Local Individual Consultant (Sustainable Economic Growth) for Evaluation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Partnership Framework

Contract

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

Background

Nigeria is a Federal Republic, with 36 States, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs). The country is divided into six geopolitical zones for political and administrative purposes. With an estimated population of 206.1 million and an average family size of 5.8 people per household and a growth rate of 2.6 per cent, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous in the world. The country’s population is projected to grow by 30 per cent (60 million people) between 2020 and 2030 and then double to about 400 million by 2050 . Women of childbearing age account for 22.5 per cent of the population and the total fertility rate (TFR) is 5.3 . Most of the population is young with 45.7 per cent under 15 years and 31.7 per cent between age 10-24 years, contributing to the high dependency ratio of 98 per cent. One in five households are headed by women, and one-third of households have a head of household with no education .

Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $429.91bn as at 2020 . In 2017, when the United Nations Sustainable Development Partnership Framework (UNSDPF) was developed, the gross domestic product per capita was US$ 1,966.74 but rose to US$2.359.14 in 2019 but declined to US$2,084.05 in 2020. In 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that 64% of the population lived below the poverty line of $1.90 per day. As of 2019, updated data generated with a new methodology (1 week survey instead of 4 weeks) indicated a poverty rate of 47.6 per cent . Besides, the Nigerian economy is recovering from two major recessions including the 2016 recession which ended in 2017 and the 2020 recession entered in the 3rd quarter of 2020 and exited in the fourth quarter of 2020. The Nigerian economy officially exited the 2020 recession with growth of 0.11 per cent .

In 2017, Nigeria with a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.527, ranked as the 152nd among the qualifying countries in the world. This index has however dropped to 161 in 2020 with a score of 0.534 . The low HDI continues to place Nigeria in the category of countries with a low human development performance. Nigeria also continued with a low ranking in the Gender Development Index at 158 with no significant improvements between 2018 and 2019. Nigeria showed some decline in the Human Capital Index with a score of 0.36, down from 0.4 in 2019.

Developmental shortfalls persist in Nigeria and take several forms including reduced earnings for individuals, poor social indicators, wide income gaps, gender inequalities and a huge infrastructural disparity between the rural and urban locations.

The Nigeria UNSDPF - 2018-2022 was developed to tackle the identified developmental challenges of the country as at 2017 and, therefore, provides the frameworks for partnership and cooperation between the Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT). It was signed in July 2017 and is the fourth in the series of Common Country Programme Documents produced by the United Nations System in Nigeria. The document differs significantly from previous United National Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) document in several ways including: the application of the Standard Operating Procedure for UN coherence, the emphasis on partnerships, the focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the foundation, and its participatory formulation approach with the Nigerian Government and key stakeholders. The UNSDPF comprises three strategic objectives/ result areas and nine outcomes. Under each outcome, the UNSDPF outlines corresponding outputs (28 in total) which are used in the preparation of the annual Joint Work Plans (JWPs) for the three (3) Results Area Groups (RAGs) and nine (9) associated outcome groups to ensure the effective and coordinated implementation of the UNSDPF. In addition, the UNSDPF include result framework used by the M&E group to track the consistency, completeness and accuracy of the indicators outlined in the framework. Currently, the UNSDPF is tracking 47 outcome indicators and 192 output indicators.

The theory of change of the UNSDPF asserts that the combined effects of outcomes from the 3 results areas will enable UN system to contribute to the achievement of the goals and aspirations of the Nigerian state vision of “Delivery of Governance to promote national prosperity and an efficient, dynamic and self-reliant economy to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity”. This theory of change reflects the interaction and synergies of the 3 results areas and how the UN supports Nigeria to restore growth, invest in people and build a competitive economy to strategically place Nigeria on track to meeting its commitments. Some of the risks identified in the UNSDPF include 1) insufficient resources to meet the commitments of UN Agencies for implementation of the framework (Funding gap in 2020 was 37%), ii) new emergencies and conflicts that could result in diversion of the resources meant for the UNSDPF as witnessed in the reprogramming of USD 5.6 million for Covid-19 activities in 2020 and; iii) limited capacity of government and national stakeholders to implement programmes which were areas of focus in the implementation of the UNSDPF. The assumption that state that if a new political party or government come into power in 2019, the same measure of programme continuity would be respected, and no sudden policy shifts would occur was upheld.

The UN system in Nigeria comprises 21 UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes that together constitute the United Nations Country Team (UNCT). All these entities joined efforts and bring their varied comparative advantages to deliver the UNSDPF as One UN.

This is the fourth year of implementation of the UNSDPF and UN Nigeria in partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria planned to assess the progress made towards Nigeria’s development priorities selected within the UNSDPF. It will also take stock of the environment within which the UN is operating and assesses the effectiveness of UNSDPF as a tool of support to the achievement of national priorities and enhanced coordination and harmonization among all UN agencies.

Duties and Responsibilities

The evaluation scope will cover the UNSDPF implementation from January 2018 to the 2nd Quarter of 2021. It will also examine the UNSDPF cross cutting issues and UN programming principles including LNOB, human rights, gender equality, equity and women’s empowerment, youth engagement, disability inclusion, sustainability and resilience, and accountability. The evaluation will consider emerging issues related to the changes in government, Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, herders/farmers conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g UNCT responsiveness, adaptation and reprioritization) as well as operations issues (e.g methods for managing stakeholder participation and inclusiveness in the COVID-19 context).

The UNSDPF evaluation will not evaluate any individual programme or activities of a specific UN agency. However, the evaluation will be conducted at the strategic level looking at the UNSDPF as a portfolio of different interventions at outcome and output levels.

The geographic scope of this evaluation will be at national level and the 5 Delivering as One (DaO) States (Bauchi, Cross River, FCT, Lagos and Sokoto state).

One foreseen limitation will be the travel restriction due to the on-going global pandemic (COVID-19). At the inception phase, the evaluation will ascertain the feasibility of field visits and develop a mitigation plan if access to project sites is not possible. Another potential limitation will be the availability of staff and stakeholders however this risk can be partially managed by organising remote interviews with these identified stakeholders.

Competencies

Competencies:

Core Values:

• Integrity

• Accountability

• Respect

• Beneficence

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrated analytical, communication and technical report writing skills;

• Strong working knowledge of the UN and its mandate in Nigeria

• Inclusive Collaboration

• Stakeholder Engagement

Required Skills and Experience

I. Academic Qualifications:

Advanced university degree (Master or PhD) in economics, social science, development studies, business management, or other relevant fields

II. Years of experience:

• Conversant with Nigeria’s development and humanitarian context (especially the socio-political and institutional context)

• Sound knowledge of UN’s mandate and experience of partnering with the Government of Nigeria.

• Proven experience in governance processes, policy analysis and implementation in Nigeria

• The ability to translate data collection tools and conduct interviews in local language of the geographic area if required.

• Proven experience in planning, managing risks, monitoring and evaluation processes based on RBM, HRBA and gender mainstreaming.

• At least 5 years’ experience in conducting evaluations and analyzing quantitative data. Having conducted evaluations with UN agencies adhering to the UN Evaluation Group is an asset.III.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal:

(i) Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work

(ii) Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable)

2. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references

Selection Criteria

Academic Qualification: (University degree – Masters or PHD) in public health, social sciences, education, development studies, business management, economics, or other relevant fields: (10 Marks)

Years of experience in conducting evaluations and analysing quantitative data (at least 5 years): (10 Marks)

Demonstrated understanding of issues related to development and humanitarian programming in Nigeria (20 Marks)

Familiarity with M&E process based on RMB, RHBA and gender mainstreaming (20 Marks)

Familiarity with UN Reforms (10 Marks)

Excellent communication skills; (10 marks)

Demonstrable analytical skills; (20 marks)