Historique

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.

References:

[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

Devoirs et responsabilités

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[3], OECD/DAC[4] evaluation principles and UNDP evaluation guideline (particularly concerning decentralized evaluation functions)[5] and Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs)[6].

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 in Kabul.
3. Draft evaluation report — Full draft report and annexes prepared by the Evaluation Team will be submitted to the Governance 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 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).

Working Arrangements

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

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 30 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:

Duty Station

This is a home-based assignment with travel to Afghanistan (subject to security situation).  The evaluation team is expected 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).  

PROCEDURES AND LOGISTICS

• In Kabul, the consultant may either work from her/his accommodation or use the offices of the UNDP Country Office.
• Transportation related to visits within Kabul and the field if needed will be provided to the consultant by UNDP in accordance with UNDP policies and procedures as appropriate subject to clearance and approval by the UNDP Afghanistan Security Unit.
• The consultant should organize consultations with partners in accordance with established work schedules in Kabul.
• The consultant should arrange for her/his own insurance including evacuation in emergencies and war risk insurance.  Related costs should be included in the consultant’s financial proposal.
• The evolving security context and security risks in Kabul could impact on scheduled activities.  

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 consultants will be responsible that the evaluation work is conducted according to the highest professional standards. The evaluation consultant reports to the UNDP Afghanistan Programme Unit (to the assigned Programme Officer).

References:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Annex 1. Sample Evaluation Matrix

The evaluation matrix is an evaluation planning tool.  A sample Evaluation Matrix is provided below:

Annex 2. Proposed Final evaluation report structure (will be finalized in the evaluation inception stage)

Proposed Final Evaluation report structure (will be revised/finalized and agreed with the UNDP programme unit in the evaluation inception stage):

Executive summary

• Summary of the key evaluation findings deriving from the analysis presented in the report and recommendations

Purpose of the evaluation

• Purpose of the final project evaluation
• Key audience and use of the evaluation (consideration of programming cycles)

Project Background

• Project context (project description, geographic coverage, institutional and socio-political context)
• Project rationale and intended results (Theory of change is proposed to be included here)
• Project financial status/expenditure

Evaluation approach methodology

• Evaluation approach (acknowledgement of evaluation principles etc.)
• Evaluation methods
• Evaluation limitations

Evaluation findings

• Evaluation findings are proposed to be organized the following headings
• Project design (including revisions)

• Relevance
• Effectiveness
• Sustainability
• Efficiency
• Other selected criteria (as specified and agreed in the inception stage of the evaluation, could include management and monitoring, national ownership, gender/inclusiveness)

Conclusions and Recommendations:

• Conclusions section should derive from the analysis presented under ‘evaluation findings’. It should clearly summarize the key factors (positive and negative) affecting the project performance
• A recommendation table in full should be presented in this section and recommendations should derive from the evaluation analysis and findings
• Lessons learned section should be presented here (positive and negative lessons that can help in future programming)

Annexes

To include (at least):

• Evaluation TOR
• Bibliography
• Evaluation programme/schedule
• Presentation of key finding (Power Point presentation)
• List of people interviewed (sex disaggregated)
• Tools/questionnaires used (to be decided later whether to include)
• Evaluation Recommendations Follow-up Matrix (sample template provided)

Annex 3. Publications to be reviewed during the Final Evaluation process

Publications to be reviewed during the Final Evaluation process:

• Key national strategies and policies on local governance and Nationalized SDG frameworks; relevant regional provincial plans and strategies such as National Priority Programmes, ANPDF;
• UNDP strategic frameworks, and country specific programming document (UNDAF/One UN plan, CPD), UNDP country programme evaluation (2019)
• Project document, related results frameworks and budget; project revisions/extension and related documents and log frames
• Project reporting (quarterly and annual), projects’ internal reporting (implementing partners and local advisors to the project), the LoGo mid-term evaluation and recommendations action plan, as well as audit report and related management response;
• Expenditures and financial reports
• Project deliverables (such as guidelines, policy products, profiles)
• Event reports, success stories, field mission reports and photos
• Project monitoring data (including the baseline study, indicator tracking tools and M&E mission reports and related data)
• Videos and visual evidence collected from the field
• Other relevant correspondences

Compétences

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;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

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.

Qualifications et expériences requises

REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:

Academic Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in political science, sociology, international relations, international economics, law, public administration, social science, evaluation, or other closely related field from an accredited university.
• SSAFE Certification by the UN will be an advantage

Experience:

• At least 10 years of working experience in project/programme evaluation and social research with at least 5 years working with developing countries and a demonstrated understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by post-conflict countries;
• Proven track-records in evaluating projects/ programmes of UN or other development agencies;
• Strong understanding of evaluation and research methods with strong analytical skills,
• Familiarity with UNEG evaluation norms and guidelines and processes required;
• Work experience related to governance in developing countries, preferably in local governance level;
• Experience working in Afghanistan is considered an advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is a requirement. Knowledge of Dari, Pashto is an advantage.

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 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 of 40 working days.
2. DSA/Living Allowance – The Consultant shall be separately paid the Living allowance/DSA as per applicable UNDP rate for stay in Kabul and travel to other locations as per actual number of nights spent in Kabul or other locations. Deductions from DSA shall be made as per applicable UNDP policy when accommodation and other facilities are provided by UNDP. An estimated provision in this regard shall be included in the contract. The consultant need not quote for DSA in Financial Proposal.
3. Accommodation in Kabul - The Consultants are NOT allowed to stay in a place of their choice other than the UNDSS approved places in Kabul, Afghanistan. UNDP will provide accommodation to the Consultant for the duration of the stay in Afghanistan in UNDSS approved places. Deductions in this regard shall be made from DSA payment as per applicable UNDP Policy.
4. Travel & Visa – The contractor shall propose an estimated lump-sum for home-kabul-home travel (economy most direct route) and Afghanistan visa expenses.
5. 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.

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

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:

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Offering the lowest price/ cast 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.

Technical Evaluation (70%)

Qualification, Experience and Technical Proposal (70 marks):

1. General Qualification (15 marks);
2. Experience relevant to the assignment (35 marks);
3. Technical Proposal:  Brief methodology and workplan on how the consultant will approach and complete the work (please see mandatory question on jobs site for inputting response) (20 marks).

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

1. 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.
2. 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).

Note: Incomplete application will result in automatic disqualification of candidate.