JOBS – CONSULTANTS IN CHARGE OF THE EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT “THE YOUTH, WEAVER OF PEACE”

Supervision sector: Sector of social and human sciences (SHS)

Duty station: Cross-border regions of Gabon, Cameroon and Chad

Job category: Social and human sciences

Type of contract: International Consultant (1) National Consultants (3)

Duration of contract: 45 Days

Recruitment open to: External candidates

Closing date for applications (midnight Paris time): 02 April 2023

Core values ​​of UNESCO: Commitment to the Organization, integrity, respect for diversity, professionalism

SUMMARY OF POSITIONS

I- Context

Due to recurrent crises and conflicts, Central Africa has been plagued by obvious security vulnerability and fragility since the 1990s, particularly at its borders. Among the sources of insecurity that can be identified at the borders of this sub-region, there is, among others, the underdevelopment of the border regions; the activities of armed groups proliferating from country to country; organized crime networks that engage in poaching and other illicit trafficking across state borders; the presence and needs of refugee and displaced populations. Indeed, the cross-border areas of these three countries are primarily characterized by their underdevelopment due to the weak presence, or even absence, of the State in relation to the control of territorial borders,

Because neglected and forgotten in terms of development, the cross-border regions of these three countries offer few socio-economic opportunities to young women and men. The latter are often forced to look for alternatives and are thus more exposed to the instrumentalization of armed and terrorist groups, but also of the organized crime networks that scour these regions.

However, although they may be the actors of growing insecurity and criminality on the borders of Gabon, Cameroon and Chad, young people are at the same time potential agents of change capable of contributing to the construction and consolidation of peace, security and development through their creativity, their sense of civic and community engagement; their demographic weight constituting a labor pool between the three countries.

It is in this context that the joint project “Young people, weavers of peace in the cross-border regions of Gabon, Cameroon and Chad” comes into play.

II- Justification of the evaluation

In accordance with the project document, UNESCO’s evaluation policy, and the policy of the donor (Peacebuilding Support Office – PBSO), an independent terminal evaluation should be conducted to review the degree of achievement of the short-term impact results of the project and of the changes induced by it, as a whole (including the components under the guidance of the UNSDCF). This evaluation will make it possible to analyze the results of the project as a whole, by examining their relevance and the effects on the beneficiaries, to determine to what extent the theory of change of the project remains valid and to draw lessons from the actions carried out and the results obtained. .

In addition, the evaluation will provide the necessary elements highlighting the project’s contribution to efforts to consolidate peace and social cohesion on the one hand, and on the other hand to formulate strategic and practical recommendations resulting from lessons learned. useful lessons learned to share with all stakeholders, in particular the Agencies of the United Nations System, donors, Governments and beneficiaries (CSOs, youth organizations, women’s associations).

III- Scope and objective of the evaluation

The evaluation will follow the OECD DAC evaluation framework and principles, including the measurement of values ​​related to catalytic nature, conflict sensitivity, and gender and age issues. For all intents and purposes, these terms of reference and UNESCO’s evaluation policies and guidelines define the overall scope of this evaluation. The recommendations, resulting from the evaluation, should be closely linked to the conclusions of the evaluation and should provide clear guidance to stakeholders on how they can respond to them.

This final evaluation will take into account all the activities programmed in the project document. It will assess the level of progress made in relation to the expected results.

To this end, it aims to:

Show to what extent the formulation of the project as well as the approach used are relevant to meet the identified needs;
Evaluate the overall system for steering and institutional monitoring of project implementation through the various bodies provided for in the project document;
Analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of project implementation as worded in the project document;
Assess the sustainability of the expected results (institutional strengthening, ownership of change by the beneficiaries);
Measure values ​​related to catalytic nature, conflict sensitivity, and gender and age issues in project implementation.
Identify lessons learned from project implementation and management;
The evaluation will be based on the results of the above project. It should make it possible to know whether the initiatives taken within the framework of the project effectively support the affected populations and also to highlight the questions of accountability towards the parties. In order to be able to highlight how/if yes the project has made it possible to initiate peacebuilding changes, beyond the implementation of individual activities.

IV- Key evaluation questions

The general objective of the terminal evaluation is to measure the performance of the project by analyzing the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact, while paying particular attention to cross-cutting issues of the LNOB , do no harm and gender mainstreaming (women’s empowerment and gender equality), human rights in terms of conflict sensitivity and also the catalytic aspects. This analysis will make it possible to identify the lessons learned from the implementation and the achievements for the purposes of accountability vis-à-vis the various partners and the acquisition of knowledge, but also with a view to their capitalization, particularly in the context of future interventions. in the same field.

The key questions to be answered by the evaluation are:

RELEVANCE: DOES THE INTERVENTION MEET THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF THE TARGET POPULATIONS?

To what extent is the project in line with the strategic axes of UNESCO, UNODC, PBSO, the Governments and the strategic pillars of the UNSCDF of these three countries as well as their national medium-term sectoral strategies;
Have the theory of change, results chain, assumptions and risks been well identified (relevance and reliability)?
To what extent are the approaches used by the project adequate in relation to peacebuilding, economic empowerment, equity, gender equality and youth inclusion?
Were the project interventions relevant and adapted to the context?
IMPACT: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE INTERVENTION MAKE?  

Have adequate management and monitoring mechanisms been put in place in relation to the expected results?
What are the main successes noted on the project activities?
What are the expected changes in the short and medium term attributable to the project?
To what extent has the project encouraged positive changes in terms of social cohesion, economic strengthening and the presence of the State in the communities benefiting from the project? Were there any unexpected effects?
To what extent has the project contributed to gender equality and the empowerment of women? Does the gender marker assigned to the project reflect reality?

EFFECTIVENESS: DID THE INTERVENTION ACHIEVE ITS OBJECTIVES?

To what extent have the theory of change and results chain results been achieved?
To what extent have the expected results of the project been achieved, both quantitatively and qualitatively? What were the key success factors, good practices and lessons learned?
What factors influenced, positively or negatively, the achievement of results?
To what extent did the structure, organization and management mechanisms of the project (in particular the technical and operational support of UNESCO and UNODC) make it possible to achieve the expected objectives?
What are the recommendations and guidelines for the formulation and implementation of similar projects in the future?
EFFICIENCY: ARE RESOURCES USED OPTIMUMLY?

To what extent the project structure as described in the project document was efficient in achieving the expected results;
To what extent has the use of financial and human resources complied with internal rules and procedures?
Were the results of the project obtained at acceptable costs (in financial terms, time, human resources, etc.)? in other words, did the resources made available to the project meet the needs to enable the achievement of the outputs and achieve the expected results?
Have the resources planned to address gender issues been used efficiently?

SUSTAINABILITY/SUSTAINABILITY: WILL THE BENEFITS BE SUSTAINABLE?

To what extent has the project contributed to the capacity building of national parties?
Did the project have an exit strategy (from when) and when/how was it implemented? with efficiency ?
Have UNESCO and UNODC put in place appropriate sustainability mechanisms and exit strategies in the interventions?
What are the arrangements made by the partners and the community for the continuity of activities after the project?
What is the degree of consolidation of achievements by implementing partners (ministerial and public administration focal points, municipal executives, traditional chiefs, youth organizations, etc.? COHERENCE: IS THE INTERVENTION IN LINE WITH
THE OTHER INTERVENTIONS CARRIED OUT

Is there synergy between the project’s interventions and those of other stakeholders (State, other partners, other UNS projects, beneficiary initiatives, etc.) In other words, to what extent does the project create synergies and linkages between government interventions and donor communities

CATALYTIC CHARACTER

Was the project financially and programmatically catalytic?
Has PBF funding been used to scale up other peacebuilding work and/or has it helped create broader platforms for peacebuilding?

CONFLICT SENSITIVITY

Did the project have an explicit approach to conflict sensitivity?

GENDER AND AGE

Has the project incorporated a gender and age dimension into its activities (results matrix, implementation)?
If the target groups (women, young people/minors, minorities, people in vulnerable situations) have suffered unforeseen negative effects, have the project managers taken the appropriate measures?
V- Deliverables and procedures of the review:

The submission of the following deliverables is expected:

The detailed inception report
After the contact and consultation meetings, the consultant/evaluation team will produce an inception report including an evaluation plan with a timetable, a detailed methodology including an evaluation matrix (with a comprehensive list of evaluation questions and data collection methods), a stakeholder analysis and a list of documents.

An interim assessment report:
The draft report must be written in French, and follow the quality requirements of the UNESCO Evaluation Office, the UNEG evaluation report standards, with a length of 30 to 40 pages (excluding annexes) . It will also contain an executive summary of no more than 5 pages, including a brief description of the program, its background and current status, the purpose of the evaluation, its methodology and its main findings, conclusions and recommendations.

The structure of the report should include:

Executive summary
Introduction
Chapter(s) for each dimension or key evaluation question
Conclusions and recommendations
Annexes should include terms of reference, detailed methodology and limitations of the methodology, list of interviews, data collection instruments, key documents consulted and case studies/field visit reports.

The Final Evaluation Report:
The final evaluation report should incorporate comments provided by the Reference Group. It should also include an executive summary and appendices. The final report must comply with the UNEG Evaluation Norms and Standards and its quality must comply with the criteria contained in the UNEG Quality Checklist for Evaluation Reports. The evaluation should reflect the requirements of the UNEG Guidelines on Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluation and the UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation.

Planning and organization (F)
Culture of results (F)
Teamwork (F)
Professionalism (F)
For more information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

The assessment is open to natural persons. A senior international expert who will oversee the work of deployed senior national experts (1 per country). The main expert must present the following profile:

Have at least a Master’s degree or BAC + 5 in social sciences, political sciences and administration, international relations, development studies, political economy, conflict management or other discipline related.
Have at least 10 years’ experience in the evaluation of projects, some of which on youth issues and in the field of peace and security, including conflict management and peacebuilding;

Senior national experts must have the following profile:

Hold at least a Master’s degree in social sciences, political sciences, international relations, development studies, political economy or another related discipline;
Have proven experience in evaluating projects of five (5) to seven (7) years, some of which on youth issues and in the field of peace and security;
All experts (international and national) should have the following additional skills and competencies:

Have a good knowledge and understanding of security and stabilization issues in Central Africa and in the Lake Chad Basin
Excellent verbal communication and writing skills in French;
Ability to work under pressure paying particular attention to deadlines and quality of work;
Capacity for analysis and synthesis, rigor and methodical organization of work;
Good computer skills (MS Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, Database etc);
Will be considered as an asset:
Experience working with United Nations Agencies, and projects funded by PBF
Knowledge of at least one of the languages ​​spoken on the project implementation sites

APPLICATION FILE

The applications expected within the framework of this evaluation must clearly present an evaluation plan, in particular:

The detailed methodology;
The profile of the Consultant
The description of the experiences relevant to the realization of the evaluation;
A detailed schedule of activities and expected results;
The plan for promoting the conclusions of the evaluation;
A detailed budget including the cost of fees in F CFA
Submission guidelines

Proposals will be evaluated in two stages (evaluation of the technical proposal; evaluation of the financial proposal). Applications should therefore contain the following required documentation:

Technical Proposal: Applicants should prepare a proposal in accordance with the TOR, ensuring that the objectives, scope, criteria and deliverables of the evaluation are taken into account. The proposal should include a detailed breakdown of the inception phase and data collection methodology, suggested approach and proposed sampling to be used in the evaluation. A brief explanation of the data collection, analysis and report writing phases should also be included, along with a draft work plan and timeline for the assessment. The technical proposal must also include:

The updated CVs of the consultants.
Letters of motivation
Certified copies of the diplomas required.
Electronic links to the two most recent and relevant assessments completed by candidates.

Financial Proposal: Bid with Cost Breakdown: Consultant Fees, International Travel Costs (Economy Class), Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) and Translation and Other Required Costs. The financial proposal must be submitted in a separate file, clearly named “Financial Proposal”. No financial information should be included in the technical proposal.

Travel costs will be based on the most direct route and economy fare. Quotations for a business class fare will not be considered.

Interested applicants should provide financial proposals including at least the following: DSA

fees Travel costs: international (if applicable) and local Other costs