Evaluation Research Consultant for the evaluation of the Regional Programme “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans (Home-based)

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women maintains a large presence throughout Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region, covering 12 countries, with programme presence in Kosovo, Serbia, Tajikistan and North Macedonia; and country offices in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine.

UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (the “ECARO”) has positioned GRB as one of the priority areas in which the ECARO has unique technical expertise grounded in the combined technical skills that has been cultivated with respect to budgetary processes including GRB and the overarching expertise and credibility the Office has with respect to GEWE. Furthermore, this work is in line with global Strategic Plan 2018–2021 under Outcome 2: Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems.

Over the past years UN Women has carried out different initiatives in Western Balkans’ countries and territories with the goal of strengthening democratic governance and advance women’s rights aiming at mainstreaming gender in policy planning and budgeting. Gender responsive budgeting has increasingly been recognized as important tool for advancing de facto gender equality, support the SDGs, the 2030 Agenda and other global goals as well as contribute to the achievements of the commitments of the Western Balkans under the Gender Action Plan in the EU External Relations 2016-2020.

In order to deepen the work previously done in the gender responsive budgeting area, UN Women initiated a regional programme implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* and Serbia “Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2024). The main programme approach includes transformative financing as an enabler factor for policy and financing actions to accelerate implementation of existing national and international commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the in Western Balkans.

 

The programme is structured around two outcomes:

Outcome 1: By 2024, national and local governments apply gender responsive budgeting to integrate gender equality principles in public financing processes

Outcome 2: By 2024 public oversight bodies2 CSOs, women including the disadvantaged, demand transparency and accountability of public policies and budgets to gender equality processes

The programme includes activities focused on enhancing the institutionalization of GRB at central level and local level.

The programme was implemented during the period 2020/2024. UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia is initiating a strategic level evaluation that will cover the implementation of this regional programme and other initiatives supported in the ECA countries in the gender responsive budging area.  

Duties and Responsibilities

A final evaluation of the programme Transformative Financing for Gender Equality towards more Transparent, Inclusive and Accountable Governance in the Western Balkans” (2020-2024) implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo , Serbia is conducted with a special focus on lessons learnt. The main purpose of this final evaluation is to assess in more detail the programmatic progress and performance of the intervention considering the following evaluation criteria: relevance, coherence, effectiveness, impact, organizational efficiency and sustainability.

 

Specifically, the objectives of this evaluation are to:

• Analyse the relevance and coherence of the programme objectives, strategy and approach at the local, central and regional level;

• Assess effectiveness and a potential measurable impact of the programme intervention on the target countries and territories;
• Assess organizational efficiency and coordination mechanisms in progressing towards the achievement of the programme results as defined in the intervention;
• Assess the sustainability of the results and the intervention in advancing gender equality in the target countries and territories;
• Identify and document lessons learned, good practices and innovations, success stories and challenges within the programme, to inform future work of UN Women on gender responsive budgeting;
• Identify strategies for replication and up-scaling of the programme’s best practices.

 

The findings of the evaluation are expected to contribute to effective programming, organizational learning and accountability. It will also be a key input to knowledge management on gender responsive in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia. The findings of the evaluation will moreover be used to engage policy makers and other stakeholders at local, national and regional level in evidence-based dialogues and to advocate for developing a sustainable intervention on Gender responsive budgeting.

Targeted users of the evaluation are the personnel of UN Women in Western Balkans and in the UN Women Regional Office in Istanbul, the responsible parties, and the government counterparts at local and national levels, CSOs, and other UN agencies, donor community and development partners present in the countries and territories of project implementation, and the programme beneficiaries. The evaluation should also provide specific recommendations as to the priority areas that should be considered to inform future programming in this area in Western Balkan. This would include interventions that require continued support, successful interventions for expansion, and recommendations on prioritizing interventions to maximize impact. It should also define recommendations to improve project management and maximize ownership by partners in the countries and territories of project implementation.

 

1.DUTIES & DELIVERABLES OF THE RESEARCH CONSULTANT

This is a part-time contract; therefore, the consultant will be expected to work 4 hours per day or up to 15 days per month, a total of up to 105 days under this contract. UN Women however does not provide any guarantee or commitment that the consultant will be engaged for all the 105 days.

The consultant will submit a work plan on week one of the assignment to the UN Women Regional Evaluation Specialist for Europe and Central Asia. This plan will be updated periodically to reflect the changing requirements of the SSA if needed.

• The scoping and design of the evaluation by supporting document collection, management and review.  This includes:
  • Data collection and analysis: support in-depth desk research, in-depth review of the programme documents and monitoring frameworks, support arranging and conducting in-depth interviews as necessary, staff and partner survey/s, and field visits, and the analysis of the data after completion;
  • Support the evaluation team in conducting research and data collection and analysis;
  • Support collection of documents by scanning UN Women internal databases and accessing UN, academic and international non-governmental organization or think tanks for relevant documents relative to the evaluation;
  • Analise summaries of evaluations, donor reports or programmatic work to inform evaluation desk review;
  • Support the systematization and analysis of Annual Work Plans (AWPs) and Strategic Notes across countries;
  • Support the extraction of data per evaluation intervention strategy, budget allocation and expenditure for countries, and by year;
  • Support stakeholder mapping assessments for evaluations with identification of right holders and duty bearers in order to inform the human rights and gender equality stakeholder mapping of an evaluation;
• The implementation of data collection instruments, and logistics and organization of stakeholder meetings
  • Support the design of frameworks to input data from desk reviews, surveys and interviews;
  • Support the administration of surveys and other data collection instruments;
  • Support logistics for setting up meetings with stakeholders;
• Data visualization, data analysis, coding and synthesis of data
  • Support the use of NVivo, or other programmes, for coding data from qualitative interviews and other materials;
  • Support synthesis of findings from data coding and analysis for input into evaluations;
  • Support the analysis of data and visualization in the forms of graphs, tables and other innovative ways;
  • Support survey data analysis;
  • Data cleaning and archiving;
  • Support drafting of sections of report (data analysis, copy-editing, visualisations among others) and compilation of annexes and references for final evaluation report
• Communications with stakeholders,
  • Support meeting organization, and data collection missions organization;
  • Support communications with stakeholders, meeting organizations and communication products;
  • Support the dissemination of the final results of the evaluation;

Payment plan: The consultant will work on a part time basis remotely, and a monthly rate will be paid upon satisfactory completion of tasks and deliverables.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration

Functional Competencies:

• Strong analytical and report writing skills.
• Strong research skills

To learn more about UN Women values and competencies, please follow the link:  

 

Required Skills and Experience

Education Master’s degree or equivalent in political science, gender studies, law, public administration, human rights, international relations or other social science fields is required. A PhD is considered as an advantage.   Experience Over 4 years’ experience conducting research using tools for systematizing and analyzing large amounts of qualitative and quantitative data. Completed graduate research experience may also be considered relevant. Experience in evaluative research and evaluation approaches and methods including knowledge of gender equality and human rights responsive evaluation (e.g. participatory and inclusive approaches). Firsthand experience in using NVivo or other similar data analysis software. Experience in working with the United Nations or a similar international organization context a plus.   Language English required.

 

1.APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

• Cover letter to include a brief overview in English (unedited text) about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position.
• P11 with past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at , a signed copy should be submitted.
• Financial Proposal (Specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference). The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum to include a daily rate in USD.

In order to apply please merge your P11 and the financial proposal into a single PDF file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.

 

I.Evaluation of applicants:

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
2. Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

	Evaluation Criteria	Max points
TECHNICAL EVALUATION (70%)
Language Requirements	Fluency in written and spoken English	REQUIRED
Education	Master’s degree or equivalent in political science, gender studies, law, public administration, human rights, international relations or other social science fields is required.   A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.	REQUIRED
Professional Experience	Experience conducting research using tools for systematizing and analysing large amounts of qualitative and quantitative data. Completed graduate research experience may also be considered relevant.	30 0: without 4 years of experience 15: 4 years of experience 30: more than 4 years of experience
	Experience in evaluation approaches and methods including some knowledge of gender equality and human rights responsive evaluation (e.g., participatory and inclusive approaches).	20 0: without experience 10: Some experience 20: more than 3 years of experience
	Firsthand experience in using NVivo or other similar data analysis software.	15 0: without experience 15: with experience
	Experience in working with the United Nations or a similar international organization context a plus.	5 0: without experience 5: with experience
Total technical		70

2.Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points:

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows: p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

 

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.  All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)