Closing date: 06 Mar 2016
Background & Rationale
UNICEF is currently implementing a multisectoral multi-country project, IMPROVING CHILD NUTRITION IN FOUR COUNTRIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. This four year project and partnership with the Government of the Netherlands (2013-2017) aims to contribute to an equitable and sustainable reduction of undernutrition in four countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region: Burundi, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Rwanda.
Working in partnership, this project sets out to 1) build national leadership, ownership and capacity to promote nutrition policies and programmes, creating a more enabling environment for nutrition; 2) reach communities with evidence-based interventions from different sectors and support the adoption of healthy nutrition behaviors by communities; 3) improve equity-focused monitoring of results to improve programme performance; 4) promote innovations, knowledge sharing and collaborative learning; and 5) enhance the networks and partnerships working to address malnutrition multisectorally. Through investing in national systems and processes, and in alignment with the principles of the Scaling Up Nutrition movement, this project aims to sustainably contribute to improved nutritional well-being of women and children under 5 in the populations targeted by this project.
In each of the four project countries innovative programming is taking place. UNICEF recognizes the need to gain a deeper understanding of these experiences and continuously review performance to make sure that project objectives are received, project assumptions remain relevant and that course corrections are made in a timely manner. Moreover, UNICEF is committed to strengthening knowledge management, ensuring that early lessons learned from these multisectoral nutrition projects are captured and shared, in order to improve the efficiency of learning and implementation.
Following the Inception Workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya in February 2014, project implementation started in earnest in 2014. As part of the project design, an independent mid-project review is planned for 2016. The mid-project review provides an opportunity to reconvene for a moment of reflection and analysis that can be used to further refine project implementation, to allow for any course corrections and to share learnings. Importantly, it also provides an opportunity for our partners, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of the Government of The Netherlands and national government partners, to convene and discuss the challenges faced, the results achieved so far and raise any issues or concerns.
The aims of the mid-project review are to:
Enable evidence-based decision-making: this will inform programme and policy decisions in the last two years of project implementation, and beyond.
Ensure accountability: this will identify the extent to which well this project is achieving its intended objectives and meeting the needs of partners and the communities where we work, and what course corrections are needed.
The main forum for the mid-project review will be a workshop, which is tentatively scheduled for 31 May – 4 June 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda. The main objectives of the mid-project review workshop will be to:
Review progress of project (Burundi, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Rwanda; and the global/regional component), including challenges and bottlenecks
Identify areas for course correction and improvement, including
a. Refinement to project implementation plans and performance measurement frameworks
b. Refinement of expected outputs and results
c. Incorporating feedback from the MoFA and local Embassies of the Kingdom of The Netherlands and other partners
This consultancy seeks to provide technical support and expertise to this mid-project review process—before, during and after the mid-project review workshop. This consultancy will be supported by UNICEF Country Offices in Burundi, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Rwanda, as well as Nutrition Specialists based in ESARO and Headquarters, New York.
Purpose
The main objective of this consultancy is to provide an independent, critical and detailed mid-project review of the multisectoral multi-country project, IMPROVING CHILD NUTRITION IN FOUR COUNTRIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.
Although akin to a mid-project evaluation in terms of process, we expect this mid-project review to yield very specific outputs, for each of the project countries and global/regional component, including:
A: Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
Specific recommendations to improve project theory of change
Specific recommendations to refine performance measurement frameworks and project implementation plans
Specific recommendations to modify expected outputs and outcomes and related indicators, as required
Specific recommendations for the final project evaluation
B: Knowledge exchange
- Specific examples of lessons learned so far during project implementation, which can be shared between countries
C: Partnerships
Specific recommendations on how partnerships could be enhanced to make them more efficient and leveraged to maximize results
Consolidation of comments and suggestions from UNICEF’s partners and recommendations on how to address this feedback
D: Capacity development
Identification of any bottlenecks to improving capacity development
Specific recommendations on how capacity development activities could be enhanced and areas to be prioritized
D: Project support and project performance
Specific recommendations on how project support should be improved to increase the likelihood of achieving intended results
Identification of key bottlenecks (project and for individual countries) and mitigation strategies
Identification of any unintended consequences
Specific recommendations to improve performance
Specific recommendations to improve the equity-focus of this project
From this independent assessment, it is hoped that there will a prioritized list of specific recommendations for refinement at this critical stage of reflection. The intended audience of this work is primarily UNICEF (Country Offices, Regional Office and HQ), and the MoFA, and well as other partners.
Activities
This project will focus on four streams of activities:
A. Carrying out desk review and analysis (predominantly qualitative but also quantitative data) from existing project documents
B. Undertaking stakeholder interviews and where warranted travel to project countries (Rwanda and Ethiopia) to better understand programmatic operations and experiences
C. Facilitating a mid-project review workshop, including pre- and post-workshop preparation and presentation of initial findings of the detailed review
D. Preparing a mid-project review report after the workshop, with specific recommendations for the final phase of programme implementation
Expected results: (measurable results)
Please see table below for detailed list of activities and expected products. The key expected results are summarized as follows:
Phase 1: Inception report, due 12 April 2016
Phase 2: Mid-project review workshop and short workshop report, due 10 June 2016
Phase 3: Draft mid-project review report, due 24 June 2016
Phase 4: Finalise mid-project review report, due 1 July 2016
Duty Station
The consultant will be working in liaison with UNICEF ESARO AND UNICEF Headquarters (Nutrition Section), but may work from their own location. Work will involve travel to Rwanda for the mid-project review in May 2016 (and possibly Ethiopia as required with the exact dates of travel and duration to be confirmed). The consultants will provide their own computer and software.
Timeframe
Start date: 21 March 2016 End date: 1 August 2016
(*Dates will be adjusted to reflect the actual starting date of the consultancy*)
70 total working days, during the period of 21 March to 1 August 2016, up to maximum of 75 days. Full timeline to be developed during inception phase in consultation with UNICEF staff.
Deliverables
Duration
(Estimated # of days)
Date due
(estimated)
Payment schedule
Phase 1: Inception report
10
12 April 2016
Review existing relevant documents and materials (project proposal, annual reports, field visit reports)
5
Development of an inception report, including methodology, template/format, detailed workplan.
4
Following feedback, modify and finalize the workplan, protocol, and timeline.
1
1st payment
Phase 2: Mid-project review workshop
40
10 June 2016
Pre-workshop preparation
22
27 May 2016
Conduct detailed review of project documents (including TOC, performance measurement frameworks and project implementation plans, annual reports).
10
Conduct as needed stakeholder interviews with UNICEF staff and partners (by phone/skype)
Prepare draft summary of initial findings for each project component (Burundi, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Rwanda; and global/regional component) [max 10 pages each]. Following feedback, finalize summary findings and share with project teams ahead of workshop.
10
Prepare detailed agenda (objectives, timings etc.) for sessions to be led by the independent reviewer, including facilitator guide for group work. Support workshop conceptual planning as required.
1
Prepare ppt presentation on preliminary findings for the mid-project review, focusing on areas for improvement.
1
During workshop
4
30 May – 3 June 2016 (dates to be confirmed)
Facilitate workshop sessions as required, in conjunction with UNICEF staff
Lead and facilitate specific workshop sessions, including
· “Introduction to the independent mid-project review”
· “Lesson Learning” – group work to review initial findings of mid-project review
· Next steps/initial workshop recommendations
4
Meet with partners and as time permits schedule stakeholder interviews
After workshop
14
19 June 2016
Contribute to post-workshop debrief and support the finalization of agreements and next steps
2
3 June 2016 (dates to be confirmed)
Prepare workshop report (short summary of workshop proceedings [will form Annex to main mid-project review report])
2
10 June 2016
2nd payment
As required, support Rwanda and Ethiopia with detailed project reviews (in-country travel and stakeholder interviews)
10 (as required)
Phase 3: Draft mid-project review report
12
24 June 2016
Draft mid-project review report including methods, limitations, findings, discussion and implications (structure and format to be agreed upon at workshop debrief. This will also include any suggested changes to the PMF and PIPs). Disseminate with workshop participants for feedback.
Participate in a team call with UNICEF COs to share findings and recommendations. As needed, provide any clarifications.
12
Phase 4: Finalise mid-project review report.
8
1 July 2016
Finalise mid-project review report based on feedback received on draft report.
4
Prepare summary ppt for each project components of the key findings and summary
(approx. 15 slides each).
2
Prepare short summary (2-pages) for each project components, with recommendations for senior management.
1
Prepare short summary (2-pages), with recommendations for MoFA.
1
If required, additional days to support the development and finalisation of any extra products or support to COs.
5
3rd payment
Total
~ 70 days
*Note that this timeline may include weekend days for some in-country travel.
Key competences, technical background, and experience required
· Advanced university degree in Nutrition/Public Health/Epidemiology/Evaluation or a related field
· At least 8 years of progressively responsible professional work experience levels at the Mid-level in conceptualizing, designing and implementing evaluations/reviews and/or research of large-scale child nutrition or health-related programmes
· Demonstrated ability to produce high quality evaluation and/or analytical research reports
· Demonstrated record of facilitating multi-stakeholder workshops/meetings
· Demonstrated record of leading the writing of publications/knowledge products on programming in nutrition, health, or other sectors
· Excellent time and project management skills
· Familiarity with UNICEF programmes (Nutrition, Health, WASH, Social protection, Child protection) and nutrition-sensitive agriculture programmes, and knowledge of the challenges of implementing such programmes in fragile and conflict affected countries, will be a strong asset.
· Expertise in gender equity and human rights Experience working in East Africa is considered an asset.
· Fluency in English language. Fluency in French and Portuguese is considered a strong asset.
How to apply:
How to Apply
Applicants are requested to send their submissions to pdconsultants@unicef.org with subject line:
“Nutrition Evaluation Consultant – Mid-Project Review” by 6th March 2016.**
Applications must include:
· Cover letter (*please clearly state years of relevant experience* andindicate your availability (specifically in May and June 2016) to undertake this terms of reference above)
· CV
· P-11 form (http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc)
· Writing sample(s) – preferably a previous evaluation or analytical report. [If this was done as part of a group, please clearly state your contribution]
· List of workshops/meeting facilitated
· Daily rate
· Indicate where you heard about this advertisement
Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.
NOTE: Files should not exceed 5.0MB limit
UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.