Final Evaluation of ‘Transformational Leadership Skills Building to Promote Women’s Effective Representation in Political and Peace-building Decision Making Structures’ Project

Consultant Human Rights

Contract

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Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) has been implementing a project “Transformational Leadership Skills Building to Promote Women’s Effective Representation in Political and Peacebuilding Decision Making Structures” with support from the Government of Norway. The project duration is from 5 December 2017 to 30 September 2020 with budget of NOK 14,300,000 (USD 1,661,107.10). The project’s intended impact is: Peacebuilding processes have sustainably improved women’s political leadership and participation in public decision making in South Sudan. The project intended to achieve this result through delivering on the following: Outcome 1: Institutionalization of women’s leadership capacity building and the creation and management of knowledge on women, peace, and security in South Sudan enhanced; Outcome 2: Enhanced role and participation of women in influencing political and public policy making processes to promote, sustain, and consolidate peace.

The project supports the ongoing progression and development of the National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI) as an academic institution. NTLI is a semi-autonomous institution at the University of Juba that offers transformational leadership skills to emerging and existing women leaders from all sectors of South Sudanese society. NTLI has trained hundreds of women leaders across the country in transformational leadership to enhance their participation and influence in all decision, policymaking and peacebuilding processes in South Sudan. The project has supported NTLI’s trainings with a broad base of partners within South Sudan, as well as sought to establish new partnerships with NTLI outside of South Sudan.

II. Purpose (and Use of the Evaluation)

The evaluation is agreed upon with the donor and included in the project design. Its main purpose is assessing the achievement of project’s intended results and effectiveness of the project. The evaluation will analyze the extent to which objectives were achieved, and lessons were learned. The information generated by the evaluation will be used by UN Women, NTLI, University of Juba, the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, the donor and other stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives:

The specific evaluation objectives are as follows:

• Analyze the relevance and coherence of the implementation strategy and approaches of the project;
• Validate the project results in terms of achievements and deviations;
• Determine the impact of the project with respect to women’s leadership and political participation;
• Assess the sustainability of the results achieved by the project;
• Document lessons learned, best practices, success stories and challenges;
• Provide actionable recommendations for future programmatic developments;
• Assess how the project results relate to achievement of relevant normative frameworks and gender provisions in Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan;
• Assess how the human rights approach, gender equality principles and the participation of other socially vulnerable groups were integrated in the implementation of the project.

The evaluation will apply OECD/DAC evaluation criteria which includes relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. In late 2019 the OECD revised the DAC evaluation criteria and introduced an additional standard around “coherence” to the initial 5 criteria. For details see Better Criteria for Better Evaluation. The evaluation will also apply Human Rights and Gender Equality as additional criteria.

Scope of the Evaluation:

The final evaluation of the project is to be conducted externally by an international consultant. It is planned to be completed in 30 working days in the period from the 7th of September – 16th of October 2020.

The final evaluation will include all aspects of the project and will cover the full project period starting from 5 December 2017 till the end of September 2020. Due to COVID- 19, the evaluation may be done remotely.

Evaluation Design (Process and Methods):

Evaluation processes are divided in four main phases-:

1. Preparation, mainly devoted to structuring the evaluation approach, establishing reference group, preparing the ToR, compiling project documentation recruitment of the consultant;
2. Conduct, which involves validation of the theory of change, organizing inception meetings, drafting inception report and finalization of evaluation methodology, data collection and analysis, including desk research and preparation of interviews and surveys;
3. Reporting, focusing on presentation of preliminary findings, developing draft and final reports and any additional communication product;
4. Use and follow up: which will entail the development of management response by UN Women team and follow-up to the implementation of the management response.

The consultant will be responsible only for Conduct and Reporting phases.

• Conduct phase: At the beginning of the consultancy, the consultant will be provided with key sources of information for an initial desk review. Meetings will be conducted with UN Women and the NTLI team. At the end of this phase an inception report that will include the refined evaluation methodology will be delivered. The inception report will be validated and reviewed by the Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) and approved by UN Women;
• Reporting phase: The collected information will be analyzed, and final evaluation report will be delivered. A validation meeting will be organized where the consultant will validate the final report with UN Women and ERG. Afterwards the final report will be submitted for approval by UN Women.

Methods:

UNW follows a systematic process to assess the quality of all completed evaluations on a yearly basis. This external quality assessment is based on the ‘Global Evaluation Report Assessment and Analysis System’ (GERAAS) and closely aligned with UN Evaluation Group quality standards. All evaluations in UN Women are annually assessed against the framework adopted in GERAAS and hence the consultant should be familiar with GERAAS quality standards. The UN Women Evaluation Policy and the Evaluation Strategy to Transform Women’s and Girls’ Lives 2018-2021 are the main guiding documents that set forth the principles and organizational framework for evaluation planning, conduct and follow-up in UN Women. These principles are aligned with the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards for Evaluation in the UN System and the UNEG Ethical Guidelines. In addition, UN Women is an UN-SWAP reporting entity and the consultant will take into consideration that all the evaluation in UN Women are annually assessed against the UN-SWAP Evaluation Performance Indicator and its related scorecard.

The evaluation methodology will be mixed (quantitative and qualitative research methods and analytical approaches). The final methodological approach including interview schedules and data to be used in the evaluation should be outlined in the inception report and agreed upon by UN Women and the evaluator.

The evaluation will be largely home based as it will be conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government of South Sudan has put in place preventive and management measures against the COVID-19. These include social distancing, washing hands, wearing face masks, prohibition of social gatherings.

Stakeholder Participation:

The evaluation will be a consultative, inclusive, and participatory process. The ERG serves a key platform for stakeholder engagement and participation. The evaluation will be human rights and gender responsible which follows UN Women Evaluation Handbook: How to manage gender-responsive evaluation and UNEG Guidance: Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluations.

Time Frame:

Task

Tentative Time frame

Person Responsible

Inception phase

7 working days

Evaluation Consultant

Conduct stage (data collection)

7 working days

Evaluation Consultant

Reporting stage (analysis and presentation of preliminary findings)

8 working days

Evaluation Consultant

Reporting stage (finalization of the report)

8 working days

Evaluation Consultant

Use and follow-up

6 weeks post final report

UN Women

Expected Deliverables:

• Evaluation inception report: The report should include evaluation objectives and scope, desk review, description of evaluation methodology/methodological approach, data collection tools, data analysis methods, key informants/agencies, evaluation questions, performance criteria, issues to be studied, work plan and reporting requirements;
• Data collection and follow up on pending interviews and additional data collection as needed;
• Evaluation debriefings;
• Draft evaluation report: The first draft should contain summary of key findings, risk management and recommendations, which will be presented to the ERG and to other key stakeholders;
• Final evaluation report: The final evaluation report shall include the following chapters: Executive Summary (maximum five pages), Introduction and Background, Project description, Evaluation purpose, Evaluation methodology, Findings, Lessons learned, Recommendations and Annexes;
• Presentations of final evaluation report to stakeholders.

Management of Evaluation:

The Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) 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 ERG will be engaged throughout the process and will be composed of relevant representatives of the stakeholders.

UN Women will designate focal persons for the evaluation and any additional staff to assist in facilitating the process as needed. The designated project focal persons will assist the evaluator in arranging introductory meetings with the relevant parties. The evaluator will take responsibility for setting up meetings (virtual or face to face) and conducting the evaluation.

• The consultant is required to exhibit their full-time commitment to UN Women during the number of working days specified in the contract;
• The consultant shall perform tasks under the general guidance and direct supervision of the UN Women M&E officer;
• The consultant is required to maintain close communication with UN Women on a regular basis throughout the assignment in order to monitor progress;
• Should UN Women judge it necessary, it reserves the right to commission additional inputs, reviews or revisions, as needed to ensure the quality and relevance of the work;
• The consultant is expected to use their own computer/laptop and cell phone;
• Final approval of deliverables produced by the consultant is with UN Women.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Evaluation Consultant

The consultant will lead following tasks:

• To elaborate and submit the detailed draft and final inception report;
• To elaborate and finalize the data collection methodology such as guidelines, questionnaires/tools to be used with the key informants/interviewees;
• To prepare a presentation of preliminary findings and present to ERG;
• To produce and submit the draft and final evaluation reports in English taking into consideration comments and feedback collected from the presentation of preliminary findings;
• To be available if further clarification is needed during the finalization of drafting process of the evaluation and provide inputs to the evaluation report;
• To prepare a brief narrative report on fulfillment of all the tasks assigned by this ToR;
• To suggest a plan for inclusion of women and groups who are vulnerable and/or discriminated against in the consultation process and a plan for translation, as necessary;
• To specify measures for responsiveness to gender equality and human rights.

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

Evaluator’ Expected Skills and Experiences:

The evaluation consultant will be an international, who was at no point directly associated with the design and implementation of any of the activities associated with the project outcomes.

Education:

• Minimum Master’s degree in Gender Studies, Development Studies, Project Planning and Management or any other relevant field such as Sociology, Social Work, International Development.

Experience:

• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in research and conducting evaluations (of similar nature) particularly in the field of gender, governance, development and/or peacebuilding;
• Proven experience with a wide range of monitoring and evaluation methods and approaches, including gender-sensitive methodologies;
• Extensive knowledge and experience in using ICT for research, including remote electronic/digital data collection, analysis and reporting;
• Minimum 10 years of professional experience preferably in gender, governance, development, peacebuilding and related fields including field experience;
• Knowledge of the South Sudan context such as governance, peacebuilding and gender considerations and prior experience in working in the region.

Language

• Excellent written, verbal, presentation and communications skills in English with the ability to explain complex analysis and data in a clear and simple manner.

Financial Arrangement:

Payment will be disbursed upon submission and approval of deliverables and certification by UN Women that the services have been satisfactorily performed as specified below:

• Inception report that contains design, methodology, detailed work plan and tolls delivered – 30%
• Finalization of evaluation report by incorporating additions and comments – 70%

Application submission package:

• Curriculum vitae (CV);
• Motivation letter;
• Duly filled Personal History Form that can be downloaded from. http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment;
• A sample of a previously conducted/most relevant evaluation report.

Ethical code of conduct:

UN Women has developed the 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. The signed Agreement will be annexed to the consultant contract.

The evaluators are expected to provide a detailed plan on how the following principles will be ensured throughout the evaluation (see UNEG Ethical Guidance for descriptions): 1) Respect for dignity and diversity; 2) Right to self-determination; 3) Fair representation; 4) Compliance with codes for vulnerable groups (e.g., ethics of research involving young children or vulnerable groups); 5) Redress; 6) Confidentiality; and 7) Avoidance of harm.

The evaluation’s value added is its impartial and systematic assessment of the programme or intervention. As with the other stages of the evaluation, involvement of stakeholders should not interfere with the impartiality of the evaluation. The evaluator(s) have the final judgment on the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation report, and the evaluator(s) must be protected from pressures to change information in the report.

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Added 3 years ago - Updated 3 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org