Consultancy for Independent Evaluation of the Joint Programme on Integrated Social Policy funded by the Joint SDG Fund

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Individual Consultant for Independent Evaluation of the Joint Programme on Integrated Social Policy funded by the Joint SDG Fund - “Reaching the furthest behind first: A catalytic approach to supporting the social protection in Sao Tome & Principe” - for 45 working days

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a champion

The Joint Programme, funded by the Joint SDG Fund in Sao Tome and Principe is supporting the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, Family and Professional qualification (MLSFPQ) to fully implement a unique Social Registry (SR) to enable its use by several targeted social programmes. Despite it builds on the current support given by the World Bank to the MLSFQ to update the cash transfer beneficiary database, the SR has the aim to be linked with different monitoring information systems beyond social protection, including areas such as health and education. Hence, the SR is expected to be effectively linked to a set of interventions aimed at improving the access of vulnerable families not only to cash transfer schemes, but also to social services in the whole country. The main objective of the JP is to accelerate some key SDG targets by fostering synergies through cross-sectoral coordination while expanding social protection coverage. In achieving so, the JP is supporting the Ministry or Health, Ministry of Education and the MLSFPQ to link sector interventions to the SR, including: 1) parental education programme; 2) youth engagement in the social sector; 3) access to a health services package, including an individual health monitoring and case management (possible thanks to the interoperability of the Social Registry and the District Health Information Software - DHIS2 individual tracker module)

By 2022 it is expected that the Social Registry is fully implemented at the national level, with an adequate legal and normative framework and ready to be scaled out and scaled up and that all families benefiting from the Vulnerable Family Programme (cash transfers targeting children) and identified as vulnerable in the social registry have had access to parental education, access to basic health and ensure access of vulnerable children to education (particularly pre-schooling). The Joint Programme is also expected to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on the vulnerable and extreme poor household by fostering the development of an infrastructure that will be able to respond to negative shocks in a timely manner through adequate social protection mechanisms linked to priority access to social services

As the implementation reaches its final stage, the UN in STP intends to document what worked well and what not from the ongoing Joint Programme to inform the development of future JPs, to strengthen accountability of UN to national stakeholders and for results. In doing so, UNICEF, as the lead agency, is looking for an independent institution/organization with strong technical expertise and experience on programme evaluation to perform the ‘Final Evaluation for the Joint Programme on Social Protection”. The final independent evaluation is expected to be conducted from 25 April to 20 June 2022 with the aim of informing UN and government on the achievements of the program against the designated main transformative results, outcome, and output indicators. The evaluation shall consider the coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and impact of the JP. It shall also provide evidence on the JP contribution to the acceleration of the achievement of SDGs and its contribution to UN reform.

How can you make a difference?

The evaluation will assess overall contribution of the JP to the strengthening of the social protection system in the country, particularly in the context of coordination, capacity strengthening, and policy development. It will also serve is to analyze to which extent the joint implementation has contributed to the success or failure of the JP (in terms of programme coherence and efficiency). The initial evaluability assessment will provide Participating UN Organizations (PUNOs) and partners with evidence on the extent to which results can be demonstrated based on quantitative and qualitative data.

The objective of the evaluation is to assess the coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact of the joint programme from its inception to its completion, with focus on its ability to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable households and hence its contribution to the reduction of disparities and inequalities at all levels through the full participation of vulnerable and prioritized groups to social protection services and basic social services. To accomplish this, the evaluation will need to examine the following:

  • Accomplishment of the main expected results and its sustainability: inform the achievement of the program against the designated main transformative results, outcome and output indicators as defined in its Overall Results Framework, and their sustainability in the medium/long-term.
  • Contribution to improving the situation of vulnerable groups identified in the JP document (ProDoc) through the assessment of evidence from programme experiences and approaches that have proven effective in meeting the needs of vulnerable households.
  • Contribution to SDG acceleration through the assessment of JP underlying Theory of Change (ToC) based on the integration and coordination of different interventions to jointly strengthen a common database (Social Registry, SR) of vulnerable families that will have priority access to social protection programmes and social services.
  • Contribution to UN reform (UNCT coherence) through the review of the joint implementation of the programme, including its governance and monitoring and reporting arrangements, to gather lessons learned that can help better design joint initiatives.
  • Lessons learned, good practices and innovations to better inform the sustainability of the joint program for its upscale.
  • To provide a set of forward-looking and actionable recommendations to strengthen programmatic strategies in the design of the next JP taking into account national priorities and the national 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the country
  • JP focus on disability to assess to what extent the joint programme design, implementation, and monitoring have been inclusive of persons with disabilities (accessibility, non-discrimination, participation of organizations of persons with disabilities, data disaggregation) and has effectively contributed to their socio-economic inclusion by providing income security, coverage of health care, and disability-related costs across the life cycle.

Scope of Work:

The summative evaluation will provide an independent assessment of the joint programme, and it will be forward-looking by reinforcing good practices, identifying areas for improvement, and providing conclusions and recommendations. It will be conducted to assess progress made and provide recommendation for the sustainability of the program.

The evaluation will attempt to assess the approach taken by UNICEF, UNDP, WHO and ILO, on whether the assumptions made in the ToC are appropriate, whether activities and interventions are indeed contributing to progress within the framework of the ToC, whether the proposed approach is scalable and to determine why or why not progress is occurring. Of course, where the evaluation does yield evidence in relation to impact and outcomes, these will be reflected upon in the evaluation report.

The evaluation will cover:

  • Temporal Scope: January 2020 to May 2022
  • Geographic Scope: national (excluding Principe)
  • Programmatic Scope: Theory of Change and Results framework – The evaluation will focus on the 4 transformative results stated in the Project Document
  • Cross-cutting themes Scope: disability focus and leave no one behind principle
  • Strategic Scope: Contribution to UNDAF, agencies comparative advantage and value added, and contribution to SDG acceleration
  • Operational Scope: use of resources for impact (more efficient together or alone?), complexity in terms of management (more efficient alone or together?) as well as evidence generation for JP performance measurement

Methodology

As per the Project Agreements, after the completion of the joint programmes, a final, independent and gender-responsive evaluation will be organized by the Resident Coordinator. The evaluation will be managed jointly by PUNOs as per established process for independent evaluations, including the use of a joint evaluation steering group and dedicated evaluation manager not involved in the implementation of the joint programme. The evaluations will follow the United Nations Evaluation Group’s (UNEG) Norms and Standards for Evaluation in the UN System, using the guidance on Joint Evaluation and relevant UNDG guidance on evaluations. The management and implementation of the joint evaluation will have due regard to the evaluation policies of the PUNOs to ensure the requirements of those policies are met; and with use of appropriate guidance from PUNOs on joint evaluation. The evaluation process will be participative and will involve all relevant programme’s stakeholders and partners. Evaluation results will be disseminated amongst governments, donors, academic institutions, and stakeholders of civil society (including workers’ and employers’ organizations) and a joint management response will be produced upon completion of the evaluation process to be made publicly available on the evaluation platforms or similar of the PUNOs.

The summative evaluation will provide an independent assessment of the joint programme, and it will be forward-looking by reinforcing good practices, identifying areas for improvement, and providing conclusions and recommendations. It will be conducted to assess progress made and provide recommendation for the sustainability of the program. The evaluation will attempt to assess the approach taken by UNICEF, UNDP, WHO and ILO, on whether the assumptions made in the ToC are appropriate, whether activities and interventions are indeed contributing to progress within the framework of the ToC, whether the proposed approach is scalable and to determine why or why not progress is occurring. Of course, where the evaluation does yield evidence in relation to impact and outcomes, these will be reflected upon in the evaluation report.

5.1 Overall methodology

Referring to the objectives of the evaluation, this section indicates a possible design, approach, methods, and processes for the evaluation. Methodological rigor will be given significant consideration in the assessment of proposals. Hence bidders are invited to interrogate the approach and methodology proffered in the ToR and improve on it or propose an approach they consider more appropriate. In their proposal, the bidder should refer to triangulation, sampling plan and methodological limitations and mitigation measures. Bidders must also demonstrate methodological expertise and considerable experience in evaluating social protection programmes.

The evaluation will employ:

  1. theory-based approach- which depicts how the interventions supported by the UN STP are expected to contribute to a series of results and identifies the causal links between the results, as well as critical assumptions and contextual factors that support or hinder the achievement of desired changes
  2. iterative approach (using a developmental approach in alignment with SDGs and UNDAF drawing on key background documents and the internal M&E system. The background documents include:
  • Program Document (with focus on the baseline and end line as indicated on the results framework)
  • The annual (2020 and 2021) narrative consolidated reports
  • Quarter reports on progress and quarter updates on financial delivery
  • Consolidated activity reports including study report, survey, consultancy report, Government guidelines, policies
  • A compilation of communication products i.e. monthly newsletter, Human Interest Story.
  1. inclusive, transparent, and participatory approach involving a broad range of partners and stakeholders at national and sub-national levels. An initial stakeholder map will be developed to identify stakeholders who have been involved in the preparation and implementation of the JP and those partners who do not work directly with UN yet play a key role in a relevant outcome or thematic area in the national context. These stakeholders include government representatives, civil society organizations, implementing partners, the private sector, academia, other United Nations organizations, donors and, most importantly, rights-holders (notably women, adolescents and youth). Particular attention will be paid to ensuring participation of women, adolescent girls and young people, especially those from vulnerable and marginalized groups (e.g. young people and women with disabilities).

5.2 Methodological design of the evaluation

The methodology that the evaluation consultant/team will develop builds the foundation for providing valid and evidence-based answers to the evaluation questions and for offering a robust and credible assessment. The methodological design of the evaluation shall include the following key stages:

Finalization of the evaluation questions and related assumptions: Based on the preliminary questions presented in the present terms of reference and the theory of change underlying the JP, the evaluators are required to refine the evaluation questions. In their final form, the questions should reflect the evaluation criteria and clearly define the key areas of inquiry of the JP. The final evaluation questions and shall be presented in the inception report.

Sampling strategy: An initial overview of the interventions supported by JP, the locations where these interventions have taken place, and the stakeholders involved in these interventions. As part of this process, the stakeholder map will be prepared to identify the range of stakeholders that are directly or indirectly involved in the implementation or affected by the implementation of the JP. From this stakeholder map, the evaluation team will select a sample of stakeholders who will be consulted through interviews and/or group discussions during the data collection phase. These stakeholders must be selected through clearly defined criteria and the sampling approach outlined in the design/inception report.

Data collection: The evaluation will consider primary and secondary sources of information.

  • Primary data will be collected through semi-structured interviews with Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with the following stakeholders: UNICEF, UNDP, WHO, UNCEF, Resident Coordinator’s Office (cover both the technical working group and Heads of Agencies), Ministry of Labor, Solidarity, Family and Professional qualification (MLSFPQ), Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Education (MoE), Ministry of Youth and Sport, World Bank. The evaluator also needs to interview the implementing partner such the Youth institute, Directorate of Social Protection, National Social Security, Directorate of Entrepreneurship, etc. Surveys and questionnaires including beneficiaries, and/or focus group discussions (FGDs) with relevant stakeholders at the national and in-depth interviews/surveys with beneficiaries.
  • Secondary data will be collected through desk review, primarily focusing on annual work plans, work plan progress reports, monitoring data and results reports, evaluations and research studies (incl. previous evaluations, research by international NGOs and other United Nations organizations, etc.), surveys, data repositories and its implementing partners. The evaluation consultant/team will ensure that data collected is disaggregated by sex, age, location, and other relevant dimensions, such as disability status, to the extent possible.

Adherence to a code of ethics and a human right based and gender sensitive approach in the gathering, treatment and use of data collected should be made explicit in the inception report. Perspective from both rights holders and duty bearers shall be collected.

Analysis: Data analysis will be undertaken largely through the following techniques: descriptive, content and comparative analysis. Debriefs will be hold regularly to compare and discuss data collected and analyse emerging findings. To this end, data will be triangulated across data sets (quantitative and qualitative) and data sources (documents, site visits, people) to enhance data reliability and validity. In the analysis phase, the evaluation consultant/team should highlight data gaps and other data constraints.

Validation mechanisms: All findings of the evaluation need to be firmly grounded in evidence. The evaluation consultant/team will use a variety of mechanisms to ensure the validity of collected data and information including systematic triangulation of data sources and data collection methods. Data validation is a continuous process throughout the different evaluation phases. The evaluators should check the validity of the collected data and information and verify the robustness of findings at each stage of the evaluation, so they can determine whether they should further pursue specific hypotheses (related to the evaluation questions) or disregard them when there are indications that these are weak (contradictory findings or lack of evidence, etc.). The validation mechanisms will be presented in the design/inception report.

Estimated duration of the contract; Remuneration; Other Terms and Conditions

The consultancy will be full-time, for a period of 45 days from the date of signing the contract, which is expected to be as soon as possible -Home Based with potential mission to the country for data collection and interviews.

Remuneration conditions: 20%-40%-40%

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or part of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work / products:

  • is incomplete,
  • fails to meet UNICEF and government quality standards,
  • is not delivered or has not met the deadlines
  • fee reduction due to late shipping: 5 days - 10%, 15 days - 20%; 1 month - 50%; more than 1 month - payment withheld.

Note: Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their technical and financial evaluation offers (proposals must be submitted separately, to www.unicef.org/about/employ .

UNICEF does not provide or organize health insurance coverage for the consultant.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

  • Bachelor degree in Social Science, Statistics, Economy of development or relevant

  • At least five years of proven relevant experience in development especially in the area of social protection, social registry, universal health, education, or related and preferably within non-profit organizations foundations, donor organizations and international organizations.

  • Demonstrated experience in evaluation process on projects and programs, preferably with UN
  • Strong substantial knowledge and experience in monitoring and evaluation with 5 or 10 years of proven progressive experience on program monitoring and evaluation.
  • Demonstrated experience in analysing and managing quantitative and qualitative data.
  • Familiarity with Santomean government program and policy is strongly an asset.
  • Familiarity with the work and role of the United Nations is considered an added value.
  • Strong attention to consistency, detail, and quality.
  • Strong analytical, reporting, presentation and writing skills which demonstrate in the ability to write high quality, clear and concise report including to produced substantiated recommendations.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

Application Submission

Interested applicants are requested to apply online and attach a technical proposal and a financial proposal:

Technical and Financial Proposal

The consultancy will be full-time, for a period of 45 days from the date of signing the contract.

The consultant must submit his technical and financial proposal at the time of application. The technical proposal must include the work plan with the respective schedule and work methodology.

The financial proposal should include all expenses: tuition, meals, Internet and telephone communications, and local transportation, etc.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org