Background

Namibia is an Upper Middle-Income Country (UMIC), with a Gross Domestic product (GDP) per capita of USD$ 12.37 billion[1]. Namibia is a constitutional multi-party democracy and features amongst the top 10 most peaceful countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. After experiencing average annual growth of 4.4% between 1991 and 2015, Namibia’s economy fell into recession in 2016 and has since struggled to recover. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is set to have an unprecedented impact on Namibia’s economy and has exacerbated preexisting structural challenges. Real GDP contracted by 7.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) over Q1-Q3 2020. The mining sector, which is an important earner of foreign exchange, declined by 12.2% y-o-y. This was a result of domestic factors and falling global demand (especially diamonds). On the back of local and foreign travel restrictions, the hospitality industry recorded a large contraction of 46.5% y-o-y. Overall, the GDP contracted by 7.3% in 2020[2]. The Human Development Index for Namibia is rated at 0.646, which is above the average for countries in the medium human development group (0.631) and above the average of 0.523 for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Namibia ranks 5th out of 54 African Countries on the 2016 Mo Ibrahim Index of African governance. With a Gini Index of 56[3], Namibia is considered one of the most unequal countries in the world. Due to inequalities in human development, Namibia’s Human Development Index is revised downward from 0.645 to 0.417, with education, health, and income contributing 25%, 22% and 53.6% to the loss, respectively. With regards to unemployment, UNECA estimates an increase between 0.75 (best-case) and 1.4 (worst-case) percentage points in unemployment, bringing it up from 33.4% to 34.2% and 34.5%, correspondingly[4].

The Transparency International Perception Corruption Index of 2017 ranks Namibia as the fifth least corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa. In terms of press freedom, Namibia ranks 1st according to the 2016 World Index. Despite such a strong foundation, Namibia faces several persistent development challenges. It remains one of the most unequal nations in the world, with a Gini coefficient of 0.591. Gender inequality is also high as Namibia ranks 106th out of 159 countries with a Gender Inequality Index value of 0.440. As compared to other Upper-Middle Income Country (UMICs), it has the lowest percentage (55%) of its population with access to improved sanitation facilities and only 48% (mainly urban) with access to electricity[5].

The robust economic growth experienced since independence has neither led to adequate job creation nor has it been inclusive. Resultantly, there has been growing unemployment which is currently at 33.4%, with the youth occupying a share of 43.3%, 38% for women and 29.8% for men  respectively. In addition, poverty rate or the population of people living under the poverty line is clustered around 17.4% and a literacy rate of 88.9%. According to the NSA, 43.3% of the total population in Namibia are living in multidimensional poverty[1]. Worse off the disabled persons unemployment is 39%. Unemployment is also highest in rural areas at 39.2% compared to 30.3% in urban areas[2].[3]. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated unemployment, as many staff in tourism industry are losing their jobs, affecting youth disproportionally, with youth demanding government action for creation of jobs.

 

 

 

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Gathering and reviewing of relevant documents.
  • Provide inputs to the team leader in designing the MTE including methodologies and data collection instruments.
  • Development of thematic/outcome papers contributing to the larger mid-term evaluation.
  • Conduct interviews with the selected respondents, partners, and stakeholders.
  • Facilitate stakeholders’ discussions and focus groups to collect, collate and synthesize information (virtually).
  • Analyze the data and support the Team Leader in preparing a draft report.
  • Assist the Team Leader in finalizing the report and sharing it with stakeholders

Competencies

 

  • Experience of working with development programmes with focus on governance, environment, Sustainable Development Goals, poverty, gender equality and related cross-cutting development issues
  • Strong knowledge of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods
  • Knowledge of national political, cultural, and economic contexts
  • Excellent inter-personal, teamwork and communication skills.
  • Experience of conducting stakeholder interviews and collecting data
  • Experience and knowledge of gender sensitive research or monitoring, evaluation and analysis
  • Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender-mainstreaming
  • Excellent reading and writing skills in English, and preferably also two or more local languages.
  • Experience in implementing evaluations remotely.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • At least Master’s degrees in environmental management, development studies, evaluation theory or a related field with working experience of minimum five years in development sector, including on gender equality and social inclusion.

Experiences:

  • Minimum 5 years demonstrated experience of evaluating development project and programme, monitoring or social research with international organizations. Experience with UN/ UNDP is desirable.
  • Experience of working with development programmes with focus on governance, environment, Sustainable Development Goals, poverty, gender equality and related cross-cutting development issues
  • Strong knowledge of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods
  • Knowledge of national political, cultural, and economic contexts
  • Excellent inter-personal, teamwork and communication skills.
  • Experience of conducting stakeholder interviews and collecting data
  • Experience and knowledge of gender sensitive research or monitoring, evaluation and analysis
  • Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender-mainstreaming
  • Excellent reading and writing skills in English, and preferably also two or more local languages.
  • Experience in implementing evaluations remotely.

Language Proficiency:

  • English excellent
  • Able to demonstrate communication in writing, speaking, reading and synthesize information.

How to apply:

To apply please access UNDP Jobs site http://jobs.undp.org.

Recommended Presentation of Offer;

  • Completed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
  • Personal CV or a P11 Personal History 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;
  • Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment (max 1 page).
  • Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (based on the number of working days mentioned ToR.

Note:

  • Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows uploading maximum one document.
  • Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply;
  • Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

Incomplete applications will be excluded from further consideration.

To download the full Terms of Reference (TOR), P11 History Form and The Financial Proposal Template,  please access the UNDP Procurement Notice site on the below link: UNDP | Procurement Notices - 83207 - Consultant to conduct a Country