Project Evaluation Expert at UN-Habitat

Objectives

• The midterm evaluation are forward looking and will capture effectively lessons learned and provide information on the nature, extent and where possible, the potential impact and sustainability of the project. The evaluation will assess the programme’ design, scope, implementation status and the capacity to achieve the expected outcomes. They will collate and analyze lessons learned, challenges faced, and best practices obtained during implementation period which will inform the second phase of implementation (2024-2025) of the joint programme.
• The emphasis on lessons learned speaks to the issue of understanding what has and what has not worked as a guide for future planning. The evaluations will assess the performance of the programme against planned results. They will also assess the preliminary indications of potential impact and sustainability of results including the contribution to capacity development and achievement of sustainable development goals. The findings and recommendations of the evaluations will inform the key stakeholders of this evaluation.
• The project is being implemented between April 2022 until March 2025, and this evaluation will cover period from the commencement of the project until the mid-term (December 2023). It will assess the following categories of the project performance through a set of proposed evaluation questions that will be further supplemented with sub-questions:

Relevance:

• To what extent are the stated outcomes and outputs of the project on track?
• What factors have contributed to achieving or hindering the achievement of expected outcomes and outputs?
• How relevant is the project to the target groups’ needs and priorities? Is there a focus on the most vulnerable ones?
• To what extent are poor, indigenous and physically challenged, women, men and other disadvantaged and marginalized groups benefiting from the project?
• Are there any outstanding examples of how these cross-cutting issues are being successfully applied in the project?

Effectiveness: 

• Is the project effective in delivering desired/planned results? 
• Is the achievement of results and its corresponding indicators effective enough for measuring progress on specific outputs?
• To what extent does the Project’s M&E mechanism contribute to meeting project results?
• What are the future intervention strategies and issues?
• How are the risks being minimized and addressed if encountered?
• Are the key elements in place that ensure the effectiveness of the project?

Efficiency:

• Is the process of achieving results up-to-date efficient? Specifically, did the actual or expected results (outputs and outcomes) justify the costs incurred? Were the resources effectively utilized?
• What factors are contributing to implementation efficiency?
• Do project activities overlap and duplicate other similar interventions (funded nationally and /or by other donors? Are there more efficient ways and means to deliver better results (outputs and outcomes) with the available inputs? 
• How is the project’s collaboration with the government in the nine countries/ cities?
• How does the project financial management processes and procedures affect project implementation?
• To what extent is the project management complete or are there any adjustments needed to the project management team? 

Impact and Sustainability:

• Were there any unforeseen positive/negative effects of the activities?
• What are the key factors that will require attention in order to improve prospects of sustainability of outcomes and the potential for replication of the project’s approach? 
• How are capacities strengthened at the individual and organizational level? 
• What is the likelihood of continuation and sustainability of the programme outcome and benefits after completion of each of the programme?
• Is there any justification for the likelihood, which might be paid more attention to in the following implementation months? 
• Describe the main lessons that have emerged.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

• The Project objective is to promote inclusive post-pandemic recovery and advance the localization of the SDGs in selected 9 countries in Asia and the Pacific, Africa and Arab States. It is articulated around five key components: (i) Technical Cooperation, (ii) Regional processes,
• (iii) Normative development, (iv) Multilevel governance, (v) capacity building, and (vi) global and regional advocacy. Its implementation is grounded on a territorial approach to sustainable development and the principles of the New Urban Agenda (NUA).
• The project has two outcomes with 15 related indicators to measure progress of achievement.
• Outcome 1: Strengthened capacities of local and regional governments to develop voluntary local reviews and localize the SDGs to advance the post-pandemic recovery process.
• Outcome 2: Enhanced multilevel governance and interlinkages between local and national governments as well as regional and international processes on SDGs implementation and COVID-19 recovery.
• The project's results framework, with objective, outcomes, indicators to measure progress, outputs and means of verification is annexed to the TOR as Annex 1.
• Ultimate result of service

The three primary deliverables for this terminal evaluation are:

• Inception report (Max. 15 pages). The consultant is expected to review relevant information including TOR and develop fully informed inception report, detailing how the evaluation is to be conducted, what is to be delivered and when. The inception report should include evaluation purpose and objectives, scope and focus, evaluation issues and tailored questions, methodology, evaluation work plan and deliverables. Once approved, it will become the key management 
• document for the evaluation, guiding the evaluation delivery in accordance with UN-Habitat's expectations.
• Draft evaluation report(s). The consultant will prepare draft evaluation report(s) which should contain an executive summary that can act as standalone document. The executive summary should include an overview of what is evaluated, purpose and objectives of the evaluation and intended audience, the evaluation methodology, most important findings and main recommendations. UN-Habitat will provide feedback on draft evaluation report and the evaluator finalizes it accordingly
• Mid-term evaluation report should not exceed 40 pages (excluding Executive Summary and appendices). In general, the report should be technically easy to comprehend for non- specialists, containing detailed evaluation findings, lessons learned and recommendations. The final version of the report must be validated by UN-Habitat.

Reporting line.

• The consultant reports to the Human Settlements Officer, Urban Practices Branch

Qualifications/special skills

• An advanced university degree or equivalent background in urban planning, economics, project management, international development, program evaluation or any relevant discipline. Required.
• Minimum 7 years of experience in evaluation of projects is required.
• Experience with working on projects related to urban development, decentralization, SDG Localization is desirable.

Languages

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.

Deadline : Dec 28, 2023