Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination and violence 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. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and work with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programs and services needed to implement these standards. UN Women Egypt Country Office is based in Cairo and works in the three priority areas: Leadership and Political Participation; Economic Empowerment; and Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW).

Although Egypt has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (1981), with reservations, and despite constitutional equality guarantees, persistent gaps remain between formal equality rights and women’s lived realities. Egypt ranks 134/144 on the Global Gender Gap Index, reflecting high levels of gender inequality in the sub-indicators of economic participation and opportunity and political empowerment.

There are also persistent challenges related to discriminatory social norms and violence against women and girls (VAWG) that pose a significant obstacle to the inclusive and sustainable development of Egypt and the fulfilment of women’s human rights. Women and girls are subjected to different forms of violence, including intimate partner violence, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting. Within the community setting, women and girls also face sexual harassment and trafficking.

Although violence in the private domain is now widely recognized as a human rights violation, violence against women and girls, especially the issue of sexual harassment in public spaces remains a largely neglected issue, often tolerated because it’s perceived as a ‘normal’ part of social life, with few laws, policies or programmes in place to effectively prevent and address it.

In November 2010, UN Women launched the “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces” Global flagship in partnership with AECID, UN-Habitat, leading women’s organizations, and over 50 global and local partners in five pilot cities Quito (Ecuador), New Delhi (India), Kigali (Rwanda), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) and Cairo (Egypt). It is the first-ever global effort to develop, implement, and evaluate tools, policies, and comprehensive approaches to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women and girls in public spaces across different settings. The implementation of the Global Programme in Cairo, in partnership with the National Council for Women, was successful in tackling those issues and contributed to putting the problem of sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women in public spaces at the forefront of the local public policy agenda.

In 2019, the second phase of the “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces” in Egypt was launched in Alexandria and Damietta, with the support of the Embassy of Netherlands, expanding the geographical intervention areas of the programme and reaching to more women and girls. The main objectives of the second phase are centred around three key outcomes: 

1) Gender-responsive locally relevant and owned interventions identified: Local ownership is the cornerstone for this flagship,

2) Investments in the safety and economic viability of public spaces: including public infrastructure and economic development and with special concern for creating economic opportunities for women in the renewed public spaces,

3) Social and cultural transformation – to ensure that attitudes and behaviours related to women’s and girls’ rights to enjoy public spaces free from SV improved.

Expected Impact Level Results in the Safe City Sites of Intervention include:

• A reduction in sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women (SDG 5.2, SDG 11.7)
• A reduction of fear and increased feelings of safety of women and girls
• Increased autonomous mobility of women and girls in accessing and using public spaces

Development Objective:

The assignment will contribute to outcome 4 of UN Women’s Strategic Plan “All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence”. It will also respond to outcome 1 of the global flagship by developing the programme’s baseline.

Objective of the Assignment:

UN Women seeks to recruit a qualified national statistician to conduct the Baseline Study of the Safe Cities programme in Alexandria and Damietta. The programme relies on a number of strategies to maximize the effectiveness of its interventions. It aims to reach over 1800 women. The interventions include community-based participation, media and policy-oriented advocacy, awareness-raising activities, capacity development and south-south collaboration.  The programme focuses on a community-based framework that ensures the voices of right holders are heard, while also reaching out to duty bearers. The preparatory work with the stakeholders has been implemented and the work with the beneficiaries is soon to be implemented in the next phase of the programme.

The programme is implemented in partnership with the National Council for Women and in close coordination with Alexandria and Damietta governorates. The baseline targets community members (women, men, youth, girls, and boys), national partners, local active CSOs and other stakeholders.

An evaluation team is now being established to design and conduct this baseline study, expected to be led by an independent Team Leader and supported by a National Statistician. It is a priority for UN Women that the baseline evaluation will be based on gender-sensitive, inclusive and human rights approaches, as defined in the UN Women Evaluation Policy and adhere to the UN norms and standards for evaluation in the UN System. The Baseline methodology will employ mixed methods and an innovative approach for capturing results, to ensure that the views of a diverse group of participants are represented throughout the process and will actively support the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. It will adhere to UN Women’s Evaluation Policy and UNEG Norms and Standards [1] and Ethical Guidelines [2].

[1] UNEG, “Norms and Standards for evaluation”, 2016, http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/1914

[2] UNEG, “Ethical guidelines”, 2008, available online at: http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/102

UN Women GERAAS evaluation quality assessment checklist

• http://www.unwomen.org/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/evaluation/evaluation-geraasmethodology-en.pdf

UNEG Norms and Standards for evaluation

•            http://www.unevaluation.org/document/download/2787

The incumbent is expected to take into consideration the theory of change of the Safe Cities Global Flagship and its global indicators. He/she should build on the lessons learnt and recommendations from the baseline of the first phase implemented in Cairo and Giza.

1. Provide support and feedback to the evaluation team leader during the development of the inception report, research methodology and data tools (e.g., paper and pencil, telephone and/or online survey tools including the use of Likert scales, coding, skip rules and general survey construction based on prevailing best practices. The consultant should take into consideration the restrictions of the current pandemic, COVID-19 while developing the data collection tools by suggesting a feasible methodology with low risk.
2. Review beneficiary databases of the implementing partners and collaborating partners to conduct a randomized selection of sampled individuals,
3. Identify the characteristics and the size of the sample in the intervention areas in Alexandria and Damietta,
4. Contribute to the desk review of the debriefing materials and provide insights to the team leader about the institutional context of violence against women status in Egypt and current efforts of GOE, civil society, and survivors of violence across Egypt,
5. Contribute to collecting qualitative data that should include key informant interviews, group discussions, and field survey data collection in collaboration with the team leader.
6. Conduct descriptive and statistical analyses of primary and secondary quantitative data including generating cross-tabulations, frequency distributions, tables, and graphs, extending support of the evaluation team leader in the analysis and development of evaluation report annexes.
7. Document the statistical significance of findings as well as methodological and data limitations in the evaluation report.
8. Prepare anonymized datasets, metadata files, and support technical documentation for public access and use.
9. Conduct field visits to Alexandria and Damietta to collect qualitative data, as needed and in coordination with the Team Leader, and to supervise and monitor the progress of filed work and quantitative data collection,
10. Supervise data entry and quality assurance of survey data (paper and pencil, telephone surveys, and on-line surveys) and provide technical support to field teams to resolve emerging data quality challenges.
11. Troubleshoot survey fieldwork and survey data collection.
12. Conduct a training workshop for CAPMAS researchers to conduct the fieldwork in Alexandria and Damietta,
13. Provide administrative and logistical support to the evaluation team leader regarding field visits or else when needed.
14. Update and maintain current preliminary stakeholder and beneficiary contact lists.
15. Liaise regularly with UN Women for updates and next steps,
16. Supervise CAPMAS fieldwork, coordinate with its management to ensure timely and efficient submission of data and provide support as needed to obtain necessary approvals and fieldwork permits, 
17. Coordinate between different partners: UN Women Egypt Country Office, the National Council for Women and CAPMAS, to obtain necessary approvals for quantitative data collection and to ensure alignment with the agreed-upon timeframe and action plan.
18. Submit progress reports on the different phases, including results, challenges, recommendations, and next steps.
19. Assist the team leader in drafting the inception report, executive summary, and evaluation report.
20. All reports and updates should be submitted in English,

Deliverables:

• Conduct the inception and consultation meeting with UN Women, NCW, and CAPMAS to discuss the timeframe and budget for the baseline study. The consultant will submit a report with agreed-upon action points (4 working days)
• Draft report on literature review for the baseline study (5 working days)
• Provide statistical analysis report for collecting qualitative data (7 working days)
• Provide three brief reports with results and next steps from regular coordination and follow-up meetings with UN Women, NCW and CAPMAS (10 working days)
• Conduct a training workshops for field researchers.  (7 working days)
• Provide progress reports from the researchers’ training, supervision visits during data collection and other steps along the process (18 working days)
• Provide statistical analysis report for collecting quantitative data (7 working days)
• Develop Powerpoint presentation on the random sample selection, sample size, and statistical analysis to the findings, to share during the debrief meeting with UN Women team and programme’s partners (7 working days)

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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Strong research and analytical skills
• Good report drafting and editing abilities
• Strong communication and networking capabilities
• Good teamwork skills

Education:

• A Master’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistics, Social Sciences or related fields,

Experience:

• At least 8 years of progressively responsible work experience in the field of statistical analysis for project/programme evaluations including baseline studies utilizing a wide range of approaches and methods including gender and human rights responsive and mixed methods. 10 years in lieu of a Master’s degree,
• Experience in the planning and implementation of large-scale data collection and related statistical activities in Egypt;
• Experience in the drafting of statistics-based research and related reports, and in providing training on statistics, preferably in the context of gender and statistics;
• Experience in survey questionnaire and sample design, data processing, data quality assessment and data analysis. Familiarity with the development and application of household-based survey tools, establishment surveys and administrative records for generating information on progress towards gender equality and empowerment of women;
• Experience in working on complementary sources of data to address data gaps is an asset;
• Demonstrated ability to collect and interpret qualitative data and information, identify random sample size;
• Demonstrated ability to develop descriptive and statistical analyses of primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative data,
• Experience working with governmental institutions is an advantage.
• Ability to organize meetings with various governmental and local partners,
• Experience and knowledge on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Egypt and the human rights-based approach, gender mainstreaming, gender analysis, and the related mandates within the UN system.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in Arabic and English; spoken and written

Work Arrangements and Renumeration:

• The candidate will need to use his/her own laptop throughout the duration of the assignment.
• The selected candidate will be enumerated based on a lumpsum package in line with UN Women regulations and the identified list of deliverables mentioned in this Terms of Reference.
• Upon recruitment, the candidate will be provided with an orientation and induction package. UN Women will provide relevant materials related to the assignment when needed.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

Criteria 1 (10):  Master’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistics, Social Sciences or related fields. (10)

Criteria 2 (40):

• At least 8 years of progressively responsible work experience in the field of statistical analysis for project/programme evaluations including baseline studies utilizing a wide range of approaches and methods including gender and human rights responsive and mixed methods. 10 years in lieu of a Master’s degree,
• Experience in the planning and implementation of large-scale data collection and related statistical activities in Egypt;
• Experience in the drafting of statistics-based research and related reports, and in providing training on statistics, preferably in the context of gender and statistics;
• Experience in survey questionnaire and sample design, data processing, data quality assessment and data analysis. Familiarity with the development and application of household-based survey tools, establishment surveys and administrative records for generating information on progress towards gender equality and empowerment of women;
• Experience in working on complementary sources of data to address data gaps is an asset;
• Demonstrated ability to collect and interpret qualitative data and information, identify random sample size;
• Demonstrated ability to develop descriptive and statistical analyses of primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative data,
• Ability to organize meetings with various governmental and local partners,
• Experience and knowledge on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Egypt and the human rights-based approach, gender mainstreaming, gender analysis and the related mandates within the UN system and/or the Arab States in similar studies assignments.

• Criteria 3 (10):  Experience working with government institutions.
• Criteria 4 (10): Fluency in spoken and written Arabic and English.

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points)

The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

The financial offer should be inclusive of all related costs, including accommodation and transportation, in case of field visits to Alexandria and Damietta.

Application:

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to a portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
• Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.