UNDP Bangladesh has been supporting the Government of Bangladesh to find innovative solutions to its development challenges and to build the capacity of national institutions to implement policy reforms. In the area of human rights, UNDP has been supporting Bangladesh government for nearly a decade in terms of strengthening the Human Rights architectures. UNDP undertook human rights related programming primarily for the five years through the Bangladesh National Human Rights Commission Capacity Development Project (BNHRC-CDP) which ended in December 2015. Based on the successes of BNHRC-CDP, inter alia helping to professionalize the work of the NHRC through institution building; supporting steady progress in complaints handling; investigation and mediation; developing extensive media contacts for the Commission; and helping to produce a wide range of research studies and policy papers on key human rights issues, UNDP continued its efforts and  designed the Human Rights Programme (2016-2020).

The Human Rights Programme was designed to operate with a wider group of human rights stake holders including law enforcement agencies, public universities, community radios, Bangladesh Betar, youths, HRDs,  CSOs and CBOs in addition to the NHRC to foster human rights work at all levels and promote a   cohesive human rights dialogue in Bangladesh. The Human Rights Programme has been building the capacity of existing human rights architectures in Bangladesh with a particular focus on working with vulnerable and marginalised groups, including women and girls, children and young people, ethnic and religious minorities, people with disabilities, Dalit and other minorities. It has been building gender equality initiatives, strengthening civil society activities for women and girls and building the position of the NHRC as an important partner for gender equality within Bangladesh. The development objective of HRP is to develop and implement improved social policies and programmes that focus on good governance, reduction of structural inequalities and advancement of vulnerable individuals and groups.

Based on the five outputs, such as strengthened capacity of the NHRC to deliver on its mandate; enhanced capacity of civil society and community-based organisations to engage in human rights advocacy and awareness raising; enhanced capacity of law enforcement agencies, in particular police, on human rights issues; strengthened capacity of national stakeholders to better protect and promote women’s rights; and strengthened capacity of national stakeholders to better protect and promote the rights of ethnic minorities, the programme has sought to expand on rights-based advocacy, looking at developing the NHRC’s role in engaging with Government on human rights. The total allocation of resource for HRP is USD 10,597,570 which has been mobilized through DANIDA, SIDA, SDC and UNDP.

While currently the Project is running at ultimate stage of the project tenure and achieved several key results as planned in the project document the first 18 months’ Inception phase review was completed and the report has also been submitted to the donors. The inception phase assessment of the programme concluded that, all the components of the programme continued to be relevant for strengthening human rights architectures in Bangladesh and it continued to require UNDP and/or international support to carry forward the ongoing human rights advocacy in Bangladesh.

In order to assess the level of understanding, awareness, perception, attitudes and behaviour of public including women, ethnic minority people, youth, school students and other specific target groups (disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, age), on key issues of Human Rights and National Human Rights Commission’s existence and roles in Bangladesh particularly in Project areas and NHRC working areas and to assess results focusing on outcomes and impacts of targeted human rights education and awareness raising initiatives by the NHRC with support of UNDP  and provide strategic recommendations, the HRP has conducted a perception survey. The programme will be also evaluated at the end of the tenure.

Purpose:

The purpose of the final evaluation is to assess achievements to date, document lessons learned, and propose ways forward to UNDP and its partners to develop future human rights and justice programme (HRJP) in Bangladesh.

Timing:

The final project evaluation is proposed to be conducted tentatively in June, July and August 2020 as the HRP is scheduled to end on 31 December 2020.  The timing of this evaluation is in line with the project’s evaluation plan, which has foreseen that the project undertakes a final project evaluation before the end of the project. The timing is also meant to ensure that the evaluation results will be key inputs for UNDP and its partners in developing a next phase of human rights and justice programme and making informed decisions.

Utilization:

The primary users of the evaluation results will be UNDP and the NHRC, but the evaluation results will equally be useful to other relevant GoB ministries, development partners and donors so on.

In addition, the evaluation aims at critically reviewing and identifying what has worked well in the project, what challenges have been faced, what lessons can be learned to improve future HRJP programming. The evaluation will also generate knowledge for wider uses, assess the scope for scaling up the current programme, and serve as a quality assurance tool for both upward and downward accountability. UNDP will take in consideration all useful findings, conclusions and recommendations from the evaluation, prepare a systematic management response for each recommendation, and implement follow-up actions as per UNDP Evaluation Resource Center guidance/policies.  

In the view of the above, UNDP is seeking for one international consultant to conduct the final evaluation of HRP. The evaluation will work under the overall supervision of and day to day collaboration with the CTA, HRP.

Objectives of the Assignment:

The final evaluation will focus on measuring development results generated by the HRP, based on the scope and criteria included in this term of reference. The unit of analysis or object of study for this evaluation is the HRP, understood to be the set of components, outcomes, outputs, activities and inputs which are described in the HRP Project document and M&E Framework.

The objectives of this evaluation are to:

• Assess to what extent the HRP has contributed to address the needs and problems identified during programme design;
• Assess how adequately the HRP has achieved its stated development objective and purpose;
• Measure how effectively and efficiently the HRP outcomes and outputs have progressed in attaining the development objective and purpose of the project;
• Assess both negative and positive factors that have facilitated or hampered progress in achieving the project outcomes, including external factors/environment, weakness in design, management and resource allocation;
• Identify and document substantive lessons learned, good practices and also opportunities for scaling up the future Human Rights and Justice Project (HRJP) in Bangladesh;
• Provide forward looking programmatic recommendations for UNDP support to the NHRC and justice system in Bangladesh;

The evaluation will focus on four key evaluation criteria: relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and potential sustainability. The evaluation should provide credible, useful, evidence-based information which enables timely incorporation of its findings, recommendations and lessons into decision making processes of UNDP and key stakeholders as well as assess the potential of the next phase of the project. The evaluation will cover the time span from 28 April 2016 (the beginning of the HRP) to date.

In order to meet the above objectives of the evaluation, the International Team Leader will work together with a national consultant throughout the assignment.

Scope of work: 

The scope of work for the International Team Leader of this evaluation will include but not be limited to:

• Lead the development and finalization of the inception report that will include elaboration of how each evaluation question will be answered along with proposed methods, proposed sources of data, and data collection and analysis procedures;
• Lead the designing of tools and data collection;
• Lead the data collection, analysis and interpretation;
• Lead the development of the draft evaluation report;
• Lead and finalize the evaluation report;
• Lead the presentation of initial findings and de-brief;
• Lead the evaluation team in planning, execution and reporting, inception workshop, kick-off and feedback meeting, debriefings;
• Oversee the division of labor within the review team to ensure compliance with the Final Evaluation TOR; and
• Utilize best practice evaluation methodologies;

Evaluation Questions:         

The evaluation questions define the information that must be generated as a result of the evaluation process. The answers will provide key basis to the intended users of the evaluation in making informed decisions, taking actions or adding knowledge.  Some of the tentative questions can be as follows:

Relevance: The extent to which the objective, purpose and outcomes of the intervention are consistent with the needs and interest of the people and the needs of the country.

1. To what extent was the HRP design relevant in helping the NHRC, LEAs, CSOs and other key stakeholders to better protect the human rights of all people in Bangladesh? 
2. To what extent was the design and strategy of the HRP relevant with national priorities, UN priorities, NHRC Strategic Plan in Bangladesh?
3. To what extent was the design and strategy of the HRP aligned with CPD (2017-2020) and UNDAF (2017-2020)?
4. To what extent was the theory of change applied in the HRP relevant to serve the needs of the country?  
5. To what extent did the HRP align itself with the National Development Strategies and/or the UNDAF Bangladesh?

Effectiveness: Extent to which the outcomes of the development intervention have been achieved

• To what extent has the project achieved the objectives and targets of the results framework in the Project Document? (see annex 1: result framework)
• Compared to 2015, to what extent does the NHRC, LEAs, CSOs and other key stakeholders now better serve and protect the human rights of all people in Bangladesh? To what extent are any changes linked to HRP interventions? 
• What factors contributed to the achievement or non-achievement of the HRP outcomes and outputs?  
• To what extent and in what ways has ownership - or the lack of it - by the implementing partner impacted on the effectiveness of the HRP?
• To what extent and in what ways did the 18 months inception survey recommendations contribute to the HRP’s achievement of development results?

Efficiency: Extent to which resources/inputs (funds, time, human resources, etc.) have been turned into results.

• To what extent were the HRP outputs delivered in time to ensure high quality?
• To what extent has HRP ensured value for money?
• To what extent and in what ways has ownership - or the lack of it - by the implementing partner impacted on the efficiency of the HRP?
• To what extent was there any identified synergy between UNDP initiatives/projects that contributed to reducing costs while supporting results?
• To what extent did project M&E systems provide management with a stream of data that allowed it to learn and adjust implementation accordingly?

Sustainability: Probability of the benefits of the intervention continuing in the long term

• To what extent will the HRP achievements be sustained? What are the indicators of sustainability for these achievements, e.g., through requisite capacities (systems, structures, staff, etc.)?  What are the challenges and opportunities?
• To what extent are policy and regulatory frameworks in place that will support the continuation of HRP?
• To what extent are the institutional mechanisms in place to sustain impacts of HRP’s
• • To what extent have development partners committed to providing continuing support?

Evaluation of Cross-Cutting Issues:

Human rights and gender aspects will be considered well in evaluation questions as well the evaluation process. Gender analysis, including gender disaggregated data need to be incorporated in the evaluation.

Human Rights:

• To what extent has NHRC’s institutional capacity been strengthened to deliver its mandates from the interventions of HRP?
• To what extent have CSOs/CBOs/CSO Coalitions’ capacity been strengthened in awareness raising and promoting human rights from the interventions of HRP?
• To what extent have Law Enforcing Agencies/police capacity been strengthened in upholding and promoting human rights from the interventions of HRP?
• To what extent have NHRC and national stakeholders’ capacity been strengthened in promoting and protecting the rights of ethnic minorities/indigenous peoples, from the interventions of HRP?
• To what extent have poor, indigenous/ethnic minorities, excluded groups and PWDs, women, children, youths and other marginalized and disadvantaged groups benefitted from the interventions of HRP?

Women Rights & Gender Equality:

• To what extent have NHRC and other national stakeholders’ capacity been strengthened in better promoting and protecting women’s rights from the interventions of HRP?
• To what extent have gender equality and the empowerment of women been addressed in the design, implementation and monitoring of the project?
• Is there gender marker data assigned to this project representative of reality?
• To what extent has the project promoted positive changes in gender equality and the empowerment of women? Were there any unintended effects?

Way forward

• Have any good practices, success stories, lessons learned, or transferable examples been identified? Please describe and document them.
• Based on the achievements to the date, provide forward looking programmatic recommendations for UNDP support to the NHRC, LEAs, CSOs and other key stakeholders. What could be the potential programmatic modality and focus as a strategic way forward after the current project end date?

Methodology    

The evaluation team is expected to propose and determine a sound evaluation design and methodology (including detailed methodology to answer each evaluation question) and submit it to UNDP in the inception report following a review of all key relevant documents and meetings with representatives of UNDP, HRP and NHRC. However, it is suggested that the evaluation should use a mixed method approach – collecting and analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data using multiple sources in order to draw valid and evidence-based findings and conclusions and practical recommendations. The evaluation team is expected not only to conduct specific surveys to collect quantitative data but also is highly encouraged to review all relevant reports providing quantitative data collected by HRP, UNDP, NHRC, Government or other agencies. However, final decisions about the specific design and methods for the evaluation will be made through consultation among the  HRP, UNDP,  the consultants and key stakeholders  about what is appropriate and feasible to meet the evaluation purpose and objectives as well as answer the evaluation questions, given limitations of budget, time and data.

Methods to be used by the evaluation team to collect and analyze the required data shall include but not limited to:

• Desk Review: This should include a review of inter alia
• Project document
• Result Framework/M&E Framework
• Project Quality Assurance Report
• Annual Work Plans
• Annual Reports
• Highlights of Project Board meetings
• Inception phase survey report
• Database
• Studies relating to the country context and situation

• Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders including NHRC, development partners, CSOs, youths, HRDs so on:

• Development of evaluation questions around relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability and designed for different stakeholders to be interviewed

• Focus group discussions and Key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders/rights holders/duty bearers from government agencies, donors, UN Agencies, grass roots and national level civil society organizations, indigenous peoples ‘organizations,  indigenous/ethnic minorities, excluded groups and PWDs, women, children, youths and other marginalized and disadvantaged groups , beneficiaries, both at national and local levels.
• All interviews should be undertaken in full confidence and anonymity. The final evaluation report should not assign specific comments of individuals

• Surveys and questionnaires involving stakeholders and beneficiaries at strategic and programmatic level

• Field visits/observation to selected project sites and validation of the key tangible outputs and interventions
• Analysis of HRP’s budgets and expenditure generated from Atlas.
• Analysis and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data available from various credible sources. 
• Data review and analysis of monitoring and other data sources and methods: ensure maximum validity, reliability of data (quality) and promote use; the evaluation team will ensure triangulation of the various data sources

The final methodological approach including interview schedule, field visits and data to be used in the evaluation should be clearly outlined in the inception report and fully discussed and agreed between UNDP, stakeholders and the consultants.

Expected Deliverables

The International Team Leader will be responsible for ensuring the following outputs/deliverables to UNDP Bangladesh as per the agreed work plan:

1. Inception Report:

The consultant(s) will commence the evaluation process with a desk review and preliminary analysis of the available information provided by UNDP. Based on the ToR, initial meetings with the UNDP and the desk review, the consultants should develop an inception report which will be around 15 pages in length and will elaborate evaluation methodologies, including how each evaluation question will be answered along with proposed methods, proposed sources of data, and data collection and analysis procedures. The inception report will include the evaluation matrix using the template provided in Annex 2 and will also include a proposed timeline of activities and submission of deliverables. UNDP and NHRC will review the inception report and provide useful comments for improvement. This report will serve as an initial point of agreement and understanding between the evaluation team and UNDP/NHRC;

2. Draft Evaluation Report:

The evaluation report will contain the same sections as the final report and shall follow the structure outlined in Annex 3/Evaluation Report Template and Quality Standards of UNDP Evaluation Guideline (2019). The draft report will be reviewed by the HRP, NHRC and UNDP. The draft report will ensure that each evaluation question is answered with in-depth analysis of information and back up the arguments with credible quantitative and/or qualitative evidences.

3. Presentation/Debriefing/Audit Trial:

A meeting will be organized with key stakeholders including UNDP and NHRC to present findings, conclusions and recommendations.

4. Final Evaluation Report:

The final report will incorporate comments and feedbacks from the stakeholders including the feedback provided during the Presentation/Debriefing meeting. Other relevant documents (i.e. data collection tools, questionnaires, datasets, if any) need to be submitted as well.

Evaluation Brief:

A concise summary of the evaluation report will include findings, conclusions and recommendations using plain language targeting wider audience. This concise summary will be not more than 4 pages.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultants must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

The expected outputs, deliverables and payment schedule is as follows:

Implementation Arrangement, Supervision and Performance Evaluation:

This evaluation is commissioned by UNDP Bangladesh. Democratic Governance Cluster (DG Cluster) , UNDP Country Office will be responsible for initiating, coordinating and managing the evaluation throughout the entire process and HRP will provide necessary support in logistic and operational aspects. The International Team Leader will work under the overall supervision of the head of DG Cluster, UNDP. The International Team Leader will lead the evaluation mission together with a National Consultant. The consultant will report to and work under supervision of the head of DG Cluster and (s)he will serve as a primary contact person for day to day issues on the assignment.

Travel:

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel/in-country mission. In general, UNDP should 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 the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards (human rights, tolerance, integrity, respect, and impartiality);
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude ;
• Strong interpersonal and written and oral communication skills;
• Strong analytical skills and strong ability to communicate and summarize this analysis in writing
• Has ability to work both independently and in a team, and ability to deliver high quality work on tight timelines.

Skills:

• Strong leadership and planning skills
• Excellent written and presentation skills (English)
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to work in the multi-cultural team environment and to deliver under pressure/meet deadlines
• Ability to network with partners on various levels
• The necessary computer skills with competence in MS office package

Duty Station - The duty station will be Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Academic Qualifications:

• A masters’ degree or equivalent (Ph. D. an asset) in human rights, international relations, social sciences, political economy or other relevant fields.

Experience:

• At least 15 years of working experience in the field of democratic governance along with 10 years focused experience in conducting evaluations or assessment of large-scale policies and programs in human rights and justice funded by government, UN and/or donors.
• Past experience as a team leader for similar assignments.
• Possess strong analytical and writing skills, with the ability to conceptualize, articulate, write and debate about governance issues. 
• Experience in implementing a range of qualitative and quantitative data collection tools and methods in project evaluation.  
• Knowledge of current issues and innovation in results-oriented monitoring, including trends, principles and methodology.
• Good knowledge of UN and/or UNDP’s mandate and socio-political context and human rights situation in the region.
• Advanced level of proficiency in both written and spoken English. 

Evaluation :

The evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation’.The consultant must safeguard the rights and confidentiality of information providers, interviewees and stakeholders through measures to ensure compliance with legal and other relevant codes governing collection of data and reporting on data. The consultant must also ensure security of collected information before and after the evaluation and protocols to ensure anonymity and confidentiality of sources of information where that is expected. The information knowledge and data gathered in the evaluation process must also be solely used for the evaluation and not for other uses with the express authorization of UNDP and partners.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation for International Consultant (Maximum 70 points)

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

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks)

All technical qualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below. The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals received points according to the following formula:

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 individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Proposers who shall not submit below mentioned documents will not be considered for further evaluation.

• 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; P11 can be downloaded from the link below: http://www.bd.undp.org/content/bangladesh/en/home/operations/jobs/
• Confirmation of Interest and Availability: Interest and Availability to perform the task and Financial Proposal must be submitted through a standard template as attached in Annexure I
• http://www.bd.undp.org/content/dam/bangladesh/docs/Jobs/Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal-Template%20for%20Confirmation.docx
• Technical Proposal including:
  • Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment and a methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
  • A brief description of approach to work/work plan on how he/she will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial Proposal: As per template provided in Annex II

• Statement of Good Health by the Consultant

How to Apply:

• Kindly download the Letter of Confirmation of interest and availability, Financial Proposal Template and General Terms & Conditions mentioned below;
• Read and agree to the General Terms & Conditions;
• Click the ‘apply’ icon and complete what is required;

Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.