International consultant for Cambodia community based adaptation programme review

Background

The Cambodia Community Based Adaptation Programme (CCBAP), funded by Sweden has an overall objective of improving community based adaptation and climate resilience in vulnerable communities in flood/drought prone provinces of Cambodia. The CCBAP started on 10 December 2010 and will end on 31 December 2013. The CCBAP has three main outputs: (1) improved necessary capacity within NGOs, CBOs and local communities to implement community adaptation measures; (2) mainstreaming of adaptation to climate change at commune level; and (3) lessons learned and good practices documented and shared to influence changes of policy and programme development. The CCBAP is being implemented under the existing established UNDP/GEF/SGP implementation infrastructure.

Since the launch of the programme in January 2011, 46 LNGOs / CBOs have been funded by CCBAP to plan and implement adaptation measures in 353 villages, 97 communes, 48 districts and 18 provinces of Cambodia. The projects of LNGOs / CBOs aimed to increase adaptive capacity of rural poor communities in locations in question by providing them access to water to improve agricultural yields, to productive assets such as finance, quality seeds, and animals, by improving agricultural techniques of rural communities, by raising awareness of rural communities and local authorities on climate change, its impacts, and adaptation measures, and by working with all concerned stakeholders to integrate adaptation measures into commune development plans to ensure sustainability.

In order to implement CCBAP-funded projects, LNGOs/CBOs have been working closely with local stakeholders and authorities such as National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), Provincial Department of Water Resources (PDoWRAM), Provincial Department of Environment (DoE), Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDA), and Provincial Committee for Disasters Management (PCDM).

CCBAP is now looking to hire a qualified and experienced programme review or evaluation consultant to conduct a CCBA Programme Review (PR). The overall objectives of the CCBA Programme Review are as follows:

• To review and assess the overall development progress to date, and identify opportunities and challenges in related to designs, implementation and management of the CCBA programme;
• To overview of the promoting accountability and ownership for resources use, particularly on efficiency and effectives of programme implementation have been taken place;
• To synthesize lessons that may help improve the selection, design, M&E system and implementation of remaining CCBAP interventions;
• To provide feedback or recommendation on capacity building of the LNGOs/CBOs, and climate change mainstreaming into local development plans by using its approaches of the decentralization reform.

Duties and responsibilities

During the course of work, the PR team will be required to produce the following:

• A summary of the main tasks of an programme review methodology prior assignment to discuss with UNDP/SGP
• Preliminary findings presented by the consultant to CCBAP’s project partners and other stakeholders for comments to enhance the quality of the final programme review report
• Proposed consistent M&E approach for NGOs/CBOs partners, which will allow CCBAP team to collect data on all level of CCBAP indicators
• Identified critical/prioritised areas for further actions by UNDP SGP CCBAP in 2013
• Policy brief highlighting findings/lessons learnt/approaches which are important and can be used as inputs for other national policies or programme development
• Draft version of the review report should be circulated for comments to the NSC or project partners within 7 days after the end of the field mission. Donor will have 15 days for review comments prior to the program review official report submit to the UNDP/SGP
• The final programme review report will be submitted to UNDP/SGP by addressing in a systematic and analytic way consolidated finding and recommendations (use the quality standard template of UNDP evaluation report).

Competencies

• Excellence in writing programme review or evaluation reports with constructive and practical recommendations.
• Excellent English writing and communication skills. Demonstrated analytical skills, ability to assess complex situations, to succinctly and clearly distill critical issues, and to draw practical conclusions.
• Demonstrated ability to work with developing country government agencies and NGOs. Previous work experience in Southeast Asia, and ideally in Cambodia.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary, multi-national teams in high stress. Ability to meet short deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal, coordination and planning skills. Sense of diplomacy and tact.
• Ability and willingness to travel to provincial areas.
• Computer literate (MS Office package).

Required skills and experience

Education:

• Minimum of a master’s degree or equivalent in natural resource management, environment, development studies or related field demonstrably relevant to the position.

Experiences:

• Strong technical background and proven competency in biodiversity conservation, water management, or related areas of, climate change adaptation experiences including demonstrable expertise in project formulation, implementation and programme review or evaluation. A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience is required.
• At least 5 years of experiences in conducting monitoring and programme review or evaluation of development projects in the field of climate change, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, etc.
• At least two years of experiences in designing M&E systems
• Good experiences in data collection, analysis and programme review or evaluation report writing
• Good experience in project and programme management
• Experience in rural livelihood improvement through climate change adaptation knowledge
• Good experiences in conducting vulnerability reduction assessment
• Good experience in conducting programme review or evaluations, strong working knowledge of UNDP and GEF SGP, the civil society sector and working with national and local public authorities in the field of preservation of the environment.
• Experience with UNDP SGP’s project formulation, implementation and programme review or evaluation procedures is useful, but not essential. Familiarity with SGP programming and procedures, as well as its evaluation policies and guidelines, will be a useful asset.
• Previous work experience with United Nations or other multilateral/bilateral development assistance agencies is a useful asset.

Language requirement:

• English, working knowledge of Khmer is an asset