Principal Consultant for Terminal Evaluation of the UNEP/GEF Project “Multi Country Project to Strengthen Institutional Capacity on LMO Testing in Support of National Decision Making” – GEF ID 5283” at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Duties and Responsibilities

ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING.

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations systems designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. This consultancy is located at Headquarters in the Evaluation Office which reports directly to the Executive Director. The consultant reports to the Director of the Evaluation Office and the Evaluation Officer managing the evaluation.

THE PROJECT

• The project purpose was to contribute to ensuring an adequate level of protection in the field of safe transfer, handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from LMOs that could have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, also taking into account risks to human health, and specifically focusing on transboundary movements.
• The objective was to build and strengthen institutional and human capacities for living modified organisms (LMOs) detection in support of national biosafety decision making processes in selected Southern African countries. The focus was to build capacities in six countries: Angola, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique.

THE EVALUATION

• In line with the UNEP Evaluation Policy and the UNEP Project and Programme Management Manual, the Terminal Evaluation is undertaken at operational 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, RAEIN-Africa and key project country stakeholders. Therefore, the Evaluation will identify lessons of operational relevance for future project formulation and implementation, especially where follow-on interventions or a second phase of the project are being considered. Recommendations relevant to the whole house may also be identified during the evaluation process.

THE EVALUATION TEAM

• For this Evaluation, the Evaluation Team will consist of a Principal Evaluator and one Evaluation Specialist who will work under the overall responsibility of the Evaluation Office represented by an Evaluation Manager, in consultation with the UNEP Task Manager, Fund Management Officer, the Sub-programme Coordinator for Nature Action (formerly, Healthy and Productive Ecosystems), and the Sub-programme Coordinator of the Environmental Governance Sub-programme.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PRINCIPAL EVALUATOR

• The Principal Evaluator will be responsible, in close consultation with the Evaluation Manager, for overall management of the Evaluation and timely provision of its outputs. S(he) will be responsible for translation of the final Executive Summary of the report in either French or Portuguese.

The Evaluation Team members will work together to undertake the following:
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);
• develop and present criteria for country and/or site selection for the evaluation mission;
• 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;
• (where appropriate and agreed) conduct an evaluation mission(s) to selected countries, visit the project locations, interview project partners and stakeholders, including a good representation of local communities. 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 Team 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)
• prepare a translation of the Executive Summary in French and Portuguese.

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.
• The Principal evaluator shall have had no prior involvement in the formulation or implementation of the project. The consultant will sign the Evaluation Consultant Code of Conduct Agreement Form.
• The Principal evaluator will be selected and recruited by the UNEP Evaluation Office through an individual Special Service Agreement (SSA) consultancy contract.
• Comprehensive terms of reference will be shared with consultant separately.

Qualifications/special skills

• A first level university degree in environmental sciences, international development or other relevant political or social sciences area is required.
• An advanced degree in the same areas is desirable.
• A minimum of 8 years of professional experience is required, and evaluation experience and a broad understanding of biosafety and biodiversity are required.
• Working knowledge of development oriented organizations, Intergovernmental processes and United Nations coordination bodies are an added advantage.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English and Portuguese is a requirement and knowledge of French is desirable.

04 August 2023