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Evaluation Consultant for Mid-Term Evaluation of the UNEP project “Mediterranean Sea Basin Environment and Climate Regional Support Project” GEF 9686

Duties and Responsibilities
ORGANIZATION 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 Manager and the Director of the Evaluation Office.

THE EVALUATION.

• In line with the UNEP Evaluation Policy and the UNEP Programme Manual , the Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE) is undertaken approximately half-way through project implementation to analyze whether the project is on-track, what problems or challenges the project is encountering, and what corrective actions are required. A key aim of the Mid-Term Evaluation is to encourage reflection and learning by UNEP staff, the implementing partners and key project stakeholders. The Evaluation Consultant should therefore, consider how reflection and learning can be promoted, both through the evaluation process and in the communication of evaluation findings and key lessons.

THE PROJECT

• At the time of project design the situation of the Southern and Eastern shores of the Mediterranean showed all the signs of progressive deterioration in environmental security. Among them, the loss and degradation of coastal and shallow marine ecosystems and the scarcity of coastal freshwater resources, compounded by the increasing negative impacts of climate variability and change, was playing an important role in determining social instability and political volatility. To address this situation, the GEF-funded MedProgramme is being implemented in nine beneficiary countries sharing the Mediterranean basin: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Montenegro, Morocco and Tunisia.

THE EVALUATION CONSULTANT

• The Evaluation Consultant, will work under the overall responsibility of the Evaluation Manager. Information and liaison support will be provided by the UNEP Task Managers and Fund Management Officer. The Evaluation Consultant will be responsible, in close consultation with the Evaluation Manager, for overall management of the evaluation and timely delivery of its outputs. The Evaluation Consultant will ensure that all evaluation criteria and questions are adequately covered.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• In close consultation with the Evaluation Manager, the Evaluation Consultant will be responsible for the overall management of the Evaluation and timely provision of its outputs, data collection and analysis, and report writing. More specifically, the Evaluation Consultant will undertake the following:

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.

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 Office on any issues requiring its attention and intervention.
• The Evaluation Consultant shall have had no prior involvement in the formulation or implementation of the project and will be independent from the participating institutions. The consultant will sign the Evaluation Consultant Code of Conduct Agreement Form.
• The evaluation Consultant will be selected and recruited by the UNEP Evaluation Office through an individual consultancy contract.
• Comprehensive terms of reference will be shared with the consultant separately.

Qualifications/special skills

• A university degree in environmental sciences, international development or other relevant political or social sciences area is required and an advanced degree in the same areas is desirable
• A minimum of 7 years of technical/evaluation experience is required, preferably including evaluating large, regional or global programmes and using a Theory of Change approach
• A good understanding of marine ecosystems, (especially in the Mediterranean region) coastal pollution and environmental security in transboundary waters is desired, along with experience of knowledge management, communications and coordination in large programmes.
• Working knowledge of the UN system and specifically the work of UNEP is an added advantage.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English is a requirement and proficiency in Arabic or French is desirable.

Climate Change and Adaptation Information Management Expert

Duties and Responsibilities

• UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global environmental authority that 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. 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. UNEP’s Ecosystem Division works with international and national partners, providing technical assistance and capacity development for the implementation of environmental policy, and strengthening the environmental management capacity of developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
• Climate change is one of the most complex challenges that humankind has to face in the next decades. In particular, it is likely that the biggest impacts of change will be on agricultural and food systems over the next few decades. Climate change reinforces existing vulnerability patterns as the exposure to risk becomes more frequent, intensive and unpredictable. Therefore, climate change poses a threat to humanity as a whole including future generations and mostly the poor and marginalized, those with the least responsibility for the ecological debt, will face the most immediate and severe consequences. As the climate change process seems to be irreversible, it has become urgent to develop sound adaptation processes to the current and future shifts in the climate system.
• In light of that, the Government of Eswatini (GoE) through the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs (MTEA) is developing a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as the donor and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the delivery partner. The project seeks to strengthen the enabling environment for adaptation planning and implementation in Eswatini with a focus on long term adaptation investment and enhancing national capacity for integration of climate change adaptation in planning, budgeting and financial tracking processes.
• UNEP is seeking the services of an Information Management Expert to develop an information management system and database including an information portal to disseminate and share information, outputs and facilitate knowledge-sharing through a well-functioning system and information platform that will serve as a comprehensive, up-to-date, and easily accessible library of information on climate change adaptation projects and programmes.
• The consultant will work under the technical supervision of the the Task manager in the Climate Change Adaptation Unit (CCAU) in UNEP in liaison with the Meteorological Services of the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs. The National Coordinator and UNEP’s Task Manager will be the primary contact for the consultants. They will provide an update on a weekly basis with regards to progress and support required.

The consultant will undertake the following tasks and responsibilities:

• Output 1: Establish a climate change information management system and central database for the collation and dissemination of climate information (including the results of the long-term research programme under Activity 3.3.1) to inform future adaptation assessments.
• Review relevant National and sectorial reports on climate information systems to inform future adaptation assessments.
• Design a climate change information system and central database to manage climate change information flow. The climate information management system will focus on data collection and analysis and will primarily store technical climate information. It will be interactive and enable relevant parties (technical staff of relevant departments and line ministries) to upload and change.
• Conduct a stakeholder consultation workshop to key stakeholders, MTDs, Sector Planning Units including MoEPD, MoF, MTEA, CSO, and other thematic lead ministries and departments to present a beta version of the climate information system and database.
• Conduct a validation workshop on the established information system to national stakeholders and operationalize the system

Output 2: Develop and implement a coordination mechanism for improving access to and sharing of data (including procedures for data collection and analysis)

• In consultation with the PMU and sector experts, develop a coordination plan for improving access to and sharing of data.
• Establish procedures to access and information disclosure.
• Conduct two technical workshops with relevant stakeholders to present developed coordination plan and established procedures to information access and disclosure for inputs and implementation of the developed coordination mechanism.
• Submit final Coordination Mechanism report

Output 3: Develop a climate change information portal to disseminate information on climate change, NAP process and all knowledge information and materials developed during the NAP process

• In consultation with the PMU, design and develop a climate change information portal to disseminate information on climate change. The portal will provide climate change information across all sectors and to a broader range of stakeholders (including rural communities) to enable them to quickly understand the challenges of climate change.
• Assist the PMU in procuring a domain to host the website for at least 10 years from the first year of the project.
• Develop a user manual for the support staff and system administrators to perform content upload, system maintenance and administration.
• Develop and implement a strategy for
• the operation and maintenance of the
• climate information system.
• Conduct a technical workshop including a mini training to hand over the website management with the PMU, identified Ministry personnel and other line ministry experts.

Qualifications/special skills

• The consultant should have an advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Information Technology (IT), Engineering, Computer Sciences, Database development and management, or a related field from a recognised and reputable institution.
• A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• At least 7 years continuous working experience in the fields of database development/design, database administration, installation and support for different database platforms is required
• At least 5 years of prior experience designing visually appealing and navigation friendly web sites and Databases is required
• Extensive experience in programming and CMS development, including versioning of which at least two years are specific to Word Press CMS is required
• Expert knowledge of SQL Server environments for designing and developing databases. SQL Server Database Certification would be an asset; 3+ years is required
• Have a broad knowledge of current web development technologies and design tools in the field, and new software and other web programming languages and programs including use of HTML (including version 5), AJAX, Java script XHTML, CSS, XML, XSLT, Macromedia Flash, Java is required
• Microsoft and Linux environment; experience in Postgres, Java and Python; particular skill in fault finding technical problems and developing solutions and experience in information and communication technology is required
• Have excellent knowledge of recent trends in graphic design, web sites, including online video publishing, and social media networking is desired
• Team Foundation Server (TFS) user or administrator is desired
• Good understanding of Information Architecture, UI, UX, cross-browser compatibility, and web security is desired
• Demonstrated expertise in the use and configuration of the following products and techniques including, Search engine optimization, Google Webmaster tools, Google developer tools and Mobile device adaptation is desired

Languages

• For this consulting position, fluency in oral and written English is required, knowledge of other official UN languages is optional.

Closing Date: 23 October 2023

Method of Application

Use the link(s) below to apply on company website.

• Evaluation Consultant for Mid-Term Evaluation of the UNEP project “Mediterranean Sea Basin Environment and Climate Regional Support Project” GEF 9686
• Climate Change and Adaptation Information Management Expert