National Consultant – Social Capital Development and Economic growth at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) November, 2017

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively. In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights, capacity development and the empowerment of women.

We are recruiting to fill the vacant position below:

Job Title: National Consultant – Social Capital Development and Economic Growth

Location: Abuja

Type of Contract: Individual Contract

Post Level: National Consultant

Starting Date: 29th November 2017

Duration of Initial Contract:24 Working days

Expected Duration of Assignment: 24 Working days

Scope of Work

• The broader aim of the evaluation, as stated above, is to generate a usable evaluation report that would aid the inherent culture of learning and accountability in the United Nations system programming processes in terms of progress made towards the attainment of the main outcomes and outputs of the UNDAF III.
• The evaluation would also provide relevant information and strategic recommendations that would support the UN system in Nigeria to enrich the UNSDPF implementation in a timely and most effective manner. The recommendations will aim to improve the strategies, implementation mechanism, and management efficiency of UNSDPF-2018-2022.
• The Evaluation exercise will cover the current cycle of the UNDAF III from 2014-2017 and will holistically review and systematically analyze recorded achievements and the accompanying strategies and how all these aided the UN in delivering on its mandate. Finally, the evaluation will identify lessons in implementing the UNDAF III, with a particular focus on the governance process and Coordination mechanisms including the PMT, UNCT, UNM&E group, RC office and DaO Lead Agencies and Groups.
• The recommendations, if any, will aim to improve the implementation mechanism, and management efficiency of UNSDPF-2018-2022.

In particular, the evaluation will:

• Assess the progress or lack thereof, towards the expected results as defined in the theory of change for UNDAF III cycle. Where appropriate, the evaluation will also highlight unexpected results (positive or negative) and missed opportunities;
• Provide an analysis of how the UN has positioned itself to add value in response to national needs and changes in the national development context;
• Present key findings, draw key lessons learned, and provide a set of clear and forward-looking options leading to strategic and actionable recommendations to support and adjust the UNSDPF implementation.
• Assess the contributions made by the UNCT in the result framework of the UNDAF and its contribution to national development results(accountability);
• Identify the factors that have affected positively or negatively the UNCT’s contribution, and explaining the enabling factors and bottlenecks (learning)

Evaluation Methodology and Approach

• The Evaluation shall benefit from existing or newly commissioned studies, research or evaluations conducted by an individual or collaborating Agencies including the UN Agencies.
• Based on the documented innovations, lessons learnt and findings from the research, studies and evaluations, the Consultants will work with the UN and partners to conduct in-depth analysis of progress towards results, identify lessons learnt and propose corrective actions. The consultants will work with state governments and UNS to produce a report on lessons learnt related to some Delivering as One focus states (Benue, Anambra, Cross River, Oyo, Lagos, etc) and FCT to feed into the Evaluation report.

Data Collection

• In terms of data collection, the evaluation will use a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach that will include document reviews, SWOT Analysis, group and individual interviews and field visits as appropriate.
• Final methods to be selected must match the above stated objectives and specific questions. It is expected that the technical proposal will:
• Identify methodology and sample (address sampling limitations)
• Level of stakeholders’ participation amongst other issues

Information Sources:

• The following minimum documents will be used for obtaining detailed background information on the UNDAF III:  The UNDAF Document; The results matrix; The monitoring and evaluation framework and plans; Joint Annual Work Plans for the DaO states and FCT;  Mid-term/End of Year reviews report, Relevant Reports.

Validation :

• The Evaluation Team will use a variety of methods to ensure that the data is valid, including triangulation.

Stakeholders’ Involvement

• The Evaluation will be managed by the UNDAF M&E group to ensure independence of the process.  A reference group, as per the UNEG guidance, will be created to guide the evaluation exercise.  An inclusive approach, involving a broad range of partners and stakeholders, will be taken for evaluation process.

The Evaluation Process and Work Plan

• The process of the evaluation will be divided into three phases, each including several steps:
• Phase 0: Evaluability assessment: the consultant will identify and review the basic documentation and discuss with key stakeholders to ensure proper response to the evaluability assessment questions. The deliverable is an evaluability assessment report.
• Phase 3: Drafting and validating the Evaluation Report: A draft evaluation report will be prepared by the evaluation team after the data collection and analysis exercise. The draft report will be submitted by the Lead Consultant to the Evaluation Committee/RCO. ii. Review and Quality Assurance – The Lead consultant will be directly responsible for addressing any comments or observations towards eventual finalization of the report by securing inputs from the respective subject area consultants. iii. Presentation of findings, Validation and submission of report- The Evaluation team shall present the final draft for validation to stakeholders in designated meetings while the final report shall be submitted to the UNCT via the Chair of Evaluation Committee/RCO (Word and PDF version).
• Phase 1: Preparation and Inception Phase: i. Desk review ii. UNDAF Evaluability assessment iii Stakeholder mapping; iv. Development of an operational/logistical plan. The Output and deliverable of this phase is the Inception Report.
• Phase 2: Data Collection and Preliminary Analysis Phase: At the end of this phase, the evaluation team will provide a debriefing of the preliminary findings to the UNCT/PMT, take initial comments and validate the preliminary findings.

Deliverables:

• Inception report describing consultants’ understanding of the assignment and which includes his/her detailed plan to execute it (5-10-page document). The report should also further refine the overall evaluation scope, approach, design and timeframe, and provide a detail outline of the evaluation methodology and is to be delivered
• 4 days after the start of the assignment.
• Progress report/briefing to the Evaluation Committee/PMT/RCO (the briefing periodicity to be determined in the Inception Report
• SWOT analysis report on the sample DaO focus states in Nigeria
• Comprehensive Final Evaluation Report (20 pages content including not more that 4-page Executive Summary)
• A final Power Point presentation containing the main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation for dissemination and debriefing purposes.

Time Frame and Remuneration:

• The consultancy is expected to last four weeks (24 working days) starting November 19, 2017 Remuneration will be in accordance with the UN Rules and Regulations and will be commensurate with the complexity of the assignment based on the signed contract administered by UNDP Service center. The Consultancy fee will be paid as a lump sum contract  in line with the following schedule and upon acceptance of key deliverables:
• At the end of the Evaluability assessment, and submission and approval of the inception report (last week of November):20%
• At the submission of the Final Draft Reports (1st and 2nd week of December):50%
• At the end of the Evaluation exercise (3rd week of December): 30%

Composition of the Evaluation Team:

• There will be a team of three (3) consultants made up of one international expert and two National Experts; the international consultant will be the team leader. Each of the other two national consultants should possess relevant qualifications and experience in at least one of the four UNDAF-III outcome areas. As much as possible, the composition of the team should be gender sensitive.
• The selected consultants are expected to be independent and should not have been involved in the implementation of UNDAF III programmes in any of the Agencies.

Tasks of the Consultants

• Thoroughly review and familiarize self with the UNDAF documents including the Country Analysis, the UNDAF Outcomes, the UNDAF Results Matrix, the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and the UNDAF Evaluation Concept Note/TORs;
• Present the draft Evaluation Report as per the process described in point “Phase 3: Drafting the Evaluation Report” above and incorporate any comments or changes and produce the final draft of the report;
• In close consultation with the RCO, manage the day-to-day coordination of the detailed tasks of the Evaluation including communication with the Evaluation focal points in the Agencies, sending, receiving and proper archiving of documents; organizing and facilitating consultative/coordination meetings etc;
• Participate actively and take initiative in the meetings of PMT/EC on the Evaluation;
• Convene coordination meetings with and provide technical guidance to the UNDAF Area/Sub-area consultants and ensure their full understanding and application of the Evaluation principles and guidelines to both the processes and outputs.
• Attend and provide technical support to UNDAF Area/Sub-area consultative and review meetings;
• Review and analyze inputs from all UN agencies and stakeholders, ensure that the reports answer the Evaluation Questions (see above) and collate into the draft Evaluation Report;
• Draft the text for the crosscutting parts of the report including the executive summary; and synthesis of the Situation Analysis update, the constraints, the lessons learnt, summary of proposed changes and recommendations for UNDAF III;
• Plan, organize, facilitate and summarize outputs from a participatory comprehensive SWOT analysis of the Delivering-as-One planning and operationalization process;
• In collaboration with the Office of the RC, lead the planning for, and organization of, the Evaluation meeting including preparation of the report document, the accompanying presentations and the meeting logistics;
• Attend Evaluation meetings and incorporate any comments or changes and produce the final Evaluation report.