Individual Consultant to carry out local consultations with communities and other stakeholders and support the drafting of the MTR Report

Background

This is the Terms of Reference for the UNDP-GEF Midterm Review (MTR) of the full or medium-sized project titled Strengthening Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management and Climate-Smart Landscapes in the Mid to Lower Zambezi Region of Zimbabwe (PIMS-5693) implemented through the UNDP/ Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry (MECTHI), which is to be undertaken in 2021. The project started on the 7 August 2018 and is in its third year of implementation.  This ToR sets out the expectations for this MTR.   The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in the document Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects (http://web.undp.org/evaluation/documents/guidance/GEF/mid-term/Guidance_Midterm%20Review%20_EN_2014.pdf)The Government of Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry (MECTHI), in partnership with the UNDP is implementing a 6-year GEF funded project entitled “Strengthening Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management and Climate-Smart Landscapes in the Mid to Lower Zambezi Region of Zimbabwe.” The project is implemented under a National Implementation Modality (NIM) where MECTHI is the Implementing Partner. This is a child project being implemented under a global parent programme entitled “Global Partnership on Wildlife Conservation and Crime Prevention for Sustainable Development.” The project seeks to address multiple threats to biodiversity and sustainable community development in the Lower Zambezi which include poaching and associated wildlife trade, retaliatory killing of wildlife, deforestation and associated land degradation due to unsustainable agriculture and firewood consumption, and uncontrolled veld fires. The Zimbabwe project is therefore a multifocal area project whose objective is to promote an integrated landscape approach to managing wildlife resources, carbon and ecosystem services in the face of climate change in the protected areas and communal lands of the Mid to Lower Zambezi Regions of Zimbabwe. The project has 4 components namely:

• Component 1. Strengthening capacity and governance frameworks for integrated wildlife and woodland management and wildlife/forest crime enforcement in Zimbabwe;
• Component 2. Strengthening Zimbabwe's PA estate and CAMPFIRE Wildlife Conservancies in areas of global BD significance;
• Component 3. Mainstreaming BD and ES management, and climate change mitigation, into the wider landscape; and
• Component 4. Knowledge Management, M&E and Gender Mainstreaming.

There are four corresponding outcomes namely:

• Outcome 1. Increased national capacity for IWT control and integrated wildlife and woodland;
• Outcome 2. Improved capacity of PA network and CAMPFIRE Wildlife Conservancies to protect globally significant biodiversity of the mid-lower Zambezi region over a total area of 1,616,900 ha;
• Outcome 3. Increased area under sustainable management and increased benefits for local communities from CBWM, SFM and SLM in established CWCs; and
• Outcome 4. Lessons learned by the project through participatory M&E and gender mainstreaming are used nationally and internationally.

The project is being implemented in Muzarabani, Mbire and Hurungwe Districts as well as Mana Pools National Park, and Chewore, Sapi, Hurungwe, Dande, Charara and Doma Safari Areas. The total allocated resources for this project is USD 12,025,964. In addition, in-kind co-financing is USD 45,411,000 from the Government of Zimbabwe, Private sector and NGO partners.The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic on 11th March 2020 as the new coronavirus rapidly spread to all the world. The Zimbabwe government declared the COVID-19 crisis a “national disaster” on 27 March 2020 and began a nationwide lockdown on March 30. The lockdown was later eased but extended indefinitely on 16 May 2020. As of 15 March 2021, there were 36,504 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Zimbabwe, of which 1,504 were fatalities and 34,051 persons recovered.  Covid-19 has spread in all the country’s 10 provinces and cities across Zimbabwe. The country has implemented social restrictions including two national lockdowns (30 March 2020 and 5 January 2021) to reduce the spread of the virus. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the implementation of the project. Most of the project activities, especially those involving gathering groups of people, were postponed or cancelled altogether due to the country-wide lockdown and subsequent movement restrictions that followed. In addition, the project had to revise the annual work plan to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The project had to channel resources towards more patrols as they were reports of increased incursions by poachers in the protected area. Based on the assessment, some work can continue on-schedule, while some might be deferred and likely to delay and some may need readjustment to adapt to the new normal.  UNDP Zimbabwe country office seeks the services of a National Consultant to partner with an International consultant to conduct the project mid-term evaluation. The International Consultant will serve as the team leader and the National Consultant as the local technical and stakeholder engagement expert. The National Consultant will also act as a focal point for coordinating and working with relevant stakeholders in Zimbabwe.MTR PurposeThe project has reached its mid-term according to the implementation period and therefore an independent MTR is due. The MTR will assess progress towards the achievement of the project objectives and outcomes as specified in the Project Document, and assess early signs of project success or failure with the goal of identifying the necessary changes to be made in order to set the project on-track to achieve its intended results. The MTR will also review the project’s strategy and its risks to sustainability.Further to this as the project is being implemented during COVID-19, the MTR will assess how the context has changed as a result of covid and how the project has been impacted and how the strategy can incorporate the COVID-19 risks going forward. The MTR will also look at any project interventions that have contributed directly or indirectly to government’s effort of COVID-19 recovery both at the national level and project sites.    

Duties and Responsibilities

The MTR team will assess the following four categories of project progress.

Project Strategy

 Project Design:  

• Review the problem addressed by the project and the underlying assumptions.  Review the effect of any incorrect assumptions or changes to the context to achieving the project results as outlined in the Project Document;
• Review the relevance of the project strategy and assess whether it provides the most effective route towards expected/intended results.  Were lessons from other relevant projects properly incorporated into the project design;  
• Review how the project addresses country priorities. Review country ownership. Was the project concept in line with the national sector development priorities and plans of the country (or of participating countries in the case of multi-country projects);
• Review decision-making processes: were perspectives of those who would be affected by project decisions, those who could affect the outcomes, and those who could contribute information or other resources to the process, taken into account during project design processes; 
• Review the extent to which relevant gender issues were raised in the project design. See Annex 9 of Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects for further guidelines.
• Were relevant gender issues (e.g. the impact of the project on gender equality in the programme country, involvement of women’s groups, engaging women in project activities) raised in the Project Document.

 Results Framework/Logframe:

• Undertake a critical analysis of the project’s logframe indicators and targets, assess how “SMART” the midterm and end-of-project targets are (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound), and suggest specific amendments/revisions to the targets and indicators as necessary;
• Are the project’s objectives and outcomes or components clear, practical, and feasible within its time frame;
• Examine if progress so far has led to or could in the future catalyse beneficial development effects (i.e. income generation, gender equality and women’s and youth empowerment, improved governance, inclusive growth, etc...) that should be included in the project results framework and monitored on an annual basis; 
• Ensure broader development and gender aspects of the project are being monitored effectively.  Develop and recommend SMART ‘development’ indicators, including sex-disaggregated indicators and indicators that capture development benefits; 
• Examine if the Log frame elements needed to be adjusted in light of the COVID-19 situation.

 Progress Towards Results

• Review the logframe indicators against progress made towards the end-of-project targets; populate the Progress Towards Results Matrix, as described in the Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects; colour code progress in a “traffic light system” based on the level of progress achieved; assign a rating on progress for the project objective and each outcome; make recommendations from the areas marked as “not on target to be achieved” (red); 
• Compare and analyse the GEF Tracking Tool/Core Indicators at the Baseline with the one completed right before the Midterm Review;
• Identify remaining barriers to achieving the project objective in the remainder of the project;
• By reviewing the aspects of the project that have already been successful, identify ways in which the project can further expand these benefits;
• Examine how COVID-19 has affected progress towards results.

Project Implementation and Adaptive ManagementManagement Arrangements

• Review overall effectiveness of project management as outlined in the Project Document.  Have changes been made and are they effective?  Are responsibilities and reporting lines clear?  Is decision-making transparent and undertaken in a timely manner?  Recommend areas for improvement;
• Review the quality of execution of the Executing Agency/Implementing Partner(s) and recommend areas for improvement;
• Review the quality of support provided by the GEF Partner Agency (UNDP) and recommend areas for improvement;
• Do the Executing Agency/Implementing Partner and/or UNDP and other partners have the capacity to deliver benefits to or involve women? If yes, how;
• What is the gender balance of project staff? What steps have been taken to ensure gender balance in project staff;
• What is the gender balance of the Project Board and the Technical Committee? What steps have been taken to ensure gender balance in the Project Board and the Technical Committee;

 Work Planning

• Review any delays in project start-up and implementation, identify the causes and examine if they have been resolved;
• Have there been any project planning issues and implementation delays caused by COVID-19;
• Are work-planning processes results-based?  If not, suggest ways to re-orientate work planning to focus on results;
• Examine the use of the project’s results framework/ logframe as a management tool and review any changes made to it since project start.   

 Finance and co-finance

• Consider the financial management of the project, with specific reference to the cost-effectiveness of interventions;  
• Review the changes to fund allocations as a result of budget revisions and assess the appropriateness and relevance of such revisions. Review the extent to which such revisions have been influenced by Covid 19;
• Does the project have the appropriate financial controls, including reporting and planning, that allow management to make informed decisions regarding the budget and allow for timely flow of funds;
• Informed by the co-financing monitoring table to be filled out by the Commissioning Unit and project team, provide commentary on co-financing: is co-financing being used strategically to help the objectives of the project? Is the Project Team meeting with all co-financing partners regularly in order to align financing priorities and annual work plans;
• Include the separate GEF Co-Financing template (filled out by the Commissioning Unit and project team) which categorizes co-financing amounts by source as ‘investment mobilized’ or ‘recurrent expenditures.’  (This template will be annexed as a separate file);
• Examine the extent to which co-finance materialisation had been, or may be affected by Covid 19.

 Project-level monitoring and evaluation systems

• Review the monitoring tools currently being used:  Do they provide the necessary information? Do they involve key partners? Are they aligned or mainstreamed with national systems?  Do they use existing information? Are they efficient? Are they cost-effective? Are additional tools required? How could they be made more participatory and inclusive;
• Examine the financial management of the project monitoring and evaluation budget.  Are sufficient resources being allocated to monitoring and evaluation? Are these resources being allocated effectively;
• Review the extent to which relevant gender issues were incorporated in monitoring systems. See Annex 9 of Guidance for Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects for further guidelines;
• Review the extent to which project M&E has been affected by Covid 19 and the measure in place to effectively monitor and evaluate the project.

 Stakeholder Engagement

• Project management: Has the project developed and leveraged the necessary and appropriate partnerships with direct and tangential stakeholders;
• Participation and country-driven processes: Do local and national government stakeholders support the objectives of the project?  Do they continue to have an active role in project decision-making that supports efficient and effective project implementation;
• Participation and public awareness: To what extent has stakeholder involvement and public awareness contributed to the progress towards achievement of project objectives;
• How does the project engage women and girls?  Is the project likely to have the same positive and/or negative effects on women and men, girls and boys?  Identify, if possible, legal, cultural, or religious constraints on women’s participation in the project.  What can the project do to enhance its gender benefits; 
• How has the stakeholder engagement plan been affected by Covid 19? Review plans in place to sustain stakeholder engagement.

 Social and Environmental Standards (Safeguards)

• Validate the risks identified in the project’s most current SESP, and those risks’ ratings; are any revisions needed; 
• Summarize and assess the revisions made since CEO Endorsement/Approval (if any) to:  
  • The project’s overall safeguards risk categorization; 
  • The identified types of risks  (in the SESP);
  • The individual risk ratings (in the SESP).
• Describe and assess progress made in the implementation of the project’s social and environmental management measures as outlined in the SESP submitted at CEO Endorsement/Approval (and prepared during implementation, if any), including any revisions to those measures. Such management measures might include Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs) or other management plans, though can also include aspects of a project’s design; refer to Question 6 in the SESP template for a summary of the identified management measures;
• A given project should be assessed against the version of UNDP’s safeguards policy that was in effect at the time of the project’s approval.  

 Reporting

• Assess how adaptive management changes have been reported by the project management and shared with the Project board;
• Assess how well the Project Team and partners undertake and fulfil GEF reporting requirements (i.e. how have they addressed poorly-rated PIRs, if applicable?);
• Assess how lessons derived from the adaptive management process have been documented, shared with key partners and internalized by partners.

 Communications & Knowledge Management

• Review internal project communication with stakeholders: Is communication regular and effective? Are there key stakeholders left out of communication? Are there feedback mechanisms when communication is received? Does this communication with stakeholders contribute to their awareness of project outcomes and activities and investment in the sustainability of project results;
• Review external project communication: Are proper means of communication established or being established to express the project progress and intended impact to the public (is there a web presence, for example? Or did the project implement appropriate outreach and public awareness campaigns?); Review how Covid-19 has affected project communication and knowledge management; and the mechanisms in place to sustain the effectiveness of the strategy;
• For reporting purposes, write one half-page paragraph that summarizes the project’s progress towards results in terms of contribution to sustainable development benefits, as well as global environmental benefits; 
• List knowledge activities/products developed (based on knowledge management approach approved at CEO Endorsement/Approval).

 Sustainability

•  Validate whether the risks identified in the Project Document, Annual Project Review/PIRs and the ATLAS Risk Register are the most important and whether the risk ratings applied are appropriate and up to date. If not, explain why; 
•  In addition, assess the following risks to sustainability:

 Financial risks to sustainability:  

• What is the likelihood of financial and economic resources not being available once the GEF assistance ends (consider potential resources can be from multiple sources, such as the public and private sectors, income generating activities, and other funding that will be adequate financial resources for sustaining project’s outcomes).

 Socio-economic risks to sustainability:  

• Are there any social or political risks that may jeopardize sustainability of project outcomes? What is the risk that the level of stakeholder ownership (including ownership by governments and other key stakeholders) will be insufficient to allow for the project outcomes/benefits to be sustained? Do the various key stakeholders see that it is in their interest that the project benefits continue to flow? Is there sufficient public / stakeholder awareness in support of the long-term objectives of the project? Are lessons learned being documented by the Project Team on a continual basis and shared/ transferred to appropriate parties who could learn from the project and potentially replicate and/or scale it in the future;

 Institutional Framework and Governance risks to sustainability

•   Do the legal frameworks, policies, governance structures and processes pose risks that may jeopardize sustenance of project benefits? While assessing this parameter, also consider if the required systems/ mechanisms for accountability, transparency, and technical knowledge transfer are in place.  

 Environmental risks to sustainability

• Are there any environmental risks that may jeopardize sustenance of project outcomes; 
• How has Covid 19 posed risks that may jeopardise project implementation and sustenance of the project.

Conclusions & Recommendations The MTR consultant/team will include a section in the MTR report for evidence-based conclusions, in light of the findings.

•  Additionally, the MTR consultant/team is expected to make recommendations to the Project Team. Recommendations should be succinct suggestions for critical intervention that are specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant. A recommendation table should be put in the report’s executive summary. The MTR consultant/team should make no more than 15 recommendations total.

An international evaluation consultant has been contracted to carry out mid-term review. In order to conduct a comprehensive MTR review process, consultations with stakeholders, local communities and indigenous peoples are essential. As limitations on cross-border travel due to the global COVID-19 pandemic are likely to continue, it is necessarily to contract the services of a suitably qualified and experienced national consultant.The national consultant will be responsible for the following outputs and related activities:

• Contributing to the design and preparation for local stakeholder and field consultations;
• Travel to project area over a period of 7-15 days;
• Production of a report collating the findings, along with photographs, audio recording where appropriate, and contact lists of those consulted;
• Assist in the development of the mid-term report as requested;
• Any other duties as necessary for the satisfactory completion of the consultations as directed by UNDP Zimbabwe or the MTR lead consultant.

 

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

Judgement/Decision-making

• Strong technical skills and analytical capacities, sound judgment;
• Strong technical problem-solving skills;
• Ability to understand and establish priorities and work by objectives.

Teamwork

• Ability to work in a team and establish effective working relationships with people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds;
• Ability to work under stress and work overtime when required;
• Self-Management and Emotional intelligence;
• Conflict Management/Negotiating and resolving Disagreements;
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making, builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:  

• Master’s degree or above in social sciences, development, community engagement or a closely related field;

Experience:

• At least five years of experience related to community engagement, social and environmental issues in the development context; previous experience in supporting UNDP will be an added advantage;
• Knowledge of human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Demonstrated knowledge of rural populations, rural livelihoods, natural resource management and conservation in Zimbabwe;
• Demonstrated community consultation and research experience;
• Excellent communication and organisational abilities;
• A strong awareness of and adherence to national policy and international best practices to reduce transmission risk of COVID-19;
• Experience working with indigenous peoples preferred;
• Knowledge of Free, Prior and Informed Consent preferred.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required, and knowledge of Shona and other languages spoken in the project area preferred;
• Demonstrated ability to write in English.

Applicants are requested to upload copies of:Latest CV highlighting the relevant experience. Prospective candidates could apply either as a team or as individuals. When applying as a team, the CVs of all experts in the team should be provided, along with the application;    Updated P11 Form template of which can be downloaded from this website - http://www.sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc;    A detailed technical proposal on undertaking the tasks and evidence of previous work;Please group all your documents (CV, P11, Technical Proposal and certificates) into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document. Incomplete applications will not be given consideration.Applicants must reply to the mandatory questions asked by the system when submitting the applicationPlease note that only applicants who are short-listed will be contacted.Evaluation criteria:The Consultant will be evaluated based on qualifications and the years of experience, as outlined in the qualifications/requirements section of the ToR.  In addition, the Consultant will also be evaluated on the following methodology:Technical Criteria weight: 70%;Financial Criteria weight: 30%;The award of the contract shall be made to the Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the Terms of Reference.“UNDP is committed to gender equality in its mandate and its staff, and equal opportunities for people with disabilities. Well qualified candidates, particularly women and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply”.