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 the United Nations system’s 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 towards building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325), unanimously adopted in October 2000, stressed the importance of the equal participation and full involvement of women in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security. In the years since, seven additional resolutions on WPS have been adopted. That created a robust framework for implementing the WPS agenda and reinforced global commitments, treaties and conventions on women’s rights, including the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. To deliver these commitments at the national level, the United Nations has encouraged Member States to adopt policies to implement the resolutions and monitor the progress of the WPS agenda, including National Action Plans on WPS (NAPs-WPS).

On 27 February 2023, the Government of Sri Lanka adopted its own National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, which was developed with the technical expertise of UN Women. Following this adoption, UN Women has affirmed its commitment to the Government of Sri Lanka on strengthening the monitoring and evaluation structure necessary for the sustained and holistic implementation of the NAP WPS.

Against this background, UN Women seeks to hire a national consultant to develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system to monitor the implementation of the newly adopted NAP WPS, in line with international best practice and national processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

With the technical guidance and instructions of the Planning Division of the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment and the supervision the UN Women Sri Lanka Head of Office, the Consultant –Monitoring and Evaluation (WPS) is expected to lead on the following.    

• Conduct a scoping study on monitoring and evaluation structures for the implementation of the NAP WPS in Sri Lanka.
• Prepare the M&E Framework for the NAP WPS along with guidance on monitoring and reporting on the NAP WPS as well as templates for the same, in line with international best practice and national processes.
• Prepare guidance for the interim and final evaluation of the NAP WPS, in line with international best practice.
• Prepare a comprehensive risk assessment on the implementation of the NAP WPS.
• Strengthen capacity of members of the Thematic Committees and key government stakeholders on monitoring, reporting, evaluation and risk assessments on the NAP WPS.
• Coordinate with all stakeholders to establish available baselines for the activities of the NAP WPS.
• Support the Government of Sri Lanka in preparing an annual report on the NAP WPS for 2023

The Consultant –Monitoring and Evaluation (WPS) will remain accountable for the timely submission of the deliverables as per the timeline given below. The consultant’s duties and responsibilities have been defined as follows:

Expected deliverables

Duration of Assignment and Duty Station:

The consultant is expected to work part-time (10 days per month), starting from October 2023 – February 2024. The consultancy is primarily home-based. However, the consultant is expected to visit the Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment located at Sethsiripaya Stage II, Battaramulla and the UN Women Sri Lanka Office located at 202-204, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7 when requested.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to administer administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to perform work of confidential nature and handle a large volume of work;
• Good knowledge of administrative rules and regulations;
• Good IT and web-based management skills.

Please visit https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf for more details on UN Women Values and Competencies Framework.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in social sciences, Gender Studies, Development Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Management and Statistics  (or any other relevant field).
• Qualifications, including specialized trainings or certifications, in monitoring and evaluation and results-based management 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

• At least 5 years of increasingly responsible experience in monitoring and evaluation, data collection, data analysis and tools.
• At least 3 years of increasingly responsible work or experience in conducting gender-responsive evaluations in Sri Lanka and/or South Asia.
• Proven knowledge and understanding of M&E methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills and participatory data collection approaches.
• Experience in developing M&E tools and templates, and training practitioners on their use.
• Previous experience engaging with governmental and non-governmental entities and organizations in Sri Lanka is desired.
• Fluency in English and one of the national languages (Sinhala/ Tamil) is required.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on a desk review of submitted applications including a sample of a previous evaluation on gender equality.

• P11 Form + writing sample (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal 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 for the financial assessment.

The candidate who scores 70% and above will be interviewed. Those who pass the interview will be considered technically qualified for the assignment.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically-qualified candidate.

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.

Submission of application

Interest candidates are encouraged to submit electronic application to hr.bangkok@unwomen.org with cc to nemanika.amarasinghe@unwomen.org  no later than 1 October 2023.

Submission package includes:

• Personal History Form(P11) can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs
• Financial proposal as per template below:

All applicants must include (as an attachment) the CV, P11, and financial proposal. Applications without financial proposal will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Payments:

Payments for this consultancy will be based on the achievement of each deliverable and certification that each has been satisfactorily completed. Payments will be made upon submission of deliverables with an approval of Head of Office at UN Women Sri Lanka.

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

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).