Article
Vacancy Announcement: Evaluation Team Members Needed for BIOCOM Project Final Evaluation
We are seeking two evaluation team members for the BIOCOM project final evaluation in the following domains:
- Biodiversity and Natural Resources Management
- Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
Application Deadline: July 30, 2024
To apply, please send your CV, cover letter, and three recent evaluation reports you have participated in to nairobi.recruitment@unesco.org.
Candidates need to indicate in the subject line the technical expertise that they are applying for: e.g., BIOCOM final evaluation consultant - Biodiversity and natural management; or BIOCOM final evaluation consultant - ESD and TVET.
See details below:
Background
Project Objectives
The UNESCO project 鈥淏iodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Natural Resource Management for Integrated Community Development in National Parks of Madagascar (BIOCOM)鈥, funded by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), is implemented by the Madagascar Antenna of the UNESCO Office in Kenya. The objectives of the project are to conserve the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the World Heritage property (Parc national de Marojejy and Parc national d鈥橝ndohahela of the Rainforests of the Atsinanana) and to safeguard Montagne des Fran莽ais protected area.
Project strategy, result framework and M&E framework
The project strategy is based on experience from implementing activities on the ground in Madagascar on biodiversity conservation and community development. Experience has shown that in order for conservation actions to be effective, they need to be coupled with community development including education activities (prevention action), skill-building (finding jobs for young people in the areas) and actions to facilitate development. Behavioral changes for biodiversity conservation will only be effective if the community understands the need to preserve the site, appropriate the intervention and develop alternative sources of income. The Rainforests of the Atsinanana was inscribed as a World Natural Heritage site in 2007. However, the property has registered in the World Heritage in Danger since 2010. The World Heritage Committee asks the site should be protected from illicit cutting of trees. To stop the illicit deforestation, the involvement of the local community is of primary importance. Furthermore, the whole Malagasy society needs to understand the value and ecosystem services the property provides. Therefore, restoration of the protected area should be done as well as reforestation of the areas adjacent to the property, to provide the communities who live nearby to use it as biomass in a sustainable manner. The communities need to be involved with the protection of the protected area, and need to diversify and increase their income in ways that are not linked to the deforestation but rather on the protection of the property. Lastly, when people are educated and well-informed about the situation, they can better contribute to the protection of the property.
The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan in the Project Document is described below:
Monitoring
UNESCO will ensure supervision and monitoring of the implementation of the project by the project partners (mainly MNP and SAGE). Members of the Steering Committee will supervise the activities implemented into localities of the project to provide assistance to stakeholders on the ground and exchange with local actors as much as necessary. National and Regional technical meetings [Scientific and Technical Monitoring Committee meetings] will be held annually where the project results will be presented and discussed with representatives of stakeholders and beneficiaries. These meetings will be held before the Steering Committee meetings so that their results will be shared.
UNESCO staff will periodically report and assess in the field the ongoing results of the project and will report periodically to the donor.
Evaluation
External expert(s) will evaluate activities at the end of the project.
Budgetary information incl. delivery rate, implementation period
The budget of the project is USD 5.5 million, and the total expenditure as of 31 December 2023 is 57.9%. The duration of the project is for 52 months (August 2020 鈥 December 2024).
A brief description of the status and previous key implementation milestones
Tables below describe indicators that show the status and key implementation milestones of the project.
Outcome 1: A reduction of deforestation and an increased area of ecologically intact forest and the initial phases of restoration of degraded habitats. Protected areas are well monitored, long-term conservation is assured and research advances as needed.
Outcome 2: The parks are effectively managed and protected, sustainable livelihoods (alternative income generating activities) of the local community developed.
Outcome 3: Increased engagement of youth and women in natural resources governance through awareness, training activities and capacity-building activities.
A summary of the management/governance structure
The project is implemented by UNESCO in close collaboration with national stakeholders. Various units and committees have been established for effective planning, designing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project. These include:
Operational management unit of the project (UNESCO): The unit is responsible for the implementation of all activities in collaboration with relevant partners. It is also responsible for leading the Steering Committees and [Scientific and Technical] Monitoring Committees in preparing the documents, monitoring reports and ensuring respect for the implementation of decisions and recommendations.
Steering Committee: The Steering Committee is composed of representatives from all partners. It is the decision-making body, the cross-team group that aims to ensure the proper functioning of the project, to improve its monitoring and to guide strategic choices. It pilots dissemination activities, ensuring consistency and sustainability of the project, and mobilizes, according to the agenda, the strategic actors (governments, community sites, stakeholders, donors, associations, associated structures). It provides guidance on yearly planning of project activities, appreciates project performance and plans for the following quarter and reviews project achievement and implementation progress as well as strategic partnerships for scaling up.
Scientific and Technical Monitoring Committee: The Scientific and Technical Monitoring committee is set up locally in the presence of the Operational management unit and lead partners on the various component projects to bring coherence to the project activities. It ensures compliance of the quality of activities and good progress of the work plan and provide, if required, the necessary recommendations in terms of corrective actions. It validates activity reports compiled by the project manager and the action plans. Korean partners are included in this committee and shall facilitate North-South cooperation to ensure the project outcomes contribute to internationally agreed conservation goals.
Key stakeholders (i.e., beneficiaries and partners) of the project
Local communities in the periphery of Parc National de Marojejy, Parc National d鈥橝ndohahela and Montagne des Fran莽ais protected area are the direct beneficiary group. They include about 250,000 predominantly low-income inhabitants.
The Government of Madagascar, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD) is the owner of the protected areas.
Madagascar National Parks (MNP), the manager of Parc National de Marojejy and Park National d鈥橝ndohahela, as well as Service d鈥橝ppui 脿 la Gestion de l鈥橢nvironnement (SAGE), the manager of Montagne des Fran莽ais protected area, are the major project partners for Outcome 1 and 2. Vahatra Association is a project partner for inventorying biological species in the three intervention sites.
The Ministry of National Education (MEN) and the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training (METFP) are involved in Outcome 3 activities related to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in schools and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for young people and women around the protected areas, respectively.
Alignment of the project with the country development context and with UNESCO鈥檚 mandate
The project contributes to the country鈥檚 General State Policy (Politique G茅n茅rale de l鈥橢tat (PEM)) that corresponds to Engagement 4, 6, 10, 11 and 13, and Priority 9, 13, 21, 25, 30, 31, 32 and 33.
The project is also aligned with Outcome 3 (Enhance knowledge for climate action, biodiversity, water and ocean management, and disaster risk reduction) of 41 C/4 and 41 C/5, especially Output 3.SC1 (Inclusive knowledge and capacities of Member States strengthened to advance and apply science for sustainable management of natural resources, ecosystem and biodiversity conservation and restoration, and disaster risk resilience).
The project also contributes to the development in UNESCO鈥檚 priority region, Africa, and priority groups, youth and women, through increased engagement of them in natural resources governance with awareness raising activities as well as training and capacity-building activities.
Purpose, scope and use
The overall purpose of the evaluation corresponds to that of a summative evaluation, an evaluation planned to determine the extent to which intended and unintended outcomes were achieved at the end of the project. Therefore, it is to systematically reflect and learn about what has worked, what has not worked and why, and to identify areas of improvements for the project. The primary objectives of the evaluation are the following:
Assess the achievement of the work implemented
Provide forward-looking recommendations to continue and improve the design of a new phase of the intervention, scale it up or replace it elsewhere
The scope of the evaluation is described below.
The primary users of the evaluation are the Operational management unit of the project, i.e., UNESCO Nairobi Office and Madagascar Antenna, and the secondary users are project partners, i.e., MNP, SAGE, Vahatra Association and the Government of Madagascar (MEDD; MEN; METFP) and the donor, KOICA. The evaluation findings would contribute to assessing the achievement of the work implemented and providing recommendations for continuing and improving the design of a new phase of the intervention, scale it up or replace it elsewhere.
Evaluation questions
The following are preliminary questions structured by evaluation criteria. This will be further adjusted during the inception phase of the evaluation. Evaluation questions are structured around the OECD DAC criteria.
Design and methodology
The evaluation will take a mixed method approach for data collection and analysis such as desk review, surveys, GIS analysis, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, on-site observation, etc. During the evaluation process, perspectives on UNESCO鈥檚 priority group (women and youth) and region (Africa) will be integrated.
It is foreseen that the evaluation team will interview key stakeholders at National and Regional levels, implementing partners and beneficiaries, ensuring that UNESCO鈥檚 priority groups are addressed and using a Human Based Rights approach. For the latter group it is recommended that focus group discussions are used. A visit to the 3 sites to examine the actual results of the projects is recommended and will facilitate the focus groups discussions.
Roles and responsibilities
See table below:
Deliverables and timeline
The evaluation will follow the principles outlined in the . More specifically it will follow quality standards explained in Guidance #10 on 鈥楨valuation Inception Reports鈥, Guidance #12 on 鈥楨valuation Reports鈥 and Guidance #13 鈥楨valuation Report Quality Checklist鈥 in the Evaluation Manual.
The evaluators will comply with the , the and .
Required qualification of evaluation consultants
Three evaluation consultants will be hired for the final evaluation of the project. They should have the combined following expertise in the table below.
In addition to the qualifications listed above, the evaluation consultants should have the following:
- Knowledge of the role of UNESCO, the UN and 2030 Agenda
- Experience in gender analysis, human-rights based approach and gender responsive evaluation.
The evaluation team should be balanced across gender, ethnicity and geographical representation. They must not have any previous involvement in the design or implementation of the intervention. CVs as well as 2-3 examples of recently completed evaluation reports from each consultant will be requested for verifying the qualification of the evaluation consultants.
Annexes
- UNESCO Guidance #12 on Evaluation Reports (in UNESCO Evaluation Manual)
- UNESCO Guidance #13 Evaluation Report Quality Checklist (in UNESCO Evaluation Manual)
