Antecedentes

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Administration

To apply, interested persons should upload the combined Technical Proposal (if applicable), CV and Offeror’s Letter to “UNDP Jobs” by navigating to the link below and clicking “APPLY NOW”, no later than the date indicated on the “UNDP Jobs” website. Application submitted via email will not be accepted: -

Submission via UNDP Job Site ONLY

NOTE: The Financial Proposal should not be uploaded to “UNDP Jobs”.

If requested by the Procurement Unit, the Financial Proposal should be submitted to procurement.bb@undp.org within 24 hours of a request. Failure to submit the Financial Proposal will result in disqualification.

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing to procurement.bb@undp.org within three (3) days of the publication of this notice, ensuring that the reference number above is included in the subject line. The UNDP Barbados & the OECS Procurement Unit will post the responses two (2) days later, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to: -

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=42784 (cut and paste into browser address bar if the link does not work)

A detailed Procurement Notice, TOR, and all annexes can be found by clicking the above link.

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The system allows the upload of one (1) document ONLY – should you be required to submit a Technical Proposal and CV, these documents along with the Offeror’s Letter should be combined and uploaded as one

 UNDP shall endeavour 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

This is the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the UNDP-GEF Midterm Review (MTR) of the full-sized project titled Implementing a “Ridge to Reef” Approach to Protecting Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions within and around Protected Areas in Grenada (PIMS 5087) implemented through the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry and Fisheries and the Environment, which is to be undertaken in 2017-2018. The project started on the 10th of February, 2015 and is in its third year of implementation. In line with the UNDP-GEF Guidance on MTRs, this MTR process was initiated before the submission of the second Project Implementation Report (PIR). This TOR sets out the expectations for this MTR.The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in the document Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects.

The project was designed to ensure that biodiversity and ecosystems functions within and around marine and terrestrial protected areas (PAs) in Grenada are better protected from threats through the adoption of an integrated “Ridge to Reef” approach that increases PA management effectiveness and applies targeted sustainable land (and coastal sea) management practices, while ensuring ecosystems resilience to climate change. The project area includes the whole island territory of Grenada (344 sq.km. of landscape) sitting on a volcanic-coralline island shelf raised from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Caribbean Sea to the West. The island is divided into small districts called parishes that include St. George, St. Andrew, St. Patrick, St. John, St. David, St. Mark and Carriacou/ Petite Martinique. The Pilot project area in Outcome 2 includes a land space of about 1547 ha. within the Annandale/Grenville Vale/Beausejour watershed where special attention will be given for demonstrating Ridge to Reef natural resource management.

Deberes y responsabilidades

The MTR team will consist of two independent consultants that will conduct the MTR - one team leader (with experience and exposure to projects and evaluations in other regions globally) and one team expert, usually from the country of the project.

The MTR team will first conduct a document review of project documents (i.e. PIF, UNDP Initiation Plan, Project Document, ESSP, Project Inception Report, PIRs, Finalized GEF focal area Tracking Tools, Project Appraisal Committee meeting minutes, Financial and Administration guidelines used by Project Team, project operational guidelines, manuals and systems, etc.) provided by the Project Team and Commissioning Unit. Then they will produce the MTR inception report. The MTR mission will then consist of interviews and site visits to Grenada, including some of the existing and proposed marine and terrestrial Protected Areas.

The MTR team will assess the following four categories of project progress and produce a draft and final MTR report. See the Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects (http://web.undp.org/evaluation/documents/guidance/GEF/mid-term/Guidance_Midterm%20Review%20_EN_2014.pdf) for requirements on ratings. No overall rating is required.

1)  Project strategy

Project Design:

• Review the problem addressed by the project and the underlying assumptions.  Review the effect of any incorrect assumptions or changes to the context to achieving the project results as outlined in the Project Document.
• Review the relevanced of the project strategy and assess whether it provides the most effective route towards expected/intended results. 
• Review how the project addresses country priorities
• Review decision-making processes

Results Framework/Logframe:

• Undertake a critical analysis of the project’s logframe indicators and targets, assess how “SMART” the midterm and end-of-project targets are (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound), and suggest specific amendments/revisions to the targets and indicators as necessary.
• Examine if progress so far has led to, or could in the future catalyse beneficial development effects (i.e. income generation, gender equality and women’s empowerment, improved governance etc...) that should be included in the project results framework and monitored on an annual basis.

2) Progress towards results

• Review the logframe indicators against progress made towards the end-of-project targets; populate the Progress Towards Results Matrix, as described in the Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects; colour code progress in a “traffic light system” based on the level of progress achieved; assign a rating on progress for the project objective and each outcome; make recommendations from the areas marked as “not on target to be achieved” (red).
• Compare and analyse the GEF Tracking Tool at the Baseline with the one completed right before the Midterm Review.
• Identify remaining barriers to achieving the project objective.
• By reviewing the aspects of the project that have already been successful, identify ways in which the project can further expand these benefits.

3) Project implementation and adaptive management

Using the Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects; assess the following categories of project progress:

• Management Arrangements
• Work Planning
• Finance and co-finance
• Project-level monitoring and evaluation systems
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Reporting
• Communications

4) Sustainability

Assess overall risks to sustainability factors of the project in terms of the following four categories:

• Financial risks to sustainability
• Socio-economic risks to sustainability
• Institutional framework and governance risks to sustainability

Environmental risks to sustainability

The MTR consultant/team will include a section in the MTR report setting out the MTR’s evidence-based conclusions, in light of the findings.

Additionally, the MTR consultant/team is expected to make recommendations to the Project Team. Recommendations should be succinct suggestions for critical intervention that are specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant. A recommendation table should be put in the report’s executive summary. The MTR consultant/team should make no more than 15 recommendations total.

Institutional Arrangements

The principal responsibility for managing this MTR resides with the Commissioning Unit. The Commissioning Unit for this project’s MTR is the UNDP Barbados and the OECS Sub-Regional Office.

The Commissioning Unit will contract the consultants, while the in-country Project Team will be responsible for liaising with the MTR team to provide all relevant documents, set up stakeholder interviews, and arrange field visits.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The MTR consultant/team shall prepare and submit the following:

Duration of the Work

The total duration of the MTR will be approximately 27 days over a period of 4 months starting from the date of contract signature, and shall not exceed five months from when the consultant(s) are hired. The tentative MTR timeframe is as follows:

• 11 December 2017: Application closes
• 18 December 2017: Selection of MTR Team
• 21 December 2017: Prep the MTR Team (handover of project documents)
• 8 January 2018 (3 days):  Document review and preparing MTR Inception Report
• 15 January 2018 (5 days): Finalization and Validation of MTR Inception Report- latest start of MTR mission
• 15 January 2018 (7 days): MTR mission: stakeholder meetings, interviews, field visits
• 22 January 2018: Mission wrap-up meeting & presentation of initial findings- earliest end of MTR mission
• 22 January 2018 (10 days):  Preparing draft report
• 5 February (2 days): Incorporating audit trail on draft report/Finalization of MTR report
• 19 February 2018: Preparation & Issue of Management Response
• 12 March 2018:  Expected date of full MTR completion

The expected contract start date is 18 December 2017.

Competencias

N/A

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

REQUIREMENTS FOR EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS/TECHNICAL EVALUATION

The selection of consultants will be aimed at maximizing the overall “team” qualities in the following areas:

 Note: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation (See 6. below for more details).

Consultant Independence

The consultants cannot have participated in the project preparation, formulation, and/or implementation (including the writing of the Project Document) and should not have a conflict of interest with project’s related activities.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Completed Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP; Kindly indicate whether you wish to be considered for the Team Leader or Team Expert position;
2. 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;
3. 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 (prepared, but not to be submitted unless requested to do so) that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an applicant 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 applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.  See Letter of Confirmation of Interest template for financial proposal template.

Lump sum contracts

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel:

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. 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.

The award of the contract will be made to the Individual Consultant who has obtained the highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions.  Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. The offers will be evaluated using the “Combined Scoring method” where:

• The educational background and experience on similar assignments will be weighted a max. of 70% (see 3. above for more details);

The price proposal will weigh as 30% of the total scoring.

ANNEXES

ANNEX I – TERMS OF REFERENCES (TOR)

ANNEX II – GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

ANNEX III – OFFEROR’S LETTER

ANNEX IV – FINANCIAL PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

ANNEX V – SAMPLE INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT