Country: Kenya
Closing date: 17 Aug 2015
Full details of the evaluation are provided in the attached Terms of Reference.
CONSULTANT VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Issued on: 3 August 2015
ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION:UN-HABITAT
DUTY STATION:NAIROBI
FUNCTIONAL TITLE:Consultant (two consultants)
DURATION:2 months extended over 4 months (September-December 2015)
CLOSING DATE:17 August 2015
BACKGROUND
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. It is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within the UN system. The agency is to support national and local governments in laying the foundation for sustainable urban development.
UN-Habitat envisions well-planned, well-governed, and efficient cities and other human settlements, with adequate housing, infrastructure, and universal access to employment and basic services such as water, energy and sanitation. To achieve these goals, derived from the Habitat Agenda of 1996, UN-Habitat has set itself a medium-term strategy approach for each successive six-year period; Medium-Term Strategic and Institutional Plan (MTSIP) 2008-2013 and Strategic Plan 2014-2019. The programme for Achieving Sustainable Urban Development (ASUD) linked to five strategic entry points of the MTSIP. The programme’s focus is also relevant to three Strategic Plan’s priority focus areas.
The overarching goal of the ASUD programme is to increase UN-Habitat’s capacity to effectively support member states in achieving sustainable urbanization. The support focuses on areas of planning, mobility, energy, governance and legislation, and economy and finance at the urban level. ASUD addresses the gaps and deficiencies in current urban planning processes and policies at the national and local levels to be able to effectively respond to the complex demands of rapid population and economic growth. It supports cities in developing strategic sustainable urban development plans and implementing demonstration projects, particularly planned city extensions. Planned city extension, as opposed to fringe development, represents an alternative to unplanned urban expansion characterized by sprawling, segregated, and poorly connected developments. ASUD also supports countries developing and implementing national urban policies that will promote more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change.
Nine projects wereimplemented by the ASUD programme during phase 1 in Colombia, Egypt, Mozambique, Philippines, and Rwanda.
The duration of the programme’s phase 1 was planned for a period of 48 months from June 2011 to June 2015 for an amount of USD8.9 million by the donor, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has been supplemented with additional tranches and/or contributions to total of USD10.8million.
UN-Habitat is undertaking this forward-looking evaluation of the ASUD projects in order to assess to what extent the overall support and technical assistance of UN-Habitat has been relevant, efficient and effective, and sustainable, and to inform the next phase of the ASUD programme. The evaluation is part of UN-Habitat’s effort to perform systematic and timely evaluations of its programmes and to ensure that UN-Habitat evaluations provide full representation of its mandate and activities, including evaluation of global initiatives supporting the New Urban Agenda and the implementation of the ‘three legged approach’ of urban legislation, planning and economy and part of the guiding principles of ASUD
The evaluation will be conducted over a period of four months, from September to December 2015.
The evaluation shall be independent and carried out in line with the evaluation norms and standards of the United Nations system. A variety of methodologies will be applied to collect information during the evaluation. These include review of documents relevant to the ASUD projects, key informant interviews and consultations, including focus group discussions, and fields visits.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The evaluation will be conducted by an evaluation team of two International Consultants with one consultant as lead consultant and the second as supporting consultant. The lead consultant has overall responsibility for producing the deliverables according to the quality standards of UN-Habitat for evaluation reports.
Among the deliverables expected, there will be:
- Inception Report with Evaluation Work plan;
- Evaluation Reports Drafts;
- Final Evaluation Report not exceeding 40 pages not including executive
summary and annexes.
Compliance with United Nations Evaluation Group standards and UN-Habitat evaluation report format is expected. Examples of evaluation reports are available from the website of the UN-Habitat Evaluation Unit: (http://www.unhabitat.org/evaluation).
Full details of the evaluation are provided in the attached Terms of Reference**.**
COMPETENCIES
Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter. Good research, analytical and problem-solving skills. Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
Communication: Excellent and effective written and oral skills. Ability to present information in a concise and accurate manner, proven ability for preparing comprehensive documents and reports.
Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals. Solicits input by valuing others ideas and expertise and is willing to learn from others.
Planning & Organizing: Proven ability to plan, coordinate and monitor own work and that of others. Ability to work under pressure and uses time efficiently. Identifies priority activities and assignments, adjust priorities as required.
QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Advanced academic degree in political sciences, social economy, governance, local public administration, or similar relevant fields.
Work Experience
At least 7 years of relevant experience working in working with projects/ programmes in the field of urban legislation and governance, planning and design, and finance and economy. Extensive evaluation experience. The consultant should have ability to present credible findings derived from evidence and putting conclusions and recommendations supported by the findings. The consultant should be familiar with the United Nations System and preferably specific knowledge and understanding of UN-Habitat and its mandate. Recent and relevant experience in working in developing countries is a requirement. It is envisaged that the consultants would have a useful mix of experience and familiarity with public administration in various parts of the world.
Language
Fluency as well as excellent writing skills in English is required. Knowledge of Spanish is desirable.
REMUNERATION
Payments will be based on deliverables over the consultancy period. There are set remuneration rates for consultancies. The rate is determined by functions performed and experience of the consultant. The fees will be paid as per agreement.
How to apply:
Applications should include:
• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)
• CV in the PHP format, accessible through the INSPIRA website (inspira.un.org) Please note, if using INSPIRA for the first time, you need to register in order to activate your account, which will allow you to log in and create a personal History Profile.
• The PHP should be attached to the application as a PDF file.
• Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information:
- Educational Background (incl. dates)
- Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months)
- Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)
- Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments
- Expectations regarding remuneration
• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)
Please also be advised that since April 15th 2010, applicants for consultancies must be part of the
UN-HABITAT e-Roster in order for their application to be considered. You can reach the e-Roster
through the following link: http://e-roster.unhabitat.org
All applications should be submitted to:
Ms. Brenda Gacheru
UN-HABITAT Office of the Executive Director
P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Email: brenda.gacheru@unhabitat.org
Deadline for applications: 17 August 2015
UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unon.org
Full details of the evaluation are provided in the attached Terms of Reference.