Background

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 will lead and coordinate United Nations system 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 plays an innovative and catalytic role in the State of Palestine since its inception in 1997. UN Women Palestine Office focuses its activities on one overarching goal, namely, to support the implementation at the national level of existing international commitments to advance gender equality in line with the national priorities. In support of this goal, and thoroughly taking into consideration the specificities of the Palestinian context, UN Women concentrates its efforts and interventions toward the realization of following strategic goals:  Mainstreaming gender in governance, peace and security; Supporting women's economic security and rights; and Promoting women’s rights and protection against violence.

The UN Women Palestine Country Office Strategic Note is based on a theory of change informed by evidence-based gender analysis. The theory of change goal statement posits that if women lead, participate in and benefit from peace and security, and humanitarian action; if women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy; and if women and girls live a life free of violence then women will be empowered and enjoy their human rights, because a legislative and policy framework will be in place to prevent violence and empower those affected by violence to recover; structural barrier preventing women from economic participation will be addressed and women entrepreneurs will have the skills, the financial resources and the partnership to access a more equal share of the market; policy makers have the capacity to effectively implement, monitor and track WPS commitments and women’s rights will be at the centre of humanitarian action in Palestine. 

Since 2013, UN Women and OCHA have joined efforts to progressively support gender responsive humanitarian action in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).  The collaboration was solidified in 2015 with the formulation of the first two-year joint action plan for mainstreaming gender in humanitarian action in the oPt. The plan was followed by another joint action plan “Strengthened Gender Focus in Humanitarian Action” (2018-2020). The partnership has supported the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) to ensure that the humanitarian response in oPt is informed by a refined understanding of gender-based vulnerabilities and gender differentiated impact of the humanitarian context on the various groups of the population and that the response is adapted to meet those needs and overcome potential biases in accessing humanitarian assistance and protection. The partnership has been successful on many fronts particularly by the inclusion of gender coordination mechanism in humanitarian coordination architecture; the Humanitarian Gender Group (HGG), the increased attention to gender related needs and concerns in cluster response and the increased financing to women’s organizations through the Humanitarian Fund.

As the second UN Women-OCHA Joint Action Plan (referred hereinafter as the Joint Action Plan) is reaching its end, UN Women in Palestine plans to undertake a summative evaluation to assess progress towards achieving the intended results, to compile lessons learned and best practices, and to generate knowledge to inform the generation of the next UN Women – OCHA Joint Action Plan on Gender in Humanitarian Action. 

Description of the Joint Action Plan

Grounded in principles of humanitarian law, human rights and gender equality, the outcomes of the World Humanitarian Summits, and the respective institutional mandates of both organizations, UN Women and OCHA have joined efforts to progressively support gender responsive humanitarian action.  The partnership was informed by The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Policy on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls (GEEWG) in Humanitarian Action; UN Women's Humanitarian Strategy (2014-2017); the findings of the regional thematic evaluation of UN Women’s Humanitarian Action in the Arab States Region (2017), and OCHA's Policy instruction on Gender Equality for 2016-2020 (June 2016).

The Joint Action Plan on “Strengthened Gender Focus in Humanitarian Action” (2018-2020) which was informed by the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Policy and Accountability Framework on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in Humanitarian Action was developed in alignment with the Humanitarian Response Strategy (2018-2020) and supported  mainstreaming gender in the humanitarian programme cycle (HPC) for 2019, 2020 and 2021. Planned activities of the joint action plan were integrated in the annual workplans of UN Women and OCHA and the relevant staff workplans.

The plan aimed to achieve the following results:

1. Strengthened architecture and accountability on gender equality in oPt humanitarian country team (HCT).
2. Humanitarian response planning, frameworks and programming are gender inclusive and responsive.
3. Increased participation of women and women’s organizations in humanitarian planning, response frameworks and programming.
4. Improved analysis and information management to support a meaningful gender analysis, evidence-based advocacy and programming.
5. Increased visibility of gender related priorities in advocacy messages and activities

The joint action plan capitalizes on the complementary capacities and mandates of OCHA and UN Women in order to advance gender equality in the humanitarian response and ensure effective gender mainstreaming. Specifically, this action plan identifies the following roles for the respective agencies:

Role of OCHA: OCHA discharges in the oPt its five core responsibilities: coordination, information management, advocacy, humanitarian funding and preparedness. OCHA supports the coordination of planning and implementation of the humanitarian response in oPt, provides regular humanitarian briefings to humanitarian actors, donors, and general public. OCHA leads information management efforts of the HCT and produces quality reports with regard to evolving humanitarian country needs and response gaps. Furthermore, it leads coordinated and joint advocacy work on behalf of the humanitarian country team and pursues actions that address emerging needs and priorities. OCHA has the responsibility of coordinating emergency preparedness and response and also manages the Humanitarian Pooled Funds mechanisms.

Role of UN Women: UN Women is the specialized agency on gender equality and women’s rights and has a long track record of technical expertise, programming, and partnerships related to gender equality work in oPt. UN Women has the primary responsibility of coordination of the country team in relation to gender issues. UN Women has identified four core actions for its effective engagement in humanitarian action, these include: Coordination and leadership – Capacity building – Evidence-based response –Targeted programming. As chair of the UN inter-agency Gender Task Force (GTF) and co-chair of the Humanitarian Gender Group (HGG), UN Women leads coordination of the UN Country team, facilitates participation of gender advocates in strategic country processes (UNDAF, national development planning, humanitarian response) and supports national efforts for gender mainstreaming. UN Women is well positioned to ensure coherence between development and humanitarian work.

Role of cluster leads and cluster coordinators: cluster leads and cluster coordinators have the primary responsibility to effectively integrate gender within the Strategic Response Plan and sector humanitarian programming. Since 2015, the ICCG requested Cluster Coordinators to assign cluster gender focal points whose role is to provide specialized support to mainstream gender in the humanitarian planning cycle (Cluster HNO/HRP/Projects and reporting), build capacity on gender mainstreaming, identify entry points to address gender gaps in needs identification (including assessments), response and advocacy, ensure protection of women and girls in emergency preparedness, and facilitate participation of women’s organizations in cluster. In 2017, a Humanitarian Gender Group (HGG) is established under the ICCG consisting of Cluster Coordinators, gender focal points, the GBV WG and other relevant actors and is convened by UNW and OCHA regularly in support of the HPC.

Role of UN agencies: While all UN agencies have a strong commitment and mandate to advance gender equality in humanitarian action, a number of organizations are well placed to contribute to strengthened gender coordination. These include: OHCHR as protection cluster lead, UNFPA as chair of the Sub-cluster on Gender Based Violence (GBV), UNRWA as the main provider of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank, in addition to UNICEF as the cluster lead on Education and WASH and the chair of the child protection working group, WHO on health and WFP on Food Security.

Role of gender focal points in UN agencies: UN agencies’ gender focal points who participate in the UNCT GTF provide support to relevant cluster leaders on mainstreaming gender in humanitarian programming and ensure coherence and accountability to gender equality in their agencies’ humanitarian programming. UN Women provides an update on humanitarian response as a standing agenda item in all GTF meetings starting May 2015.

Role of gender advocates in national and international women’s organizations: women’s organizations provide a key resource for needs identification, outreach and links to affected population. They provide the technical knowledge and a range of skills and resources that can ensure strengthened response to gender differentiated needs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose of the Evaluation

The planned summative joint evaluation for the Joint Action Plan has been commissioned at this point in time because the plan is fast reaching its end (December 2020).  The main purpose of the evaluation is to support the development of the next UN Women – OCHA Joint Action Plan (2021-2023) based on the identification of lessons learned, best practices, and actionable recommendations in relation to integrating gender perspective in humanitarian action in Palestine.     

The purpose of this joint evaluation is to:

• Assess the contribution of the Plan to an inclusive and gender responsive humanitarian action.
• Document the inform the development of the next UN Women – OCHA Joint Action Plan (2021-2023).
• Engage policy makers and other stakeholders at local, national, regional and international levels in evidence-based dialogues and to advocate for gender-responsive humanitarian action.
• Develop actionable recommendations for the development of the UN Women – OCHA Joint Action Plan (2021 -2023)

The intended end users of this evaluation are UN Women and OCHA senior management and programme teams in Palestine, who will be engaged throughout the whole process and will utilize the findings of the evaluation and its actionable recommendations for the development of the UN Women and OCHA Joint Action Plan (2021-2022).  Senior management involvement is crucial for endorsing the actionable recommendations while the programme team at both UN Women and OCHA is expected to translate the findings and the recommendations into the Joint Action Plan (2021-2023).  Moreover, UN Women and OCHA at the global level will use the results of the evaluation for disseminating good practices and lessons learned and findings through other countries and regions.  Other national stakeholders - NGO partners, participating government institutions, and other local partners, will be also closely involved in the evaluation process to increase ownership of findings, draw lessons learned and make greater use of the evaluation results.  Furthermore, the findings will be used to further enhance the gender responsiveness of humanitarian action in Palestine and will thus require the engagement of international stakeholders working on humanitarian response in Palestine.  

Evaluation Objectives, Criteria and Key Questions:

Evaluation objectives

The specific objectives of the evaluation are the following:

• Assess and examine the relevance of the UN Women – OCHA Joint Action Plan (2018-2020) design and implementation strategy and approaches to national policy priorities and and examine how it has responded to the needs and priorities of the humanitarian actors in relation to ensuring an inclusive and gender responsive planning and programming.
• Assess and examine the contribution of the UN Women and OCHA Joint Action Plan to the intended results.
• To assess the potential for sustainability of the results and the feasibility of ongoing efforts in relation to women’s leadership role and access to humanitarian response.
• Assess and examine the extent to which and how the Action Plan engaged, worked, coordinated, and collaborated within the UN Humanitarian Country Team and with Palestinian ministries, local partners, and key stakeholders. In particular, assess how these interactions contributed to or hindered results, national ownership, synergies and complementarities.
• Analyse how and to what extent human rights approach and gender equality principles are integrated into the programme design and implementation.
• Document enabling factors, ‘game-changers’ and lessons that contributed towards the achievement of the Joint Action Plan.  Provide findings, conclusions, actionable recommendations for the forthcoming Joint Action Plan.
• Develop the next UN Women and OCHA Joint Plan (2021-2023).

Evaluation criteria and Key Questions

Questions under OCDE/DAC evaluation criteria, including relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence as well as sustainability will be answered by the evaluation. Considering the mandates to incorporate human rights and gender equality in all its work and the UN Women Evaluation Policy, which promotes the integration of women’s rights and gender equality principles, one of the key criteria and related questions will be around the Gender Equality and Human Rights perspectives

The key evaluation questions of the evaluation are identified below.  At inception stage, the evaluation expert is expected to develop an evaluation matrix summarizing key questions, indicators, sources of information and methodology to guide the analysis and triangulation. Final evaluation matrix will be validated by the evaluation management group and the evaluation reference group constituted in the framework of this evaluation processes.

Relevance

• To what extent is UN Women positioned to integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment within humanitarian response planning, frameworks, and programming as a result of the Joint Action Plan?
• To what extent did the UN Women – OCHA Plan provided and disseminated relevant data, analysis, and guidance on gender equality and human rights in humanitarian action to influence policy work, advocacy and messaging, and programming?
• To what extent did the Joint Action Plan enable UN Women and OCHA to reach out and respond to the needs and priorities of the most vulnerable groups?
• How did the Joint Action Plan improve UN Women’s approach in relation to a more inclusive and gender responsive humanitarian response planning, frameworks, and programming?
• To what extent was the design and implementation strategy and approaches of the Joint Action Plan relevant to national policy priorities?
• To what extent did the Joint Action Plan respond to the needs and priorities of the humanitarian actors in relation to ensuring an inclusive and gender responsive planning and programming?

Efficiency

• To what extent did the UN Women – OCHA Action Plan enabled the two partners to compliment and add value to each other’s work in terms of inclusive and gender responsive humanitarian response planning and programming in Palestine?What were the comparative advantage of both partners?
• To what extent did the institutional setup and arrangements for the Joint Action Plan contribute to the efficient implementation and the achievement of the results?
• To what extent did UN Women leverage its triple mandate (normative, coordination, and operations) to strengthen the implementation of the plan and achieve the desired results?
• To what extent did UN Women’s allocate resources (human and financial) enable the effective implementation of the Joint Action Plan?
• What improvement in resources, institutional setup and arrangements is required for the efficient implementation and the achievement of results?

Effectiveness

• To what extent did the Joint Action Plan strategically contribute to integrating gender perspective in the humanitarian response planning, frameworks and programming at the UN Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) level
• To what extent did the Joint Action Plan result in a more strong architecture and accountability on gender equality among the HCT.
• To what extent did the Joint Action Plan increase the capacity and effective engagement of women organizations in humanitarian planning, response frameworks and programming?
• To what extent is the humanitarian response planning, frameworks and programming based on quality and timely generated data and analysis generated through the Action Plan?
• To what extent did the Joint Action Plan succeed in increasing visibility on gender related issues through advocacy and messaging?
• What are the main changes, intended and not intended, in terms of humanitarian response planning, frameworks and programming did the Joint Action Plan contribute to?
• What are the main successes of the Joint Action Plan?
• What are the main good practices that could be replicated and scaled up at the country level, regional level and global level to ensure more sustainable results?
• What are the limiting factors that might hinder the achievement of the intended results and what needs to be done to overcome these limiting factors?

Coordination

• How did the Joint Action Plan effectively improve sector and inter-cluster coordination on gender equality and women empowerment?
• What was the added value of creating a dedicated gender group (Humanitarian Gender Group- HGG) in the coordination structure?
• How did the HGG, an output of the Joint Action Plan, strengthen the role of Gender Focal Points at the cluster level?
• What needs to be done to improve coordination at the HCT level?

Sustainability

• To what extent did the Joint Action Plan contribute to enhancing institutional and organizational capacities for humanitarian action and programming , including planning and implementation at the HCT level to ensure sustainable results? 

Gender Equality and Human Rights

• To what extent does the Joint Action Plan address the underlying causes of inequality and discrimination that contribute to unequal gender power relations?
• To what extent were the human rights-based approach and gender equality incorporated in the design and implementation of Joint Action Plan?
• Were there any constraints (e.g. political, practical, and bureaucratic) to addressing human rights and gender equality during implementation?  What strategies and approaches were applied and what level of effort was made to overcome these challenges?
• To what extent has UN Women been able to address the challenges in addressing gender equality within the framework of immediate life-saving humanitarian response?
• What have been the main results achieved so far by interventions towards the realization of human rights and gender equality?

Scope of the Evaluation

The evaluation will focus on the 2018-2020 UN Women – OCHA Joint Action Plan with attention to the lessons and any evidence of the achieved outputs/ intermediate outcomes from the early plan.

The evaluation will reach out to all principal stakeholders, i.e. the Humanitarian Country Team, the Inter-cluster coordination Group (ICCG), Cluster Lead Agencies, Cluster Members, The Humanitarian Gender Group composed of Gender Focal Points, women organizations, and other stakeholders working on the humanitarian agenda in Palestine, including donors, international and national NGO’s.   The evaluation will reach out to women, men, girls, and boys affected by the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including East Jerusalem.  The evaluation will include a stakeholder analysis map.

Evaluation Ethics and Norms:

The evaluation is to be conducted in line with UNEG Norms and Standards for evaluation, the UNEG Code of Conduct for Evaluations in the UN System, UN Women evaluation guidelines including Evaluation Policy, GERAAS evaluation report quality checklist, and the UN Women “How To Manage Gender-Responsive Evaluation” handbook. All documents and tools will be shared with the selected consultant.

The evaluation will be guided by WHO ethical guidelines on conducting research with the victims of violence All relevant guidelines and standards will be shared with the selected consultant.

The evaluation shall also be guided by the UN Women Pocket tool for managing gender responsive evaluation during Covid 19.

Evaluation Methodology

The evaluation methodology will deploy mixed methods, including quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and gender and human rights based analytical approaches to ensure participatory, inclusiveness processes as described below:

A theory-based approach and contribution analysis methodology will be followed for the evaluation wherein the existing Theory of Change (ToC) will be examined to gain an understanding of the conditions that affect results; to identify those strategies that are effective; to collect information that helped adaptation or lack thereof; and, should the desired results not materialize, to ascertain whether this was because of programme design, implementation or external factors beyond the control of the programme. The ToC may be reconstructed to elaborate on the objectives and articulation of the assumptions that stakeholders use to explain the change process represented by the change framework that the Action Plan considered.

Document reviews, content analysis, online or onsite Interviews and focus group discussions with all key stakeholders involved in the project implementation, including but not limited to UN team, local NGO partners,  target beneficiaries, legislative body, central and local government partners, etc.  will also take place.

A detailed analysis of the Gender with Age Marker data (GAM) data will be undertaken for 2019, 2020, and 2021 including data on design and monitoring, and a comparative analysis of the GAM analysis will be conducted to measure any improvements over the years

Interested bidders are requested to include in their proposal the best possible approach from a methodological standpoint.

Evaluation Limitations

The current emergency state due to the COVID 19 Pandemic might restrict travel into areas of Palestine, including Jerusalem, the West bank and Gaza Strip.  Furthermore, restrictions on gatherings might also limit the ability to conduct face to face meetings with stakeholders.  The evaluation need to take this into account and plan for a methodology that uses innovative tools for engaging with the different stakeholders.  

Evaluation phases and timelines:

Evaluation phases

The evaluation process is divided in five phases: 1) Preparation, mainly devoted to structuring the evaluation approach, preparing the TOR, compiling programme documentation, and hiring the evaluation company; 2) Inception, which will involve a stakeholder’s analysis, reconstruction of theory of change, inception meetings, inception report and finalization of evaluation methodology; 3) Data collection and analysis, including desk research and preparation of field missions, visits to project sites; 4) Data analysis and synthesis stage, focusing on data analyzed, interpretation of findings and drafting of an Evaluation Report; and 5) Dissemination and follow-up, which will entail the development of a Management Response by UN Women and OCHA. 

The evaluation consultant will be responsible for inception, data collection and data analysis and synthesis.

Inception phase: at the beginning of the consultancy, the consultant will be provided with key sources of information for an initial desk review. The inception meetings will be conducted with the UN team.  At the end of this phase an inception report that will include the refined evaluation methodology will be delivered. The inception report will be validated and approved by UN Women.

Data collection phase: based on the inception phase, the contractor will carry out an in-depth desk review, and field mission/s will be conducted to complete data collection and triangulation of information. Interviews and focus group discussions with key stakeholders, as relevant, will take place.

Data analysis and synthesis phase: The collected information will be analyzed and the evaluation  report will be delivered. A validation meeting will be organized where the consultant will validate the final report with participating UN agencies to be approved by UN Women and OCHA.  

Evaluation Timeframe

This evaluation, including the field mission, is expected to be carried out between December 2020 and March 2021. The final evaluation report is to be submitted to the Evaluation Task Manager on or before 20 March  2021.

Deliverables and Indicative time schedule:

Inception Phase

1. Inception Mission 15 December 2020
2. Draft Inception Report21 December 2020
3. Final Inception Report18 January 2021

Data Collection Phase:

1. In-country Debriefing 18 February 2021

Reporting Phase:

1. Post Data Collection Workshop8 March 2021
2. Draft Final Report18 March 2021
3. Recommendation Workshop25 March 2021
4. Final Report10 April 2021
5. Final Presentation30 April 2021

P.S. Template for the deliverable will be shared with the selected consultant.                                           

Evaluation Governance and Management

The evaluation will be a consultative, inclusive and participatory process and will include a threefold management structure consists of an Evaluation Steering Committee, an Evaluation Management Group and Evaluation Reference Group. Since this is a joint evaluation, UN Women and OCHA will form an Evaluation Management Group (EMG) to support the Evaluation Task Manager (ETM) who will lead the day-to-day management of the process.  The management group is constituted to oversee the evaluation management, make key decisions and quality assure the different deliverables.  Under the overall guidance of the EMG and the Evaluation Task Manager (ETM), the evaluation will be carried out by an external consultant recruited by UN Women on behalf of UN Women and OCHA for this specific evaluation.  Monitoring & Reporting Associate, Occupied Palestinian Territory, will be the ETM and the evaluation consultant will report directly to the ETM. The consultant will be responsible for all logistics (office space, administrative and secretarial support, telecommunications, printing documentation, travel. etc) and the development and dissemination of methodological tools.

ERG- In order to facilitate a comprehensive review of the evaluation products and to ensure the participation of key stakeholders in the evaluation, UN Women will establish an Evaluation Reference Group comprising of UN Women and OCHA Staff, key humanitarian actors in Palestine, duty bearers and right holders.  The reference group is an integral part of the evaluation management structure and is constituted to facilitate the participation of relevant stakeholders in the design and scope of the evaluation, raising awareness of the different information needs, quality assurance throughout the process and in disseminating the evaluation results.

An evaluation Steering Committee, ESC, will be established as the key accountable body that will ultimately endorse the evaluation report and will be responsible for the development of an evaluation Management Response (MR) to address the recommendations included in the report.  The specific functions of the ESC will include the following:

• Be informed by EMG during the entire evaluation process.
• Revise and endorse the different evaluation deliverables: inception report and final evaluation report.
• Lead in the development of the evaluation Management Response (MR) in coordination with relevant staff.
• Endorse the MR, which will be made publicly available in the UN Women Global Accountability and Tracking of Evaluation (GATE) system.

Deliverable 1: Draft Inception Report 21 December 2020

The Consultant must produce a draft inception report, displaying the results of the above-listed steps and tasks. The inception report must follow the structure as set out in Annex 1.

Prior to submission to the Evaluation Task manager (ETM), the Consultant must ensure that it was internally quality controlled. The EMG will control the quality of the submitted draft inception report. If the quality of the draft inception report is satisfactory (form and substance), the draft inception report will be circulated by the EMG to the ERG for comments. In the event that the quality is unsatisfactory, the Consultant will be required to produce a new version of the draft inception report.

Deliverable 2: Final Inception Report 18 January 2021

The Consultant must address all the comments and make appropriate amendments to the inception report prior to submission to the ETM for review and approval.

For each and every comment, the Consultant indicates in writing how they have responded (“trail of comments”), using the proposed format set out in Annex 2. The trail of comments document is to be submitted to the ETM at the same time as the updated inception report.

The inception report will be considered final upon approval by the Evaluation Management Group.

Deliverable 3: In-Country Debriefing 18 February 2021

The Consultant will present preliminary data to in-country key stakeholders, (in-country or via tele- or video-conference) for discussion two days before completing the data collection phase in the field.

Note: The in-country debrief is needed to review data with selected key stakeholders, increase the Consultant’s understanding of data accumulated so far, and identify data issues or gaps that may be addressed/collected/revisited before leaving the country. The in-country debrief is not to be used to present preliminary findings as the data analysis is not yet completed and could mislead stakeholders.

Presentation material is to be submitted to the ETM prior to the debriefing session. Minutes and any supplementary material provided during the session are to be submitted one week after the session.

Deliverable 4: Post Data Collection Workshop 8 March 2021

The consultant will conduct a workshop session in Ramallah to present the preliminary findings of the evaluation to the EMG to seek comments and validation. The process will also support the formulation of the recommendations in a participatory way. If travel to Ramallah is not feasible the workshop may be held via tele-conference.

Presentation material is to be submitted to the ETM at least five working days prior to the session. Minutes and any supplementary material provided during the session are to be submitted one week after the session.

Deliverable 5: Draft Report 18 March 2021

The draft evaluation report must conform to the UNEG (2017) Norms and Standards for Evaluation or the OECD/DAC (2010) Quality Standards for Development Evaluation and follow the structure and instructions as set out in Annex 3, include an executive summary (following the outline provided in Annexe 5) and includes all the relevant annexes.

Prior to submission to the ETM, the Consultant must ensure that the draft evaluation report has undergone an internal quality control process through the Consultant’s Evaluation Quality Assurance System (EQAS). If the quality of the draft evaluation report is deemed satisfactory by EMG (form and substance), the draft evaluation report will be circulated to the ERG and other stakeholders as necessary for comments. In the event that the quality is unsatisfactory, the Consultant will be required to produce a new version of the draft evaluation report.

The ETM is responsible for sharing the draft report and collecting stakeholder comments.

The Evaluation Report shall follow the structure detailed in the UN Women Evaluation Handbook (Box 18 Outline of Evaluation Report)

The consultant will also submit an analysis of GAM data

Deliverable 6: Recommendation Workshop 25 March 2021

Approximately two weeks after comments from the EMG/ERG have been shared with the Consultant on all deliverables, the findings, conclusions and draft recommendations must be presented by the Consultant during a workshop in Ramallah in person or via teleconference. The workshop will include participants from the EMG and the ERG.  Any presentation material is to be submitted to the ETM at least three days prior to the session.

Deliverable 7: Final Report 10 April 2021

The Consultant must address all the comments and make appropriate amendments to the evaluation report  and draft workplan prior to submission to the ETM for review and approval.

For each and every comment, the Consultant indicates in writing how they have responded (“trail of comments”), using the format set out in Annex 2. The trail of comments document is to be submitted to the ETM at the same time as the updated evaluation report.

The evaluation report will be considered final upon approval by the EMG.

The Final Report will include the actionable recommendations produced through the evaluation. 

Deliverable 7: Final presentation 30 April 2021

The Consultant will prepare and conduct a workshop to present the findings, conclusions, recommendations and lessons of the evaluation in Ramallah and at a time to be decided by the ETM. If travel to Ramallah is not feasible the workshop may be held via tele-conference.

The Consultant will conduct the presentation after ETM approval of the Final Report.

Deliverable 8: Evaluation communication products 30 april 2021

A PowerPoint/Prezi presentation of the final key evaluation findings and recommendations, and a 2-pager/infographics on the final key findings, lessons learned and recommendations.

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

Functional Competencies

• Excellent facilitation and communication skills.
• Excellent evaluation skills.
• Good understanding and practice of capacity development.
• Good understanding of the underlying issues related to gender-based violence in Gaza.
• Outstanding knowledge of gender, women’s rights, humanitarian law and principles.
• Outstanding understanding of the humanitarian work and coordination mechanisms by different stakeholders in Palestine.
• Good understanding of the context of Palestine.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A master’s degree in social science, development, humanitarian studies and/or related areas

Expeiurence:

•  At least 7 years of leading evaluations on gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian emergencies.
• Experience in UN and inter-agency coordination mechanisms for gender responsive humanitarian action.
• Experience in human rights, protection and gender analysis in evaluations.
• Proven record of applying mixed methods approach and participatory methodologies for conducting gender and human rights responsive evaluations in humanitarian setting.
• Proven experience of working with Palestinian Civil Society actors and Women CBOs, and grass roots organizations is an asset.

Language Requierement:

• Fluent in English.

This SSA modality is governed by UN Women General Terms and Conditions. UN Women will only be able to respond to applicants who meet the minimum requirements.

Candidates should clearly indicate how they meet the above-mentioned criteria in their applications.

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials:

• UN Women P11 including experience in similar assignments; the P11 form can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment, a signed copy should be submitted;
• A technical proposal outlining understanding of the assignment and proposed methodology for undertaken the evaluation in line with the TOR.The proposal shall Outline of the evaluation questions, design, assumptions and its limitations, ensuring participatory methods for consultation with stakeholder groups, a plan for inclusion of women and individuals and groups who are vulnerable and/or discriminated against; detailed evaluation methodology for the evaluation:  how the quantitative and qualitative tools will be developed and tested including plans to adapt the methodology due to COVID 19 situation and limited  ability to travel to the concerned evaluation areas; a sampling frame (area and population represented, rationale for selection, mechanics of selection, limitations of the sample) and specify how it will address the diversity of stakeholders in the intervention; Assumptions made in sampling and research design should also be clearly reflected; how the research team will be trained for data collection; measures to ensure quality, reliability and validity of data collection tools and methods and their responsiveness to gender equality and human rights; (for example, the limitations of the sample representativeness) should be stated clearly and the data should be triangulated (cross-checked against other sources) to help ensure robust results; how quantitative and qualitative data will be protected, stored, coded and analyzed and made available to UN Women; Protocols that will ensure the work is conducted ethically and in accordance with WHO guidelines (https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/251759/9789241510189-eng.pdf;jsessionid=154035A6C3207D97BFCA4A0DB36C32D4?sequence=1) on research into violence against women. Plan should include how protection of subjects and respect for confidentiality will be guaranteed; risks and how these will be mitigated and managed; innovative means for communicating findings and recommendations of the evaluation

Note: Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Please upload as one attachment of the documents as mentioned above online through this website.

Candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certification (of good health) expression of Interest (EoI).

Evaluation of applicants:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications mentioned above, the technical and financial proposal. A contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 50 points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.

Technical Evaluation (70%) – max. 70 points:

• A master’s degree in social science, development, humanitarian studies and/or related areas; max 5 points
• At least 7 years of leading evaluations on gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in humanitarian emergencies; max 10 points
• Experience in UN and inter-agency coordination mechanisms for gender responsive humanitarian action; max 10 points
• Experience in using human rights, protection and gender analysis in evaluations; max 10 points
• Proven record of applying mixed methods approach and participatory methodologies for conducting gender and human rights responsive evaluations in humanitarian setting; max 10 points
• Proven experience of working with Palestinian Civil Society actors and Women CBOs, and grass roots organizations is an asset; max 5 points
• Technical Proposal; max 20 points

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Only long-listed candidates will be contacted.

Financial proposal. Shortlisted candidate will be requested to submit a financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount breaking down a daily professional fee, proposed number of working days and any related expenses, i.e. travel and communications expenses if any.

Annex1: Outline of the Inception Report:

• Table of Contents
• List of Acronyms
• List of Tables (*)
• List of Figures (*)

Rationale, Purpose and Specific Objectives of the Evaluation

• Should include: rationale, purpose, specific objectives and the scope of the evaluation.

Development Context

• Should include: a description of key contextual element, specific to the development intervention.

Evaluation Object and Scope

• Should include: a brief description of the development intervention (e.g. the time period; budget; geographical area; programming; intervention logic, stakeholder mapping; organizational set-up; implementation arrangements) including the theory of vhange of the programme

Evaluability Assessment

• Should include: a review of previous evaluation(s), a review and an analysis of the logic of the development intervention, an assessment of the evaluation questions, an analysis of the evidence (existence and quality of data and availability of key informants), and an analysis of key factors that compromise the evaluation.

Evaluation matrix

• Evaluation matrix outlining key evaluation questions, indicators, sources of information and methodology to guide the analysis and triangulation.

Evaluation Approach and Methodology

• Should include: (i) a description and an explanation of the evaluation approaches, evaluation methodology and its application; including details of, and justification for, the methodological choices; (ii) description of the methods of data collection (desk and field-based) -- including data collection plan; preparation of interview and guides for focus groups; surveys; etc. (iii) description of samples, sampling choices/methods and limitations regarding the representativeness of samples for interpreting evaluation results. (iv); data analysis plan (i.e. how the information collected will be organized, classified, tabulated, inter-related, compared and displayed relative to the evaluation questions, etc.); (v) limitations.

Reporting

• Should include: explanation of the debreifing sessions.

Evaluation Management

• The Consultant’s approach to ensure quality assurance of all evaluation deliverables.

Deliverables, Milestones, Schedule, Level of Effort Should include: a detailed plan for the next phases/stages of the evaluation; including detailed plans for field visits, including the list of interventions for in-depth analysis in the field (explanation of the value added for the visits), preparation process and logistics, recruitment of field teams, etc

Annexes: Should include:

• Logic Model and PMF
• ToR (and amendments if applicable)
• Stakeholder Mapping and Analysis
• Evaluation Evidence Matrix
• Explanation of Sampling and Proposed Samples
• List of Documents Consulted for the Work Plan
• List of Individuals Consulted for the Work Plan (Disaggregated by Affiliation and Sex)
• Proposed Data Collection Tools / Protocols
• Proposed Field Work Schedule

(*) Tables, figures, graphs and diagrams should be numbered and have a title.

Annex 2: Evaluation Trail of Comments Template:

The table format will be shared with the selected consultant.

Annex 3: UN Women Quality Assurance Review Criteria

UN Women GERAAS report quality standards, which are adapted UNEG report standards and integrate the United Nations System-wide Action Plan Evaluation Performance Indicator (UN-SWAP EPI), are used to assess the quality of evalua­tion reports produced by all UN Women offices, including the IEO. UN Women evaluation managers should use the standards (see Tool 14. GERAAS evaluation report quality assessment checklist) to assess the quality of evaluation reports. The evaluation team should have the standards in mind while writing the report and can use the checklist before delivering the draft and final reports.

The checklist can be used by the evaluation manager and commissioning unit in assessing compliance before accepting the report as final. The quality criteria assess the report structure and eight parameters:

1. Object and context of evaluation
2. Evaluation purpose
3. Objectives and scope
4. Evaluation methodology
5. Findings
6. Conclusions and lessons learned
7. Recommendations
8. Gender and human rights considerations

https://gate.unwomen.org/

Annex 4:  Reference documents

UN Women GERAAS evaluation report quality checklist

UNEG Norms for Evaluation in the UN System

UNEG Standards for Evaluation in the UN System

UN Women Evaluation Handbook