Chinese

 

Evaluation of “Strengthening Volunteerism for Development through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games” project

 

Terms of Reference

for

International Consultant

 

Location ：Beijing, CHINA

Post: International Consultant

Languages Required：English

Duration of Contract : 3 working weeks starting mid July

A. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Volunteerism in China is driven by large Government-supported associations and grassroots organizations. A major outcome following the International Year of Volunteers (IYV) in 2001 is a heightened collective recognition of the economic and social value of volunteering action, in particular for promoting social harmony and contributing to the human development of the country.

The Government of China and the United Nations Country Team recognize the need for combined efforts to further promote volunteerism as a valuable resource for development. Compared with developed nations, where 30 to 40 percent of citizens have volunteer service records, China’s volunteer service participation rate is three percent. Further development of volunteerism in China will need to be supported by heightened public appreciation of volunteerism’s contributions to society, improved management of volunteers, the creation of more meaningful opportunities for women and men to volunteer to contribute to the nation’s development, and a better collaboration among local volunteer-involving organizations.

In 2007, the Beijing volunteer legislation was passed and since then there have been great strides in the promotion of volunteerism in China. The 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics Games in Beijing became an extraordinary platform on which 1.7 million volunteers successfully participated. Beijing’s theme of a ‘Green Olympics, Scientific Olympics and People’s Olympics’ meant that volunteers were mobilized for sport as well as to promote environmental protection, conserve resources and maintain ecological balance; thus enhancing the sustainable, coordinated development of the economy, society and environment of Beijing and China as a whole. Earlier in 2008, the unprecedented large-scale mobilization of volunteers and volunteer-involving organizations throughout the country in response to the post-disaster needs of the Wenchuan Earthquake showed the critical importance of volunteer contributions to the well-being of societies.

Beijing Volunteer Federation (BVF) (former Beijing Volunteer Association), under the Beijing Youth League (BYL), is the agency who led the organization of the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics volunteers.

The “Strengthening Volunteerism for Development in China through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games” Project was launched in July 2007 by UNV, UNDP China, Beijing Olympic Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group Office (BOGVWCGO), Beijing Youth League (BYL), Beijing Volunteer Association (now Beijing Volunteer Federation) and China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE) with the following three objectives:

1)      To support and facilitate the Beijing Olympic Games Volunteer Work Coordination Group Office (BOGVWCGO), Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) and Beijing Committee of the China Communist Youth League (BCCCYL) in implementing successfully the Beijing Olympic Volunteer Programme Action Plan, especially the Training Operational Plan.

2)      To enhance environmental awareness through volunteerism with the involvement of communities and civil society organizations to support the “Green Olympics” concept.

3)      To engage volunteers, including Olympic Volunteers, through a national volunteer campaign to support and contribute to achieving the MDGs and enhancing a Xiao Kang Society.

Following the Olympic phase, focused on objectives 1) and 2), a second phase was signed in April 2010 by UNDP, UNV, BYL (on behalf of BVF) and CICETE to address objective 3). The second phase document also extended of 1 year the initial 3-year duration of the Project, until June 2011. Building on the lessons learned, best practices and addressing the gaps under the first stage, overall this phase aims to strengthen and promote national volunteerism and raise awareness of the contributions that volunteers can make towards a sustainable development agenda in achieving the MDGs, with the following three core components and objectives: 

1) Improve capacity and strengthen volunteer infrastructure of the Beijing Volunteer Association to increase the quality of volunteer management in Beijing and promote volunteerism for development.

2) Engage volunteers, including previous Olympic volunteers, to pilot initiatives that demonstrate effectiveness of volunteerism towards the achievement of the MDGs.

3) Promote Beijing Olympics volunteer legacy knowledge management through documentation, publication and dissemination to national and international volunteer community.

The total budget for both phases of the project is USD 1.4 million, of which:

UNDP funds: USD 500,000;

UNV funds: USD 400,000 (in two tranches of USD 100,000 and USD 300,000 respectively);

Government cost-sharing funds: USD 500,000.

The Project is executed by UNDP’s national programme counterpart, CICETE of the Ministry of Commerce on behalf of the Government. BVF implements the project under BYL supervision through the Project Management Office (PMO), with strong technical and financial support from UNV and UNDP. The PMO, based in BVF, is headed by BVF Secretary General, supervised by BVF’s Deputy-Secretary General and is composed of several national UNV volunteers and one international UNV volunteer who collaborate closely with BVF staff to implement activities and work towards the achievement of Project objectives. 

The National Programme Director (NPD) is currently the Director of BVF.The PMO is led by a National Programme Manager (NPM) who manages the project on a day to day basis. The NPM and PMO are responsible for implementing the project on behalf of the Project Board (composed of Senior Representatives of all partners), coordinate and ensure efficient and effective use of project resources.

B. EVALUATION PURPOSE

The purposes of the evaluation are:

(i)        To perform final assessment of the extent to which the Project has successfully accomplished its objectives in terms of activities, outputs and outcomes with reference to Project objectives and Project contribution to UNDAF 2006-2010 and 2011-2015 and the UNDP Country Programme Document for China 2006 – 2010 and 2011 – 2015.

(ii)      To evaluate the impacts and sustainability of project outcomes.

(iii)     To summarize the best practices and lessons learned in achieving the results.

(iv)    To identify implementing agency’s institutional strengths and weaknesses, in view of future cooperation.

(v)      To provide indicative recommendations in view of future cooperation in the current Project area

 C. EVALUATION SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

Under the supervision of UNDP, UNV and CICETE, and in consultation with the PMO and other Project partners, the final evaluation team will focus on the following:

l         Project design and its relevance in relation to:

       - Development priorities at the national and local level.

       - Stakeholders – assess if the specific needs were met.

       - Country ownership – participation and commitments of government, local authorities and communities involved.

l         Performance - look at the progress that has been made by the project relative to the achievement of its objective and outcomes:

       Effectiveness - extent to which the project has achieved its objectives and the desired outcomes, and the overall contribution of the project to national strategic objectives.

       Efficiency - assess efficiency against overall impact of the project for better projection of achievements and benefits resulting from project resources, including an assessment of the different implementation modalities and the cost effectiveness of the utilization of resources and actual co-financing for the achievement of project results.

       Timeliness of results.        

l         Management arrangements focused on project implementation:

       General implementation and management - evaluate the adequacy of the project, implementation structure, including the effectiveness of the Project Board and other governing bodies, partnership strategy and stakeholder involvement from the aspect of compliance to donor requirements and also from the perspective of “good practice model” that could be used for replication.

       Financial accountability – extent to which the sound financial management has been an integral part of achieving project results, with particular reference to adequate reporting, identification of problems and adjustment of activities, budgets and inputs.

l         Monitoring and evaluation on project level – assess the adoption of the monitoring and evaluation system during the project implementation and for its sustainable development , focusing to relevance of performance indicators, in particular:

       Timeliness and quality of inputs.

       Timeliness and cost-effectiveness of activities undertaken.

       Ability of the project to utilize efficiently the inputs available to it.

       Quality and quantity of outputs produced.

       Achievement of immediate objectives.

       Factors that have facilitated or deterred the achievement of project objectives.

l         Project impact:

To determine the short-term and long-term impact of the project, including replication and dissemination of project results within and outside the project area, awareness raised of volunteerism and of the contribution volunteers can make towards a sustainable development agenda.

l         Replication and future cooperation:

To analyze replication potential of the project best practices in the country and in the region, and present recommendations and lessons of broader applicability for follow-up and future support of UNDP and/or the Government, highlighting good and bad practices.

l          Sustainability of project outcomes:

To analyze the risks and assumptions that are likely to affect the persistence of project outcomes, including financial resources, socio-political, and institutional risks.

       Recommendations and lessons learnt.

       Success stories.

       Problems in project implementation.

       Lessons learnt.

       Recommendations.

Moreover, the evaluation team will also look at some key non-project activities, such as policy advice and dialogues, knowledge building and sharing initiatives, etc.

D. EVALUATION QUESTIONS

During evaluation, the evaluation team is expected to (not limited to) answer the following questions:

n        Were the intended results achieved?

n        What progress towards them has been made?

n        Have there been any unexpected results?

n        Has the project been cost-effective, efficient and effective in delivering results?

n        What factors have contributed to achieving or not achieving intended results?

n        To what extent have donors assistance contributed to the intended results?

n        Has the UNDP and UNV partnership strategy been appropriate and effective?

n        What factors contributed to effectiveness or ineffectiveness?

n        To what extent has the project contributed to the objectives of UNDAF 2006-2010 and 2011-2015 and UNDP Country Programme Document for China 2006 – 2010 and 2011 – 2015?

E. METHODOLOGY

During evaluation, the evaluation team may use the following approaches for collecting data and information:

n        Desk review of related documents

n        Interviews/meetings with concerned managers, staff, partners, stakeholders, beneficiaries, etc.

n        Site visits

n        Briefing and debriefing with UNV and UNDP China, CICETE and BVF

F. EVALUATION PRODUCTS (DELIVERABLES)

The evaluation team is expected to produce the following products (deliverables) during/after the evaluation mission.

Draft evaluation report – UNV and UNDP China as well as the key partners and stakeholders in the evaluation will review the draft evaluation report to ensure that the evaluation meets the required quality criteria (see Annex 1).

Final evaluation report - The team leader of the evaluation is responsible for producing the final evaluation report and submitting it to Project partners on a timely basis.

G. EVALUATION TEAM COMPOSITION AND REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

The evaluation team will consist of two consultants: one international consultant (as team leader) and one national consultant (as team member).

The international consultant is required to have the following skills and experience:

an advanced university degree;

at least ten years of experience in the field of development, preferably in the area of volunteerism;

and at least 5 years of experience in evaluation;

excellent communications and report writing skills;

knowledge of UNDP cooperation project procedures and evaluation practices would be an asset.

The team leader will take the overall responsibility for the quality and duly submission of the evaluation report in English.

Specifically, the international consultant (team leader) will perform the following tasks:

n        Lead and manage the evaluation mission;

n        Design the detailed evaluation scope and methodology (including the methods for data collection and analysis);

n        Decide the division of labor within the evaluation team;

n        Conduct an analysis of the outcome, outputs and partnership strategy (as per the scope of the evaluation described above);

n        Draft related parts of the evaluation report; and

n        Finalize the whole evaluation report and submit it to Project partners.

The national consultant will be selected separately.

H. EVALUATION ETHICS

The evaluation will be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation, the UNEG Norms for Evaluation in the UN System, and the UNEG Standards for Evaluation in the UN System. The evaluation team must get permission from UNDP China and the government if it would like to collect and disclose sensitive data and information.

I. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

To facilitate the outcome evaluation, an Evaluation Focal Team (EFT) will be set up to provide both substantive and logistical support to the evaluation team.

During the evaluation, UNDP/UNV will help identify the key partners for interviews by the evaluation team. The international consultant (team leader) and the national consultant (team member) will each work for three weeks for the evaluation.

J. TIMEFRAME FOR THE EVALUATION PROCESS

The timeframe for the specific tasks/activities is as follows:

 

Finalization of the evaluation report can be home-based for the international consultant.

K. COST

The costs to be incurred by the evaluation will be borne by the Project. In particular, costs related to the international consultant will be borne by UNV.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

8.  The payment will be made by CICETE using the lump sum approach. The total lump sum amount will be paid in three payment terms upon the delivery of the following.

1)  50% of total lump sum amount is payable upon delivery of the draft final report;
2)  50% of total lump sum amount is payable upon acceptance by the UNDP/UNV of the final evaluation report in its final form.

L. DOCUMENTS TO BE REVIEWED BY THE EVALUATOR

§   UNDP Handbook on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluating for Development Results (2009) – Annex 7. Evaluation Report Template and Quality Standards

§   UNDP Guidelines for Outcome Evaluators

§   UNEG Norms for Evaluation in the UN System

§   UNEG Standards for Evaluation in the UN System

§   UNDAF for China 2006-2010 and 2011-2015

§   UNDP Country Programme Document for China 2006 – 2010 and 2011 – 2015.

§   Project Documents, briefs, reports, etc.

Applications are to be sent by email to unv.china@undp.org with “International Consultant for Final Evaluation” marked in the subject line.

Application deadline: Wednesday, 6th July 2010