Evaluation Consultant for Terminal Evaluation of the UNEP/GEF project "Support to Eligible Parties to Produce the Sixth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

 This consultancy is located at Headquarters in the Evaluation Office which reports directly to the Executive Director. The consultant reports to the Evaluation Officer managing the project and the Director of the Evaluation Office (EO).

The Terminal Evaluation is undertaken at completion of the project to assess project performance (in terms of relevance, effectiveness and efficiency), and determine outcomes and impacts (actual and potential) stemming from the project, including their sustainability. The evaluation has two primary purposes: (i) to provide evidence of results to meet accountability requirements, and (ii) to promote operational improvement, learning and knowledge sharing through results and lessons learned among UNEP, UNDP, UNEP-WCMC, and the Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and the participating Parties. Therefore, the evaluation will identify lessons of operational relevance for future project formulation and implementation, especially where a second phase of the project is being considered.

The Evaluation Consultant will be responsible, in close consultation with the Evaluation Office of UNEP for overall management of the evaluation and timely provision of its outputs. The Evaluation Consultant will ensure that all evaluation criteria and questions are adequately covered.

In close consultation with the Evaluation Manager, the evaluation consultant will be responsible for the overall management of the evaluation and timely provision of its outputs, data collection and analysis and report-writing. More specifically:
Inception phase of the evaluation, including:

• preliminary desk review and introductory interviews with project staff;
• draft the reconstructed Theory of Change of the project;
• prepare the evaluation framework;
• develop the desk review and interview protocols;
• draft the survey protocols (if relevant);
• plan the evaluation schedule;
• prepare the Inception Report, incorporating comments until approved by the Evaluation Manager
• Data collection and analysis phase of the evaluation, including:
• conduct further desk review and in-depth interviews with project implementing and executing agencies, project partners and project stakeholders;
• interview project partners and stakeholders. Ensure independence of the evaluation and confidentiality of evaluation interviews.
• regularly report back to the Evaluation Manager on progress and inform of any possible problems or issues encountered and;
• keep the Project/Task Manager informed of the evaluation progress.
• Reporting phase, including:
• draft the Main Evaluation Report, ensuring that the evaluation report is complete, coherent and consistent with the Evaluation Manager guidelines both in substance and style;
• liaise with the Evaluation Manager on comments received and finalize the Main Evaluation Report, ensuring that comments are taken into account until approved by the Evaluation Manager
• prepare a Response to Comments annex for the main report, listing those comments not accepted by the evaluation consultant and indicating the reason for the rejection; and
• (where agreed with the Evaluation Manager) prepare an Evaluation Brief (2-page summary of the evaluand and the key evaluation findings and lessons)
• Managing relations, including:
• maintain a positive relationship with evaluation stakeholders, ensuring that the evaluation process is as participatory as possible but at the same time maintains its independence;
• communicate in a timely manner with the Evaluation Manager on any issues requiring its attention and intervention.

Qualifications/special skills

• Academic Qualifications: A university degree in environmental sciences or other relevant sciences area is required and an advanced degree in the same areas is desirable.
• Experience: A minimum of 5 years of technical or evaluation experience is required, preferably including evaluating large, regional or global programmes and using a Theory of Change approach; and a good/broad understanding of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and/or biodiversity and/or biosafety management is desired.
• Working knowledge of the UN system and specifically the work of UNEP and other international organizations is an added advantage. The work will be home-based with no field visits.
• Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English is a requirement.