Consultancy for an independent evaluation of the results of the EU-funded IMAP-MPA Project (level C)

Result of Service

The findings and recommendations from the independent evaluation of the IMAP-MPA project will be shared with the Project Steering Committee members.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

5 months

Duties and Responsibilities

General Information

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system's designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional levels. 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. United Nation’s Environment Ecosystems Division works with international and national partners, providing technical assistance and advisory services for the implementation of environmental policy, and strengthening the environmental management capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition. This consultancy assignment is to support the EU-funded project entitled “Towards achieving the Good Environmental Status of the Mediterranean Sea and Coast through an Ecologically Representative and Efficiently Managed and Monitored Network of Marine Protected Areas” (IMAP-MPA Project) in line with the UNEP/MAP Programme of Work and Budget 2022-2023.

The overall objective of the EU-funded IMAP-MPA Project is to contribute towards the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) in the Mediterranean Sea and along its coast. In doing so, the project proposed to consolidate, integrate and strengthen the ecosystem approach (EcAp) for Marine Protected Areas (MPA) management and their sustainable development. This has been done through the monitoring and assessment of environmental status in the Mediterranean Sea and its coast, including MPAs, in a comparative and integrated manner. The seven beneficiary countries are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.

The EU-funded IMAP-MPA project document foresees an independent evaluation of its implementation. For this purpose, there is a need to recruit a regional consultant to undertake an evaluation of project findings and to provide recommendations to the project’s executing agencies and national governments involved in project implementation. This review will be based on a well-defined methodology elaborated in the annex to these terms of reference. It should be noted that the EU-funded IMAP-MPA project was launched by the UNEP/MAP in August 2019. All activities will be completed by 22 August 2023 (i.e., 4 years).

Purpose

The requirement for a consultant

The aim of this consultancy is to undertake and deliver an independent evaluation of the project implementation to assess three key aspects: (i) project findings in terms of achievement of results compared with the project’s original objectives and planned outputs, and the effectiveness of implementation; (ii) the project’s relevance to UNEP/MAP Programme of Work and MTS and; (iii) the Sustainability of the project’s results. The evaluation will use the indicators defined in the log-frame matrix as indicators as to what extent the project contributes to the global consensus and promotion of tools and training approaches, in striving towards global consensus. Furthermore, the evaluation will be gender sensitive in line with the gender strategy for the action and the action description. Recommendations of the independent evaluation will be shared with the Steering Committee members of the project.

Tasks:
Under the overall guidance of the UNEP/MAP Deputy Coordinator and direct supervision of the QSR officer, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

1) Prepare a detailed work plan and timetable for the assignment;

2) Prepare a desk-based review of relevant background documentation, inter alia the project document; the annual project reports and their Annexes; key project outputs described in the project document; project reports such as six-monthly progress and financial reports; legal agreements (i.e., Small Scale Financial Agreements, SSFAs and PCAs) with partners and related progress and financial reports; reports of meetings including the Steering Committee meetings; relevant correspondence; etc.;

3) Prepare interview questions in consultation with UNEP/MAP Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator in order to collect information and data regarding the project implementation and results and hold interviews (individual or in group), including through missions to the MAP Coordinating Unit, SPA/RAC, and project beneficiary countries, with the following key personnel to establish :

• UNEP/MAP Coordinator/ Deputy Coordinator;
• UNEP/MAP Fund Management Officer;
• UNEP/MAP QSR/EcAp Head of Unit
• UNEP/MAP IMAP-MPA Project Manager
• UNEP/MAP SPA/RAC Project Officer;
• EU Task Manager; and
• Project partners or focal points of 3 beneficiary countries.

4) Assess the collected information and interview results against the original project objectives and outputs as described in the Project Document. The evaluation findings should be based on sound evidence and in-depth analyses. These should be clearly documented in the evaluation report. Information will be triangulated (i.e., verified from more than one source) to the extent possible. When full verification is not possible, the limitations of a single source will be mentioned. Where project objectives or outputs were not implemented, an analysis will be conducted of whether the justifications provided are sufficiently robust. Analyses leading to evaluative judgements should always be clearly described.

5) Provide a final consultancy report.


Outputs:

1) Detailed work plan and timetable for the extension of the assignment (Task 1)
2) A draft evaluation report is prepared and included as Information document for the final Steering Committee of the project, 12 July 2023 (tasks 2, 3, 4)
3) Final evaluation report prepared, including mission reports (tasks 2, 3, 4)
4) A final consultancy report is provided (task 5)

Reporting lines
The Consultant will be under the overall guidance of the UNEP/MAP Deputy Coordinator and direct supervision of the QSR officer

Qualifications/special skills

An advanced university degree in international development, environmental sciences, law or other relevant political or social science areas is required;
7 years of relevant professional experience especially on the evaluation of national, regional or global programmes or projects is required
Knowledge of the UNEP system and if possible of MAP and the Mediterranean region is desirable;
Good knowledge of data tools, and environmental national, regional and global policies and strategies is an asset.

Languages

Fluency (oral and written) in English is required.
Good knowledge of French is an asset.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.