IC-2024-06-UNDP-GEF MTR

This is the Terms of Reference (ToR) for -the Midterm Review (MTR) of the full -sized UNDP-supported GEF-financed project titled Strengthened Protected Areas System and Integrated Ecosystem Management in Sudan (PIMS 5741) implemented through the Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources (HCENR) . The MTR was to be undertaken in March 2023, but the late start of the project and the impact of the civil war in Sudan, it was not possible to conduct the evaluation in 2023. The project started in May 2021 and is in its third year of implementation. This ToR sets out the expectations for this MTR.  The MTR process must follow the guidance outlined in the document Guidance For Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects (.

http://web.undp.org/evaluation/documents/guidance/GEF/mid-term/Guidance_Midterm%20Review%20_EN_2014.pdf)

2.  PROJECT BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1)     Brief project description: Sudan’s rich biodiversity and natural environment is subject to a number of threats related to the lack of a strong, functional protected areas system, both at policy level and in management terms, as well as an increasing impact on natural resources and land degradation, marine and terrestrial, in and around protected areas due to limited livelihoods options and limited planning. This project. The project was designed to take a comprehensive landscape approach to address the multi-faceted nature of land degradation and impacts on natural resources by attempting to secure Sudan’s protected area system and ecosystems, focusing in particular on key sites of ecological and economic importance and investing in supporting effective community-level engagement in and around protected areas and buffer zones, across key ecological systems. As such it seeks to address the following key project objective: “to strengthen the national protected area (PA) system and promote integrated ecosystem management in adjacent areas so as to reduce threats to biodiversity, mitigate land degradation, sustain ecosystem services, and improve people’s livelihoods”. The objective will be achieved through the implementation of three project components: Component 1: An enabling environment established at the national level for expanded PA management; Component 2: Improved management effectiveness at selected terrestrial and marine PA; Component 3 Integrated Natural Resource Management in multi-use landscapes in and around targeted PAs. Finally, to ensure adaptive management and equity: Component 4: Knowledge Management, Gender Mainstreaming, and M&E. The project operates in

1)     Dinder National Park (terrestrial),

2)     Jebel El Dair National Park (terrestrial),

3)      Dungonab Bay Mukkawar Island National Park (marine).

The timeframe of the project is to start in May 20021 and end by Sep 2025. However, the project experienced some delays in the startup and the project started implementation on May 2021. The total GEF financing for the project is USD 4,100,913 and the total con financing is USD 17,220,000. The project is implemented under the National Implementation Modality (NIM) by the HCENR – Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources and the project has a number of national partners, the most important are the Ministry of Finance and National Economy and the Wildlife Conservation General Administration