CONSULTANT VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Issued on: 22 May 2018
ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION:
UN-Habitat
DUTY STATION:
Home-based
FUNCTIONAL TITLE:
Evaluation of the Urban Risk Reduction and Resilience Building in Lusophone Africa Project
DURATION:
Total 4 weeks over June 2018 to August 2018
SUPERVISORS / REPORTING ARRANGEMENT
Head of UN-Habitat HQs Evaluation Unit; Project Manager UN-Habitat, Regional Office for Africa
MISSIONS TO Sao Tome, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau:
June-July 2018 (2 weeks)
CLOSING DATE:
30 May 2018
BACKGROUND
The project on Urban Risk Reduction and Resilience Building in Lusophone Africa is a joint project of UN-Habitat, UNISDR and UNECA. Its objective is to increase the capacities of municipalities of Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Sao Tome and Principe for reducing urban risk and building resilience. To achieve this objective, the project intends to firstly increase the levels of technical understanding and knowledge of municipal authorities, leading to an improved capacity to integrate risk reduction ad resilience into urban plans and municipal strategies. Secondly, by enhancing the communication and information exchange between cities and towns in each country and across the three countries, the project intends to enhance their risk reduction and resilience practices. The project is implemented in close cooperation between UN-Habitat, UNISDR and UNECA. The lead entity of the project is UN-Habitat.
The project has two expected accomplishments:
EA1: Increased levels of technical understanding and knowledge of municipal authorities resulting in an improved capacity to integrate risk reduction and resilience into urban plans and municipal strategies.
EA2: Enhanced communication and information exchange between cities and towns in each country and across the 3 countries to strengthen risk reduction and resilience practices.
The project was planned for 36 months starting in January 2015 upon receipt of financial contribution from UNDESA and ending December 2017. The project had a budget of US$559,000 funded through the UN Development Account (UNDA).
Justification / Mandate of the Evaluation
This evaluation of the urban risk reduction and resilience building in Lusophone Africa is mandated by the rules for UNDA 9th trance projects. It is also in line with the UN-Habitat evaluation policy (2013) and the Revised UN-Habitat Evaluation Framework (2016).
UN-Habitat is undertaking this evaluation of the project in order to assess the performance of the project, to what extent it has been relevant, efficient and effective, and sustainable, as well as assess changes at outcome level and emerging impact to identify lessons to inform the implementation of future projects.
Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation
The evaluation of the project is to provide UNDA partners and UN-Habitat with an independent and forward-looking appraisal of the project’s operational experience, achievements, opportunities and challenges based on its performance and expected accomplishments. What will be learned from the evaluation findings are expected to be—one of various sources of information—informing the implementation of future UNDA funded projects in planning and programming projects, influencing strategies, adjusting and correcting as appropriate, exploiting opportunities, replicating and up-scaling the implementation approach used, and generating credible value for targeted beneficiaries and addressing global, regional and national priorities. The evaluation results will also contribute to UN-Habitat’s planning, reporting and accountability.
Key objectives of evaluation are:
- To assess the achievement of expected accomplishments and performance of the project in increasing technical understanding and knowledge of municipal authorities and enhanced communication and information exchange between cities and towns in project cities. This will entail analysis of delivery of outputs, achievement of outcomes, and long-term effects.
- To assess the extent to which the project has created ‘value-for-money’, and if the implementation approach and tools used during the implementation of the project have worked well or not.
- To make recommendations based on the findings of the evaluation, on what needs to be done to effectively implement, promote, develop and monitor the building capacity of municipal authorities in strengthening risk reduction and resilience, plans, strategies and practices aligned with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Approach of the Evaluation
The evaluation shall be independent and carried out in line with the evaluation norms and standards of the United Nations system. A variety of methodologies will be applied to collect information during the evaluation. These include review of documents relevant to the project, interviews, key informant interviews and consultations with partners and stakeholders, and focus group discussions, and field visits).
The evaluation will be conducted over the period of four weeks spread over three months, including the desk review, from June 2018 to August 2018.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The evaluation will be conducted by one consultant. The evaluator is responsible for meeting professional and ethical standards in planning and conducting the mid-term evaluation, and producing the expected deliverables.
The consultant has overall responsibility for producing the deliverables according to the quality standards of UN-Habitat for evaluation reports.
Among the deliverables expected, there will be:
- Inception Report with Evaluation Work plan;
- Evaluation Reports Drafts;
- Final Evaluation Report.
Full details of the evaluation are provided in the attached Terms of Reference.
COMPETENCIES
Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject areas. Good research, analytical and problem-solving skills. Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
Communication: Excellent and effective written and oral skills. Ability to convince people through constructive argumentation and to present information in a concise and accurate manner. Negotiating skills and ability to enable good communication and understanding between different interest groups, organizations, etc.
Planning and Organizing: Proven ability to plan, coordinate and monitor own work and that of others. Ability to work under pressure and use time efficiently. Identifies priority activities and assignments, and adjust priorities as required.
Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals. Solicits input by valuing ideas and expertise of others and is willing to learn from others.
QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Advanced academic degree in political sciences, social economy, public administration, or similar relevant fields.
Work Experience
Extensive evaluation experience and 8-10 years of programme management experience in results-based management working with projects/ programmes in the field of urban risk reduction and resilience, capacity building, urban planning and governance. Recent and relevant experience working in developing countries.
Language
Fluent in English (understanding, reading and writing) and fluent in Portuguese are required.
REMUNERATION
Payments will be based on deliverables over the consultancy period. There are set remuneration rates for consultancies. The rate is determined by functions performed and experience of the consultant. The fees will be paid as per agreement.
Applications should include:
• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)
• CV in the PHP format, accessible through the INSPIRA website (inspira.un.org) Please note, if using INSPIRA for the first time, you need to register in order to activate your account, which will allow you to log in and create a personal History Profile.
• The PHP should be attached to the application as a PDF file.
• Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information:
1. Educational Background (incl. dates)
2. Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months)
3. Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)
4. Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments
5. Expectations regarding remuneration
• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)
Please also be advised that since April 15th 2010, applicants for consultancies must be part of the
UN-HABITAT e-Roster in order for their application to be considered. You can reach the e-Roster
through the following link: http://e-roster.unhabitat.org
All applications should be submitted to:
Ms. Lucy Waikwa-Omondi
UN-HABITAT Evaluation Unit
P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Email: lucy.omondi@un.org
Deadline for applications: 30 May 2018
UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unon.org