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Call for expressions of interest for FAO-EU project evaluation

Call for expressions of interest (EOIs) - Team Leader and members Evaluation of FAO-EU project “Establishing a sustainable National Information and Early Warning System (NIEWS) on Food Security in Timor-Leste”

Date of EOI: 5 May 2015 Closing date of EOI: 20 May 2015

The FAO Office of Evaluation (OED) is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from qualified individuals for the provision of services to complete an independent evaluation of the project: “Establishing a sustainable National Information and Early Warning System (NIEWS) on Food Security in Timor-Leste”. The full TOR will be provided to those shortlisted for the assignment.

Background

Since January 2012, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Timor-Leste has been implementing the European Union (EU) and Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) funded Food Security Project “Establishing a Sustainable National Information and Early Warning (NIEWS) for Food Security”. The project, which budget totals €1,315,310 (EU: 80% and TCP: 20%), has been under implementation for 45 months and is expected to end in July 2015.

The overall objective of the project is to support the reduction of food insecurity prevalence in Timor-Leste. The specific objective is to provide reliable, timely and updated information to decision makers in the government and other stakeholders so that appropriate mitigating and coordinated actions can be taken to improve the food and nutrition security of the local population. The following are the expected results of the project:

  • Result 1: National Information and Early Warning System (NIEWS) on food security managed by the Food Security Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) disseminates accurate data to stakeholders regarding trends and alerts of food security status at all levels.
  • Result 2: Enhanced capacity of MAF, including the National Directorate for Policy and Planning, the Extension Services and the FSU, to manage food security data collection, analysis and dissemination and to coordinate stakeholders in the food security sector.

Purpose and scope of the evaluation

The Final Evaluation will be summative, consolidating and verifying information on the achievements and impacts of the project. It will also be forward-looking; helping to identify any areas for future improvement and good practices in providing assistance for the establishment of NIEWS on food security.

The main purposes of the Evaluation are: a) to identify the factors affecting the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the project up to date; b) to identify strengths and weaknesses in implementation; c) to provide accountability to the resource partners who have supported the project; d) to identify lessons learned that promote organizational learning and support future decisions on FAO’s support on the establishment of NIEWS .

Scope of the Evaluation

The time frame covered by this final evaluation is from the beginning of the project in February 2012 to the start of the evaluation (mid-June 2015). The evaluation will cover both the EU funded project and FAO’s TCP project1. The geographical scope includes all project activities at a national level.

Desired team profile

The Evaluation Team will be comprised by a team leader and two national/regional team members, with an appropriate balance of relevant technical expertise and experience in evaluation. The evaluation team must have a combination of solid experience in project/programme evaluation, and a mix of skills in the following subject matters:

  • Food Security and Early Warning Systems;
  • ALGIS/Agro-meteorology and Remote Sensing;
  • Crop Assessment and Statistics;
  • Gender equality and HRBA;

All team members should have a university degree and a minimum of 8 years of professional experience, or equivalent level of competence in their respective fields of specialization. In addition, the team members must have excellent writing and communication skills in English and/or Portuguese. For national/regional experts, familiarity with Tetum (Timor-Leste national language) or Bahasa Indonesia is desirable.

The evaluation will be guided by FAO Office of Evaluation, OED. The Evaluation Team is responsible for conducting the evaluation and applying the methodology. The team leader will participate in briefing and debriefing meetings in Rome, discussions, field visits, and will contribute to the evaluation with written inputs.

The Evaluation Team is fully responsible for its independent report, which may not necessarily reflect the views of the EU, Government or FAO. OED is responsible for ensuring conformity with standards for project/programme evaluation in FAO.

Application process:

Interested candidates should send their application by 20 May 2015, to the email address: Natalia.Acosta@fao.org. Please specify "Evaluation of FAO-EU project: Establishing NIEWS in Timor-Leste" in the email subject line.

Applications should include a detailed Curriculum Vitae containing:

  •  Information on sex, age, current residence and nationality;
  • Expected daily fee rate (exclusive of expenses); and,
  • Availability between mid-June to September 2015 (N.B. The evaluation is expected to begin mid/end June).

As standard practice in OED evaluations, the consultant should not have been involved in the design or implementation of FAO activities being assessed by the evaluation and will be required to sign a conflict of interest declaration.

The selected candidates will be requested to complete their online profile in the FAO iRecruitment platform: http://www.fao.org/employment/irecruitment-access/en/. Successful candidates will be offered individual consultant contracts which will entitle them to an honorarium, daily subsistence allowance while on mission out of his or her home-base, and insurance while on mission. All travel will be organized by the Office of Evaluation.