By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Read our privacy policy

Terminal Evaluator (National Consultant) for the Green Technology Application for the Development of Low Carbon Cities (GTALCC) Project

home-based with field missions to klang valley

  • Organization: UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Location: home-based with field missions to klang valley
  • Grade: Consultancy - National Consultant - Locally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Environment
    • Infrastructure and Urban-Rural development
    • Information Technology and Computer Science
    • Renewable Energy sector
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction
    • Climate Change
    • Project and Programme Management
    • Peace and Development
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

1.Introduction

In accordance with UNDP and GEF M&E policies and procedures, all full- and medium-sized UNDP-supported GEF-financed projects are required to undergo a Terminal Evaluation (TE) at the end of the project.  This Terms of Reference (ToR) sets out the expectations for the TE of the full- sized project titled Green Technology Application for the Development of Low Carbon Cities (GTALCC) (PIMS #4283) implemented through the Ministry of Environment and Water Malaysia. The project started on 1 June 2016 and is in its final year of implementation.  The TE process must follow the guidance outlined in the document ‘Guidance For Conducting Terminal Evaluations of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects’ available at (http://web.undp.org/evaluation/guideline/documents/GEF/TE_GuidanceforUNDP-supportedGEF-financedProjects.pdf).

 

2.Project Description 

The objective of the project is to facilitate the implementation of low carbon initiatives in at least five Malaysian cities and showcase a clear and integrated approach to low carbon development. The objective will be achieved by removing barriers to integrated low carbon urban planning and development through 3 components: 1) policy support for the promotion of integrated low carbon urban development, which will enable cities to implement and adopt integrated low carbon urban development plans and programmes; 2) awareness and institutional capacity development, which will expedite appraisal, approval and the implementation of strategic urban development, and ensure cities are aware of and planning and implementing low carbon technology applications, and; 3) low carbon technology investments in cities, where there is an increase in investment in low carbon technologies with more low carbon projects implemented. The project will be implemented over 5 years in Cyberjaya, Iskandar Malaysia, Melaka, Petaling Jaya, and Putrajaya. It is expected to generate direct GHG emission reductions of 346,442 tCO2eq by End of Project and 2,152,032 tonnes CO2eq over the lifetime of project investment. Key details of the project are as below:

Start Date:

1 June 2016

Supporting Cities:

Cyberjaya, Iskandar Malaysia, Melaka, Petaling Jaya, Putrajaya

End Date:

1 June 2021

GEF Financing:

USD 4,354,794

Revised End Date:

1 June 2022 (with 12-month extension)

Other Financing (In-Kind & Cash):

  • Federal & Local Government (USD 55,258,266)
  • UNDP (USD 354,000)
  • Cost Sharing                           (USD 50,000)

 

Implementing Partner:

Ministry of Environment and Water

Leveraged Co-Finance

  • Private Sector (USD 164,136,278)

 

Lead Consultant:

Sustainable Energy Development Authority

GEF Financing:

USD 4,354,794

 

The current COVID-19 situation in Malaysia has seen the total number of COVID-19 cases rise to 566 thousand, with total deaths of 2,729 as of 31 May 2021. Since March 2020, Malaysia has implemented various forms of movement control orders to prohibit mass movements and gatherings across the countries as well as restrictions in certain types of economic and social activities. Malaysia is currently in a total lockdown phase from 1 June 2021-14 June 2020. To a certain extent, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the progress of certain activities under the GTALCC projects which require stakeholder consensus building and engagement.

 

3.TE Purpose

The TE report will assess the achievement of project results against what was expected to be achieved and draw lessons that can both improve the sustainability of benefits from this project, and aid in the overall enhancement of UNDP programming. The TE report promotes accountability and transparency and assesses the extent of project accomplishments. The TE findings also will be used by the UNDP country office to synthesize lessons that can help improve the selection, design, and implementation of future UNDP-supported initiatives.

 

 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

 

4.TE Approach & Methodology

 

The TE must provide evidence-based information that is credible, reliable, and useful.

 

The TE team will review all relevant sources of information including documents prepared during the preparation phase (i.e. PIF, UNDP Initiation Plan, UNDP Social and Environmental Screening Procedure/SESP) the Project Document, project reports including annual PIRs, project budget revisions, lesson learned reports, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the team considers useful for this evidence-based evaluation. The TE team will review the baseline and midterm GEF focal area Core Indicators/Tracking Tools submitted to the GEF at the CEO endorsement and midterm stages and the terminal Core Indicators/Tracking Tools that must be completed before the TE field mission begins. 

 

The TE team is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach ensuring close engagement with the Project Team, government counterparts (the GEF Operational Focal Point), Implementing Partners, the UNDP Country Office(s), the Regional Technical Advisors, direct beneficiaries, and other stakeholders.

 

Engagement of stakeholders is vital to a successful TE. Stakeholder involvement should include interviews with stakeholders who have project responsibilities, including but not limited to the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA), the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA), the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Ministry of Transport, PLAN Malaysia, Malaysia Green Technology and Climate Change Center (MGTC), State Economic Planning Units,  the Local and Regional Authorities participating in the project;  executing agencies, senior officials and task team/component leaders, key experts and consultants in the subject area, Project Board, project beneficiaries, academia, local government and CSOs, etc.

 

The specific design and methodology for the TE should emerge from consultations between the TE team and the above-mentioned parties regarding what is appropriate and feasible for meeting the TE purpose and objectives and answering the evaluation questions, given limitations of budget, time and data. The TE team must, however, use gender-responsive methodologies and tools and ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as other cross-cutting issues and SDGs are incorporated into the TE report.

 

The final methodological approach including interview schedule, field visits and data to be used in the evaluation should be clearly outlined in the inception report and be fully discussed and agreed between UNDP, stakeholders and the TE team.

The final TE report should describe the full TE approach taken and the rationale for the approach making explicit the underlying assumptions, challenges, strengths and weaknesses about the methods and approach of the evaluation.

 

As of 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic as the new coronavirus rapidly spread to all regions of the world. Travel to Malaysia has been restricted and travel within Malaysia is also restricted. The TE team should develop a methodology that takes this into account the conduct of the TE virtually and remotely except for data collection field missions by the national consultant where possible, including the use of remote interview methods and extended desk reviews, data analysis, surveys, and evaluation questionnaires. This should be detailed in the TE Inception Report and agreed with the Commissioning Unit. Remote interviews may be undertaken through online (Zoom, Skype etc.) or online.

 

As most of the TE is to be carried out virtually (except for data collection field missions by the national consultant) then consideration should be taken for stakeholder availability, ability, or willingness to be interviewed remotely. In addition, their accessibility to the internet/computer may be an issue as many government and national counterparts may be working from home. These limitations must be reflected in the final TE report. 

 

The National Consultant is expected to conduct field missions to Klang Valley (Putrajaya and Petaling Jaya), Melaka and Johor Bahru should the situation allow for safe travel to be conducted during the planned timeframe of the TE mission. He/she will also work remotely with International consultant.

 

No stakeholders, consultants or UNDP staff should be put in harm’s way and safety is the key priority.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

5. Detailed Scope of the TE

The TE will assess project performance against expectations set out in the project’s Logical Framework/Results Framework (see TOR Annex A). The TE will assess results according to the criteria outlined in the Guidance for TEs of UNDP-supported GEF-financed Projects (http://web.undp.org/evaluation/guideline/documents/GEF/TE_GuidanceforUNDP-supportedGEF-financedProjects.pdf).

The Findings section of the TE report will cover the topics listed below.

A full outline of the TE report’s content is provided in ToR Annex C.

The asterisk “(*)” indicates criteria for which a rating is required.

Findings

i. Project Design/Formulation

  • National priorities and country driven-ness
  • Theory of Change
  • Gender equality and women’s empowerment
  • Social and Environmental Safeguards
  • Analysis of Results Framework: project logic and strategy, goal, objective, and outcomes, as well as the corresponding indicators
  • Analysis of the outputs of each project component as to whether these will collectively bring about the expected component outcome
  • Assumptions and Risks
  • Lessons from other relevant projects (e.g. same focal area) incorporated into project design
  • Planned stakeholder participation
  • Linkages between project and other interventions within the sector
  • Management arrangements

 

ii. Project Implementation[1]

 

  • Adaptive management (changes to the project design and project outputs during implementation)
  • Actual stakeholder participation and partnership arrangements
  • Project Finance and Co-finance
  • Monitoring & Evaluation: design at entry (*), implementation (*), and overall assessment of M&E (*)
  • Implementing Agency (UNDP) (*) and Executing Agency (*), overall project oversight/implementation and execution (*)
  • Risk Management, including Social and Environmental Standards

 

iii. Project Results1

 

  • Assess the achievement of outcomes against indicators by reporting on the level of progress for each objective and outcome indicator at the time of the TE and noting final achievements
  • Relevance (*), Effectiveness (*), Efficiency (*) and overall project outcome (*)
  • Sustainability: financial (*)      , socio-political (*), institutional framework and governance (*), environmental (*), overall likelihood of sustainability (*)
  • Country ownership
  • Gender equality and women’s empowerment
  • Cross-cutting issues (poverty alleviation, improved governance, climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster prevention and recovery, human rights, capacity development, South-South cooperation, knowledge management, volunteerism, etc., as relevant)
  • GEF Additionality
  • Catalytic Role / Replication Effect
  • Progress to impact

 

iv. Main Findings, Conclusions, Recommendations and Lessons Learned

 

  • The TE team will include a summary of the main findings of the TE report. Findings should be presented as statements of fact that are based on analysis of the data.
  •  The section on conclusions will be written in light of the findings. Conclusions should be comprehensive and balanced statements that are well substantiated by evidence and logically connected to the TE findings. They should highlight the strengths, weaknesses and results of the project, respond to key evaluation questions and provide insights into the identification of and/or solutions to important problems or issues pertinent to project beneficiaries, UNDP and the GEF, including issues in relation to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
  • Evidentiary documents should be checked and verified by the TE team to support the conclusions and ratings that the team will make regarding the accomplishments of the GTALCC project.
  • Recommendations should provide concrete, practical, feasible and targeted recommendations directed to the intended users of the evaluation about what actions to take and decisions to make. The recommendations should be specifically supported by the evidence and linked to the findings and conclusions around key questions addressed by the evaluation. For each recommendation, the TE team has to provide the “how to’ aspects, i.e. steps to be taken, as well as requirements to implement the recommendation.
  • The TE report should also include lessons that can be taken from the evaluation, including best and worst practices in addressing issues relating to relevance, performance and success that can provide knowledge gained from the particular circumstance (programmatic and evaluation methods used, partnerships, financial leveraging, etc.) that are applicable to other GEF and UNDP interventions. When possible, the TE team should include examples of good practices in project design and implementation.
  • It is important for the conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned of the TE report to include results related to gender equality and empowerment of women.

The TE report[2] will include an Evaluation Ratings Table, as shown in the ToR Annex.

 

6. Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The TE team shall prepare and submit:

  • TE Inception Report: TE team clarifies objectives and methods of the TE no later than 2 weeks before the TE mission. TE team submits the Inception Report to the Commissioning Unit and project management. Approximate due date: (8 September 2021)
  • Presentation: TE team presents initial findings to project management and the Commissioning Unit at the end of the TE mission. Approximate due date: (22 October 2021)
  • Draft TE Report: TE team submits full draft report with annexes within 3 weeks of the end of the TE mission. Approximate due date: (15 November 2021)
  • Final TE Report* and Audit Trail: TE team submits revised report, with Audit Trail detailing how all received comments have (and have not) been addressed in the final TE report, to the Commissioning Unit within 1 week of receiving UNDP comments on draft. Approximate due date: (10 December 2021)

 

*The final TE report must be in English. If applicable, the Commissioning Unit may choose to arrange for a translation of the report into a language more widely shared by national stakeholders.

 

All final TE reports will be quality assessed by the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office (IEO).  Details of the IEO’s quality assessment of decentralized evaluations can be found in Section 6 of the UNDP Evaluation Guidelines.[3]

 

7. TE Arrangements

 

The principal responsibility for managing the TE resides with the Commissioning Unit.  The Commissioning Unit for this project’s TE is the UNDP Malaysia Country Office.

The Commissioning Unit will contract the consultants and ensure the timely provision of travel arrangements within the country for the national consultant, depending on whether travel is permitted at the time of the TE mission.  The Project Team will be responsible for liaising with the TE team to provide all relevant documents, set up stakeholder interviews, and arrange field visits.

 

8. Duration of the Work

 

The total duration of the TE will be approximately (35 working days) over a time period of (20 weeks) starting 1 September 2021) and shall not exceed five months from when the TE team is hired.  The tentative TE timeframe is as follows:

  • 13 August 2021: Application closes
  • 18 August 2021: Selection of TE Team
  • 1 September 2021: Prep the TE team (handover of project documents)
  • 1-8 September 2021 (4 working days within the given period): Document review and preparing TE Inception Report
  • 9-15 September 2021 (3 working days within the given period): Finalization and Validation of TE Inception Report- latest start of TE mission
  • 1- 21 October 2021 (12 working days within the given period): TE mission: stakeholder meetings, interviews, field visits
  • 22 October 2021: Mission wrap-up meeting & presentation of initial findings- earliest end of TE mission
  • 25 October 2021- 12 November 2021 (8 working days within the given period: Preparation of draft TE report
  • 15 November 2021: Circulation of draft TE report for comments
  • 29 November-10 December 2021 (5 working days within the given period): Incorporation of comments on draft TE report into Audit Trail & finalization of TE report
  • 19 December 2021: Preparation & Issue of Management Response
  • 7 January 2022: Concluding Stakeholder Workshop
  • 31 January 2022: Expected date of full TE completion

 

The expected date start date of contract is 1 September 2021.

 

9. Duty Station

 

Home-based with potential travel to project sites as following;

 

Travel:

  • The National Consultant will work remotely with travel to Klang Valley (Putrajaya and Petaling Jaya), Melaka and Johor Bahru during the TE mission;
  • The BSAFE course must be successfully completed prior to commencement of travel;
  • Consultants are required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under: https://dss.un.org/dssweb/
  • All related travel expenses should be quoted in the all-inclusive financial proposal.

10. Payment Schedule

 

  • 20% payment upon satisfactory delivery of the final TE Inception Report and approval by the Commissioning Unit
  • 40% payment upon satisfactory delivery of the draft TE report to the Commissioning Unit
  • 40% payment upon satisfactory delivery of the final TE report and approval by the Commissioning Unit and RTA (via signatures on the TE Report Clearance Form) and delivery of completed TE Audit Trail

 

Criteria for issuing the final payment of 40%

  • The final TE report includes all requirements outlined in the TE TOR and is in accordance with the TE guidance.
  • The final TE report is clearly written, logically organized, and is specific for this project (i.e. text has not been cut & pasted from other MTR reports).
  • The Audit Trail includes responses to and justification for each comment listed.

 

In line with the UNDP’s financial regulations, when determined by the Commissioning Unit and/or the consultant that a deliverable or service cannot be satisfactorily completed due to the impact of COVID-19 and limitations to the TE, that deliverable or service will not be paid.

 

Due to the current COVID-19 situation and its implications, a partial payment may be considered if the consultant invested time towards the deliverable but was unable to complete to circumstances beyond his/her control.

 

11. Evaluator Ethics

The TE team will be held to the highest ethical standards and is required to sign a code of conduct upon acceptance of the assignment. This evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation’. The evaluator must safeguard the rights and confidentiality of information providers, interviewees, and stakeholders through measures to ensure compliance with legal and other relevant codes governing collection of data and reporting on data. The evaluator must also ensure security of collected information before and after the evaluation and protocols to ensure anonymity and confidentiality of sources of information where that is expected. The information knowledge and data gathered in the evaluation process must also be solely used for the evaluation and not for other uses without the express authorization of UNDP and partners.

 

 

[1] Evidentiary documents must be collected and verified for use in the assessment of the various aspects of the project implementation and of the project results. It is expected that most of these documents will be gathered, or the gathering of these documents will be arranged and facilitated by, the National Consultant.

[2] Please refer to UNDP 2021 Evaluation Guidelines, Section 4, Annex 4 on Evaluation Report Template

[3] Access UNDP 2021 Evaluation Guidelines at: http://web.undp.org/evaluation/guideline/section-6.shtml

 

?

 

Competencies

Corporate competencies

  • Commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision, values and ethical standards
  • Sensitivity to cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age differences
  • Treat all stakeholders fairly and without prejudice
  • Maintains objectivity and impartiality in handling evaluation processes

 

Functional competencies

  • Experience in project development, implementation and evaluation particularly in directly managing results-based monitoring and evaluation methodologies
  • Demonstrated experience in conducting evaluation of multi-year and multi-component programmes and projects
  • Familiarity with the norms and issues in low carbon development and climate change
  • Demonstrated strong coordination and facilitation skills
  • Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to initiate discussions with national/local governmental officials, civil society organizations and communities
  • Demonstrated ability to function in a team environment and to deal with complex multi-stakeholder environment
  • Demonstrated ability to prepare and present comprehensive reports

Required Skills and Experience

A team of two independent evaluators will conduct the TE – one international consultant (with experience and exposure to projects and evaluations in other regions) and national consultant from Malaysia.  The international consultant will act as the team leader and will be responsible for the overall design and writing of the TE report, etc.)  The national consultant will support the international consultant in drafting the TE report, provide local industry insights, help to contextualize local issues and achievements, and will assist in data collection through field missions.

The evaluators cannot have participated in the project preparation, formulation and/or implementation (including the writing of the project document), must not have conducted this project’s Mid-Term Review and should not have a conflict of interest with the project’s related activities.

The selection of evaluators will be aimed at maximizing the overall “team” qualities in the following areas:

Education

  • Master’s degree in environmental science, environmental engineering, town planning, engineering, climate change or other closely related field.

 

Experience

  • Relevant experience with results-based management evaluation methodologies (10%);
  • Experience applying SMART indicators and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios (5%);
  • Competence in adaptive management, as applied to climate change, urbanization, transportation, or energy (15%);
  • Experience in evaluating projects, with familiarity on gender and disability results an advantage (20%);
  • Experience working in Malaysia and with the Malaysian government (15%);
  • Experience in relevant technical areas for at least 10 years (15%);
  • Excellent communication skills (5%);
  • Demonstrable analytical skills (5%);
  • Project evaluation/review experience within United Nations system will be considered an asset (10%);

 

Language

  • Fluency in written and spoken English and Malay.

 

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individual applicants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

  1. Document 1 : Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability at https://undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Template%20of%20Letter%20of%20Interest.docx
  2. Document 2: Technical Proposal: of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; (max 1 page)
  3. Document 3: Financial Proposal at https://undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Financial%20Proposal%20Template-Deliverables_MYR_IC2021-028.doc that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, per diem, etc.), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template attached to the Letter of Confirmation of Interest template. If an applicant 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 applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.
  4. Document 4: 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  https://undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/P11%20for%20Consultant_Optional.docx
  5. Annexes to the Terminal Evaluation, Annex A to Annex H   https://undp.org/content/dam/malaysia/docs/Procurement/Annexes%20to%20the%20TE%20TOR.pdf
  6. Please submit this information in one file as Document 1, 2, 3 and 4.The system will only accept one attachment , please merge all documents and submit as one file.
  7. Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the application.
  8. Candidates who fail to submit all the information requested above will be disqualified.

How to Apply:

  • Kindly download the Letter of Confirmation of interest and availability, Financial Proposal Template and General Terms & Conditions mentioned below;
  • Read and agree to the General Terms & Conditions (refer to below link);
  • Click the ‘apply’ icon and complete what is required;
  • Scan all documents into 1 pdf folder and then upload;
  • For clarification question, please email to procurement.my@undp.org. The clarification question deadline is three (3) days before the closing. When emailing for clarification questions, please put "MyIC/2021/028"as the subject matter.

 

General terms & conditions to be downloaded:

Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA): A legal instrument between UNDP and a Company/institution, according to which, the latter makes available the services of an individual delivering time-bound and quantifiable outputs that are directly linked to payments

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. Only short-listed candidates may be contacted, and successful candidates will be notified.

 

 

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the educational background and experience on similar assignments will be weighted at 70% and the price proposal will weigh as 30% of the total scoring. The applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score that has also accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

This vacancy is now closed.
However, we have found similar vacancies for you: