Background

a) The project rationale / background and the objectives of the project
The tropical storms and heavy monsoon rains that hit Lao PDR during the months of July and August 2018 caused immense destruction throughout the country. The subsequent floods and landslides had devastating impacts on different sectors, while the shelter sector was most severely damaged, affecting over 110,000 households (Government of Lao PDR: 2019).
For instance, data collected during the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), conducted by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the World Bank, indicates that 1,620 houses were destroyed and 681 were partially damaged in 31 districts across 11 provinces. In particular, in Attapeu province, six villages were completely destroyed by the flash floods due to the collapse of an auxiliary dam, which displaced an estimated 6,000 people to neighboring villages and temporary shelters. Oudomxay province also experienced severe landslides that destroyed hundreds of houses, livelihood opportunities and displaced people to temporary shelters.
In March 2019, UN-Habitat signed the Grant Agreement with the Government of Japan who contributed US $2.2 million to rehabilitate and reconstruct the housing sector in the most affected areas. UN-Habitat subsequently signed two Agreement of Cooperation (AOCs) with respective implementing partners and, following more a year of implementation, the handover ceremony was successfully held in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, in November 2020. Meanwhile, the project in Pakbeng district in Oudomxay has witnessed a steady progress towards completion (as of late December 2020).
In light of the above, the objective of the project is to provide critical support and technical expertise to rebuild safer shelters and settlements in most affected provinces, with particular emphasis on the communities in Attapeu which were affected by the collapse of an auxiliary dam. The rehabilitation and reconstruction of houses and basic infrastructure have been achieved based on the extent of damages to the structures and Building Back Better (BBB) principles to withstand the recurring shocks and to instill climate resilience into future construction.

b) The context of the required services
The evaluation is conducted at the request of UN-Habitat and is part of the organisational effort to perform systematic and timely evaluation of all projects and to ensure that they are alighted with the organisational mandates, goals and activities. It is also in line with the UN-Habitat Evaluation Policy and the Revised UN-Habitat Evaluation Framework which require that a project of US$1 million and above should have an end of project evaluation.
The evaluation will synthesize achievements, results and lessons learned from the project. The results will contribute to UN-Habitat’s planning, reporting and accountability, while the sharing of findings from this evaluation will inform UN-Habitat and key stakeholders, including government bodies, donors, Civil Society partners, and Member States, on what was achieved and learned from the project.

c) The relevance/purpose of the work required and how it is linked to the project context
UN-Habitat is undertaking this evaluation of the project, “Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Housing Sector in Floods Affected Areas of Lao PDR” in order to assess the project performance and the extent to which the objectives and expected accomplishments are achieved. Therefore the purposes are to: 1) assess the design, implementation and achievement of results at the end of the project, which will entail analysis of actual versus expected results achieved by UN-Habitat; 2) assess value-for-money, visibility and performance of the project in terms of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and impact outlook; and 3) identify lessons learned and provide recommendations for improving the quality of relevant projects in the future.

d) The stakeholders for the project
It is expected that this evaluation will be participatory, involving key stakeholders. Stakeholders will be kept informed of the evaluation process including design, information/data collection, and evaluation reporting and results dissemination to create a positive attitude for the evaluation and enhance its utilization. UN-Habitat and relevant entities, including the Government of Japan represented by the Embassy of Japan in Lao PDR, the Government of Lao PDR, beneficiary communities may participate through a questionnaire, interviews or focus group discussions as required. Details are identified in Section E.

Duties and Responsibilities

This position advertised is for an international consultant. The international consultant will be primarily responsible for preparation of inception report, evaluation report, final report and other relevant reports at the request of UN-Habitat. S/he will also work closely with a national consultant who will be responsible for data collection and validation by conducting key informant interviews, surveys, field missions to the project sites and convening stakeholder consultations, as deemed necessary.

a) The results that the international consultant should achieve, and the major tasks expected to be undertaken
The evaluation shall be independent and carried out following the evaluation norms and standards of the United Nations System and best practices in the evaluation field. A variety of methods will be applied to collect information during the evaluation, including:
1) Review of documents relevant to the project. Documents to be provided by UN-Habitat and relevant partners (such documentation shall be identified and obtained by the evaluator), including, for example:
• Original project document;
• Project Quarterly Reports;
• Strategic plans, as deemed relevant, such as Habitat Country Programme Document and other relevant UN-Habitat policy documents

2) Key informant interviews and consultations, including focus group discussions with key stakeholders and partners. The international consultant will work closely with a national consultant who will be responsible for conducting interviews. The principles for selection of stakeholders to be interviewed as well as evaluation of their performance shall be clarified in the inception report at the beginning of the evaluation.

3) Surveys. In order to obtain quantitative information on stakeholders’ views, questionnaires to different target audiences will be deployed, where possible, to provide their views on the project. The international consultant will work closely with a national consultant who will be responsible for conducting surveys.

4) Field visits. The international consultant will work closely with a national consultant who will visit the areas of housing construction to observe and assess the project delivery.
The evaluation will be evidenced-based and is to assess as objectively as possible the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact outlook of the project. These will be rated based on the performance characteristics used by UN-Habitat based on the OECD/DAC evaluation guidelines (See Annex 1). Presentation of the evaluation findings should follow the standard format of UN-Habitat Evaluation Reports (See Annex 3). For detailed guidance UN-Habitat’s Evaluation Policy, Evaluation Guidelines and previous evaluations are to be consulted1

b) The required activities (scope, location, subjects, etc.) and other information that will help prospective Offerors understand the nature of the work
As illustrated above
c) Any literature/data/information/policy framework already on hand that and may be made available by UNDP to the Individual Contractor as reference/input to the activity.
Please see Annexes for UN-Habitat specific guidelines for evaluation on the TOR

Competencies

Special skills / experience and other qualifications which will prove to be advantageous and vital to the success of the work implementation, especially if the assignment’s setting/situation is unique or has peculiarities (e.g., experience in working with indigenous people, familiarity with the key issues confronting a certain region, understanding of and ability to relate with a specific culture/religion, knowledge of a local dialect, etc.)
Knowledge of Lao PDR, including the language, culture and work experience, is a strong asset

Required Skills and Experience

a) The area of specialization, field of expertise, and other qualities of the ideal individual to perform the services/work satisfactorily
• Excellent writing and analytical skills in drafting concept notes and various reports
• Knowledge of computer applications such as MS Words, Excel and data base management
• Experience working within the development agencies and/or government institutions
• Experience working on climate change and disaster-risk management issues is highly desirable
• Experience and familiarity with community infrastructure and rehabilitation is desirable
• Knowledge of UN agency or similar internationally funded projects is a strong asset
b) The minimum level of education acceptable and the fields of studies preferred, if any
A Master’s degree in social science preferably in development studies, climate change-related studies, economics or management; academic degree in engineering or architecture would be an added advantage; a degree in similar fields in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
c) The minimum number of years of work experience on the preferred field of practice, if there is any preference
At least seven (7) years of experience

How to apply

a) Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
b) Personal CV or P11 Form  , 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;
c) Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but may be omitted for support services [Note: this is optional for support services];
d) Financial Proposal OFFEROR’S LETTER that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an 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 Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

Instructions for on-line submissions:

Step 1 : Please prepare all required documents electronically

Step 2 : Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF, but WORD format can be also accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs Link

Step 3: After that you will receive an Auto Reply from the UNDP Jobs if your offer is received sucessfully

For more information, please visit our website https://www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/jobs.html