Programme evaluation consultant (GRIP)

Background

Following the decision of the Oslo 2004 meeting and after extensive consultations with dozens of risk identification professionals - including United Nations' International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) Working Group III on Risk, Vulnerability and Impact Assessment - GRIP was initiated in 2006 by the international Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) community, aiming at improving the evidence base for disaster risk management in high-risk countries. Officially launched as a UN-ISDR Thematic Platform for Risk Identification in 2007 at the 1st session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, GRIP has been adopted by the UN-ISDR system to support worldwide activities to identify and monitor disaster risks.

Hosted by UNDP, GRIP is a multi-stakeholder initiative with the ultimate goal of promoting sustainable development by reducing the impacts of natural disasters in high risk countries. With the mission of providing 'Better risk information for sound decision making', GRIP's objectives are twofold:

• To improve disaster risk information and understanding; and
• To increase application of disaster risk information in public policy / decision making processes.

GRIP's programme design, approved in 2006 by the Programme Steering Committee, includes 5 outcome areas:

• Risk analyses in high-risk countries, in support to public decision making processes;
• Disaster loss data enhancement to learn from past disasters;
• Demonstration in 3 selected priority countries to test GRIP's practice development and demonstrate its impact;
• National capacity development to ensure sustainability of disaster risk assessment; and
• Global risk update.

Following the programme design and to establish the thematic platform, GRIP's work has focused on the following aspects: 1) Practice development - Development of standard and norms, methodologies, tools, guidelines, and applications of the developed methodologies and tools in high-risk countries; 2) Country support - Building of a solid portfolio for the provision of technical support and services to high-risk countries in conducting di§saster risk assessment; 3) Inter-agency activities - Establishment of mechanisms for coordination and facilitation of inter-agency activities in practice development and integrated country support; 4) Development of the GRIP structure - In particular, partnerships with donors, public sectors, and private sectors to expand its capability as a thematic platform and ensure the sustainability of the programme; and 5) Global integration of disaster and risk information through GRIPWeb.

GRIP's areas of practice in risk assessment include two levels – National and Global. At the national level, GRIP supports high-risk countries through UNDP's Country Offices to develop and implement a comprehensive long-term solution to disaster risk assessment. As of October 2011, GRIP has assisted around 45 high-risk countries in conducting comprehensive disaster risk assessment. In particular, GRIP has supported: 24 countries to implement Country Situation Analysis (CSA) to delineate baselines and create an enabling environment for disaster risk assessment; 8 countries to establish National Disaster Observatories (NDO) to learn from their past disasters; 7 countries to conduct National Risk Assessment (NRA) for revising or formulating their National (DRR) strategy; and 6 countries to conduct Urban Risk Assessment (URA) for preparing contingency plans, DRR action plans, and urban/spatial plans. In addition, GRIP has developed a series of methodologies, tools, guidelines, and standards for disaster risk assessment, including a comprehensive training package. The training package consists of 6 integral training courses: Disaster Risk Assessment for United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and practitioners, CSA, NDO, NRA, and URA. Each course is further divided into 3 levels – introductory, intermediate, and advanced, to address different audiences of different backgrounds. In 2011 (five years after its launch), GRIP has been recognized as a practice leader in the international risk assessment community. At the global level, GRIP, in partnership with World Meteorological Organization (WMO), World Health Organization (WHO), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN-HABITAT and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), is committed to facilitate and provide coordinated country support to promote Delivering as One in Risk Assessment and increase the synergy among UN agencies in risk assessment at the national level. In October 2012, GRIP will complete its 1st phase of implementation. It is in this regard that the GRIP secretariat initiated this comprehensive and independent evaluation of the GRIP-I for designing the GRIP-II.

Objectives of the assignment

The purpose of this independent evaluation is to systematically review:

• The progress and achievements made during the first phase, the emerging issues and challenges GRIP has been facing, the lessons learned through the programme's implementation; and
• The impact of GRIP's activities and interventions at both global and national levels, aiming at generating strategic inputs for the GRIP secretariat and its partners to incorporate in the design of the second phase of the programme. In addition, the evaluation will also provide recommendations for strengthening GRIP as the UN-ISDR's thematic platform for leading world-wide risk assessment activities to support the implementation of Priority 2 of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).

Specific objectives of the evaluation of GRIP-I are as follows

• To assess the performance of the GRIP-I and specify practice development results achieved– particularly in its 5 outcome areas. The independent assessment will systematically review the implementation modality, practice development, country support, inter-agency coordination, and knowledge management;
• To determine the extent to which the GRIP-I has positioned itself to add value to the implementation of the UN-ISDR's HFA, in response to the needs and demands from high-risk countries in understanding the problem of the risks and disasters they are facing and improving their decision making by addressing these risks. This includes the role and relevance of GRIP in the development or enhancement of the National Disaster Risk Management (DRM)/DRR systems of high-risk countries, including national coordination mechanism, stakeholder engagement, risk awareness, and capacity development.
• To present the key findings, draw the lessons learned, and provide a set of clear and forward-looking options to inform management decisions and stakeholders and to strengthen GRIP as the UN-ISDR thematic platform for risk assessment.

Scope of work

The implementation of the 5 outcome areas required GRIP's work to focus on the following aspects, which apply to all of them

• Practice development – Development of standard and norms, methodologies, tools, guidelines, and applications of the developed methodologies and tools in high-risk countries;
• Country support – Building of a solid portfolio for the provision of technical support and services to high-risk countries in conducting disaster risk assessment;
• Inter-agency activities – Establishment of mechanisms for coordination and facilitation of inter-agency activities in practice development and integrated country support;
• Development of the GRIP structure – In particular, partnerships with donors, public sectors, and private sectors to expand its capability as a thematic platform and ensure the sustainability of the programme; and
• Global integration of disaster and risk information through GRIPWeb. The evaluation will review progress in all these aspects as they apply to the programme's 5 outcome areas.

Expected deliverables

• Inception repor - detailing the evaluators' understanding of what is being evaluated and why, showing how each evaluation question will be answered by way of: proposed methods, proposed sources of data and data collection procedures. The inception report will also include a proposed schedule of tasks, activities and deliverables, designating a team member with the lead responsibility for each task or product;
• Draft evaluation report;
• Final evaluation report with a complete assessment of GRIP-I outputs and outcomes and a set of recommendations for formulating the GRIP-II.

Provision of monitoring and progress control

The incumbent will report directly to the Monitoring and Evaluation team of BCPR and the work will be monitored in terms of the following key timelines

• Inception of the evaluation (the 1st week after the contract is signed)
• Briefing of evaluators
• Design and agree on the evaluation design and methods including the stakeholder interview;
• Prepare the detailed implementation plan;
• Submission of an inception report including a detailed work plan within one week from the starting date;
• Implementation of the evaluation (the 2nd – 6th week after the contract is signed )
• Desk-review of the programme documents;
• Develop questionnaires;
• Conduct the stakeholder interviews through telephone and visits;
• Conduct country interviews;
• Conduct in-house data analysis;
• Submission of the 1st draft of the evaluation report within the 6th week for stakeholder review;
• Reporting of the evaluation (the 7th – 8th week after the contract is signed)
• Review of the evaluation report by key stakeholders;
• Revise the report to include the feedback received;
• Organize a stakeholder meeting and review of the draft report;
• Incorporating comments and finalizing the evaluation report.
• Submission of the final evaluation report by no later than May 15, 2012.

Degree of expertise and qualifications

The following are some of key qualifications for the selection of the team members

• Masters or PhD in a relevant field, and at least 20 years of international development experience or well established and well-functioning organization with at least 10 years of experience in project/programme design and evaluation;
• Sound knowledge of humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction, disaster risk management and risk assessment issues at national, regional, and global levels;
• Background in strategic planning and previous experience drafting or contribution to UN development documents;
• Sound methodological skills and knowledge of evaluation methods and techniques;
• Strong monitoring and evaluation background;
• Proven familiarity with UNDP, the UN system and the international development landscape, as well as the UN architecture for disaster risk reduction;
• Extensive experience in working with the UN/multilateral development agencies, UNDP country offices and/or regional centers is an asset;
• Superior leadership and strategic management skills with an excellent understanding of international development issues and knowledge of the UN system;
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, in a multi-cultural setting; excellent interpersonal skills, objectivity and ability to analyze large multi-country data sets in short period;
• Experience working collaboratively in small teams with tight deadlines.

Review time required/payments terms

• The payment for the consultant will be made in 2 installments:
• 40% will be paid at the inception of the evaluation;
• 60% is paid at the acceptance of the final evaluation report; and
• Travel cost will be paid upon submission of the travel claim.