UNDP Jobs - 89263- Technical Expert (Evaluator) consultant

Technical Expert (Evaluator) consultant - Mid-Term Evaluation of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) Fund

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

27-Jan-2020

Application Deadline :

09-Jan-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

up to 80 days over 7 months

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

7 months

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

Central Africa is home to the second largest tropical rainforest in the world. Forest loss is accelerating despite ongoing efforts, as government action alone has not been sufficient to establish an effective balance between the interests of the forest and of economic development. On this basis, a coalition of willing donors – the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – together with Central African partner countries – Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Gabon – have entered into a collaborative partnership to establish the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). The objective of this initiative is to recognize and preserve the value of the forests in the region to mitigate climate change, reduce poverty, and contribute to sustainable development.

CAFI’s objectives are laid out in the CAFI Declaration: “to recognize and preserve the value of the forests in the region to mitigating climate change, reducing poverty, and contributing to sustainable development.”

These objectives will be attained through the implementation of country-led, national scale REDD+ and Low Emissions Development (LED) investment frameworks that include policy reforms and measures to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation and promote sustainable development.

The CAFI Fund Terms of Reference lay out CAFI’s Theory of Change.

As the midterm of the CAFI Fund approaches, it is time to take stock. As set out in the terms of reference of the CAFI Fund, “the Executive Board will commission two independent reviews/evaluations on the overall performance of the Fund. These evaluations will take place at mid-term and at the closure of the Fund (2022) respectively. The aim of these evaluations, to be spelled out in further detail in the TORs for the evaluations, will be to study the various performance. measurements of the Fund, to confirm or to annul them, and to test the theory of the change described in the Result Fund Matrix. The mid-term evaluation will consist of specific recommendations to the Executive Board for the review of the Fund Result Matrix and its underlying theories of the change if necessary.”

Duties and Responsibilities

CLICK HERE to access the TOR (20 pages), for the full background and description of responsibilities.

Competencies

Experience working with teams
Attention to detail
Ability to manage workload with minimum supervision;
Ability to accommodate additional demands on short notice

Required Skills and Experience

Presentation of Offer

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their financial proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer:

is deemed technically responsive / compliant / acceptable (only technically responsive applications with a minimum score of 70 points/ candidates will be considered for the financial evaluation); and
has obtained the highest combined technical and financial scores

The application submission is a two-step process. Failure to comply with the submission process may result in disqualification of the application:

Step 1: Interested individual consultants must apply online and include the following documents when

submitting the application in the UNDP job shop (enter hyperlink).

Personal History Form (P11) or An updated curriculum vitae (CV)

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal

Technically qualified applicants will be instructed to submit their financial proposals using the UNDP IC Offeror’s letter template. Daily fee/rate must be expressed in US dollars. The offeror’s letter/financial proposal should be submitted separately by email to the panel/staff who will conclude the technical-financial evaluation.

A panel interview will also be conducted.

Key selection criteria

Advanced university degree in international development, climate change and forests, Environmental sciences, Social sciences or other relevant disciplines (10 pts)
Minimum 7 years of professional experience, longer professional experience is an advantage, including proven experience in developing countries; evaluation experience including using a Theory of Change approach (10 pts)
Rural development /forest governance expert (such as REDD+ policies and strategies, agriculture, sustainable forestry practices, drivers of deforestation) (30 pts)
Robust technical understanding of Central Africa forest and climate context (20 pts)
Reasonable knowledge of UN agencies, World bank and bilateral banks or partners (10 pts)
Experience forest-related gender, indigenous peoples, minorities and other socio-cultural issues is an asset (10 pts)
Language skills: Excellent writing skills in English, reading and speaking skills in French, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesise project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality project reports (10 pts)