Background

Background/Context

UN Women is committed to promoting gender equality and empowering women globally, working to eliminate discrimination and achieve equality between women and men in all areas of life. The organization leads and coordinates efforts within the United Nations system to ensure that gender equality commitments are realized, providing strong leadership and fostering partnerships with civil society and other stakeholders.

Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) is central to UN Women’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that focus on gender equality, decent work, poverty reduction, and inclusive growth. In the Asia-Pacific region, UN Women’s initiatives aim to advance gender-responsive business practices, transform the care economy, support women entrepreneurs, and promote gender-responsive markets for climate action. These efforts are integrated with broader work in sectors such as climate change, ending violence against women, and humanitarian action.

Key Initiatives and Projects:

• WeRise Together (2022-2025): This initiative addresses gender inequities in the global procurement market, where women-owned businesses (WOBs) secure only 1% of spending. By promoting supplier diversity and gender-responsive procurement, WeRise Together aims to empower women to access and benefit from expanded market opportunities in the Mekong subregion.
• Gender Action Lab (GAL): A partnership with the Government of Australia, GAL is an innovation lab that pilots and scales gender-transformative initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. It focuses on developing new data, providing technical assistance, and fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships aligned with the WEPs.
• UN Women Climate Tech Accelerator: Supported by the Republic of Korea, this programme helps women-led climate technology startups in ASEAN become investor-ready and market-ready. Over nine months, it supports women entrepreneurs in the blue and green economies, fostering innovation and empowerment.

The UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific’s Women’s Economic Empowerment team is seeking to hire an International Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant. This position will be under the supervision and guidance of the Regional Programme Manager.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Consultant will undertake the following tasks:

Support the Regional Team and the WEE M&E Consultant with the monitoring, tracking, coordination, and reporting of the WEE Programme portfolio, as follows:

1. Monitoring and tracking of programme results at regional and country levels
   • Support coordination with teams at regional and country levels to ensure that data collection and analysis from implementation activities are coordinated and standardized.
   • Assist with the monitoring, consolidation, and analysis of data from regional and country offices and partners on a quarterly basis.
   • Support the analysis of impact surveys aimed at measuring the progress and achievement of WEE programme activities at regional and country levels.
2. Internal UN Women reporting and external donor reporting
   • Assist with the coordination, consolidation, and preparation of results-based monitoring, reporting, and planning in compliance with UN Women’s results monitoring system (RMS), including quarterly reports, annual results reports, and annual workplans.
   • Support the coordination, consolidation, and preparation of the end-of-programme donor report, incorporating inputs from regional and country programme teams and implementing partners.
   • Assist in identifying and consolidating relevant findings, conclusions, and recommendations from programme reviews, studies, or research into programme reporting.
   • Support quality checks of programme reports to ensure full compliance with operational reporting rules and regulations of UN Women and the donor.
3. Development and alignment of Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks under the WEE portfolio
   • Assist in the development of M&E frameworks under the WEE portfolio.
   • Support the alignment and mapping of results frameworks in line with the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and beyond.
   • Support activities related to the alignment and mapping of the WEE portfolio results framework, work plan, and performance indicators, in line with the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022-2025.
   • Assist in the process of developing the new SP 2022-2025 for Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE).
4. Final or monthly programme evaluation, research support & WEE APAC Community of Practice
   • Assist in reviewing reports, surveys, and other documents submitted by partners, and provide feedback to ensure results-based reporting, analysis, and accurate data capture.
   • Support activities related to the final evaluation of WEE Programmes.
   • Assist in updating and developing activities for the WEE APAC Community of Practice.

Expected Deliverables 

Provide monthly progress report on the following Monitoring & Evaluation activities:

• Monitoring and tracking of programme results at a regional and country levels
• Internal UN Women reporting and external donor reporting
• Development and alignment of Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks under the WEE portfolio
• Final or monthly programme evaluation & WEE Community of Practice

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is an office-based consultancy in Bangkok, Thailand. Travel outside duty station is not required.

SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

A monthly rate will be paid upon submission of deliverables with an approval of the supervisor.

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:  

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Strong understanding and knowledge of programme formulation and implementation and Results Based Management
• Strong understanding and knowledge of monitoring and evaluation, evaluation design, data collection and analysis, and reporting
• Strong experience managing multi-country reporting and evaluation
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports
• Very good analytical and results-based drafting skills
• Knowledge of UN programme management systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in Business, Management, Statistics, Political or Social Science, Economics, International Development Studies, Gender/ Women’s Studies or related fields.
• A first-level university degree in similar fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• At least 1 year of relevant experience in monitoring and evaluation and conducting research, in the context of international development projects, particularly on gender and women economic empowerment or gender and finance, care or value chain analysis with a gender lens
• Strong knowledge of various data collection methods is required.
• Experience with UN Women and other UN agencies is required.
• Experience working with international donors e.g. but not limited to EU or Australian DFAT or Canada is an asset.
• Experience working in the Asia Pacific region is an asset.
• Experience working in Knowledge Management is an asset.

Language and report writing requirements

• Strong proficiency in English. Other UN languages an asset.
• Strong results-based drafting skills (including progress reports, concept notes, analytical papers) to be assessed through a writing sample.
• Certification of training in M&E is desirable.

How to Apply

• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc
• Cover Letter, containing the statement on candidate’s experience in line with the scope of work and requirements.
• Writing sample (max 3 pieces) related to the assignment (e.g. project proposals, concept notes, research/analytical papers, briefs), etc. will be requested from a shortlisted candidate.

(Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.)

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits employ, 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.