Local 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

Compontent 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. This TOR is developed specifically for acquiring the services of a local consultant for the MTR.

• Objective of the assignment

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).

Duties and Responsibilities

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

The consultant together with the MTR team leader will review all relevant sources of information including documents prepared during the preparation phase of the project, the Project Document (ProDoc), various project reports and any other materials that the TE team considers useful for this evidence-based evaluation. The consultant will review the baseline and midterm GEF focal area Core Indicators/Tracking Tools submitted to the GEF at the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) endorsement and midterm stages and the terminal Core Indicators/Tracking Tools that must be completed before the TE field mission begins.

Expected outputs and deliverables

The consultant, led by and together with the senior international consultant shall prepare and submit:

• 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.

All final TE reports will be quality assessed by the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office (IEO). Details of the IEO’s quality assessment of decentralized evaluations can be found in Section 6 of the UNDP Evaluation Guidelines.

Competencies

• Strong negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality reports;
• Ability to work independently in a timely manner;
• 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:

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

Years of experience:

• 1 year of experience in managing, monitoring or evaluating projects
• 2 years of experience working in Guinea Bissau;
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender; natural resources and/or climate change adaptation;
• At least 1 project evaluation/review or external consultancy experience within the United Nations system will be considered an asset;

Language:

• Fluency in spoken and written English and Portuguese;

Guidelines for application:

Required documents:

• A cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for this assignment;
• A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the tasks, describing the tools and workplan proposed for this assignment;
• A financial proposal;
• A personal CV including past experiences in similar projects and at least 3 professional references.
• Lump sum contracts: The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the ToR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days)

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

• 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 - 20 points;
• Competences as defined in the ToR - 10 points;
• Understating of the ToR - 15 points;
• Methodology and overall approach - 25 points;
• Overall quality of the proposal (comprehensiveness, structure, language and clarity) - 20 points.