Background

The West and Central Africa region encompasses 24 countries, UN Women being present in 10 of them, through Country Offices (CO) with full delegation of authority.  The COs are in Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Niger, and CAR;
Currently based on the change management, Senegal is transitioning from what was called a Program Presence (PP) to a fully fledge Country Office CO.

UN Women Senegal programme counts with a total of 3 programmes that intervene on Women Economic Empowerment, EVAW, and Women Leadership and Political Participation, and the UN Coordination component which is one of the most important. In 2019, Senegal developed its Strategic Note (SN) 2019-2023 aligned within the Senegal national development plan, “Plan Senegal Emergent” and with the UN Development Accountability Framework (UNDAF 2019-2023) guiding all agencies priority and intervention.  Senegal SN has been implemented the last three years and needs to be reviewed and assessed to better focus on tangible and reasonable results by 2023.

In addition, Senegal SN is informed by the ongoing UN Reform as well as in national processes process and the Secretary General’s report which emphasizes an integrated programmatic and operational approach for all UN agencies. Senegal is, therefore, focusing mainly on providing high-end policy advisory, technical support and knowledge Management services on development, peace and security and humanitarian action from a gender perspective within an integrated UN focusing on leaving no-one behind. Senegal is also one candidate for transitioning to LSD graduation.

Furthermore, UNW has approved its Strategic Plan 2022–2025 and integrated many new indicators. The Strategic Plan 2022–2025 (the Strategic Plan) aims to guide UN-Women for the next four years – with an eye toward the 2030 deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It articulates how UN-Women will leverage its unique triple mandate, encompassing normative support, UN system coordination and operational activities, to mobilize urgent and sustained action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

Under UN Women’s policies and procedures in relation to programme management, a Mid-Term Review (MTR) is mandatory for Strategic Note of at least three years duration.

The objectives of the UN Women Senegal SN MTR are as follows:

1. Analysis and reflection on the progress of the programme and the validity of UN Women’s strategy in the region.
2. A re-examination of the theories of change for each impact area of the Development Results Framework (Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, Governance).
3. Engagement with partners and beneficiaries in consideration of #1.
4. Review and actualization of the resource mobilization strategy, communication and advocacy strategy and risk mitigation strategy.
5. Recognition and response to changes in the programming context, particularly noting normative developments. Identify specific key priorities for intervention in terms of positioning UN Women with respect to its three mandates (Coordination, Normative and Operational) and find appropriate and sustainable solutions
6. Alignment with the SP 2022.2025 indicators
7. Check key management issues, such as the availability of data and evidence to enable informed and credible analysis of performance, and the 'evaluability' of the programme

The following is the overall timeline of MTR process in UN Women Senegal

Prior to the MTR meeting in November, some preparatory work needs to be completed. This includes preparation of discussion papers and conducting a survey of key partners and stakeholders.

UN Women Senegal seeks a consultant to undertake key elements of the preparatory work for SN MTR in November 2022- January 2023.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Senegal Programme Coordinator, the consultant will be responsible for the following tasks to assist the preparation of the MTR: 

• Desk review of key documents, including:
  • Guidance Note: Mid Term Reviews of Strategic Notes
  • UN Women WCARO and Senegal Strategic Note (2022-2025)
  • UN Women Senegal Annual Reports (2021-2022)
  • UN Women Seengal Annual Work Plans (2018, 2019, 2020)
  • Prodocs of exisiting and pipeline projects and programmes 
  • LEADS
  • UN Women Global Strategic Plan SP (2022-2025)
  • Key regional evaluations conducted so far for Senegal
• Prepare a short questionnaire based on the sample questions in the Annex of the UN Women MTR guidance, and conduct a survey of key Senegal and Regional partners, analyzing and synthesizing results for feedback.
• Develop 7 one-page discussion papers on each of the following: i) Positioning Paper, outlining relevance and programme balance; ii) Programmatic Performance Paper; iii) Partnership Paper; iv) Normative Paper; v) Coordination Paper; vi) Communications Paper; vii) Operations paper.
• Capture the main findings and issues identified for all papers in a powerpoint presentation and brief the RO team.
• Draft the agenda of the MTR workshop, conduct specific sessions within the Mid Term Review workshop, facilitate and participate fully in discussions.
• Prepare and finalise SN MTR report including summarising findings from the MTR workshop discussions.
• Provide all supports and documents in a share folder for easy access to all staff.

Expected Key Deliverables by the Consultant and its timeline

Duration and remuneration:

UN Women will fund the costs of the consultancy work and maintain overall oversight and monitoring of the consultancy work. The duration of the consultancy will be from 09th November to 31st January 2023 with an estimated 30 working days.

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competences

• Excellent analytical and research skills
• Strong facilitation skills.
• Strong interpersonal and good communication abilities
• Excellent writing skills in both French and English
• Proven ability to work within limited time constraints in the preparation of high-quality documents.
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deal with multiple tasks.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or advanced university degree in social science, gender/women’s studies, Program management, or other related fields

Experience:

• At least 10 years of professional work experience in program development and implementation, including monitoring and evaluation activities.
• Experience working on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues in West and Central Africa.
• Proven experience in guiding and documenting program reviews and evaluations.
• Proven knowledge of program monitoring and evaluation theory, including theories of change, methodology, technology, and tools.
• Experience working programming, monitoring and evaluation with the UN agencies, similar international organizations, NGOs, multi/bilateral and/or government institutions would be an advantage.

Language requirements:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and French is mandatory.

UN Women Personal History Form (P11) must be completed and attached as part of the online application - https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558

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