International Consultant, Conduct an Evaluability Assessment of the Transformative Agenda (TA) and the UNFPA PSRO Sixth Pacific Sub Regional Programme 2018-2022 (SRP6) – Evaluation Expert and Team Leader, Suva, Fiji

Closing date: 22 May 2019 - 5:00pm (NY time)

Duty station: Home based and some travel to the Pacific Island countries

Duration of contract: 60 days from May 2019 – July 2019

The Consultant Evaluation Expert and Team Leader post reports directly to the Sub-Regional Director and working in close collaboration with the M&E Specialist.  

In September 2017, the UN Executive Board endorsed the 6th cycle Sub regional Programme (SRP6) for the Pacific 2018-2022. The programme comprises of 3 key outcomes: Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health services; Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls; and data for sustainable development. Interventions focused on improving adolescents and youth SRHR, including VAW, are mainstreamed throughout the three programme outcomes. The programme was developed by the UNFPA PSRO team in consultation with key stakeholders in the Pacific sub region and is aligned to the national development priorities of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). The SRP6 contributes to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) also known as the United Nations Pacific Strategy (UNPS) 2018-2022, the global UNFPA Strategic Plan 2018-2021, the Pacific Sustainable Development Indicators and the Pacific Healthy Islands Monitoring Framework.  

The UNFPA Pacific Sub Regional Office (PSRO) rolled out the SRP6 for the Pacific in 2018 and is currently in the second year of implementation. The SRP6 serves as the umbrella programming framework that embeds a number of other frameworks including the Transformative Agenda for Women, Adolescents and Youth in the Pacific (June 2018- August 2022), the Pacific Regional SRH Program (until end of 2019), Essential Services Package Initiative (until June 2019), and the UN Joint RMNCAH programme (until December 2019). The PSRO intends to commission a programme evaluability assessment (EA) of the SRP6 2018-2022 and its various sub-programmes with a particular focus on the Transformative Agenda (TA) funded by Australia’s DFAT which focusses on SRHR demand, supply and enabling environment. The evaluability assessment will help determine the overall readiness of the programme to be evaluated in a reliable and credible fashion and check the coherence and logic of the programme. A two member team consisting of (1) an evaluation expert (team leader) and (2) an organizational effectiveness expert (team member) is currently required to undertake the scope of works outlined below.

 Scope of Work

The EA team leader will lead a two member team in the exercise study to:

• Assess the theory of change, bottleneck analysis and critical assumptions of the SRP6 and its sub programmes with a particular focus on the TA to determine if it fully reflects the contextual conditions faced by the programmes.
• Determine the validity, quality and adequacy of the results and resources frameworks (RRFs) of the respective programmes, particularly the SRPD and the TA, to determine whether they are SMART and do capture all key intended and unintended contributions of the programmes.
• Assess the availability and quality of data for indicators for the main SRP6 and sub programmes, particularly the TA, to determine the percentage of indicators with baseline and target information
• Clarify the alignment of the SRP6 framework with the UNFPA Strategic Plan 2018-2021, the TA and the other existing sub programme to streamline the planning, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the SRP6
• Review the indicators to determine whether they are SMART and fully measure the change stated by the results statements (both intended and unintended)
• Assess the quality of the programme design for the SRPD and the TA focusing on its development process and the various programme documents and products that were produced from this process.
• Review and determine the sufficiency of human and financial resources to deliver the programme results within the time period?
• Determine the SRP6 and TA programmes value for money from its planned investments.
• Determine whether the SRP6 and TA programmes have adequate and effective systems and processes in place to implement, monitor, report and evaluate the programme.
• Provide recommendation on 2-3 key thematic areas, their scope and adequate approaches/tools proposed for mid and terminal evaluations including other sub evaluative activities that maybe required during the 5 year cycle.

His/Her key primary responsibilities will include:

• guiding and managing the team throughout the evaluability assessment phases;
• setting out the methodological approach;
• reviewing and consolidating the team members’ inputs to the evaluability assessment  deliverables;
• liaising with the UNFPA PSRO and EARG and representing the evaluation team in meetings with stakeholders;
• Delivering the inception reports, and evaluation report in line with the requested quality standards and agreed timelines.

Deliverables

The EA consultancy outputs will be delivered throughout the course of the consultancy as outlined below and will have to be submitted in both hard copy and electronically. Key deliverables are outlined in bold below:

Under the overall supervision of the Director and Representative of UNFPA PSRO, and working in close collaboration with the M&E Specialist, he/she will produce the following deliverables by the agreed timelines against which UNFPA PSRO will pay out the corresponding percentages upon receipt of the outputs.

Expected Travel

The Consultant team leader will be expected to travel to a selection of the 6 TA countries (Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, Fiji) for the data collection phase. He/ She as team leader will discuss with the team member and PSRO on the travel schedule and who is traveling to which country. It is expected that each consultant will cover 3 countries each and spending at least 2-3 days in each country.

Requirements and Qualification

The Team Leader must have extensive experience in leading evaluability assessments and/or evaluations of a similar size, complexity and character, as well as technical expertise in areas related to evaluation and results based management. General understanding of UNFPA’s mandated areas of programming i.e. SRH, youth, GBV and population and development will be a key advantage.

Education

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Development Studies, Sociology, Economics, Social Studies, International Relations or other related field.

Knowledge and experience

• Minimum 10 years of experience conducting or managing evaluations. Preference will be given to candidates with experience conducting evaluability assessments or programmatic evaluations on areas such as adolescents and youth, child marriage, child protection, gender equality and education.
• Experience working with the United Nations, particularly UNFPA. Preference will be given to the candidate who has a strong understanding of UNFPA’s policies and programming.
• Awareness of ethical risks in programming around sensitive issues, both in programme delivery and in all aspects of M&E.
• Proven skills in evaluation methodology, research analysis, including quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques.
• Demonstrate expertise/experience in developing results frameworks, tools or guide for monitoring and evaluation;
• Be fully acquainted with results-based management orientation and practices;
• Excellent report writing skills, analytical skills, and computer skills.
• Excellent command in written and spoken English
• Experience leading teams.

Inputs:

The consultant will use their own laptop and any other equipment required to deliver the outputs of this assignment. The use of PSRO office space, internet and teleconference services by the consultant will be guided by related requirements stipulated under UNFPA’s policies and procedures.   

How to Apply:

• Register your profile in the UNFPA Consultant Roster via https://www.unfpa.org/unfpa-consultant-roster and
• Submit cover letter/proposal stating how you meet the above criteria, CV and your consultancy daily fee by email to vacanciespsro@unfpa.org by 22 May 2019 with title: “Consultant- Evaluability Assessment Team Leader”.