Vacancy Announcement Details

Result of Service

The Evaluation Consultant(s) will submit an inception report, a draft evaluation report and a final evaluation report.

Work Location

Home-based with Field mission

Expected duration

The Evaluation Consultant(s) will be hired for 8 months over the period March 2020 to October 2020. All applicants are requested to specify their availability for the expected duration in their application.

Duties and Responsibilities

Org. Setting
The UN Environment (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 (EO) which reports directly to the Executive Director. The consultant reports to the Evaluation Officer managing the project and the Director of the Evaluation Office.

The EO is looking for an Evaluation Consultant to conduct the Terminal evaluation (TE) of the UNEP/GEF project “Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use” (SibbR). The Terminal Evaluation is undertaken at completion of the project to assess project performance (in terms of relevance, effectiveness and efficiency), and determine outcomes and impacts (actual and potential) stemming from the project, including their sustainability. The evaluation has two primary purposes: (i) to provide evidence of results to meet accountability requirements, and (ii) to promote operational improvement, learning and knowledge sharing through results and lessons learned among UNEP and its partners. Therefore, the evaluation will identify lessons of operational relevance for future project formulation and implementation for UNEP’s Sub-Programmes on Environmental Governance and Ecosystems Management. 

The Project’s main objective was to ensure data-driven policy design and implementation by facilitating and mainstreaming biodiversity information into decision-making and policy development processes. The project aimed to remove the barriers for improved conservation and use of biodiversity through the development of the Brazilian Biodiversity Information System (SIBBr) – a fully integrated biodiversity information system with state-of-the-art visualization tools. This would enable Brazilian decision-makers to access authoritative, strategic and timely information in support of the development and implementation of policies and strategic planning decisions and to make better executive option choices about the conservation and use of globally important biodiversity in Brazil.

The Evaluation Consultant(s) will make substantive and high-quality contributions to the evaluation process and outputs. They will ensure that all evaluation criteria and questions are adequately covered, and will together 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(s); 
- 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 and;
- keep the Project/ Task Manager informed of the evaluation progress.

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 Manager on any issues requiring its attention and intervention.

Full details available online. Deadline for applications 31st January.