Programme Evaluation

FAO evaluates the strategic alignment, implementation, efficacy, and efficiency of its portfolio of work through its independent Office of Evaluation (OED), which is led by a Director who reports to the FAO Governing Bodies and to the Director-General. OED evaluates FAO strategies, initiatives, programmes, and projects at the global, regional, and national levels. OED seeks to generate credible and useful evidence and insights to inform decisions, support oversight, and help FAO achieve its mission. In so doing, OED provides results accountability to both member nations and the Director-General. OED also participates in system-wide evaluation initiatives, thereby contributing to assessments of development and humanitarian effectiveness by the UN system. 

The Office of Evaluation (OED) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is launching an evaluation of the China Country Programme. This will assess progress over the most recent Country Programme Framework period (2021-2025), and inform future strategy for FAO in China. 

OED is seeking qualified specialists, with demonstrated evaluation experience in China and a background in sectors related to FAO’s areas of work in this project to join the Evaluation team. Applications are sought for the following roles:

Senior Evaluation consultant (lead consultant)

Evaluators bringing experience of government & institutions; environment & natural resource management; equity and gender in China 

Purpose and objectives of the evaluation

The main purpose of the China Country Programme Evaluation is to contribute to capture progress on the last five years and inform future strategy and investments of FAO’s efforts in the country. The main objectives of the evaluation are to:

Evaluate FAO’s strategic positioning to assess to what extent FAO’s programme meets China’s priorities and needs;

Assess FAO’s contributions in the CPF priority areas, both within China and with China’s contributions externally

Identify good practices, and opportunities to improve the next CPF, collaborations and results delivery

The evaluation will be conducted between July 2024 and February 2025. In country capital city consultations and field visits to selected provinces will be carried out during the September-October period.  

Candidates should have not been involved in the formulation, implementation or backstopping of FAO’s work in China.

China developed its 14th Five-Year Development Period (2021-2025), and FAO, together with multiple stakeholders in the country, developed the Country Programming Framework (CPF) for this period, which is positioned to provide strategic support for China to promote all-round rural revitalization in the post-pandemic era, ensuring food security and promoting high-quality agricultural development. It was envisaged to step up cooperation with China in global food and agricultural governance and promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative in the agriculture sector, sharing China’s progress and experience in poverty reduction, agricultural development and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development implementation with the international community.

FAO in China aimed to step up its cooperation in the period based on such three building blocks:

• Supporting people and prosperity and better production and better nutrition through rural revitalization;
• Protecting planet and better environment through a sustainable and resilient agri-food systems,
• Enhancing partnership and better life through international and regional agriculture cooperation. For instance, the FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC) Trust Fund has donated US$130 million supporting agri-food development in multiple countries.
• The evaluators will work under the close guidance of the Evaluation Manager, and under the overall responsibility of the Director of the Office of Evaluation (OED).
• The evaluator team will design the evaluation process and methods, and conduct the evaluation of the FAO China country programme, with the following tasks and responsibilities.

Responsibilities of the evaluation team:

• Contribute to the evaluation in their areas of expertise.
• For the senior specialist
• Lead on finalizing the evaluation process and data collection processes, management and documentation.
• Developing and pre-testing methods including surveys, and other evaluation data collection tools.
• Briefing and task setting for the technical survey teams.
• Co-authoring key deliverables: inception report, draft and final reports, presentations
• For other specialists
• Analysis of current and (as far as possible) projected government policies and priorities on Natural Resource Management, Climate Change & Environment, gender and social inclusion, governance & institutions.
• Leading on tool development for primary data collection.
• Lead on community any level data collection and consultations.
• Lead on desk review of secondary data relating to the above sectors.
• Be responsible for conducting the evaluation and contributing to the development of the methodology in consultation with and under the supervision of OED.
• Participate in information sessions, surveys, field visits and will support OED in writing the final evaluation report.

Candidates Will Be Assessed Against The Following:

Minimum Requirements:

• University degree in a relevant discipline: evaluation, governance, economics, international relations, Natural Resources Management, environmental studies, social sciences
• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in the fields of specialization indicated above
• For PSA.SBS only working knowledge of English is required

Technical/Functional Skills;

• Previous experience in conducting/taking part in (independent) strategic-level evaluations
• Excellent stakeholder engagement, facilitation skills and interviewing skills
• Demonstrated relevant experience of working in China and/or of conducting evaluations in the country or in similar contexts
• Demonstrated experience in evaluation. In particular, experience in conducting evaluation interviews and focus group discussions. Knowledge of participatory evaluation techniques is strongly desired
• Excellent report writing skills
• Knowledge of the context in China

Source: https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2401870