UN WOMEN Jobs - 59302- Consultant to Conduct a Baseline Assessment for a

Consultant to Conduct a Baseline Assessment for a UN Women Multi Country Office Supported Project on Promoting Women’s Political Participation in Sri Lanka

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

04-Sep-2015

Application Deadline :

28-Aug-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

40 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

4 September - 14 October 2015

UNDP 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. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Context

The UN Women project on Promoting Women's Political Participation in Sri Lanka aims to ‘promote women’s political leadership and gender responsive governance in Sri Lanka’ based on enhanced capacities of women, youth, female and male parliamentarians and the media. The project aims to create a substantive body of knowledge to inform measures including; policy advocacy, training and capacity building, coalition building and lobbying for mainstreaming gender in the governance structure of Sri Lanka. The project will be implemented in coordination with local organizations.

The proposed activities promote gender equality and women’s participation in decision-making processes addressing socio-economic development; post conflict reconstruction; social integration and strengthening of national and provincial women’s machinery.

There are three main elements to the programme:

Increase women’s influence in national and local governance institutions by strengthening their voice and participation in political and institutional mechanism at national and local level through capacity development;
Advocate with parliamentarians for greater representation of women in Sri Lanka’s governance structures and institutions through a mandatory quota for women;
Partner with the media in Sri Lanka to build awareness on the issue of under representation of women in national and local governance and advocate for women’s political participation.

Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of the consultancy is to conduct a baseline assessment on the status of women’s political participation in Sri Lanka at the National and Provincial level. The assessment will inform UN Women programming decisions and determine the benchmarks for possible outcomes and impacts of the project’s interventions.

The baseline assessment is an early element in the monitoring and evaluation plan of the project and uses the log-frame structure to systematically assess the circumstances in which a project activity commences.

It provides the basis for subsequent assessment of how efficiently the project is being implemented and the eventual results achieved. Subsequent monitoring of project progress will also gather and analyze data using the log-frame and will be consistent with, but not repeat, the baseline assessment. Mid-term reviews, project completion reports and other evaluations will judge progress largely based on comparisons with the information from the baseline assessment.

Therefore in summary the objectives of the baseline study are to:

Assess the status of women’s political participation in Sri Lanka at the National and Provincial level;
Provide indicator baseline values i.e. establish benchmarks for outcomes and outputs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Review project document including log frame and partnership agreements to fully understand project design and contextual framework of operation.

Design field-tested, standardized tools and define methodology for collection of quantitative and qualitative baseline data. The baseline tool should be designed to capture country-level data across the following key areas:

Relevant national policies, plans and status of implementation;
Measure key indicators as defined in the project log frame;
Key social, cultural, political and economic issues from a gender perspective relevant to the project;
Collect and analyze primary and secondary data on relevant project indicators to establish key insights relevant to the effective and efficient implementation of the project;
Analyze and interpret data to develop a comprehensive Baseline Assessment report detailing mechanisms to track and monitor programme indicators;
Share key findings and insights from the baseline study with relevant stakeholders through a consultations;
Conduct meetings/consultations with relevant stakeholders (partners, other CSOs, Government institutions and UN agencies) when gathering information.

The expected outputs of the assignment include:

Inception Report: Scope of Work, Methodology, Tools and Time frames;
Presentation of Key Findings;
Draft Baseline Assessment Report;
Final Baseline Assessment Report.

Timeframe

The consultancy is expected to begin in September 2015. The first draft of the report will be submitted by 07th October 2015 and the revised, final Report by 14th October 2015. The consultant will be expected to provide inputs over a period of 40 days.

Reporting

The consultancy will be commissioned by UN Women Multi Country Office (MCO) for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka. The Consultant will report to the Deputy Representative of UN Women India MCO and work in consultation with the UN Women office in Sri Lanka.

Payment Schedule:

The payments will be made in tranches based on the deliverables

30% upon delivery of the final inception report;
40% upon completion of stakeholders consultation/meetings and delivery of draft report;
30% upon delivery of final report.

Competencies

Excellent writing, presentation and documentation skills required;
Ability to write, analyse and synthesize technical reports;
Ability to work independently and with minimal supervision;
Should be well versed with the use of computers and its programmes/applications.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in Statistics, International and Political Affairs, Development Studies, Social Sciences or related field.
Candidates with a doctoral degree will have an advantage.

Experience:

5+ years demonstrated experience in similar capacity;
Good knowledge and understanding of research methodologies and processes;
Good organizational and programming skills with a focus on monitoring of project implementation;
Previous experience in the area of gender and development – particularly women’s political participation;
Experience in gathering and systematizing large amounts of data, evaluation of public policies, analysis of gender indicators and other related issues.

Language:

Fluency in English and Sinhalese/Tamil, both oral and written, is required.