Background

The multi-donor Fund for Gender Equality (FGE) of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) was launched in 2009 to fast-track commitments to gender equality focused on women’s economic and political empowerment at local, national and regional levels. The Fund provides multi-year grants ranging from US $200,000 – US $1 million directly to women’s organizations and governmental agencies in developing countries; it is dedicated to advancing the economic and political empowerment of women around the world. With generous support from the Governments of Spain, Norway, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, current grants stand to benefit nearly 18 million women, including by equipping them with leadership and financial skills, and by helping them secure decent jobs and social protection benefits.

The Fund provides grants on a competitive basis directly to government agencies and civil society organizations to transform legal commitments into tangible actions that have a positive impact on the lives of women and girls around the world. Its mandate seeks to further the Beijing Platform for Action, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and regional agreements such as the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Belen do Para, among others.

Across these grants, the Fund advances two major inter-related programme priority areas:

• Grants awarded for women’s economic empowerment seek to substantially increase women’s access to and control over economic decision-making, land, labor, livelihoods and other means of production and social protections, especially for women in situations of marginalization;
• Programmes focused on women’s political empowerment aim to increase women’s political participation and good governance to ensure that decision-making processes are participatory, responsive, equitable and inclusive, increasing women’s leadership and influence over decision-making in all spheres of life, and transforming gender equality policies into concrete systems for implementation to advance gender justice.

Since its launch in 2009, the Fund has delivered grants totalling US $56.5 million to 96 grantee programmes in 72 countries. Awarded programmes reflect a range of interventions in commitments to gender equality laws and policies and embody unique combinations of strategies, partnerships and target beneficiaries.

The programme entitled “Salheya Initiative for Women Economic Empowerment” is an FGE-supported Implementation programme being undertaken in Egypt.  It commenced on December 2010 and is scheduled for completion on December 2015. Its overall budget is USD $2,400,000 (FGE funds) and 440,000 USD as cost share from the Ministry of ManPower and Migration herein referred to as MoMM.

The Egyptian government‘s commitment to women‘s empowerment is strong. Such commitment has been evident most notably in identifying the empowerment of women in the Egyptian National Strategy; the mainstreaming of gender in the Five-Year National Development Plan; as well as in the establishment of the National Council for Women (NCW) by a Presidential Decree—an official government body responsible for empowering women economically, socially and politically, and addressing their strategic needs by safeguarding their human rights. However, much remains to be done to achieve real positive changes for women. Promoting an enabling institutional, legal, and regulatory environment for women‘s equal ownership and access to economic resources and assets such as land, finance, and property is essential for women‘s economic empowerment. Provision of support social services and healthy working conditions is also an area of importance, so that women can participate effectively in the economic sphere. Women‘s economic security could be better protected through strengthening their economic capacity as entrepreneurs, producers, and workers who can access and shape markets.

Within this context, the programme aims to: Enhance women's economic and social security under the implementation of a nationally endorsed strategy for working women. The programme has four key outcomes:

Outcome 1:

Proactive support to young Women Graduates 18-29 years to respond more effectively to the labor market by the Ministry of Manpower by the end of the program.

• Output 1.1: Enhanced understanding on women situation in new Salheya area on job market, economic resources, and available opportunities through a website developed by the Social Research Center to avail opportunities in women economic participation as well as a developed database linking jobseekers with opportunities;
• Output 1.2: Enhanced vocational skills for 1,000 women (18-45 years) by the Ministry of Manpower to match the opportunities in the labour market in New Salheya area;
• Output1.3: Women in new Salheya area (18-45 years) increasingly undertake private business by the end of the program.  

Outcome 2:

The institutional and legal framework in Egypt increasingly supports Women Economic Empowerment and working women rights

• Output 2.1: A body of Knowledge on the status of social protection of working women in the formal/ informal sector in New Salheya area developed by the SRC is accessible to increase the awareness and understanding of the different stakeholders (Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Investment, the National Council for Women, ...) to develop alternatives for enhancing social security in the formal / informal private sector;
• Output 2.2: Enhanced commitment by the private sector to provide working women with wider alternatives to contribute to alleviating double burden;                       
• Output2.3: Increased skills, abilities and competencies of 300 personnel in the Ministry of manpower, 100 key staff of gender and women's rights governmental and non-governmental agencies at national level to advocate and secure a gender perspective in labour related legislations and policies;
• Outcome 2.4: A strategy and insurance policy (possibly including an insurance fund) for small and micro-loans developed by the Ministry of Investment to overcome the obstacle of lacking the needed guarantees and the inability to bear interest among women entrepreneurs 2.4.1. The MOMM would host a policy forum among the different stakeholders to establish a strategy and insurance policy for small and micro-loans. The concerned stakeholders include (Governmental institutions - businessmen - donors ... etc.)

Outcome 3:

Institutionalization of the Gender Equity Seal to be the gender auditing tool for the private and public firms at the national level in Egypt

• Output 3.1: Increased skills, abilities and competencies of the Ministry of Manpower and Migration Gender Equity Unity established to Monitor and Track Certification of the Gender Equity Seal up scaled at the national level.     3.1.1.     Build the Capacity of MOMM Gender Equity Unit established to Monitor and Track Certification of the Gender Equity Seal.
• Output 3.2: A monitoring mechanism is in place to assess the compliance of the target firms to their gender equity commitments   

Outcome 4:

Public and Private firms and organizations in New Salheya area increasingly ensure gender equity, inline with the Gender Equity Seal (GES) Certification Process.  (Target Companies within New Salheya area 45 investment companies including Textiles- food processing- cosmetics)

• Output 4.1: Awareness and seeking the adoption of the GES as a good model to promote gender equity and improve labour productivity within firms in new Salheya area
• Output 4.2: Capacity of the targeted Public and Private firms and organizations in New Salheya area strengthened to adequately claim the gender equity seal.                                                                                                                       

Assumptions:

• The current investment climate will continue throughout the project cycle;
• Government Agenda continues to support issues of Gender equality and Women’s Empowerment;
• Community Support towards Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment agenda;
• Sustained government will to support improving working conditions in the informal sector.            

The programme is being implemented by Ministry of Manpower and Emigration (the Lead Organization) and Social Research Center- the American University in Cairo (Co-Lead).

Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose and Use of the Evaluation

FGE was established as a bold investment in women’s rights, testing a more focused and better-resourced modality for catalysing and sustaining gender equality and efforts. Its founding Programme Document sets forth its mandate to track, assess, and widely share the lessons learned from this pioneering grant programme and to contribute to global know-how in the field of gender equality. Undertaking Strategic Final Evaluations of programmes are a vital piece of this mandate. The main purposes of a final evaluation are the following:

Accountability:

• Provide credible and reliable judgements on the programmes’ results, including in the areas of programme design, implementation, impact on beneficiaries and partners, and overall results;
• Provide high quality assessments accessible to a wide range of audiences, including FGE donors, UN Women, women’s rights and gender equality organizations, government agencies, peer multi-lateral agencies, and other actors.

Learning:

• Identify novel/unique approaches to catalyse processes toward the development of gender equality commitments;
• Identify particular approaches and methodologies that are effective in meaningfully and tangibly advancing women’s economic and political empowerment.

Improved evidence-based decision making:

• Identify lessons learned from the experience of grantees in order to influence policy and practice at national, regional and global levels;
• Inform and strengthen UN Women´s planning and programming by providing evidence-based knowledge on what works, why and in what context.

Final evaluations are summative exercises that are oriented to gather data and information to measure the extent to which development results have been attained. However, the utility of the evaluation process and products should go far beyond what was said by programme stakeholders during the field visit or what the evaluation team wrote in the evaluation report.

The momentum created by the evaluations process (meetings with government, donors, beneficiaries, civil society, etc.) is the ideal opportunity to set an agenda for the future of the programme or some of their components (sustainability) through a Management Response. It is also an excellent platform to communicate lessons learnt and convey key messages on good practices, share products that can be replicated or scaled-up at the country and international level.

The evaluator will provide inputs for the Reference Group (see section 7 for more information) to design a complete dissemination plan of the evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations with the aim of advocating for sustainability, scaling-up, or sharing good practices and lessons learnt at local, national or/and international level.

Scope and Objectives of the Evaluation

The unit of analysis or object of study for this evaluation is the programme, understood to be the set of components, outcomes, outputs, activities and inputs that were detailed in the programme document and in associated modifications made during implementation. The geographic area of intervention evaluated is New Salheya Area – Sharkeya Governorate.

The timeframe of the evaluation will cover from the period of conceptualization and design to the moment when the evaluation is taking place.

The evaluation will assess:

• To what extent the programme has contributed to solve the needs and problems identified in the design phase.
• To what extent the programme was efficiently implemented and delivered quality outputs and outcomes, against what was originally planned or subsequently officially revised.
• To what extent the programme has attained development results to the targeted population, beneficiaries, participants -whether individuals, communities, institutions, etc.-, therefore improving economic empowerment of women in Egypt.

Evaluation Criteria, Questions and Methodological Approach

Following the UN Women Evaluation Policy and United Nations Evaluation Group guidelines, evaluations are often organized around the standard OECD evaluation criteria, which are relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the programmes. Each evaluation must integrate gender and human-rights perspectives throughout each of these areas of analysis and within its methodology. This is particularly important to understand and assess programmes addressing complex, intersectional issues in women’s rights.

The evaluation should be answering the following questions:

Relevance:

• Are the programme outcomes addressing identified rights and needs of the target group(s) in national and regional contexts? How much does the programme contribute to shaping women’s rights priorities?
• Do the activities address the problems identified?
• What rights does the programme advance under CEDAW, the Millennium Development Goals and other international development commitments?
• Is the programme design articulated in a coherent structure? Is the definition of goal, outcomes and outputs clearly articulated?

Effectiveness:

• To what extent is the programme design coherent with UN Women strategic plan and its priorities?
• What has been the progress made towards achievement of the expected outcomes and expected results? What are the results achieved?
• Were there any unexpected results /unintended effects (negative or positive)?
• What are the reasons for the achievement or non-achievement?
• To what extent are the intended beneficiaries participating in and benefitting from the project?
• Does the programme have effective monitoring mechanisms in place to measure progress towards results?
• To what extent have the objectives been achieved, and do the indented and unintended benefits meet the needs of disadvantaged women?
• What are the changes produced by the programme on legal and policy frameworks at the national and regional level?
• To what extent have capacities of duty-bearers and rights-holders have been strengthened as a result of the programme?
• To what extent have capacities of gender equality advocates have been enhanced as a result of the programme?
• To what extent and in what ways did the programme contribute to the goals set by UN Women at the country and global levels?

Efficiency:

• Is the programme cost-effective, i.e. could the outcomes and expected results have been achieved at lower cost through adopting a different approach and/or using alternative delivery mechanisms?
• What measures have been taken during planning and implementation to ensure that resources were efficiently used?
• Have the outputs been delivered in a timely manner?
• Have UN Women’s organizational structure, managerial support and coordination mechanisms effectively supported the delivery of the programme?
• To what extent are the inputs and outputs equally distributed between different groups of women, and have the potentials of disadvantaged women (poor, racial, ethnic, sexual, ethnic, and disabled groups) been fully utilized to realize the outcomes?
• How does the programme utilize existing local capacities of right-bearers and duty-holders to achieve its outcomes?

Sustainability:

• What is the likelihood that the benefits from the programme will be maintained for a reasonably long period of time if the programme were to cease?
• Is the programme supported by national/local institutions? Do these institutions demonstrate leadership commitment and technical capacity to continue to work with the programme or replicate it?
• Are requirements of national ownership satisfied?
• What operational capacity of grantees, also known as capacity resources, such as technology, finance, and staffing, has been strengthened?
• What adaptive or management capacities of grantees, such as learning, leadership, programme and process management, networking and linkages have been supported?
• Do grantees have the financial capacity to maintain the benefits from the programme?

Impact:

• What are the intended and unintended, positive and negative, long term effects of the programme?
• To what extent can the changes that have occurred as a result of the programme be identified and measured?
• To what extent can the identified changes be attributed to the programme?
• What are the positive and negative changes produced directly or indirectly by the programme on the opportunities of different groups of women, and on the socioeconomic conditions of their localities?
• What is the evidence that the programme enabled the rights-holders to claim their rights more successfully and the duty-holders to perform their duties more efficiently?
• To which extent efforts have been successful to stop harmful and discriminatory practices against women?

The evaluation will use methods and techniques as determined by the specific needs of information, the availability of resources and the priorities of stakeholders. The consultant is expected to identify and utilize a wide range of information sources for data collection (documents, filed information, institutional information systems, financial records, monitoring reports, past evaluations) and key informants (beneficiaries, staff, funders, experts, government officials and community groups).

The consultant is also expected to analyse all relevant information sources and use interview and focus group discussions as means to collect relevant data for the evaluation, using a mixed-method approach that can capture qualitative and quantitative dimensions. The methodology and techniques (such as a case study, sample survey, etc.) to be used in the evaluation should be described in detail in the inception report and in the final evaluation report and should be linked to each of the evaluation questions in the Evaluation Matrix. When applicable, a reference should be made regarding the criteria used to select the geographic areas of intervention that will be visited during the country mission.

The methods used should ensure the involvement of the main stakeholders of the programme. Rights holders and duty bearers should be involved in meetings, focus group discussions and consultations where they would take part actively in providing in-depth information about how the programme was implemented, what has been changed in their status and how the programme helped bring changes in their livelihoods. The evaluator will develop specific questionnaires pertinent to specific group of stakeholders and their needs and capacities (for example, illiteracy needs to be factored in, or language barriers). When appropriate, audio-visual techniques could be used to capture the different perspectives of the population involved and to illustrate the findings of the evaluation.

Management of the Evaluation

The consultant will be under contract with the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration in fulfillment of the Programme requirement co-managed and budgeted by the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality.  The evaluation will be managed by the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration, and co-managed by, the FGE Focal Point for Egypt, supported by the FGE Regional Programme Specialist for the Arab States (Egypt). GRANTEE and the FGE Focal Point -with the approval of the Regional Specialist for the Arab Region- will jointly select the evaluator(s) through applying a fair, transparent, and competitive process. The co-managers will be responsible for ensuring that the evaluation process is conducted as stipulated, promoting and leading the evaluation design, coordinating and monitoring progress.

The evaluation consultant will be responsible for his/her own office space, administrative and secretarial support, telecommunications, and printing of documentation. The evaluation consultant will be also responsible for the implementation of all methodological tools such as surveys and questionnaires.

Reference Group and Stakeholder Participation

A Reference Group (RG) is meant to ensure an efficient, participatory and accountable evaluation process and facilitate the participation of stakeholders enhancing the use of the evaluation findings. It includes members from the programme organization (Lead and Co-lead organizations), relevant government and CSO stakeholders, UN Women Country Office and/or Regional Office and FGE Secretariat.

The role of the evaluation Reference Group will extend to all phases of the evaluation, including:

• Identifying information needs, customizing objectives and evaluation questions and delimiting the scope of the evaluation (TOR);
• Facilitating the participation of those involved in the evaluation design;
• Providing input on the evaluation planning documents;
• Facilitating the consultant’s access to all information and documentation relevant to the intervention, as well as to key actors and informants who should participate in interviews, focus groups or other information-gathering methods;
• Monitoring the quality of the process and the documents and reports that are generated, so as to enrich these with their input and ensure that they address their interests and needs for information about the intervention;
• Developing and implementing a management response according to the evaluation´s recommendations;
• Disseminating the results of the evaluation, especially among the organizations and entities within their interest group.

In addition, a Broad Reference Group (BRG) will be constituted. The role of the BRG will include receiving and reviewing key evaluation deliverables such as the Inception Report and Draft Final Report and providing input on these evaluation deliverables as needed; disseminating the results of the evaluation, especially among the organizations and entities within their interest group.

Deliverables

Inception Report - October 18th

This report will be completed after initial desk review of program documents.

It will include:

• Introduction;
• Background to the evaluation: objectives and overall approach;
• Identification of evaluation scope;
• Main substantive and financial achievements of the programme;
• Description of evaluation methodology/methodological approach (including considerations for rights-based methodologies), data collection tools, data analysis methods, key informants, an Evaluation Questions Matrix, Work Plan and deliverables
• Criteria to define the mission agenda, including “field visits”.

This report will be used as an initial point of agreement and understanding between the consultant and the evaluation managers.

PowerPoint presentation of preliminary findings to RG - Nov. 4th

It will be presented after field work is completed. This will include presentation of the standalone Sustainability Plan.

Final Evaluation Report - Initial draft: Nov. 15th - Final approval Nov. 22ND

It will be 25 pages maximum in length and will include:

• Cover Page;
• Executive summary (maximum 2 pages);
• Programme description;
• Evaluation purpose and intended audience;
• Evaluation methodology (including constraints and limitations on the study conducted);
• Evaluation criteria and questions;
• Findings and Analysis;
• Conclusions;
• Recommendations (prioritized, structured and clear) with an action oriented sustainability plan;
• Lessons Learnt;
• Annexes, including interview list (without identifying names for the sake of confidentiality/anonymity) data collection instruments, key documents consulted, TOR, RG members, etc. The Annexes will include a standalone sustainability plan that will be discussed, reviewed and agreed on with GRANTEE team and FGE.

An executive summary will include a brief description of the programme, its context and current situation, the purpose of the evaluation, its intended audience, its methodology and its main findings, conclusions and recommendations. The Executive Summary should “stand alone” and will be translated to ensure access by all stakeholders if needed.

A draft final report will be shared with the evaluation RG for final validation. The final report will be approved by the FGE Secretariat.              

Evaluation Report Quality Standards (extract from UNEG standards)

The following UNEG standards should be taken into account when writing all evaluation reports:

• The final report should be logically structured, containing evidence-based findings, conclusions, lessons and recommendations and should be free of information that is not relevant to the overall analysis (S-3.16);
• A reader of an evaluation report must be able to understand: the purpose of the evaluation; exactly what was evaluated; how the evaluation was designed and conducted; what evidence was found; what conclusions were drawn; what recommendations were made; what lessons were distilled. (S-3.16);
• In all cases, evaluators should strive to present results as clearly and simply as possible so that clients and other stakeholders can easily understand the evaluation process and results.(S-3.16);
• The level of participation of stakeholders in the evaluation should be described, including the rationale for selecting that particular level. (S-4.10);
• The programme being evaluated should be clearly described (as short as possible while ensuring that all pertinent information is provided). It should include the purpose, logic model, expected results chain and intended impact, its implementation strategy and key assumptions. Additional important elements include: the importance, scope and scale of the programme; a description of the recipients/ intended beneficiaries and stakeholders; and budget figures. (S-4.3);
• The role and contributions of the UN organizations and other stakeholders to the programme being evaluated should be clearly described (who is involved, roles and contributions, participation, leadership). (S-4.4);
• In presenting the findings, inputs, outputs, and outcomes/ impacts should be measured to the extent possible (or an appropriate rationale given as to why not). The report should make a logical distinction in the findings, showing the progression from implementation to results with an appropriate measurement (use benchmarks when available) and analysis of the results chain (and unintended effects), or a rationale as to why an analysis of results was not provided. Findings regarding inputs for the completion of activities or process achievements should be distinguished clearly from outputs, outcomes. (S-4.12);
• Additionally, reports should not segregate findings by data source. (S-4.12);
• Conclusions need to be substantiated by findings consistent with data collected and methodology, and represent insights into identification and/ or solutions of important problems or issues. (S-4.15);
• Recommendations should be firmly based on evidence and analysis, be relevant and realistic, with priorities for action made clear. (S-4.16);
• Lessons, when presented, should be generalized beyond the immediate subject being evaluated to indicate what wider relevance they might have. (S-4.17).

The evaluation of the programme is to be carried out according to ethical principles and standards established by the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG).

Anonymity and confidentiality:

• The evaluation must respect the rights of individuals who provide information, ensuring their anonymity and confidentiality.

Responsibility:

• The report must mention any dispute or difference of opinion that may have arisen among the consultants or between the consultant and the heads of the Programme in connection with the findings and/or recommendations. The team must corroborate all assertions, or disagreement with them noted.

Integrity

The evaluator will be responsible for highlighting issues not specifically mentioned in the TOR, if this is needed to obtain a more complete analysis of the intervention.

Independence. The consultant should ensure his or her independence from the intervention under review, and he or she must not be associated with its management or any element thereof.

Incidents

If problems arise during the fieldwork, or at any other stage of the evaluation, they must be reported immediately to the manager of the evaluation. If this is not done, the existence of such problems may in no case be used to justify the failure to obtain the results stipulated in these terms of reference.

Validation of information

The consultant will be responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the information collected while preparing the reports and will be ultimately responsible for the information presented in the evaluation report.

Intellectual property

In handling information sources, the consultant shall respect the intellectual property rights of the institutions and communities that are under review.

Delivery of reports

If delivery of the reports is delayed, or in the event that the quality of the reports delivered is clearly lower than what was agreed, the penalties stipulated in these terms of reference will be applicable.

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

• Demonstrating consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Cultural Sensitivity/Valuing diversity:

• Demonstrating an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrating an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrating / Safeguarding Ethics and Integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Developing and Empowering People / Coaching and Mentoring:

• Self-development, initiative-taking.

Working in Teams:

• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work.

Communicating Information and Ideas:

• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively.

Self-management and Emotional intelligence:

• Creating synergies through self-control.

Conflict Management / Negotiating and Resolving Disagreements:

• Knowledge Sharing / Continuous Learning: Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others.

Functional Competencies:

• Sound knowledge on  political participation and gender issues at local level;
• Academic and research experience of working on gender and politics;
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds;
• Results based management skills;
• Ability to produce well-written programme documents demonstrating analytical ability and communication skill.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A Masters or higher level degree in International Development or a similar field related to political and economic development, etc.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years’ relevant experience undertaking evaluations is required;
• Substantive experience in evaluating similar development projects related to local development and political and economic empowerment of women;
• Substantive experience in evaluating projects with a strong gender focus is preferred;
• Experience working in Egypt is preferred;
• Experience working on gender, added value of expertise in undertaking gender-sensitive evaluations.

Language:

• Excellent English writing and communication skills are required;
• Working knowledge in Arabic is strongly preferred;
• Consultants without Arabic language skills are encouraged to partner with a local consultant.

Proposal

The consultant(s) is required to submit a proposal of maximum 3 pages, which must include the following items:

• Summary of consultant experience and background;
• List of the most relevant previous consulting projects completed, including a description of the projects and contact details for references;
• Brief summary of the proposed methodology for the evaluation, including the involvement of the Reference Group and other stakeholders during each step;
• Proposed process for disseminating the results of the evaluation;
• Team structure, roles and responsibilities and time allocation if applicable.

The following items should be included as attachments (not included in the page limit):

• Detailed work plan;
• CV for consultant, and other team members if applicable;
• At least three sample reports from previous consulting projects (all samples will be kept confidential) or links to website where reports can be retrieved (highly recommended).
• Detailed budget.

The budget must include all costs related to the following items:

• The consultant’s time, and the time of any other team members (e.g. local consultant). The day rate for the consultant and all team members should be clearly specified;
• Transport costs, accommodation costs and per-diems for the consultant and any other team members to travel to/from Egypt and within Egypt;
• Communication costs, office costs, supplies and other materials.

The organization commissioning this evaluation has budgeted for the following items:

• Participation of beneficiaries in evaluation activities (e.g. transport and refreshment costs for focus group discussions);
• Participation of the Reference Group in evaluation activities (e.g. meeting costs);
• Translation costs of the full report and/or executive summary when this would facilitate dissemination among targeted population).
• Dissemination of the results of the evaluation to stakeholders on the basis of the evaluator´s proposal and in agreement with the Reference Group.

Evaluation Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Cumulative analysis:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical Criteria weight; 70%

Financial Criteria weight; 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70%

• A minimum of 5 years’ relevant experience undertaking evaluations is required. (10%);
• Substantive experience in evaluating similar development projects related to local development and political and economic empowerment of women. (30%);
• Substantive experience in evaluating projects with a strong gender focus is preferred and added value of expertise in undertaking gender-sensitive evaluations. (20%);
• Experience working in Egypt is preferred. (10%).

Financial: Lowest financial proposal: 30%.

Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combines score (financial and technical). The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

(Lowest Bid Offered*)/(Bid of the Consultant) x 30
"Lowest Bid Offered" refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in technical evaluation.

Applications procedure

Documents to be included when submitting the proposal:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal
To be included as part of the proposal

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work;
• A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (limit to under 1500 words);
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; and
• Personal CV.

Financial proposal:

• Proposed daily fee.