National Monitoring and Evaluation Consultants at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

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The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC) Country Office in Nigeria, is recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: National Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant for Development and Dissemination of a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Justice Sector Reform

Additional Category: Millennium Development Goals
Type of Contract Individual Contract
Post Level: National Consultant
Location: Abuja
Starting Date: (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 01-Jun-2015
Duration of Initial Contract: 60 Working days within the period of June 01 - November 30, 2015
Expected Duration of Assignment: 60 Working days within the period of June 01 - November 30, 2015

Background
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Office in Nigeria is implementing the European Union (EU) Funded project NGA V18, “Support to the Justice Sector in Nigeria. The overall objective of the project is to improve governance and compliance with the rule of law in Nigeria through improved effectiveness, accessibility, accountability, transparency and fairness of the justice system.

The project is to achieve the objective through support to coordination amongst justice sector institutions, building institutional and technical capacities and enhancing access to justice. In this regard, the project will provide support and technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Nigerian Judiciary at federal and ten State levels, the Nigerian Police and the Nigerian Prisons. Also to be supported are the Legal Aid Council and the National Human Rights Commission.

The National Planning Commission (NPC) signed the project document on behalf of the Government of Nigeria as national authorizing officer. The NPC also exercises oversight functions over the project and is expected to also monitor the implementation of the project and other European Union funded projects.

As part of this effort, a number of activities are being implemented to expand the NPC and the justice sector's capacities in various priority areas in order to improve coordination, service delivery, project management as well as monitoring and evaluation (M&E).

A number of clearly identified priorities are:

• The need to enhance the Commission's coordination of programs and development capacities as a means of improving service delivery and expanding its statutory mandate to exercise oversight and monitoring functions over donor funding so as to enable them participate effectively in (M&E) as well as be able to review progress of the activities being implemented by the implementing partners from time to time;
• Identify problems in planning and/or implementation early enough;
• Seek to draw lessons and best practices that can be used to improve programme/project design, management as well as setting up of new priorities that fully meet the needs of the country when developing new initiatives. The NPC and justice sector institutions' enhanced role in monitoring and evaluation would also contribute to developing national capacities and enhance Nigeria's ownership in project implementation and management in line with the Paris Principles.

Duties and Responsibilities
Purpose of the assignment:

• The purpose of the consultancy is to assist in strengthening the Monitoring and Evaluation capacity of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ) and lead agencies in the Project.
• A system that will equip the executing agency with appropriate but simplistic tools and capacities to M&E project performance against pre-determined bench marks at all levels of activities, outputs and outcome, while also identifying bottlenecks and providing an objective assessment on the performance of the project to the management hence enabling them to take informed decisions regarding the different aspects of the project performance. A system that is able to capture best practices, and contributes to the knowledge base within and beyond the project boundaries.
• The system should also allow for simplistic mechanism for systematic data collection and analysis by the different stakeholders, not only to monitor and evaluate progress made but promote project accountability towards stakeholders, donors and end users (beneficiaries)

Tasks to be performed by the consultant:

• Under the supervision of the UNODC's Programme Officer Monitoring and Evaluation, in consultation with the project Coordinator/justice project team, and in direct collaboration with NPC and FMoJ management, and focal persons of the relevant M & E units, the incumbent will perform the following broad tasks:
  • Review of the existing M&E system;
  • Development of a refined M&E System;
  • Roll out of the approved M&E System (including piloting phase), and provide training to focal points that are responsible to manage and update the system;
  • Post implementation follow up and back stopping;
  • In collaboration with NPC staff and UNODC, refine outcome and output indicators;
  • In consultation with FMoJ/NPC staff and UNODC, develop and field test all templates of the M&E System.

Expected tangible and measurable output(s):

• The main output of the assignment is to have a functional M&E System for the FMoJ/NPC to monitor and evaluate the project.

Under the broad tasks (as stated above) the consultant is expected to undertake and deliver the following outputs:

• Prepare and submit a written proposal to UNODC and the NPC on the methods of, and timeline for, development of the M & E System;
• Conduct comprehensive assessment of the M&E system within the relevant institutions, this will also entail visits to the field and discussion with NPC/FMoJ/UNODC relevant staff including that from the M&E Unit/section;
• Based on the assessment and discussions with relevant staff including UNODC, NPC and FMoJ develop a concept of a proposed refinedM&E system for the approval of the component authorities;
• Develop a detail annual costing of the proposed M&E system both in terms of human resources, hard ware and overhead.

Develop a complete refined M&E system not limited to the following:

• Key performance indicators at output, outcome and impact level, along with defining the data collection, collation, analysis and dissemination protocols, and these indicators should be aligned with the project log frame. Indicators must be consistent with well-known SMART criteria. (The assessment of the proposed indicators should take into account the expected and realistic frequency of data collection on impact, outcome and output indicators;
• Proposed criteria and mechanisms for data quality assurance, where the data collected and reported is credible, accurate, and reliable and is devoid of any biases;
• Design relevant reporting templates, including field visit reports, follow-up mechanism and protocols for project review meetings
• Propose a project specific Management Information System (MIS), a database that is able to store relevant information and can run simple queries (by indicator name and time frame);
• Conduct and submit a report on training need assessment of the staff designated for the M&E of the project at all levels of the project. The reports will include a training programme on the M&E system;
• Conduct training for identified focal staff (from various departments and zonal offices) responsible for monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the project;
• Draw up detail specifications and terms of reference for the proposed hardware for the M&E System;
• Provide backstopping support throughout the initial activities during the first few months on the use of the system;
• Analysis of the results of the pilot (Before the monitoring system is fully launched, it is important to pilot the system to see what works and what does not work. The piloting exercise is intended to test the indicators, data sources, data collection and analysis methods, as well as means of data collection and reporting. Analysis of the results of the pilot will provide an opportunity to review indicators against data collection methods to ensure their relevance, feasibility and cost-effectiveness).
• At the end of the above process, the consultant will assist to ensure that a quality M&E system is in operation, and facilitate an effective implementation of the project. An M&E plan is in place providing guidance to all relevant institutions in the delivery of the agreed outputs and a functional review mechanism, which consult on project progress and are taking corrective measures to rectify identified deficits.

Details as to how the work must be delivered:
To fulfil the objectives of the consultancy, the consultant will:

• Study relevant documentation provided by the NPC/FMoJ/UNODC, including the project document and the Act setting up the NPC with emphasis on the sections relating to monitoring and evaluation role of the NPC.

Undertake an in-house assessment mission to the NPC Headquarters and/or its zonal offices, as appropriate, which will involve:

• Interacting closely with NPC management staff and the project focal person;
• Meeting with staff of the Monitoring and Evaluation unit;
• Meeting with some NPC and Justice Sector stakeholders to assess the type, nature, volume and level of projects and programmes being implemented by the NPC, relevant to the justice sector;
• Review of any existing Monitoring and Evaluation System being used by NPC.

Interacting/working with designated staff of the NPC, FMoJ and UNODC to:

• Develop and present the concept of the Monitoring and Evaluation tool and the monitoring system to the NPC and other stakeholders;
• Identify, engage and manage the staff that will work with or assist him/her in the assignment;
• Implement the necessary training as determined in the methodology;
• Roll out the M&E system as per the agreed modality and design of the system.

Evaluation Criteria:

• Timely, accurate and logical submission of the documents required;
• Substantive and linguistic quality of the documents prepared;
• Delivery of the Training of Trainers for the selected pioneering staff that will use the tools;
• Evaluation of the whole activities by the management staff of the NPC.

Additionally:

• All documents submitted by the consultant will only be deemed accepted, when communicated in writing to the consultant by the component authority (ies).

Competencies
Corporate Competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Highest standard of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent understanding of organisational issues;
• Commitment to professionalism;
• In-depth knowledge of M&E, specifically in relation to public sector institutions;
• Excellent understanding of Justice Sector Reform issues and/or fields directly relevant to the project;
• Knowledge in conducting training sessions and good facilitation skills;
• Good understanding of change management, including system development and organizational skills;
• Commitment to quality;
• Commitment to deadlines;
• Objectivity, honesty and fairness;
• Logic and ability to operate systematically;
• Excellent oral and writing communication skills;
• Timely and accurate submission of reports and other required documents;
• Substantive and linguistic quality of documents prepared;
• Commitment to confidentiality of the assignment and handing over of products and documents paid for by UNODC used in the delivery of consultancy outputs.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

• University degree (preferably Post-graduate degree) in Law, Public Administration or a related discipline.

Experience:

• At least 8 years of professional experience, including some years in M&E and/or public sector management experience.

Language:

• Fluency in English;
• Working knowledge of some major Nigeria Languages is an advantage.

Remuneration
Successful candidate will be remunerated in an agreed ratio of about five (5) instalments tied to different deliverables as will be stated in the contract.

Application Closing Date
22nd May, 2015

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online