IC/UNDP/ATSEA/022/2022 - National Consultant for Mid-Term Review

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

Interest candidate has to access procurement notice Ref.: IC/UNDP/ATSEA/022/2022 - National Consultant for Mid Term Review link: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=88759

We encourage you to submit your application through this website and send the complete application to [email protected] (only application with complete supporting document received in [email protected] before or at the closing date will be proceed).

Background

This is the Terms of Reference for the UNDP-GEF Midterm Review (MTR) of the full or medium-sized project titled “Implementation of the Arafura and Timor Seas Regional and National Strategic Action Programs (ATSEA-2); Second Phase of the Arafura Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA) Program ” (PIMS 5439), implemented through UNDP/PEMSEA, which is to be undertaken in 2022. The project started in 2019 and is in its third year of implementation. This Term of Reference (ToR) sets out the expectations for this MTR. The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in the document document Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects and the UNDP’s Evaluation Guidelines www.undp.org/evaluation (Jan 2019).

The ATSEA-2 Project is the 2nd phase of the GEF-financed, UNDP-supported ATSEA program, and was designed to enhance regional collaboration and coordination in the Arafura and Timor Seas (ATS) region, which is composed of Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Timor-Leste.

Building upon the foundational results realized in the first phase of the ATSEA program (2009-2014), whereby the ATS Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) and regional ATS Strategic Action Program (SAP) and corresponding National Action Programs (NAPs) were developed and adopted, the ATSEA-2 project focuses on supporting the implementation of the 10-year ATS SAP endorsed through a Ministerial Declaration in 2014. The SAP responds to the findings of the TDA and aims to pursue the following environmental objectives addressing the five major transboundary concerns in the ATS region: (1) Recovering and sustaining fisheries; (2) Restoring degraded habitats for sustainable provision of ecosystem services; (3) Reducing land-based and marine sources of pollution; (4) Protecting key marine species; and (5) Adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

In accordance with the SAP’s long-term objective, the ATSEA-2 project aims to enhance sustainable development of the ATS region to protect biodiversity and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants through conservation and sustainable management of marine-coastal ecosystems. To achieve this objective, the project’s intervention has been organized in three components, under which nine outcomes and 22 outputs are expected. The project components include:

Component 1: Regional, National and Local Governance for Large Marine Ecosystem Management

Component 2: Improving LME Carrying Capacity to Sustain Provisioning, Regulating and Supporting Ecosystem Services

Component 3: Knowledge Management

The project is closely aligned with the GEF-6 International Waters (IW) strategic programs, particularly Objective 3 “Enhance multi-state cooperation and catalyze investments to foster sustainable fisheries and protect coastal habitats, and reduce pollution of coasts and Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs)”. It also applies a multifocal approach which covers international waters and biodiversity focal areas, as well as increased resilience to climate change.

The project is being managed under National Implementation Modality (NIM) with full country office support. In particular, UNDP Indonesia serving as the Principal Project Representative (PPR) is managing Indonesia component (Award ID 00096036) and Regional and PNG component (Award ID 00111335), while Timor-Leste component (Award ID 00111339) is being executed by UNDP Timor-Leste. The Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) is serving as executing agency for the regional and PNG component of the project. Indonesia, PNG, and Timor-Leste are the three participating countries to the project with corresponding co-financing support, while Australia is providing technical and co-financing support to the project.

The project has a five-year timeframe starting from 2019 to 2024. The project implementation began in 2019 but with varying starting dates based on the signing of the Project Document by member countries: Indonesia-01 February 2019; Timor-Leste-05 March 2019, Papua New Guinea-29 July 2019, while at the regional level the activities started from 24 July 2019 following the signature of Project Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between PEMSEA and UNDP Indonesia. The Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and regional components’ project inception meetings were conducted in the last quarter of 2019, while PNG’s inception meeting was conducted only on 31 May 2021, following the series of discussions and finalization of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between PEMSEA and the National Fisheries Agency (NFA) of PNG which was signed on 21 October 2020. The Regional Project Management Unit (RPMU) serving as Secretariat and based in Bali, Indonesia was operationalized beginning early 2020, while National Coordinating Units (NCUs) were operationalized in Indonesia and Timor-Leste in 2019, and in PNG in 2021.

The total GEF grant for the project is US$ 9,745,662, with corresponding co-financing commitments (in-kind and in cash) amounting to US$60,201,173 from the ATS government partners, UNDP Indonesia, UNDP PNG, and NGO partners. For the Indonesia component, the total GEF grant is at US$ 3,180,00, with corresponding co-financing commitment amounting to US$ 33,490,522.

Based on World Health Organization (WHO) data on COVID19, from January 3, 2021 to February 9, 2022, there have been a total of 4,626,936 confirmed cases and 144,784 deaths from COVID-19 in Indonesia; 20,942 confirmed cases and 122 deaths in Timor-Leste; and 37,983 confirmed cases and 597 deaths in Papua New Guinea. Large social restrictions or lockdowns in these countries, including in the ATSEA-2 project sites, were implemented since 2020 to prevent Covid-19 pandemics. In Indonesia large-scale social restrictions were put in place since March 2020 with some restrictions reduced towards end of 2021. The latest Minister of Home Affairs Instruction (Inmendagri) No. 12/2022 stated that PPKM Level 4 to Level 1 on the islands of Java and Bali would be implemented until February 28, 2022, while the regions of Jakarta and its greater areas, the major cities of Yogyakarta and Surabaya, as well as Bali, will continue to enforce PPKM Level 3. In Timor-Leste, varying measures (lockdowns and sanitary fences) were implemented in different municipalities since 2020. Temporary measures in response to COVID-19 has been imposed up to March 2022. In Papua New Guinea, state of emergency and lockdowns were implemented for several months from March 2020, followed by specific lockdowns in September to October 2021 due to spike in COVID cases. In line with this, as early as March 2020 the Regional Project Management Unit (RPMU) together with the National Coordinating Units (NCUs) have identified and put in place adaptive management measures by maximizing the use of virtual or online mechanisms for coordination and communication as well as strengthening coordination with local counterparts for on-the-ground initiatives. While the project has managed to carry out significant number of activities, the various lockdowns and safety measures implemented by the ATS countries from 2020 and up to current time, have impeded the conduct of planned regional exchange learning visits as well as some field validation and primary data gathering activities. This has also affected some of the project financial delivery as several site visits and face to face activities or meetings had to be converted to virtual means or postponed to a later date. Based on internal assessment, some works can continue on-schedule, while some may need to be further deferred and likely to delay and some may need readjustment to adapt to the new normal. Apart from COVID-19, natural calamities such as the Seroja cyclone in April 2021 have also affected some activities including in the area of Rote Ndao in Indonesia, and large parts of Timor-Leste

Duties and Responsibilities

The MTR team shall prepare and submit:

• MTR Inception Report: MTR team clarifies objectives and methods of the Midterm Review no later than 2 weeks before the MTR mission. To be sent to the Commissioning Unit and project management. Completion date: (April 8, 2022)
• Presentation: MTR team presents initial findings to project management and the Commissioning Unit at the end of the MTR mission. Completion date: (April 30, 2022)
• Draft MTR Report: MTR team submits the draft full report with annexes within 3 weeks of the MTR mission. Completion date: (May 15, 2022)
• Final Report*: MTR team submits the revised report with annexed and completed Audit Trail detailing how all received comments have (and have not) been addressed in the final MTR report. To be sent to the Commissioning Unit within 1 week of receiving UNDP comments on draft. Completion date: (May 30, 2022)

*The final MTR report must be in English. If applicable, the Commissioning Unit may choose to arrange for a translation of the report into a language more widely shared by national stakeholders.

Competencies

Language

• Fluency in written and spoken English. Knowledge of Bahasa would be an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree on sociology, development studies/ management, environmental science, environment & natural resources management, social anthropology, or any related course (20%)

Experience:

• Minimum five (5) years of relevant professional experience especially on results-based monitoring and evaluation methodologies and applying SMART indicators and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios (20%);

• Experience in the evaluation of technical assistance projects, preferably UN agencies and major donors (20%);

• Minimum 2 years work experience with institutions, programmes and local and national governments in the ATS region, experience working with Indonesian government agencies, NGOs. government process is an asset (10%)

• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to sustainable fisheries, coastal and marine habitats and biodiversity, climate change, marine and land-based pollution, including experience in gender sensitive evaluation and analysis, and experience working on application of EAFM, ICM, EbA approaches (20%)

• Excellent English writing and communication skills. Demonstrated ability to assess complex situations in order to succinctly and clearly distill critical issues and draw forward looking conclusions (5%)

• Experience leading multi-disciplinary, multi-national teams to deliver quality products in high stress, short deadline situations (5%)

• Experience with implementing evaluations remotely will be considered an asset