Antecedentes

An evaluation of the UNAPF is mandatory as per the UNDAF guidelines provided by the UN Development Group (UNDG). UNAPF 2016-2020 document foresees the final evaluation in the penultimate year of the UNAPF cycle. It notes that the evaluation will assess, in particular, the contribution made to national development priorities and goals; relevance of UNAPF Outcomes; effectiveness and efficiency by which results have been achieved; and sustainability of results. A particular focus will be on the extent to which the United Nations System has been able to effectively contribute to substantive strengthening national institutional and human capacities, as the heart of this UNAPF. As appropriate, the evaluation will inform the design of the next UNAPF and its ensuing Country Programmes and projects by individual Agencies.

Objective of the assignment:

The purpose of the present UNAPF evaluation is, on the one hand, to gather key findings and lessons learned to inform the next UNAPF planning cycle and to improve UN coordination in Azerbaijan and, on the other hand, to support greater accountability towards agreed national objectives and priorities in the country.

UNAPF Evaluation objectives are:

I.          To assess the contribution of the UN system to national development priorities through the UNAPF outcomes and making judgments using evaluation criteria based on evidence (accountability);

II.         To 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);

III.       To draw lessons on past and current cooperation to provide specific and action-oriented strategic recommendations for the next UNAPF cycle.

Deberes y responsabilidades

Technical assistance and supervision:

The work planned under this TOR will be conducted under the supervision of the Resident Coordinator’s Office in Azerbaijan in consultation with UNCT (UN Coordination Team) and the Government. The planning process has to be performed on the basis of participatory approach.

Scope of work:

This is the final evaluation of the current cycle of UNAPF (2016-2020) and will cover the implementation period from 2016 up to present. Evidence and findings of the evaluation will embrace the views of key stakeholders.

The evaluation will be conducted in three phases:

Phase 1- Preparation:

1. Identification and selection of an Evaluation Consultant: The UNCT will jointly identify and select the appropriate consultant in close coordination and consultation with the Government, for the UNAPF evaluation. The UN RC Office will take the lead, jointly with UNCT, in soliciting CVs of consultants available in the country or region;

2. Collection of reference material: The UN RC Office in close consultation with UNCT members will compile a list of background material, documents, and reports relevant to the UNAPF evaluation.

Phase 2 – Conduct of data collection activities and the preparation of the evaluation reports:

1. Development of an Inception report: The evaluation consultant will produce an inception report not to exceed 25 pages, 20,000 words, excluding annexes;

2. Desk review of reference material: The evaluation consultant will review the reference documents, reports and any other data and information provided;

3. Main data collection: The evaluation consultant will conduct data collection activities as guided by the evaluation plan. She/he will conduct agreed-upon interviews with stakeholders and site visits. At the end of the data collection activities, a meeting will be organized led by the evaluation consultant, participated by key stakeholder representatives, to present preliminary findings and obtain feedback from the stakeholders;

4. Data analysis and reporting: The consultant will conduct further data analysis based on all information collected and prepare a draft evaluation report for the UNAPF Evaluation upon completion of the main data collection and analysis activities;

5. Review of the draft report and finalization of the report: the draft UNAPF Report will be submitted for factual correction and feedback to key stakeholders. The consultant will prepare an audit trail to indicate how the comments were taken into account and will finalize the UNAPF evaluation report.

   Phase 3 - Follow-up:

The UNCT together with the UN RC Office will conduct follow-up activities, as guided by their respective processes and mandates.

In the context of the UNAPF Evaluation:

1. Dissemination of the evaluation findings and recommendations;
2. Endorsing a management response to the evaluation recommendations. This includes committing follow-up actions to the recommendations as well as establishing responsibilities for the follow-up;
3. The lessons learned from UNAPF evaluation will be extracted and disseminated in order to contribute to strategic planning, learning, advocacy and decision-making at all levels; they will be applied in the design of the following UNAPF cycle and will be shared publicly and within the UN system as appropriate.

Deliverables:

The evaluation consultant is expected to produce the following deliverables:

• An inception report  not exceeding 25 pages, 20,000 words, excluding annexes which sets out: consultant’s understanding of the issues to be evaluated (scope), questions that the UNAPF evaluation intends to answer, and his/her understanding of the context in which the evaluation takes place; including of a comprehensive stakeholder analysis; any suggested deviations from the TOR; an evaluation matrix showing selected criteria of analysis, questions and sub-questions, the indicators; proposed and sources of information; methodology, including details of gender analysis and triangulation strategy; data collection and analysis tools that will be used to conduct the evaluation; any limitations of the chosen methods of data collection and analysis and how they will be addressed; explanation of how the views of various stakeholders, including vulnerable and marginalized groups, will be addressed during the evaluation; fieldwork plan, timeline for the evaluation, draft dissemination strategy of the evaluation results. The consultant needs clearly identify any potential ethical issues and approaches, as well as the processes for ethical review and oversight of the evaluation process;

• A presentation with preliminary findings to be shared in a meeting with key stakeholders;

• A first draft report for circulation and identification of factual corrections from stakeholders;

• A final report. The following template serves as a standard outline for the UNAPF evaluation. This should be considered during the inception phase and taking account of the specific scope and focus of the evaluation, a detailed outline of the UNAPF evaluation report should be included in the inception report.

• Chapter 1: Introduction (objectives, scope, and methodology, limitations)

• Chapter 2: National development context

• Chapter 3: Evaluation Findings (corresponding to the outcomes with each analyzed by evaluation criteria)

• Chapter 4: Conclusions and Recommendations

The final report will include an Executive Summary and must be kept short, 50-75 pages maxium 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.

All the reports, draft guidelines, proposal etc. should be sent in electronic form, Microsoft Word and PDF and, if applicable, other relevant formats in English.

1. Detailed provision of monitoring and progress controls, including reporting requirements, frequency, format and deadlines:

An Evaluation Management and Oversight Board consisting of the UNCT and Government representatives will be established to guide the evaluation process. The Evaluation Consultant will have overall responsibility for producing the UNAPF Evaluation Report and for quality and timely submission of the Report to the Evaluation Board.

The Evaluation Board needs to ensure that 1) the evaluation process meets UNEG Norms, Standards, and Ethical Guidelines and that 2) the evaluation findings are relevant, and recommendations are implementable and that 3) the evaluation findings are disseminated and available for use and learning from the evaluation.

An Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) will be established under the leadership and supervision of the Evaluation Board comprising UNCT members and key stakeholders (national governmental and non-governmental counterparts). The ERG will review and provide inputs and feedback to the evaluation design report, facilitate access of evaluator to information sources, and provide comments on the main deliverables of the evaluation, in particular, the evaluation report.

While the UNAPF Evaluation will be commissioned and overseen by the Evaluation Board, its day-to-day management will be ensured through the RC Office.

Reporting, its frequency, format and deadlines will be done in accordance with the phases and deliverables shown in the respective section above.

1. Deliverables, timing and proposed payment terms:

   The costs of the UNAPF evaluation will be shared among all involved parties including UN Agencies present in Azerbaijan and RC Office, based on the agreement reached within the UNCT. The Coordination Fund will provide seed money to support the Evaluation.

   The Consultant will be paid a lump sum amount including fee and per diem (not exceeding the UN rate). The consultant should indicate the lump sum and breakdown in the financial proposal.

   The Consultant’s payment shall be made in two installments of:

   •    20% upon submission of Evaluation Plan and Inception report, incorporating inputs received from UN agencies and stakeholders;

   •    80% upon submission of the Final Report.

   h.  Approval Process

The authorization for each respective payment will be made by RCO after the acceptance of each deliverable.The evaluation should follow the steps and deliverables as presented in the following evaluation calendar:

Competencias

The following competencies are essential for the position:

• specialized experience and/or methodological/technical knowledge, including some specific  data  collection  and  analytical  skills,  particularly  in  the  following  areas: understanding  of  human  rights-based  approaches  to  programming;  gender considerations;  environmental sustainability, Results-Based  Management  principles;  logic  modelling/logical framework analysis; quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis; participatory approaches;
• excellent knowledge of the UN system and UN common country programming processes;
• knowledge of the development issues in mid-income countries is an asset;
• excellent written and spoken English. Russian is an asset;
• excellent report writing skills as well as communication and interviewing skills.

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

The technical component, which has a total possible value of 70 points, will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• advanced university degree, Masters and equivalent, in development studies, economics, international relations, or related field, PhD an asset - 10 points

• 10 years of relevant professional experience is highly desirable, including previous substantive involvement in evaluations and/or reviews at the programme and/or outcome levels in related fields with international organizations -15 points

• excellent knowledge of the UN system and UN common country programming processes - 10 points

• specialized experience and/or methodological/technical knowledge, including some specific datacollectionandanalyticalskills,particularlyinthefollowing areas:

• understanding of humanrights-based approaches to programming, gender considerations, environmental sustainability and results-based management principles, logic modelling, logical framework analysis, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, participatory approaches - 15 points

• knowledge of the development issues in mid-income countries is an asset - 10 points

• excellent written and spoken English. Russian is an asset - 5 points

• excellent report writing skills as well as communication and interviewing skills - 5 points

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Cumulative evaluation that takes into account both financial offer and the technical expertise of the potential candidates. A two-stage procedure will be utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical component being completed prior to any price component being reviewed and compared.  The Price Component will be reviewed only for those individuals whose Technical Component meets the requirements for the assignment.  The total number of points which individual may obtain for both components is 100. A total possible value of the technical component is 70 points with indicated breakdown above. If the substantive presentation of a technical proposal achieves the minimum of 49 points, the competitiveness of the offered consultancy expenses will be taken into account in the following manner:               

The total amount of points for the fees component is 30. The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest fees proposed that is compared among those invited individuals which obtain the threshold points in the evaluation of the technical proposal. All other proposals shall receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest fees; e.g;

                [30 Points] x [US$ lowest]/[US$ other] = points for other proposer’s fees

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

1) Letter of interest

2) CV or Personal History Form – P11

3) Approach to work

4) Financial Proposal - Template for Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial Proposal. Detailed cost breakdown of services is needed.

As the system accept only one attachment, the applicants are requested to upload all the attached documentation as one file.