Evaluation Specialist - Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT) – Cluster Evaluation

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender and nationality

People with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Organizational Setting

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) are an international agreement promoting secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests as means of eradicating hunger and poverty, supporting sustainable development and enhancing the environment.

Following the endorsement of the VGGT in May 2012, FAO, in collaboration with its partners, established an Umbrella Programme to support their implementation. The first phase covered the period 2012-16 and was followed by a second phase, which will end in June 2021. The Umbrella Programme Phase II had two main outputs:

• At global level, enhance processes to improve governance of tenure by establishing collaborative partnerships and promotion global dialogue, monitoring the take-up of the VGGT, develop, distribute and promote VGGT technical materials for capacity development.
• At country and regional level, enhance capacity to implement the VGGT to achieve concrete results in relevant policies, legal frameworks, and institutional and administrative arrangements. Activities included awareness raising, capacity development, technical support, partnerships, and monitoring.

FAO office of evaluation is looking for consultants to carry out the final evaluation of two projects contributing to the FAO VGGT Umbrella Programme: project GCP/GLO/347/MUL funded by the multi-donor trust fund and project GCP/GLO/328/UK funded by UK.

The evaluation will be conducted over the period April 2021 - July 2021. Its conduct will take into account travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and will involve an international evaluation team and national evaluators in sample countries. The international evaluation team will consist of three independent consultants, as follow:

• Specialist in evaluation (Team Leader): he/she will be in charge of coordinating the work of the team during the different evaluation phases: methodology design, data collection and preparation of the final evaluation report. He/she will be responsible for finalizing all the deliverables including the inception report and the final report.
• Specialist in governance of tenure, land based investments and safeguarding tenure (Team Member): he/she will actively participate in all different phases of the evaluation including methodology design, data collection and report writing providing technical knowledge and expertise in the area of governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests; land based investments and safeguarding tenure; and customary tenure.
• Specialist in pastoralism (Team Member): he/she will actively participate in all different phases of the evaluation including methodology design, data collection and report writing providing technical knowledge and expertise in the area of pastoral farming systems, notably in African drylands.

Reporting Lines

The consultants will report to the evaluation manager. The two technical experts will work in close collaboration with the team leader.

Technical Focus

• Policy support and capacity development
• Governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests
• Land based investments and safeguarding tenure
• Customary land
• Evaluation of development assistance
• Pastoral farming systems
• Social inclusion and gender

Tasks and responsibilities

SPECIALIST IN EVALUATION

• Develop the inception report defining the methodology and lead the finalization of the evaluation tools, such as evaluation matrix, evaluation questions, checklists, surveys, questionnaires and other data collection tools.
• Lead and coordinate the collection and analysis of primary and secondary data by the evaluation team members (including remote data collection with key stakeholders and country case studies)
• Supervise the national consultants and provide quality assurance for the country case studies;
• Lead, coordinate and prepare all deliverables planned in the evaluation Terms of Reference. These includes the inception report and the final evaluation report and the integration of comments and suggestions received by the relevant stakeholders.
• Present findings of the evaluation to key stakeholders during all planned debriefing sessions as required.
• Coordinate the participation and contribution of team members in all deliverables as required.

SPECIALIST IN GOVERNANCE OF TENURE/LAND-BASED INVESTEMENTS AND SAFEGUARDING TENURE

• Contribute to the inception report and to the evaluation tools including questionnaires, check-lists and interview protocols as appropriate and agreed with the team leader;
• Provide specialised expertise in assessing outcomes, outputs, deliverables and activities carried out under his/her specific area of work including: Governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests; land-based investments and safeguarding tenure; customary tenure.
• Participate actively in the collection of primary data through virtual interviews and meetings with internal and external stakeholders;
• Contribute to supervise the national consultants and to provide quality assurance for the country case studies;
• Participate actively in the collection of relevant secondary data as required and identified in the evaluation matrix;
• Contribute to the consolidation of all evidence collected during the evaluation process in a structured format following the key evaluation questions and criteria;
• Contribute to the analysis of information collected, participate in debriefing sessions as required, deliver written inputs to the final report as agreed with the evaluation specialist and support the evaluation specialist in finalizing all deliverables.

SPECIALIST IN PASTORALISM

• Contribute to the inception report and to the evaluation tools including questionnaires, check-lists and interview protocols as appropriate and agreed with the team leader;
• Provide specialised expertise in assessing outcomes, outputs, deliverables and activities carried out under his/her specific area of pastoral farming systems;
• Participate actively in the collection of primary data through virtual interviews and meetings with internal and external stakeholders;
• Contribute to supervise the national consultants and to provide quality assurance for the country case studies;
• Participate actively in the collection of relevant secondary data as required and identified in the evaluation matrix;
• Contribute to the consolidation of all evidence collected during the evaluation process in a structured format following the key evaluation questions and criteria;
• Contribute to the analysis of information collected, participate in debriefing sessions as required, deliver written inputs to the final report as agreed with the evaluation specialist and support the evaluation specialist in finalizing all deliverables.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

SPECIALIST IN EVALUATION

• University degree in relevant subjects;
• At least 8 years of relevant experience in evaluation including experience in leading assessments of programmes related to institutional capacity development, policy influence and policy processes;
• Working knowledge of English and Spanish or French.

SPECIALIST IN GOVERNANCE OF TENURE/Land-based investments and safeguarding tenure

• University degree in relevant subjects;
• At least 8 years of relevant experience in areas related to governance of tenure; Land-based investments and safeguarding tenure; customary tenure.
• Working knowledge of English and Spanish or French.

SPECIALIST IN PASTORALISM

• University degree in relevant subjects;
• At least 8 years of relevant experience in areas related to pastoral farming systems, notably in African drylands;
• Working knowledge of English and French.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills valid for the three specialists

• Previous experience in conducting/taking part in evaluations of complex multi-stakeholder processes and advocacy programmes including assessing partnerships;
• Knowledge of FAO’s mandate and work in the area of governance of tenure of land, fisheries and/or pastoralism;
• Knowledge of issues related to social inclusion and gender in the areas of governance of tenure of land fisheries and forests and pastoralism;
• Work experience in countries in which the VGGT programme implemented activities. These might include Colombia, Guinea, Kenya, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Tunisia and Vietnam.
• Knowledge of the work of the Africa Union (AU), the Africa Land Policy Center (ALPC) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on Governance of tenure would be an advantage.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

_______________________________________________________________________________________