Result of Service

3. Expected tangible and measurable output(s)/deliverable(s):

1. Inception report. The Evaluation Team will develop an Inception report, including the refined evaluation methodology, questions, work plan and timeline. The report reconstructs the NDCMP results framework and defines the specific evaluation design, tools and procedures, dates for key tasks, activities, and deliverables. The report describes the Evaluation Team’s understanding of the issues under review including a review framework and detailed work plan. It refines the overall evaluation scope, approach, design, and timeframe, provides a detailed outline of the evaluation methodology, data collection, stakeholder mapping and the evaluation matrix. The report will include a description of the roles and responsibilities of the Evaluation Team members and the ethical clearance process for the evaluation and protocols to ensure ethical conduct of the evaluation.
2. A PowerPoint presentation highlighting the main components of the final inception report, reflecting the comments provided by the NDS and key stakeholders, to be presented to the NDS and HLC.
3. Draft Interim Evaluation Report and presentation of preliminary findings to stakeholders. The Evaluation Team will write a draft Evaluation Report. The Evaluation Team will prepare a presentation of preliminary findings and recommendations that can be used to present to NDS, and stakeholders for feedback. The revised draft report shall thereafter be submitted to the NDS with a validation workshop being held to validate the preliminary findings and recommendations.
4. Presentation of the Evaluation Findings and recommendations to key stakeholders at a Validation Workshop/ Meeting
5. Final Evaluation Report. The final version will be submitted to the NDS and HLC on Drugs. It will include a set of clear, forward-looking, and actionable recommendations logically linked to the evaluation findings and conclusions, and identify lessons learnt to improve the strategies, implementation mechanisms, and management of the next NDCMP.

All deliverables must be submitted in a timely manner by the Evaluation Team Leader and are accepted as complete once approved by the NDS. All the deliverables must be produced in English language.

Work Location

home based

Expected duration

11.09.2023- 30.10.2023

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Background of the assignment:
The UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa (ROEA) covers thirteen countries, namely, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. UNODC provides technical assistance to member states and support interventions to achieve security, Justice, and health priorities in the region by delivering legal and technical assistance to address transnational organized crime (TOC), corruption, terrorism, criminal justice and police reform, access to justice, and HIV and drug use prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.
The Government of Mauritius continues to prioritize a balance drug control targeting supply and demand reduction as well as control of harmful substance use and substance use disorders, a major public health, developmental and security concern for the country. Between 2018-2019, UNODC Regional Office for Eastern Africa support the Government of Mauritius to develop the Current National Drug Control Masterplan (NDCMP) for the period 2019-2023. This NDCMP was the product of the collective efforts of all the key stakeholders in the country, both governmental and non-governmental, including people who use drugs. The NDCMP aimed at addressing all the controlled narcotic and psychotropic substances mentioned under the three international conventions, as well as the emerging New Psychoactive Substances.
The NDCMP rests on four strategic pillars, namely Drug Supply Reduction embracing law enforcement and financial crimes; Drug Demand Reduction, namely drug use prevention, drug use disorders treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration and Harm Reduction; and finally, a pillar addressing Coordination Mechanism, Legislation, Implementation Framework, Monitoring & Evaluation and Strategic Information.
In 2018, a High-Level Drug and HIV Council under the Prime Minister’s Office was set up. The council, chaired by the Prime Minister, is composed of several ministers, high ranked public officials including representatives of the police and key institutions, representatives of NGOs involved in the fight against drugs and HIV. The main objectives were to create and define the roles of the National Aids Secretariat (NAS) and the National Drugs Secretariat (NDS), which will be the main weapons of the nation for the fight against these HIV/AIDS and drugs. The council also take stock of the progress in the implementation of measures and actions taken to fight drug trafficking and substance abuse, whilst ensuring that bottlenecks are addressed to facilitate implementation of the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP).
Since 2020, the National Drug Secretariat is responsible for monitoring implementation of the NDCMP 2019-2023 and is consulting with the multiple implementing agencies across the three pillars namely, Supply reduction, Demand reduction and Harm Reduction through the respective thematic committees.
As we head towards the end of the NDCMP 2019-2023, it is critical that an evaluation regarding implementation of the NDCMP be conducted prior to the planning for the development of the next NDCMP. Considering that many activities embedded in the NDCMP 2019-2023 are ongoing routine interventions of agencies involved, a general evaluation exercise is the preferred option in view to improve the efficacy of the strategic response to the drug threat in the country.
In this context, a final evaluation of the NDCMP 2019-2023 will consider the following:
• Whether the policy/strategy has been well designed (full consultative process), effective or efficient.
• Whether the interventions and suggested indicators have been relevant to the identified needs.
• Whether the policy/ strategy have improved outcomes.
• Review of policies and formulate new ones to respond to the evolving situation of the drug issue.
The evaluation will also allow for:
• measure the extent of implementation of interventions.
• Determine and highlight any barriers to implementation.
• identify areas of improvement hence inform the next National Drug Control Masterplan
The evaluation report will be disseminated to all stakeholders as well as to policy makers. The report will also guide the formulation of the next National Control Master Plan

The Evaluation Context
Mauritius has experienced a serious drug use and trafficking problem for several decades now. Given its strategic geographical location within reach of drug trafficking routes, with a good air network and a major seaport, and extensive coastline, the country has been the target of drug trafficking networks. As such, drug use is considered quite significant on the island. The population size estimation based on the successive sampling-population size estimation (SS-PSE) method found a mean size estimation of 55,000, excluding Persons Who Inject Drugs (PWID). The main drugs commonly consume on the island are cannabis, heroin, through the injecting route and during the past few years the country has witnessed the emergence and increase of New Psychoactive substances and Synthetic drugs.
The 1980s witnessed the advent of the injecting drug use phenomenon in Mauritius and it was in the same decade that the first HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) positive case was detected in the island. The HIV epidemic in Mauritius took an alarming trend particularly from 2003 onwards whereby it was found that the number of HIV cases detected was increasing exponentially year after year. Injecting drug use in the island led to a major concentrated HIV epidemic situation among People Who Inject Drugs as well as to a high prevalence of Hepatitis C in this vulnerable population. In response to this public health issue and in view of curbing the propagation of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the authorities responded by adopting the Harm Reduction strategies namely the Methadone Substitution Therapy and the Needle Exchange Programme in 2006. In fact, Mauritius was the first country in the sub-Saharan Africa to introduce harm reduction measures.
As at date the health response to the drug scourge is well established through several methadone centres offering residential as well as outpatient services to people who use drugs. There is also a suboxone based detoxification programme within the health system as well as addiction units in the different health regions.
Around a dozen NGOs are also actively involved in providing care, support, and rehabilitative and treatment services for People Who use drugs and their families.
On the supply reduction front, the MRA has a drug interdiction programme and several measures have been put in place to identify and stop the smuggling of illicit drugs including synthetic drugs at the various points of entry such as the Port and Airport, Parcel Post Office, and Courier Services:
The Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit of the Mauritius Police Force is implementing appropriate measures, with the view to combat the drug scourge in line with the existing legislations: -The agency is actively suppressing the supply of illicit drugs by identifying and dismantling drug networks through arrests and seizure of drugs, be it inland or at both entry points. Mauritius is one of the few countries in Africa with forensic capacity and skills to detect Synthetic drugs.
The Republic of Mauritius has ratified the three International Drug Control Conventions, namely the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971; and the Convention against illicit trafficking on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. The country has also ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of 2000, thereby signifying its strong commitment to address drug control holistically.
The Government of Mauritius has expressed its firm commitment to address drug trafficking and provide effective prevention to the population and treatment to People Who Use Drugs (PWUD). The country has passed several legislations to curb drug trafficking, money laundering and financial crime, as well as to provide evidence-informed policies and interventions to protect and promote the health and well-being of its citizens.

Project Management Team
The National Drug Secretariat oversees the entire process of the evaluation, from its preparation to the dissemination and use of the final evaluation report. A Project Management Team/Steering Committee, constituted by representatives of the NDS, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), IOM, WHO, UNODC and other identified stakeholders will:
• Support the evaluation process, guide the Evaluation Team, and facilitate access to stakeholders and information.
• Provide input to the evaluation TOR, and selection of evaluation issues and questions.
• Facilitate stakeholder identification and consultations and provide access to information sources (documents and interviewees) to support data collection.
• Provide overall comments on the main deliverables of the evaluation, including the inception report and draft evaluation report.
• Ensure the evaluation report and its results are disseminated and shared with key stakeholders, promoting the use of evaluation and lessons.
Evaluation Team
The Project Management Team/Steering Committee, constituted by representatives of the NDS, the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), IOM, WHO and UNODC, will be responsible for the recruitment of the Evaluation Team, constituted by:
– 1 International Consultant
– 1 National Consultant
The Evaluation Team will report exclusively to the Project Management Team/Steering Committee, who is the exclusive clearing entity for all evaluation deliverables and products. The evaluation team will not function as representatives of any party and must remain independent and impartial.
This TOR is for National Consultant who shall work hand in hand and support the lead International Consultant in delivery of the task. The role of the National Consultant will be to guide the International Consultant in navigating the specific contexts, cultural nuances, and administrative procedures. They will facilitate the local collection of data, provide contacts with appropriate stakeholders, as well as contribute, advise, and review all stages of the evaluation, including planning, methodology and deliverables.

2. Purpose of the assignment:

The main objective of evaluating the NDCMPs is to assess the effectiveness, relevance, and coherence of the plans in addressing drug-related issues in the period 2019-2023. The evaluation aims to provide an evidence-based understanding of the plans’ strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement, and to assess expected and achieved accomplishments, identify gaps, while examining the results chain, processes, contextual factors, and causality, to understand achievements or the lack thereof.
The scope of the evaluation is not to be a comprehensive assessment of every aspect of the NDCMPs. Rather, it aims to focus on understanding the plans’ usefulness and effectiveness for the stakeholders involved, assess unfinished business and to inform the development of new and improved Master Plans.
The timeline of the evaluation (further detailed below: see Paragraph 8) is20 days.

Methodology and Quality Assurance
The methodology will use qualitative data and an in-depth analysis to reach concrete conclusions. Considering the design of the roadmap, utilization of quantitative measure will be limited. Specifically, the evaluation will include the following:
• Literature review and Desk Review of available documentation to obtain a general overview of context in which the current Drug roadmap was designed and implemented, including challenges related to external factors such as COVID19 pandemic, coordination and gaps that may be applicable. A list of documents, reports, policies to be reviewed will be provided by the programme managers.
• Mapping of key stakeholders – To identify key players and ensure their inclusion throughout the plan’s evaluation.
• Submission of an Inception Report and presentation of its key elements to key stakeholders at an Inception Meeting. The consultants will be expected to prepare an inception report, which will include a detailed list of evaluation questions, elaborate evaluation methodology framework, evaluation matrix, timeline, and a plan for assuring the quality of the products. The inception report will be discussed with and agreed on by the evaluation management committee.
• Primary data collection – Focus Group Discussions and Key informant interviews; Primary data will be collected through key informant interviews with key stakeholders associated with the implementation of the roadmap; and decision-making processes. This includes the Prime Minister’s Office; Ministry of Defence and Rodrigues; Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade; Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare; Ministry of Health & Wellness Harm Reduction Unit; National AIDS Secretariat; Members from the High-Level Drugs and HIV Council; Ministry of Local Government & Outer Islands and others. The key informant interviews should also consider beneficiaries and other relevant stakeholders.
• Visiting identified sites to assess conditions of the treatment centres, equipment, and supplies; observe quality of service deliveries and delivered; and to interview the beneficiaries of the intervention.
• Data Analysis: Data analysis will be guided by the evaluation matrix. Data from all sources should be clustered according to the evaluation question. The evaluation team will try to the extent possible to triangulate data collection from diverse sources to ensure validity of conclusions. Quantitative data will be used to quantify the results achieved by the NDCMP where possible.
• Submission of a draft Evaluation Report
• Presentation of the key elements of the Evaluation Report at a Validation Workshop
• Submission of Final Evaluation Report

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in evaluation, strategic management, political science, international relations, public administration or other related is required. A first-level university degree in similar fields in combination with two years of qualifying work experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in programmes evaluation, development of complex masterplans or programme management is required.
• Sound knowledge of the country context and an in-depth understanding of the government structures and organization is required.
• Proven experience in conducting evaluations of complex national master plans/actions plans is desirable
• Good understanding of the International Drug Control Conventions, the UN Human Rights Mechanisms, other relevant regional or global frameworks and their implications for Mauritius is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in both oral and written English and French is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage. Working knowledge of Mauritian Creole is desirable.

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.