Background

Project Title

Using Strategic Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) to Accelerate the Implementation of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 (Strategic M&E Project)

Project Description 

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Philippine country office recently embarked on a partnership to strengthen the conduct of evaluations of priority government programs under the Philippine Development Program (PDP). Financed by NEDA and implemented with full UNDP country office support, the Strategic M&E Project will help strengthen the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacities of NEDA and key government agencies. This, in turn, will support the achievement of the PDP as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through evidence-based decision making.

The Strategic M&E Project has the following components: 1) managing the conduct of evaluations of key themes, sectors, and/or programs under the PDP; 2) supporting the implementation of the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF); 3) assessing the evaluation capacity of and providing learning opportunities to NEDA and other government agencies; 4) strengthening of a community of practice on evaluations through the M&E Network Philippines; and 5) developing an online portal of government evaluations.

On the first component, UNDP will commission, on behalf of the NEDA, independent evaluations on at least eight (8) themes and programs that are relevant to the PDP. These studies will evaluate the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of priority social and economic programs that have been implemented or continues to be implemented by the government. The results of the evaluation studies are envisaged to inform how policies and programs are designed and implemented to achieve the desired results of the PDP also contribute to the strengthening of the government’s M&E systems.

The project requires an Evaluation Consultant for Quantitative Methods who will assist NEDA and UNDP in designing the evaluation studies, particularly in the determination of appropriate quantitative research and analysis methodologies; developing terms of reference (TORs). The Consultant will also help manage the implementation of the evaluation studies, assure their quality, and help ensure wide use and dissemination of the studies. S/he will also be expected to engage evaluation stakeholders, such as the evaluation reference groups (ERGs) to be organized for each study, the NEDA sector and regional staff, government implementing agencies, local government units, UN agencies, and other government and non-government stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Under the overall guidance of the UNDP Senior Adviser/Economist, the Management Support Unit (MSU) Team Leader and the NEDA Monitoring and Evaluation Staff (MES) Director, and reporting regularly to the Strategic M&E Project Coordinator, the Consultant shall perform the following:

1. Evaluation Design and Preparation – the Consultant shall prepare the Terms of Reference (TORs) for the evaluation studies, with guidance from NEDA and UNDP, particularly for the studies that may substantially require the use of quantitative research and analysis methods, including but not limited to impact evaluation methods when appropriate. The Consultant is expected to:
2. Prepare and revise draft Evaluation Plans and Draft TORs for an assigned set of two (2) evaluation studies for each Consultant in line with the provided guidance, evaluability criteria, quality standards, and templates by UNDP and NEDA;
3. Conduct desk research, including the gathering of program documents and related literature in collaboration with the NEDA-UNDP Project Team;
4. Identify and recommend the appropriate design and methodology for each evaluation, including development of evaluation questions, identification of required data, and conduct of evaluability analysis;
5. Identify and map the stakeholders of the evaluation, and recommend and implement communication and stakeholder relations strategies in collaboration with the NEDA-UNDP Project Team and the project’s contractors;
6. Lead and/or participate in the engagement and consultations of NEDA and UNDP with the evaluation study stakeholders, including government oversight and implementing agencies, UN agencies and other multilateral and bilateral development agencies, and other government and non-government entities;
7. Provide technical assistance to the Evaluation Reference Groups (ERGs) in relation to the design of the TORs of their assigned evaluation studies, including but not limited to documenting and following through on discussion points;
8. Assist the UNDP Project Team and Procurement Team in sourcing and contracting the evaluators, including but not limited to participation in briefings with potential Consultant, firms, or institutions, in the evaluation of bids, and in the negotiations with selected bidders;
9. Assist the UNDP Project Team in identifying themes, programs, or projects that are potentially topics for an evaluation study;
10. The Consultant shall also support and collaborate with the other Evaluation Consultants in the identification and design of appropriate quantitative research and analysis methods.

1. Support to Evaluation Management – when required, the Consultant shall assist NEDA and UNDP in managing the conduct of the evaluation studies, including:
   1. Reviewing the contractors’ outputs against the evaluation studies’ TORs, the contractors’ proposals, and UNDP’s and other internationally accepted quality standards for evaluations;
   2. Providing technical assistance and advice to the ERGs of the assigned studies;
2. Support to Policy Reform, Capacity Development, and Stakeholder Engagement – in relation to the design and management of the evaluation studies, the consultant will be asked to provide advice and assistance to:
   1. The development of practical guidelines and tools for the development and management of evaluation studies, drawing from lessons learned and other insights from the NEDA evaluation studies managed through UNDP;
   2. The identification of capacity development opportunities and potential actions, such as but not limited to policy and organizational reforms to support the conduct of evaluations, learning opportunities for public servants, among others; 
   3. The identification of opportunities to broaden the community of practice of evaluations, including national and international networking, participation in stakeholder engagement activities to be held by NEDA and UNDP, among others.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

For each of the two (2) evaluation studies to be assigned, the Evaluation Consultant shall produce the following:

1. An Evaluation Plan which spells out background information on the theme(s), program(s), and projects to be evaluated, the proposed scope, design, and methodology of the evaluation. The Evaluation Plan (see attached Annex 1) must be formulated after:
   • Conducting a desk review of past evaluation studies and other related literature;
   • With NEDA and UNDP, a process of mapping the stakeholders of the evaluation and of consulting with key stakeholders, including government implementing agencies;
   • Assessment of evaluability, such as scoping and gathering the availability of documents and data required for the evaluation.
2. Terms of Reference (ToR) which further spells out the requirements of the proposed evaluation study. Apart from the proposed scope and methodology, the TOR should spell out, among others, the expected deliverables, timeline, qualification of the proposed evaluators, among others. In line with this, the Consultant is required to:
   • Participate in the discussions of the Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) to be formed for each evaluation study, where the Evaluation Plan and TOR will be discussed;
   • Participate in the procurement of the evaluators, particularly in the evaluation of proposals and negotiations with prospective contractors;
3. Documentation of Lessons Learned throughout the development and contracting of the evaluation study and recommendations on how to institutionalize best practices and address gaps, identify capacity development and learning opportunities, among others, which shall be submitted as a report of not more than 5 pages at the completion of each TOR development assignment.

During the first six months of the contract, the Consultant shall each be required to submit a minimum of 1-page monthly report outlining the activities conducted as well as issues encountered, and initial lessons learned.

The said outputs shall be delivered by the following timeframe (See Annex 2 for the indicative timeline of deliverables):

In addition to these two (2) evaluations, the Consultant shall be expected to support the other Evaluation Consultants of the project in terms of defining, designing, and/or validating the quantitative evaluation methods required by other evaluation studies. Such support may include initial data gathering, statistical testing, initial analyses, evaluability assessments, and others within a total level of effort of ten (10) person-days.

In addition, the Consultant shall be retained for a period no longer than twelve (12) months from the commencement of the contract. This is for work that may be requested to support the management of the evaluation studies, as described in item C.2. above, worth ten (10) person-days. No monthly report will be required during this period.

Competencies

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Expertise in data collection and analysis
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Strong analytical and research skills; and
• Excellent organizational, and communication skills;

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications of the Successful Individual Contractor

The Consultant to be hired shall have the following minimum qualifications:

1. At least two (2) years of work or consultancy experience in the monitoring and evaluation of development programs and projects, with preference to those with specialization in evaluations. 
2. At least four (4) years of overall work or consultancy experience in the government, international development organizations, non-profits, among others. Experience in UN agencies is an asset.
3. At least a master’s degree in economics, statistics, data science, finance, mathematics, social sciences (emphasis on quantitative methods), accountancy, management, or other related fields. Having a doctorate degree is advantageous.
4. Demonstrated knowledge of and experience in the application of various quantitative research and evaluation methodologies, including but not limited to impact evaluations, is required. Skilled use of specialized data analysis software (including but not limited to STATA, SPSS, among others) is advantageous.
5. Demonstrated specialization, through professional and academic qualification, in any of the following policy and program areas is advantageous:

• Social Development – including but not limited to education, healthcare, social protection, anti-poverty programs, rural development, urban development;
• Economic Development – including but not limited to economic and fiscal policy, transport and non-transport infrastructure development, competitiveness and entrepreneurship, agriculture policy, industrial policy, services and trade; 
• Environmental Management, Resiliency and Peace-Building – including but not limited to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, peace and development, delivery of services to disaster- and conflict-affected areas;
• Democratic Governance – including but not limited anti-corruption, government efficiency and organizational development, public finance management, results-based management.   
• 6. Fluency in written and spoken English required.  Knowledge of another UN language an advantage.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

1. Financial proposals must be expressed as a per person-day rate which should include all costs (professional fees, allowances, etc.) related to working within the Duty Station (Manila). For internationals or Filipino nationals residing outside Greater Manila, their proposals may include the cost of one (1) roundtrip travel to and from the duty station. For the retainer period (maximum 20 person-days).
2. Each person-day of work delivered may be billed upon submission of a time sheet or report, the submission for which may be made immediately or after an agreed-upon period (e.g., every month).

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Interested bidders must submit the following at procurement.ph@undp.org:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. 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;
3. Brief description, separately or as part of the CV, of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, highlighting specialized background advantages for the scope of work and requirement.  
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. 

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

The offer will be evaluated based on a Combined Scoring method where the qualifications will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.

The criteria for the technical scoring will be the following:

Top shortlisted bidders may be called for an interview to further assess fitness for the role.