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International Consultant: NOWPAP MTS 2018-2023 Review and Preparation of MTS 2024-2029

Toyama

  • Organization: UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme
  • Location: Toyama
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
  • Closing Date: Closed

Result of Service

Evaluation Methodology:
The Review will be conducted in a participatory manner working on the basis that its essential objective is to assess the implementation of NOWPAP MTS 2018-2023 and impacts at mid-point in order to provide basis for improvement in the implementation and other decisions.
The evaluation will start with a desk review of NOWPAP documentation and reports, also include the following activities:
a) Initial meeting with RCU Team to agree on the specific design and methods for the evaluation, what is appropriate and feasible to meet the review purpose and objectives. Agree on the evaluation questions that will need to be answered, given limitations of time and existent data
b) Desk review of PoW 2018-2019 and 2020-2021, outputs, progress and financial reports
c) Review of specific products of NOWPAP including content of the NOWPAP’s main and RACs web sites, datasets, management and action plans, publications and other materials and reports
d) Interviews with the following NOWPAP Officials, stakeholders, partners, and experts :
- National Focal Points in the Member States
- Key staff from UNEP Headquarters and Regional Sea Programmes relevant to the Regional Seas Programme and NOWPAP implementation
- NOWPAP Coordinator and NOWPAP RCU staff
- RAC Directors and relevant staff
- National Focal Points of all four RACs in the Member states
- Marine Litter Focal points
- Selected consultants
e) Consultations and/or interviews with other relevant stakeholders involved, including government representatives, other related projects and programmes within the region, relevant UN and UNEP personnel, Intergovernmental and International Partners
f) Participation at the 24th NOWPAP IGM (currently postponed, once agreed by Member States)
- where NOWPAP personnel will deliver comprehensive reports on the implementation of PoW 2020-2021 and resolutions of the 3rd Extraordinary IGM held on Jan 27, 2021
g) Based on the knowledge gained during the interviews – preparation of the evaluation report of MTS 2018-2023, and draft the MTS 2024-2029 including a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
h) Presentation of a draft Review report and a draft MTS 2024-2029.

Scope of the Mid-Term Review:
The scope of the review will cover all activities undertaken in the framework of the MTS 2018-2023. The consultant, with a combination of regional knowledge, evaluation experience, and in-depth knowledge of relevant projects, will compare planned outcomes of the NOWPAP to actual outcomes and assess the actual results to determine their contribution to the attainment of MTS 2018-2023 objectives.
The Review will extract lessons learned, diagnose and analyse issues and formulate a concrete and viable set of recommendations. It will evaluate the efficiency of NOWPAP management, including the delivery of outputs and activities in terms of quality, quantity, timeliness and cost efficiency. The evaluation will also determine the likely outcomes and impact of the MTS in relation to the specified Project goals and objectives. Based on the finding of the evaluation, MTS 2024-2029 will also be drafted.
a) Development of an evaluation matrix based on the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for MTS 2018-2023 to be included within the Inception Report and approved by RCU
b) An evaluation of NOWPAP performance in relation to the indicators, assumptions and risks specified in the evaluation matrix and MTS 2018-2023
c) An assessment of the scope, quality and significance of NOWPAP outputs and outcomes produced to date in relation to expected results
d) Identification and, to the extent possible, quantification of any additional outputs and outcomes beyond those specified in the MTS 2018-2023 (by-products)
e) Identification of any programmatic and financial variance and/or adjustments and an assessment of their conformity with decisions of IGMs and their appropriateness in terms of the overall objectives of MTS 2018-2023
f) Identification and to the extent possible the quantification of the country commitments realized and voluntary contributions from the Member states
g) An evaluation of NOWPAP coordination, management and administration provided by the RCU and RACs. This evaluation should include specific reference to:
- Organisational/institutional arrangements for collaboration among the various agencies and institutions involved in NOWPAP arrangements and execution
- The effectiveness of the monitoring mechanisms currently employed by the RCU in monitoring on a day-to-day basis, progress in PoW 2020-2021 execution
- Administrative, operational and/or technical problems and constraints that influenced the effective implementation of the NOWPAP and present recommendations for any necessary operational changes and
- Financial management of the NOWPAP
h) An evaluation of the effectiveness of UNEP (both HQs and Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific) in fulfilling their roles in terms of their respective capacities in the NOWPAP implementation.
i) A prognosis of the degree to which the overall objectives and expected outputs of the Project are likely to be met with account of the delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
j) An assessment of the Monitoring and Evaluation approach adopted by NOWPAP
k) Progress towards sustainability and replication of NOWPAP activities
l) Lessons learned and best practices during NOWPAP implementation which would benefit other Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans
m) UNEP MTS 2022-2025, Regional Seas Strategic Directions (RSSD) 2022-2025, MTS of other Regional Seas Programmes
n) SDGs, CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets, CBD post-2020 Biodiversity framework, and the UN Decades on Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021 - 2030) and Ecosystem Restoration (2021 - 2030), Paris Agreement, the global initiatives to develop a global agreement on marine litter.
o) The status of international negotiations on the global agreement on plastics (INC) as approved by UNEA 5.2 in March 2023.
p) The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) as approved by COP-15 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Dec 2022.

Expertise Ratings of MTS Implementation Success:
The review will rate the success of the MTS 2018-2023 implementation on a scale from Highly Successful (HS), Satisfactory (S), Marginally Satisfactory (MS), Marginally Unsatisfactory (MU), Unsatisfactory (U), Highly Unsatisfactory (HS). A detailed presentation of criteria to be used is included below. The following items should be considered for rating purposes:
- Achievement of objectives and planned results
- Attainment of outputs and activities
- Cost-effectiveness
- Impact
- Sustainability
- Stakeholder participation
- Country ownership
- Implementation approach
- Financial planning
- Replicability
- Monitoring and evaluation
Each of the items should be rated separately with comments and then an overall rating given. The following rating system is to be applied, according to the UNEP Evaluation

Rating guidelines:
The report, together with annexes, shall be written in English and shall be presented in electronic form in MS Word format.

Criteria Used to Evaluate the MTS 2018-2023 by Mid-Term Review:
Highly Satisfactory (HS) - NOWPAP is expected to achieve or exceed all its major global environmental objectives, and yield substantial global environmental benefits, without major shortcomings. NOWPAP results can be presented as “good practice”.
Satisfactory (S) - NOWPAP is expected to achieve most of its major global environmental objectives, and yield positive environmental impacts, with only minor shortcomings.
Marginally Satisfactory (MS) - NOWPAP is expected to achieve most of its major relevant objectives but with either significant shortcomings or modest overall relevance. Project is expected not to achieve some of its major global environmental objectives or yield some of the positive environmental impacts.
Marginally Unsatisfactory (MU) - NOWPAP is expected to achieve some of its major global environmental objectives with major shortcomings or is expected to achieve only some of its major global environmental objectives.
Unsatisfactory (U) - NOWPAP is expected not to achieve most of its major global environment objectives or to yield any satisfactory global environmental benefits.
Highly Unsatisfactory (HU) - NOWPAP has failed to achieve, and is not expected to achieve, any of its major global environment objectives with no worthwhile benefits.

Input required: 35 working days for the whole duration of the assignment.

Payment schedule – upon submission of the agreed milestones:
1. Inception Report (with an evaluation matrix): 30%
2. Final Assignment Outputs (below): 70%
- Final Review report with Executive Summary prepared and accepted by RCU
- Final Evaluation Report on the Implementation of MTS 2018-2023
- Draft NOWPAP MTS 2024-2029 including a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

Five months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.
The Action Plan for the Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northwest Pacific Region (NOWPAP) is one of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (RSPAPs) of UNEP and was adopted by the four Member States (P.R. China, Japan, R. Korea, and the Russian Federation) in 1994 (https://www.unenvironment.org/nowpap/). The overall goal of the NOWPAP is "the wise use, development and management of the coastal and marine environment so as to obtain the utmost long-term benefits for the human populations of the region while protecting human health, ecological integrity and the region’s sustainability for future generations".
In order to evaluate the performance of NOWPAP in achieving the goals and objectives of the NOWPAP Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) 2018-2023, a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF) was developed and considered by the 23rd NOWPAP intergovernmental meeting (IGM). However, the 23rd IGM did not approve MEF and included the following recommendations in the resolutions: (i) to continue consultations with the Member States and RACs on MEF with specific focus on the proposed indicators, (ii) indicators included in MEF needed to be clearly linked to activities of Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) and Regional Activity Centers (RACs) rather than other, also global, frameworks, (iii) to ensure a rigorous analysis of the proposed indicators by and agreement on those with RACs.
Following instructions of the 23rd IGM, in 2019 RCU organised a meeting with RACs and following the deliberations at the meeting and a follow-up analysis, the following drawbacks were identified:
• Ambiguous wording found, often not relevant to NOWPAP Programme of Work (PoW)
• No baseline
• Incompatible scales (MTS, SDGs, sub-indicators) and a confusing structure
• Some indicators had no measurement units (not meeting the SMART indicators standards)
• No targets (not time-bound)
• No indicators to evaluate NOWPAP Units (RCU, RACs)
• A further detailed institutional assessment was recommended
• No funding was allocated to implement MEF.
At the 3rd Extraordinary NOWPAP IGM, RCU proposed, and the Member States approved, the following approach to be undertaken to complete both an evaluation of the progress of MTS 2018-2023 implementation and MEF to be used for the final evaluation of the achievements of NOWPAP in 2023.
The consultant will work with the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) to complete the assigned work. The consultant will be reporting to Dr. Yegor Volovik, NOWPAP Coordinator, and Dr. Ning Liu, NOWPAP Programme Officer.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree in a relevant discipline. First university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.
A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible professional work experience in the field of programme/project management and coordination, planning and implementation of monitoring and evaluation activities, including:
• Demonstrated international/regional consulting experience in and/or professional background in the marine sciences and/or ocean governance. A minimum of 7 years’ relevant experience is required. Previous experience in the region is advantageous
• Substantive experience in reviewing and evaluating international environmental projects, preferably those involving United Nations development agencies and/or other major donors, experience with UNEP-coordinated Regional Seas Programme is an advantage
• Good English writing and communication skills and demonstrated ability to assess complex situations in order to succinctly and clearly distill critical issues and draw well supported conclusions
• An ability to assess policy and governance framework and institutional capacity
• Understanding of governance, political, economic and institutional issues associated with transboundary water issues, specifically in the Northwest Pacific region is an advantage.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of one of the NOWPAP languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian) 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.

This vacancy is now closed.
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