End of Project Evaluation: Comprehensive Resilience Building - Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts

OVERVIEW

Grade : [[Consultancy]]

Parent Sector : Field Office

Duty Station: Harare

Classification of duty station: [[Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts]]

Standard Duration of Assignement: [[filter13]]

Job Family: Natural Sciences

Type of contract : [[Consultancy]]

Duration of contract : Up to 1 month

Recruitment open to : [[Regional and National Consultants]]

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : [[25-MAY-2022]]

 

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

 

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

 

1. Background

 

On 19 March 2021 UNESCO officially joined the Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP) becoming the eighth implementing partner for the project. UNESCO is leading the implementation of the project on ‘Comprehensive Resilience Building in the Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts’.

The overall objective of the initiative is the reduction of the vulnerability of communities in the Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts to natural disasters, such as floods, droughts and landslides; to enhance water resource management as well as ecosystem services in response to the uncertainty of future climate change and to assist UNOPS Community Infrastructure project in identifying critical locations for its resilience work. Specifically, the initiative aims to contribute to resilience building by addressing several existing gaps. The flood monitoring and early warning capacities in Zimbabwe are largely insufficient as demonstrated by the Cyclone Idai, resulting in an acute threat to human security. The situation is becoming worse due to the impact of climate change, which is increasing the frequency of these extreme events, especially tropical storms and cyclones, as well as their intensity. The Cyclone Idai disaster also uncovered that the area is susceptible to devastating landslides, hence the need to develop landslides susceptible and risk maps which could be useful in land use planning.

To ensure long term sustainability of the resilience building, the efforts of this project will be embedded as part of the creation of a Biosphere Reserve, which supports sustainable development of the Chimanimani area, in support of better natural resources management.
 

Long Description

2.    Tasks and Responsibilities

UNESCO is seeking the technical services of a consultant/consulting firm/institution to conduct an end of project evaluation for the implementation period from 19 March 2021 to 30 June 2022. The overall purpose of the evaluation is to assess the extent to which the project achieved its goal of “reducing the vulnerability of communities in the Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts to natural disasters, such as floods, droughts and landslides; and to enhance water resource management as well as ecosystem services in response to the uncertainty of future climate change.” 

This will be done through:
a)    assessing implementation of the project; 
b)    assessing project outputs and immediate outcomes achieved during the project life; 
c)    identifying lessons and recommendations to inform future similar initiatives.

The evaluation requires a participatory methodology whereby all key stakeholders including, implementing partners, government, community leaders, media, local NGOs, bilateral partners and UN are engaged in the process. In addition, the evaluation will have to integrate gender dimensions in its different phases.

Below are the specific tasks to be undertaken:  
1.    Develop an Evaluation Tool to be approved by UNESCO
2.    Desk review: This will focus on document review of project related documentation and other relevant documents, review of the results framework, periodic reports and other related materials; assessment of results and deviations from planned activities and outputs.
3.    Conduct online and physical interviews with key Government departments, local NGOs, and community leaders across all project focus areas. Travel to the project district will be required, and is estimated at 3 full days in the field + travel to/from the project location.
4.    Conduct online and physical interviews with the donor (UNOPS and World Bank key actors involved in the project)
5.    Conduct Mini Survey on level of satisfaction with the project in meeting its results (Design of tool, undertaking survey and analysis of results). 
6.    Write up and submission of a Final evaluation report, including at least one impact oriented case study and stakeholder testimonies. 

Long Description

3.    Reporting, deliverables and deadlines  

The Consultant/consulting firm/institution is responsible for the proposed activities and deliverables which should be undertaken within an estimated 20 day period, starting from the date of signature of the contract. The deadline for Final Evaluation Report Submission is 24 June 2022.
 
All deliverables are to be submitted by 24 June 2022 for approval by UNESCO:  
1.    Final evaluation tool developed on the basis of project documents
2.    Final version of the Evaluation Report by 24 June 2022 which should present the findings, recommendations and lessons learnt covering the scope of the evaluation. The report should follow, but not limited to the following structure;

•     Executive Summary 
•     Programme description
•     Evaluation purpose and objectives
•     Evaluation methodology
•     Findings: Relevance, Efficiency, Effectiveness and Sustainability
•     Conclusions
•     Lessons learned (successes and challenges)
•     Recommendations
•     Annexes (including the list of stakeholders consulted during the evaluation, key documents reviewed, Evaluation Terms of Reference, data collection tools, budgetary analysis, etc.)
   

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial) Accountability (C) Communication (C) Innovation (C) Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement (C) Planning and organizing (C) Results focus (C) Teamwork (C) Professionalism (C) - For detailed information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

 

The Consultant/Consultancy Firm/Consortium of Evaluators should provide evidence of:

•    Demonstrated competence in project evaluation; 
•    Demonstrated ability to draft reports and analyse data from multiple resources; 
•    Excellent communication skills; 
•    Computer literacy with practical experience with Windows applications; 
•    Ability and willingness to work with persons within government, civil society, people of different cultural and religious backgrounds; socio-economic background and/or diverse political views while maintaining impartiality and objectivity. 
 

Qualifications   
•    Leader of Evaluation Team/Consortium must have an advanced academic degree in a related field / Monitoring and Evaluation  
•    Demonstrated experience with project management/project evaluation (at least 5 years of experience); 
•    Strong interview skills
•    Strong skills in research, analysis and synthesis of findings
 

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

•    Competence in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction and resilience building;
•    Knowledge of Shona (working area)

APPLICATION PROCESS

 

 Expression of Interest
Applications to be submitted through Success Factor application portal and attachments/documents i.e  cover letter, CV(s) of team member(s) and Company Profile (if consulting firm/institution) as well as a proposal with methodology for the assignment (maximum 5 pages) and the budget to be submitted to vacancies.harare@unesco.org  

 

N.B Please note for all Consultancies, planned travel costs should be factored in the budget.  

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application and provide complete and accurate information. To apply, please visit the UNESCO careers website. No modifications can be made to the application submitted.

The evaluation of candidates is based on the criteria in the vacancy notice, and may include tests and/or assessments, as well as a competency-based interview. 

UNESCO uses communication technologies such as video or teleconference, e-mail correspondence, etc. for the assessment and evaluation of candidates.

Please note that only selected candidates will be further contacted and candidates in the final selection step will be subject to reference checks based on the information provided.

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