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The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It does so by investing in rural people. IFAD finances programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes, andย advocates at the local, national and international level for policies that contribute to rural transformation.
The Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) promotes accountability and learning through independent evaluations of IFAD's work. In line with IFAD's 2021 Evaluation Policy, IOE reports directly to the IFAD Executive Board. IOE is seeking expressions of interest by senior consultants to contribute to the evaluations listed below planned for 2024.ย The evaluations will be conducted under the leadership of staff from IOE.
A. Corporate-level Evaluation on the IFAD Corporate Performance and Development Effectiveness over IFAD11 and IFAD12 period (report in English)
B. Thematic Evaluation on IFADยฟs support to human Nutrition (report in English)
C. Evaluation on IFADยฟs Experience in Small Island Development States
D. Country strategy and programme evaluations (language of the report in parenthesis):ย ย Dominican Republic (Spanish); Egypt (English); Ghana (English); Lao Peopleยฟs Democratic Republic (English); Zimbabwe (English);
E. Project-level evaluations in Cabo Verde (French, Portuguese desirable); Lesotho (English) Montenegro (English), Sri Lanka (English)
Key Functions and Results ย
Expected / Major functional activities
The evaluations will be led by an IOE staff member and will be carried out by an inter-disciplinary team.ย Senior consultants will support the development of the evaluations' methodology, the conduct of analytical work (documentation analysis, key informant interviews, field visits in project areas, data collection and analysis) and the preparation of draft technical working papers and chapters of the main evaluation report.
The evaluations will be conducted in accordance with IFAD's Evaluation Policy https://webapps.ifad.org/members/eb/132/docs/EB-2021-132-R-5-Rev-1.pdfย ย ย ย
The evaluations will follow IFAD's 2022 Evaluation Manual: https://ioe.ifad.org/en/w/evaluation-manual-third-edition
The evaluations will follow the UN ethical guidelines for evaluation: http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/2866
Examples of previous evaluations may be found in our website at the following link:ย https://ioe.ifad.org/en/
Working Relationships ย
Senior consultants will be subject matter experts reporting to the lead evaluators in IOE. ย Their analysis will be based on desk reviews, interviews and on country visits (to be noted: IFAD follows the directives of WHO and United Nations as to travel authorizations).ย
Job Profile Requirements ย
Competencies
Technical and functional
Knowledge of contemporary quantitative and qualitative evaluation techniques and practices, preferably in the area of evaluation of agriculture and rural development interventions.
Field experience related to agricultural and rural development is a must.
Communication skills: write clearly, succinctly and convincingly, listen and communicate to engage others.
Computer skills: full command of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and common Internet applications. Mastery of statistical or qualitative analysis software is a plus.
Minimum recruitment qualifications
Education
Advanced university degree (at least at the Master's level) in economics, agriculture, rural development, finance, public policy, social sciences or related studies.
Experience
At least 15 years of professional experience in: evaluating multilateral rural and agricultural development programmes and reviewing and/or evaluating of sectoral strategies corporate policies in multilateral organizations or major NGOs.
Experience in managing, leading or conducting strategic, sectoral-level or thematic evaluations in international development organizations, with substantial contributions to evaluation methodology development.
Thematic expertise in at least one of the following areas: (i) strategic setting and management in a multilateral organization; (ii) smallholder agriculture / livestock / fisheries / forestry development; (iii) rural finance / rural enterprise; (iv) community rural infrastructure development, (v) natural resource management / climate change; (vi) food and nutrition security; (vii) gender and women's empowerment.
Preferable: understanding of the operations and business models of IFAD or of an international financial institution.ย
Language requirements
Full command, both written and verbal communication, in English.ย
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in French or Spanish are necessary for some evaluations and are an asset for non-country specific evaluations. ย IOE strongly encourages applications from candidates that are fully proficient in French and Spanish.
Other information
Consultants are not staff of IFAD, and this consultancy does not carry any expectation of employment with the Fund. Remuneration will be in line with the standards set for UN consultants.
Qualified candidates will be inserted in a roster, from which IOE will select on a case-by-case need.
In the interest of making most cost-effective use of funds and resources, we are only able to respond to applicants who are short-listed.ย The number of days in which services can be rendered in any 12-month period is limited to 240, and the number of days in which services can be rendered in any 60-month period is limited to 960.
IFAD is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnic, social or political background, colour, nationality, religion, age, gender, disability, marital status, family size or sexual orientation.
Please be aware of fraudulent job offers. IFAD does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process. Official communication from IFAD will always come from e-mails ending in @ifad.org