Procurement Notices

Consultancy Title: Final evaluation of the Enabling the Implementation of the Nauru Energy Road Map project.  

Project Name: Enabling the Implementation of the Nauru Energy Road Map.

Duty Station: Nauru and homebased.

Duration of the Contract

• Number of working days: 15
• Commencement date (tentative): 20 March 2019
• Completion date (tentative): 20 April 2019

Consultancy Proposal should be sent via email to etenderbox.pacific@undp.org no later than 12th  March, 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.

NOTE: Proposals must  be sent to the designated email (etenderbox.pacific@undp.org) 

              Please do NOT copy or directly email applications to UNDP staff.

              Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

If the selected/successful Candidate is over 65 years of age and required to travel outside his home country; He/She will be required provide a full medical report at their expense prior to issuance to contract. Contract will only be issued when Proposed candidate is deemed medically fit to undertake the assignment.

Objective

To evaluate the Enabling the Implementation of the Nauru Energy Road Map project.  

Background

The Enabling the Implementation of the Nauru Energy Road Map is a US$195,983.28 project funded via the EU-GIZ Adapting to Climate Change and Sustainable Energy (ACSE) Programme. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the Implementing Partner in collaboration with the Department of Commerce, Industry and Environment (DCIE), Government of Nauru. The project began implementation in March 2017 and is planned to be completed by 31 March 2019.  The project has five components and the following planned key outputs: 1) Energy Unit, DCIE established and operational; 2) energy sector wide legislation and regulations for residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems established; 3) technical standards developed or adopted for residential solar PV systems; 4) capacity developed on new energy legislation and regulation and technical standards for residential solar PV systems; and, 5) effective project management. A final evaluation is to be undertaken with an in-country visit planned for the last week of March 2019.  The evaluation will be undertaken in line with UNDP’s evaluation policy (2016) and Evaluation Guidelines (2019). UNDP evaluations focus on determining the relevance, impact, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of UNDP work in order to make adjustments and improve contributions to development, including assessing expected and achieved accomplishments, critically examining the presumed causal chains, processes, and attainment of results, as well as the contextual factors that may enhance or impede the achievement of results. Key evaluation principles include upholding high ethical standards and norms in line with the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation, independence, impartiality, credibility, professionalism, and, transparency.   

Scope of Work 

Activities for the consultancy will include, but not necessarily be limited to the following in relation to specific deliverables:

Inception Note 

• Summarize the successful Contractor’s understanding of the consultancy and associated tasks, outline the final proposed approach and methodology(ies), provide the final work plan for the consultancy, identify any issues crucial to the viability of the consultancy, and, provide comments on this TOR (subsequently, if required and approved by UNDP Pacific – Fiji Office, DCIE and GIZ the activities can be elaborated, modified, etc.).

PowerPoint

• Summarize preliminary findings and recommendations from the mission to Nauru, and, before departure, present these to the Government of Nauru, UNDP and GIZ during a debriefing meeting.  

Evaluation Report

• Consult relevant national and local level stakeholders from the public and private sectors and civil society, including DCIE, Nauru Utility Corporation (NUC), Department of Justice and Border Control (DJBC), Planning and Aid Division, etc.    
• Consult relevant external stakeholders providing ongoing or planned support to energy sector interventions in Nauru, such as GIZ, UNDP, Pacific Power Association (PPA), Pacific Community (SPC), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Government of Australia, etc.     

• Describe the selected approaches and methodology(ies), including any rating system (e.g. rating scale ranging from highly satisfactory to unsatisfactory), the rationale for their selection, and, how they produced relevant data and information.   
• Describe the project, including: a) purposes/objectives, including when and how it was initiated, who it is intended to benefit and what outcomes or outputs it is intended to achieve, and, the duration of the intervention and its implementation status within that time frame; b) the scale and complexity of the intervention (e.g. the number of components); c) the geographic context and boundaries; d) total resources required for the intervention from all sources, including human resources and budgets comprising UNDP, donor and other contributions; e) key partners involved in the intervention, including the implementing agency and responsible partners, other key stakeholders, and their interests, concerns and the relevance for the evaluation; f) any observed changes since the beginning of implementation and contributing factors; g) how the subject fits into the Government of the Nauru’ relevant frameworks, strategies and priorities and UNDP’s corporate goals and priorities and the Nauru country program; h) key features of the international, regional and/or national economy and economic policy that have relevance for this evaluation; and, i) how this evaluation fits within the context of other ongoing and previous evaluations and the evaluation cycle.  
• Assess project formulation and design, including whether: a) the purposes/objectives and components are clear, practicable and feasible within its time frame; b) capacities of the executing institution(s) and its counterparts were properly considered when the project was designed; c) lessons from other relevant projects were properly incorporated in the project design; d) partnership arrangements were properly identified and roles and responsibilities negotiated prior to project approval; e) counterpart resources (funding, staff, and facilities), enabling legislation, and adequate project management arrangements were in place at project entry, f) planned outputs are Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Relevant and Time-based (SMART); and, g) project assumptions and risks are well-articulated in the Project Document and whether they are logical and robust.  
• Assess project implementation, including: 1) whether effective partnerships arrangements was established for implementation of the project with relevant stakeholders involved, including formation of the Project Board; 2) extent of stakeholder interaction (e.g. information dissemination, consultation, active participation), including planned interactions, as set out in the Project Document, and then actual involvement during the course of the project; 3) whether lessons from other relevant projects were incorporated into project implementation; 4) whether the logical framework was used during implementation as a management and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tool,  including whether risks and assumptions assisted guiding activities and planned outputs; 5) M&E plan implementation including: a) whether the M&E plan was sufficiently funded during implementation; b) the effectiveness of monitoring indicators from the Project Document for measuring progress and performance; c) compliance with the progress and financial reporting requirements/schedule, including quality and timeliness of reports; d) the value and effectiveness of the monitoring reports and evidence that these were discussed with stakeholders and project staff; e) the extent to which follow-up actions were taken in response to monitoring reports; 6) extent of adaptive management, including changes made, how the changes were instigated (e.g.  feedback from M&E activities), the approval process, and, how these changes affected project results; and, 7) the performance of the Implementing Partner, including: a) whether there was an appropriate focus on results and timeliness; b) adequacy of management inputs and processes, including budgeting and procurement; c) quality of risk management, d) responsiveness of the managing parties to significant implementation problems (if any); e) any salient issues regarding project duration (e.g. project delays, and how they may have affected project outcomes and sustainability); f) candor and realism in reporting; and, g) Government ownership.
• Assess results, including: 1) relevance - the extent to which the objectives of the project are still valid, the activities and outputs are consistent with the overall goal and the attainment of its objectives and activities and outputs are consistent with the intended impacts and effects; 2) impacts - positive and negative changes produced (directly or indirectly, intended or unintended), including what has happened as a result of the project, difference made to the beneficiaries and the number of people affected; 3) effectiveness - to what extent the objectives achieved/are likely to be achieved and major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives; 4) efficiency – to what extent activities were cost-efficient, objectives achieved on time and the project implemented in the most efficient way compared to alternatives; and, 5) sustainability – to what extent the benefits will continue after donor funding ceases and major factors which influence the achievement or non-achievement of sustainability.
• Identify, collect, validate and/or document strengths or weaknesses in project selection, preparation (including design) and implementation that have affected performance, outcomes, and/or impacts, and based hereon, generalize lessons that have the potential for broader application, including can assist improving subsequent project selection, preparation (including design) and implementation.  
• Provide specific, actionable (within the responsibilities of the users) and targeted recommendations to UNDP, Government of Nauru and GIZ respectively and collectively, which can help improve the selection, preparation (including design) and implementation of future relevant interventions (e.g. specific projects, programs, etc.); and,
• Based on the abovementioned, prepare an comprehensive evaluation report as per the following structure: a) cover page; b) table of contents; c) acronyms; d) executive summary; e) introduction; f) approach and methodology(ies); g) development context; h) project description; i) findings (including project formulation and design, project implementation and results); j) lessons; k) recommendations (e.g. presented in a table); l) conclusions; and, m) annexes (including this TOR, list of persons interviewed, list of documents reviewed, and, a signed Evaluation Consultants Agreement Form for UNEG Code of Conduct for Evaluation in the UN system).        

Input Provided

DCIE

• Desk space, access to phone (local calls) and internet.
• Relevant background information, including documents.
• Organizing meetings.   
• Comments on all draft deliverables. 

UNDP

• Providing background information, including documents.
• Reviewing draft deliverables.

GIZ

• Providing background information, including documents.
• Reviewing draft deliverables.

Supervision/Reporting

The consultant will be contracted by UNDP and report to the Team Leader, Resilience and Sustainable Development (RSD), UNDP Pacific – Fiji Office (or his/her designate).

Requirement for Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in evaluation, energy, business administration, project management, development studies or other field relevant to the tasks required.
• Substantial, relevant and practical working experience with undertaking external reviews/evaluation of international development projects and/or programs.
• Substantial, relevant and practical working experience with the design and implementation of international development projects and/or programs.     
• Substantial, relevant and practical working experience with relevant energy sector aspects, including planning, legislation, regulation, and, institutional.        
• Substantial, relevant and practical working experience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Working experience in Nauru or other Pacific Island Countries is an asset.
• Excellent working knowledge of English.

Payment Schedule

Evaluation

The proposals will be evaluated using the cumulative analysis method with a split 70% technical and 30% financial scoring. The proposal with the highest cumulative scoring will be awarded the contract. Applications will be evaluated technically, and points are attributed based on how well the proposal meets the requirements of the Terms of Reference using the guidelines detailed in the table below.

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

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and,
2. Having received the highest score out of the pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation. Interviews may be conducted as part of technical assessment for shortlisted proposals.

Proposal Submission

Technical Proposal

• A statement of how the applicant meets the qualifications and experience requirements.
• A detailed  signed CV
• Proposed methodology/approach, including preliminary work plan (covering deliverables, key activities and due dates). 

Financial Proposal

• A completed Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) Assignment including Annex A: Breakdown of Cost by Components.

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 Individual Consultants (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 IC, 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