UN WOMEN Jobs - 1533- Consultant: Evaluation Team Leader

Consultant: Evaluation Team Leader

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Kabul, AFGHANISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

07-May-2007

Application Deadline :

20-Apr-07 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

Duration of Initial Contract :

2 months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

Since 2001, UNIFEM has been managing a multi-donor, multi-pronged programme called “Supporting Women’s Leadership in Re-building Afghanistan” and which includes five sub-components. The overall outcomes anticipated for the programme are:

Strengthened capacity of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA)
Improved awareness and understanding of the impact of conflict on Afghan women and their role in peace building
Putting gender perspectives at the centre of Afghanistan’s governance and peace-building efforts
Improvement in Afghan women’s protection and economic security
Promoting an end to violence against women and ensuring respect for their human rights
Support to gender mainstreaming and attention to women’s empowerment throughout the UN system strategy and programme on reconstruction in Afghanistan

UNIFEM is commissioning an independent outcome evaluation of the programme, the purposes of which are:

To assess the extent to which the anticipated outcomes have been achieved and the internal and external factors that have supported or inhibited their achievement
To assess the sustainability of programme accomplishments thus far and make recommendations related to strengthening sustainability in the next phase of programming
To identify performance and management-related strengths and weaknesses and how these can be addressed to improve overall programme performance
To consolidate lessons learned and partners’ feedback useful for guiding UNIFEM’s and its partners’ future work in Afghanistan, as well as in other conflict and post-conflict countries

The substantive areas of work to be evaluated include those related to: a) governance, particularly strengthening Afghan institutions to be gender responsive; b) livelihoods; and c) gender justice.

The evaluation is expected to start in early May 2007 and to be completed by early July 2007.
UNIFEM is organizing an evaluation team composed of a team leader and two members to undertake the evaluation.

This announcement is specifically for the Evaluation Team Leader.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Evaluation Team Leader has the overall responsibility for the design and implementation of the evaluation, including coordination of the two other consultants and quality assurance for expected deliverables. The Team Leader will be responsible for the timely submission of high quality deliverables to UNIFEM, as follow:

An evaluation design and work plan – Develop these in consultation with the members of the evaluation team and UNIFEM staff concerned and taking into account the evaluation purposes. The evaluation design will define the areas of focus, the key questions to be addressed, methods of data collection and analysis, and sources of information (documents and key informants), using the programme logframe as basic reference. The work plan will define the schedule and specific responsibilities within the team for implementing the evaluation design agreed upon with UNIFEM.
Preliminary findings of the evaluation – Present (using Power Point presentation) and discuss preliminary findings of the evaluation with UNIFEM, and as may be appropriate and feasible, with other evaluation stakeholders.
Draft evaluation report – Consider points raised in the discussion of preliminary findings and draw on inputs from other members of the evaluation team and from his/her own analysis. Prepare draft narrative report (maximum of 40 pages) that includes evaluation findings, good practices identified, areas needing strengthening, lessons learned, voices of diverse stakeholders (summaries of interviews and focus group discussions), and recommendations regarding the way forward for future programming in Afghanistan. Present draft report for discussion with UNIFEM.
Final report - Take into account feedback on the draft report and produce the final report, with the same requirements as for the draft report in terms of length and coverage.
Executive summary of evaluation findings, lessons learned and recommendations (not more than eight pages).

In addition to the above, other specific tasks include the following:

Facilitate evaluation planning consultation process with UNIFEM New York and UNIFEM Afghanistan staff through visit to New York and follow-up teleconferences with staff in both locations
Lead and coordinate the work of the evaluation team. Secure agreement of the team on delineation of specific responsibilities
Liaise closely with the UNIFEM staff designated as manager for the evaluation to ensure that the evaluation satisfies UNIFEM requirements
Review relevant documents; participate in interviews and focus group discussions; and analyze data in accordance with approved evaluation design and in line with agreed upon division of responsibilities within the evaluation team.

Competencies

ability to lead, manage, and provide substantive guidance to a team
ability to facilitate multi-stakeholder discussions
excellent interpersonal skills and teamwork
excellent written and oral communication skills to produce and present concise and analytical reports and communicate with evaluation stakeholders

Required Skills and Experience

The Evaluation Team Leader, together with the two members of the team, should bring in combined expertise/solid background in the following:

gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights;
programming in conflict and post-conflict countries
programming in support of women’s political and economic empowerment and gender justice
human rights and results-based programming
experience in Afghanistan
knowledge of one Afghan language

In addition, the following experiences are required specifically for the Evaluation Team Leader:

a Master’s degree in relevant discipline (e.g., gender studies, international development, political science, public administration); PhD an asset
specialized training in evaluation approaches/methodologies
at least 10 years of proven accomplishment in undertaking evaluations, including outcome evaluations using participatory approaches
experience in leading evaluations of multi-stakeholder programmes
experience in undertaking evaluations for multilateral organizations

Women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.