Regional Evaluation Associate

Details

Mission and objectives

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded in 1496 in order to respond to the firm belief of nations, forged by two world wars, that political and economic agreements are not enough to build a lasting peace. Peace must be established based on humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity. Headquartered in Paris, France, UNESCO which is a specialised agency of the United Nations, contributes to the building of peace, eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through international cooperation in education, the sciences, culture, and communication and information. UNESCO contributes to the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015. UNESCO’s five functions include being a laboratory of ideas, a standard setter, a capacity builder, leader in policy development and data analysis for decision making and finally a catalyst for international cooperation.

Context

The UNESCO Evaluation Office located in the Division of Internal Oversight Services (IOS) is responsible for establishing an effective evaluation system throughout UNESCO to inform evidence-based policies and programmes and for greater accountability and organizational learning. It is The UNESCO evaluation system is composed of corporate evaluations managed by the HQ Evaluation Office, and decentralized evaluations managed by other UNESCO entities such as Field Offices. All UNESCO evaluations must adhere to the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards for evaluation, the 2022-29 UNESCO Evaluation Policy and related guidance developed by the Evaluation Office.
To strengthen decentralized evaluation capacity, the Evaluation Office is recruiting Regional Evaluation Associates (REAs) in 5 Regional Offices. Under the authority of the Director of IOS and the Head of Evaluation and supervision by respective Evaluation Specialist in HQ, the REOs will support the UNESCO Evaluation Office in strengthening the decentralized evaluation system and evaluation capacity development and promote the use of evaluations and UN coordination on evaluation as per details outlined below. These are specialist positions and require a high level of evaluation expertise.
This UNV assignment is part of the United Nations Evaluation Group-United Nations Volunteers (UNEG-UNV) young evaluator programme. The programme seeks to recruit and deploy young monitoring and evaluation (M&E) professionals across the UN system, at national and international levels, to support the effective delivery of Agenda 2030 and enhance national evaluation capacity development.
The young evaluator programme was initiated by the UNEG working group on young and emerging evaluators in 2023 and was endorsed with commitments by the Heads of Evaluation Offices of various UN agencies during the 2024 UNEG Annual General Meeting.

Task description

Under the direct guidance of the Head of Evaluation/ Evaluation Specialist in the UNESCO HQ Evaluation Office the UNV Evaluation Specialist will engage in below areas of work. The specific distribution of tasks of individual REOs will vary by region, depending on the Evaluation Office workplan and specific regional needs, demand, and number of evaluations.
1.Support to strengthening decentralized evaluation systems
•Provide advice to Field Offices (FOs) commissioning decentralized evaluations to support adherence to evaluation quality standards. This includes support and quality assurance during all evaluation stages: evaluation planning, implementation and use
•Monitor and follow-up on Evaluation Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the region
•Ensure application of UNESCO Evaluation Policy, Evaluation Manual and related guidance through review and quality check of decentralized evaluation products (TOR, evaluation inception report, evaluation report)
•Support to identifying and recruiting external evaluation teams
•Manage or co-manage major decentralized evaluations: regional, thematic, UNESCO Country Programmes etc.
•In coordination with UNESCO Bureau for Strategic Planning (BSP) and Field Office M&E staff, support project/ programme design from evaluability perspective through review of results frameworks, indicators, baselines, Theories of Change, decentralized evaluation budgets etc.
•Provide inputs to the HQ Evaluation Office on corporate reports such as the IOS Annual Report and the annual Synthesis Report
2. Strengthen evaluation capacity development
•Contribute to strengthening of evaluation capacity across the region through evaluation trainings and webinars, presentations and briefings tailored to regional/ country-specific learning needs
•Provide individual support and coaching to evaluation managers and M&E colleagues in the region throughout the evaluation process
•Actively participate in the Evaluation Focal Point (EFP) network and foster engagement from other EFPs in the region
•Keep abreast of and share knowledge about innovations and developments in the field of evaluation and external evaluation trainings/ events in the region incl. regional evaluation conferences
•Support FOs on any other evaluation-related issues
3.Promote the use of evaluations/ evaluation knowledge management
•Facilitate the use and learning from evaluation at regional and country level through developing and disseminating evaluation knowledge products e.g. regional evaluation synthesis summaries, regional evaluation newsletters etc.
•Review new draft project and programme documents and ensure they are grounded on evaluation evidence
•Organize evaluation learning/ knowledge sharing events in the region
•Oversee the completion and follow-up of evaluation management responses for decentralized evaluations
4.Promote UN coordination on evaluation
•Partner with regional evaluation staff of other UN agencies to establish processes for effective commissioning and management of UNSDCF and joint evaluations that support delivery of the 2030 Agenda
•Establish regional partnerships with UN agencies and other regional partners including regional and national evaluation associations/ Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs)
•In partnership with other UN agencies, contribute to national evaluation capacity development efforts at country and regional levels
The regional scope of work for the respective EO will go beyond the individual Regional Office of placement. The REO will provide evaluation support to all Regional Offices, National Offices and Liaison Offices in the respective geographic region.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:
•Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
•Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.
•Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities
•Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.
•Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers.
•Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.