The Evaluation Specialist will submit 2 inception reports, 2 approved draft main evaluation reports, 2 approved final main evaluation reports.
Home-Based
The Evaluation Specialist will be hired for a period of 9 months from April - December 2022.
Org. Setting
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations systems designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level. 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. This consultancy is located at Headquarters in the Evaluation Office which reports directly to the Executive Director. The consultant reports to the Evaluation Officer managing the project and the Director of the Evaluation Office (EO).
PROJECT
These 5 projects were formulated in response to the National Capacity Self-Assessment (NCSA) and were developed in line with the GEF-5 Cross-Cutting Capacity Development Strategy. In the context of these projects, the aim was to synergise with existing national baseline projects to enhance, increase or strengthen the capacity of national institutions for the implementation and monitoring of international conventions and environmental management. This was intended to be done by institutionalizing identified tools and practices for environmental information and knowledge management and to use information and knowledge for both policy development and planning as well as for monitoring and evaluating environmental impacts and trends.
The Individual Project Objectives are as follows:
Afghanistan - The objective of the project is to build Afghanistan’s core capacity to implement NCSA priority actions and International Environmental Conventions in a decentralized manner
Bosnia and Herzegovina - To enhance capacities of institutions for environmental management in Bosnia and Herzegovina by institutionalizing identified tools and practices for environmental information and knowledge management
Cameroon - To strengthen institutional capacity in the implementation of international conventions as a follow-up to the National Capacity Self-Assessment (NCSA) Cameroon
Haiti - To enhance capacities for Haiti to strengthen the Government capacity for decision making in national priority plans with emphasis in forest and coastal-marine ecosystem regeneration
St. Lucia - To strengthen institutional capacity for the implementation and monitoring of international conventions as a follow-up to the National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA) of St. Lucia and to better integrate environmental concerns, and the value of ecosystems, into its broader development frameworks
Synergised Objective - Enhance/increase/strengthen capacity of national institutions for the implementation and monitoring of international conventions and environmental management by institutionalizing identified tools and practices for environmental information and knowledge management (and improving decision making/integrate into wider development frameworks).
The Evaluation Specialist will make substantive and high-quality contributions to the evaluation process and outputs. Both consultants, the Principal Evaluator and the Evaluation Specialist will ensure together that all evaluation criteria and questions are adequately covered.
The Evaluation Specialist will specifically deal with two projects:
GEF ID 5060 - Developing Core Capacity for MEA Implementation in Cameroon
GEF ID 5197 - Increase St. Lucia's Capacity to Monitor MEA Implementation and Sustainable Development
More specifically:
Inception phase of the Evaluation, including:
• preliminary desk review and introductory interviews with project staff;
• draft the reconstructed Theory of Change of the project;
• prepare the evaluation framework;
• develop the desk review and interview protocols;
• draft the survey protocols (if relevant);
• develop and present criteria for country and/or site selection for the evaluation mission;
• plan the evaluation schedule;
• prepare the Inception Report, incorporating comments until approved by the Evaluation Manager
Data collection and analysis phase of the Evaluation, including:
• conduct further desk review and in-depth interviews with project implementing and executing agencies, project partners and project stakeholders;
• (where appropriate and agreed) conduct an evaluation mission(s) to selected countries, visit the project locations, interview project partners and stakeholders, including a good representation of local communities. Ensure independence of the Evaluation and confidentiality of evaluation interviews.
• regularly report back to the Evaluation Manager on progress and inform of any possible problems or issues encountered and;
• keep the Project/Task Manager informed of the evaluation progress.
Reporting phase, including:
• draft the Main Evaluation Report, ensuring that the evaluation report is complete, coherent and consistent with the Evaluation Manager guidelines both in substance and style;
• liaise with the Evaluation Manager on comments received and finalize the Main Evaluation Report, ensuring that comments are taken into account until approved by the Evaluation Manager
• prepare a Response to Comments annex for the main report, listing those comments not accepted by the Evaluation Consultant and indicating the reason for the rejection; and
• (where agreed with the Evaluation Manager) prepare an Evaluation Brief (2-page summary of the evaluand and the key evaluation findings and lessons)
Managing relations, including:
• maintain a positive relationship with evaluation stakeholders, ensuring that the evaluation process is as participatory as possible but at the same time maintains its independence;
• communicate in a timely manner with the Evaluation Manager on any issues requiring its attention and intervention.
Academic Qualifications: An undergraduate university degree (Bachelor's) in environmental sciences, international development or other relevant political or social sciences area is required.
Experience: A minimum of 5 years of technical/monitoring/evaluation experience is required and a broad understanding of Climate Change related issues is required.
Working knowledge of the UN system and specifically the work of UNEP is an added advantage. The work will be home-based.
Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy fluency in oral and written English and French is a requirement and proficiency in French is desirable.
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.