UNDP Jobs - 89166- International Consultant for Terminal Evaluation o

International Consultant for Terminal Evaluation of UNDP-GEF Project

Location :

Home Based, with up to two missions to Georgia, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Apr-2020

Application Deadline :

26-Dec-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

25 w/d during April - July 2020, with up two missions (approx. 5 days in Batumi, 5 days in Tbilisi)

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 objective of Green Cities: ISTBAR Project is to promote sustainable urban transport in the City of Batumi and the Region of Achara and support the formulation of national and regional policies on sustainable urban transport. Aside from assisting the City of Batumi and other municipalities of the Achara Autonomous Republic, in adoption of a green approach to urban transport development, the Project also aims to directly generate GHG reductions from sustainable urban transport pilot measures in Batumi and indirectly generate GHG reductions from regional and national policies on the urban transport that have been developed through technical support provided by the Green Cities: ISTBAR project.

To achieve the Project objective, the Project’s interventions has been organized into 4 components:

Outcome 1: Development and adoption of sustainable urban mobility plan (SUMP) for the city of Batumi and for other municipalities of Achara
Outcome 2: Development of sectoral feasibility studies and functional plans for specific sustainable urban measures for demonstration / pilot measures in Batumi
Outcome 3: Support of investments in sustainable urban mobility measures in Batumi
Outcome 4: Support to the development of national policy on sustainable urban transport (SUT)

During the first two years, the project developed a detailed SUMP for Batumi and: several key outputs : (1) Household mobility survey in Batumi; (2) a transport demand model for Batumi; (3) a parking strategy for Batumi; (4) plans for optimization of the whole public transport network; (5) plans for two demonstration corridors with rapid bus lanes with bike lanes, and smart traffic lights to favor the buses, including conceptual drawings; (6) a plan for increased bicycling, including drawings of expanded bike trails in city areas; and (7) plans for adoption of electric taxis and (8) sustainable urban mobility awareness raising plan for Batumi and implementation of several public events.

The Green Cities: ISTBAR project has also supported development of Georgia’s National Strategy and Policy Frameworks on Sustainable Urban Transport.

Under Achara regional component the project supported development of sustainable and resilient urban transport plans on municipal and regional levels, as a replication component : (1) Sustainable and resilient urban mobility plans for five municipalities in Achara (Keda, Shuakhevi, Khulo, Kobuleti and Khelvachauri) were developed; and as a scale-up (2) Low-carbon regional passenger transportation masterplan for the Achara Autonomous Republic; (3) Institutional / Organizational framework for regional transportation authority for Achara Autonomous Republic.

The project was planned as a four-year project – thus, the projected end of project (EOP) date was 31 July 2019. However, following the decision by Project Executive Board and Letter of Batumi Mayor the project requested 12 months “no -cost” extension and the final end date was changed to 31 July 2020.

Duties and Responsibilities

The TE will be conducted according to the guidance, rules and procedures established by UNDP and GEF as reflected in the UNDP Evaluation Guidance for GEF Financed Projects.

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.

Evaluation approach and method

An overall approach and method (for additional information on methods, see the Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results, Chapter 7, pg. 163) for conducting project terminal evaluations of UNDP supported GEF financed projects has developed over time. 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 UNDP Guidance for Conducting Terminal Evaluations of UNDP-supported, GEF-financed Projects. A set of questions covering each of these criteria have been drafted and are included with the TOR (For detailed TOR, please follow the link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FX1DgiBCcDgcJWxz1RV_oYEZL0JFnFH8) Annex C. 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. The evaluator is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach ensuring close engagement with government counterparts, in particular the GEF operational focal point, UNDP Country Office, project team, UNDP GEF Technical Adviser based in the region and key stakeholders. The evaluator is expected to conduct a field mission to Achara Region and Tbilisi, including the following project sites: City of Batumi, other Acharian municipalities (Kobuleti, Keda, Shuakhevi, Khulo and Khelvachauri) and Tbilisi. Interviews will be held with the following organizations and individuals at a minimum:

Achara Autonomous Republic:

Batumi City Hall
Batumi City Council
Batumi Municipal Bus Company
Ministry of Finance and Economy of Achara A.R.
Local administrations of five municipalities (Keda, Shuakhevi, Khulo, Kobuleti and Khelvachauri) of Achara A.R.
NNLE Agency of Urban Infrastructure and Public Works
Non-governmental and civil society organizations in Batumi

Tbilisi:

Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia
GEF Operational Focal Point (Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection)
UNDP Country Office (E&E Team Leader, DRR/RR)
Key National Contractors (Foundation Partnership for Road Safety, Black Sea Eco-Academy, City Institute of Georgia)
International Chief Technical Adviser (Michael Saunders – Project CTA)

Skype Interviews:

Key international consultants (A+S Consult GmbH)
Istanbul Regional Hub (IRH) - GEF Regional Technical Adviser

The evaluator will review all relevant sources of information, such as the project document, project reports – including Annual APR/PIR, project budget revisions, midterm review, progress reports, GEF focal area 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 B of the Terms of Reference (For detailed TOR, please follow the link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FX1DgiBCcDgcJWxz1RV_oYEZL0JFnFH8).

Evaluation Criteria & Ratings:

An assessment of project performance will be carried out, based against expectations set out in the Project Logical Framework/Results Framework (see Terms of Reference, Annex A), 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. The completed table must be included in the evaluation executive summary. The obligatory rating scales are included in the Terms of Reference, Annex D.

Project finance / cofinance:

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 co-financing table, which will be included in the terminal evaluation report.

Mainstreaming:

UNDP supported GEF 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 Review of Outcomes to Impacts (ROtI) method developed by the GEF Evaluation Office: ROTI Handbook 2009).

Conclusions, recommendations & lessons:

The evaluation report must include a chapter providing a set of conclusions, recommendations and lessons.

Implementation arrangements:

The principal responsibility for managing this evaluation resides with the UNDP CO in Georgia. 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 Evaluators team to set up stakeholder interviews, arrange field visits, coordinate with the Government etc.

Evaluation timeframe:

The total duration of the evaluation will be 25 days according to the following plan:

Preparation (3 days) completion date : 6 April 2020
Evaluation Mission (10 days) completion date: 20 April 2020
Draft Evaluation Report (9 days) completion date: 11 May 2020
Final Report (3 days) completion date: 20 July 2020

Evaluation deliverables:

The evaluation team is expected to deliver the following:
Evaluator provides Inception Report with clarifications on timing and method to UNDP CO no later than 2 weeks before the evaluation mission
Evaluator provides Presentation of Initial Findings to project management, UNDP CO and MoEPA by end of evaluation mission
Evaluator sends Draft Final Report (full report per template with annexes) to CO ( reviewed by RTA, PCU, GEF OFPs, Project Implementing Partners) within 3 weeks of the evaluation mission
Evaluator sends to CO for uploading to UNDP ERC Final Revised Report* within 2 weeks of receiving UNDP and other stakeholder comments on draft
*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:

10% - after clearance of Inception report by UNDP CO
40% - following submission and approval of the draft terminal evaluation report
50% - following submission and approval (UNDP-CO and UNDP RTA) of the final terminal evaluation report

Evaluator Ethics: Evaluation consultants will be held to the highest ethical standards and are required to sign a Code of Conduct (Annex E) upon acceptance of the assignment. UNDP evaluations are conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG 'Ethical Guidelines for Evaluations'

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

Functional competencies:

Strong interpersonal skills, communication skills and ability to work in a team
Ability to plan and organize work, efficiency in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback
Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations
Strong analytical, research, reporting and writing abilities

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s or equivalent degree in urban transport, urban studies, civil engineering, environment or related field (minimum qualification requirement: Master's degree - 8 points; PhD - additional 2 points)

Experience:

Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in urban transport and mobility planning and development, urban planning and development, environment and in addition experience related to climate change mitigation projects (minimum qualification requirement: 10 years - 12 points, more than 10 years - additional 3 points)
Knowledge of UNDP and GEF evaluation procedures (minimum qualification requirement: 5 points)
Previous experience with results-based monitoring and evaluation methodologies (minimum qualification requirement: 5 points)
At least 5 similar evaluation/review tasks in urban transport projects completed (minimum qualification requirement: 5 points)

Assets would include:

Experience of implementing GEF funded or relevant/ similar donor funded transport projects (4 points)
Experience in the CIS region and ideally in Georgia (3 points)
Experience in transport demand modelling (3 points)

Language Requirements:

Excellent English is required

Evaluaton:

The award of the contract will be made to the Individual Consultant who has obtained the highest Combined Score. Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated, offerors not meetings any of the minimum qualification requirements will be automatically rejected. Offerors will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis method, against combination of technical (desk review (50 points) and interview (20 points)) and financial criteria (30 points).Offerors passing 70% threshold of maximum obtainable scores 50 points as the result of the desk review, i.e. obtaining minimum 35 points, will be long listed and invited for an interview. Those offerors passing 70% threshold of maximum obtainable scores i.e. obtaining minimum 49 points as the result of the technical evaluation (desk review minimum 35 points and interview minimum 14 points) will be shortlisted and requested to provide financial proposal.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum. Payments are based upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.. All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources. 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.