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. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.
A key area of concern for UN Women is women’s economic empowerment (WEE) as expressed in UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 as well as in the targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 for gender equality and women’s empowerment and of several other SDGs relating to inclusive growth, decent work, ending poverty, and reducing inequality, and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development.
In China, despite the progress made, gender gap in the world of work remains a harsh reality. Women are paid 24% less than men, and have 13.80% of membership in boards, while they perform 2.5 times as much as unpaid care work than men. In Guangzhou, the 2018 gender pay gap was 22%, and women encountered higher promotion opportunities loss, more than 10% than their male counterparts, due to marriage or childbirth.
By the end of 2021, the migrant population in China has reached 385 million, among which a large proportion are women, mainly migrating from rural to urban areas and from central and western regions to eastern coastal regions, such as Guangdong Province, who has taken the highest proportion of women migrant workers. Migrant women workers are particularly vulnerable to precarious living conditions, unequal resources, discrimination, violence and other forms of abuse because of their non-native identity, and relatively low level of education and skills. A survey of women migrant workers in Guangdong Province indicates that they face more instability than their male counterparts due to a lack of technical skills and career development opportunities.
Project Description
To enhance the access of women workers (especially women migrant workers) to decent work and career development, with the generous support of European Union, UN Women China office, together with its national and subnational partners, implemented Women In Motion Project: Enhancing Women Workers’ Employment and Career Development Opportunities in Guangdong Province, a 30-month project starting from February 2023. In addition to interventions targeting women workers for the progress in career as well as those targeting employers for gender-inclusive practices, the project seeks to improve policy environment that advances gender-responsive workplace policies and experience sharing among provinces.
The overall objective of the Project is “Women are economically empowered and have economic autonomy, through improved income security, and increased access to decent work and sustainable entrepreneurship opportunities”. The project will contribute to achieving the objective through the Outcome “Women workers in Guangdong Province in China have better access to employment and career development”.
It has three Outputs:
Output 1: 10,000 Women workers have enhanced capacity for employment and career development in 100 enterprises in Guangdong Province; Output 2: Employers and industries have access to tools, capacity development support and established mechanisms to support decent employment and career development opportunities for women workers in 100 enterprises in Guangdong Province; Output 3: Key stakeholders are equipped to establish a more enabling environment to protect and promote the rights of women workers in Guangdong Province, especially through evidence-based policy dialogue.Purpose of the Evaluation
In line with the evaluation plan for 2025, UN Women China Office is looking for a national Consultant to conduct an end-of-project evaluation. The primary purpose of this evaluation is to provide a solid assessment of the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, contributions towards impact and sustainability. The evaluation is aimed at feeding learnings into how much UN Women’s efforts contribute to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in China.
The evaluation will provide a series of findings and recommendations for improving programme design and management structure, as well as strategic approaches, to inform Women In Motion Phase II project design and decisions concerning similar projects and programmes in the future. It will be used to inform the coming country strategic note development, especially in the Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) portfolio as one of the key areas of UN Women China. It will also serve accountability purposes in responding to the requirement of the European Union (donor) and potentially be used as reference to relevant stakeholders such as national and subnational government partners in China including China Enterprise Confederation, employers and industry associations and CSO partners as well as UN agencies including ILO involved in the project.
UN Women undertakes evaluations to enhance accountability, inform decision making, and contribute to learning. In conducting the evaluation, the consultant should continuously make reference to the guiding documents for evaluation at UN Women, which includes: the Evaluation Policy, the Evaluation Handbook, the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms for Evaluation in the UN System and Ethical Guidelines, UN Women Evaluation Handbook, the Global Evaluation Reports Assessment and Analysis System (GERAAS) evaluation report quality checklist, the United Nations System Wide Action Plan Evaluation Performance Indicator (UN-SWAP EPI).
Objective of the Evaluation
The evaluation will provide a comprehensive analysis of the project's achievements, including its contribution to enhancing access to fair employment opportunities, supporting skills development, and fostering a safer, more supportive work environment for women workers. Specifically, the evaluation aims to:
measure the extent to which project objectives and outcomes have been met; assess the effectiveness and sustainability of the strategies used to promote decent work and career development; identify strengths, challenges, and lessons learned; and provide actionable recommendations to guide future programming and policy interventions for advancing women's economic empowerment in migration contexts.Evaluation Management
This evaluation will be conducted by a team comprising a national consultant and an international advisor. The national consultant will lead the evaluation process, working closely with the international consultant, who will serve as an advisory role and allocate approximately 10 days to this evaluation. The national consultant will be reporting to the UN Women China M&E focal point in consultation with the Evaluation Management Group (EMG) team and will be technically supported by the Women in Motion Project team including a Programme Specialist, a Programme Analyst and a Programme Associate. The Programme Associate will also be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. Additionally, UN Women Regional evaluation team will provide quality assurance throughout the evaluation process.
The work distribution between the national consultant and international advisor are listed as follows:
International advisor will work mainly as an advisory to guide the national consultant plan and conduct the evaluation, the role includes but not limited to:
- Develop the evaluation methodologies and provide other inputs to the inception report with support from the national consultant;
-Participate the inception meeting, co-facilitate Theory of Change (ToC) workshops and guide the national consultant in refining the project’s ToC based on workshop discussions.
- Conduct virtual interviews with key stakeholders including donors as needed,
- Provide insights to and validate the data analysis and preliminary findings with support from the national consultant
- Provide inputs to the preliminary findings’ presentation and co-present evaluation preliminary findings as needed.
- Provide substantive input to the evaluation report;
National consultant’s role includes but not limited to:
- Develop the inception report with inputs from the international advisor and co-facilitate the inception meeting and TOC workshop. - Schedule and conduct interviews, field visit, data collection and analysis
- Develop the evaluation report and solicit and address comments from UN Women and key stakeholders, integrate substantive inputs from the international consultant, refine and finalise a comprehensive evaluation report and PPT deck.
- Translate and interpret for the international consultant whenever needed.
- Facilitate the inception meetings and evaluation meetings and present preliminary findings
Description of Responsibilities
Evaluation Criteria and Key Questions
The evaluation needs to follow the following criteria: Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Sustainability, Gender equality and human rights, and Coherence with UN Women policies and with the interventions of other actors, especially the UN. It will assess how the human rights approach, gender equality principles were integrated in the design and implementation of the project, including the participation of other marginalised groups and extend to which disability inclusive approaches were taken as required.
Below are a set of key evaluation questions to be refined during the inception phase:
Relevance
To what extent is the project relevant to and responding to the needs and priorities as defined by beneficiaries in projects sites? To what extent are the project’s objectives aligned with country-needs and policies, global priorities, UN Women’s mandate and comparative advantage and partners’ and donor’s priorities and strategies?Effectiveness
What progress has been made in increasing awareness among stakeholders about the rights of women workers including migrant workers? To what extent were the expected outcomes and outputs achieved and how did UN Women contribute towards it?Efficiency
Were project resources (funds, personnel, time) utilised efficiently to achieve desired outcomes? Were the project’s activities implemented as planned and within the scheduled timeframe?Sustainability
How well has the project built the capacity of local stakeholders to continue supporting decent work and career development for women workers? Are there signs of local or national ownership of the project outcomes, suggesting that benefits for women workers will continue?Contributions towards Impact
Were there any unintended results, either positive or negative, if any? To what extent has the project contributed to immediate changes (or long-term changes if any) in policies, practices, or attitudes toward women workers?Lessons learned and recommendations:
What are the lessons learned from navigating challenges during the implementation? What innovative approaches or good practices have emerged from the project that could be applied to future initiatives? How can the insights gained from this project inform future programming and policy work to better support women’s economic empowerment?The questions above are a suggestion and could be changed during the inception phase in consultation with members of the Evaluation Reference Group and Evaluation Management Group.
Scope of the Evaluation
This evaluation is expected to assess all three components implemented and lessons learned from the Women In Motion project, implemented from 1 February 2023- 31 July 2025. It will be mainly conducted in Beijing or online with possible travel to Guangdong province. The final evaluation will primarily answer the questions outlined above in the Evaluation Criteria. The questions are only indicative, and the Consultant is expected to review and revise as necessary during the inception stage.
Ethical Conduct in Evaluation
The evaluators should abide by the principle of UN Evaluation Group’s Ethical Guideline and Code of Conduct for Evaluation in UN System and follow the UN Women Evaluation Handbook[1]. They are also requested to sign UN Women Evaluation Consultant Agreement.
The data collection from the stakeholders and beneficiaries needs informed consent. The data should be safeguarded in the whole process of collection, utilization and maintain to ensure the confidentiality and rights protected in line with UN Women policy.
Evaluation Methodology
Evaluation design/approaches: The evaluation will be conducted in a participatory manner; key stakeholders will be involved in all phases of the evaluation, including the planning, inception, fact-finding and reporting phases. In the design, the evaluation will apply mixed methods with quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis components to ensure complementarity.
An outcome harvesting approach is recommended and a gender-responsive approach is a must to ensure the collection of disaggregated data (e.g., by sex, ethnicity, age, disability, etc). The evaluation methodology will enable achievement of the evaluation purpose, be aligned with the evaluation approach, and be designed to address the evaluation criteria and answer the key questions through credible techniques for data collection and analysis. The approach will be both summative (retrospective) and formative (forward looking), providing recommendations based on findings. The complete evaluation methodology should be developed in consultation with UN Women and should be detailed in the inception report.
Data collection methods and data sources: Mixed data collection methods could be used, such as desk review, document analysis and surveys/interviews.
Evaluability: Baseline, end-line and annual report data are available for the evaluators to use and validate; participant surveys for specific activities and other survey instruments are also available.
Limitations about this evaluation includes the sensitivity that may affect the ability to meet with key stakeholders, including frontline women workers.
Deliverables
Evaluation Phases
Preparation: To work with international consultant and UN Women project team to plan for the evaluation; and desk review (key documents, reports, policy papers) Conduct: draft Inception report, data collection and analysis, meetings/interviews with stakeholders; translate and interpret for the international consultant whenever needed (e.g. during virtual interviews) Reporting: Presentation of preliminary findings, draft and final reports Use and follow up (UN Women China CO responsibility): management response, dissemination of the reports, and follow up to the implementation of the management response.Delivery schedule Deliverables Activities Expected completion time (due day)
Payment
A draft inception report in English with sound methodologies, evaluation matrix, data collection tools, detailed evaluation plan and feasible timeline, which follows ethical conduct in evaluation.
Stakeholder analysis, theory of change workshop will be necessary.
Have working meetings with the international advisor, evaluation team and UN Women WEE team to plan for the evaluation; Lead and conduct desk review to the project related documents, including but not limited to the project document, concept notes, workplans and budget plans, responsible party reports donor reports and communication materials; Present to the EMG and ERG the proposed approach of the evaluation based on the desk review and consultations; Integrate feedback from the inception presentation and submit a detailed evaluation inception report in English. By 20 April 2025 30% Preliminary findings slides Draft evaluation report Prepare a draft preliminary findings and presentation (i.e. power point presentation) Share the initial findings and recommendations with the EMG and ERG before developing the first draft report to validate the findings; Draft the final report By 20 June 2025 30%A final evaluation report in English with recommendations for UN Women China’s strategic note and WEE portfolio included (if needed)
A PPT deck with final findings and recommendations.
Refine and finalise the report based on the comments collected in line with UN Women quality standards
By 1 July 2025 40%Evaluation Management Structure, Team Composition & Quality Assurance
The evaluation will be a consultative, inclusive and participatory process and will ensure the participation of stakeholders engaged in the implementation of the project. The evaluation will be Human Rights and gender equality responsive, and an Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) will be established. The Evaluation Reference Group is an integral part of the evaluation management structure and is constituted to facilitate the participation of relevant stakeholders in the design and scope of the evaluation, raising awareness of the different information needs, quality assurance throughout the process and in disseminating the evaluation results. The Evaluation Reference Group will be engaged throughout the process and will be composed of relevant representatives of state and non-state stakeholders. The ERG will review the draft evaluation report and provide substantive feedback to ensure quality and completeness of the report and will participate in the inception and validation meeting of the final evaluation report.
The Evaluation Management Group, includes the Programme Specialist will serve as the Evaluation Task Manager, who will be responsible for day-to-day management of the evaluation and, with support from the Women in Motion Project team, including a Programme Specialist, a Programme Analyst and a Programme Associate, as well as the UN Women China M&E focal point and the Regional Evaluation Specialist, will ensure that the evaluation is conducted in accordance with UN Women’s GERAAS standards. All products will be reviewed by the EMG for quality check prior to sharing with the ERG. If they do not meet the GERAAS standards the team will need to revise the evaluation until they meet the standards.
Coordination in the field including logistical support will be the responsibility of UN Women. The management of the evaluation will ensure that key stakeholders are consulted. Within six weeks upon completion of the evaluation, UN Women will approve a management response. This is a consultative/participatory final project evaluation with a strong learning component.
Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy. However, as part of this assignment, there will be a possible field trip to Guangdong Province undertaken by the national consultant with maximum of 5 days and regular meetings with UN Women as needed.
Competencies :
Core Values:
Integrity; Professionalism; Respect for Diversity.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 Values and Competencies Framework:
Functional Competencies:
Technical credibility in evaluation Research Business planning Change management Commitment to continuous improvementRequired Qualifications
Education and Certification:
Master’s degree in relevant subjects (monitoring and evaluation, international relations and/or development, or other relevant social sciences) with minimum of 5 years’ experience or PhD degree with 3 years’ experience relevant to programme evaluation, preferably in China. Bachelor’s degree in relevant subject with 7 years’ experience may be accepted.Experience:
At least five-year proven experience as a team leader in designing and conducting project evaluation on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Proven knowledge and understanding of M&E methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills and participatory data collection approaches. Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently. Excellent skills to produce high-quality reports and manage diverse perspectives in communications and consultations with relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries. At least one-year proven evaluation experience with United Nations agencies, donors and government stakeholders. Experience working on M&E in China preferred.Languages:
Proficiency in English and Chinese in both writing and speakingStatements :
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important 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.)
Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.
This vacancy is archived.