Home-based: Consultancy for a comparative cross-country analysis of evaluation policies and system in five Central Asian countries (60 working days with travel as needed) - Europe and Centr

Consultant Programme & Policy Monitoring & Evaluation

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, an advocate

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

Central Asia is a rapidly developing region. When transiting from the centralized authoritarian governance to the market -oriented one, the Central Asian countries have not managed to fully build their strategic planning and evidence-based policymaking. National programmes are usually assessed by completeness of activities and not by the impact/effect the programme brought for children, youth and families. Some provisions of the legislative framework, data platforms are out of date, failing to meet the international practice of programming and monitoring and evaluation. However, there is no up-to-date assessment of national evaluation policies and systems for all of the five Central Asian countries. Although the Global Mapping of National Evaluation Policies was first started in 2013, the Central Asian countries were mainly left out (except for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan). Moreover, the previous assessment did not have a specific focus on children i.e. national policies and system and their focus on children.

This assessment aims to fill this knowledge gap and explore the country-level status of national evaluation policies and systems (NEPS), focusing on institutional arrangements for evaluation, partnerships, and actions for strengthening the evaluation ecosystem in all five Central Asian countries. When doing so, the assessment will explore the said status of NEPS and the extent to which those have children on their focus. There will also be an additional enquiry into impact evaluation. The findings of the assessment will be presented and discussed during an evaluation week in Central Asia later in 2023.

Scope of Work

• The initial comparative cross-country analysis of evaluation eco-system and the institutionalization of evaluation will focus on five (5) Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• However, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have been part of the latest assessment conducted by Evaluation Globe in 2021. The current assessment will update previous findings and add the child focus in its assessment.
• The assignment will follow the methodology of the previous mapping exercise applied in Rosenstein & Kalugampitiya (2021), Global Mapping on Status of National Evaluation Policies – Report, The Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• It will repeat the same assessment but with a focus on children as suggested below.
• The assessment will draw on the results of a survey of evaluation experts from different backgrounds for each country, as well as additional information from the desk review of available literature. There will also be held few interviews with government officials in each country. A possibility of engaging young people in relevant capacities such as young evaluators in the data collection will be explored.
• It is assumed that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will have a narrower scope of data collection activities in comparison to other countries. It is also known that Uzbekistan is undergoing a similar type of assessment and therefore this assessment will rely on the emerging findings in case if they are available at the time of the implementation of this assessment.
• The assessment will make use of the analytical framework consisting of three dimensions (the social system, the political system and the system of professionalization) elaborated from systems theory.

Domain of institutionalization****Specific criteria****Areas coveredI. Institutional Structures and Processes (Political System)1. Evaluation regulations (e.g. also looking if there is anything on impact evaluation, evaluation regulations on evaluating policies and programme specifically their effects on children, children and youth participation in evaluations)

2. Parliamentarian and national audit structures

3. Organizational structure (e.g. any body/unit working with children that are part of evaluation related structures

4. Evaluation practice and use (e.g. if there is any country-led evaluations promoted, Voluntary National Reports, country’s CRC reporting)

5. National Ethical Boards

National laws, national decrees, sector laws, administrative regulations.

Evaluation unit at the parliament, demand and use by the parliament, evaluations conducted by the audit office.

Existence of independent evaluation units/ national M&E System.

Sectors where evaluations are carried out frequently/poorly.

Who use evaluations/ quality of evaluations.

Guidelines, procedures on evaluation policies affecting the lives of children and engaging children in evaluation.

II. Societal Dissemination/Acceptance (Social System)1. Use of evaluations by Civil Society and especially those who work with hard-to-reach populations of children

2. Public perception and public Discourse

3. Participation of Civil Society in Evaluations including young people throughout the evaluation process

4. Demand for evaluations by Civil Society Organizations especially those assessing the effects of policies and programmes affecting the lives of children

Practice and use of evaluation by civil society

Is evaluation well known publicly? Public availability of evaluation reports and discussion on results

Participation of citizens and young people, civil society and private companies in evaluation apart from data collection

Do individual citizens, young people, civil society organizations, private enterprises, political parties, unions or other actors demand evaluations

III. System of Professions (Professionalization of Evaluation)1. Academic study courses and training practices (with sessions on how to engage young people in evaluations including hard-to-reach populations of children, ethical considerations)

2. Journals and Communication Platforms including other dissemination channels with young people

3. Professional Organizations

4. Existence and Compliance to standards and quality obligations

5. Network of young evaluators

6. Evaluation Reference groups with young people as members

Existence of programmes or higher education on Evaluation

Inclusion of evaluation in academic and non-academic Journals

Existence of VOPEs and their characteristics

Existence of standards, guidelines for evaluators and use of them as well as standards on engaging young people in evaluation

• The framework will guide the data collection design and analysis of data and will be kept similar for all five countries for the sake of comparison.
• Assessment’s methodology will be developed in detail and agreed during the inception stage.
• All respondents will be agreed and cleared by UNICEF. UNICEF will help with access the respondents, but the consultant will organize all interviews and conduct the survey as well as the analysis and write up.
• UNICEF will start up a library of materials for desk and literature review which should be further developed by the consultant.
• The UNICEF Regional Evaluation Specialist will manage the assignment and will be closely engaged throughout the process and make inputs to the final products as required.
• Any other tasks as required to deliver good quality analytical assessment product.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks / Milestone******Deliverables / Outputs******Timeline / DeadlineBuilding a list of materials for desk and literature reviewFamiliarisation with key materials, desk review conducted to gather initial up to date information available since 20203 working days;

By 13 September 2023

Meetings with UNICEF and key partner to prepare a list of respondents for each countryA list of survey and interview respondents2 working days;

By 13 September 2023

Developing a data collection planFinal data collection plan6 working days;

By 25 September 2023

A survey tool testing and finalisation (available from literature and adapted to include children’s focus)A final survey translated into Russian, tested and finalised3 working days;

By 27 September 2023

An interview tool testing and finalisation (available from literature and adapted to include children’s focus)A final interview translated into Russian, tested and finalised2 working days;

By 27 September 2023

Data collectionSurvey, interviews conducted online/offline as per data collection plan17 working days;

By 15 October 2023

Analysis and writing up with recommendationsFinal report and presentation17 working days;

By 15 November 2023

Presenting for UNICEF and preparing a brief note upon completion of CA evaluation weekA briefing note for dissemination7 working days;

Between Nov 2023 and Jan 2024

Any other tasks as required-3 working daysEstimated Duration of the Contract

60 working days (between September 2023 and January 2024)

Consultant's Work Place and Official Travel

The assignment will be home-based.

As part of this assignment, some travel is expected. The consultant will arrange her/his travel as and when they take place, and related costs will be reimbursed per UNICEF travel policy.

Travel Clause

• All UNICEF rules and regulations related to travel of Consultants apply.
• All travels shall be undertaken only upon the prior written approval by UNICEF.
• The consultant must be fit to travel, be in a possession of the valid UN BSAFE certificate, obligatory inoculation(s) and have a valid own travel/medical insurance and an immunization/vaccination card.

Estimated Cost of the Consultancy & Payment Schedule

Payment will be made on submission of an invoice and satisfactory completion of the above-mentioned deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

Please submit a professional fee (in USD) in your application based on 60 working days to undertake this assignment. Please do not include travel fees as this will be reimbursed as and when they take place.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Masters in Social Sciences
• Minimum three (3) years of experience in conducting evaluation with experience relevant to the Central Asian region considered highly desirable.
• Comprehensive knowledge of evaluation frameworks, international standards, and best practices in evaluating policies and systems is required.
• Familiarity with the evaluation landscape and policy contexts in Central Asian countries is essential.
• Strong abilities to employ appropriate research methods, including literature reviews, interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions, to collect comprehensive and reliable data is required.
• A member of professional evaluation associations/networks is desirable.
• Previous experience of conducting similar assessments is desirable.
• Good analytical skills are essential.
• Fluent oral and written command of Russian and English is required.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most marginalized children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.

Remarks:

Please include a full CV and Financial Proposal in your application. Additionally, indicate your availability and professional fee (in USD) to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a professional fee will not be considered. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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Added 11 months ago - Updated 11 months ago - Source: unicef.org