Evaluation Consultant for Terminal Evaluation of the UNEP Project " Sharing Experience and Knowledge for a Sustainable Belt and Road”

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UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Thursday 8 Dec 2022 at 23:59 UTC

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Result of Service The Evaluation Consultant will be responsible, in close consultation with the Project Managet for overall management of the evaluation and timely provision of its outputs. The Evaluation Consultant will ensure that all evaluation criteria and questions are adequately covered.

The consultant will produce an approved inception report; an approved draft main evaluation report (with separate annexes presenting the performance ratings for each of the five (5) MSPs; and an approved final main evaluation report with separate annexes presenting the performance ratings for each of the five (5) MSPs.

Work Location Remote

Expected duration 3.5 months (15 December 2022 - 31 March 2023)

Duties and Responsibilities The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) is the United Nations system designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global, regional and national level. This consultancy is posted in the Economic and Trade Policy Unit of the Resources and Markets Branch of the Economy Division.

Supported by the Government of China, the Economic and Trade Policy Unit has been leading a project on “Sharing Experience and Knowledge for a Sustainable Belt and Road” since 2018. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to enhance economic development and inter-regional connectivity in over 60 countries by focusing on five areas of cooperation: infrastructure, trade, policy, finance and people. The initiative presents an excellent opportunity for countries to use these investments to help transform their economies and achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, in order to maximize the positive impacts of the BRI, countries must avoid investments that lock in carbon-intensive infrastructure and transport networks, and focus on investments in green infrastructure, clean energy, clean technology, and human capital that can take advantage of sustainable development opportunities. Care must also be taken to ensure that social and environmental safeguards are in place, that benefits are equitably shared, and that projects include effective stakeholder engagement.

There are a number of challenges that may prevent the BRI investments from contributing to the sustainable development in recipient countries. These include a failure of governments to adopt and implement sustainable development policies, a lack of institutional capacity and commitment to invest in sustainable management practices, and weak national regulatory frameworks. A number of factors also contribute to the barriers described above, such as the lack of knowledge and data to inform and support sustainable policy, management, investing, and business choices, and a lack of communication and collaboration within and among the key stakeholders who can trigger a shift in investment priorities. This Project aims to address these issues by increasing the Belt and Road stakeholders’ awareness and understanding of the sustainable development opportunities and challenges associated with BRI investments, and policy conditions required to enable and address them. It will do so by collecting and disseminating case studies, making integrated environmental data available, and providing capacity building seminars for Belt and Road stakeholders from participating countries. In addition to delivering training, the seminars will provide a forum for dialogue between Belt and Road stakeholders.

In line with the UNEP Evaluation Policy and the UNEP Programme Manual, the Terminal Review (TR) is undertaken at operational completion of the project to assess project performance (in terms of relevance, effectiveness and efficiency), and determine outcomes and impacts (actual and potential) stemming from the project, including their sustainability. The Review has two primary purposes: (i) to provide evidence of results to meet accountability requirements, and (ii) to promote operational improvement, learning and knowledge sharing through results and lessons learned among UNEP and its implementing partners . Therefore, the Review will identify lessons of operational relevance for future project formulation and implementation, especially for future phases of the project, where applicable.

The Evaluation Consultant will be responsible, in close consultation with the Project Manager for overall management of the evaluation and timely provision of its outputs. The Evaluation Consultant will ensure that all evaluation criteria and questions are adequately covered. 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); - plan the evaluation schedule; - prepare the Inception Report, incorporating comments until approved by the Project 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; - interview project partners and stakeholders. Ensure independence of the evaluation and confidentiality of evaluation interviews. - regularly report back to the Project 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 Project Manager guidelines both in substance and style; - liaise with the Project Manager on comments received and finalize the Main Evaluation Report, ensuring that comments are taken into account until approved by the Project 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 Project 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 Project Manager on any issues requiring its attention and intervention.

Specific tasks and responsibilities The findings of the Review will be based on the following: (a) A desk review of: - Relevant background documentation, including documents related to the Belt and Road Initiative and International Good Practice Principles for Sustainable Infrastructure published by UNEP in 2021; - Project design documents (including minutes of the project design review meeting at approval); Annual Work Plans and Budgets or equivalent, revisions to the project (Project Document Supplement), the logical framework and its budget; - Project reports such as six-monthly progress and financial reports, progress reports from collaborating partners, meeting minutes, relevant correspondence and any other monitoring materials etc.; - Project deliverables (e.g. publications, assessments etc) including output 1a - case studies developed, output 2a - Foresight Data Briefs published, and project proposals formulated, and output 2b - training completion reports including feedback from participants; - Evaluations/Reviews of similar projects.

(b) Interviews (individual or in group) with: - UNEP Project Manager (PM) - past and present; - Project management team; - UNEP Fund Management Officer (FMO); - Sub-Programme Coordinator; - Implementing partners (to be decided) - Technical partners, including ITC-ILO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Ministry of Environment of Rwanda , UNITAR, GiZ, etc.; - Relevant resource persons. - Representatives from civil society and specialist groups (such as women’s, farmers and trade associations etc).

(c) Surveys: continued countries effort to sustainable infrastructure

Qualifications/special skills Advanced university degree in, economics, natural resources management, political science, international development, engineering, planning or equivalent; A minimum of 5 years of technical or evaluation experience is required, preferably including evaluating large, regional or global programmes and using a Theory of Change approach; and a good/broad understanding of the infrastructure

Languages English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in spoken and written English is essential and fluency in spoken and written Chinese is a plus.

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.

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: careers.un.org