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.
The mandate and functions of UN Women call for the promotion of organizational and UN system accountability on gender equality through evaluation, strengthening evaluation capacities and learning from evaluation, and developing systems to measure the results and impact of UN Women with its enhanced role at country, regional and global levels. The purpose and role of evaluation in UN Women is to enhance accountability, inform decision-making and contribute to learning on the best ways to achieve women’s empowerment and gender equality through operational and normative work.
The Independent Evaluation Service (ES) of the Independent Evaluation, Audit and Investigations Services (IEAIS) serves as the custodian of the evaluation function in line with United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards. The Evaluation Office deploys quantitative and qualitative approaches to evaluate transformative changes in gender equality and human rights and UN Women’s contribution therein. It undertakes corporate evaluations and promotes their use at decision making levels; supports decentralized evaluations for improved programming and evidence generation on what works for gender equality; supports evaluation capacity development within the organization and of regional and country partners, and promotes coordination with the UN system on joint evaluation of gender equality and the inclusion of gender in system wide evaluation. In addition, in the framework of the UN Women regional and country level work, decentralized evaluation function and capacity is strengthened and supported by regional level evaluation specialists based in regional offices.
Reporting directly to the Regional Evaluation Specialist and under the supervision of the Chief of the Independent Evaluation Service (IES), the Evaluation Consultant will independently support decentralized evaluations at regional and country level by strengthening decentralized evaluation systems, conducting regional and country portfolio evaluations, ensuring use of evaluation findings and recommendations, providing internal and external evaluation capacity development and promoting coordination on evaluation that is gender responsive at regional and country levels.
Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work
Conduct and manage evaluations across the East and Southern Africa Region:
Undertake evaluations in the region, including regional and country portfolio evaluations, leading the evaluation from scoping, inception, through to data collection, analysis, reporting and dissemination Provide sound methodological advice and quality assurance to decentralized evaluation processes, including the preparation of Terms of References (TORs), evaluation study, final evaluation report and dissemination strategy; Provide technical support to the planning, monitoring and implementation of evaluation plans in UN Women’s regional and country offices;Ensure that the findings and recommendations of evaluations are followed up:
Prepare reports and briefing materials that can be shared with stakeholders on findings and recommendations of evaluations; Organize meetings, workshops and other discussion fora to contribute to knowledge management; Liaise with project / programme managers on recommendations and monitor follow up on evaluations, ensuring that evaluation results are taken into account in project design, implementation.Strengthen evaluation capacity development in UN Women at regional and country levels:
Provide training and coaching on UN Women evaluation policy and guidelines within the Regional Office and country offices, including substantial support in coaching and training Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) focal points at country level; Provide advice/information/guidance to programme managers on evaluations on programme design from evaluability perspective;Promote UN coordination on evaluation that is gender responsive.
Collaborate with UN regional inter-agency evaluation working group on integrating gender equality perspective in evaluation; Collaborate with other UN joint evaluation initiatives at regional and country level; Contribute to UN Women in United Nations Evaluation Group taskforces and substantial contribution to the inclusion of gender equality dimensions in UNSDCF and system-wide evaluation;Perform other related duties and assignments as and when requested by supervisor.
Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy.
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:
Strong technical knowledge of the different components of evaluation, including evaluation design, data collection and analysis and reporting; Substantive knowledge of gender-responsive evaluation, respective methodological approaches, including impact and contribution analysis; Ability to synthesize evaluative information and to write clear, concise and logical evaluation reports; Strong knowledge of social development issues particularly those pertinent to UN Women strategic priorities on gender issues and women’s rights; Strong skills in management of consultants and/or other temporary personnel. Strong training and coaching skillsRequired Qualifications
Education and Certification:
Master’s degree or equivalent in evaluation, social science or a related field 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.Experience:
At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience in evaluation preferably in the development, and/or humanitarian context; Proven hands-on experience in leading or conducting evaluations is required; Experience in gender equality analytical work and programming, and current development issues is desirable; Experience working in an international organization, or similar complex organization, is desirable. Experience in evaluation use and knowledge management is required. Experience working in the East and Southern Africa region is an asset.Languages:
Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.Statements :
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.