Vacancy Announcement Details

                                                               TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToRs)

               External Quality Assesment of the Evaluation Function of the World Intellectual Property Organisation

1. Background

1. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property system. WIPO’s nine strategic goals enable the organization to achieve its mandate effectively in an evolving external environment.

2. The Internal Oversight Division (IOD) at WIPO is an independent internal oversight body. The IOD provides the Management of WIPO with systematic assurance, analyses, appraisals, recommendations, advice and information, through the undertaking of independent internal audits, evaluations and investigations.

3. IOD’s work is governed by the Internal Oversight Charter approved by the WIPO General Assembly. In accordance with its oversight plan, IOD is conducting an external assessment of the Evaluation Function. The rationale for this assessment results from the need to provide IOD’s stakeholders assurance on the quality of the evaluation work done by the Division.

4. IOD is seeking a qualified external reviewer or review team to conduct a quality assessment of IOD’s Evaluation Function for a 60 days service contract that will be rendered between the months of March and June 2019.

2. Objectives and Scope

1. Objectives and use of the assignment 

5. This ICS is for an external quality assessment of the Evaluation Function within the Internal Oversight Division Department of WIPO.

6. The primary purpose for this assessment is to provide assurance on the conformity of the Evaluation Function to applicable Standards and Practices, mainly the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards, and compliance with the Internal Oversight Charter and the WIPO Evaluation Policy. This will cover an exhaustive assessment of the objectivity, effectiveness and visibility of the Evaluation Function through its structure, capacities, processes, products and services.

7. The secondary purpose is to provide further recommendations on revising the policy, including the integration of Human Rights and Gender Equality in evaluations, to guarantee the continuation of the Evaluation Function in line with the mission of the organization.

8. The external reviewer / review team shall therefore examine the conformity of the following aspects with respect to the WIPO Internal Oversight Charter and, the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards:

• The conformity of the evaluation services and products with the UNEG Norms and Standards for Evaluation, in particular of the conduction of evaluation processes and the quality of IOD’s evaluations.
• The effectiveness of the Evaluation Function concerning its processes, products and services in light of IOD’s capacity and policy, and their contribution to the accountability and learning of the organization (as set forth in the Internal Oversight Charter and expressed in the expectations of WIPO management).
• The adequacy of resources available in IOD Evaluation Function in order to achieve its mandate.
• The extent to which evaluation results are incorporated and used in follow-up activities, how they are monitored and their actual impact.
• The adequacy of the quality assurance system, and in particular of the periodicity of reviews of the Evaluation Function.
• Identify and describe cases of impact of the evaluation function across the organization.
• Identify and describe good practices and lessons learned

2. )Scope

9. The external quality assessment will cover WIPO evaluation activities within the time frame of 2014-2018.

10. The end users of the external assessment are IOD, WIPO Senior Managers, and the Independent Advisory Oversight Committee (IAOC) who will, at their level, follow up on the assessment recommendations made to improve the quality of the evaluation function in IOD.

3. Methodology 

11. The evaluation will be deductive to the extent possible and will come up with recommendations in relation to the compliance of the Evaluation Function in WIPO with the Internal Oversight Charter and UNEG Norms and Standards. Recommendations will also identify critical improvements in IOD’s evaluation function structure, capacities, products and services in fulfilling its mandate.

12. The methodological approach will engage both internal and external stakeholders, with a suitable mixed methodology and evaluation techniques of document reviews, consultation meetings, interviews, as well as surveys, when necessary.

13. The external quality review will carry out its assessment applying the three core criteria that UNEG established should be satisfied for the evaluation function and products to be considered of high quality:

• Independence of evaluations and the evaluation system(s)- The evaluation process should be impartial. This requires that the persons and entities undertaking the evaluation should be independent of those concerned with the policy, programme or activities to be evaluated, to avoid possible bias or conflicts of interest. At the same time, in practice, the guarantees of independence are necessarily defined according to the nature of evaluation work, its governance and decision-making arrangements, and other factors. In this regard, the activities of Office of Evaluation can be expected to have greater degree of independence than evaluation activities at decentralized levels.
• Credibility of evaluations- The credibility of evaluation depends on the expertise and independence of the evaluators and the degree of transparency of the evaluation process. Credibility requires that evaluations should report successes, as well as failures. Recipient partners should, as a rule, fully participate in evaluations in order to promote credibility and commitment on their side. Whether and how the organization’s approach to evaluation fosters partnership and helps builds ownership merits close attention.
• Utility of evaluations- To have an impact on decision-making, evaluation findings must be perceived as credible, relevant and useful and be presented in a clear and concise way. They should fully reflect the different interests and needs of the many parties involved in development cooperation. However, measures to ensure the utility of evaluations are only partly under the control of evaluators. It is also critically a function of the interest of managers and member countries through their participation on governing bodies, in commissioning, receiving, and using evaluations.

13. During the design and inception phase the evaluation expert(s) will refine the evaluation methodology to be presented in the inception report.

14. The external quality assessment process and report shall apply the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards for evaluation. 

4.Deliverables

 15. The external expert(s) shall prepare a written report upon completion of the external quality assessment that is addressed to the Director of IOD. The deliverables will include:

• An inception report including the proposed methodology, timeframe and detailing the key questions, as well as initial findings.
• A draft written report with credible evidence-based findings, conclusions, as well as recommendations for improvement.
• A final written report with all comments from stakeholders addressed containing; credible evidence-based findings, conclusions, as well as recommendations for improvement.
• Identification of successful practices and value-added services. 

5. Timetable

16. The work of the external quality assessment will be carried out between 1 March, 2019 and 30 June, 2019.

17. By 2 March, 2019 WIPO IOD will provide the external expert(s) with relevant background documentation, including the self-assessment report of the Evaluation Function, the Assessment of the JIU-Maturity Level of WIPO Evaluation Function. These documents will be part of the evaluation methodology. During the course of the review, IOD will also provide the expert(s) with other documentation needed to complete the review.

18. An Inception report, detailing methodology based on the ToR, timeframe, sources of information will be finalized by 18 March 2019.

19. Fieldwork will be conducted during the period April 8t -12 2019.

20. IOD will assist the expert(s) in distributing electronic survey copies to selected managers and other key stakeholders when necessary. Surveys will be returned directly to the reviewer/review team leader.

21. The external assessment draft report will be completed by 6 May, 2019. IOD will review the draft report and provide comments to the expert(s) by 24 May, 2019.

22. The external assessment final report will be delivered by 15 June, 2019. 

6. Management Arrangements and Conditions

23. A lump sum fee will be paid in the following order:

• 30% of the sums approved shall be paid after delivery of Inception Report (foreseen 18 March 2019).
• 30% of the sums approved shall be paid delivery draft report will be completed by 6 May , 2019.
• 40% of the sums approved shall be paid delivery final report will be completed by 15 June , 2019.

24. Fees should clearly indicate the fee charged per day and the number of days planned for this assignment as well as any additional expenses.

7. Profile

25. The external assessment will be conducted by independent senior evaluation consultant(s) with experience in similar exercises. The selection of the consultant(s) will be based on a transparent and competitive process in accordance with the standard WIPO procurement procedures.

26. The external reviewer/review team shall have the following expertise:

1. Relevant professional experience of external quality assessments of Evaluation Functions in International Organizations;
2. Familiarity with the functioning, mandates and governance of Specialized UN Agencies like WIPO;
3. Understanding of the UNEG Norms and Standards;
4. Independence: no current or past close working relationship with WIPO;
5. Ability to conceptualize and to understand the strategic implications of findings;
6. Good process management and presentation skills;
7. Excellent English editing skills.

Submission and Selection

27. Interested candidates are requested to submit the following:

• Curriculum Vitae of proposed consultant(s)
• References for similar engagements
• Proposed daily fee

Interested expert(s) must submit their proposal by 16 February, 2019 to Mr. Adan Ruiz Villalba at adan.ruizvillalba@wipo.int. The evaluation section will review each proposal and select the successful candidates using predefined selection criteria.

28. The response to this TOR should identify the evaluation experience, membership and credentials of the reviewer or review team and the primary contact’s information: the expert(s) should in particular provide a statement about their knowledge and experience for each of the criteria mentioned under Profile.  

Other Matters

29. The review will be confidential, with the results only provided to designate IOD Management, who will share results with WIPO Senior Management and the IAOC.

30. Applicants must provide references of conducted External Quality Assessments of Evaluation Function or related work for International Organizations.