Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Peacebuilding Fund Secretariat -(For Kyrgyzstan Nationality Only)

Contract

This is a SC-9 contract. This kind of contract is known as Service Board / Service Contract. It is normally only for nationals. More about SC-9 contracts.

Background

The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) started supporting the Kyrgyz Republic in the wake of the violent inter-ethnic clashes, known as Osh events, of June 2010. Since then, PBF has gradually invested a total of around USD 54 million in peacebuilding projects most of which have been received through the procedure of formal country eligibility. In 2013, the UN Secretary-General announced the Kyrgyz Republic eligible for the UN PBF. Projects during this period focused on strengthening human rights mechanisms and improving governance as key strategies for building inter-ethnic reconciliation and preventing violent extremism (PVE).

The latest PBF eligibility for the country was announced for the period of 2021 - 2026 in response to the request of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic. The President in his letter to the UN Secretary General identified supporting the social cohesion and addressing risks of border conflicts as key peacebuilding priorities in the country. Based on these priorities, the UN Country Team, in agreement with the government stakeholders developed a Strategic Results Framework (Annex VI) that will guide the implementation of Peacebuilding Fund projects in 2021-2026 focusing on three broad areas: (1) strengthening trust between citizens and authorities; (2) fostering greater mutual trust between different identity groups; and (3) facilitating cooperation between border communities.

Every recipient country of the PBF is required to establish a Joint Steering Committee (JSC) normally composed of the government, UN and civil society representatives. The JSC ensures oversight for projects’ planning and implementation. It plays an important role in monitoring of the project implementation progress and ensuring national ownership and sustainability of results. The Head of the Department of the Presidential Administration and the UN Resident Coordinator co-chair the JSC in the Kyrgyz Republic. Relevant ministries and other government institutions are represented at the level of deputy ministries and heads of departments. UN agencies already launched two projects in January 2022, aiming to achieve the goals set in the Strategic Results Framework. The first project implemented by UNDP, UNICEF and OHCHR aims to promote sustainable peace by strengthening inclusive governance and supporting the implementation of the “Kyrgyz Jarany” concept. Second project of FAO and UNFPA work in the communities along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border to promote shared prosperity by introducing climate-smart agriculture, as well as to strengthen women's leadership. A third project, by the “Saferworld” international NGO, provides psycho-social support to young people living in border areas with Tajikistan. More projects are expected within different fundings instruments of the UN PBF in the coming years geared to fulfill the commitments taken under the Strategic Results Framework. The Office of the UN Resident Coordinator (UNRCO) is launching the project on PBF Secretariat with the purpose of support the coordination, monitoring, evaluation, and visibility of PBF projects in Kyrgyzstan. The Secretariat will work closely with the UN agencies and civil society organizations, recipients of PBF funding to ensure coordination of all key stakeholders in peacebuilding activities in Kyrgyzstan – national authorities, civil society, development partners and UN agencies. The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer is being hired to lead Secretariat’s support to PBF recipient UN agencies and civil society organizations on matters pertaining to measuring the portfolio-wide progress and results, particularly those reflected in the PBF’s Strategic Results Framework for Kyrgyzstan. The M&E Officer will for example help coordinating collection of data on the progress against the results and commitments reflected in the Strategic Results Frameworks. S/he will be expected to identify opportunities for learning from the peacebuilding programming in terms of best practices and areas for improvement in tracking project results and feeding into the broad interagency communication on the topic as well as to the knowledge products of the UNRCO. The M&E Officer’s role will also include support to recipient agencies and organizations in developing specific tools of monitoring and evaluating the results and progress of their projects at implementation and completion stages.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Lead the development of M&E plans

• Lead the development and implementation of comprehensive and realistic M&E plans and strategies with appropriate data sources, collection methods, analysis plans, quality controls and resource requirements, in cooperation with technical staff of RUNOs;

• Continually assess methodologies and instruments for collection, documentation, analysis and reporting of data for weaknesses and potential improvements and alignment with Ethical and safety guidelines for research and data collection on gender-based violence;

• Advise the Peace and Development Officer, PBF Secretariat and teams in the PBF recipient UN organizations (RUNO) and civil society organizations (CSO)on the development and improvement of core implementation tools, including joint work plans; and

• Collect information on the latest developments of the use of new types of data sources and tools, (e.g. big data) for sustainable development.

2. Coordinate monitoring, data collection and reporting on the Peacebuilding Fund’s Projects

• Coordinate and contribute substantially to baseline, mid-term reviews (midline), if relevant, the endline studies for the SRF as well for the evaluation of the entire PBF portfolio implemented during the current eligibility term of 2021-2026. This includes supervision of consultants and contractors alongside the Peace and Development Advisor as well as of substantive contribution to above mentioned M&E exercises;

• Design and disseminate M&E resource materials, templates, and guidance documentation to RUNOs, and recipient CSOs and where relevant, implementing partners;

• Support inter-agency efforts on results and progress monitoring and reporting for the PBF projects working in close cooperation with M&E staff across RUNOs and recipient CSOs;

• Coordinate and participate in inter-agency work related to the collection and use of monitoring data, as well as evaluation and reporting;

• Raise awareness of teams in RUNOs and recipient CSOs about the quality reporting based on the PBF requirements and best practices and provide guidance to relevant staff when preparing regular progress and final reports to the PBF

• Develop PBF in the Kyrgyz Republic monitoring plan for the PBF SRF and for the entire portfolio of PBF projects in the Kyrgyz Republic for the eligibility duration of 2021-2026;

• Ensure alignment of all research protocol, data collection tools, etc. with Ethical and safety guidelines for research on gender-based violence (GBV);

• Organize and Coordinate joint UN-PBF and JSC monitoring missions;

• Support the development and implementation of baseline, mid-term and final evaluations (as well as other planned research initiatives);

• Ensure results from planned research, mapping, etc. is shared across PBF projects Kyrgyz Republic implementation team and stakeholders;

• Supervise M&E consultants and contractors alongside the PBF Secretariat Manager;

• Coordinate evaluation validation meetings.

• Document progress of Peacebuilding Fund against project implementation plans, results matrix, milestones and targets;

• Mainstream key results achieved and knowledge acquired through ongoing M&E during the life cycle of the programme and communicate results effectively to Communication Officer at the Resident Coordinator’s Office; and

• Based on the M&E information, advise RC, advise Peace and Development Advisers, JSC, RUNOs and the recipient CSO on timely readjustments of strategies and corrective actions as necessary to ensure programme delivery.

3. Develop and expand strategic research and data partnerships

• Support the of Peace and Development Advisers RUNOs and the recipient CSO engagement with national data and statistical systems, facilitating this engagement with national entities and data systems;

• Communicate and coordinate with existing partnerships and help form new partnerships with a range of stakeholders to further the use of data science for elimination of violence against women and girls; and

• Communicate and coordinate with internal and external partners on data collection and programme implementation.

4. Knowledge management, dissemination and use of data on the elimination of violence against women and girls

• Facilitate the efficient flow of monitoring and evaluation data within RUNOs, PBF, the Government and civil society partners and in close coordination with RCO Communication Specialist; and

• Identify, document and disseminate good practices and lessons learned and facilitate the sharing of such practices with the Spotlight UN country team, UNCT and partners.

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards

• Advocates and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the UN

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; and

• Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Technical competencies:

• Design and management of evaluation processes, including with multiple stakeholders;

• Survey design and implementation especially related to topics of peacebuilding;

• Strong knowledge (and expertise applying) Ethical and safety guidelines for research on peacebuilding;

• Social science research;

• Results-based project/programme/policy planning, monitoring and management;

• Strong awareness and sensitivity to gender issues and programming on elimination of violence against women and girls;

• Understanding of human rights-based and LNOB approaches to programming;

• Understanding of Results Based Management (RBM) principles;

• Logic modeling/logical framework analysis;

• Quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis;

• Rapid assessment procedures;

• Participatory approaches.

Functional competencies:

• Technical knowledge of policies and programmes on peacebuilding;

• Experiences in working on rights-based approaches including intervention models to address multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination;

• Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues;

• Strong understanding of various methodologies in gender responsive monitoring and evaluation, both qualitative and quantitative, such as surveys, record reviews, focus groups and cases studies;

• Ability to contribute to the development of efficient and effective monitoring and evaluation methodology for programming;

• Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with UN Agencies and main constituents, advocate effectively, communicate sensitively across different constituencies;

• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and in a team;

• Strong interpersonal skills;

• Demonstrates creativity and creative problem solving;

• Schedules activities to ensure optimum use of time and resources; monitors performance against development and other objectives and corrects deviations from the course;

• In providing advice to the RCO and the UNCT, has the capacity to gather comprehensive information on complex problems or situations; evaluates information accurately and identifies key issues required to resolve problems;

• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;

• Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;

• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;

• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities; and

• Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in social science or other related field is required.

• A relevant Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) with two additional years of qualifying experience can be accepted in lieu of Master’s degree.

• Monitoring and evaluation, as a part of the curriculum for social research, will be an asset.

Experience and qualifications:

• Minimum 2 years (4 years for a Bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible professional experience in monitoring and evaluation, including hands-on experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of development projects;

• Experience working peacebuilding and/or good governance, rule of law and/or human rights;

• Experience in monitoring and evaluation of programmes of one or several of the UN agencies would be a strong asset;

• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web-based management and knowledge management/M&E systems.

Language Requirements:

- Fluency in English and Russian is required

- Fluency in Kyrgyz would be a strong asset

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