Background

The UNDG-Human Rights Mainstreaming mechanism (UNDG-HRM) was established in 2009 at the request of the Secretary General to institutionalize the mainstreaming of human rights into the UN’s development work. The UNDG-HRM aims to bolster system-wide coherence, collaboration and support to Resident Coordinators and United Nations country teams, so that they can better provide support to Member States to strengthen national capacity for the promotion and protection of human rights. The UNDG-HRM is made up of 19 UN agencies, funds and programmes, with OHCHR as the Chair and a rotating Co-Chair. Secretariat support is provided to the UNDG-HRM through DOCO.

The UNDG-HRM’s work focuses on four broad priorities: i) Strengthening policy and operational coherence on human rights throughout the UN development system; ii) Providing coherent and effective support to Resident Coordinators and UN country teams in mainstreaming human rights; ii) Developing a coherent UN system wide approach to supporting governments strengthen national human rights protection systems; and iv) Supporting the integration of human rights into the overall UNDG advocacy on development and global issues.

These four broad priorities form the framework of the UNDG-HRM’s Operational Plan which is comprised of activities at the global, regional and country level within these four areas. These activities are framed within a two year work plan. The UNDG-HRM Members contribute as activity leads or members of activity task teams to take forward the work plan. To mobilized and pool resources for implementing the work plan, a Multi Donor Trust Fun has been created. The first donor funds to the MDTF were received in 2012, following which the UNDG-HRM became fully operational.

To effectively monitor and evaluate the progress with implementing the UNDG-HRM’s Operational Plan and its impact, the DOCO Secretariat, through the support of a consultant, plans to develop a robust Monitoring and Evaluation plan. This Monitoring and Evaluation plan would facilitate the measurement of results of the UNDG-HRM’s work, strengthen overall accountability internally within the UNDG-HRM and externally to donors, and decision making at both the program and policy level. Specifically the M&E plan will enable to the UNDG- HRM to:

• Identify where progress is slow and where activities need to be reviewed, improved or redirected;
• Provide regular and transparent information to donors on the progress with the UNDG-HRM;
• Support overall organizational learning within the UN on efforts at the global, regional and country level on mainstreaming human rights.

Duties and Responsibilities

The objective of the consultancy is to develop a robust monitoring and evaluation plan that can be used by the UNDG-HRM to track and report on the results of the work plan activities at the global, regional and country level, as well as to contribute to an evaluation of the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and sustainability of UNDG efforts to mainstream human rights in a coherent manner.  

The consultant will report to the Policy Adviser, Human Rights in DOCO.

The M&E plan should derive from an analysis of the UNDG-HRM’s work plan and cover both the specific MDTF funded activities at the global, regional and country level, as well as the non-MDTF funded activities in the work plan activities, such as global advocacy.

To achieve the above objectives, consultancy support is envisaged over 20 days over a 4 months period. The consultancy will entail three main deliverables:

• Through a desk review of the UNDG-HRM’s work plan and supporting documents, translate the language of the results chain in the current UNDG-HRM work plan into RBM language that can be effectively measured and evaluated;
• Based on the new results based UNDG-HRM work plan, develop an M&E framework with baselines, targets, indicators and means of verification;
• Develop a corresponding M&E plan which elaborates on the methods to be used, frequency of data collection, cost of data collection and responsibility.

Timeframe:

• The assignment is envisioned to be complete within 4 months from its start (18 August 2014).
  

Competencies

• Strong analytical skills with conceptual understanding;
• Proven functional skills in analytical writing, and producing reports and, research and assessments;
• Excellent demonstrated ability to be flexible and work under tight deadlines in an independent working environment;
• High level of communication and interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multi- cultural environment; 
• Excellent technical writing skills;
• Computer literacy.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Post graduate degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of professional development related work experience at the international level;
• Proven understanding of Monitoring and Evaluation concepts, RBM and reporting processes;
• Good technical knowledge of human rights and human rights-based approach to programming;
• Good understanding of UN programming processes;
• Experience working with UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes at the field level is desirable.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English.

Application documents/Submission:

The following documents must be submitted in the application;

 

• Letter of Offer confirming interest and availability (link to template Offeror's Letter );
• A brief technical proposal (maximum 2 pages) responding to the terms of reference;
• Curriculum Vitae including three references.

*Please note that you can only upload one document (your CV) during the application process. Applicants are therefore advised to attach the Letter of Offer and Technical proposal to the CV and upload all three documents in one pdf file.

Evaluation of Offers:

Offers will be evaluated using the cumulative analysis method – combination of the weighted technical and financial score - to obtain the total score. The candidate scoring the highest combined weighted score will be recommended for the award of contract. The designated weights for the technical and financial criteria are 70% and 30% respectively. The maximum score is 100 points.

Step 1: Technical evaluation of the CV, Proposal and interview. The minimum score required to pass the technical assessment is 70%. Only those Offerors that meet the minimum qualifications will be shortlisted. Offers will be evaluated based on the following weighted criteria:

 

• Technical assessment: maximum 100 points (overall weight 70%);
• Qualifications, Relevance and Expertise in the subject matter (30 points);
• Technical Proposal (40 points);
• Interview (30 points).

Step 2: Financial evaluation of the qualified Offers (from step 1). The lowest financial offer will receive the assigned maximum financial points (30). All other financial offers will receive points in inverse proportion.

The contract will be awarded to the candidate with the highest total score subject to the financial offer being within the hiring unit’s budget allocation.