Result of Service

The ultimate result of the assignment is the final independent evaluation of Harare Sustainable City Initiative (HSCI): Promotion of Carbon-Neutral Urban Basic Services and Energy-Efficient Built Environment project validated by the Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) composed by representatives of Sida, the UN-Habitat Evaluation Unit, the Project team, as well as representatives of other key partners involved in the project implementation.

Work Location

Home-based

Expected duration

4 Months

Duties and Responsibilities

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) promotes socially and environmentally sustainable towns, cities and human settlements. As the United Nations focal entity for sustainable urbanization and human settlements, UN-Habitat supports Member States, local authorities, communities and partners through normative and operational work at global, regional, national and local levels. In Zimbabwe, UN-Habitat works as part of the wider United Nations system, supporting the Government of Zimbabwe through the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) in collaboration with other UN agencies. Through this collective approach, UN-Habitat contributes to sustainable urban development by providing technical cooperation, policy support, capacity development, urban basic services, climate-responsive planning, circular economy approaches and inclusive local development initiatives. This work contributes to national development priorities and global commitments, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the New Urban Agenda, the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Zimbabwe, and UN-Habitat’s strategic priorities. The project Harare Sustainable City Initiative was designed to contribute to all four domains of change. The project was also meant to respond to the achievement of urban related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including SDG 11 on cities, SDG 13 on climate change, SDG 14 on oceans, SDG 1 on poverty, SDG 5 on gender, SDG 8 on economy among others; and numerous New Urban Agenda (NUA) paragraphs. It was implemented in Harare, Zimbabwe and targeted vulnerable community groups (including urban and peri-urban poor) specifically women and youths. The project’s overall objective was to provide better living condition to Harare citizens by increasing and improving their access to sustainable waste to wealth services, clean energy provisions and to promote energy and resource efficiency in Zimbabwe’s built environment. The project focused on three outcome areas: Outcome 1: Sustainable waste-to-wealth practices in Greater Harare. The aim of this outcome was to strengthen sustainable waste management and circular economy practices through waste generation and characterization studies, capacity building on integrated sustainable waste management, awareness raising and behaviour change initiatives, establishment of resource recovery facilities and waste recovery systems, and engagement and inclusion of informal waste workers. Outcome 2: Increased access to clean energy by urban and peri-urban communities in Harare. This outcome focused on promoting access to clean energy for productive uses through energy needs assessments, the establishment of Multifunctional Clean Energy Centres (MCECs) in Epworth and Mabvuku, deployment of renewable energy technologies, development of governance structures for MCEC management and operations, and provision of hands-on training opportunities for women and youth. Outcome 3: Energy and resource efficiency in Zimbabwe’s built environment. This outcome supported sustainable urban development through the promotion of energy and resource efficiency, sustainable urban planning, improved construction standards, use of low-carbon building materials, technical capacity building, and professional engagement across Zimbabwe’s built environment sector. The evaluation will be informed by the HSCI Theory of Change, which sets out the project’s intended results pathway from outputs and outcomes to the overall objective and longer-term impact. Implementing and Management Structures and Key Stakeholders of the Project The project is implemented by UN-Habitat in collaboration with implementing partners in Zimbabwe that include Practical Action, Zimbabwe Sunshine Group, Green Building Council of Zimbabwe, Soberlife, Action24, Community Water Alliance, City of Harare and Epworth Local Board. Evaluation is an integral component of programming and project cycle management. It enhances accountability and learning for stronger performance and results, as defined in the UN Regulations and Rules Governing Programme Planning, Aspects of the Budget, the Monitoring of the Implementation and the Methods of Evaluation (PPBME- ST/SGB/2016/6), the New Administrative Instruction for Evaluation in the UN Secretariat (AI/2021/3), and in the UN-Habitat policy. Duties and main responsibilities: Under the supervision of the Associate Evaluation Officer in the Evaluation Unit, the consultant in close collaboration with other staff members of the Evaluation Unit and the programme branches will be responsible for the following tasks: a) Assess the overall performance of the project in terms of its availability of outputs and achievement of outcomes. b) Assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, coherence, sustainability and likelihood of impact of the project in promoting carbon neutral urban basic services and energy efficient built environment. c) Assess the planning, adequacy of resources, working arrangements and how these impacted on the effectiveness of the project. d) Assess the effectiveness of the working arrangements between UN-Habitat and its partners at national, municipality and community levels. e) Assess how cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, persons with disability, youth and human rights have been integrated in the activities of the project. f) Identify and validate lessons learnt, areas of improvement and make actionable recommendations to future interventions. g) Assess scope for scaling up project outputs to support municipal-level and national processes to enable development of bankable projects for fundraising. h) Assess whether an effective project exit strategy has been developed by the project team to ensure future sustainability and use of project outputs and outcomes.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced academic degree in urban planning, economics, project management, international development, program evaluation, statistics and survey research is required. A first level university degree in combination with (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. A minimum of 7 years of professional practical experience in results-based management in the field of policy development and analysis and/or capacity building is required. Ability to present credible findings derived from evidence and putting conclusions and recommendations supported findings, including through charts, infographics and other graphic design products is desirable. 10 years of evaluation experience (conduct and management) with substantive experience in sustainable development is desirable. Familiarity with the work of the United Nations and with UN-Habitat’s mandate is an asset and is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in written and oral English is required.

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.

International Evaluation Consultant - HSCI End of Project Evaluation