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 centre of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system's efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 articulates the entity’s strategic direction, objectives and approaches to support efforts to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, including women’s full enjoyment of their human rights. It outlines how UN Women will leverage its normative support functions, UN system coordination and operational activities in an integrated and mutually reinforcing manner in support of transformative results for women and girls. The key monitoring and reporting framework of UN Women is the Integrated Resources and Results Framework (IRRF).

UN Women’s Executive Board requested the Executive Director to submit to the Executive Board at its annual session in June 2024 a Mid-term Review of the Strategic Plan 2022-2025 (MTR) alongside its annual report. The MTR should include an assessment of results achieved and progress made in achieving the vision of the Strategic Plan, as well as information on results jointly achieved with United Nations development system entities. The MTR looks at addressing challenges and gaps identified by evaluations and independent assessments.

The Strategy, Planning, Resources and Effectiveness Division (SPRED) of UN Women was established in late 2019 as a part of the change management process in UN Women HQ. The Division integrates corporate strategy, resources and performance measurement to improve decision-making in order to manage for results while increasing transparency and accountability to its governing bodies and stakeholders. The Strategic Planning Unit (SPU) in UN Women HQ focuses on assisting UN Women and partners to achieve higher-quality development results through an integrated approach that links strategic planning and Results-Based Management (RBM) with more effective and new ways of working.  SPU is the custodian of RBM as well as field and HQ level strategic planning and results-based monitoring and reporting processes as well as data aggregation and analysis to communicate on results with stakeholders.

SPU on behalf of UN Women is seeking a Research consultant to support the development and implementation of a sound methodological approach for specific aspects of the MTR, aligned with broader organizational transformation that UN Women has undertaken as part of its ongoing business transformation efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsibilities

The International Consultant will work under supervision of, and in close communication with, the Corporate Planning and Reporting Specialist who will ensure coordination with SPU and broader MTR processes as relevant and in close collaboration with Programme Analyst – Results-Based Management. The timely completion, submission and approval of all the deliverables, in full compliance with the duties and responsibilities specified, are the conditions for each corresponding payment to the consultant.

1. Plan Desk Review for the MTR
2. Conduct Desk Review
3. Draft inputs to the MTR

Deliverables

1. Plan Desk Review for the MTR

• Have initial briefings from UN Women SPU
• Develop Desk Review plan
• Revise Desk Review plan based on feedback

2. Conduct Desk Review

• Validate and update SPU’s grey literature database, by scoping/mapping key reference materials relevant to the MTR, in consultation with relevant Divisions and focal points in UN Women (e.g. corporate evaluations and assessments; external assessments; UN documents; audits; and UNDS survey analysis)
• Conduct analysis and prepare draft Desk Review report presenting the findings of the above meta-analysis in a systematic and transparent manner
• Incorporate comments on the draft, mainly through two sets of feedback from UN Women, but also as needed on an ongoing basis in a limited sense and as per agreed timeline, to produce final Desk Review report
• Draft short PPT on process and findings of the Desk Review
• Incorporate comments on the draft PPT and produce final version

3. Draft inputs to the MTR

• Prepare draft inputs to the MTR based on the Desk Review report, centred around concrete recommendations to better position UN Women as the leading global organization maximizing the achievement of development results and gains for women and girls
• Incorporate comments on draft inputs to the MTR, mainly through two sets of feedback from UN Women
• Submit final version of MTR inputs

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies

• Awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues
• Accountability
• Creative problem solving
• Effective communication
• Effective organizational skills
• Inclusive collaboration
• Stakeholder engagement
• Leading by example
• Analytical and critical thinking skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in one of the following disciplines: gender studies, social sciences, economics, public administration, international relations, development studies or other relevant field

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in research and evaluation in gender and international development 
• Experience in high-level, high-quality report writing
• Experience conducting rigorous social research
• Demonstrated experience in synthesis, visualization and communication of information
• Previous professional experience with development agencies and/or the United Nations is an asset

 Language:

• Fluency in English, both oral and written, is required
• Proficiency in other UN languages is an advantage