Updating of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework for the Sustainable Management of Namibia’s Forested Lands (NAFOLA) Project and Training of Staff on Results Based Management (RBM)

Background

The Sustainable Management of Namibia’s Forested Lands (NAFOLA) Project is a five year project funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) and the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP). The project is working towards reducing pressure on forest resources by facilitating the gazettement of Community Forests (CFs), and increasing the capacity for the uptake of improved agriculture, livestock and forestry management practices in the community forest areas.

Community Forestry is part of Namibia’s Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) approach. The CBNRM provides local communities with rights to manage forest resources, through the formation and registration of Community Forests (CFs). As stipulated in the Forest Act, these rights include the use of wood and non-wood products for commercial purposes; the issuing of forest-use permits at community level; and the management of grazing areas. According to the Forest Policy, forest management plans based on participatory resource assessments and regular resource monitoring should determine types and quantities of products that can be harvested to meet daily subsistence needs, without destroying the resource base. Product harvesting, processing and marketing can be outsourced through the issuing of permits by the forest management body, undertaken by community members themselves, or organised in the form of contract-based joint ventures. As such, community forestry is aimed to provide additional incomes to participating communities and to create employment opportunities.

The NAFOLA project’s goal is to maintain current dry forests and the ecosystem goods and services they provide in 13 Community Forests covering over 2.8 million hectares of forest lands through legalization of Community Forests. An additional 500,000ha will be supported to adopt sustainable land management (SLM) and other improved technologies.

A midterm evaluation of the NAFOLA project was completed in August 2017. One of the key recommendations from the evaluation was that the project needs to strengthen its monitoring 

and evaluation (M&E). Similarly, the capacity needs assessment for the Directorate of Forestry (which was carried out by the project in 2016) also revealed that M&E was an area of weakness for the Directorate. Again, the National Forestry Strategy as well as the Comprehensive Assessment of Capacities for Institutions and Agencies supporting CBRNM report of 2013 report highlighted that M&E is a weakness in the Directorate of Forestry.

It is against this background that the Project seeks to recruit a consultant(s) to provide training to MAWF officials and project staff on results based management, including M&E and to facilitate the updating of a monitoring and evaluation framework for the project. The M&E framework should include gender aggregated data and reference to the Sustainable Development Goals

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the assignment is to enhance the capacity of the Directorate of Forestry and project staff on monitoring and evaluation, in the context of results based management. It is further expected that the consultancy will provide the Project Management Unit and the Directorate of Forestry with tools to effectively monitor and evaluate results.

Specific activities

• Training for MAWF and project staff on results based management, focusing on M&E principles and techniques;
• Facilitate development of M&E framework for the project including review of strategic results framework and development of measures to track progress with respect to indicators;
• Recommendations on how the Directorate of Forestry can enhance its M&E system.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Development and Operational Effectiveness; 
• Ability to lead formulation of strategies and their implementation;  
• Ability to negotiate with donors and internal units; ability to identify and analyze trends, opportunities and threats to fund-raising;
• Ability to plan and organize work programme; 
• Organizational and presentation skills ;
• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to critical feedback; 
• Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills; 
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

• Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards; 
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP; 
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A postgraduate degree ideally in Public Management or Policy or Monitoring & Evaluation.
• Specialised training in M&E. Project Cycle Management, Strategic Planning and Policy Formulation would be assets.

Experience:

• The consultant shall have prior experience in M&E and conducting training interventions or similar projects.
• Experience with GEF-financed projects is an advantage. 
• Demonstrable experience in delivering a monitoring and evaluation framework and support systems
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Research, analytical and problem solving skills

Language:

• Excellent English communication skills.

Scope of price and shcedule of payments

All proposals must be expressed in an all inclusive daily fee for the duration of the engagement and submitted in the individual contract (IC) time sheet. Alternatively, an all inclusive lump sum amount should be provided in the offer for the purposes of fixing the contract price regardless of the changes in the cost components. The consultant will be provided with the UN Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) prevailing at the time of sourcing, for the duty station and all other cities indicated in the ToR as part of the duty travel destinations.

Recommended presentation of offer

For purposes of generating Offers whose contents are uniformly presented and to facilitate the

comparative analysis, it is recommended that the offer is presented in the form for submitting service provider’s  proposal contained in the request for proposal (RFP) and containing following documents:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;

Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for intellectual services, but may be omitted for support services; 

Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided in the request for proposal.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

Incomplete proposals may not be considered.The shortlisted candidates may be contacted and only the successful candidate will be notified of the offer.

To download forms, information for this position, please clink on link below:- 

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=43083 

Criteria for selection of the best offer

Offers will be evaluated on the basis of a specific criteria and may be done in the following manner :

A Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%.