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.

UN Women Lebanon’s SN 2019-21 was approved in December 2018. The SN outlines the overall strategy and plan of action for the UN Women Lebanon Office for the years 2019-22 and includes a Development Results Framework (DRF) and an Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency Framework (OEEF) with expected results and targets/indicators/baselines. UN Women Lebanon’s three-year response strategy addresses five interrelated tracks: Women’s Political Participation and Leadership, Women’s Economic Empowerment, Women, Peace and Security, Global Norms, Policies & Standards and Ending Violence Against Women. However, in 2020, the number of impact areas was reduced to three. Impact areas on Women’s Political Participation and Ending Violence against Women were removed from the AWP. These remain key priority areas for UN Women and will be addressed through ongoing programming. In addition, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lebanon office has introduced new programmatic interventions as well as leveraged the existing activities.

The UN Country Teams’ Strategic framework for Lebanon will be extended until the end of 2022 and the implementation of the new framework will thus begin in 2023. To ensure that UN Women’s SN is in line with the upcoming UNSF for Lebanon, the LCO is extending its current SN for a year/ conducting a light SN for 2022. The results of the MTR will be use by the office to provide insights and inputs for the preparation of the revised document. 

Under the direct supervision of Head of the Lebanon Country office, the consultant will be responsible for conducting the Midterm Review for Lebanon UN Women Office in line with the details provided below.

Note that the MTR is not meant to be an impact evaluation; it will be a qualitative reflection of UN Women’s structure, work and progress in key areas rather than an in-depth analysis. It will be contextualized within the UN Country Team’s work in Lebanon that in turn aligns with the national government’s vision and plans.

Duties and Responsibilities

Main Objectives and Purpose of the Consultancy 

To undertake a midterm evaluation for UN Women in Lebanon, and provide learnings and reflections in a 20-40 page report for UN Women’s future growth and direction in Lebanon.  

Function and Duties:

• Inception phase: Develop MTR methodology in consultation with UN Women Lebanon
• Research and Engagement: Learning sessions for the UN Women office, interviews with UN Women staff and partners (government, UN, civil society, academic), beneficiaries and donors. Desk review of relevant documents.
• Synthesis and learning phase: Analyze data, draft learning report, host closing learning session (open to externals outside of UN Women, as identified by UN Women).

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies

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

Functional Competencies:

• Substantial knowledge and understanding of gender equality and women’s rights;
• Experience undertaking corporate learning exercises and evaluations.
• Ability to lead development of clear strategies and to provide strategic advice to senior management;
• Ability to communicate effectively both in written and oral.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in International Affairs/Development, Sociology, Public Administration, Economics, Gender and Women’s Studies, and/or with strong knowledge of gender issues, or related discipline.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• PHD is an asset. 

Experience:

• Minimum 15 years of relevant experience in undertaking learning focused evaluations.
• Prior experience of working on or with UN entities, strategies and programmes.
• Track record of expertise on issues of women’s rights.
• Strong expertise on organizational learning and development processes.
• Exposure to country situations of political risk, crisis, or change.
• Computer skills, internet communication and command of MS Office

Language requirements:

•  Proficiency in oral and written English is a must.

Evaluation Criteria

Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Technical Evaluation (70%) split such as:

• Education: 20%
• Minimum 15 years of relevant experience in undertaking learning focused evaluations: 30%
• Prior experience working on or with the UN: 10%
• Strong expertise on women’s rights: 10%

Financial Evaluation (30%): 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.

Application

Interested individuals must submit the following documents to demonstrate their qualifications:

• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily and lump-sum rate.

Any application without submitting the above-mentioned documents will be a ground for disqualification.