Procurement Notices

PROJECT TITLE

National Evaluator for the Independent Monitoring and Evaluation of the Impact of the Initiatives of the "Facility for Advisory Support for Transition Capacities (FASTRAC).

BACKGROUND

FASTRAC is a financing and technical assistance platform that provides support for an inclusive peace process and the establishment of the autonomous region of Bangsamoro in Southern Philippines. It was established in April of 2013 in order to provide the Transition Commission and related institutions access to the best possible national and international expertise  in moving forward with the peace process, especially in the drafting  of the  Basic  Law that  will reflect the Bangsamoro people's aspirations for genuine autonomy while establishing the basis for efficient and accountable government.

The facility is governed by representatives of the Mora Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Government of the Philippines (GPH), and implemented jointly by the United Nations and the World Bank. It receives funding support from bilateral partners including Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Four years after it was established, FASTRAC has already provided initiatives aimed at strengthening the capacities of key stakeholders, particularly the Mora Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in preparation to the eventual transition towards the Bangsamoro entity especially after signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro on 27 March 2014. It has provided technical advice on key issues such as public administration, economic development, governance, and combatant transition, among others. The facility has also provided technical support to the negotiation track of the peace process between the government and the MILF particularly in the areas of normalization, transitional justice and territorial waters.

During its meeting held last 21 February 2017, the Consultative Committee (ConCom) of FASTRAC has recognized the important role of the facility in the transition and in the whole peace process in general that it decided to extend the timelines of the FASTRAC for the foreseeable future. The ConCom also agreed to monitor and evaluate the impact of the different projects and initiatives supported by the facility.

The purpose of evaluating the impact of the projects supported by FASTRAC is to assess its added value to the transition and in the whole peace process in general. This presents an excellent opportunity to assess the project's overall added value to peacebuilding in the Philippines, particularly in support of the transition towards the Bangsamoro entity given the context and the development surrounding the peace process. Moreover, the evaluation will contribute not only to better understanding the effectiveness of the facility's past strategic decision-making, but will help inform decision-making on the appropriateness of any continued engagement beyond the current project.

Specifically, the evaluation aims to:

1. assess to what extent the FASTRAC support projects have made a concrete and sustained contribution to supporting the transition and the Bangsamoro peace process in the Philippines, either through direct action or through catalytic effects;
2. assess how relevant, efficient, effective and sustainable the projects have been;
3. provide lessons for future FASTRAC engagement in the area of transition and peacebuilding in the Philippines;
4. provide lessons for future FASTRAC support on key successes and challenges (both in terms of programming and in terms of management of FASTRAC funds); and
5. serve as a useful evidence-based input for decision-making on any possible future support.

The findings and recommendations of this evaluation will be addressed to the FASTRAC ConCom.

SCOPE OF WORK I EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

The national evaluator shall have the following tasks:

• Lead and manage the independent evaluation;
• Design the detailed evaluation scope and methodology following a joint workshop and in close coordination with the FASTRAC Secretariat;
• Conduct an analysis of the outcome, outputs and partnership strategy (as per the scope of the evaluation);
• Draft and finalize the evaluation report; and
• Present the evaluation report.

SCOPE OF EVALUATION

The evaluation will have a broad scope and will consider the overall performance of the project as well as FASTRAC's strategic decision-making regarding its investment and the overall project design, approval, and the implementation process.

Structurally, the evaluation will have the following three components:

1. Evaluation of the Impact of FASTRAC Support

The evaluation will examine the effect of the project in order to assess its overall contribution to the Philippine Bangsamoro peace process. The broad questions to be answered are based on the UN Evaluation Group standards (including those on gender mainstreaming), which have been adapted to the context at hand as follows:

Relevance:

1. How relevant was the project’s design to the key objectives of FASTRAC and peacebuilding in the Philippines?
2. How relevant was the project’s outcomes to the key objectives of FASTRAC and peacebuilding in the Philippines?
3. To what extent did the project respond to urgent funding needs and/ or Bangsamoro
4. transition-relevant gaps?
5. To what extent did the project help address women's and girls' concerns or attitudes regarding the Bangsamoro transition and the peace process, and did the theory of change addressed gender equality?
6. To what extent did the project help address specific concerns or attitudes of youth with respect to the Bangsamoro peace and the peace process, and did the theory of change addressed youth?

Effectiveness I Impact:

1. To what extent did the projects achieve their intended outcomes?
2. To what extent did the projects mainstream a gender dimension and supported gender-responsive transition and peacebuilding?
3. To what extent did the projects mainstream a youth dimension and supported youth­
4. responsive transition and peacebuilding?
5. To what extent did the projects complement each other and have a strategic coherence of approach?
6. To what extent did the projects contribute to any broader strategic goals of the peace
7. process between the Government of the Philippines and the MILF?

Sustainability I Ownership:

1. How likely are the results of the project to be sustained?
2. How strong is the commitment of the Government, MILF and other stakeholders to sustaining the results of the projects and continuing any unfinished activities?
3. What, if any, catalytic effects did the projects have (financial and non-financial)?

Efficiency:

1. Was the selection of implementing partners an efficient way to implement  the projects?
2. How efficient was the implementation of the projects, and how significant were the transaction costs?
3. How fast and responsive has the FASTRAC been to support the transition and
4. peacebuilding priorities?
5. To what extent did the project take risks to achieve the transition and peacebuilding objectives, especially in areas where other donors were not ready to do so?
6. Overall, did the FASTRAC investment in the projects provide value for money?

Following the overall assessment, the evaluation will proceed to assess the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the projects' contribution to each of the stated outcomes I outputs of FASTRAC.

For each output, the evaluation should make a conclusion as to whether the projects have significantly contributed to the relevant results related to the Bangsamoro transition and other relevant FASTRAC components.

1. Evaluation of management and oversight structures of the FASTRAC

The evaluation will examine the management of FASTRAC support in order to comment on the overall effectiveness and efficiency of arrangements between the GPH and MILF counterparts and their bilateral partners. This should include the funding, programming, and decision-making arrangements between all the actors and the quality and inclusivity of national ownership of the processes.

1. Key lessons learned and recommendations

The evaluation should provide an overview of key lessons and recommendations based on the assessment of the projects' results. These should be addressed to the FASTRAC concern. Where possible, lessons should be made general and phrased in a way that can be used to strengthen future PBF programming in other countries. The lessons and recommendations should speak to:

1. Programming factors of success;
2. Programming challenges;
3. Implementation/ administration factors of success;
4. Implementation/ administration challenges;
5. Challenges and ways to address them.

The major lessons and recommendations should come out clearly in the evaluation Executive Summary.

EVALUATION METHODOLOGY/ APPROACH

The evaluation will be summative, and will employ, to the greatest extent possible, a participatory approach whereby discussions with and surveys I interviews of key stakeholders provide I verify the substance of the findings. Proposals should outline a strong mixed method approach to data collection and analysis, clearly noting how various forms of evidence will be employed vis-a-vis each other to triangulate gathered information. The methodologies for data collection may include but not necessarily be limited to:

1. Rigorous desk review of documentation supplied by the in-country management team and FASTRAC secretariat, including: the project documents, pertinent correspondence related to the initial allocation decision and subsequent project implementation, project reports, and any other information produced by the FASTRAC secretariat with respect to the project.
2. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions, as appropriate, with all major stakeholders, partners and beneficiaries including the implementing agencies, the GPH and MILF, a sample of individual beneficiaries, other development and peacebuilding partners in the Philippines. When applicable, beneficiaries should represent diverse groups, including women and youth from different ethnic groups and social-economic statuses. Proposals should clearly indicate how interview and focus group discussion data will be captured, coded and analyzed;
3. Systematic review of monitoring data from FASTRAC (i.e., midyear and annual reports) and other key sources of data;
4. On-site field visits and interviews of FASTRAC-funded project, if relevant and where possible. Visits may include Manila and selected areas in Mindanao (i.e., Cotabato, Zamboanga, etc.);
5. Survey of key stakeholders, if relevant. This might include a survey of those involved in the project within the UN or the Government, or a final perception survey of beneficiaries to capture results from the last phase of work.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

The national evaluator will work under the overall guidance of the FASTRAC Secretariat, for the following:

1. Approval of the deliverables by the evaluation team, following internal quality assurance and consultation;
2. Review and approval of the reports by the evaluation team through a presentation of findings.
3. Support to the day-to-day work of the evaluation team and their logistics.

DUTY STATION

Cotabato City.

DURATION OF THE WORK

The evaluation will begin upon signing of the contract, with a final report within three (3) months of starting. The national evaluator will have 3 months to conduct all related activities required by these Terms of Reference, including travels, including consultations in the central offices and field locations as appropriate.

The schedule of the evaluation is expected to be as follows:

QUALIFICATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR

SCOPE OF PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

The national evaluator will receive his/her professional fee subject to satisfactory performance of the agreed deliverables and timeframe as determined by the FASTRAC Secretariat. The professional fee of the national evaluator excludes the following:

1. Accommodation               and        daily       allowance            for          the         days       outside Mindanao (based on the UN rates);
2. Travel costs within the Philippines.

Criteria for Evaluation

The offer will be evaluated based on the Combined Scoring method -where the qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%. In particular, the offer will be based on the following specific criteria:

• Technical responsiveness/Full compliance to minimum requirements
• Qualifications and experience
• Lowest price offer
• Comprehensiveness
• Full acceptance of the Contract General Terms and Conditions
• Earliest Delivery I Shortest Lead Time

K.  Recommended Presentation of Offer

Applicants are requested to submit the following documents to procurement.ph@undp.org.

• Letter/Introduction about the individual contractor and his/her capability for the assignment
• Technical proposal including methodology and work plan
• Financial proposal, including the technical/professional fee.