing drought-resilient farming methods
5. Introducing resilient post-harvest processing and storage systems
6. Introducing diversified livestock production systems targeting landless households
7. Develop climate hazard maps and risk scenarios in each township to support community-based climate risk management and preparedness planning
8. Strengthen local level climate and disaster risk management framework for timely and effective communication of climate risk and early warning information.

At the national level, the Project is supported by a Project Steering Committee (PSC). The PSC oversees and keep abreast of project progress and facilitate the implementation of the project in partnership with co-financing institutions. Implementation of the project and allocation of resources is the responsibility of UNDP - as the executing agency under the overall direction of the PSC. The PSC is chaired by the Country Director of UNDP and the Director General of Dry Zone Greening Department (DZGD). The DZGD is also the principle counterpart agency for the project. Other members of the PSC include representatives from Environmental Conservation Department, Irrigation and Water Utilization Management Department, Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Department of Agriculture, Relief and Resettlement Department, Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, Watershed Management Section, Forest Department, Department of Rural Development and Foreign Economic Relations Department.

To assist the Project Team on technical questions, a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) has been constituted. The TAG provides guidance and advice on technical questions related to water management, agriculture, forestry, food security and risk information/communication. The main objective of the TAG is to identify technical strengths and weaknesses of the project, take stock of available and required technical know-how under different project components, and provide technical backstopping and quality control throughout the project period. The TAG includes representatives from Dry Zone Greening Department, Environmental Conservation Department, Irrigation and Water Utilization Management Department, Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Department of Agriculture, Relief and Resettlement Department, Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, Watershed Management Section of Forest Department and Department of Rural Development.

A project team, which is housed in the Dry Zone Greening Department offices in Patheingyi and Nyaung U, comprises of the following personnel – National Project Manager, Technical Specialist (International), Soil Conservation and Water Harvesting Specialist (Nyaung U-based), Agricultural Specialist, Environmental Conservation and Forestry Specialist (Nyaung U-based), Livestock Specialist, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Project Assistant and a Project Driver. 

Under the overall guidance of PSC and TAG, the Project Team is responsible for the day-to-day management and implementation, oversight, reporting and monitoring of project activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

The project was designed to reduce the vulnerability of households in Myanmar’s Dry Zone to increasing drought and rainfall variability and enhance the capacity of households to plan for and respond to future impacts of Climate Change on food security. This objective is aligned with the Objective spelled out by the Adaptation Fund to “Reduce vulnerability and increase adaptive capacity to respond to the impacts of climate change, including variability at local and national levels”.

The strategy of the project to achieve this objective is to reduce the risks and effects from the increasingly recurring incidents of drought through an improved water management, crop and livestock adaptation programme in five of the most vulnerable townships of Myanmar’s Dry Zone. The programme is based on principles of local empowerment and implemented by community-based organizations (CBOs) such as Village Development Committees, Water User Committees, farmer groups, communal forest user groups, and local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Programme components relate to three main Outcomes and composed of lower-level Outputs to achieve them. The three main Outcomes are as follows:

• Continuous fresh water availability is ensured during the dry seasons in 280 villages in the Dry Zone
• Climate Resilient agricultural and livestock practices enhanced in Myanmar’s Dry Zone
• Timeliness and quality of climate risk information disseminated to Dry Zone households enhanced through use of short-term weather forecasts, medium-term seasonal forecasts, and longer-term climate scenario planning

The Terminal evaluation will be conducted in the Dry Zone of Myanmar – covering the 5 project townships of Shwebo and Monywa under Sagaing Region; Myingyan and Nyaung U under Mandalay Region and Chauk under Magwe Region.

The Terminal evaluation (TE) will be conducted according to the guidance, rules and procedures reflected in the ‘UNDP Guidance for Conducting Terminal Evaluations of UNDP-supported, GEF-financed Projects’ (2012), henceforth referred to as ‘TE Guidance’.[1] This is a mandatory evaluation as per initial agreement in the project document.

The objectives of the evaluation are to assess the achievement of project results, and to draw lessons that can both improve the sustainability of benefits from this project, and aid in the overall enhancement of UNDP programming.  The primary audience of the evaluation will be the Government of Myanmar, Adaptation Fund and UNDP. The secondary audience of the evaluation will be project beneficiaries, implementing partners and other development partners active in the Dry Zone of Myanmar. This independent Terminal Evaluation will take place three months prior to the final PSC meeting and will focus on the delivery of the project’s results as initially planned (and as corrected after the mid-term evaluation, if any such correction took place); will look at impact and sustainability of results, including the contribution to capacity development and the achievement of global environmental benefits/goals; and will also include an independent review of project implementation arrangements and their efficacy.

[1] The guidance document for UNDP-supported GEF financed projects can be used for AF financed projects as well.  The document is available via this link.

Competencies

EVALUATION APPROACH AND METHOD:

The evaluator is expected to frame the evaluation effort using the criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact, as defined and explained in the TE Guidance.  A set of questions covering each of these criteria will be provided to the selected evaluator (see Annex E). The evaluator is expected to amend, complete and submit this matrix as part of an evaluation inception report, and shall include it as an annex to the final report. 

The evaluation must provide evidence-based information that is credible, reliable and useful, as well as provide a complete, fair and unbiased assessment through analysis of available data and information and facts on the ground. This should be done through application of various methods, including collection of additional qualitative and quantitative data and information, The evaluation will also consider the recommendations of the Mid-Term evaluation and assess progress made in addressing the management responses and the final outcome of the recommendations. In addition, the evaluation will also review the results of the project impact assessment survey, which is currently underway. The Impact Assessment Survey will provide evidence-based qualitative and quantitative data and information and inform the terminal evaluation in a significant manner – especially in terms of achievements of overall targets of the project.

The evaluator is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach ensuring close engagement with government counterparts, in particular the AF operational focal point, UNDP Country Office, project team, UNDP GEF Technical Adviser based in the region and key stakeholders.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The evaluator is expected to conduct a field mission to Patheingyi Mandalay, including the following project sites – Shwebo, Monywa under Sagaing Region, Myingyan and Nyaung U under Mandalay Region and Chauk under Magwe Region. The evaluator will observe project activities in the field and interview project beneficiaries and implementing partners on the ground - to assess the extent of project impacts/results and identify remaining gaps and challenges and recommend actions for future programming, as appropriate. Interviews will be held with the following stakeholders and individuals at a minimum: Dry Zone Greening Department, Environmental Conservation Department, Forest Department, Department of Rural Development, Irrigation and Water Utilization Management Department, Department of Agriculture, Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Department of Disaster Management, and Foreign Economic Relations Department; Implementing partners, key experts and consultants in the subject area, Project Steering Committee members, project stakeholders, academia, local government and CSOs, etc. The evaluator will review all relevant sources of information, such as the project document, project reports – including Annual PPRs, project budget revisions, midterm evaluation, progress reports, AF tracking tools, project files, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the evaluator considers useful for this evidence-based assessment. A list of documents that the project team will provide to the evaluator for review is included in Annex A of this Terms of Reference.

EVALUATION CRITERIA & RATINGS:

An assessment of project performance will be carried out, based against expectations set out in the Project Logical Framework/Results Framework, which provides performance and impact indicators for project implementation along with their corresponding means of verification. The evaluation will at a minimum cover the criteria of: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact. Ratings must be provided on the following performance criteria: 

• Monitoring and Evaluation design at entry
• Monitoring and Evaluation Plan Implementation
• Overall quality of M&E
• Relevance
• Effectiveness
• Efficiency
• Overall Project Outcome Rating
• Quality of UNDP Implementation – Implementing Agency (IA)
• Quality of Execution - Executing Agency (EA)
• Overall quality of Implementation / Execution
• Sustainability of Financial resources
• Socio-political Sustainability
• Institutional framework and governance sustainability
• Environmental sustainability
• Overall likelihood of sustainability and associated risks

The completed Required Ratings table (as found in the TE Guidance) must be included in the evaluation executive summary.  The obligatory rating scales can be found in Annex F.

A full recommended report outline can be found in the TE Guidance.

The evaluation inception reports must feature an evaluation matrix outlining the key questions, sub questions and corresponding indicators, data sources and evaluation methods.

PROJECT FINANCE AND CO-FINANCE:

Required Skills and Experience

The Evaluation will assess the key financial aspects of the project, including the extent of co-financing planned and realized. Project cost and funding data will be required, including annual expenditures.  Variances between planned and actual expenditures will need to be assessed and explained.  Results from recent financial audits, as available, should be taken into consideration. The evaluator(s) will receive assistance from the Country Office (CO) and Project Team to obtain financial data in order to complete the Required Co-Financing Table below, which will be included in the terminal evaluation report. 

MAINSTREAMING:

UNDP supported AF financed projects are key components in UNDP country programming, as well as regional and global programmes. The evaluation will assess the extent to which the project was successfully mainstreamed with other UNDP priorities, including poverty alleviation, improved governance, the prevention and recovery from natural disasters, and gender.

IMPACT:

The evaluators will assess the extent to which the project is achieving impacts or progressing towards the achievement of impacts. Key findings that should be brought out in the evaluations include whether the project has demonstrated: a) verifiable improvements in ecological status, b) verifiable reductions in stress on ecological systems, and/or c) demonstrated progress towards these impact achievements [a useful tool for gauging progress to impact is the 2009 Review of Outcomes to Impacts (ROtI) method developed by the GEF Evaluation Office].

CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS & LESSONS:

The evaluation report must include a chapter providing a set of conclusions, recommendations and lessons. Additionally, lessons learned should be provided as per the template. (see Annex B).

IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS:

The principal responsibility for managing this evaluation resides with the UNDP CO in Myanmar. The UNDP CO will contract the evaluators and ensure the timely provision of per diems and travel arrangements within the country for the evaluation team. The Project Team will be responsible for liaising with the evaluation team to set up stakeholder interviews, arrange field visits, coordinate with the Government etc. 

The Programme Team under Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Unit, with the support of the project team - will be responsible for  - supervising and guiding the evaluation team during the evaluation process; identifying and ensuring participation of relevant stakeholders; reviewing and providing substantive comments and approving the inception report, including the work plan, analytical framework and methodology; providing substantive feedback on the draft and final evaluation reports; making payments against results; ensuring that evaluation findings and conclusions are relevant and recommendations are implementable; and contribute to the dissemination of the evaluation findings and follow-up on management response, etc.

The overall Task Manager for the Terminal Evaluation will be Ms. Pem C. Wangdi, Programme Specialist, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Unit, UNDP Myanmar.

EVALUATION TIMEFRAME:

The total duration of the evaluation will be 40 days starting from 07 Feb 2019 – 24 Apr 2019, according to the tentative plan below. Please note that the evaluation mission team will have a briefing session with UNDP CO in Yangon on 11 Feb 2019; a de-briefing session in Yangon on 22 Mar 2019; a briefing meeting with the AF Designated National Authority on 21 Mar 2019 in Nay Pyi Taw. The rest of the mission will be in Patheingyi, Mandalay and Project areas. 

DELIVERABLES:

The evaluation team is expected to deliver the following:

*When submitting the final evaluation report, the evaluator is required also to provide an 'audit trail', detailing how all received comments have (and have not) been addressed in the final evaluation report.

PAYMENT MODALITIES AND SPECIFICATIONS:

CORPORATE COMPETENCIES:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.
• Capability to work effectively under deadline pressure and to take on a range of responsibilities;
• Ability to work in a team, good decision-making skills, communication and writing skills.

Evaluation consultants will be held to the highest ethical standards and are required to sign a Code of Conduct upon acceptance of the assignment (see Annex D). UNDP evaluations are conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘Ethical Guideline for Evaluations.’

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

The evaluation team will be composed of one international and one national Evaluation Consultant. The consultants shall have prior experience in evaluating similar projects. Experience with AF financed projects is an advantage. The international consultant will act as the team leader and will be responsible for all the deliverables of the assignment. The national consultant will support the international consultant and perform duties assigned by the international consultant as per the scope of this TOR.  The evaluators selected should not have participated in the project preparation and/or implementation and should not have conflict of interest with project related activities.

This TOR is for the recruitment of the International Evaluation Consultant (Team Leader). The International Evaluation Consultant (Team Leader) is expected to possess the following skills, knowledge and expertise:

EDUCATION:

• Master’s Degree in Environment, Natural Resources Management, Social Sciences or other closely related field;

EXPERIENCE:

• Work experience in relevant technical areas for at least 5 years;
• Recent experience with result-based management evaluation methodologies;
• Experience applying SMART indicators and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios;
• Competence in adaptive management, as applied to Climate Change Adaptation focal area;
• Experience working with the AF or GEF evaluations;
• Experience working in South East Asia region;
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender and climate change adaptation; experience in gender sensitive evaluation and analysis;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Demonstrable analytical skills;
• Project evaluation/review experiences within United Nations system will be considered an asset;

The International Evaluation Consultant (Team Leader) will be responsible for:

• Providing overall leadership on the independent evaluation of the Adaptation Fund Project – “Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water Resources and Food Security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar” - based on inputs and insights from the national consultant
• Conducting desk reviews of relevant documents and interview with government partners, UN/UNDP staff, donors and other partners
• Reviewing the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, value-added and impact of the AF Project;
• Identifying whether or not UNDP has achieved its intended results (based on the strategic outcomes and work plans)
• Ensuring completion of all the deliverables outlined above:  evaluation inception report, draft evaluation report, and final evaluation report

LANGUAGE:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required;
• Some knowledge of Myanmar language is desirable, but not compulsory

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

Qualified candidates are requested to apply online via this website. The application should contain:

1. Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template[1] provided by UNDP;
2. CV and a Personal History Form (P11 form[2]);
3. Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; (max 1 page)
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, per diem, etc), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template attached to the Letter of Confirmation of Interest template. If an applicant is employed by and 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 applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

All application materials should be submitted to the address:

United Nations Development Programme

No.6, Natmauk Road, Tamwe Township, Yangon 11211, Myanmar

Attention: Ms.Nasantuya Chuluun, Operations Manager

Reference: 2018/PROC/UNDP-MMR/PN/154

in a sealed envelope indicating the following reference “Consultant for Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water Resources and Food Security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar Midterm Evaluation” or by email at the following address ONLY: bids.mm@undp.org This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it by 21 Jan 2019. Incomplete applications will be excluded from further consideration.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows uploading of only one application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into one single file.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner. 

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org
 

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under:  http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.
 

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

EVALUATION OF APPLICANTS:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.
 

The award of the contract should 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 pre-determined set of weighted technical (desk reviews based on cv) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. 

Only the highest ranked candidates who would be found qualified for the job will be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation 

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation

ANNEXES TO THE TOR

ANNEX A: List of Documents to be reviewed by the MTE Team

1. Project Document
2. Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
3. List and contact details of project staff, key project stake- holders, including Project Board, and other partners to be consulted
4. Project sites, highlighting suggested visits
5. Midterm evaluation (MTE) and other relevant evaluations and assessments
6. Project Inception Report
7. Annual Project Performance Reports (PPR’s)
8. Finalized AF Tracking Tools
9. Quarterly Progress Reports
10. All monitoring reports prepared by the projects
11. Project budget broken out by outcomes and outputs
12. Financial Data
13. Sample of project communications materials, i.e. press releases, brochures, documentaries, etc.
14. Minutes of the Project Steering Committee Meetings and other meetings (i.e. Project Appraisal Committee meetings)
15. Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF)
16. Country Programme Document (CPD)
17. Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP)

ANNEX B: Lessons for Adaptation

Annex C: Evaluation Report Outline

[1]The Report length should not exceed 40 pages in total (not including annexes).