Result of Service

PURPOSE, SCOPE, AND OBJECTIVES OF EVALUATION Taking into consideration that the project ended in 2022, the main objective of the evaluation will be to identify good practices, lessons learned, and the results of the intervention in the region from the dimensions of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, human rights, gender perspective, intersectionality and intercultural approaches. Among the specific objectives, priority should be given to findings related to sustainability, aiming to identify the results that have been maintained in the short, medium, and long term since the end of the intervention. Additionally, priority should be given to identifying challenges and opportunities for the continuity of comprehensive territorial and urban development in the region, based on the project’s impact. The evaluation methodology should consider the present political and social landscape of Mexico, country in which was implemented the project, while also integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches. It must involve engaging key stakeholders of the Project, such as government counterparts, Civil Society Organizations, academia, the private sector, the community, and subject matter experts. It is important to mention that both the methodology and the involvement of stakeholders will be determined collaboratively with the UN Habitat Project team and may be adjusted according to the findings needs.

Work Location

Home based

Expected duration

5 months

Duties and Responsibilities

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT The present Terms of Reference pertain to the final evaluation of the project “Integral Territorial and Urban Development of the Southeast Region of Mexico – Regional Mayan Train Corridor,” developed within the framework of the Contribution Agreement between the Government of Mexico, represented by the National Fund for Tourism Development (FONATUR), and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), via the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID), which establishes the general collaboration framework for UN-Habitat. The project was implemented in Southeast Mexico over a period of 36 months, with a budget of USD 6,882,606. EVALUATION APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY The evaluation will be conducted in line with the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards for evaluation in Nations System . The evaluation methodology should consider the current political and social context of the country, as well as integrate qualitative and quantitative methods, incorporating relevant actors of the Project, including government counterparts, Civil Society Organizations, academia, communities, the private sector, subject matter experts, and the project team. It should be noted that the actors will be established jointly with the UN Habitat Project team and may be modified based on its needs and requests. Gender and intersectionality perspectives should be ensured to be incorporated in all aspects of the evaluation methodology. In this regard, the methodology should consider the following elements (with the possibility of being carried out remotely or on-site): • Cabinet review of all available project documentation. The documentation will be provided by the UN-Habitat Project team. • Semi-structured interviews. • Focus groups. • Review and analysis of data. It is necessary to achieve maximum validity and reliability of the data (quality) and promote its use; the evaluation team will be responsible for triangulating the various data sources. • Analysis methods. Appropriate analysis methods may be proposed to assess the impact of the project on direct and indirect benefits. In this regard, the inclusion of comparative methods, quasi-experimental, among others, is encouraged. EVALUATION PRODUCTS (FINAL DELIVERABLES) The consulting person should deliver at least the following products: i. Initial Evaluation Meeting: In this meeting, the evaluation methodology will be presented to UN-Habitat. The consulting person should adjust the methodology based on any observations made by the UN-Habitat team. The final methodology must be approved by UN-Habitat. o Two weeks after the start of the contract. ii. Initial Evaluation Report (between 10 and 15 pages): The initial report should be conducted after the document review and based on the discussions held. It should be prepared before the evaluation begins. Once approved, it will become the key management document for guiding the evaluation process. The inception report shall include background and context, evaluation purpose and objectives, methodology, evaluation matrix (in accordance with evaluation questions to be provided by UN-Habitat, which may be supplemented by the consultant as necessary), approach, including the Theory of Change, and methods, limitations to the evaluation, proposed outline of the evaluation report, as well as work schedule and delivery dates of key evaluation deliverables. o Delivery within the first month after signing the contract. o For the satisfactory delivery of Product 1, 10% (ten percent) of the total amount agreed upon in the contract will be paid. iii. Information Collection Stage In accordance with the methodology approved in the Initial Evaluation Report, the evaluation methodology must include dialogue spaces (focus group, semi-structured interview, or another format) with key stakeholders of the Project. These spaces may be conducted either virtually or in person, as will be jointly determined with UN-Habitat. In this regard, during this period, the following spaces will be implemented (the final number of spaces will depend on the proposed methodology): – Space 1 – Space 2 – Space 3 – Space 4 Note: In addition to the dialogue spaces, the methodology proposed in the inception report will also be implemented during this period. Delivery within the two months after signing the contract. For the satisfactory delivery of Product 2, 20% (twenty percent) of the total amount agreed upon in the contract will be paid. • Draft Evaluation Report (with the agreed-upon length): The program unit and key stakeholders of the evaluation should review the draft evaluation report and provide various comments to the evaluator within the agreed-upon timeframe, addressing the necessary content (as agreed upon in the terms of reference and in the initial report) and quality criteria, as indicated in these Guidelines. The draft should follow the structure outlined in the following section (Final Evaluation Report). Three months after the signing of the contract. The first draft must be submitted at least two weeks in advance for review by the UN-Habitat team and relevant stakeholders. For the satisfactory delivery of product 3, 30% (thirty percent) of the total amount agreed in the contract will be paid. • Final Evaluation Report. Five months after the signing of the contract. The first draft must be submitted at least three weeks in advance for review by the UN-Habitat team and relevant stakeholders. For the satisfactory delivery of product 4, 40% (forty percent) of the total amount agreed in the contract will be paid.

Qualifications/special skills

Required: Postgraduate and university degree (stricto sensu) in fields related to public policy, project evaluation, urban development, economics or related. If you have published bibliographic material on the aforementioned topics, you must indicate it in your application, and it will be positively taken into account. Demonstrate at least 8 years of professional experience in the social evaluation of projects, programs, or public policies at the local, state or national level; project management or administration development; management and implementation of public policy projects, preferably from the urban or territorial sphere, or related professional experience. Experience of 2 years in evaluations with a gender and intersectionality perspective. Demonstrate relevant professional experience in the implementation of diverse quantitative and qualitative techniques for the evaluation of projects or programs. Demonstrate relevant professional experience in the implementation of diverse quantitative and qualitative techniques for the evaluation of projects or programs, including comparative and quasi-experimental methods. Experience in the Mexican context is mandatory. Demonstrating knowledge of the 2030 Agenda and the New Urban Agenda, and/or UN-Habitat language is desirable. International experience will be positively considered, particularly in the field of international cooperation for territorial and urban development. Work experience in the United Nations System is not a requirement, but it will be positively valued.

Languages

Excellent oral and written skills in Spanish and English and have the technical capacity to write and review reports and specialized documents on urban and territorial planning.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.