Vacancy Announcement Details

UNICEF is looking for an International Individual contractor to conduct the Evaluation of the UNICEF Child Survival and Development Programme in The Gambia (2017-2021).

For the ease of reference, below is the integral text of the evaluation Terms of Reference (ToR). If you are interested in applying for this assignment, please send all the requested documents (see the message below for more details) to Regional HR Officer:  jgatsimbanyi@unicef.org  and make sure to write “The Gambia CSD Evaluation” in your email subject line.

Please note that the technical proposal will not need to exceed 5 pages and that the deadline to submit your technical, financial proposal and UN P-11 Form is November 23, 2018.

EVALUATION TERMS OF REFERENCE
Location: Gambia
Opening Time: Thu Nov 8 19:00:00 UTC 2018
Closing Time: Fri Nov 23 23:55:00 UTC 2018
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, a hope
Background
The UNICEF Gambia  – Country Programme Document (CPD), 2017 – 2021, has two programme components:

• Child Survival and Development (CSD)
• Protection and inclusion of children (PIC)

The first one of such components (CSD programme) is expected to attain outcomes in three principal areas: health, nutrition and WASH (see Box 1 for more details). In addition, the CSD programme is geared towards strengthening the following: (i) upstream policy advocacy; (ii) technical support to key in-country stakeholders (iii) downstream community-based systems and services; and (iv) intersectoral collaboration and coordination at the community level.

Evaluation Context
The GoTG - UNICEF Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the Country Programme 2012-2016 was conducted in 2014 and the CSD Programme was reviewed with partners.  Notable achievements were registered in the Programme and the constraints and the opportunities were identified.   The review also took into consideration the changing environment in the region particularly the threat of epidemics (EVD) and the post-2015 agenda.  The Organization’s strategies and vision was also taken into consideration such as A Promise Renewed, the SUN movement and the new UNICEF Strategic Plan 2014-2017. 
No further evaluation or assessment of the contribution to and impact of CSD programme on the developmental perspective has been conducted to date.

Objectives
The Objectives of the Evaluation are:

• To determine the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the CSD programme in supporting Government to reach the vulnerable women and children to access and use quality health services, including nutrition, immunization, MCH, PMTCT and WASH services; 
• To identify lessons learned about what worked and did not work about the CSD programmes, including unexpected outcomes (positive and negative);
• To formulate key recommendations on how to improve the implementation processes and performance of the different projects implemented as part of continual learning process; 
• To assess the extent to which the CSD programme has integrated equity and gender in its design, implementation and monitoring.

Evaluation Scope
Thematic Scope: the evaluation will gauge the vulnerable women’s and children’s access and use of interventions in many areas, namely health, nutrition, WASH and HIV (including PTMCT).
The evaluation will focus on the following:

• At the National level, the extent to which the Programme has contributed to the following: policy and guideline development, coordination, immunization coverage, and disaster risk reduction; and will determine how all of the above has contributed to the achievement of the SDGs as well as to addressing inequities (social, geographical and financial);
• At the sub-national level, the extent to which the Programme had contributed to the following ensuring that the health facilities and personnel are equipped with skills and supplies to effectively deliver high impact health and nutrition interventions will be assessed;
• At the community level, the extent to which community-focused interventions, such as the Community Lead Total Sanitation (CLTS) and the Communications for Development (C4D) Programme components contributed to the reduction of childhood diseases, such as diarrhoea and malaria, as well as to the adoption of key essential family practices and behaviours.
• Availability of supplies and the role of community structures to support CSD implementation Multi-Disciplinary Facilitation Teams (MDFTs); Village Development Committees (VDC) etc. in promoting key household behaviours

Geographical Scope: the desk review to be conducted as part of this evaluation is expected to cover all the activities implemented as part of the CSD programme nationwide. However, the data collection will concentrate on a smaller sample of intervention sites.
Chronological Scope:  As the new Country Programme Cycle has already started, the evaluation will make sure to capture the essence of the CSD strategies included in the new Country Programme Cycle (January 1st 2017 to December 31st 2021) so as to make more relevant and better targeted recommendations. 

Evaluation Criteria
This evaluation will be guided by six criteria: the five OECD criteria (Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability) and an additional Gender and Human Rights criteria...\OECD DAC Evaluation Criteria.pdf

Evaluation Methodology
The evaluation will be based on mixed methods approach. This could, among others, including the following:
A quantitative analysis of existing data such as the MICS, DHS, Health Management information system, the National Health Sector Strategic Plan, SMART surveys, existing monitoring data, etc.
Qualitative methods including but not limited to the following:

• Key Informant Interviews;
• Focus Group Discussions;
• Structured and semi-structured interviews;
• Desk Review;
• Facilities and community structure inspection.
• A desk review of all the documents such as the UNDAF, UNICEF CPD, etc.

A detailed design of the evaluation including the proposed methodology for each evaluation question and/or objectives, sample size, sampling methodology and the tools to be used will be proposed by the consultant in his/her bid and agreed to by a technical steering committee. The consultants are strongly encouraged to propose the use of innovative methodologies in their technical proposal.
The Evaluation will cover the implementation of the entire CSD programme, including at the community level.  The consultant is expected to take field trips to the programme intervention areas to ascertain the contribution of the programme and to solicit beneficiary perspectives.

Deliverables:

1. Inception Report, including a detailed description of the methodology, data collection tools, and suggested work plan;
2. Power Point summarizing key preliminary findings and conclusions (to be held before the international consultant leaves the country);
3. First draft of the evaluation report;
4. Final Evaluation report (max 50 pages with the rest to be placed in annexes) incorporating the commented made by UNICEF staff and the Reference Group members;
5. Power Point Presentation which summarizes the Evaluation Report with slide(s) of Key findings and recommendations;
6. Raw data in electronic medium, data collection instruments in electronic medium, transcripts in electronic medium, completed data sets, etc.

The contractor will need to make sure that the draft report and final report will be consistent with the international evaluation quality standards namely: the UNEG Checklist on Quality Evaluation Reports[1] and the GEROS Quality Assessment Criteria[2].
Duty-Station

The Consultant will be based in The Gambia during the primary data collection phase and will work remotely (in his/her home country) during the rest of the assignment when physical presence in the country is not required. This will be proposed by the Consultant in the bid document and discussed and agreed between the UNICEF and the Consultant.

Estimated duration of contract; Remuneration; Other Terms and Conditions

The contractor will be engaged under short-term individual contract on a full-time basis, immediately after the completion of the contracting procedure, for an estimated period of 3 months.  The exact number of days to be proposed by the contractor and discussed with and confirmed, including the specific deadlines, by UNICEF when signing the contract. The Terms of Reference is an integral part of the individual contract signed with the contractor.
Amounts and terms of payment are subject for negotiations, but should comply with the UN standards. A detailed budget breakdown (budget proposal) shall be submitted together with the technical project proposal. The payment schedule will be agreed and linked with the deliverable outputs.
UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs:

• is incomplete,
• does not meet the quality standards of both UNICEF and the Government of The Gambia,
• is not delivered or has failed to meet deadlines
• (fees reduced due to late submission: 5 days – 10%, 15 days – 20%; 1 month – 50%; more than 1 month – payment withheld).

The contract is expected to last for a duration of 3 months with remuneration at P3 level.

• Duty station: Banjul, Gambia, with frequent travel to the field.
• Air ticket to and from home base using the most direct and economical routes
• Monthly fees will be paid based on assessment of the progress against deliverables.

The consultant will prepare a monthly report to be cleared by the supervisor of the consultancy. Payment will be done against this report.
UNICEF does not provide or arrange health insurance coverage for the consultant.
DSA will be paid as per the International Civil Service Commission

How to apply
UNICEF accepts applications from individual contractors.
All applications should contain the following documents:
I.   Technical Project Proposal (max 5 pages), which would include at least the following (applicants are strongly encouraged not to repeat the text from Terms of Reference but rather to demonstrate a critical understanding of it):

• Understanding of the evaluation purpose
• An adequate conceptual framework and evaluation methodology
• Consultant’s profile/portfolio
• Proposed timeframes (hour/days)
• Names and contact details of reference persons
• List of past evaluation reports (if applicable)

Any other additional information to support the application (optional).

II.Financial Proposal:

• Detailed budget breakdown (in US Dollars).

III. Filled Form PH11 – accessible on: http://www.unicef.org/brazil/pt/P11PersonalHistory.doc
Applicants are strongly encouraged to email their technical and financial evaluation offers (proposals should be submitted separately, to the following email address banjul@unicef.org 
Intellectual property rights (insert this text or modify it based on discussions with government counterparts).
UNICEF retain(s) the right to patent and intellectual rights, as well as copyright and other similar intellectual property rights for any discoveries, inventions, production or works arising from the implantation of the project under this Agreement with UNICEF. Neither the contractor nor its personnel shall communicate to any other person or entity any confidential information made known to it by Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in the course of the performance of its obligations under the terms of this Agreement nor shall it use this information to private or company advantage. This provision shall survive the expiration or termination of this Agreement. The right to reproduce or use materials shall be transferred with a written approval of UNICEF based on the consideration of each separate case.

An International individual consultant to lead the evaluation with the following profile: 

• Advanced university degree in the relevant fields such as public health, social science research, etc.
• More than five years’ experience in programme evaluation and must have completed at least three high quality programme/project evaluation in that period (a copy of an evaluation report, which the applicant has been a primary author of, will need to be submitted a part of the application);
• Must be familiar with health programming and evaluation approaches;
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English;
• Good work experience in rural communities of West Africa, preferably The Gambia;
• Good IT Skills including a good knowledge of MS Word, Power Point and Excel;
• Good knowledge of UNICEF work, the Strategic plan, SUN, A Promised Renewed;
• Good knowledge of results-based programme management;
• Previous related evaluations in CSD-related areas will be an asset.
• For every Child, you demonstrate dedication

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

View our competency framework at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

“UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.”

Remarks:
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

[1] https://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/about_iom/eva_techref/UNEG_Eval_Report.pdf
[2] https://www.unicef.org/evaluation/files/GEROS_Methodology_v7.pdf