Office of Internal Oversight Services
Inspection and Evaluation Division

Evaluation of the Resident Coordinator System

Expert Consultant – Terms of Reference

Application Requirements and Deadlines

  1. All interested candidates are kindly requested to submit a resume and brief cover letter indicating their interest and how they meet the qualifications identified in para 8 below to Nicholas Kowbel (kowbel@un.org) no later than Thursday 4 February 2021.

Background

  1. The Inspection and Evaluation Division of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS-IED) conducts independent evaluations on behalf of the Secretary-General and Member States. Its objective is to strengthen accountability and learning across the Organization in the implementation of programmes.1  More information on OIOS-IED can be found at: oios.un.org/inspection-and-evaluation
  2. OIOS-IED will carry out an evaluation of the Resident Coordinator (RC) system for completion in the Fall of 2021, as part of the evaluation plan for the RC system.2  The RC system is overseen by the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO).3  The specific scope of the evaluation exercise and the data collection tasks required is being defined through the ongoing inception phase based on desk reviews, interviews and consultation with key partners.
  3. OIOS-IED is seeking an evaluation consultant (hereafter referred to as the consultant) to support the evaluation with discrete data collection and analysis tasks. This terms of reference (ToR) describes the specific responsibilities and profile of the consultant.

Evaluation Consultant Responsibilities

  1. The consultant will be responsible for contributing to several streams of data collection and analysis contained in the final evaluation methodology, spread out over March to August 2021. Possible streams of data collection may include the following:
    • Interviews with current and former DCO staff, and key stakeholders
    • Survey of selected internal and external stakeholder groups
    • Document and literature review
    • Secondary data analysis of programme performance, monitoring and reporting data (including UN-Info)
    • Case studies for in-depth assessment of a purposive sample of countries, which could include field missions
    • Direct observation of Office activities, including meetings and workshops
  2. The consultant may be asked to provide ad hoc inputs on specific aspects of the project as needs arise.
  3. The consultant will liaise with OIOS-IED Chief and project lead on a regular basis to successfully complete the analyses and draft reports on the results.

Qualifications

  1. Specific qualifications of the consultant include the following:
    • Master’s, relevant professional degree in a relevant field;
    • 5 years or more experience in the conduct of programme evaluation and/or social sciences research;
    • 5 years or more of academic and/or applied expertise in related substantive area of international development
    • Excellent reading and writing skills in English, including the ability to review and analyze documents;
    • Demonstrated track record for working well in a team environment.

Deliverables and timing

  1. For work completed over the assignment period, the consultant will be paid for approximately 25 working days. The following deliverables are expected:
    • specific data collection instrumentation;
    • primary data collection presented in the form of reports and spreadsheets;
    • contribute to evaluation results brainstorming with the rest of the evaluation team; and
    • other ad hoc information on the request(s) of the OIOS-IED evaluation team.
  1. Guiding criteria for consultant deliverables will be communicated when tasks are assigned. Failure to submit to OIOS-IED in a timely manner will result in the nullification of this agreement.

Standards of Conduct

  1. All materials reviewed by the consultant are strictly confidential and should be treated as such by the consultant.
  2. As specified in Administrative Instruction ST/AI/1999/7 (attached), the consultant shall respect the impartiality and independence of the United Nations Secretariat and shall neither seek nor accept instructions regarding services performed under the consultant contract from any Government or other authority external to the Organization. During the consultant’s period of service with the OIOS-IED, s/he shall refrain from any conduct that would adversely reflect on the United Nations and shall not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Organization.
  3. Furthermore, in accordance with ST/AI/1999/7, section 5.6, the consultant shall exercise the utmost discretion in all matters relating to the performance of his functions. Unless otherwise authorized by the OIOS-IED Director (Mr. Eddie Guo), the consultant may not communicate at any time to the media, institution, person, Government or other external authority, any information that has not been made public and which has become known to them by reason of their association with the United Nations. Consultants may not use such information without the written authorization of the Organization.
  4. Any further utilization of the information that has become known to the consultant undertaking the assignment will only be permitted if the consultant submits in writing his intentions for the use of the information and obtains written authorization from the OIOS-IED Director. In obtaining this authorization, the consultant should submit:
    • Explanation in writing of the intended use;
    • Draft of the material that is intended to be used; and
    • Intended communication method and the timeframe for distribution.

1The frame of reference for this evaluation is in accordance with General Assembly resolution 48/218 B of 29 July 1994, which established OIOS and, in paragraph 5 C (iii), mandated evaluation as distinct oversight functions. Further provisions on OIOS are contained in General Assembly resolutions 54/244 of 23 December 1999 and 59/272 of 23 December 2004. More information about OIOS-IED is available at oios.un.org.
2Proposed Programme Budget for 2021 available at undocs.org/A/75/6(Sect.1), para 1.304
3More information on UN DCO can be found at unsdg.un.org/about/development-coordination-office