Historique

The UN system in Uzbekistan is entering the final stage of implementation of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) cycle which covers the period of 2016-2020. The current UNDAF is the result of a consultative process to analyse how the United Nations (UN) can most effectively respond to Uzbekistan’s national priorities and needs and draws on the full range of knowledge and resources of the United Nations system to deliver development results.

Being the strategic programme framework the UNDAF represents a joint commitment by the Government of Uzbekistan and the UN System to work together and a shared intention to promote progress in human development of all people living in the country, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, and is linked to Uzbekistan’s obligations under its ratification of various international human rights instruments. The UNDAF 2016-2020 has become the central planning document of the UN system in the country, while its implementation architecture is expected to advance UN system cooperation towards Delivering as One in the country.

Through an intensive consultation process with the Government and key national stakeholders, eight UNDAF Outcomes in four strategic focus areas that respond to national needs and make use of United Nations’ comparative advantages have been selected. The focus areas were identified through an intensive consultation process with the Government and other implementing national partners, and include (i) Inclusive economic development, with a focus on employment and social protection; (ii) Quality health and education, to fully realize human potential; (iii) Environmental protection, to ensure sustainable development; and (iv) Effective governance, to enhance public service delivery and the protection of rights.

The UNDAF is fully aligned with Sustainable Development Goals and national development priorities. It does largely correspond to the Government’s Actions Strategy for 2017-2021 that was adopted by the Government in February 2017, on the second year of the UNDAF implementation.

The UNDAF is operationalized through Joint Work Plans (JWPs) that define output-level results and contribution of United Nations Agencies to overall UNDAF Outcomes and, hence, to national priorities. The joint work plans have been developed for each Outcome area consecutively, starting with the biennial workplans for 2016-2017 and followed by the roll-out JWPs for 2018-2020.  

Refinements and adjustments to the UNDAF are made in discussion with the Government and national partners, based on UNDAF annual reviews and taking into account changes in the country context and progress of the UN system programmes. The UNDAF annual reviews help ensure continuing relevance of the UNDAF and keep it as a living framework. The UNDAF annual review is conducted through the UNDAF Results Groups, with engagement of national counterparts, and with substantive support by the UN M&E and Data Group.  The M&ED group is established as a quality assurance group assigned with responsibilities to provide technical advice and support on all aspects of Results Based Management to the UN Country Team and to Results Groups.

Pursuant to the UNDAF Monitoring and Evaluation plan, the UNCT Uzbekistan has agreed on to carry out a final independent UNDAF Evaluation in 2019 in order to assess the overall achievement of the expected UNDAF results in terms of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. 

The UNDAF evaluation serves as the central independent assessment of the UN system at country level to support accountability, learning and decision-making towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, using the Common Country Analysis as a benchmark.  UNDAF evaluations provide important information for strengthening programming and results at the country level, specifically informing the planning and decision-making for the next UNDAF programme cycle and for improving United Nations (UN) coordination at the country level. 

The overall purposes of the UNDAF evaluation are:

- To support greater institutional learning, about what works, what doesn’t and why in the context of an UNDAF

- To promote greater accountability of the UNCT to UNDAF stakeholders

 The specific objectives of the evaluation are:

• Assess the contribution made by the UNCT in the framework of the UNDAF to national development results in the context of the SDGs through making judgements using evaluation criteria based on evidence (accountability).

• Identify the factors that have affected the UNCT's contribution, answering the question of why the performance is as it is and explaining the enabling factors and bottlenecks (learning).

• Evaluate the results of the cross-cutting programming and “leave no one behind” principles in the current UNDAF: assess the differential progress on vulnerable groups (women, children, persons with disabilities, Roma community, youth, older persons, low income families, etc).

• Assess the extent to which the UNDAF and coordination mechanisms have contributed to advance and streamline Results-based Management, Gender Equality and Human Rights Based Approach in UN agencies’ programming.

• Advise on the suitability of indicators and other verification tools used to measure progress towards outcomes and outputs.

• Reach conclusions concerning the UN’s contribution across the scope being examined.

• Provide actionable recommendations for improving the UNCT's contribution, especially for incorporation into the new Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (the new name of the UNDAF). These recommendations should be logically linked to the conclusions and draw upon lessons learned identified through the evaluation.

Evaluation-based evidence and recommendations will be also used for resource leveraging and partnerships. The primary users of the evaluations will be the decision-makers within the UNCT, including non-resident UN agencies, key government counterparts, civil society and respective executive boards. In addition, bilateral and multilateral donors in programme countries, and the broader development partners are also seen as important audience of the evaluation.

The scope covered by the UNDAF evaluation should include the overall results framework of the UNDAF 2016-2020 and its implementation instruments, specifically the Joint Work Plans 2016-2017 and 2018-2020. The evaluation should pay special attention to the systemic and intersectional assessment of the mainstreaming the UNDAF programming principles and the key cross-cutting issues of the 2030 Agenda. Leave no one behind (LNOB) is at the core, and underpinned by three other programming principles: human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment; sustainability and resilience; and accountability. These principles are grounded in the norms and standards that the United Nations.

The UNDAF Evaluation will be undertaken by an Evaluation Team to consist of one International Expert as a Team leader and one national consultant as a team member. The Evaluation Team will have to work in full independence from the evaluation commissioners in line with below responsibilities.

Devoirs et responsabilités

Under overall supervision of the Development Coordination Officer on Data and Monitoring/Reporting and the Evaluation team leader, the National Consultant on UNDAF 2016-2020 Evaluation, as the Evaluation team member, will contribute to the evaluation process substantively through data collection and analysis, working closely with all the UNDAF Evaluation Management Team.

He/she will share responsibilities for conducting desk review and interviews and conduct field visits to the project sites identified and collect data. He/she will provide substantive inputs to the inception report as well as to the draft and final reports. The team member will be responsible for the following:

• Contribute to the review the Terms of Reference for the UNDAF Evaluation, including an Evaluation work plan, and all relevant materials and documents, including the UNEG Evaluation Norms and Standards for Evaluation, UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation and UNEG Code of Conduct for Evaluation in the UN System, UNEG Guidance on Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluation.  
• Assist with the refining the overall evaluation scope, approach, design and timeframe, and provides a detailed outline of the evaluation methodology,
• Contribute to the preparation of an inception report and presentation to the UN Country Team and EMG to clarify the understanding and expectations of how the evaluation will be undertaken. The report should include the results of desk review, description of evaluation methodology/methodological approach, data collection tools, data analysis methods, key informants, evaluation questions, performance criteria, issues to be studied, work plan and reporting requirements.
• Provide support in conducting desk review focusing on UNDAF planning documents, annual UNDAF progress reviews and annual reports, agencies’ evaluation reports (including those on projects and small-scale initiatives), strategy papers, national plans and policies and related programme and project documents. These should include reports on the progress against national and international commitments.
• Contribute to the data collection during the mission of the evaluation team leader to the country to collect data linked to the evaluation criteria and evaluation questions that are included within the scope of the evaluation. This exercise will employ various data collection methods agreed upon in the Inception Report.
• Based on the desk review and professional knowledge of the issues, contribute to the conduction of a stakeholder analysis.
• Support all data analysis activities, contribute to the preparation of a draft report and presentation delivery on the evaluation preliminary findings to the UNCT and EMG and refine the report based on the feedback.
• Substantively contribute to the preparation of the final report in accordance with the UNEG Norms and Standards, in line with the agreed-on structure outlined in the ToR for the UNDFA Evaluation. The report has to be logically structured, containing evidence-based findings, conclusions, lessons and recommendations.
• Assist UNCT in developing a Follow-up plan.

The final report will include an Executive Summary and must be kept short (50-75 pages maximum excluding annexes). More detailed information on the context, the programme or the comprehensive aspects of the methodology and of the analysis will be placed in the annexes. The report will be prepared in accordance with UNEG guidance (Quality Checklist for Evaluation Reports). The UNDAF evaluation report will be publicly disclosed documents and therefore should adhere to ethical norms and standards for data protection. 

DELIVERABLES AND DEADLINES

• An Evaluation Work Plan, which defines the specific evaluation design, tools and procedures, outlining specific dates for key deliverables;
• An inception report outlining the evaluation team’s understanding of the issues under review including a review framework and a detailed work plan. It further refines the overall evaluation scope, approach, design and timeframe, provides a detailed outline of the evaluation methodology;
• A presentation with preliminary findings to be shared with the ESC/UNCT and The UNDAF Result groups;
• A draft report for circulation and identification of factual corrections from stakeholders and for quality assurance;
• A final review report and presentation.
• Inputs to the Evaluation Follow-up plan.

Structure of the Evaluation Report 

The results of the UNDAF Evaluation will be presented in the UNDAF Evaluation Report as per a below standard outline.

• Chapter 1: Introduction (objectives, scope and methodology, limitations)
• Chapter 2: National development context
• Chapter 3: Evaluation Findings (corresponding to the UNDAF outcomes with each analysed by evaluation criteria)
• Chapter 4: Conclusions and Recommendations

This outline should be considered during the inception phase and taking account of the specific scope and focus of the evaluation, a detailed outline of the UNDAF evaluation report should be included in the inception report.

The output should be submitted by the Consultant to supervisor and to be considered as accepted upon written confirmation from the UN Resident Coordinator. 

This is a lump sum contract that should include costs of consultancy; payment will be released upon satisfactory provision of respective output and acceptance by the Supervisor and Resident Coordinator.

Compétences

• Proven experience in conducting various assessments, development of publication and analytical notes, preparation of training modules, conducting capacity building activities;
• Knowledge of relevant human rights issues in Serbia and ability to identify related problems in their political, ethnic, racial, gender equality and socio-economic dimensions
• Ability to evaluate and integrate information from a variety of sources related to the human rights and gender equality
• Proven experience in results-based management systems
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills
• Strong analytical, writing, presentation and communication skills.
• Excellent coordination and team working skills
• Citizenship of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

Advanced degree in the following areas: economics, political science, public or business administration, developmental studies, or similar;

Experience:

At least 5 years of work experience in consultancy in economic and social areas, writing policy papers and articles;

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English, Russian and/or Uzbek languages

UNDP is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified female candidates, people with disabilities, and minorities are highly encouraged to apply. UNDP Gender Balance in Management Policy promotes achievement of gender balance among its staff at all levels.

Application Process:

Interested candidates need to apply online at https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=86007 and upload requested documents (Technical Proposal/Methodology, CV or P11 form, Offeror’s Letter of confirmation and Financial Proposal) in Part 5 of Procurement Notice no later than end of July 2, 2019 (New York time).  Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged to your email address provided in application. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary.

Detailed Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference and templates for submission can be found at the Procurement Notices page following the link  http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=56889.

UNDP Job Site – https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=86007 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work).

Application submitted via email, incomplete applications or received after the closing date (July 02, 2019) will not be given consideration.

Requests for clarification must be sent in writing to pu.uz@undp.org,  ensuring that the reference number above is included in the subject line. UNDP shall endeavor to provide such responses to clarifications in an expeditious manner, but any delay in such response shall not cause an obligation on the part of UNDP to extend the submission date of the Proposals, unless UNDP deems that such an extension is justified and necessary.

For more detailed information about UN in Uzbekistan please visit our website at www.un.uz United Nations Organization is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified female candidates, people with disabilities, and minorities are highly encouraged to apply. UNO promotes achievement of gender balance among its staff at all levels.