Individual Consultant - Development of Training Manual on Monitoring and Evaluation for State Governments (for Indian Nationals only)

Contract

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

Background

UNDP has been working in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development, from systems and institutional strengthening to inclusive growth and sustainable livelihoods, sustainable energy, environment and resilience. It has supported the development of strong policies and continues to integrate a global vision of catalytic change with India’s national priorities. At UNDP, evaluation is critical to help advance human development. By generating objective evidence, evaluation helps UNDP achieve greater accountability and improved learning from experience.

In India, at the national level, the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), which is an office attached to NITI Aayog, is responsible for driving evidence-based policymaking by monitoring and evaluating government policies and programmes. The organization is entrusted with the development of M&E functions including: (i) to monitor progress and efficacy of long-term policy and programme frameworks; and (ii) to actively monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes and initiatives.

In this context, an MoU was signed between UNDP and DMEO to create a greater synergy between the two organisations. Both organisations wish to focus on a strategic and technical collaboration to strengthen monitoring and evaluation in India. The objective of this partnership is to establish a framework for cooperative institutional relations, to encourage and promote cooperation in the field of monitoring and evaluation of government policies and programmes. Among other things, this collaboration will be centered around building capacities of State officials in conduction of M&E.

A surge in public expenditure driven by economic growth has occurred in India, which in turn has resulted in a growing demand for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and performance management from government, program implementers, international donor organizations, and civil society at large. There is evidence that key macroeconomic policy makers are also concerned about the quality in public spending and better outcomes from public investments.

Today, most development schemes of the government of India, if not of the state governments, are evaluated from time to time (in some form or another), but only rarely because of donor insistence. Evaluation is being driven mainly because of the value planners, policy makers, and program implementers are placing on it as an instrument for accountability and improvement of public programs. In India, public expenditure is much more under the scanner, and the slow

progress toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals has also led to a greater emphasis on effectiveness of public expenditure.

Monitoring and Evaluation within the ambit of Government schemes is becoming an increasingly important phenomenon as Governments are being called upon to demonstrate results and impact of the executed programmes. The idea of having these systems in place is to ensure that public officials and program implementors can be held accountable for the quantum of public spending and efficient utilization of public finances for achieving the desired results. The common feature of most of the government programs is that they are executed across long time frames and changing government scenarios, which makes it necessary to have a continuous monitoring system for policy evaluation and recording tangible results across the lifetime of the program. Due to the federal nature of the Government, often centrally sponsored schemes have been criticized for poor ownership across the states and the presence of concurrent evaluations would enable the making of mid-course corrections and improve the effectiveness of the programs.

UNDP in collaboration with DMEO aims to organize workshops and training programmes to take the ecosystem of M&E to all tiers of the government and sensitize the officials on the techniques and standards for Monitoring and evaluation of development projects. In this regard, In this regard, UNDP seeks to hire a consultant, who under the supervision of Policy Specialist, UNDP India will develop a training manual for monitoring and evaluation of government programmes for State Governments. This training manual will be further converted into an online certificate training programme to be hosted by UNDP Knowledge Management team.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Under the supervision of Policy Specialist, UNDP/Nodal Officer DMEO the consultant will support in the development of a training manual on monitoring and evaluation Government Projects/Schemes/programmes which will support in State Governments to carry out concurrent monitoring as well as terminal evaluations. The training manual will provide the officials with all the technical skills and tools required to ensure effective monitoring of projects and programmes, but also to manage the different evaluations that are part of the programming cycle. This on-the-job training will advance the technical competency of the Government officials in fast-tracking the achievement of SDGs.

Deliverables:

The key deliverables will include the following:

• Development of draft training manual on monitoring and evaluation for State Government officials focusing on the central and State level schemes.
  • The manual should be carried out following and based on preliminary discussions with UNDP/DMEO after the desk review, and as per agreed format. The manual will be later on translated into different languages.
• Submission of Final Training manual
  • Respond to specific priorities identified and inputs provided by UNDP/DMEO related to training manual finalization. (Three to four round of iterations expected)
  • Proof reading of the all the chapters and finalization of the training manual.
• Presentation of Final Training Manual to UNDP and DMEO
  • Incorporate all the inputs provided by the supervisor

Payment Scheduled: Payments will be deliverable linked per the following schedule of payments:

Outputs and Deliverables

Payment Milestones

(Deliverable 1)

Draft Training Manual

20%

(Deliverable 2)

Submission of Final Training Manual

60%

(Deliverable 3)

Presentation and acceptance of UNDP

20%

Competencies

• Analytical skills: Able to synthesize large sets of inputs and data to form coherent outputs
• Ability to effectively and efficiently interact with senior members and stakeholders
• Must be detail-oriented
• Communication skills: Able to communicate clear ideas across a variety of mediums
• Writing and presentation skills: Able to produce high quality reports and presentations
• Team skills: Able to work independently as well as in teams
• Great organizational and time-management skills

Language Requirement: Fluency in written and oral English

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification:

• Post Graduate degree or equivalent in economics, statistics, mathematics, monitoring, evaluation or another related field. (essential)

Professional Experience:

• At least 8 years of directly relevant professional experience in consulting, development of training manual, report writing (with focus on sustainable development or SDGs/monitoring and evaluation/government initiatives)
• Practical experience working with or supporting global development organizations or governments on policies and strategies, with a specific focus on working on topics pertaining to monitoring and evaluation of government programmes, human development, sustainable development and
• Strong experience in research, analysis and in preparing training manual and documents on monitoring and evaluation.

Evaluation Criteria

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as Responsive to the requirement. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

• Technical Criteria weight - 70%.

• Financial Criteria weight – 30 %

Technical Criteria (70% of the total evaluation)

Criteria 1: Prior Experience (20%)

1. At least 8 years of directly relevant professional experience in consulting/ advisory, developing training manuals, writing, editing and proof reading (20 marks)

Criteria 2: Demonstrated Knowledge on monitoring and evaluation (20%)

1. Worked on at least 2 projects that demonstrate practical experience working with or supporting global development organizations or governments on policies and strategies, and topics pertaining to monitoring and evaluation of government programmes (20 marks)

Criteria 3: A three-page technical note on the Training Manual on M&E (30%)

1. Consultant should submit a two-page technical note on their understanding of the Training Manual on M&E and what all components they would be covering in the training manual**. A draft chapterisation of the training manual also will be ideal for the technical evaluation (30 marks)**

Please note that the technical document with information on the criteria’s requested should not exceed five pages and UNDP will seek the proof of the claims made in the technical document if the bidder is being shortlisted.

Financial Proposal:

Technically qualified consultants will be requested to submit their lump sum rate i.e. consultants who score more than 70% i.e. 49 marks with respect to the above-mentioned evaluation criteria. Consultant should not specify their consultancy fee on their CV or with the submission. The CV will not be evaluated further in case the consultant submits the same.

Notes:

• Miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone, relocation charges, local travel etc. would not be reimbursed separately.
• Individuals working with Instituions may also apply, contract would be issued in the name of Instituion for the specific services of the Individual.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individual from minority groups, indigenous groups and person with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination.

All selections is on merit.