Pbf Final Evaluator Independent Consultant

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST – UNRWA   UNRWA is the United Nations agency responsible for the protection, care and human development of a population of some 4.6 millionPalestinerefugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank,Jordan,Lebanon, and theSyrianArabRepublic. The Agency is committed to assistingPalestinerefugees in maintaining a decent standard of living, acquiring appropriate knowledge and skills, enjoying the fullest possible extent of human rights, and leading a long and healthy life. UNRWA is by far the largest UN operation in theMiddle Eastwith over 29,000 staff. Most of the staff members are refugees themselves, working directly to benefit their communities – as teachers, doctors, nurses or social workers. PBF Final Evaluator Independent Consultant   Location Lebanon Field Office Type of Appointment Consultant Deadline for Application 30 April 2013 Vacancy Announcement Number 969/2013 Department/Division Field Programme Support Office – PBF Project    A.   PROJECT TITLE “Empowerment of Youth at Risk through Job Creation Programme in Areas of Tensions”Lebanon   B.   PROJECT DESCRIPTION The project “Empowerment of Youth at Risk through Job Creation Programme in Areas of Tensions (Lebanon)” was approved in November 2011 with a total budget of $2,002,719 USD. This project is implemented by ILO, UNICEF and UNRWA as the lead agency. The activities of UNRWA and UNICEF involve vocational training, the establishment of a youth empowerment and job creation programme, and micro-credit facilities. In parallel, the ILO works towards the collection and analyses of data on the Palestinian labour force and the improvement of information on the demand-side of the Lebanese labour market. The implementation of the project as a whole is undertaken in coordination with a Lebanese national partner, the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee.   The donor is the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), a Multi Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) of the Secretary-General (SG).  It is a flexible peace-building tool that supports the UN's broader peace-building objectives in countries at risk of relapsing into conflict.  It is intended to be a catalytic fund driven by existing planning, coordination and monitoring mechanisms to support the peace-building strategies of in-country UN leadership.   The PBF relies on the analytical, programming and implementation capacities of UN Departments, Funds, Programmes and Specialized Agencies to deliver peace-building results within their mandates.  The PBF thus operates within a much broader UN peace-building effort.   This project falls under the PBF outcome “Revitalize the economy and immediate peace dividends”. Employment schemes and economic growth provide a ‘peace dividend’ which deters the population from engaging in conflict. It falls into the Priority Plan’s second priority, i.e. Areas of Tension”. The Palestinian camps have indeed been identified as areas suffering from chronic instability, with a high potential of further deterioration.   The project encompasses a dual peace building dynamic targeting Palestinians youth between the age of 15 and 24 years old in south and northLebanon: a peace building dynamic within the refugee community living in the camps, and a second one between the camps and the host economy. Ultimately, it will contribute to reduce the existing animosity between the Palestinian and the Lebanese communities.   C.   PROJECT KEY OUTCOMES The Immediate Response Facility (IRF) is the project-based financing mechanism of the PBF that was created to address critical peace-building needs in the immediate aftermath of conflict or as a result of a dramatic change in the country situation.    IRF Priority area 3: Revitalize the economy and immediate peace dividends.   IRF Outcome 13: Youth empowerment and job creation programmes incorporated in government ministries to overcome persistent and pervasive unemployment that pose an ominous threat to the stability of post-conflict societies. Accordingly, the project aims to empowerPalestineyouth and to put in place job creation programme to overcome persistent and pervasive unemployment that pose an ominous threat to the stability ofLebanon. These are achieved through:   Outcome 1: Improved employability ofPalestinerefugees Outcome 2: Increased access to job and self-employment opportunities Outcome 3: Information gap on the labour market supply and demand concerningPalestinerefugees inLebanonaddressed Outcome 4: Cost and feasibility of providing social protection to Palestinians inLebanonis assessed.   Hence, through the IRF programme, UNRWA, UNICEF and the ILO focus on maintainingPalestinerefugee youth away from violent paths and having them gainfully occupied, through selected high-impact projects, which would stabilize their socio-economic environment.   D.   RATIONALE FOR THE EVALUATION AND PURPOSE In an effort to assess results at the completion point of the project against the Immediate Response Facility (IRF) outcome indicators, this final independent evaluation will assess the extent to which, intended and unintended results were achieved, and their impact on the involved stakeholders. Building on the project midterm evaluation findings, which was conducted in November 2012, the overall objectives of this exercise is to assess the five pillars of projects evaluations namely relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability and to draw out best practices as well as lessons learned to all partners.   In order to assess to what extent the project has contributed to the attainment of peace building outputs and how was this reflected in the targeted regions through identifying performance levels, achievements and lessons learned, this evaluation will provide analysis of the project’s contribution to preventing relapse into conflict and promoting sustained engagement in peace building.   The evaluation aims at achieving a fair, objective and an accurate assessment of the project performance and at ensuring recommendations for future Peace building interventions inLebanon.   The primary clients of the evaluation are UNRWA, UNICEF and ILO Regional Office forArabStates; and UNRCO and the Peace Building Support Office (PBSO). Secondary clients include other units within these client organisations that may indirectly benefit from the knowledge generated by the evaluation, as well as project beneficiaries and partners.   E.   EVALUATION SCOPE The evaluation will: Measure to what extend the project achievements are in line with its stated objectives, outcomes, and outputs both quantitative and qualitative; and explain why/why not, draw out the best practices and lessons learned to consider in future interventions; Assess the project’s contribution to reducing the risk of the targeted groups getting involved in future conflicts. Assess this project’s contribution to the stability or instability of the targeted regions. Measures to what extend the recommendations resulted from the midterm evaluation are implemented; and explain why and why not; Measure to what extend the resources are used in line with its listed outcomes; are the allocated resources utilized its fund efficiently and explain why/why not; Measure to what extent the UN joint fund model mainly the coordination between UNRWA, UNICEF and ILO has contributed to the success of the various interventions and explain why/why not; Document lessons learned, success stories, and good practices and provide recommendations on how to best utilize them in future interventions; Measure to what extend the various interventions contributed toward meeting the needs of the relevant stakeholders especially the direct and indirect beneficiaries; and Identify the sustainability measures that are put in place to ensure the benefits of the projects’ interventions are going to be sustained by the relevant stakeholders and partners and explain why/why not.   F.    METHODOLOGY APPROACH The final evaluation will be conducted by an independent evaluator. It will use methodologies and techniques as determined by the specific needs for information, the availability of resources and the priorities of stakeholders. In all cases the consultant is expected to analyse all relevant information sources, such as annual reports, project documents, internal review reports, and any other documents that may provide evidence on which to form conclusions.   The evaluator will be requested to provide his/her methodology and plan and to be endorsed by the evaluation oversight management committee before the start of the consultancy. It later should be described in detail in the final evaluation report, and should contain, at minimum, information on the instruments used for data collection and analysis, whether these be documents, interviews, field visits, questionnaires or participatory techniques.   G.  EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES The consultant is responsible for submitting the following deliverables to the PBF Coordinator under the Programme Support Office:   Deliverables/ Outputs Estimated Duration to Complete Inception Report During the first week First draft - final evaluation report available to the three partner  for comments During the last week and before the dissemination workshop Dissemination workshop: Presentation of key findings to the three partners During last week of consultancy Second draft - final report Within 5 days after receiving partners’ comments Final review and feedback from partners Within 5 days after receiving the second draft Final report  - Final version Within 5 days after receiving partners’ comments   Inception report The inception report describes the framework the evaluator will use in undertaking the evaluation. It sets out in some detail the evaluation methodology, i.e. how each question will be answered by way of data collection methods, data sources, sampling and indicators. The report must also contain a work plan, which indicates the phases in the evaluation with their key deliverables and milestones. The inception report will be reviewed and approved by the evaluation oversight management committee.   Draft Final Report: the draft final report will contain the same sections as the final report (described in the next paragraph). It will also contain an executive summary that includes a brief description of the project, its context and current situation, the purpose of the evaluation, its methodology and its main findings, best practices, lessons learned, conclusions and future recommendations. This report will be shared among project partners to seek their comments and suggestions which will be considered by the consultant.   Final Evaluation Report (to be submitted within 5 days of receipt of the draft final report with comments).   The final report will contain an executive report that includes a brief description of the project, its context and current situation, the purpose of the evaluation, its methodology and its major findings, best practices, lessons learned, conclusions and recommendations. This report will contain the following sections at a minimum: -        Cover Page -        Executive summary -        Introduction (project description, purpose of evaluation, methodology) -        Findings and analysis of: Relevance Effectiveness Efficiency Impact Sustainability -        Conclusions and recommendations -        Best practices, lessons learned and constraints -        Annexes   Best practices and lessons learned: The findings of each evaluation area (relevance, effectiveness, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability) should be followed by analysis and conclusion proposing recommendations to be carried out in future projects and initiatives. The conclusions that are to be presented in a priority order must be clear and practical taking into consideration the possible constraints.   H.  DUTY STATION Beirut,Lebanonwith travel to Saida,TyreandTripoli   PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES (A)   Academic and Professional Relevant background knowledge in the following areas: Peace Building initiatives, Education; Business Management; Economics; International Development; Social Studies;   (B)   Experience i)        At least 7 years of professional experience in the assessment, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of projects; ii)      Experience in evaluations in the UN system; iii)     Relevant regional experience preferably working on Palestinian refugee issues in iv)    Lebanon; v)       Relevant knowledge in Peace building programming in crisis and post crisis contexts; vi)     Experience in facilitating workshops for evaluation findings; vii)    Proven experience in conducting consultancies;   (C)   Language        Excellent command of written and spoken English;   (D)   Skills and Competencies i)        Excellent analytical skills. ii)      Ability to work independently iii)     Strong planning and organization skills iv)     Fully proficient computer skills and use of relevant software and other applications   CONDITIONS OF SERVICE Salary: Offer is to be submitted by the consultant. Contract Duration: to be determined by the consultant.   EQUIVALENCY Candidates with an equivalent combination of relevant academic qualifications, professional training and progressive work experience may also be considered.   GENERAL INFORMATION UNRWA is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications equally from men and women. It is Agency Policy to give full consideration to qualified disabled candidates whose disability does not impact their ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of the post. Priority will be given to fully qualify registered Palestinian refugees. Prior to the commencement of services,the consultant shall confirm and acknowledge in writing,and provide proof of the existence of,self-procured adequate private insurance against medical,disability and accident for the duration of the contract. As a member of the United Nations system, UNRWA maintains a close relatives’ policy.  In this regard, if a candidate has a close relative (mother, father, brother, sister, son or daughter) who is already employed by the Agency, he/she can only be employed if the Agency is unable to find another suitable candidate.   UNRWA staff members with fixed term appointments may not be considered for any consultant/contractor position while in service. Candidates who are no longer employed by the Agency must have a minimum of 3 months break in service before they apply to any consultant/contract positions.   UNRWA is a United Nations organization whose staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity,neutrality and impartiality. This includes respect for human rights,for diversity,and for non-violent means of dealing with all kinds of conflict. UNRWA staffs are expected to uphold these values at all times,both at work and outside. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for UNRWA jobs. UNRWA is a non-smoking working environment. الأونروا هي منظمة تابعة للأمم المتحدة، وهي منظمة تفترض من موظفيها الالتزام بأعلى معايير الاستقامة والحياد والنزاهة. ويشمل ذلك احترام مبادئ حقوق الإنسان واحترام التنوع وتبني الوسائل غير العنيفة في حل كافة أشكال النزاعات.  المتوقع من موظفي الأونروا أن يقوموا بدعم هذه القيم في كافة الأوقات، سواء في أماكن العمل أم خارجه. إن أولئك الأشخاص الذين يتمتعون بالالتزام الكامل وغير المشروط بهذه القيم هم فقط الذين ينبغي أن يتقدموا بطلباتهم للعمل لدى الأونروا. الأنروا هي بيئه عمل لا يسمح فيها بالتدخين.   HOW TO APPLY Interested candidates are kindly requested to submit the following documents to Ms. Abir Atma at a.atma@unrwa.org and Mr. Rony Gedeon rgedeon@economy.gov.lb, no later than 30 April 2013.   Personal CV indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, two samples of work, and at least three (3) professional references; Inception note, including the consultancy methodology, approach, scope and main steps.  Further project information may be viewed through the PBF Lebanon Project page: http://mptf.undp.org/factsheet/project/00080345; Time line, that show the consultancy’s proposed duration against detailed activities; and Financial proposal that indicates all-inclusive fixed total contract price.   CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE BEST OFFER Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications, methodology and the price offer will weight 100%.     Date of issue: 10 April 2013