Consultant: International Consultant in the Evaluation of Achievements

The primary objective of the “Control of Invasive Species in the Galapagos Archipelago” Project, signed by the Ecuadorian government, represented by the Ministry of the Environment (MAE), with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is to provide Ecuadorian institutions in charge of the conservation of the islands, with a set of tools that will enable them to confront the threat of invasive species which contribute to the degradation of natural habitats and compete with the native species of the islands.

The objective of this consultancy is to carry out the Final Project Evaluation, which is a requirement for UNDP projects.  This evaluation will be conducted according to the guidelines, rules and procedures of UNDP and the GEF. 

This evaluation will analyze the implementation of the project, review the project’s achievements in fulfilling the project objective and the expected results, assess the importance, the performance, the relevance, the execution and the success of the project; it will seek evidence of potential impact and the sustainability of the results, including the contribution of the project to build capacities and to meeting global environmental goals.  It will also seek to identify and document the lessons learned and will make recommendations on how to improve the design and implementation of other projects of UNDP/GEF and other agencies and countries.  The lessons learned will also serve to provide guidelines for future invasive species interventions in Ecuador . (For further details, please review attached documentation)

The Consultant of Evaluation Achievements will be responsible for:

• Evaluating the project design, its relevance and its progress toward the established objectives.
• Evaluating different aspects of the project such as sustainability, ownership, monitoring and evaluation, efficiency, the achievement of impacts, financial sustainability and institutional capacity, among others.
• Evaluating the implementation capacities of the different project entities, thoroughly reviewing their capacity to carry out their specific responsibilities.
• Evaluating how the different project entities interacted with each other, and how they maintained a clear definition of roles and responsibilities.
• Compiling and editing the inputs of the evaluation team and preparing the final report.

• Ensuring the independence of the exercise, the Consultant contracted must be free from any potential conflict of interest with the implementing partners of the project.
• Ability to comply with tight deadlines.

• Education and training in disciplines related to sustainable development with an emphasis on conservation,biodiversity, natural resource management and preferably with experience with invasive species.
• Significant experience (at least 5 years) in the design, implementation and evaluation of biodiversity conservation projects.
• Experience in project monitoring and evaluation conservation projects in Galapagos or in other similar ecosystems will be an advantage.
• Familiarity with monitoring and evaluation of projects carried out by the GEF and/or UNDP will be an advantage.
• Thorough knowledge of the logical framework methodology and familiarity with governmental organizations, private sector and non-governmental organizations involved in the environment and natural resource conservation sector.
• Fluency in English.
• Knowledge of Spanish is preferred.