The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the world’s environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the environment.

Duties and Responsibilities

ORGANIZATION SETTING.

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations systems designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. This consultancy is located at Headquarters in the Evaluation Office which reports directly to the Executive Director. The consultant reports to the Evaluation Manager and the Director of the Evaluation Office.

THE EVALUATION.

• In line with the UNEP Evaluation Policy and the UNEP Programme Manual , the Mid-Term Evaluation (MTE) is undertaken approximately half-way through project implementation to analyze whether the project is on-track, what problems or challenges the project is encountering, and what corrective actions are required. A key aim of the Mid-Term Evaluation is to encourage reflection and learning by UNEP staff, the implementing partners and key project stakeholders. The Evaluation Consultant should therefore, consider how reflection and learning can be promoted, both through the evaluation process and in the communication of evaluation findings and key lessons.

THE PROJECT

• At the time of project design the situation of the Southern and Eastern shores of the Mediterranean showed all the signs of progressive deterioration in environmental security. Among them, the loss and degradation of coastal and shallow marine ecosystems and the scarcity of coastal freshwater resources, compounded by the increasing negative impacts of climate variability and change, was playing an important role in determining social instability and political volatility. To address this situation, the GEF-funded MedProgramme is being implemented in nine beneficiary countries sharing the Mediterranean basin: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Montenegro, Morocco and Tunisia.

THE EVALUATION CONSULTANT

• The Evaluation Consultant, will work under the overall responsibility of the Evaluation Manager. Information and liaison support will be provided by the UNEP Task Managers and Fund Management Officer. The Evaluation Consultant will be responsible, in close consultation with the Evaluation Manager, for overall management of the evaluation and timely delivery of its outputs. The Evaluation Consultant will ensure that all evaluation criteria and questions are adequately covered.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• In close consultation with the Evaluation Manager, the Evaluation Consultant will be responsible for the overall management of the Evaluation and timely provision of its outputs, data collection and analysis, and report writing. More specifically, the Evaluation Consultant will undertake the following:

Inception phase of the Evaluation, including:

• preliminary desk review and introductory interviews with project staff;
• draft the reconstructed Theory of Change of the project;
• prepare the evaluation framework;
• develop the desk review and interview protocols;
• draft the survey protocols (if relevant);
• develop and present criteria for country and/or site selection for the evaluation mission;
• plan the evaluation schedule;
• prepare the Inception Report, incorporating comments until approved by the Evaluation Manager

Data collection and analysis phase of the Evaluation, including:

• conduct further desk review and in-depth interviews with project implementing and executing agencies, project partners and project stakeholders;
• (where appropriate and agreed) conduct an evaluation mission(s) to selected countries, visit the project locations, interview project partners and stakeholders, including a good representation of local communities. Ensure independence of the Evaluation and confidentiality of evaluation interviews.
• regularly report back to the Evaluation Manager on progress and inform of any possible problems or issues encountered.

Reporting phase, including:

• draft the Main Evaluation Report, ensuring that the evaluation report is complete, coherent and consistent with the Evaluation Manager guidelines both in substance and style;
• liaise with the Evaluation Manager on comments received and finalize the Main Evaluation Report, ensuring that comments are taken into account until approved by the Evaluation Manager
• prepare a Response to Comments annex for the main report, listing those comments not accepted by the Evaluation Consultant and indicating the reason for the rejection; and
• (where agreed with the Evaluation Manager) prepare an Evaluation Brief (2-page summary of the evaluand and the key evaluation findings and lessons)

Managing relations, including:

• maintain a positive relationship with evaluation stakeholders, ensuring that the evaluation process is as participatory as possible but at the same time maintains its independence;
• communicate in a timely manner with the Evaluation Office on any issues requiring its attention and intervention.
• The Evaluation Consultant shall have had no prior involvement in the formulation or implementation of the project and will be independent from the participating institutions. The consultant will sign the Evaluation Consultant Code of Conduct Agreement Form.
• The evaluation Consultant will be selected and recruited by the UNEP Evaluation Office through an individual consultancy contract.
• Comprehensive terms of reference will be shared with the consultant separately.

Requirements

Qualifications/special skills

• A university degree in environmental sciences, international development or other relevant political or social sciences area is required and an advanced degree in the same areas is desirable
• A minimum of 7 years of technical/evaluation experience is required, preferably including evaluating large, regional or global programmes and using a Theory of Change approach
• A good understanding of marine ecosystems, (especially in the Mediterranean region) coastal pollution and environmental security in transboundary waters is desired, along with experience of knowledge management, communications and coordination in large programmes.
• Working knowledge of the UN system and specifically the work of UNEP is an added advantage.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English is a requirement and proficiency in Arabic or French is desirable.