| Description |
INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANT, MID-TERM REVIEW, UNDP-GEF PROJECT - STRENGTHENING ADAPTIVE CAPACITIES TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE THREATS ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES IN HAITI
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| Location : |
Port au Prince (with field trips in country), HAITI |
| Application Deadline : |
26-Jul-13 |
| Additional Category |
Environment and Energy |
| Type of Contract : |
Individual Contract |
| Post Level : |
International Consultant |
Languages Required :
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English French |
| Duration of Initial Contract : |
30 days |
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Background
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In accordance with UNDP and GEF M&E policies and procedures, mid-term reviews are required for full sized UNDP supported projects with GEF financing, and are highly recommended for medium-sized projects with GEF financing. All full and medium-sized UNDP support GEF financed projects are required to undergo a terminal evaluation upon completion of implementation. These terms of reference (TOR) sets out the expectations for a Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the “Strengthening Adaptive Capacities to Address Climate Change Threats on Sustainable Development Strategies for Coastal Communities in Haiti” (PIMS 3971).
The essentials of the project to be evaluated are as follows:
Objective and Scope
The proposed project follows from the findings and recommendations of Haiti's NAPA, which has identified the coastal development sector as a top national priority for climate change adaptation. In line with guidance for the LDCF (GEF/C.28/18, May 12, 2006), this proposal seeks LDCF funding for a programmatic approach to support climate risks management (CRM) in the most vulnerable Low-Elevation Coastal Zones (LECZ) of Haiti. LDCF resources will be used specifically to meet the additional cost of building national and local adaptive capacities, enhancing the resilience of current coastal development policies and plans to climate change risks, as well as implementing an urgent set of pilot adaptation measures in response to the most pressing threats posed by climate change on coastal populations and economy.
Ranking 155th in the HDR list, Haiti belongs to the poorest LDCs group and has long been vulnerable to climate related disasters. Haiti has long been vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes. The country lies on the primary pathway of tropical storms that originate in the Atlantic and strike Caribbean islands every hurricane season. However, in recent years, the country has been afflicted by a significant increase in the occurrence of severe natural disasters. Haiti has recently been identified as one of the country’s most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The main climate change-induced problem facing most vulnerable Low-Elevation Coastal Zones (LECZ) of Haiti to be addressed by the project is that climate change is likely to further increase. The local and national governments presently lack the technical capacity, management capacity, physical resources and financial resources to overcome or cope with the anticipated changes. The coastal population in particular lacks the capacity, resources and financial assistance to adapt to and overcome worsening climatic conditions.
The project addresses climate change adaptation needs, a national development priority and identified in the current UN and UNDP cooperation frameworks in Haiti. In particular, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2006-2010 and the UNDP Country Program Action Plan (CPAP) identifies climate change as a major threat to development and UNDP Haiti is committed to invest core resources to support the project. This project, being the first of its kind, with support from the GEF, and other national and international partners, will try to help raise awareness on vulnerability of coastal areas in the context of CC, and the relationship between CC and food security. The project through a systemic approach will focus on advocating for better planning and investment policies in coastal areas and food security, building capacities and improving better decision frameworks where and when possible. While this initiative will focus largely on the impact of climate change in coastal zones, it will also analyze and state the importance of the key sectors which are integral to the overall development goals set forth in the NAPA, namely water management and food security. To achieve this, the following outcomes will be delivered:
Project Objective:
To strengthen adaptive capacities of populations and productive sectors in coastal areas to address increasing climate change risks.
Project outcomes:
- Outcome 1: Institutional capacity to plan for and respond to increasing coastal and food security hazards improved.
- Outcome 2: Climate risks management is fully mainstreamed into humanitarian and development investment frameworks.
- Outcome 3: Resilience of low-elevation coastal zones and for the food security sector to emerging climate change threats enhanced.
- Outcome 4: Models of best practices and lessons learned from the project activities captured and institutionalized.
The MTR will be conducted according to the guidance, rules and procedures established by UNDP and GEF as reflected in the UNDP Evaluation Guidance for GEF Financed Projects.
With the objective to strengthen the project adaptive management and monitoring, mid-term reviews are intended to identify potential project design problems, assess progress towards the achievement of objectives and make recommendations regarding specific actions that might be taken to improve the project. As such the MTR provides the opportunity to assess early signs of project success or failure and prompt necessary adjustments. Another objective of the MTR is to ensure accountability for the achievement the GEF objective. Through the identification and documentation of lessons learned (including lessons that might improve design and implementation of other UNDP/GEF projects) an MTR also enhances organizational and development learning.
The main stakeholders of this MTR are: evaluation users, partners, donors and staff of executing and other relevant agencies, beneficiaries…). See term of reference: here.
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Duties and Responsibilities
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An overall approach and method for conducting project mid-term reviews of UNDP supported GEF financed projects has developed over time. The evaluator is expected to frame the evaluation effort using the criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact, as defined and explained in the UNDP Guidance for Conducting Terminal Evaluations of UNDP-supported, GEF-financed Projects. A set of questions covering each of these criteria have been drafted and are included with this TOR (Annex C) The evaluator is expected to amend, complete and submit this matrix as part of an evaluation inception report, and shall include it as an annex to the final report.
The evaluation must provide evidence-based information that is credible, reliable and useful. The evaluator is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach ensuring close engagement with government counterparts, in particular the GEF operational focal point, UNDP Country Office, project team, UNDP GEF Technical Adviser based in the region and key stakeholders. The evaluator is expected to conduct a field mission to Haïti including if necessary the following project sites: Jacmel, pilot project in South-East department. Interviews will be held with the following organizations and individuals at a minimum:
- Project manager and project team, UNDP Haïti;
- Ministry of Environment;
- Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources Department;
- GEF focal point in Haiti;
- CNIGS, CIAT, CNSA, DINEPA;
- Direction Départementale de l’Environnement du Sud Est.
The evaluator will review all relevant sources of information, such as the project document, project reports – including Annual APR/PIR, project budget revisions, midterm review, progress reports, GEF focal area tracking tools, project files, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the evaluator considers useful for this evidence-based assessment. A list of documents that the project team will provide to the evaluator for review is included in Annex B of this Terms of Reference.
An assessment of project performance will be carried out, based against expectations set out in the Project Logical Framework/Results Framework (see Annex A), which provides performance and impact indicators for project implementation along with their corresponding means of verification. The evaluation will at a minimum cover the criteria of: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact. Ratings must be provided on the following performance criteria. The completed table must be included in the evaluation executive summary.
The obligatory rating scales are included in Annex D. Project finance / cofinance
- The evaluation will assess the key financial aspects of the project, including the extent of co-financing planned and realized. Project cost and funding data will be required, including annual expenditures. Variances between planned and actual expenditures will need to be assessed and explained. Results from recent financial audits, as available, should be taken into consideration. The evaluator(s) will receive assistance from the Country Office (CO) and Project Team to obtain financial data in order to complete the co-financing table below, which will be included in the midterm review report.
Mainstreaming
- UNDP supported GEF financed projects are key components in UNDP country programming, as well as regional and global programmes. The evaluation will assess the extent to which the project was successfully mainstreamed with other UNDP priorities, including poverty alleviation, improved governance, the prevention and recovery from natural disasters, and gender.
Impact
- The evaluators will assess the extent to which the project is achieving impacts or progressing towards the achievement of impacts. Key findings that should be brought out in the evaluations include whether the project has demonstrated: a) verifiable improvements in ecological status, b) verifiable reductions in stress on ecological systems, and/or c) demonstrated progress towards these impact achievements
Conclusions, recommendations & lessons
- The evaluation report must include a chapter providing a set of conclusions, recommendations and lessons.
Implementation arrangements
- The principal responsibility for managing this evaluation resides with the UNDP CO in Haïti. The UNDP CO will contract the evaluators and ensure the timely provision of per diems and travel arrangements within the country for the evaluation team. The Project Team will be responsible for liaising with the Evaluators team to set up stakeholder interviews, arrange field visits, coordinate with the Government etc.
Evaluation timeframe
- The total duration of the evaluation will be 30 working days according to the following plan:
Evaluation deliverables
- The evaluator is expected to deliver the following:
When submitting the final evaluation report, the evaluator is required also to provide an 'audit trail', detailing how all received comments have (and have not) been addressed in the final evaluation report.
Reports shall be submitted in English.
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Competencies
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Core competencies:
- Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
- Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.
Functional competencies:
- Strong abilities to analysis and attention to detail;
- Capable of planning, organizing, initiative and autonomy;
- Capacity to work in a multicultural environment and several languages;
- Strong abilities to write evaluation reports, good oral and written communication skills in both French and English.
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Required Skills and Experience
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Education:
- Master or PhD degrees in biodiversity conservation, environmental economics or related fields.
Experience:
- Minimum 5 years of relevant professional experience in Environmental sciences, Climate Change impacts, mitigation and adaptation or related field;
- Professional expertise and experience in Climate Change impacts, mitigation and adaptation;
- Knowledge of UNDP and GEF;
- The consultant shall have prior experience in evaluating similar projects;
- Experience with GEF financed projects is an advantage;
- Previous experience with results-based monitoring and evaluation methodologies;
- Previous experience with mid-term evaluation/review of GEF funded projects;
- Previous experience in Haiti or in the Caribbean region.
Language:
- Proficiency in English and French.
Application process
Individual consultants are invited to submit applications together with their CV and the financial offer for this position. The application should contain a current and complete C.V. in English with indication of the e-mail and phone contact. Shortlisted candidates will be requested to submit a price offer indicating the total cost of the assignment (including daily fee, per diem and travel costs).
UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that will take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals. Qualified women and members of social minorities are encouraged to apply.
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