UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME TERMS OF REFERENCE / INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT (IC) Consultant for project evaluation. 1 month (part time IC)

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1 UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME TERMS OF REFERENCE / INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT (IC) I. Job Information Job Title: Project Title/Department: Duration of the assignment: Duty station: Expected places of travel: Reports To: Consultant for project evaluation Project Social Innovation and Volunteerism in Uzbekistan 1 month (part time IC) Home basis and one field trip Namangan or Nukus Good Governance Programme Associate (project focal point) and Head of Good Governance Unit, UNDP Uzbekistan CO II. Background The main goal of the project is to establish an enabling environment for the empowerment of youth with particular focus on young women s empowerment and promotion of community based volunteerism as the platform to forge collaboration, spotting talents, introducing social innovation tools for youth engagement. In addition, special emphasis will be made for providing evidence of value-added youthled development and encouraging organizations to launch volunteer programmes for young people. The project is jointly funded by Democratic Governance Thematic Trust Fund, UN Volunteers and UN Development Programme. As a result of the project, urban and rural youth will be better equipped with necessary practical skills and knowledge for self-determination, and participate more actively in development processes of their communities and the country. As a result of it implementation since 2012, the Project worked mainly in two directions: 1) Enabling environment and advocacy for enhanced youth participation through voluntary service and raising the youth profile in development fostered; 2) Piloting of youth-led development initiatives and capacity building on the ground for youth initiative groups, feeding to policy makers. The project mainstreamed the culture of volunteerism and dissemination of the best social innovation practices among youth in Uzbekistan. III. Objectives of the Evaluation / Evaluation requirements and methodology This Final Evaluation is initiated by the UNDP Uzbekistan and aims to assess the relevance, performance, management arrangements and success of the project and provide recommendations for possible follow-up, it is anticipated that the outcomes of the evaluation will be a clear source for future planning and prioritization of UNDP/UNV Uzbekistan activities in the field of social innovation and volunteerism. The evaluation will have to provide to UNDP/UNV complete and convincing evidence to support its findings/ratings. Particular emphasis should be put on the project results, the lessons learned from the project and recommendations for the follow-up activities.

2 This evaluation is to be undertaken in line with the evaluation policy of UNDP ( and the UNDP Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluating for Results ( ) and the DGTTF Evaluation and Lesson Learned. The assignment will take place within November December 2014.It will involve desk work and one mission trip to the region of Uzbekistan where the Project has been represented by its national UNVs. The consultant will work in close collaboration with UNDP Uzbekistan CO, relevant stakeholders and project team. EVALUATION OBJECTIVES: The evaluation is intended to provide a comprehensive overall assessment of the project and to provide recommendations for exit strategy and/or follow-up activities. The purpose of the Final Evaluation is: To assess overall performance against the Project objective and targets as set out in Project Document. To assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the Project; To analyze critically the implementation and management arrangements of the Project; To assess the sustainability of the project s interventions; To list and document lessons concerning Project design, implementation and management; To assess changes in the baseline situation and provide guidance for the future activities in the area of social innovation and volunteerism; To analyze if and how the project was able to sustain its innovative activities and whether or not further upscaling/replication took place with government and/or donor funding. Project performance will be measured based on Project s Results and Resources Framework, which provides clear indicators for project implementation. The Report of the Final Evaluation will be standalone document that substantiates its recommendations and conclusions. EVALUATION: The evaluation should assess: Project concept and design: The evaluator will assess the project concept and design. He/she should review and provide an evaluation of the project strategy, planned outputs, activities and inputs, implementation modality, clarity and effectiveness of management arrangements and cost-effectiveness of approaches taken in relation to the overall project objectives. The evaluator will assess the achievement of results and targets against the project work plans. Implementation: The evaluation will assess the implementation of the project in terms of quality and timeliness of inputs, efficiency and effectiveness of activities carried out. Effectiveness of management, the quality and timeliness of monitoring and backstopping by all parties to the project should also be evaluated. In particular, the evaluation is to assess the Project team s use of adaptive management in project implementation. Project outputs, outcomes: The evaluation will assess the outputs in relation to the CP outcomes, achieved by the project as well as the likely sustainability of project results. This should encompass an assessment of the achievement of the immediate objectives and the contribution to attaining the overall objective of the project. The evaluation should also assess the extent to which the implementation of the project has been inclusive of relevant stakeholders and to which it has been able to create collaboration between different partners. The evaluation will also examine if the project has had significant unexpected effects, whether of beneficial or detrimental character. The Final Evaluation will also cover the following aspects:

3 Results and effectiveness: Changes in development conditions. Address the following questions, with a focus on the perception of change among stakeholders: What are main outputs of the project? In what ways the project was innovative? Which innovative approaches have proved to be most effective? Has the project achieved all its targets as per the project document? What are the impacts of the project? Do project results have equal value for women and men beneficiaries? Has the project partnership strategy been appropriate and effective? To what extent has the Project succeeded in making changes in lives of its target audience? In what ways was the Project innovative? What type of internal and external problems has the project faced and how has it coped with them? Is there evidence that the results extend beyond the individual project? To what extent has the project had a catalytic effect, substantially, financially and in terms of development and/or strengthening of partnerships? What was the political context? How did the political context in the country at the time of project implementation affect that commitment of national partners to the project? What was the institutional set up and degree of autonomy/dependence of the partner institution in relation to others? Who were the key local and national stakeholders? What was the overall mapping of project stakeholders including local and national stakeholders, international partners, bilateral or multilateral organizations? What were their interests and incentives? What was their ability to promote these interests through formal or informal channels? How did policies and/or institutional and governance arrangements affect the project performance and attainment (or non-attainment) of results? What measures have been taken to ensure the sustainability of the achievements of the project? To what extent did national partners feel that they owned the project? How have issues of ownership and participation of target groups/clients been addressed both in the formulation and implementation of project? What should be done differently? Measurement of change: Progress towards results should be based on a comparison of indicators before and after the project intervention. Project strategy: How and why outputs contribute to the achievement of the expected results. Examine their relevance and whether they provide the most effective route towards results. Sustainability: Extent to which the benefits of the project will continue, within or outside the project domain, after it has come to an end. Relevant factors include for example: development of a sustainability strategy, establishment of financial and economic instruments and mechanisms, mainstreaming project objectives into the local economy, etc. Project s Adaptive Management Framework: Monitoring Systems o Assess the monitoring tools currently being used: o Do they provide the necessary information? Are they efficient? Do they encourage disaggregation of data (by sex, region, age, education)? Are additional tools required? Risk Management Validate whether the risks identified in the project document and the ATLAS Risk Management

4 module are the most important and whether the risk ratings applied are appropriate Describe any additional risks identified and suggest risk ratings and possible risk management strategies to be adopted for the future activities. Work Planning Assess the use of the logical framework as a management tool during implementation and changes made to it; Assess the use of routinely updated workplans; Are work planning processes result-based? If not, suggest ways to re-orientate work planning. Assess financial management of the project, with specific reference to the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Reporting Assess whether UNDP reporting requirements were met. Assess whether disaggregated data is being used. Underlying Factors Assess the underlying factors beyond the project s immediate control that influence outcomes and results. Consider the appropriateness and effectiveness of the project s management strategies for these factors. Assess the effect of any incorrect assumptions made by the project. UNDP Contribution Assess the UNDP contribution to the project soft assistance (policy advice & dialogue, advocacy, coordination). Partnership Strategy Assess how partners are involved in the project s adaptive management framework: (i) Involving partners and stakeholders in the selection of indicators and other measures of performance; (ii) Using already existing data and statistics; and (iii) Analyzing progress towards results and determining project strategies. Identify opportunities for stronger substantive partnerships in the future. Assess how local stakeholders participate in project management and decision-making. Include analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the approach adopted by the project and suggestions for improvement. Assessment of collaboration between governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Assessment of collaboration between implementation units of other related projects. Assessment of local partnerships. Project Finance: Assess the cost-effectiveness of the project interventions. Formulation of the Next Phase of the Project The purpose of the formulation of the next phase of the project is to identify main intervention areas in the sphere of education matching the skillsets of the labour market and linking to employment. Under the direct supervision of the Head of Good Governance Unit and project team, the consultant will be responsible for completion of the following tasks: - Analyze major lessons learned from project previous activities and conduct country context analysis in order to determine background of the development problems showing the need/demand for the next phase; - Identify main implementing partners, key stakeholders and beneficiaries, overall goals and specific objectives, as well as potential risks. Methodology -Desk review of all project documentation (including project outputs) and guidelines;

5 -Consultations with stakeholders (partners and beneficiaries) and UNDP/UNV staff; -One field office visit (Nukus or Namangan); -Validation exercise with UNDP Country office and national partners of the project. IV. Deliverables and timeframe The duration of the assignment is up to 15 working days, including writing of the final report in the period of November-December The following deliverables and indicative schedule for submission are expected from the consultancy contract but the main evaluation product will be the Final Evaluation Report. The final timeframe will be agreed upon in the beginning of consultancy assignment. All deliverables should be submitted to UNDP by the Consultant in English. # Deliverable Deadlines 1 Evaluation methodology and work schedule November 24, Summary of preliminary findings after desk review and November 29, 2014 interviews with project staff and stakeholders 2 Final evaluation report (including comments from UNDP December 15, 2014 CO) and analysis for the next phase Tentative timeframe 1. Provision of briefings via and background information by the project team. 2. Desk review (home based) 3 days 3. One visit of the office in Tashkent and one of the pilot regions. Interviews with local stakeholders (National Library of Uzbekistan, Republican Education Center under the Ministry of Public Education, Center for secondary specialized and vocational education under Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, Academy of Public Administration under the President of Uzbekistan; Westminster University in Tashkent; Independent Institute for Monitoring of formation of civil society, Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis (Parliament) of Uzbekistan, NGO Umidvorlik or NGO Faol, Association of Support to children and families; Korzinka.uz, Namangan and Djizak Khokimiyat; Namangan office of Red Crescent Society; Savitskiy Art Museum; Namangan and Djizak branch of Kamolot, British Council in Uzbekistan) questionnaires, focus groups Validation of preliminary findings with stakeholders through circulation of initial reports for comments or through presenting preliminary findings at validation workshop 5 days 4. Preparation of draft evaluation report 5 days 5. Submission of final report and analysis for next phase (home based) 2 days V. Payment Conditions This is a lump sum that should include costs of consultancy, DSA and travel required to produce the above deliverables. Payment will be released in three following installments: 1. Upon submission and acceptance by Programme Unit of UNDP of the deliverable 1 15% of the lump sum 2. Upon submission and acceptance by Programme Unit of UNDP of the deliverable 2-30% of the lump sum 3. Upon submission acceptance by Programme Unit of UNDP of the deliverable 3-55% of the lump sum.

6 IV. Qualifications Requirements University degree is in the field of Social Sciences, Business Management or any related area is required; Graduate degree is an asset. At least 5 years of experience of experience with results-based management evaluation methodologies, project formulation and evaluation, participatory monitoring approaches and applying SMART indicators; Project evaluation experiences within UN system will be considered an asset; Excellent communication, analytical and writing skills; Self-discipline and self-dependence, ethics and honesty; Fluency in Russian and English; working knowledge of Uzbek is required; Advanced ability to use ICT tools. V. Signatures- Post Description Certification Incumbent (if applicable) Signature Supervisor Date Bokhodir Ayupov / SIV Project Manager Signature Date Head of Unit/Division Aziza Umarova / Head of Unit Signature Date