Mid Term Evaluation Consultancy
Procurement Process
RFP - Request for proposal
Office
UNDP Pacific - FIJI
Deadline
17-Jan-19
Published on
02-Jan-19
Reference Number
52485
Documents
Template for Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial ProposalTOR _Mid Term Evaluation for FSM R2R
Overview
Consultancy Title: Mid Term Evaluation Consultancy Project Name: National Ridge to Reef Project in the FSM Duty Station: Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Duration of Assignment: 34 days, commencing no later than 24 January, 2019, and completion by 8 April, 2019. The Consultant will be expected to travel to all four states of FSM but partake in briefing and debriefings with National Government in the State of Pohnpei.
Deadline for submission of applications: 17 January 2019
Consultancy Proposal should be sent via email to etenderbox.pacific@undp.org no later than 17th January, 2019 (Fiji Time) clearly stating the title of consultancy applied for. Any proposals received after this date/time will not be accepted. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to procurement.fj@undp.org. UNDP will respond in writing or by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants. Incomplete, late and joint proposals will not be considered and only offers for which there is further interest will be contacted. Failure to submit your application as stated as per the application submission guide (Procurement Notice) on the above link will be considered incomplete and therefore application will not be considered. | ||||||||
Objectives
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, its risks to sustainability. It is also essential that findings of the Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) are considered in the findings/recommendation of this review.
This is the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the UNDP-GEF Midterm Review (MTR) of the full or medium-sized project titled Implementing an integrated “Ridge to Reef” approach to enhance ecosystem services, to conserve globally important biodiversity and to sustain local livelihoods in the FSM (PIMS:5179) implemented through the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management (DECCEM), which is to be undertaken in 2018. The project started on the 19 November 2015 and is in its third year of implementation. In line with the UNDP-GEF Guidance on MTRs, this MTR process was initiated before the submission of the second Project Implementation Report (PIR). This ToR sets out the expectations for this MTR. The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in the document Guidance for Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects
| ||||||||
Background Information The Implementing an integrated “Ridge to Reef” approach to enhance ecosystem services, to conserve globally important biodiversity and to sustain local livelihoods in the FSM is a five-year (2015-2020) Project, funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by UNDP and executed nationally by the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management (DECCEM), in the Federated States of Micronesia. The GEF grant is of USD 4,689,815. The Project’s objective is: to strengthen local, State and National capacities and actions to implement integrated ecosystem-based management through “ridge to reef” approach on the High Islands of the four States of the FSM. This will be achieved through two components that are designed to address the barriers of (i) not having an overarching framework for promoting sustainable development in FSM’s High Islands and (ii) inadequate representation and ineffective management of biodiversity in protected areas:
Component 2: Management Effectiveness enhanced within new and existing PAs on the High Islands of FSM as part of R2R approach, both marine and terrestrial (Outcome 2), which is essentially about protected areas Marine and terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem services underpin social well-being and the economy of the Federated States of Micronesia and are vital to food security. These resources and services, however, are currently being undermined by unsustainable natural resource use and practices; spread of invasive alien species; the impacts of climate change; and, the limitations of government to effectively implement its programs and policies. The development of a Strategy Environment Assessment (SEA) is a key activity currently being implemented. This is potentially the largest component of the R2R as it will inform decision making concerning land management and biodiversity conservation in the four states of FSM. This project is designed to engineer a paradigm shift in the approach to and management of natural resources from an ad-hoc species/site/problem centric approach to a holistic ecosystem-based management “ridge to reef” approach guided by planning and management process that are informed by actual data. The shift to an ecosystem-based approach within National and State governments will ensure that whole island systems are managed to enhance ecosystem goods and services, to conserve globally important biodiversity and to sustain local livelihoods. The project will promote an integrated approach towards fostering sustainable land management and biodiversity conservation by seeking greater awareness, knowledge and participation of all stakeholders in achieving a greater balance between environmental management and development needs. In doing so it will reduce conflicting land-uses and land-use practices and improve the sustainability of terrestrial and marine management so as to maintain the flow of vital ecosystem services and sustain the livelihoods of local communities. Further, the project will demonstrate sustainable land management practices testing new management measures, as needed, to reduce existing environmental stressors and institutional limitations. The project will also enhance the FSMs capacities to effectively manage its protected area estate as well as increase the coverage of the terrestrial and marine protected area network on the High Islands. Under the DECCEM, a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) comprising of a Project Manager, a Financial Administrator, four state-based Coordinators and a National Technical Coordinator is responsible for implementing the various components of the project. This includes providing technical leadership to the project, managing and coordinating project activities, contracting service providers, providing oversight on the day to day operations of the project, communications, monitoring and evaluation of project performance, reporting and serve as secretariat for the Project Steering Committee and State Technical Advisory Committees (TAC). The Financial Administrator’s primary functions will be to ensure that projects funds are disbursed timeously according to an agreed work plan/payment schedule, and that the project’s financial management meets UNDP management/reporting requirements. UND’s role is specifically to provide monitoring and oversight of the Project.
| ||||||||
Approach and Methodology The MTR must provide evidence-based information that is credible, reliable and useful. The MTR consultant will review all relevant sources of information including documents prepared during the preparation phase (i.e. PIF, UNDP Initiation Plan, UNDP Environmental & Social Safeguard Policy, the Project Document, project reports including Annual Project Review/PIRs, project budget revisions, lesson learned reports, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the team considers useful for this evidence-based review). The MTR consultant will review the baseline GEF focal area Tracking Tool submitted to the GEF at CEO endorsement, and the midterm GEF focal area Tracking Tool that must be completed before the MTR field mission begins. The MTR consultant is expected to follow a collaborative and participatory approach[1] ensuring close engagement with the Project Team, government counterparts (the GEF Operational Focal Point), the UNDP Country Office(s), UNDP-GEF Regional Technical Advisers, and other key stakeholders. Engagement of stakeholders is vital to a successful MTR.[2] Stakeholder involvement should include interviews with stakeholders who have project responsibilities, including but not limited to national government departments, state governments, state-based NGO’s/ Civil Society Organizations, resource owning communities, component leaders, key experts and consultants in the subject area, Project Steering Committee, other project stakeholders, academia, etc. Additionally, the MTR team is expected to conduct field missions to all four states including Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk and Yap. The final MTR report should describe the full MTR approach taken and the rationale for the approach making explicit the underlying assumptions, challenges, strengths and weaknesses about the methods and approach of the review.
The MTR consultant 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.
i. Project Strategy Project design:
Results Framework/Logframe:
ii. Progress Towards Results
Progress Towards Outcomes Analysis:
In addition to the progress towards outcomes analysis:
iii. Project Implementation and Adaptive Management
Management Arrangements:
Work Planning:
Finance and co-finance:
Project-level Monitoring and Evaluation Systems:
Stakeholder Engagement:
Reporting:
Communications:
iv. Sustainability
Financial risks to sustainability:
Socio-economic risks to sustainability:
Institutional Framework and Governance risks to sustainability:
Environmental risks to sustainability:
Conclusions & Recommendations
The MTR consultant will include a section of the report setting out the MTR’s evidence-based conclusions, in light of the findings.[3]
Recommendations should be succinct suggestions for critical intervention that are specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant. A recommendation table should be put in the report’s executive summary. See the Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects for guidance on a recommendation table.
The MTR team should make no more than 15 recommendations total.
Ratings
The MTR consultant will include its ratings of the project’s results and brief descriptions of the associated achievements in a MTR Ratings & Achievement Summary Table in the Executive Summary of the MTR report. See Annex E for ratings scales. No rating on Project Strategy and no overall project rating is required.
| ||||||||
TIMEFRAME
The total duration of the MTR will 34 days or approximately 4 months starting 22 January 2018 and shall not exceed five months from when the consultant(s) are hired. The tentative MTR timeframe is as follows:
MTR ARRANGEMENTS
The principal responsibility for managing this MTR resides with the Commissioning Unit. The Commissioning Unit for this project’s MTR is the UNDP Pacific Office.
The commissioning unit will contract the consultant and ensure the timely provision of per diems and travel arrangements within FSM for the MTR consultant. The Project Team will be responsible for liaising with the MTR team to provide all relevant documents, set up stakeholder interviews, and arrange field visits as well as focal points in each state.
CONSULTANCY CRITERIA
A independent consultant will conduct the MTR - one team leader (with experience and exposure to projects and evaluations in other regions globally). The consultant cannot have participated in the project preparation, formulation, and/or implementation (including the writing of the Project Document) and should not have a conflict of interest with project’s related activities.
The selection of consultant will be aimed at maximizing the overall qualities in the following areas
Criteria for Evaluation of Proposal: Only those applications which are responsive and compliant will be evaluated. Offers will be evaluated according to the Combined Scoring method – where the educational background and experience on similar assignments will be weighted at 70% and the price proposal will weigh as 30% of the total scoring. The applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score that has also accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.
PAYMENT MODALITIES AND SPECIFICATIONS
Supervision/Reporting
The Consultant will report and supervised by the Deputy Team Leader Resilience and Sustainable Development Unit, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji. While working in FSM, the CTA will be required to also report to the Secretary for the DECEM.
The consultant is expected to provide for his/her own laptop. Works station and other support will be provided for by the project.
He/ She is expected to coordinate closely with the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management (DECEM), Project Implementation Unit, and UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji.
| ||||||||
Proposal Submission Documents
The Consultant must send a financial proposal based on a Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs.
In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources. In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. The P11 form and Template for confirmation of interest and Submission of Financial Proposal is available under the procurement section of UNDP Fiji website (www.pacific.undp.org)
Women candidates are encouraged to apply.
|