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Final Project Evaluation Terms of Reference
UNDP Country Office and Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Background and context
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) spans the vast majority of the Arabian Peninsula, with a land area of approximately 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi). Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East, and the second-largest country in the Arab world with a rapidly growing population of 35,013,414 in 2020 the majority of which lives in urban areas. Such a high level of urbanization brings challenges in terms of meeting demands for infrastructure and services, as well as opportunity to provide human resources necessary for development and achieving sustainability. The annual population growth rate is 2.4%. In this regard, the National Housing Strategy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stated that the deficit of affordable housing for Saudi families in 2011 was estimated at half a million housing units, which led the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques the late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to issue a royal decree for the establishment of the Ministry of Housing to replace the General Housing Authority, and ordered the allocation of 76 billion US dollars to build housing units and close the housing gap. On the 24th of January 2021 the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud issued a Royal Decree on merging the Ministry of Housing (MoH) with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MOMRA) and rebranding it as the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing (MOMRAH).
The land award program has played a great role in providing land at a suitable price for building houses in urban areas. However, ineffective use of serviced land, in part due to speculation, has been a major contributor to a growing shortage of affordable housing. In addition, there is also a lack of products that matches the purchasing power of those in need of houses. Saudi households have increasingly faced challenges to access adequate housing, as the gap widened between supply and demand. Supply did not accommodate the financial affordability, whereas financing mechanisms were conventional to hardly satisfying the needs of the Saudi households, especially those of low-income category. There was a tendency to rely on the private sector as an essential developer through partnerships to provide various housing options, particularly for the high- and middle-income segments. The provision by the public housing sector has been limited and not able to reduce the backlog. In fact, provision in Saudi Arabia is mostly dominated by the private sector, as it holds large areas of vacant lands which can be developed to help stem the current housing crisis. This situation led Council of Ministers to issue the White Land Tax Act and its Implementing Regulation to spur owners to develop their vacant lands, in addition to many stimulating housing decisions and legislation for both the private and the 3rd non-profit sector.
In April 2016, the Saudi Vision 2030, an ambitious blueprint for development, was launched. Vision 2030 is the forward-thinking initiative of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It sets down a plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s future with several goals aimed at inspiring economic, political, and social development. The Saudi Vision 2030 aimed to increase home owning rates to 60% by 2020, through various housing solutions, at the lowest cost possible, and financing of projects for the poorest. Key areas tackled by the Program are increasing housing stock, affordability, and regulating the housing sector. Important work streams in this regard include managing urban density, urban redevelopment of city centres, provision of suitable land, and exchange of land with the government for the construction of new housing projects, public-private partnerships, providing financing solutions matching needs of different segments through transforming the Real Estate Development Fund into a financing institution, and the establishment of the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company, in addition to supporting the segments in need of affordable housing initiatives under property use rights provided by NGO sector. The Technical Support to Implementation of the Developmental Housing Initiatives to MOMRAH project is a national project benefiting the whole of the Kingdom with a focus on female single headed household and low income families in addition to contributing to the UNDP CPD (2017- 2021) Outcome 1 (Improved knowledge-based equitable and sustainable development, underpinned by innovation and improved infrastructure) and CPD output 1.3 (Urban policies developed to boost emerging national priorities). It also contributes to SDG target 11 “sustainable cities and communities”.
The project is implemented by the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing and in partnerships with UNDP/UN-Habitat.
On the basis of the outputs of MOMRAH Strategic Plans and UNDP Projects, as well as considering the UN and Saudi strategy and policy documents, the final evaluation will look into the progress of the following outputs:
- Business Plan for non-profit sector engagement: defining the key areas of work and the roadmap for engaging non-profit organizations.
- International benchmarking report featuring 3-4 experiences of non-profit housing development in contexts of relevance to the KSA, with emphasis on the following aspects in particular: alternatives to the right of use, legal mechanisms /types of housing ownership, maintenance and operation programs, replacement of beneficiaries, criteria for the choice of beneficiaries and several aspects related to legislation and governance of housing development.
- Elaborate a template business plan that can be adapted and adopted by non-profit organizations in the field of Development housing
- Establish a cooperation/partnership framework, including guidelines and steps for forming and managing partnerships between MoH and non-profit organizations (and potentially other stakeholders i.e. private sector through CSR.
- Comprehensive review of current policies, legislation, initiatives and governance framework of non-profit housing development sector: Review and develop policies, regulations and criteria to select development housing beneficiaries in order to guide and regulate the work of NGOs in delivering affordable housing.
2.1 Review and analysis of the gaps and bottlenecks in the current frameworks and regulations related to non-profit housing initiatives, with particular attention to decree number 198 and other related decrees. This will increase coordination with relevant authorities that would improve the overall efficiency of the housing delivery system for NGOs to achieve the targets set by the Ministry.
2.2 Comprehensive review of the household’s characteristics of the existing non-profit housing initiatives and programmes in selected Saudi cities to study the socioeconomic development of subsidized households for their reintegration into market-price housing. This sub activity should include a comprehensive review of existing non-profit housing initiatives and programmes in selected Saudi cities as well as the review of legal mechanism/ types of housing ownership.
2.3 Set new criteria for the selection of beneficiary target groups, including guidelines for socioeconomic development of households. This sub activity should include suggesting additional regulations or legal mechanisms the replacement of beneficiaries at the end of their contract or no more eligible according to the set criteria. This will help dealing with the current challenges that MoH is facing in this area. Subsequently, this will enhance the efficiency of the non-profit sector in development housing to meet the targets set by the Ministry
3) Spatial analysis to locate and design non-profit housing projects
3.1 Drafting of a Compendium of International Standards and Best Practice including 3 to 4 relevant experiences for the context of Saudi Arabia to support the selection of suitable locations for non-profit housing projects or similar social housing developments in Saudi cities.
3.2 Neighbourhood analysis of selected of Saudi cities by using international standards related to social integration, employment availability, accessibility and mobility among others. This activity will include the assessment of the designs of the housing unit.
3.3 Develop a system of spatial standards by utilizing geographic information system to select suitable locations within Saudi cities for the construction of non-profit housing developments.
3.4 Application of the new standards to one non-profit housing project in one Saudi city (preferably one of the main cities that Habitat has already studied extensively with Future Saudi Cities Programme) through a participatory housing design studio including the participation of different target groups
To date the project has been progressing well in achieving its intended outputs. Many achievements have been realized, including the completion of five sub-outputs reports (1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3 and 3.2). The drafted reports include the development of a model partnership agreement (sub-output 1.3); a template business plan and housing needs assessment (sub-output 1.2), a mapping of the beneficiary selection process (sub-output 2.2), recommendations for revisions to beneficiary selection (sub-output 2.3), a neighborhood analysis of fourteen developmental housing sites (sub-output 3.2). All draft reports have been presented to the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing (MOMRAH) and final versions have been completed with translations and graphic design for final submission.
Furthermore, the UNDP and UN-Habitat partnered with the Ministry of Municipal Rural Affairs and Housing (MoMRAH), Deputyship of Developmental Housing, together with NGO’s and AlFaisal University and Dar Al Uloom University on the Sustainable Housing Concept Plan Initiative (SHCP) – Housing Design Studio. The SHCP will aim to develop new housing typology designs that addresses quality of life and beneficiary housing needs by engaging youth, women, and local experts through an inclusive participatory planning process. In addition, to creating housing projects designs that integrates development housing and the city by incorporating sustainable mobility concepts, such as non-motorized transport and adopting hot climate mitigative designs in public spaces.
The evaluation requires working with all heads of departments involved with the various outcomes as well as all consultants on the project and other relevant project and authority staff.
The project duration was originally for approximately 2 years (January 2020- October 2021). The project extension period (October 2021 to April 2022) provides the necessary time for the project to complete ongoing activities and deliver the outputs that were delayed due to COVID.
Basic Project information can also be included in table format as follows:
|
Project title: |
Technical Support to Implementation of the Developmental Housing Initiatives |
|
|
Atlas ID |
SAU10/ 00123413 |
|
|
Corporate outcome and output |
Improved knowledge-based equitable and sustainable development, underpinned by innovation and improved infrastructure |
|
|
Country |
Saudi Arabia |
|
|
Region |
RBAS |
|
|
Date project document signed |
25 December 2019 |
|
|
Project dates |
Start |
Planned end |
|
1 January 2020 |
30 April 2022 |
|
|
Project budget |
US $1,777,008 |
|
|
Project expenditure at the time of evaluation |
US $ 753,745 |
|
|
Funding source |
Government |
|
|
Implementing party[1] |
Ministry of Municipal Rural Affairs and Housing (MoMRAH) |
|
|
UN Implementing Partner |
||
|
UN Executing Partner |
UN- Habitat (Technical support) |
|
- Evaluation purpose, scope and objectives
Evaluation purpose and objectives:
This final evaluation is conducted as part of a planned intervention aimed at re-positioning the project to help MOMRAH and the housing deputyship meet its mandate. In view of the pandemic and the drastic changes that has been taking place in the country, the project has had to adapt to the changes over recent years. This evaluation thus becomes crucial to assess the impact of the pandemic and to ensure the project has delivered its intended objectives. The evaluation and ensuing recommendations will help build a new phase for the project serving MOMRAH to better deliver its intended task and learn lessons from previous activities.
Scope of the evaluation:
- The final evaluation will look into the progress of the following outputs:
- Business Plan for non-profit sector engagement: defining the key areas of work and the roadmap for engaging non-profit organizations.
- International benchmarking report featuring 3-4 experiences of non-profit housing development in contexts of relevance to the KSA, with emphasis on the following aspects in particular: alternatives to the right of use, legal mechanisms /types of housing ownership, maintenance and operation programs, replacement of beneficiaries, criteria for the choice of beneficiaries and several aspects related to legislation and governance of housing development.
- Elaborate a template business plan that can be adapted and adopted by non-profit organizations in the field of Development housing
- Establish a cooperation/partnership framework, including guidelines and steps for forming and managing partnerships between MoH and non-profit organizations (and potentially other stakeholders i.e. private sector through CSR.
- Comprehensive review of current policies, legislation, initiatives and governance framework of non-profit housing development sector: Review and develop policies, regulations and criteria to select development housing beneficiaries in order to guide and regulate the work of NGOs in delivering affordable housing.
2.1 Review and analysis of the gaps and bottlenecks in the current frameworks and regulations related to non-profit housing initiatives, with particular attention to decree number 198 and other related decrees. This will increase coordination with relevant authorities that would improve the overall efficiency of the housing delivery system for NGOs to achieve the targets set by the Ministry.
2.2 Comprehensive review of the household’s characteristics of the existing non-profit housing initiatives and programmes in selected Saudi cities to study the socioeconomic development of subsidized households for their reintegration into market-price housing. This sub activity should include a comprehensive review of existing non-profit housing initiatives and programmes in selected Saudi cities as well as the review of legal mechanism/ types of housing ownership.
2.3 Set new criteria for the selection of beneficiary target groups, including guidelines for socioeconomic development of households. This sub activity should include suggesting additional regulations or legal mechanisms the replacement of beneficiaries at the end of their contract or no more eligible according to the set criteria. This will help dealing with the current challenges that MOH is facing in this area. Subsequently, this will enhance the efficiency of the non-profit sector in development housing to meet the targets set by the Ministry
3) Spatial analysis to locate and design non-profit housing projects
3.1 Drafting of a Compendium of International Standards and Best Practice including 3 to 4 relevant experiences for the context of Saudi Arabia to support the selection of suitable locations for non-profit housing projects or similar social housing developments in Saudi cities.
3.2 Neighbourhood analysis of selected of Saudi cities by using international standards related to social integration, employment availability, accessibility and mobility among others. This activity will include the assessment of the designs of the housing unit.
3.3 Develop a system of spatial standards by utilizing geographic information system to select suitable locations within Saudi cities for the construction of non-profit housing developments.
3.4 Application of the new standards to one non-profit housing project in one Saudi city (preferably one of the main cities that Habitat has already studied extensively with Future Saudi Cities Programme) through a participatory housing design studio including the participation of different target groups
- This evaluation will cover all activities held during the span of the project between (1 January 2020 – 30 April 2022) and highlight issues and recommendations in all aspects (technical, financial, management, structural and operational), including the effective use of resources and delivery outputs in the signed project document and workplan.
Issues relate directly to the questions of the evaluation must be answered so that users will have the information they need for pending decisions or action. An issue may concern the relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, or sustainability of the intervention. In addition, UNDP evaluations must address how the intervention sought to mainstream gender in development efforts, considered disability issues and applied the rights-based approach.
- Evaluation criteria and key guiding questions
Referencing and adopting from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) evaluation criteria ((a) relevance/ coherence; (b) effectiveness; (c) efficiency; and (d) sustainability (and/or other criteria used), the evaluation will answer the following questions:
|
Project evaluation sample questions: |
|
|
Project evaluation sample questions:
Relevance/ Coherence
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Sustainability
|
|
|
Evaluation questions on cross-cutting issues
Human rights
Gender equality All evaluation criteria and evaluation questions applied need to be checked to see if there are any further gender dimensions attached to them, in addition to the stated gender equality questions.
Disability
|
Guiding evaluation questions will be further refined in the inception report by the evaluation team and agreed with UNDP evaluation stakeholders.
- Methodology
The evaluation should employ a combination of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods and instruments. The evaluator is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach that ensures close engagement with the evaluation managers, implementing partners and male and female direct beneficiaries. Methodological tools and approaches may include:
- Document review. This would include a review of all relevant documentation, inter alia
- Project document (contribution agreement).
- Theory of change and results framework.
- Programme and project quality assurance reports.
- Annual workplans.
- Activity designs.
- Consolidated quarterly and annual reports.
- Results-oriented monitoring report.
- Highlights of project board meetings.
- Technical/financial monitoring reports.
- Financial reports for the funding analysis required as per the evaluation questions
- Interviews and meetings with key stakeholders (men and women) such as key government counterparts, donor community members, representatives of key civil society organizations, United Nations country team (UNCT) members and implementing partners:
- Semi-structured interviews, based on questions designed for different stakeholders based on evaluation questions around relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability.
- Key informant and focus group discussions with men and women, beneficiaries, and stakeholders.
- All interviews with men and women should be undertaken in full confidence and anonymity. The final evaluation report should not assign specific comments to individuals.
- Surveys and questionnaires including male and female participants in development programmes, UNCT members and/or surveys and questionnaires to other stakeholders at strategic and programmatic levels.
- Field visits and on-site validation of key tangible outputs and interventions.
- Other methods such as outcome mapping, observational visits, group discussions, etc.
- Data review and analysis of monitoring and other data sources and methods. To ensure maximum validity, reliability of data (quality) and promote use, the evaluation team will ensure triangulation of the various data sources.
- Gender and human rights lens. All evaluation products need to address gender, disability, and human right issues.
The final methodological approach including interview schedule, field visits and data to be used in the evaluation should be clearly outlined in the inception report and fully discussed and agreed between UNDP, key stakeholders, and the evaluator.
- Evaluation products (deliverables)
- Evaluation inception report (10-15 pages). The inception report should be carried out following and based on preliminary discussions with UNDP after the desk review and should be produced before the evaluation starts (before any formal evaluation interviews, survey distribution or field visits) and prior to the country visit in the case of international evaluators.
- Evaluation debriefings. Immediately following the evaluation, UNDP 
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