Short Term Experts

Individual Contracts (IC)

More Information

How we are organised

Download Forms

328 - Lead Evaluation Consultant - Ramallah

Application Type : External Vacancy
Job ID/Title : 328 - Lead Evaluation Consultant
Category : Other
Brand : UNDP
Post Level :
Application Deadline : 24-May-10
Duty Station : Ramallah
Type of Contract : SSA,
Post Number :
(for 100 Series Contracts)
Languages Required :
 Arabic, English,
Starting Date :
(date when the selected canditate is expected to start) 		01-Jun-10
Duration of Initial Contract : Two months (50 working days)
Expected Duration of Assignment :
Background:
Deprived Families Economic Empowerment Programme (DEEP) was launched in 2007 as a pilot programme to support chronically poor and hard-hit families in the occupied Palestinian territories. The programme is 30 million dollar programme funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and executed by the United Nations Development Programme/Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority (Ministry of Social affairs, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Planning and Administration Development).
DEEP set out to help poor households which have been relying on relief and humanitarian assistance programmes to graduate from poverty through two main service lines: economic empowerment grants and Islamic microfinance. The programme relies on 16 partner NGOs and 6 MFIs to deliver these services.
The programme is based on participatory methodology which engages the partner organisations and the households in designing and implementing the interventions. These interventions are, for the most part, small income generating activities that are designed based on a thorough analysis of the needs of each household and customised to its capacity. In addition to support in setting up the income generating activities, the partner NGOs are required to provide business development support to the beneficiaries that will enable them to sustain and expand their projects.
Additionally, the programme has implemented an extensive capacity development component for Partner NGOs. This component contributes to strengthening the capacity of organisations working for the benefit of the poor in the oPt and improving the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of their programmes.
To date, the programme has benefited over 3,400 households through the economic empowerment grants component. Additionally, more than 1,800 small entrepreneurs have benefited from microfinance products. A recent assessment of the programme conducted through its monitoring and evaluation function reflected an overall success rate of more than 84%. These households felt an improvement in their living conditions through increased income. The assessment revealed that 56% of the beneficiary households reduced their poverty gap, while 28% graduated from poverty. Additionally, the interventions of the project succeeding in creating over 4,400 job opportunities, 2,100 of these where paid jobs while the remaining where self employed.
The programme’s highest governance authority is the Board of Trustees which is composed of senior representatives of the ministries of Social Affairs, Labour, Planning and Administration Development, in addition to the UNDP and the IDB. The Board of Trustees is headed by the Minister of Social Affairs.
 
The Board of Trustees, in its sixth meeting recommended that an evaluation of the pilot phase of this programme should be launched. The Board of Trustees is interested in an evaluation that presents an assessment of the various components of the programme.
To carry out the evaluation mission, UNDP is seeking to recruit two consultants one as a lead consultant and one as an associate consultant to assist him/her in the Gaza Strip.
 
The Lead Evaluation Consultant should be ready to work in Gaza Strip. If movement constraints,  do not allow for this possibility, the lead consultant should utilise the availability of a Associate consultant in the Gaza Strip in conducting reliable data gathering based on tools developed by the lead consultant and under his/her supervision.
 
The overall level of effort for the associate consultant will be determined by the Lead Consultant based on the deliverables required. A detailed work plan is to be submitted to the Programme Management by the Lead Consultant following the signing of the contract.
Description of Responsibilities:
The evaluation would present an assessment of the various components of the programme which would identify the following issues:
§   The main weaknesses in programme implementation in order to resolve the issues related to them and improve the programme’s performance in the future stage.
§   The activities that contributed the most to the achievement on the objectives and those which were the least successful in this.
§   The obstacles that faced the programme and how they were overcame.
§   Lessons learned from the pilot phase. 
Scope of Work
The consultant will work on evaluating all aspects of the project throughout its implementation, both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Consultant should give due attention to both components of programme (Empowerment Grants and Islamic Microfinance) in addition to the capacity development component. The evaluation should cover the following aspects:
 
Relevance
This aspect should address the following issues:
-       The relevance of the design of the programme and its mechanisms to the Palestinian Context
-       The relevance of the interventions to the needs of the poor, especially targeted households
-       The relevance of the capacity development component with the needs of the partner organisations
 
Efficiency
This aspect should address the use of resource to achieve the desired results. Specifically, the following issues should be covered:
 
-       The methodology, mechanisms, regulations and tools used in the programme
-       The human and institutional capacity development programmes
-       The expertise that have been solicited for the benefit of the programme
 
Effectiveness
This aspect should cover the success of the programme in achieving the desired results. In this context, the following issues should be addressed:
 
-       The success of the programme in targeting poor households in its activities.
-       The success of the programme in developing and establishing income generating activities through economic empowerment grants.
The success of the programme in supporting the beneficiary households in establishing and developing income generating activities through Islamic microfinance.
-       The success of the programme in developing mechanisms and a methodology in poverty alleviation that is compatible with the Palestinian context.
-       The success of the microfinance institutions in applying the methodology of the programme.
-       The success of the programme in developing the capacity of partner organisations to achieve the desired results.
-       The effectiveness of the different types of interventions applied by partner organisations and MFIs.
-       The adherence of the fieldworkers to the regulations and procedures established in the Operations Manual and their motivations and experience.
-       The extent to which the procedures adopted during the design of the interventions have taken into consideration the specific and general context of the beneficiaries and the expertise of the partner NGOs.
 
-       The extent to which the procedures adopted in this programme are inline with transparency and integrity standards.
-       The extent to which the database provides credible data that enables informed decision making.
 
Impact
-       The positive social and economic impacts of the programme on the beneficiaries.
-       The negative impacts of the programme on the beneficiaries if there is any.
-       Identifying of the unplanned impacts of the programme.
 
Sustainability
-       The extent to which income generating activities, especially those which are older than 6 months are sustained. What are the prospects that these activities will be sustained in the future?
-       Has the capacity of the partner organisations been developed in a manner that leads to a transformation in their interventions in poverty reduction?
-       The extent to which the methods and models developed through the programme present a replicable approach to poverty reduction programmes in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere.
-       any additional issues that relate to the sustainability of the impact and outputs of the programme
Deliverables
While undertaking the review work, the Consultant will perform the work with due diligence, maintain a high level of professional independence and ethical standards, display impartiality, integrity, objectivity, transparency, accountability and fairness and validate data and information using multiple sources, where feasible.
The consultant will also ensure that the evaluation outcome disseminates reliable, factual and credible information, findings conclusions and recommendations and keep the Programme Management updated as to progress and any potential difficulties. In the process, the consultant will produce the following deliverables:
 
-       An evaluation report in both English and Arabic languages should cover the various aspects identified in the scope of the evaluation in addition to the main findings, learned lessons and recommendations.
-       A presentation of the main outputs of the evaluation in Arabic language to be presented for the Programme’s Board of Trustees
Competencies :
Qualifications :
In order to be able to perform the tasks required for this evaluation, the consultant should have the following qualifications:
 
·         At least 10 years of local and international experience in poverty reduction and Islamic microfinance
·         Local experience in poverty reduction projects or international consultancy experience in the same field in economies similar to Palestine
·         Experience and knowledge in financing and establishing small and micro enterprises
·         Experience and knowledge in the best practices associated with Islamic microfinance.
Fluency in English and Arabic and ability to communicate effectively in both languages both orally and in writing.
“ UNDP/PAPP is an equal opportunity employer: applications from men and women will be considered equally”
Refer a Friend    Apply Now


^ Back to top