International consultant for the midterm review (MTR) of the project “Strengthening the resilience of vulnerable coastal areas and communities to climate change in Guinea Bissau”

Contract

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Background

This is the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the UNDP-GEF Midterm Review (MTR) of the full-sized project titled “Strengthening the resilience of vulnerable coastal areas and communities to climate change in Guinea Bissau” implemented through the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) Guinea Bissau (Government). The project started on the 3rd of May 2019 and is in its third year of implementation. The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in the document Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects (http://web.undp.org/evaluation/guidance.shtml#gef).

The project was designed to support Guinea Bissau in sustainably addressing urgent and immediate barriers linked to policy, institutional, individual and financial aspects of its current coastal zone management framework, as well as to improve stakeholders’ overall knowledge and capacity related to effective climate risk management and climate resilient development in its coastal zone. Its objective is to strengthen the adaptive capacity and climate resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate risks in Guinea-Bissau.

The project has four main components, each with a corresponding outcome thus:

Component 1: Governance frameworks for climate risk management in the coastal zone which focuses on supporting the establishment of an enabling political, institutional and administrative environment for advancing the management of the climate risk in the coastal zone.

• Outcome 1) Policies, regulations institutions and individuals mandated to manage the coastal zone are strengthened in order to reduce the risks of climate change.

Component 2: Coastal protection investments which aims to finance additional investments in hard and soft coastal protection measures to help maintain critical economic and natural infrastructures in the face of sea level rise and coastal degradation. This includes interventions in the agricultural and fisheries sectors, as well as those related to nature protection and ecosystem restoration.

• Outcome 2) The vulnerability of coastal investments to climate risks is reduced through the design, construction and maintenance of coastal protection measures.

Component 3: Diffusion of technologies to strengthen coastal communities’ climate resilience: this entails contributing to strengthen climatic resilience through livelihood options for the coastal communities with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups such as women and youths.

• Outcome 3) Communities adaptive capacity is reinforced, and rural livelihoods are enhanced and protected from impacts of climate change in the coastal zone.

Component 4: Monitoring and evaluation: This includes the development and implementation of long-term monitoring and evaluation schemes for the entire project duration to ensure the intended project objectives are being met.

• Outcome 4) Effective monitoring and evaluation of the Project

The project interventions are carried out in various localities grouped in the following zones: the “Bolama-Bijagós Archipelago” zone (1), the “Varela-Cacheu” zone (2), the “Mansoa-Buba-Cufada” zone (3a) and the South zone (3b). The planned duration of the project is five years. i.e., 3rd May 2019 to 3rd May 2024.

The project is implemented following UNDP’s national implementation modality, according to the Standard Basic Assistance Agreement between UNDP and the Government of Guinea-Bissau, and the Country Program. The Implementing Partner is the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS).

The Implementing Partner works closely with: the Coastal Planning Office (GPC), the Directorate for Rural Engineering (Engenharia Rural), the Directorate for Agricultural and Rural Development (DGAg), the Institute of Biodiversity and Protected Areas (IBAP) and the National Institute of Research and Studies (INEP) as responsible parties, tasked with implementing specific activities assigned to them and ensuring the government’s contribution to the project and working with the project management team and Project Board to achieve the intended results.

This MTR will be conducted by a team of 2 consultants (hereby referred to as the MTR team) made up of an international consultant who will act as MTR team leader and a local consultant.

Duties and Responsibilities

The MTR will assess progress towards the achievement of the project objectives and outcomes as specified in the Project Document and assess early signs of project success or failure with the goal of identifying the necessary changes to be made in order to set the project on-track to achieve its intended results. The MTR will also review the project’s strategy and its risks to sustainability.

It will focus on the effectiveness, efficiency, and timeliness of project implementation; will highlight issues requiring decisions and actions; and will present initial lessons learned about project design, implementation, and management. The findings of this review will be incorporated as recommendations for enhanced implementation during the final half of the project’s term.

The MTR report will be available in English and will be cleared by the UNDP Country Office and the UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Adviser and approved by the Project Board. The report will also be uploaded on UNDP corporate systems, in particular the UNDP Evaluation Office’s Evaluation Resource Center (ERC).

The consultant as part of the MTR team will review all relevant sources of information including documents prepared during the preparation phase (i.e. PIF, UNDP Initiation Plan, UNDP Social and Environmental Screening Procedure (SESP)), the Project Document, project reports including Annual Project Review/PIRs, project budget revisions, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the team considers useful for this evidence-based review. Conduct a review of the baseline GEF focal area Core Indicators/Tracking Tools submitted to the GEF at CEO endorsement, and the midterm GEF focal area Core Indicators/Tracking Tools that must be completed before the MTR field mission begins. The consultant is expected to follow a collaborative and participatory approach ensuring close engagement with the Project Team, government counterparts (the GEF Operational Focal Point), the UNDP Country Office(s), the Nature, Climate and Energy (NCE) Regional Technical Advisor, direct beneficiaries, and other key stakeholders. Engagement of stakeholders is vital to a successful MTR. Stakeholder involvement should include interviews with stakeholders who have project responsibilities, including but not limited to; relevant government ministries, partner NGOs/CBOs, executing agencies, senior officials and task team/ component leaders, key experts and consultants in the subject area, Project Board, project stakeholders, local government and CSOs, etc. Additionally, the MTR team is expected to conduct field missions to the project zone #1, zone #2 and zone #3 listed above.

The specific design and methodology for the MTR should emerge from consultations between the MTR team and the above-mentioned parties regarding what is appropriate and feasible for meeting the MTR purpose and objectives and answering the evaluation questions, given limitations of budget, time and data. The consultant must, however, use gender-responsive methodologies and tools and ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as other cross-cutting issues and SDGs are incorporated into the MTR report.

The consultant as part of the MTR team will assess the following four categories of project progress. See the Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects for extended descriptions.

• Project Strategy
• Progress towards results
• Project implementation and adaptive management
• Sustainability

Expected outputs and deliverables

The consultant, will lead the MTR team in preparing and submitting:

• The inception report before the MTR mission
• A presentation of initial findings at the end of the MTR mission
• A draft MTR report within 3 weeks of end of MTR mission

- Final MTR Report* + Audit Trail within 1 week of receiving comments on draft report

*The final MTR report must be in English.

Competencies

• Strong analytical, negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products;
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner;
• Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service;
• Strong ability to communicate clearly, adapting style and content to different audiences;
• Strong interpersonal and presentation skills in meetings;

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

• A Master’s degree in environmental sciences, social sciences or closely related field

Years of experience:

• 6 years of experience with result-based management evaluation methodologies;
• 5 years of experience applying SMART targets and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios;
• 6 years of experience in evaluating projects preferably GEF projects; Competence in adaptive management, as applied to climate change adaptation;
• 1year of experience working along Guinea-Bissau’s rural coastal zone;
• 5years of work experience in relevant technical areas;
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender and climate change adaptation; experience in gender sensitive evaluation and analysis;

Language:

• Fluency in spoken and written English and Portuguese; French is an added advantage

Schedule of payments

• 20% payment upon satisfactory delivery of the final MTR Inception Report which includes the evaluation design matrix, data collection plan, tools, work plan and approval by the Commissioning Unit
• 40% payment upon satisfactory delivery of the draft MTR report to the Commissioning Unit
• 40% payment upon satisfactory delivery of the final MTR report and approval by the Commissioning Unit and RTA (via signatures on the TE Report Clearance Form) and delivery of completed TE Audit Trail

Evaluation: Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;
• Technical Criteria weight – 70 points;
• Financial Criteria weight – 30 points.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Evaluation criteria:

• Education background - 10 points;
• Experience as defined in the ToR - 15 points;
• Competences as defined in the ToR - 10 points;
• Understating of the ToR - 15 points;
• Methodology and overall approach - 30 points;
• Overall quality of the proposal (comprehensiveness, structure, language and clarity) - 20 points.

Application process

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
• CV and a Personal History Form (P11 form);
• Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; (max 1 page)
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price and all other travel related costs (such as flight ticket, per diem, etc.), supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template attached to the Letter of Confirmation of Interest template. If an applicant is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the applicant must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.