International Consultant to Final Evaluation of UNDP’s Regional Youth Project on Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Youth Co:Lab)

The world today is home to the largest generation of young people in history, 1.2 billion people aged 15 to 24. Yet more than one fifth of young people are neither in employment, nor in education or training. At the same time, young people are a tremendous source of innovation, ideas and solutions. Boldly facing the challenges that globalisation, changing labour markets, shrinking civic space and climate change have afforded them, young people are contributing to the resilience of their communities, pushing strongly for climate action, calling for inclusive and just societies and driving innovation and social progress.

700 million young people aged 15 to 24, or approximately 60% of the world’s youth, live in Asia Pacific. The region’s rate of youth unemployment (10.4 percent) is more than twice the rate for the labour force at large (4.1 percent). The rate of youth unemployment also hides key deficits in terms of job quality. More than two in three workers (68 percent) in the region are in informal employment and a quarter of workers in the region are in working poverty. The challenges of securing decent work are even greater for vulnerable and marginalised youth including young women, youth living in humanitarian settings, youth with disabilities, migrant youth, indigenous youth and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. COVID-19 has further exacerbated the challenges. In 2020, the crisis resulted in an employment decline for youth of 10.3 percent, as opposed to 2.4 percent for adults.

Asia Pacific also faces frontier challenges in the face of fast-paced environmental, technological and societal change. Countries at all stages of development across Asia Pacific need to leverage grassroots solutions to respond to these challenges in order to achieve the vision of the 2030 Agenda.

Youth 2030 – the UN Strategy on Youth launched in 2018 – recognises that to fulfil the 2030 Agenda, young people must be empowered to lead. The Strategy prioritises youth economic empowerment alongside four other closely interconnected priorities. To help deliver this Strategy a multi-stakeholder initiative, Generation Unlimited, was launched to ensure that all young people are in school, training or employment by 2030.

Contributing to this global agenda since 2017, the Regional Youth Project on Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Youth Co:Lab), co-designed and co-led by UNDP and Citi Foundation, has sought to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to empower and invest in youth to accelerate implementation of the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs). By developing 21st century skills and catalysing and scaling youth-led social enterprises, the project is positioning young people front and centre to address the region’s most pressing challenges.

Youth Co:Lab seeks to both support and harness the ability of young people to be the change agents of their societies and communities by taking a leading role in the field of entrepreneurship and social innovation. To this end, the project has prioritised the following five outputs:

• Output 1: Improved ecosystem on youth empowerment in Asia and the Pacific to achieve SDGs.
• Output 2: Empowered Youth (with focus on marginalized groups) avail opportunities for expanding their leadership and entrepreneurship capabilities.
• Output 3: Enhanced learning and skills development programmes for youth entrepreneurship and leadership are designed and delivered through regional dialogues.
• Output 4: Advocacy, research and knowledge exchange initiative informs new youth entrepreneurship initiatives
• Output 5: Innovative financing solutions are leveraged for youth entrepreneurship

The strategy of the Youth Co:Lab is grounded in the UNDP Strategic Plan (SP) 2018-2021 and the Regional Programme Document (RPD) for Asia and Pacific. The project outputs respond particularly to two of the three broad development settings of the Strategic Plan: accelerating structural transformations for sustainable development and building resilience to crises and shocks. In addition, the Project supports implementation of UNDP’s Signature Solutions. Social enterprises catalysed and supported by the project provide solutions to Efficient and Responsive Governance, Increased Resilience, Nature Based Solutions, Clean Affordable Energy and Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality.

Youth Co:Lab adopts a rights-based approach, seeking to ensure that that young people, including the most vulnerable and marginalised youth, are empowered to achieve their full potential and recognising young people’s agency, resilience and their positive contributions as agents of change. Youth Co:Lab responds to the prioritised areas in the UN Youth Strategy, in particular Youth Economic Empowerment through Decent Work and Youth Engagement, Participation and Advocacy. The project also aligns with the UNDP Youth Global Programme for Sustainable Development and Peace (Youth-GPS 2016-2020) which promotes youth empowerment in the context of sustainable development and peacebuilding.

Youth Co:Lab is also grounded in a strong multi-stakeholder collaboration on youth empowerment. Through its Youth Empowerment Alliance, Youth Co:Lab actively engages ecosystem players from governments, the private sector, youth organisations, academia, and the development sector to connect young social entrepreneurs to finance, mentors, partners and support.

The mid-term review of the project was carried out as part of the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Programme Document (RPD) in November 2020.

EVALUATION PURPOSE, SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES:

The Purpose of the Final Evaluation

The purpose of the final evaluation is to support accountability and facilitate learning and knowledge sharing. The evaluation will inform UNDP, Citi Foundation and key stakeholders of the results of the Youth Co:Lab project, consolidate lessons learnt and provide forward-looking and concrete recommendations. During the past four years of its implementation, the Youth Co:Lab initiative has rapidly scaled up and evolved while responding to changes in the operational context caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The evaluation will provide critical evidence-based information to guide the design of the project’s future strategy and support UNDP and Citi Foundation’s continued efforts to empower and invest in youth to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs in Asia-Pacific.

The Scope and Objectives of the Final Evaluation

The evaluation will cover project activities and results at regional level and through deep dives in specific countries. The final evaluation will assess the project’s progress against the expected outputs and outcomes as defined in the results and resources framework (RRF) and project theory of change (ToC) from January 2017 to January 2022. The evaluation will build on the findings and recommendations of the deep dive analysis of the Youth Co:Lab project conducted during the Mid-Term Review of the RPD of UNDP Asia-Pacific and use the findings of the global evaluation of UNDP’s youth portfolio.

The final evaluation will assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of the project. It will also assess the extent to which the project has adopted human rights-based and gender responsive approaches, identify lessons learnt and provide recommendations to expand and enhance project activities and ensure the sustainability of results.

The key objectives of the final evaluation are to:

• Assess the performance of the project in terms of achieving the intended project output results and contribution to outcomes according to the project’s theory of change
• Assess the project’s unique value proposition and sources of comparative advantage relative to other initiatives
• Assess the project’s partnership strategies and performance in achieving intended results through collaboration with ecosystem partners
• Assess the relevance, coherence, efficiency and effectiveness of the project activities and the sustainability of the results achieved towards the intended output and outcome level results at:

• Downstream level: directly empowering young people
• Midstream level: strengthening the ecosystem to support youth entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership
• Upstream level: working with governments to enhance the enabling environment for youth entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership

• Identify challenges and factors that have affected the achievement of project results and assess the effectiveness of the approaches that the project has adopted to address these challenges
• Assess to what extent the project has adopted human rights-based, gender responsive and leave no one behind (LNOB) / diversity and inclusion approaches
• Identify lessons learnt from the project and provide concrete and forward-looking recommendations to inform the design of the next project cycle
• Assess the project’s alignment with UNDP’s RPD and Strategic Plan and the UN Strategy on Youth and the project’s contribution to the mainstreaming of the youth empowerment agenda.

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND KEY GUIDING QUESTIONS

The evaluation questions define the information that must be generated as a result of the evaluation process. In this evaluation, the questions are structured under the following criteria, defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development – Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC): relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. In addition, the evaluation will address cross-cutting questions related to gender, human rights/leaving no one behind principles.

METHODOLOGY

The evaluation will adhere to the UNDP Evaluation Policy and UNDG Norms & Standards (provided in Annexes) with its findings and judgements based on sound evidence and analysis, clearly documented in the review report. Information will be triangulated (i.e. verified from different sources) to the extent possible, and when verification is not possible, the single source will be mentioned. Analysis leading to evaluative judgements should always be clearly spelled out. The limitations of the methodological framework and analysis should also be discussed in the report.

The evaluator is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach ensuring close engagement with the evaluation reference group, partners and other stakeholders, and direct beneficiaries, including young women and minority youth.

The final evaluation should employ a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods and instruments. The final methodology and data sources will be agreed upon in the inception report of the final evaluation. Some of the possible methods and data sources are provided in the table below.

Gender and Human Rights-based Approach

Evaluation must include an assessment of the extent to which the design, implementation, and results of the project have incorporated gender equality perspective and rights-based approach. The evaluators are requested to review UNEG’s Guidance in Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluation during the inception phase. The methodology used in the evaluation, including data collection and analysis methods should be human rights and gender-sensitive to the greatest extent possible, with evaluation data and findings disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, age, dis/ability, etc.

Detailed analysis on disaggregated data will be undertaken as part of final evaluation from which findings are consolidated to make recommendations and identify lessons learned for enhanced gender responsive and rights-based approach of the project and future initiatives.

EVALUATION ETHICS

To promote trust and confidence in evaluation in the UN, all UN staff engaged in a final evaluation and evaluation consultants working for the United Nations system are required to commit themselves in conducting the evaluation in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG ‘Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation’3 and writing to the Code of Conduct for Evaluation. The consultants 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 without the express authorization of UNDP and partners.

Consultants will be held to the highest ethical standards and are required to sign a Code of Conduct upon acceptance of the assignment.

Timeframe for the evaluation process

Following here is the anticipated number of working days required in each final evaluation process with total number of working days not exceeding 50 working days during 01 December 2021 to 30 April 2022.

The final report is expected to follow IEO’s UNDP guidelines for template and meet the Quality Criteria. These are provided in Annexes.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

In line with the above-mentioned criterion of work, methodology, associated with this Terms of Reference, the consultant is responsible for the following deliverables:

Implementation arrangements:

Regular communication between the evaluation consultant and the evaluation manager and evaluation reference group is expected throughout the evaluation to ensure a smooth coordination of the process, including engagement with the stakeholders.

The Final Evaluation Consultant will be briefed by UNDP Evaluation Manager upon arrival on the objectives, purpose and outputs of the evaluation. An oral debriefing by the Final Evaluation Consultant on the proposed work plan and methodology will be done and approved prior to the commencement of the process.

The final evaluation will remain fully independent. The evaluation Consultant maintains all the communication through the Evaluation Manager during the implementation of the evaluation. The Evaluation Manager should clear each step of the evaluation. Evaluation report must meet the requirements from the Independent Evaluation Office’s guidelines which are provided in the annexes of this TOR.

Contractors will arrange online final presentation with UNDP BRH and relevant stakeholders and noted comments from participants which will be incorporated in the final report.

The final report will be signed off by the Manager of UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub.

Duration of the Work:

From 1 December 2021 – 30 April 2022, with maximum of 50 days worked.

Duty Station:

Home-based with no travel required

• Demonstrates commitment to the UN’s mission, vision and values;
• Demonstrates sound judgment, diplomacy and sensitivity to confidential matters;
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Innovative forward thinking, good coordination and organizational skills, teamwork; and
• Participate effectively in team-based, information sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others.

EVALUATION TEAM COMPOSITION AND REQUIRED COMPETENCES:

The Final Evaluation requires one international consultant to complete the exercise. The consultant will have the following experience:

• Minimum Master’s Degree or higher in Public Administration, Law, Political Science, Finance, Economics, International Relations, Development Studies, or related fields
• At least 5 years of professional experience of the development project/programme design, assessment, monitoring and evaluation, including UN projects/programmes and private sector led/funded projects and experience in the Asia-Pacific region
• Proven technical knowledge and experience in at least three of the following thematic areas in the development context: youth, the private sector, entrepreneurship, communications and advocacy, economic empowerment, civic engagement
• Technical knowledge and experience in at least two of the following cross-cutting issues;  gender equality, disability, rights- based approach and youth-responsive approach
• At least 3 years of experience in producing research studies, conducting qualitative and quantitative data analysis and writing reports, preferably in the above-mentioned fields
• Excellent knowledge of verbal and written English
• Experience in evaluating or assessing regional or multi-country projects/programmes is highly desirable
• Experience in managing, evaluating or assessing projects/programmes implemented in partnership with private sector and a UN agency is highly desirable

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The contract will be on a lump-sum basis.

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all- inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, living allowance and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below

percentages:               

It is important to note that multiple iterations of the report may be required for the satisfactory completion of the report.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent.

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%), and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (70%) – max 100 points

Language:

•       Excellent knowledge of verbal and written English

Competencies:

•       Demonstrates commitment to the UN’s mission, vision and values;

•       Demonstrates sound judgment, diplomacy and sensitivity to confidential matters;

•       Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;

•       Innovative forward thinking, good coordination and organizational skills, teamwork; and

•       Participate effectively in team-based, information sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points (70% of the total 100 points in technical evaluation) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation respectively.

For those passing technical evaluation above, offers will be evaluated per the Combined Scoring method:

a)     Technical Evaluation (70%)

b)     Financial Evaluation (30%)

Financial Evaluation (30%)

Financial proposals from all technically qualified candidates will be scored out of 30 marks based on the formula provided below. The maximum marks (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal.

All other proposals will receive points according to the following formula:

•       p = y (µ/z).

Where:

•       p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated;

•       y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal;

•       µ = price of the lowest priced proposal;

•       z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

**Failure to submit the above-mentioned documents or Incomplete proposals shall result in disqualification

**Please group all your document into one (1) single PDF document as the application system only allows to upload maximum one document.

The short-listed candidates may be contacted, and the successful candidate will be notified. Applicant receiving the Highest Combined Score and has accepted UNDP’s General Terms and Conditions will be awarded the contract.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS

Interested individuals must submit the following documents mentioned below to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document.

Any individual employed by a company, organization or institution who would like to submit a proposal in response to this Individual Contract notice must do so in their individual capacity.

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided.
• A Curriculum Vitae (CV) or P.11 Personal History Form stipulating applicant’s official name as shown in identification document, the qualifications and professional experiences (with similar projects) relevant to the assignment/TOR, the contact details (email address, telephone numbers) of 3 professional references and a writing sample (e.g. a previous evaluation report or a research study authored by an applicant).
• A signed financial proposal, quoted in US dollars, outlining the all-inclusive fee, supported by a breakdown of reimbursable – direct and indirect – costs such as travel, lodging, per diem etc.

Note: if an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP (Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability).

• Brief description of approach to work/technical proposal of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a proposed methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment (max 1 page).

Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The shortlisted candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified.

ANNEXES

Annex I – TOR_ IC_Evaluation_Youth_Co_Lab

Annex II – General_Terms_and_Conditions_for_Contracts_Individual_Consultants

Annex III – Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and financial proposal

All documents can be downloaded at: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=85369