Consultant to conduct Evaluation of the Africa Programme of Gender Statistics

Consultant

Overview

Evaluate and develop the Africa Programme on Gender Statistics for gender equality

You have:

• Master's degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Economics, International Development studies, Law, Human rights, Politics, Gender, Women studies or related field.
• At least 10 years of planning, programming, evaluations and/or evaluation experience, seven years of which in planning/evaluations in development programs related to human rights, gender and results-based management.
• Knowledge and experience with regional gender related development, policy and legislative frameworks in Africa.
• Experience with UN programming and Delivering as One.
• Fluency in oral and written English is required; Fluency in French is an advantage.
• Demonstrable ability to evaluate projects and programmes.
• Knowledge of gender statistics and national statistics systems.
• Knowledge of women's rights and gender equality issues.

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

In recognition of the importance of gender statistics for the improvement of gender equality and women empowerment, African countries and the continent gender statistics stakeholders have given increasing attention to promoting the production and use of gender statistics. The Statistical Commission for Africa (STATCOM-Africa) established the African Group on Gender statistics (AGGES), with the UNECA as the secretariat of the AGGeS, at its first meeting in 2008. The mandate of the AGGES is to support and advise on gender statistical issues, needs and challenges poverty reduction strategies and global development agendas. The establishment of the AGGES has also contributed towards improving the coordination and harmonization of gender statistics across the region.

Although significant progress was made at regional and national level to improve gender statistics in Africa, these continue to be project-based, ad hoc in nature and still not optimally coordinated, resulting in duplication of efforts.

To address these issues, UNECA, in close collaboration with the AGGES, developed an umbrella regional programme on gender statistics in 2012, called the African Programme on Gender Statistics (APGS). STATCOM-Africa endorsed the program at its third session in 2012 and tasked the AGGES with the coordination of its implementation and the report on progress made in each of its sessions. ECA is the Secretariat for the APGS. Phase 1 of the APGS covered the period 2012-2016 while the second phase (phase 2) is from 2017 to 2021. The latter has been aligned to SDGs data and methodological issues requirement.

The APGS brings together under one umbrella programme the current initiatives aimed at the development of gender statistics being undertaken and those planned for over the period 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021 by the regional organizations, international agencies and other organizations working with African countries. It is an umbrella regional programme which encompasses all conceivable activities that need to be undertaken at the regional level to ensure that member states develop and implement an encompassing gender statistics programme in their respective countries. It is intended to be a common regional programme that all pan-African institutions and development partners will technically and financially support. This will help eliminate duplication of effort on the continent by ensuring synergies between different stakeholders, make better use of the scarce resources, and thus help make significant and sustainable improvements in gender statistics in Africa. The development and implementation of APGS is in line with ongoing efforts at the continental level to implement the Strategy on the Harmonization of Statistics in Africa (SHaSA).

UNECA, UNWomen and AfDB have been closely working together in implementing the APGS and are currently looking for the services of a consultant who can do the following work:

1 - Evaluate Phase II (2017-2021) of the APGS.

2 - Based on the evaluation report of Phase II (2017-2021) of the APGS, develop a third phase of the APGS for the period 2022-2026.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

1. Evaluation of the programme

• Plan the evaluation by identifying and scoping all the regional organizations, international agencies and other organizations working on the advancement of gender statistics in Africa.
• Obtain relevant evidence about the activities and outcomes of the APGS by studying the relevant documentations and consulting with representatives from National Statistics Offices, regional and international agencies involved in the implementation of the APGS.
• Review activities of the APGS, their funding and implementation trategy to assess their relevance to address challenges to the development of gendre statistics in the continent;
• Review the compositin, functionning and role the African Group on Gender Statistics (AGGS)in the effective implementation of the APGS and its cores groups well as the development and coordination of gender statistitics in the continent.
• Based on the outcome of consultaions and reviews made, the consultant will come up an evaluation report that give an overview of the achievements and challenges experienced during the implementation of the APGS with concrete recommendations on a way forward for the next phase of the APGS. This include also the functionning of coordination mecanismes governing the implementation of the APGS, including inetragency cooperation/partnership, AGGS and its core groups.

2. Development of the third phase of the APGS for the period 2022-2026.

This activity will focus on preparing the new APGS for the period January 1st 2022 to December 2027. To this end, on the basis of the outcomes of the evaluation APGS II, the consultant will develop the phase III APGS that highlight among others the followings:

• Mandates, comparative advantage of the entities member of the APGS and their relation to the APGS 2022-2026
• Rationale and vision of APGS
• Situation analysis, including problem analysis and stakeholder analysis
• Lessons learned from the review of the APGS phase II
• APGS III activities and their implementation strategies,
• Results framework
• Partnerships
• Management and gouvernance arrangements
• Reporting, Monitoring and Evaluation framework

The evaluation will apply four OECD/DAC evaluation criteria [relevance, effectiveness (including normative, and coordination mandates of UN Women), efficiency, and sustainability] and Human Rights and Gender Equality as additional criterion. The evaluation will seek to answer the following set of preliminary key questions. They will be fine-tuned during the evaluation inception stage:

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Questions

Relevance

Is the APGS aligned with regional gender and statistics policies?

What are the implementing partner’s comparative advantage in this area of work compared with other UN entities and key partners?

Was the APGS designed in such a way that it could effectively respond to the needs and gaps in gender statistics in the region

Efficiency

To what extent does the institutional structure of the APGS support efficiency of implementation?

Do the international implementing agencies have access to the necessary skills, knowledge and capacities needed to deliver on this portfolio?

Has a Results Based Management system been established, implemented and used?

Are the interventions achieving synergies between the different agencies involved?

Is the balance and coherence between programming- operational,

coordination and policy-normative work optimal?

Did the program implementation effectively address issues around language and was communication clear and accessible to all member states?

Has the portfolio been implemented according to human rights and development effectiveness principles:

1. Participation/empowerment.
2. Inclusion/non-discrimination.
3. National accountability/ transparency
4. Partnerships

Effectiveness

To what extent have planned outputs/outcomes been achieved on time?

Are interventions contributing to the expected outcomes?

What unexpected outcomes (positive and negative) have been achieved?

What are the main enabling and hindering factors behind observed outcomes?

Has the programme continued towards improving UN and regional coordination on gender statistics? If yes, how?

What contribution is the APGS making towards implementing global norms and standards for gender equality and women empowerment?

Was there any communication strategy about and around the APGS? If yes, how effective was this.

Did the APGS impact on how NSOs deliver on gender statistics.?

Sustainability

To what extent was capacity developed to ensure sustainability of efforts and benefits?

Is there national/regional ownership and are there champions for different parts of the portfolio?

Coherence

Are the key interventions compatible with other interventions in the region?

Is there any potential duplication of efforts in this area?

Key stakeholders that need to be consulted:

1. National Statistical Offices, Gender Ministries and other sectoral ministries of UNECA member States

2. Statistical training centres, universities and researchers

3. African RECs and AUC

4. AfDB, ECA, UN Women, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNESCO WHO, UNAIDS, FAO, World Bank, OECD, ILO, Data2X, Africa Group on Gender Statistics.

The evaluation phases are:

Stage 1: Planning

Stage 2: Preparation: This includes the stakeholder analysis and establishment of the reference group, evaluation management group, development of the ToR, and recruitment of the evaluator;

Stage 3: Conduct: Inception workshop, data collection and analysis;

Stage 4: Reporting: Presentation of preliminary findings, draft and final reports;

Stage 5: Use and follow up: dissemination of the report and follow up where needed.

This ToR covers stages 3 and 4 only for which the evaluator will be responsible while UN Women is responsible for phases 1 and 2. The UNECA, UNWomen AfDB and AUC partnership will take collective responsibility for Stages 1,2 and 5.

The following products are expected from the evaluation:

Deliverable

Time frame

Responsible

Draft & final inception report

One week after signing the contract

Evaluator (EMG and ERG feedback)

Preliminary findings presentation

Within one week after the inception report has been cleared/approved.

Evaluator (EMG and ERG feedback)

Draft & final evaluation report

Draft- Three weeks after approval of the inception report.

Final- One week after receiving feedback on the draft.

Evaluator EMG and ERG feedback

APGS plan for period 2021-2026

Draft- 4 weeks after final assessment report

Final- One week after receiving feedback on the draft.

Evaluator EMG and ERG feedback

The evaluation Report will follow below outline:

1. Evaluation object and context;
2. Evaluation purpose, objectives and scope;
3. Evaluation methodology;
4. Findings;
5. Conclusions and lessons learned;
6. Recommendations;
7. Annexes.

The draft and final evaluation report will be shared with the Evaluation Reference Group (ERG), and the Evaluation Management Group (EMG) for quality review. The final evaluation report will be independently assessed using quality standards outlined in the UNW Global Evaluation Reports Assessment and Analysis System (GERAAS). The final evaluation report and evaluation management responses will be publicly disclosed in the UNW GATE system. The final report will be approved by the EMG.

Evaluation Management:

The evaluation will be a consultative, inclusive and participatory process and will ensure the participation of stakeholders and partners.

The process will be managed by the UNECA Statistics Specialist. The Evaluation Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of the evaluation and ensures that the evaluation is conducted in accordance with UN Women Evaluation Quality Standards, UNEG Ethical Guidelines and other key relevant guidance documents.

An Evaluation Management Group (EMG) comprising of representatives from UN Women ESA-RO, WCA-RO, UNECA, AfDB and AUC will be established to oversee and support the evaluation process, make key decisions and quality assure the different deliverables. The EMG will quality assure and approve all deliverables. EMG will be responsible for coordination in the field including logistical support during field missions, if applicable.

The establishment of an Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) will facilitate the participation of key stakeholders in the evaluation process and ensure that the evaluation approach is robust and relevant to stakeholders. Furthermore, it will allow identifying factual errors or errors of omission or interpretation in evaluation products. The ERG will provide input and relevant information at key stages of the evaluation: Terms of Reference, inception report, draft and final reports and dissemination of the results.

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.

Functional Competencies;

• Knowledge of gender statistics and national statistics systems;
• Knowledge of women’s rights and gender equality issues;
• Demonstrable ability to evaluate projects and programmes;
• Excellent writing skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Economics, International Development studies, Law, Human rights, Politics, Gender, Women studies or related field.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of planning, programming, evaluations and/or evaluation experience, seven years of which in planning/evaluations in development programs related to human rights, gender and results-based management;
• Knowledge and experience with regional gender related development, policy and legislative frameworks in Africa;
• Experience with UN programming and Delivering as One;
• Knowledge of issues concerning women’s human rights and gender equality.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required;
• Fluency in French is an advantage.

Ethical Code of Conduct:

UN Women has developed a UN Women Evaluation Consultants Agreement Form for evaluators that must be signed as part of the contracting process, which is based on the UNEG Ethical Guidelines and Code of Conduct. These documents will be annexed to the contract. The UNEG guidelines note the importance of ethical conduct for the following reasons:

1. Responsible use of power: All those engaged in evaluation processes are responsible for upholding the proper conduct of the evaluation.
2. Ensuring credibility: With a fair, impartial, and complete assessment, stake- holders are more likely to have faith in the results of an evaluation and to take note of the recommendations.
3. Responsible use of resources: Ethical conduct in evaluation increases the chances of acceptance by the parties to the evaluation and therefore the likelihood that the investment in the evaluation will result in improved outcomes.

The evaluator is expected to provide a detailed plan on how ethical principles will be ensured throughout the evaluation process.

UNWOMEN is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence

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Potential interview questions

Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org