Final independent evaluation of the project

Background

I.  Contract Overview
Consultancy Title:	Final independent evaluation of the project “Human rights of Indigenous and quilombola women: A governance matter”
Location:	Home Based
Practice Area:	Gender Equality
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Category (Eligible applicants):	External
Post Type and Level:	National Consultant
Languages Required:	Portuguese, English
Starting Date:	1 July 2024
Duration of Contract:	30 September 2024
Total Contract Value:	BRL 94.678,00

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.

Between January 2021 and December 2023, the UN Women Brazil Country Office implemented the project “Human Rights of Indigenous and Quilombola Women: a governance matter!”, funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Brasilia. The project aimed to facilitate inclusion and meaningful participation of these Indigenous and Quilombola women in policymaking, state and municipal planning and budgeting, thus ensuring that the governance processes in Maranhão and Pará go beyond averages, aim to reach everyone and thus, prevent and eliminate discrimination and inequalities based on gender, race and ethnicity.

The project document “Human rights of Indigenous and quilombola women: A governance matter” foresees a final evaluation to generate evidence on results, performance, challenges, opportunities and lessons learned. This evaluation will be an independent evaluation, managed by UN Women. As such, it will be carried out per the UN Women Evaluation Policy aligned with the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards. The evaluation will focus on the delivery of the initially planned project results. It should also provide recommendations for continuing, improving, expanding, or replicating the project within the framework of the intersectionality of gender, race, ethnicity, and the environment. The conclusions of the evaluation will be used by UN Women to contribute to its accountability to the donor, to its institutional learning and decision-making and to improve the quality of future interventions.

The evaluation will apply the criteria of the UN Women’s Evaluation Policy (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability, human rights, and gender equality). The conclusions and recommendations in the preliminary and final reports should be structured around the evaluation criteria and answer the evaluation questions proposed by UN Women.

The Evaluation Management Group will supervise the evaluation, make the main decisions (according to the specific attributions of each member, and their respective organization), facilitate access to information by the evaluation team and guarantee the quality of the results, as well as disseminate and promote the use of the evaluation’s conclusions and recommendations and draw up a management response to the evaluation after its conclusion. The Evaluation Management Group is responsible for the selection of the external evaluation consultant, inception report and the final evaluation report. The group will be composed of the UN Women Regional Evaluation Specialist (advisor), the UN Women Brazil Programme Analyst, the UN Women Brazil Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst, and the UN Women Brazil Programme Associate. The evaluation manager will lead the day-to-day management of the process and consult the management group on the main decisions to be taken.

In addition to the Management Group, and to facilitate a comprehensive review of the evaluation products, an Evaluation Reference Group will be established to promote the participation of key stakeholders and for them to have ownership over the evaluation findings and recommendations, to provide input for the evaluation products, to participate in preliminary discussions and the dissemination of key evaluation findings, among others. It will be composed of a representative of UN Women Brazil CO Representative, one civil servant of the government of Maranhão, one civil servant of the government of Pará, one representative of each civil society network per state and selected local mobilizers from the project. The consultant will be responsible for delivering all evaluation products. He/she will coordinate the work during all phases of the evaluation process, ensuring the quality of the results and the application of the methodology, as well as the timely delivery of all products. In close collaboration with the Evaluation Management Group, he/she will lead the conceptualization and design of the evaluation, the interviews and the definition of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the final report. He/she will be the focal point for all conversations with the Evaluation Management and Reference groups. The consultant will report to the UN Women Brazil Programme Associate and will be supported by the Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Draw up an inception report describing the proposed design, methodology, tools, resources required and the indicative work plan.

• Conducting research and analysis of the data collected and all relevant documentation.

• Design and carry out the virtual evaluation meetings and activities with the selected project partners and key stakeholders according to the evaluation matrix drawn up by the team and agreed with the Evaluation Management Group.

• Draw up the preliminary evaluation report and final report.

• Participate in online meetings to present and discuss the inception report and final report of the evaluation with the Evaluation Management and Reference Groups, finalizing the reports based on the feedback received.

Deliverables	Description	Expected completion time (due day)
Inception Report	The initial report should include: Background and purpose/objectives of the evaluation Assessment methodology and limitations (assessment approach, challenges, and mitigation strategies; assessment matrix describing method, data sources and tools) Organization and schedule, including the estimated number of working days per phase (work plan, functions, quality assurance) Detailed interview plan with a list of key stakeholders to be interviewed and proposed questions Appendices (preliminary list of documents, list of stakeholders to be interviewed, data collection tools, survey, and questionnaire templates, etc.) The report must be presented in English in a Word document, in Calibri 11 font, single-spaced, and must not exceed 20 pages, excluding annexes.	18 July 2024
Preliminary findings presentation to be presented to the Evaluation Management Group	The structure of the presentation should include: •              Evaluation methodology (including approach, data collection and analysis, limitations, mitigation strategies) •              Findings/Conclusions •              Recommendations •              Lessons learned The presentation should take around 40 minutes maximum (excluding Q&A). The PowerPoint file should be submitted to the evaluation Management Group after the session.	16 August 2024
Preliminary Evaluation Report	The structure of the report should include: •              Executive Summary •              Background and purpose/objectives of the evaluation •              Evaluation methodology (including approach, data collection and analysis, limitations, mitigation strategies) •              Findings/Conclusions •              Recommendations •              Lessons learned •              Annexes (including interview list and interview questions/questionnaires, evaluation matrix, documents reviewed, samplings, and other relevant material). The report should be presented in a Word document, in Calibri 11 font, with simple spacing, and should not exceed a length of 60 pages, including the executive summary, excluding annexes.	30 August 2024
Final Evaluation Report	The report should follow the preliminary structure of the report and should be presented in English in a Word document, in English and Portuguese, in Calibri 11 font, single-spaced, and should not exceed 60 pages, including the executive summary, excluding annexes. The final version of the report must be laid out using the project’s visual identity and UN Women specifications. The text must be approved in advance by UN Women.	23 September 2024
PPT presentation on the main conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation	The presentation must be designed using the project’s visual identity. The presentation should take around 40 minutes maximum (excluding Q&A) to Evaluation Management Group. The PowerPoint file should be submitted to the evaluation Management Group after the session.	25 September 2024

 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. No official travel is expected.

Competencies

Core Values:
• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:
• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
• Technical credibility in high-quality documents and results
• Excellent analytical skills
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills
• Excellent writing skills in English and Portuguese

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:
• Graduation in social sciences, economics or similar is required.
• Master’s degree or equivalent in social sciences, economics or a related field is desirable.

Experience:

•At least two (02) years of proven experience in carrying out evaluations is required.
•At least three (03) years of experience in the application of qualitative and survey-based evaluation methods isrequired.•Previous experience of at least 01 (one) evaluation of gender equality projects or evaluations with a gender perspectiveis required.
•Seven (07) years of experience in carrying out evaluations is desirable.•Previous experience of at least 01 (one) evaluation of projects/programs implemented by governments, the UN and/orinternational cooperation partners is desirable.
•At least five (05) years of experience working as a team leader in complex public management evaluations andmanaging evaluation teams is desirable.
•At least five (05) years of experience in negotiating with a wide range of stakeholders is desirable.
•At least five (05) years of experience in Project Cycle Management and/or Logical Framework approach is desirable.

Languages:
•Fluency in English and Portuguese is required.

How to Apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from:  )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• One writing sample of excellent written skills in Portuguese and English is required.

• Interested candidates are requested to apply no later than 11:59 pm (NYC/ New York time) on 30 June 2024 by submitting applications only THROUGH ONLY to UNDP Jobs Platform ( cj_view_jobs.cfm)

• Applications WITHOUT SIGNED P11 form and attached at UNDP Jobs will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

 

Note

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The establishment of UN Women emerged as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the significant work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

 

Diversity and Inclusion

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.)