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. 

One of the key areas of UN Women work in Ukraine is implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. UN Women supported Ministry of Social Policy (MoSP) of Ukraine with development of the second National Action Plan 1325 (NAP) for Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for 2021-2025, which was revised on 16 December 2022 after the Russian full-scale invasion. The revised NAP provides technical support with development of tools and capacity of the staff of the Ministry and selected regional and local administrations in monitoring of its implementation. 

The Russian full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022 raised new challenges and needs in protecting women’s and girls’ rights and ensuring their equal and meaningful participation in rapid response to humanitarian crises and recovery process. 

To support the consolidated efforts of the Parliament, Government, women’s groups and civil society organizations (CSOs) to meet the state commitments on gender equality and women’s rights, including United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through governance reforms and security processes, UN Women launched the project “Building democratic, peaceful and gender equal society in Ukraine – Phase II”, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project’s goal is for women to meaningfully participate in and equally benefit from recovery and security processes at all levels in Ukraine. This will be achieved via supporting meaningful participation of women and their organizations in conflict prevention, resolution, and recovery and by supporting government at all levels in implementing and monitoring WPS commitments in sustainable and inclusive ways.  

UN Women plans to conduct an evaluation of its approach and the results of the Women, Peace and Security project - “Building democratic, peaceful and gender equal society in Ukraine – Phase II”, funded by the Government of Norway, which aims to generate positive change both vertically and horizontally at all levels and contribute to the results in the area of UN Women Ukraine’s Strategic Notes 2021 – 24.[1]

The evaluation is expected to provide forward-looking and actionable recommendations in the context of the project’s interventions and inform further management decisions, planning, and programming strategies of the Country Office (CO).

Against this background, UN Women seeks to hire one International Consultant to lead and conduct the gender-responsive evaluation of UN Women project “Building democratic, peaceful and gender equal society in Ukraine – Phase II”, funded by the Government of Norway. The International Consultant will work as a team with a national consultant to conduct the evaluation.

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a massive invasion of Ukraine in violation of the UN Charter. The invasion drastically changed the country’s context from development to humanitarian. Since then, there have been devastating effects in the country, including massive civilian displacement and casualties. Many of displaced people are particularly vulnerable, single mothers with unpaid caretakers’ responsibilities, elderly persons, those with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and people directly affected by violence.  

In order to support the national partners in responding to the humanitarian crisis UN Women has repurposed part of the activities under this project to address the needs of women in the affected communities[2] and support key stakeholders in applying the gender mainstreaming approach to humanitarian response and early stage of recovery. The project is in the final phase of its implementation and due to the current crisis brought on by war in Ukraine, the project will not undergo a full project evaluation but rather a final project assessment. To conduct this assessment, UN Women seeks to hire an International Consultant.  

1.  OBJECTIVES, KEY QUESTIONS AND AREAS OF INQUIRY

The final assessment will serve to document the progress made towards planned outputs, outcomes and impact of the project and to support the CO strategic learning and decision-making on further interventions. The assessment is expected to support enhanced accountability for development effectiveness and learning from experience to inform the future operations of the CO, including for the next Strategic Note. This final assessment is taking place towards the final phase of project implementation, which is due to end in April 2024.

The overall objective of the final assessment is to assess the progress made towards the achievement of the set outcomes and objectives and analyze how UN Women can leverage the results achieved in further programming.

Key Questions and Areas of Inquiry

1. What results have been achieved by the project?

1. To what extent have the intended results been achieved? (As per the project document, Theory of Change - TOC, Outcomes and Outputs)
2. What results have been achieved beyond the original scope, particularly as it relates to the escalation of war and Covid-19?
3. What project results have the greatest possibility to contribute to gender transformative change for Ukraine? What -if any- types of innovative good practices have been introduced in the project for the achievement of GEWE results?
4. How has the project been able to adapt work in the rapidly changing context during the project life cycle, and remain relevant? (Particularly as it relates to the ongoing war and Covid-19). What lessons can be learnt for future planning and implementation of projects in Ukraine with regards to the WPS and rapidly changing contexts?
5. How has the project contributed to the following key UN Women priority areas? (Identifying key findings, good practices and recommendations):
6. Advancing normative frameworks, and gender-responsive laws, policies and institutions
7. Promoting positive social norms for gender equality and women’s empowerment
8. Enhancing women’s voice, leadership and agency
9. Improving the production, analysis and use of gender statistics and sex-disaggregated data
10. Strengthening coordination among stakeholders for gender equality and women’s empowerment and positioning UN Women as the partner in choice for future interventions.
11. What are the key entry points for further programmatic work by UN Women in Ukraine, building on results achieved and lessons learnt from the project? What strategies and best practices are worth replicating and scaling up?  

The final project assessment report will primarily be an internal document to help guide future project planning and the broader strategic planning of the country office. The assessment will also be shared with the project donor for their consideration. The assessment is seeking specific and concrete suggestions on how to take the results achieved in the past years, forward in the current context of war.

[1] Due to the war, UN Women has had several Strategic Notes (SN) over the period of this project’s implementation. The original SN was 2018 to 2022 but was cut short by the February 2022 invasion. Following the UN system’s planning period for its Transitional Frameworks, the next SN was for 2023 only, the following one is likewise for 2024 only.

[2] Four so called “Women’s Safe Spaces” were established and Self-Help Groups under the sub-partnering modality were responding to the urgent needs of women in the selected communities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the UN Women Ukraine Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst, the consultant will implement a set of tasks, including: 

1. Inception Report and Planning

In consultation with the UN Women Ukraine team, the consultant will develop an inception report, which will present a proposed plan for undertaking the final project assessment. The report should be no more than 5 pages and include a proposed methodology and framework to be able to respond to the key questions and areas of inquiry of the assessment (outlined above). The report should include a proposed plan and approach to conduct the assessment remotely, which is respectful of the current context in Ukraine and has minimal disruptions to projects and stakeholders important ongoing response to the crisis.

Output: Inception Report (3-5 pages)

Time:    3 days

1. First Draft of Project Assessment Report

The consultant will write a project assessment report based on a detailed desk review and interviews/focus group discussions, as outlined and deemed appropriate in the inception report. The desk review should include the documents related to the implementation of the project such as:

• Donor progress reports and annual corporate reporting contributions
• Project documents, budget and log frame
• Progress reports from implementing partners and consultants
• Knowledge products and other concrete outputs from the project

The consultant may also conduct interviews and focus group discussions with project staff, relevant country office staff and with selected implementing partners and project consultants. Engagement with the project team should utilise a participatory approach and focus on providing support to clearly extract and formulate the key results of the project and opportunities for further work. The report should cover all areas of inquiry as outlined and agreed upon in the inception report, and for each area clearly articulate key findings, good practices and recommendations.

Output: First Draft Project Assessment Report (15-20 pages)

Time:    12 days

1. Feedback Workshop, Final Project Assessment Report and Dissemination

The consultant will prepare and conduct a comprehensive and participatory workshop with the project team and relevant CO colleagues. The aim of this workshop will be to review the preliminary findings, good practices and recommendations, and collectively brainstorm to expand on these.  The consultant will then incorporate the feedback and results of the participatory workshop into the final project assessment report. In addition to finalising the report, the consultant will also prepare dissemination materials, including key talking points and a PowerPoint presentation (or similar), and conduct one internal and one external presentation of the assessment process, findings and recommendations.

Outputs:

• First Draft Project Assessment Report (20-25 pages)
• Dissemination materials, including talking points and PowerPoint presentation

Time:    10 days

Approach to Project Assessments

UN Women sees this assessment as an opportunity to creatively approach project assessments and innovate in monitoring and evaluation of projects. Due to the challenging context of conducting assessments in Ukraine, the CO is keen to get a fresh perspective on how to innovate in M&E. Therefore, UN Women is seeking a consultant who may have unique experiences in M&E, especially in crisis contexts, or may be able to leverage their experience to support the office in identifying new ways to monitor and evaluate projects through similar assessments in the future.

Key priorities for the country office during this assessment is:

• Minimise as much as possible disruptions to projects’, partners’ and stakeholders’ important ongoing lifesaving/ humanitarian work.
• Identify clear opportunities for next steps, which are specific, realistic and actionable.
• Identify effective, easy and useful M&E strategies for a rapidly changing context, which at the same time hold projects and partners accountable to achieving results.
• Innovate in assessment frameworks, to look beyond the OECD-DAC criteria when assessing projects’ results and their true value, with a gender transformative approach in mind.
• Map out new ways to implementation project activities to increase the impact, and identify “does and don’ts”

Assignment /Deliverables

The assessment will be conducted from the period of 12 February 2024 to 1 April 2024, for 25 working days. All deliverables will be presented in English.

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf (unwomen.org)

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications Education:

• Advanced (Masters) degree in Law, Political Science, Human Rights, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Development Studies or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum five years of progressive professional experience in the field gender equality and/or women’s empowerment;
• Proven experience in evaluating, assessing or auditing development projects, programmes, policies and strategies using innovative approaches.
• Knowledge of the Ukrainian context and gender equality would be a strong asset;
• Previous experience conducting gender assessments, audits or evaluations in challenging circumstances, such as war, would be a strong asset;
• Previous experience with development agencies and the United Nations will be an asset, especially work with UN Women.

Languages and other skills:

• Proficiency in English. Knowledge of Ukrainian is an asset.

6. SELECTION OF CONSULTANTS

The selection of the consultant will be based on the fulfilment of the specifications established in the TORs. The submitted technical proposals will be assessed on the three main categories: relevant education, language skills and relevant expertise and competencies of the evaluators, as reflected in the CVs of the experts. The categories will be assigned different weighting, which will total to 70 points (100 %). Technical passing score is 49 (70%) points.

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of their qualifications and financial proposal. A two-stage procedure is utilized in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. The award of the contract should be made to the individuals whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

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

Technical criteria - total max 70 points:

The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on desk review and following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Criterion A – Relevant education – max. 10

Criterion B – Language skills – max. 10

Criterion C – Relevant Experience with total for all stated criteria – max. 50

Required Experience:

• Minimum five years of progressive professional experience in the field gender equality and/or women’s empowerment; (25 points)
• Proven experience in evaluating, assessing or auditing development projects, programmes, policies and strategies using innovative approaches; (Two sample reports should be submitted); (10 points)
• Knowledge of the Ukrainian context and gender equality would be a strong asset; (5 points)
• Previous experience conducting gender assessments, audits or evaluations in challenging circumstances, such as war, would be a strong asset; (5 points)
• Previous experience with development agencies and the United Nations will be an asset, especially work with UN Women. (5 points)

Total Obtainable Score for technical criteria – max. 70

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation will be further considered and evaluated. The total number of points allocated for the financial/price component is 30.  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 49 points in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula: S = Fmin / F * 30

(S - score received on financial evaluation; Fmin - the lowest financial offer out of all the submitted offers qualified over the technical evaluation round; F - financial offer under the consideration).

Inputs:

• The Consultant is expected to work remotely (with possible travel to Kyiv and regions) using her/his own computer but may access the UN Women office for printing of relevant documents or should he/she be required to work on-site at any point during the assignment.
• UN Women will provide the consultant with the resource materials and organize meetings as required.

Performance evaluation:

Contractor’s performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried out and cleared by the hiring manager which will also be the basis for payment on a delivery-by-delivery basis to the consultant.

Financial arrangements:

• Payment will be disbursed by three instalments upon receipt of the deliverables (as detailed above) and their certification by the UN Women Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst that the work submitted is of the required standards and as per the requirements set out in the TOR. If the consultant is required to travel, UN Women will cover the travel expenses in accordance with the travel policy.

Application and submission package:

All applications must include as one attachment:

• Cover letter responding to the following questions:

1. What experience will you draw upon to conduct this project assessment? (particularly as it relates to conducting a remote assessment and during the current challenging context in Ukraine)
2. UN Women is keen to use this assessment as an opportunity to creatively approach project assessments and innovate in monitoring and evaluation. Can you provide an example of how you have innovated in M&E or any ideas you might have for this specific assignment?
3. Confirmation of availability during the set dates and indication of time-zone.

• Completed and signed UN Women Personal History (P-11) form, which can be downloaded from: UN Women Personal History Form (P11)
• Financial proposal (sample is provided below) completed and signed. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount with a breakdown of a daily professional rate per number of anticipated working days to include all costs (telephone, etc.).

Applications without P11 and financial proposal may be treated as incomplete and may not be considered for further assessment.

Sample of Financial Proposal

The format shown on the following tables is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal.

Cost Breakdown per Deliverables*

*Basis for payment tranches

UN Women applies fair and transparent selection process that would take into account the competencies/skills of the applicants as well as their financial proposals.