Background

UNDP Global Mission Statement

UNDP is the UN’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build better lives. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with national counterparts on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

UNDP Afghanistan Mission Statement

UNDP supports stabilization, state-building, governance and development priorities in Afghanistan. UNDP support, in partnership with the Government, the United Nations system, the donor community and other development stakeholders, has contributed to institutional development efforts leading to positive impact on the lives of Afghan citizens. Over the years UNDP support has spanned such milestone efforts as the adoption of the Afghan National Constitution; Presidential, Parliamentary and Provincial Council Elections; institutional development through capacity-building to the legislative, the judicial and executive arms of the state, and key ministries, Government agencies and commissions at the national and subnational levels. UNDP has played a key role in the management of the Law and Order Trust Fund, which supports the Government in developing and maintaining the national police force and in efforts to stabilize the internal security environment. Major demobilization, disarmament and rehabilitation and area-based livelihoods and reconstruction programmes have taken place nationwide. UNDP Programmes in Afghanistan have benefited from the very active support of donors. UNDP Afghanistan is committed to the highest standards of transparency and accountability and works in close coordination with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN system to maximize the impact of its development efforts on the ground.

Project context

The Local Governance Project – Afghanistan (LoGo-Afghanistan), is a multi-year, multi-donor project funded by the European Union (EU), Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project which was initiated in October 2015 with the total planned budget of 31,073,867 USD. The project builds on the lessons learned from a previous project, the Afghanistan Sub-National Governance Programme (ASGP) and aims to improve service delivery by enhancing the accountability and transparency of the local government. LoGo-Afghanistan provides support to the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), 13[1] Provincial Governors Offices (PGOs) and Provincial Councils (PCs), 22[2] Provincial and District Municipalities and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in 17 provinces[3]. The intended output results are

1. Output 1: Capacities of PGOs and Provincial Councils improved for inclusive, accountable and transparent service delivery.
2. Output 2: Municipalities are able to generate more revenues and deliver improved services in a transparent, accountable and participatory manner.
3. Output 3: Civil Society and citizens have improved oversight capacity of local governance.
4. Output 4: IDLG is able to develop and implement policies to improve local government accountability and service delivery.

The LoGo project is linked to One UN Outcome 6.3: ‘More capable and inclusive provincial and municipal governments are better able to plan, monitor and budget for accountable and transparent service delivery in accordance with the Sub-National Governance Policy and National Priority Plan’[4] and UNDP Country Programme Document (CPD) Outcome 1: ‘Improved legitimate, transparent, and inclusive governance at all levels that enables progressive realization of the human rights’.

The Logo project is ending in June 2020 and final evaluation is required to obtain an external assessment of the LoGo project performance and to record lessons learned and recommendations for future local governance support in Afghanistan.

Duties and Responsibilities

SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Evaluation Scope

Final evaluation is conducted to assess the LoGo project performance against the criteria of Relevance, Effectiveness (including Impact), Sustainability and Efficiency and considering the ‘factors affecting the performance’. The evaluation is conducted to demonstrate accountability for results in line with what has been agreed with the donors and national partners. It will record lessons learnt and recommendations for UNDP’s future strategic direction, programme design and partnership building. The evaluation findings will be considered in the on-going programming efforts of the UNDP Country Office around the ‘Governance for Peace’ focus area and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Evaluation will answer the following strategic evaluation questions:

1. To what extent has LoGo lived up to donor and government counterpart expectations that it contributes to improved local governance structures? In this regard, what have been its most effective approaches and what can be learned from these? (effectiveness)

2. How has the LoGo partnerships[1] contributed to / hindered achievement of the project results? How can UNDP Afghanistan further enhance its approaches to partnerships in future planning and initiatives?  (factors affecting the performance)

3. Has LoGo been able to identify and meet the local governance needs and opportunities (considering also different citizen groups, including women and men) to deliver the project's intended results? What lessons can be drawn from the conclusion? (relevance and effectiveness, factors affecting the performance)

4. Over the project’s lifetime, has LoGo been successful in responding and adapting to changes in the political and economic environment in Afghanistan? What lessons does this hold for future GoIRA initiatives.

Keeping the above overarching evaluation questions in mind the evaluation will assess the project performance against the following criteria[2].

Relevance – The evaluation will establish to what extent LoGo was designed and implemented in line with the priorities of the national partners (as stipulated in documents such as the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework [ANPDF] and National Priority Programme [NPP] on Governance). Evaluation will assess whether the project objectives and intended results were relevant at sub-national/local level considering the needs of the provincial government partners and bodies, municipal partners, civil society and citizens (women and men) as beneficiaries. The evaluation will also include a brief analysis of the project alignment with the key UN programming priorities in Afghanistan and UNDP corporate strategies.

Effectiveness – Under effectiveness the evaluation will verify to extent possible whether the intended project activities and activity results were delivered/achieved and assess their quality. It will assess whether these contributed towards achieving the four Project Outputs as depicted in the project documentation. By utilizing suitable indicators, the evaluation will assess to what extent the intended project outputs were achieved and whether these are contributing or expected to contribute towards the intended long-term results (including impact) in line with the LoGo projects results framework(s) and Theory of Change. Throughout the analysis, the evaluation will focus on LoGo’s aim to build capacities for enhanced local governance at different levels of the governance structures and among the civil society.

Efficiency - Under the efficiency criteria the evaluation will assess to what extent the project funds were utilized in a cost-effective and timely manner and whether the scope of the project was consistent with the available resource.

Sustainability – Under the sustainability criterion the evaluation will consider whether there will be continuation of the project supported structures, mechanisms and practices at after the intervention ends. Under this criterion ‘ownership’ of different stakeholders should be considered.

Factors affecting the project performance - While assessing the LoGo project performance against the above criteria, the evaluation will identify and assess the key factors affecting the project performance. This will include consideration of the 1) project design, 2) management arrangement and practices (including adaptive management approaches and monitoring practices), 3) Gender-responsiveness and 4) partnerships. [Additional areas of analysis can be proposed during the evaluation inception stage]

Evaluation Approach and methods

The LoGo project final evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the UN Evaluation Group (UNEG) Evaluation Norms and Standards of Evaluation and Ethical Standards[1], OECD/DAC[2] evaluation principles and UNDP evaluation guideline (particularly concerning decentralized evaluation functions)[3] and Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs)[4].

The evaluation will follow a participatory approach involving key stakeholders in the different stages of the evaluation process to extent possible. All findings will be triangulated (if findings or observations are based on a single source it will be specified separately). The specific evaluation methods and analysis approaches will be defined in the evaluation inception stage, but the following approaches are a minimum requirement:

Expected Evaluation Deliverables

The following key deliverables are expected from the evaluation team:

1. Inception report — An inception report will be prepared by the evaluation team prior to the evaluation mission and other in-depth data collection activities for discussion and approval of the UNDP Country Office. It should demonstrate the evaluators’ understanding of the evaluation subject and purpose of the evaluation. The inception stage provides UNDP country office and the evaluator with an opportunity to verify that they share the same understanding about the evaluation process. The inception report will be prepared based on the initial document review and interviews with the key UNDP and project staff. The report should outline the following aspects:

   1. Initial review of the project design (including revisions)

   2. LoGo stakeholder analysis (to facilitate evaluation planning)

   3. Description of the evaluation approach

   4. Evaluation matrix, that specifies the evaluation criteria, key questions/indicators, data collection methods and analysis approach

   5. Evaluation programme/initial schedule (including an initial mission and interview plan)

   6. Evaluation content outline (revised from the TOR as need be)

2. Findings presentation — An initial findings presentation and/or briefing note will be presented to the key UNDP country office and LoGo project staff in Kabul in the end of the evaluation mission.

3. Draft evaluation report — Full draft report and annexes prepared by the Evaluation Team will be submitted to the Governance Unit for Peace Unit. UNDP Country Office staff, key project staff (project manager, advisor, M&E officer, component leads) and IDLG partner will review the draft and provide their comments (the evaluation report will be only accepted for a commenting round if it contains all the required sections as agreed in the inception stage/report and it is formatted in an acceptable manner). See also Annex 2 below for ‘Proposed evaluation report structure’.  

4. Final evaluation report — Revised report with all comments addressed submitted to the Governance for Peace Unit (all substantive comments that have not been integrated in the final evaluation report content will be presented in a table in an annex with the evaluation team responses).

   Deliverables/Outputs		Payments
   Deliverable 1: Submission and acceptance of the evaluation Inception Report (as per above specification) (10 working days)	Inception Report due 15 days after signing the contract	30%
   Deliverable 2: Submission and acceptance of initial Findings Presentation and report: Initial Findings presented on the last day of the Evaluation mission; Deliverable 3: Submission and Acceptance of Draft Final Evaluation Report: Full report with annexes; (20 working days)	Initial Findings Presentation and report to be presented on final week of the mission to Afghanistan   Due 1 week after finalizing the international consultant mission to Afghanistan (home based)	40%
   Deliverable 4: Submission and Acceptance of Final Report and Findings presentation: Revised report with a table specifying how substantive stakeholder comments have been (or have not) been addressed in the Final Evaluation Report; Expected to be completed within 1 week of receiving UNDP comments on draft. Presentation of the key findings, lessons and recommendations will be prepared to facilitate communication of the evaluation findings to the stakeholders. (5 working days)	Due 1 week after receiving the stakeholder comments	30%
   Total		100%

   Working Arrangements

   The National Consultant will work as an Evaluation Team member under the overall guidance of the Head of the Governance for Peace unit in close cooperation with the assigned Programme Officer – in close coordination with International Consultant (The Evaluation Team Leader)

   Duration of the Work

   The whole assignment is foreseen for a period of three months with maximum of 40 working days for international consultants and 35 working days for the national consultant. The below timeline includes stakeholder consultation rounds (UNDP programme and Results Unit, LoGo project staff, and key national partner will participate in the review of the evaluation deliverables).  The tentative time line for the evaluation tasks are:  

   Initial Timeframe	Activity
   Evaluation inception stage Completion in 15 calendar days after signing the contracts	National consultant Review project documentations, support in preparation of the stakeholder analysis/review and selected sections of the inception report Review and translate documents from local language to English and vice versa (as required) Support in preparation of the mission programme, engaging with the UNDP country office (and the LoGo project team) in Kabul to prepare the mission plan Set up the evaluation meetings with national partners and stakeholder
   Field data collection stage Completion in 40 calendar days after signing the contract	National consultant Support the international consultant during the evaluation missions, update the evaluation mission programme as required and liaise with the evaluation stakeholders (including the LoGo project team, national partners in Kabul and provinces as well as with other relevant stakeholders) to organize evaluation meetings Participate in the field data collection (obtaining documentation and evidence from the national partners and stakeholder as required) Participate in the evaluation interviews, support the meetings by translating the interview questions and providing accurate translation to support of the international evaluation consultant (as required). Conduct interviews (and other data collection) independently under the supervision of the Evaluation Team leader (if required). Prepare interview/survey summaries as required for the evaluation analysis purposes.
   Analysis and reporting stage Completion in 75 calendar days after signing the contracts	National consultant Work under leadership of the Evaluation Team leader and prepare selected inputs for the evaluation report Follow up on any pending inputs/comments
   Finalization of the evaluation report Completion in 85 days after signing the contracts	National consultant Contribute to the review of the written comments from the stakeholders Support in finalization of the evaluation report in cooperation with the Evaluation Team leader
   3 months

   Duty Station

   The evaluation team is supposed to work from Kabul with travels to the field. They are expected to visit UN partners and national partners in Kabul and in 3 additional project field locations (to be specified later). The evaluation team is expected to adapt data collection approaches in case travel to the planned locations in Afghanistan is not be feasible (to replace face-to-face interviews with phone interviews or other means).  
   
   Evaluation Competencies and Ethics

   The Evaluation will follow UNDP and UN Evaluation Group (UNEG)[1] guidelines on the ethical participation of beneficiaries and children. In addition, all participants in the study will be fully informed about the nature and purpose of the evaluation and their requested involvement. Only participants who have given their written or verbal consent (documented) will be included in the evaluation. Specific mechanisms for feeding back results of the evaluation to stakeholders will be included in the elaborated methodology. All the documents, including data collection, entry and analysis tools, and all the data developed or collected for this consultancy are the intellectual property of UNDP-Afghanistan and project Intellectual Property. The Evaluation team members may not publish or disseminate the Evaluation Report, data collection tools, collected data or any other documents produced from this consultancy without the express permission of and acknowledgement of UNDP. The evaluation will consider gender equality throughout the evaluation process.

   Management of the Evaluation

   The national evaluation consultant will be responsible that the evaluation work is conducted according to the highest professional standards. The evaluation consultant reports to the designated Programme Officer within the Governance for Peace Unit.  

Competencies

Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Maturity combined with tact and diplomacy;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

Special skills requirements:

• Shows ability to communicate and to exercise advocacy skills in front of a diverse set of audience
• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues in a multi-cultural and multiethnic environment;
• Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
• Ability to work independently with strong sense of initiative, discipline and self-motivation.
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Required Skills and Experience

REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in political science, sociology, international relations, international economics, law, public administration, social science, evaluation, from an accredited university.
• SSAFE Certification will be an advantage

Experience:

• At least 7 years of working experience in project/programme evaluation and social research
• Proven track-records in evaluating projects/ programmes or conducting research/studies;
• Good understanding of evaluation and research methods with strong analytical skills,
• Work experience related to governance, preferably in local governance level;

Language

• Fluency in written and spoken English, Dari/Pashto is a requirement.

           A.PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.  The consultant shall then submit a price proposal when requested by UNDP, in accordance with the below:

1. Daily Fee – The contractor shall propose a daily fee, which should be inclusive of her/his professional fee, local communication cost and insurance (inclusive of medical health insurance and evacuation). The number of working days for which the daily fee shall be payable under the contract is 35 working days.

2. The total professional fee shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment linked with deliverables and at the end of assignment. Payments will be made at the end of the assignment.

UNDP reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or there is a failure to meet agreed-to deadlines

            B.Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Individual consultant will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Offering the lowest price/cost and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

* Technical Criteria weight 70%

* Financial Criteria weight 30%

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

1. Criteria 1:Technical Proposal: Brief methodology and work plan on how the work will be completed (please see mandatory question on jobs site for inputting response) – 15 points.
2. Criteria 2: Level of proven experience of formulation of projects with UNDP; knowledge of project/programme management for local governance project. – 20 points
3. Criteria 3: Strong project formulation, analytical and research skills. – 20 points
4. Criteria 4: Experience working with the UN and with multi-stakeholders: governments, NGOs, the UN/ multilateral/bilateral institutions and donor entities; - 15 points

Financial Evaluation (30%):

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested national Consultant must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document:

• 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.
• Technical Proposal (can be attached with CV or response can be provided to mandatory question on jobs site):
  • Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
  • A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment and work plan as indicated above.

All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNDP Afghanistan.  UNDP Afghanistan will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

• Annex 1 - IC Contract Template (for information);
• Annex 2 -  Financial Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (to be completed at later stage upon request by UNDP);
• Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions (for information);
• Annex 4 – RLA Template (if consultant wishes to be recruited through an employer) - (for information).

Reference of above:

[1] Bamyan, Daikundi, Helmand, Kabul, Kapisa, Khost, Kunduz, Nimroz, Paktia, Paktika, Panjshir, Sar-e-Pul, and Uruzgan

[2] Aqcha, Balkh, Bamyan, Bazarak, Guzara, Hese Awal-e-Kohistan, Injil, Khost, Khulm, Kuhsaan (was replaced with Nijrab), Kunduz, Mahmood Raqi, Nili, Panjwayee, Qarabagh, Sharana/Paktika, Shirkhan Bandar, Spin Boldak, Surkhrood, Turghondi, Turkham, Zaranj

[3] Kapisa, Panjsher, Khost, Paktia, Balkh, Herat, Bamyan, Daikundi, Nangarhar, Kabul, Kunduz, Helmand, Nimroz, Urozgan, Paktika and Sar-e-Pol

[4] Realigned during the 2018 project revision

[5] Partnerships include explicit and implicit relations with the GoIRA, donors, UN agencies, CSOs, community groups, governance counterparts at provincial, district, and community levels

[6] Alignment with UN Evaluation Group guidelines, UNDP evaluation policy and guidelines need to be ensured

[7] http://www.uneval.org/

[8] The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD’s) Development Assistance Committee (DAC): https://www.oecd.org/dac/evaluation/daccriteriaforevaluatingdevelopmentassistance.htm

[9] http://web.undp.org/evaluation/guidance.shtml#handbook

[10] https://intranet.undp.org.af/Final%20SOPs%202017/SOPs%20Final/SOP%20UNDP%20AFG%20Programme%20(final)%2020180930_rev2.pdf

[11] http://www.uneval.org/

Note: Incomplete application will result in automatic disqualification of candidate.  
Additional Questions: Please prepare a brief methodology and workplan as to how you will approach and complete the assignment (maximum 1000 words)