Background

I. 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. 

The Building Back Better project (BBB project)

Existing evidence indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic reversed hard-won gains on gender equality achieved in Asia and the Pacific in recent decades. Across every sphere, from health to the economy, and from social protection to resilience, the effects of COVID-19 were exacerbated for women and girls, especially for those already living in poverty and those in marginalized groups. UN Women’s Building Back Better (BBB) project focuses on the urgent need to produce and use quality and timely gender statistics to support global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises in 6 countries in the Asia and the Pacific region (Indonesia, Kiribati, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Tonga). The project focuses on collecting and analyzing data on the gender-differentiated consequences of crises, including the pandemic, in the region, assessing the gender-responsiveness of policy responses, and sharing evidence with stakeholders. The project also contributes to the implementation of the Pacific Roadmap on Gender Statistics, which aims to provide guidance to enhance the quality and timeliness of data and promote its use for analysis, dissemination, learning, and policy making.

Table 1: BBB project Outcomes and Output statements

Duties and Responsibilities

II. Purpose and criteria of the Light Touch Assessment

The purpose of this Light Touch Assessment is to assess the relevance, effectiveness and timeliness of the interventions included under the BBB project, as well as to identify possible ways to sustain these gains under other on-going programmes within UN Women, such as Women Count.

Overall, the primary goal of the assessment will be to determine the progress made during the duration of the project per the desired outcome of "promoting a gender data-driven response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other crises, in the Pacific and South-East Asia." The assessment will also examine the project's relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and contributions to sustainability, focusing on the following criteria:

• Relevance: the extent to how well the project responds to the needs and prioroties of beneficiaries and partners, in a timely manner.
• Effectiveness: the extent to which the project’s outputs were utilized to achieve the expected outcomes, and whether they effectively reached the intended individuals, communities and institutions.
• Efficiency: the efficiency of the project’s implementation and delivery of quaity outputs in accordance with the planned or revised objectives, as well as the effectiveness of the activities in transforming resources into the intended outputs.
• Sustainability: to assess the likelihood of the project’s positive outcome to be sustained beyond the intervention.

The consultant will assume responsibility for leading the conduct of the Light Touch Assessment, including going through written inputs from partners, designing and administering an online survey, conducting data analysis, and performing key informant interviews with selected stakeholders. As a result of these actions, s/he will summarize findings in a short brief expected to offer an unbiased viewpoint, and guide the discussions during a final presentation event (on-line).

III. Scope of consultancy

• Timing: The assessment is scheduled to take place upon the end of the BBB project. The final report must be submitted no later than August 15th, 2023.
• Time frame: The assessment will encompass the entirety of the project's duration, spanning from February 2021 to June 2023.
• Geographical coverage: The assessment will concentrate on activities implemented, data generated, and publications released on each of the project countries, with particular emphasis on Samoa and Tonga, where the bulk of the investments were made.

IV. Key Assessment Questions

The following Key Assessment Questions should inform the Light Touch Assessment (changes and additional questions may be included at a later stage).

A. Relevance

B. Effectiveness

C. Efficiency

Sustainability

Competencies

V. Methodology

Data collection, Analysis and Reporting Methods

In light of the time limitations, the consultant is responsible for gathering data through a desk review of relevant project documents, an online survey to be distributed among key stakeholders, and key informants interviews (to be conducted on-line) with some key partners It is expected that the consultant will process, and analyse  data to find responses to the 13 key assessment questions identified above.

The consultant will play a crucial role in conducting and leading the data gathering and interviews, as well as compiling all findings and reporting them through an assessment brief. The initial brief shall be presented to UN Women and partners through a small on-line dialogue, which the consultant will lead.

VI. Tasks and Deliverables

Required Skills and Experience

VII. Required qualifications

• Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, Evaluation, or another relevant field, is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Experience in conducting evaluative research or assessments systematizing and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data.
• At least 7 years of experience leading evaluations and/or Light Touch Assessment approaches, including designing and using qualitative data analysis tools and methods for the United Nations or similar international organizations.
• Experience in data, statistics, and/or gender equality assessments is desirable.
• Strong analytical and report writing skills.
• Language proficiency in English is required.
• Experience in the Asia - Pacific region is an asset.

VIII. Contract duration and duty station

The consultant will be home-based. The contract period will be for 1.5 month (30 June – 15 August 2023).

IX. Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the applications, with evaluation of the technical application being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically qualified candidates who may be contacted for validation interview.

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allocated for the price component is 100.

The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

X. Submission of application

Interest candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org  with -cc to Rotcharek Limkitisupasin r.limkitisupasin@unwomen.org , no later than 27 June 2023, 23:59 Bangkok, Thailand time.

Submission package includes:

• Personal History Form(P11)
• Writing sample
• Sample of communication project
• Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify a lump sum total amount breaking down the daily professional fee, proposed number of working days and travel related cost (i.e. airfare from the consultant’s home location to Bangkok, visa fee). Please see the financial proposal template as below:

XI. Payments

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will not be based on the number of days worked but on the completion of each stated deliverable within the indicated timeframes.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.  

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.  

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.  All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)