End of Programme Evaluation for the Women Empowerment Programme Consultant

Consultant

Overview

Conduct end of project evaluation for Women's Empowerment Programme

You have:

• Master's degree in Programme Policy, Public Health, Social Sciences or Development Studies and any other related fields
• Minimum of 10 years experience in evidence-based program development and management
• Documented experience in conducting gender-responsive evaluations
• Strong track record in designing and leading evaluations
• Extensive knowledge in ICT for research, including digital data collection
• Technical knowledge in gender equality, GBV, SGBV, Harmful Cultural Practices, HIV and/or SRHR programme design
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work independently or as part of a team
• Prior experience working with PLHIV and GBV survivors in a non-discriminatory way

Contract

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

Background

In December 2017, UN Women Malawi office received a grant from the Royal Norwegian Embassy to implement a three-year Women Empowerment Programme (WEP). The Women Empowerment Programme aims at ensuring that Women and girls enjoy their full rights and positively contribute to, and benefit from, social economic and political development in Malawi by the year 2021.

The project is coming to an end and UN Women Malawi Office, with support from the UN Women Regional Office, intends to conduct an end of project evaluation for purposes of establishing achievement of intended outcomes, learning, accountability, and decision-making. The findings and lessons drawn from the evaluation will be used to inform the design of the next phase of the project and future programming. The implementation of the evaluation will be guided by the following key UN Women documents: Evaluation Policy.[1]; UNW GERAAS evaluation quality checklist UNW Evaluation Handbook[2]; UN SWAP EPI[3]; United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards for Evaluation in the UN System[4] and UNEG Ethical Guidelines[5].

Description of the Programme

The Women Empowerment Programme consists of three thematic components namely, Gender and governance: Women and Youth empowerment through enterprise development and Elimination of Violence against women and girls.

Gender Governance

Thematic area 1 on Gender and Governance is aligned to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework pillar 1, namely, Peace, inclusion, and effective institutions, and to UN Women Flagship Programme Initiatives on supporting women to lead in decision making and on ensuring that national and local plans and budgets are gender responsive. The thematic area has four outcomes as follows.

• Outcome 1.1: Enhanced implementation of national, regional, and international normative and policy frameworks.
• Outcome 1.2: Women participate, lead, and engage in decision making processes in public institutions.
• Outcome1.3: Formulation of National and local plans and budgets is gender responsive and is informed by gender statistics.
• Outcome 1.4: Gender statistics are accessible to all users to inform policy, advocacy, and programming.

Women and Youth empowerment through enterprise development.

Thematic area 2 on Women and Youth empowerment through enterprise development, aims at improving incomes of 300 micro and small entrepreneurs. The thematic area is aligned to the UN Women Flagship Programme 2 on Women’s Economic Empowerment, and it has the following two outcomes:

• Outcome 2.1: Women’s capacities to access financing to invest in Climate Smart Agriculture, and enterprise development are increased.
• Outcome 2.2: Rural women and youths have increased access to secure and productive resources, including markets and value-added activities.

Elimination of Violence against women and girls

Thematic area 3, on Elimination of Violence Against Women is aligned to SDG 5 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and agenda 2063 and the UN Women Flagship Programme Initiative 3 on Prevention and Access to Essential Services to End Violence against Women. The thematic area has one outcome, namely.

• Outcome 3.1: Social norms, attitudes and behaviors are promoted at community and individual levels to prevent VAW and other harmful cultural practices.

The WEP also has a component on national level advocacy and implementation on this is led by the UN Malawi Country Office. A total of six districts namely Mangochi, Salima, Dedza, Karonga, Mzimba and Mulanje, were targeted for grassroot level interventions. Seven Civil Society Organizations in the name of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MACOHA), Malawi Girl Guide Association (MAGGA), MHUB, Malawi Network of Aids Service Organizations (MANASO) and Women Lawyers of Southern Africa (WLSA) are coordinating and facilitating implementation of interventions at district level. Key government partners are Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare; Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development; Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Purpose of the Evaluation

The overall objective of the evaluation is to assess outcome results and lessons learned from the implementation of the programme. The evaluation will contribute to accountability, learning and decision-making and inform design of the new phase of the programme. This is a programme specific evaluation to be conducted at the end of the intervention’s life cycle. Main key users of the evaluation are UN Women, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, UN Agencies, UN Women Partners, and other donors.

In line with UN Women Evaluation Policy, the final evaluation report together with the UN Women management response will be disclosed publicly on the UNW ‘Global Accountability and Tracking of Evaluation Use (GATE) System’ at http://gate.unwomen.org

Objectives of the Evaluation

The main objective of the evaluation is to assess outcomes and draw lessons. The evaluation will provide answers to the following key evaluation questions: Was the project relevant to the needs of the target population? To what extent has UN Women contributed to achieving the expected changes? How can UN Women improve the efficiency of implementing the project in future? What was UN Women’s added value to this area of work? How have human rights approach and gender equality principles integrated in implementation? What lessons have been learnt, good practices and innovations that can be used to support gender equality and human rights in future projects?

The project interventions will be assessed based on criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, Coherence, and sustainability[6] as below:

Relevance

• To what extent is the intervention relevant to the needs and priorities as defined by beneficiaries?
• To what extent is the intervention aligned with relevant normative frameworks for gender equality and women’s empowerment?
• To what extent is the interventions relevant to national strategies/plans?
• What are UN Women’s comparative advantage in this area of work compared with other UN entities and key partners?

Effectiveness

• To what extent are the expected outputs and outcomes achieved and how did UN Women contribute towards these? To what extent can changes be attributed to the program?
• What unexpected results (positive and negative) have been achieved? For whom?
• What has been the ratio of costs to benefits?
• What has UN Women’s contribution been to the progress of the achievement of outcomes? What was the influence of other factors?
• Has the intervention been cost-effective (compared to alternatives)?
• What are the main enabling and hindering factors to achieving planned outcomes?

Efficiency

• To what extent does the management structure of the intervention support efficiency for programme implementation?
• How well have resources and risks been managed to ensure results?
• To what extent is the relationship between inputs and outputs timely, cost-effective and to expected standards?
• Can the offices demonstrate that they comply with good financial management practice?
• What is UN Women’s comparative advantage compared with other UN entities and key partners?

Impact

• To what extent did the programme achieve the intended outcomes in the short and medium term?
• To what extent is gender equality and women’s empowerment advanced because of the intervention?
• What are the unintended effects, if any, of the intervention?

Sustainability

• To what extent is capacity developed to ensure sustainability of efforts and benefits?
• How will the benefits of the intervention be secured for rights holders (i.e. what accountability and oversight systems were established)?
• Is there evidence that the initiative is likely to grow – scaling up and out – beyond the project life?

Coherence

• To what extent did other interventions (particularly policies) support or undermine the project intervention, and vice versa.

• What were synergies and interlinkages between the intervention and other interventions carried out by the UN Women/government, as well as the consistency of the intervention with the relevant international norms and standards to which UN Women/government adheres?

• How consistent were the project intervention with other actors’ interventions in the same context?

Gender Equality and Human Rights

• To what extent has gender and human rights considerations been integrated into the programme design and implementation?
• To what extent have the projects been implemented according to human rights and development effectiveness principles: Participation/empowerment; Inclusion/non-discrimination; National accountability/transparency?
• To what extent have the projects changed the dynamics of power in relationships between different groups?

The evaluation will also apply Human Rights and Gender Equality as an additional criterion.

Scope of the Evaluation

The final evaluation of the Project is to be conducted externally by an individual consultant selected through a competitive process. It is planned to be conducted in the period of 6 months within the period 21st July 2021 to 31st December 2021. The evaluation will cover the project implementation period from December 2017 to December 2021. The evaluation will be conducted in Malawi, where the programme is being implemented and the target project districts to collect data as defined by the agreed evaluation work-plan. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the respective country guidance on travel restrictions should be taken into consideration. The evaluation will examine all the relevant documents of the Programme, including results framework/logical framework of the project, its Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, annual work plan, semi-annual and annual reports to the donor, knowledge products produced in the frameworks of the project.

Evaluation Design

The approach will be formative (forward looking). Being a Gender-responsive evaluation, it should apply mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and analytical approaches) to account for complexity of gender relations and to ensure participatory and inclusive processes that are culturally appropriate. The key principles for gender-responsive evaluation at UN Women are: 1) National ownership and leadership; 2) UN system coordination and coherence regarding gender equality and the empowerment of women; 3) Innovation; 4) Fair power relations and empowerment; 5) Participation and inclusion; 6) Independence and impartiality; 7) Transparency; 8) Quality and credibility; 9) Intentionality and use of evaluation; and 10) Ethics.

The following key phases will be implemented.

• Preparation: Establishment of the reference group, and recruitment of the consultant
• Conduct: Inception report, stakeholder workshop, data collection and analysis
• Reporting: Presentation of preliminary findings, draft, and final reports
• Use and follow up: Management response, dissemination of the report, and follow up to the implementation of the management response.

Methodology

The approach will be gender-responsive and highly participatory to ensure all stakeholders are consulted as part of the evaluation process. The methods should include a wide range of data sources, participatory tools for consultation with stakeholders and a plan for inclusion of women and individuals and groups who are vulnerable and/or discriminated against in the consultation process. Due to possible travel restrictions, it is expected that the methods include creative options for virtual/online participation and data collection. The consultant will develop an evaluation matrix explaining the rationale and approach for data collection.

The consultant will be expected to do the following:

• Use a wide range of data sources (for example documents, institutional information systems, financial records, field information, conduct interviews and focus group discussions with beneficiaries, staff, NGOs, experts, government officials and community groups)

• Data collection methods and analysis: conduct interviews virtually, focus group discussions and if possible, surveys as data collection method and identify most significant change case study that will address gender equality and human rights issues; the evaluator will elaborate on the final rationale for selection and their limitations.

• Suggest a plan for inclusion of girls, women and individuals and groups who are vulnerable and/or discriminated against in the consultation process and a plan for translation, as necessary.
• Detail a plan on how protection of subjects and respect for confidentiality will be guaranteed.
• Specify a sampling frame (area and population represented, rationale for selection, mechanics of selection, limitations of the sample) and specify how it will address the diversity of stakeholders in the intervention.
• Specify measures to ensure data quality, reliability and validity of data collection tools and methods and their responsiveness to gender equality and human rights.
• The preliminary evaluation findings should be validated through a debriefing workshop with Evaluation Management and Evaluation Reference groups at the end of the primary data collection stage.

[1] https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/accountability/evaluation/governance-and-policy

[2]https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/4/un-women-evaluation-handbook-how-to-manage-gender-responsive-evaluation

[3] https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/accountability/evaluation/un-coherence

[4] http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/1914

[5] http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/102

[6] https://www.oecd.org/dac/evaluation/revised-evaluation-criteria-dec-2019.pd

Duties and Responsibilities

Task

Time Frame

Delivery of draft and revised evaluation inception report

11th August 2021.

Data collection

2-3 weeks after submission of inception report (31st August 2021)

Reporting stage (analysis and presentation of preliminary findings)

2-3 weeks after final data collection (24th September 2021)

Submission of Draft Evaluation Report

2-3 weeks after submission of In Country Reports (8th October 2021)

Submission of Final Report

2 weeks after submission of the first draft evaluation report

Expected Deliverables

• Draft and revised inception report
• Final evaluation report

Both draft inception report and draft evaluation report will be reviewed by the Evaluation Management Group (EMG) and Evaluation Reference Group (ERG).

Management of the Evaluation

Evaluation Management Group (EMG) and Evaluation Reference Group (ERG). comprising of UN Women Programme Officers and MER Specialists representing the three countries and from the UN Regional Office will provide oversight and guidance to the process. With oversight from the Un Women Regional Office, the UN Women Malawi MER Specialist will be a focal person for the evaluation.

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

Required Skills and Experience

• Masters’ degree in Programme Policy, Public Health, Social Sciences or Development Studies and any other related fields
• Minimum of 10 years experience in evidence-based program development and management is desirable
• Good knowledge in Policy, Strategy and operational planning, formulation, and development
• Documented previous experience in conducting gender-responsive evaluations.
• A strong track record in designing and leading evaluations, extensive experience in applying qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods including data analysis skills.
• Extensive knowledge and experience in using ICT for research, including electronic/digital data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Technical knowledge and experience in gender equality, GBV, SGBV, Harmful Cultural Practices, HIV and/or SRHR programme design and implementation at both national and local level is required.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Previous experience working directly with PLHIV and GBV survivors in a non-stigmatizing and non-discriminatory way.

Please note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

UN Women Personal History form (P-11) can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment .

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