Consultant: Project Final Evaluator

The stated goal of the project is to reduce GHG emissions in Lebanon by improving demand side energy efficiency through the creation of the Lebanese Centre for Energy Conservation. The Centre, which is a “soft” and flexible institutional set-up, will simultaneously undertake barrier removal activities and provide energy efficiency services to the public and private sector industries.

While the conception of the project dates back to 1999, the project was formally launched in 2002 with USD 3.4 million of GEF financing and 0.5 USD Ministry of Energy and Water financing.  Due to some delays during the implementation and the time needed to successfully conclude the project activities, the project was operationally completed at the end of 2009.  Previous project evaluations took place in 2003 and 2007.

UNDP/GEF and the Ministry of Energy and Water seek an international expert to undertake a final evaluation of the project to determine whether the project has met its initial objectives and to recommend the most appropriate next steps to ensure the sustainability of the centre.

Tasks & Expected Output

The objective of this final evaluation is to review the achievements of the project relative to the original and revised project activities, outputs and outcomes.  It also aims to look at the sustainability of the project and identify recommendations for future actions. 
 
The scope of the project should also look at the support LCEC has provided to the Government at the policy level and assess its impact on the private sector.  The evaluator should seek the perspectives of the different project stakeholders, both within and outside the Ministry of Energy and Water and in the different areas of the country where the project has worked.
 
As a part of this, the consultant is expected to accomplish the following tasks: 

• 1. Review of the status of the project activities, outputs and outcomes verses the stated targets of the original project document and its agreed amendments;
• 2. Evaluate the adequacy and relevance of the project activities and achievements by taking into account the overall GHG reduction, policy and sustainability goals, the specific project environment in Lebanon as well the international experiences, lessons learnt and best practices;
• 3. Review of the effectiveness of the project implementation and the use of its financial resources, including adaptive management applied for the revision of the project implementation mechanisms and other actions to overcome the obstacles identified during the implementation of the project;
• 4. Review the current monitoring procedures and methodologies in place to measure the actual energy savings and GHG reduction that can be attributed to the project activities and provide advice for their future development; 
• 5. Review availability of relevant complementary data (from similar programmes/projects).
• 6. Evaluate the project's effort level in raising additional funds towards newly developed energy efficiency and renewable energy projects as well as the support provided to other on-going projects;
• 7. Estimate the impact and effectiveness level of the project's activities, outputs and outcomes to-date on  national level in general and on Lebanese main stakeholders in specific;
• 8. Evaluate the impact of the project on policies and regulations as well as the advisory services provided to the Government and UNDP Energy and Environment Programme within the direct and indirect scope of the project;
• 9. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of original M&E design and the quality of data that have been generated
• 10. Provide recommendations on future follow-up activities and needs or corrective actions (if applicable), for which support could be requested in the future.
• 11. Analyse UNDP’s partnership strategy and its relation to effectiveness in achieving the outcome and elaborate on UNDP strategic positioning and its comparative advantage to assist is future energy projects/programmes
• 12. Identify and provide recommendations on any follow-up activities,

The work is expected to be carried out by one internationally recruited consultant with expertise on promoting demand side energy efficiency at the residential and service sector buildings and in industrial facilities.   

The methodology of work will consist of desk review of relevant project documentation (the key documents to be selected in co-operation with the project team prior to the mission) and direct consultations with the project management and other key local stakeholders during a 6 day mission to Beirut in June or July 2010. UNDP will pay for the consultant’s travel and subsistence allowance needs related to this mission.

The overall duration of the tasks covered by this ToR has been estimated to not exceed 20 days, including the mission to Beirut and related desk-work to pre-review the required project documentation and to finalize the reporting.
 
Expected Outputs

The final report and an associated PowerPoint presentation (the latter to be delivered and discussed with the project management and UNDP programme management in the end of the mission) summarizing the findings of the evaluation and the proposed follow-up actions.
 
The content of the final report is expected to follow the structure below and to be in line with required GEF and UNDP formats for final evaluations:

• Executive summary
• Introduction, including description of the work conducted
• Findings and conclusions
• Recommendations,
• An annex providing a brief summary of the key documents reviewed and persons interviewed with the description of the key content / conclusions drawn.

Guidance material will be provided by UNDP and will include the following:

• Quality Criteria for Evaluation Report
• Ethical Code of Conduct for Evaluation in UNDP
• GEF Terminal Evaluation Guidelines

Purchases & Inputs
 
The Consultant shall coordinate and work with the UNDP and LCECP project management team located at Ministry of Energy & Water. 

The Consultant will provide the UNDP and LCECP management team with the necessary technical and managerial expertise on the various project's activities, with emphasis on actual energy savings and GHG emissions reduction Based on the Consultant's assessment of the project's activities, the Consultant will also need to guide UNDP and LCECP management team towards future project development.

Education: 

• Advanced University degree in engineering, business, economics or equivalent from reputable university (application to the energy industry is a plus).

Experience: 

• More than 10 years of working experience in the areas addressed by the project with a good knowledge of the state of the art approaches and international best practices;
• Prior evaluation experience of similar projects in GEF programme countries and familiarity with the specific GEF monitoring and evaluation requirements; 
• Knowledge of CO2 emissions reduction estimation as per GEF methodology
• Previous knowledge of the Lebanese energy sector is a plus.

Language & Computer Skills:

• Good oral and written communication in English (French is a plus);
• Computer skills (e.g. Microsoft including MS Project, MS-Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Access).