Consultancy for Support to Electoral Integrity and Democratic Empowerment Project

The project seeks to enhance electoral integrity and democratic rights of citizens by consolidating the institutional capacities of democratic institutions especially the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to discharge their mandates transparently and with greater sense of public accountability.  It also seeks to strengthen national efforts for a robust conflict prevention and dispute management mechanism for all electoral related disputes. The overall objective of the project is to improve the integrity of the electoral management bodies and democratic institutions to deliver effective electoral functions that guaranteed the democratic rights of the citizens, comply with international best practices and incorporate a strong conflict prevention and mitigation strategies. The project was expected to empower Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) at the grassroots to develop a technology-based platform that provides linkages between early-warning and early response on election operations and conflict incidences utilising latest Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Key flagship tools that shall be deployed include: Total Quality Management (TQM) Platform for Ad Hoc Staff; Violence Against Women in Elections (VAWE) Platform; Crisis Management and Early Response Platform at the National Peace Committee Secretariat; and Integrated and Coordinated Issue-Identification and Civic Education Engagements and Long-Term Process Observation by Civil Society Organizations.  Intervening in twelve (12) selected states across the six geo-political zones, the project shall mainstream gender and human rights in all its activities. It will also contribute to strengthening post-election social contract between the government and the citizens. Overall, the project will contribute to empowerment of Nigerians to exercise their franchise in a safe, secured and informed atmosphere.

UNDP, UNWOMEN, Ministry of Budget and Planning (MoBNP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have collaborated on the development and implementation of electoral integrity and democratic empowerment initiatives. The intervention is designed to address gaps in infrastructure and capacities for electoral integrity and democratic empowerment in Nigeria.

This evaluation will largely focus on the support provided by UNDP and the results engendered through this support. It will also provide an important opportunity to assess the place of UNDP’s implementation strategy which is through Direct Implementation Modality (DIM) whereby the UNDP leads the implementation because of the sensitive nature of the project and more importantly the convening power, trust, and confidence it enjoys among the stakeholders in the country

Purpose and scope of the Evaluation

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the contribution of the project in empowering Nigerian institutions and civil society stakeholders to nurture legal, social and normative frameworks capable of deepening citizens participation and of ensuring credibility, fairness, equity and transparency of the electoral processes, as a way of contributing to good and accountable governance and gender equality in Nigeria. This will be done, primarily, by assessing the degree to which the outputs outlined in the project document have been successfully delivered, and whether these outputs were well-targeted to best support the UNDP’s election and democratic engagement.

Evaluation Objectives and Criteria

The key evaluation objective is to examine the project’s contribution to building the Nigerian Government and UNDP’s capacities to engage in elections, as well as democratic processes and enhance the capacity of the country to respond in complex political situations. The following criteria will be used in support of this objective: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability.

The evaluation will be guided by the following questions pertaining to these respective criteria:

Effectiveness

1. Are the projects objectives and outputs clear, practical and feasible within its frame?
2. To what extent did the project contribute to the country programme document (CPD) outcomes and outputs, the SDGs, the UNDP Strategic Plan (2018-2021) and national development priorities?
3. To what extent were the project outputs achieved?
4. What factors have contributed to achieving or not achieving intended country programme outputs and outcomes?
5. To what extent has the UNDP partnership strategy been appropriate and effective?
6. What factors contributed to its effectiveness or ineffectiveness?
7. In which areas does the project have the greatest achievements? Why and what have been the supporting factors? How can the project build on or expand these achievements?
8. In which areas does the project have the fewest achievements? What have been the constraining factors and why? How can or could they be overcome?
9. What, if any, alternative strategies would have been more effective in achieving the project’s objectives?
10. To what extent have stakeholders been involved in project implementation?
11. To what extent are project management and implementation participatory and is this participation contributing towards achievement of the project objectives?
12. To what extent has the project been appropriately responsive to the needs of the national constituents and changing partner priorities?
13. Has the project been supporting efforts to enhance linkages between election support and other projects supported by development partners, such as governance, peacebuilding, education, poverty reduction etc.?
14. To what extent are the current support services provided by the project to government and communities perceived as being effective and how could they be changed or improved?
15. To what extent have the project’s efforts to build system-wide capacity on election management and democratic analysis contributed to the country’s effectiveness in engaging on governance enhancements?
16. To what extent has the project contributed to gender equality, the empowerment of women and the realization of human rights?

Efficiency

1. Are beneficiaries provided with the adequate resources and support necessary to enable them to efficiently undertake their assignments?
2. Are there any unanticipated circumstances, events, opportunities or constraints that limit the value of the project support?
3. Was the objective and nature of support/engagement of the project effectively communicated to beneficiaries, government, partners and donors?

Sustainability

1. Are there mechanisms put in place by government to ensure long-term presence of relevant skills and capacities setup by the project?
2. Are there any financial risks that may jeopardize the sustainability of project outputs?
3. To what extent will financial and economic resources be available to sustain the benefits achieved by the project?
4. Are there any social or political risks that may jeopardize sustainability of project outputs and the project’s contributions to country programme outputs and outcomes?
5. Do the legal frameworks, policies and governance structures and processes within which the project operates pose risks that may jeopardize sustainability of project benefits?
6. To what extent did UNDP actions pose an environmental threat to the sustainability of project outputs?
7. What is the risk that the level of stakeholders’ ownership will be sufficient to allow for the project benefits to be sustained?
8. To what extent do mechanisms, procedures and policies exist to allow primary stakeholders to carry forward the results attained on gender equality, empowerment of women, human rights and human development?
9. To what extent do stakeholders support the project’s long-term objectives?
10. To what extent are lessons learned being documented by the project team on a continual basis and shared with appropriate parties who could learn from the project?
11. To what extent do UNDP interventions have well-designed and well-planned exit strategies? Are these exit strategies being appropriately implemented?
12. What could be done to strengthen exit strategies and sustainability?
13. Are there other initiatives and measures that could be part of the project that would further the sustainability of the election and conflict prevention engagement?

Relevance

1. To what extent was the project in line with the national development priorities, the country programme outputs and outcomes, the UNDP Strategic Plan (2018-2021) and the SDGs?
2. To what extent does the project contribute to the theory of change for the relevant country programme outcome?
3. To what extent were lessons learned from other relevant projects considered in the project’s design?
4. To what extent were perspectives of those who could affect the outcomes, and those who could contribute information or other resources to the attainment of stated results, considered during the project design processes?
5. To what extent does the project contribute to gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights-based approach?
6. To what extent has the project been appropriately responsive to political, legal, economic, institutional, etc., changes in the country?
7. Has UNDP been able to help design election and election management interventions in line with local and national realities and priorities and other development strategies?
8. Does the support provided through the project serve the needs of targeted beneficiaries?

Impact

1. Has the intervention caused a significant change in the lives of the intended beneficiaries?
2. How did the intervention cause higher-level effects (such as changes in norms or systems)?
3. Did all the intended target groups, including the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, benefit equally from the intervention?
4. Is the intervention transformative – does it create enduring changes in norms – including gender norms – and systems, whether intended or not?
5. Is the intervention leading to other changes, including “scalable” or “replicable” results?
6. How will the intervention contribute to changing society for the better?

Cross-cutting issues

Human rights

To what extent have poor, indigenous and physically challenged, women and other disadvantaged and marginalized groups benefited from the work of UNDP in the country?

Gender equality

1. To what extent have gender equality and the empowerment of women been addressed in the design, implementation and monitoring of the project?
2. Is the gender marker data assigned to this project representative of reality?
3. To what extent has the project promoted positive changes in gender equality and the empowerment of women? Were there any unintended effects?
4. To what extent has traditional gender roles have been modified?

Additional questions pertaining to each of the three outputs, and linked to the four criteria areas, may also be considered, upon further discussion with UNDP the Nigerian government and INEC.

4. Methodology

The Evaluation will be undertaken by an independent consultant with expertise in election and democratic engagement. The evaluation should employ a combination of both qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods and instruments.

Desk reviews: The Evaluation consultant will conduct desk reviews of relevant project documents and related documents, such as, routine monitoring reports, Standard Operating Procedures, ToRs, project progress reports, and relevant review and evaluation reports, lessons learned studies, and other analytical studies.

Evaluation Consultations: The evaluation will require extensive review of existing documentation, as well as consultations/interviews with a sample of key partners and key local stakeholders in-country. This will also include review of existing project evaluations and assessment of relevant documents to UNDP programme. The focus will be to triangulate information from documents and interviews by gathering objective data on key achievements and areas for improvement. The following will be the approach to be adopted in conducting data collection:

Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders including key government counterparts, donor community members, representatives of key civil society organizations, UNCT members and implementing partners:

o Development of evaluation questions around relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability and designed for different stakeholders to be interviewed.

• Key informant and focus group discussions with men and women, beneficiaries, and stakeholders.
• All interviews should be undertaken in full confidence and anonymity. The final evaluation report should not assign specific comments to individuals.

Surveys and questionnaires including participants in development programmes, UNDP members and/or surveys and questionnaires involving other stakeholders at strategic and programmatic levels.

Field visits and on-site validation of key tangible outputs and interventions.

The evaluator is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach that ensures close engagement with the evaluation managers, implementing partners and direct beneficiaries.

At the end of visits, the Evaluator is expected to present initial findings for validation of information and findings.

Finalizing reports: The third phase of the evaluation will include a discussion of the findings and the draft report with the Evaluation Reference Group, the subsequent finalization of the evaluation report, as well as, dissemination of lessons learned through existing UNDP and DPA mechanisms. The report should specifically highlight key lessons learned and good practices that could be replicated in future programs.

The suggested table of contents of the evaluation report is as follows:

1. Title and opening pages

2. Project and evaluation information details

3. Table of contents

4. List of acronyms and abbreviations

5. Executive summary (four-page maximum)

6. Introduction

7. Description of the intervention

8. Evaluation scope and objectives

9. Evaluation approach and methods

Evaluation approach

Data sources

Sample and sampling frame

Data-collection procedures and instruments

Performance standards

Stakeholder participation

Ethical considerations

Background information on evaluators

Major limitations of the methodology

10. Data analysis

11. Findings

12. Conclusions

13. Recommendations

14. Lessons learned

15. Report annexes

Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, if it is not possible to travel to or within the country for the evaluation, the evaluation consultant or team, in consultation with UNDP, should develop a methodology that takes this into account the conduct of the evaluation virtually and remotely, including the use of remote interview methods and extended desk reviews, data analysis, surveys and evaluation questionnaires. This should be detailed in the Inception report and agreed with the Evaluation Manager. Please refer to the updated COVID-19 evaluation guidance.

If all or part of the evaluation is to be carried out virtually, then consideration should be taken for stakeholder availability, ability or willingness to be interviewed remotely. In addition, their accessibility to the internet/computer may be an issue as many government and national counterparts may be working from home. These limitations must be reflected in the evaluation report.

If a data collection/field mission is not possible, then remote interviews may be undertaken through telephone or online (skype, zoom etc.). International consultants can work remotely with national evaluator support in the field, if it is safe for them to operate and travel. No stakeholders, consultants or UNDP staff should be put in harm’s way as safety is the key priority. A short validation mission may be considered, if it is confirmed to be safe for staff, consultants, stakeholders and if such a mission is possible within the evaluation schedule. Equally, qualified and independent national consultants can be hired to undertake the evaluation and interviews in country, if it is safe to do so.

4a. Evaluation ethics:

This evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation’. The consultant must safeguard the rights and confidentiality of information providers, interviewees and stakeholders through measures to ensure compliance with legal and other relevant codes governing collection of data and reporting on data. The consultant must also ensure security of collected information before and after the evaluation and protocols to ensure anonymity and confidentiality of sources of information where that is expected. The information knowledge and data gathered in the evaluation process must also be solely used for the evaluation and not for other uses with the express authorization of UNDP and partners.

5. Evaluation Deliverables & Schedule:

The Consultant is expected to provide the following deliverables in accordance with the schedule indicated below:

• Evaluation inception report (10-15 pages).
• Evaluation debriefings.
• Draft evaluation report (within an agreed length).
• Presentations to stakeholders.
• Evaluation report audit trail (Comments and changes by the evaluator in response to the draft report should be retained by the evaluator to show how they have addressed comments.)
• Final evaluation report.

Please note: Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some meetings and consultations can be done virtually via online platforms, such as, Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, etc.

. Duration of Assignment

The duration of the assignment is 15 working days, including writing of the report.

*Final evaluation report: The consultant will submit a final report outlining the key findings, lessons learned, and recommendations, as well as, an annex which is to include the note summaries and other background material that informed the study.

A length of 40 to 60 pages including executive summary is suggested.

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.
• work under pressure against strict deadlines,
• think out-of-the-box,
• present complex issues persuasively and simply,
• contextualize global trends in accordance with the dynamics of the operating (working) environment.

Qualifications

• At least Master’s degree in Political Science, or related discipline.
• Ten (10) years Experience in election support, democratic processes, strengthening institutional capacities and in evaluation.

General professional experience:

• Extensive experience in fields of employment and youth.
• Solid knowledge of the Nigeria election system, governance, and democratic structure, strengthening institutional context, government structure and relevant state policies.
• Five-year experience in evaluation.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. A two to three-page proposal:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work.
• Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable).

2. Financial proposal (which includes a breakdown of consultancy fees, travel cost, per diem).

3. Personal CV including experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

Note: only applications which include the above, will be considered.