The project was designed to support the Government of Sri Lanka to strengthen the resilience of small-holder farmers in Sri Lanka’s dry zone, who are facing increased risks of climate change. The project has adopted a river basin approach to deliver an integrated package of interventions for irrigation and drinking water in the Malwathu Oya, Mi Oya and Yan Oya watersheds in the dry zone. These watersheds cover the districts of Kurunegala, Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Mannar, Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Polonnaruwa.

The key objective of this project is to strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate variability and extreme weather events through an integrated approach to water management. The primary measurable benefits include resilient water and agricultural management for 770,500 direct beneficiaries and 1,179,800 indirect beneficiaries who will gain from improved water management, resilient agriculture practices, and the provision of climate and weather information. The project envisions initiating a paradigm shift in how water resources are managed, especially in the dry and intermediate climate zones of Sri Lanka. This shift is catalyzed through an integrated approach incorporating climate change concerns; understanding linkages across river basins/sub-river basins; and covering multiple uses of water including irrigation, agriculture, livelihoods, drinking water and disaster management. The Project’s bottom-up approach to integrated water management involves the preparation of integrated cascade water resource development and management plans. These plans cover a host of water management aspects including drinking water management, groundwater management, climate-smart agriculture development, catchment management plans, disaster preparedness plan, and, etc. These aspects correspond to the three outputs of the project while also recognizing the interconnectedness of the said outputs.

The three outputs of the project include,

• Output 1: Upgrading and enhancing the resilience of village irrigation systems and scaling up climate-resilient farming practices in three river basins of the dry zone. This output mainly focuses on improved climate-risk informed water management for agricultural production in the selected river basins by upgrading the inter-connected cascade systems and associated agricultural practices. These interventions will also lead to restoration and improvements in surface and groundwater availability as well as quality.
• Output 2: Enhancing climate-resilient, decentralized water supply and management solutions to provide access to safe drinking water to vulnerable communities. This output intends to deliver drinking water solutions to poor farmer households through a multi-pronged partnership approach involving source replenishment, enhanced storage capacity, improved supply of clean and safe drinking water and addressing root causes of water quality issues.
• Output 3: Strengthening weather/climate and hydrological observing, forecasting and water management systems to enhance the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to droughts and floods. This includes providing access to weather/climate-related knowledge, advisories and early warning for storms and flooding including the planning of water release from irrigation tanks.

Resources from the Green Climate Fund, in conjunction with government co-financing, will invest in improving the community irrigation water infrastructure and associated agricultural practices, scaling-up decentralized drinking water systems, and strengthening early warnings and forecasting for flood-response and water management. The grant from the Green Climate Fund is USD 38.08 million, with a government co-financing contribution of USD 14 million.

The project is implemented using UNDP’s National Implementation Modality (NIM), with significant UNDP support to implementation. The implementing partner (IP) for the project is the Ministry of Irrigation (formerly, the IP was the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment). However, with the Presidential/ Parliamentary elections of 2020, the portfolio of irrigation and water management was shifted to a new Ministry, requiring the project to change its Implementing Partner). The Project Board is responsible for providing overall direction, and consists of a wide group of project stakeholders including the Ministry of Irrigation, UNDP, the Department of External Resources, the Department of National Planning, and several Responsible Parties to the project, including the Department of Agrarian Development, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of National Community Water Supply, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, and the Ministry of Disaster Management. 

Objective: 

The Interim Evaluation will assess progress towards the achievement of the project objectives and outcomes as specified in the Funded Activity Agreement (FAA), Funding Proposal (FP) and Project Document, and assess early signs of project success or failure with the goal of identifying the necessary changes to be made in order to set the project on-track to achieve its intended results. The Interim Evaluation will also review the project’s strategy and its risks to sustainability.

The Interim Evaluation will assess implementation of the project and its alignment with the FAA [1] obligations and progress towards the achievement of the project objectives and outcomes as specified in the Project Document. The evaluation will assess early signs of project success or failure with the goal of identifying the necessary changes to be made in order to set the project on-track to achieve its intended results. The Interim Evaluation will also assess the following:

• Implementation and adaptive management
• Risks to sustainability
• Relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of projects and programmes;
• Coherence in climate finance delivery with other multilateral entities;
• Gender equity;
• Country ownership of projects and programmes;
• Innovativeness in results areas (extent to which interventions may lead to paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate resilient development pathways);
• Replication and scalability – the extent to which the activities can be scaled up in other locations within the country or replicated in other countries (this criterion, which is considered in document GCF/B.05/03 in the context of measuring performance could also be incorporated in independent evaluations); and
• Unexpected results, both positive and negative.

[1]  FAA:  https://info.undp.org/docs/pdc/Documents/LKA/Executed_FAA_UNDP_SriLanka_07062017.pdf

Scope of services

The strategic implementation of CRIWMP project in the country since 2017 was carried out in the dry zone of the country by ensuring an integrated water management to adapt to impacts of climate change as a scaled-up operation of previous learnings and has currently reached half way point. The progress of the project is thus required to be assessed for:

• Project strategy;
• Relevance, effectiveness and efficiency;
• Progress towards results;
• Project implementation and adaptive management;
• Sustainability;
• Country Ownership;
• Gender equity;
• Innovativeness in results areas;
• Unexpected results, both positive and negative;
• Replication and Scalability.

The Interim Evaluation will require to rate the project’s results and highlight associated achievements. Refer Annex-01 for comprehensive details.

Interim Evaluation Arrangements

A team of two independent consultants will conduct the Interim Evaluation; International Consultant who will serve as the Team Leader (with experience and exposure to GCF/ GEF projects and evaluations in other regions globally) and one National Expert based in Sri Lanka. The International Consultant will operate remotely but will lead the evaluation in close coordination with the national consultant.

The International Consultant will be responsible for deciding on the evaluation methodology, based on discussions with the project team and any restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 situation in-country. The development of the data collection methodologies and tools (including questionnaires) will be led by the International Consultant, with support from the National Expert. Following the literature review, stakeholder consultations and field data collection, the International Consultant will lead the process of presenting the preliminary findings to the project stakeholders, which will be followed by the development of the draft interim evaluation report. The International Consultant will be responsible for finalizing the report based on comments received.

The International Consultant will receive in-country support from the National Expert, who will be responsible for organizing and conducting field missions, interviews and field data collection. The National Consultant will be responsible for arranging key informant interviews and focus group discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, which should be arranged virtually if possible, to facilitate the participation of the International Consultant. The National Expert will provide technical and administrative support to the International Consultant at the various stages of the Interim Evaluation, including data collection, desk reviews, presentations and drafting of the report.

It is mandatory for consultants not to 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.

Expected Outputs

The interim evaluation will require to compile the review report setting out the evaluation’s evidence-based conclusions, in light of the findings containing and an analysis of achievements and way forward to achieve the desired objectives in future. Recommendations should be succinct suggestions for critical intervention that are specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant. The evaluation should contain no more than 15 recommendations.

DURATION OF THE WORK

The duration of this national assignment is from December 2020 to April 2021 with the achievement of following set deliverable targets;

ACTIVITY - NUMBER OF WORKING DAYS - COMPLETION DATE

• Supporting the document review and assisting in the preparation of the Interim Evaluation Inception Report (Inception Report due no later than 2 weeks before the evaluation mission) - 2-4 days - 07th Dec 2020
• Setting-up virtual stakeholder meetings, interviews, and situation permitting visits to select project sites - 7-15 days - 07th Jan 2021
• Support in presentation of initial findings - 1 day - 08th Jan 2021
• Support in preparing draft report (due within 1 week of concluding stakeholder interviews) - 5-10 days - 29th Jan 2021
• Support in preparation and submission of final Interim Evaluation report plus Audit Trail from feedback on draft report (due within 1 week of receiving UNDP comments on the draft) - 3-4 days - 28th Feb 2021

Corporate

• Demonstrates integrity and fairness, by modeling the UN/UNDP’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

• Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNDP.

Functional

• Time management and organizational skills, with the ability to undertake multiple tasks and deliver under pressure;
• Strong analytical and synthesis skills;
• Ability to work independently and achieve quality results with limited supervision and within tight schedules;
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills;
• Experience in reports production;
• Ability to write in a clear and concise manner;
• Excellent human relations, coordination, planning and team work skills
• Sensitivity to and responsiveness to all partners, respectful and helpful relations with all UN/UNDP staff;
• Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure;
• Ability to facilitate the achievement of qualitative results, despite operational challenges.

• Excellent computer skills especially Word, Excel and Power Point.

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Ability to strongly promote and build knowledge products;
• Promotes knowledge management in UNDP and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example;
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information and best practices from within and outside of UNDP;

• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

Education:

• A Master's degree in Agriculture, Irrigation, Environmental Sciences, Development Studies, Project Management or other closely related field. 

Experience:

• Possess a minimum of 15 years (overall covering above aspects) of professional experience in agriculture, natural resource management, climate change adaptation and monitoring and evaluation;
• Project evaluation/review experiences in larger development projects in Sri Lanka/ South Asian Countries (reference for such via online link/s);
• Proven track record in designing and implementation of development projects;
• Project evaluation/review experiences within UN system will be considered an asset;
• Recent experience with result-based management evaluation methodologies;
• Experience applying SMART indicators and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios;
• Competence in adaptive management, as applied to integrated water management, agriculture and climate change adaptation;
• Research experience in climate change adaptation, gender, inclusive development, social and environmental safeguard, civil society engagement in development, governance principals etc.;
• Experience in field level monitoring, surveying, sampling and associated techniques and applications;
• Sound knowledge on UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and their associations in development projects from design, implementation to monitoring perspectives;
• Excellent analytical skills and strong communication skills (cite national and international publications);

• Experience in implementing evaluations remotely will be considered an asset;
• Experience working in developing countries.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent English language skills, particularly in the preparation of written documents;
• Good oral and written communication skills in English as well as Sinhala and / or Tamil are required.

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply please access UNDP Jobs site http://jobs.undp.org
• Please note you can upload only one document in the online application, therefore combine the CV,  Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability (Financial Proposal) & other supporting documents as ONE PDF file and upload it accordingly.

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position;
• Updated CV to include qualifications/competencies and relevant past experience in similar projects and contact details of 3 professional referees who can certify your competencies, professionalism, quality of writing, presentation and overall suitability to this TOR;
• Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on a combination of factors including cover letter, the credentials on offer and brief interview (optional), and the offer which gives the best value for money for the UNDP;

FINANCIAL PROPOSAL   

All-Inclusive Lump Sum Fee: LKR

Amount in words: LKR

Note: Payments will be based on the successful completion of agreed milestones i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR and certification of acceptance by the UNDP. The applicant must factor in all possible costs in his/her “All Inclusive Lump Sum Fee” including his/her consultancy and professional fee, travel, honorarium, board and lodging, and any other foreseeable costs in this exercise. No costs other than what has been indicated in the financial proposal will be paid or reimbursed to the consultant. UNDP will only pay for any unplanned travel outside of this TOR and Duty Station on actual basis and on submission of original bills/invoices and on prior agreement with UNDP officials. Daily premiums and costs for accommodation/meals/incidental expenses for such travel shall not exceed established local UNDP DSA rates.

For an Individual Contractor who is 65 years of age or older, and on an assignment requiring travel, be it for the purpose of arriving at the duty station or as an integral duty required travel under the TOR, a full medical examination and statement of fitness to work must be provided.  Such medical examination costs must be factored into the financial proposal above. Medical examination is not a requirement for individuals on RLA contracts. 

Note: Any additional human resource requirements shall be proposed and factorised into the financial proposal which is to be clearly indicated.

The Letter of Confirming Interest and Availability form are uploaded in documents section, furthermore is available in the following link:

Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability

Please note you can upload only one document in the online application, therefore combine the CV, and the Letter of Confirmation of Interest (FInancial Proposal) and Availability as ONE PDF and upload it accordingly.

Payment for Services

Payments will be based on milestones certified by the UNDP Programme Quality/Design Analyst.

Payment Milestones will be as follows and required to be delivered jointly with the International Consultant hired for the same purpose;

           Deliverable - % Out of All-Inclusive Lump Sum

• Deliverable 1: Interim Evaluation Inception Report - 20%
• Deliverable 2: Draft Interim Evaluation Report - 50%
• Deliverable 3: Final Interim Evaluation Report approved by the UNDP Country Office, Regional Technical Advisor (RTA) and Principal Technical Advisor (PTA) - 30%

Evaluation

Applications will be first screened and only candidates meeting the minimum criteria will progress to the pool for short listing. Shortlisted Candidates will be then assessed and scored against the following evaluation criteria noting that an interview will be conducted to the shortlisted candidates.

1. Technical Criteria weight: [70%]
2. Financial Criteria weight: [30%]

Only Individual Consultants obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70%) on the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.