Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist (Child Rights Systems Monitoring Specialist), NO-3, Yerevan, Armenia

Type of Appointment: Initial one-year FIXED TERM full-time appointment administered under the provisions of the UN Rules and Regulations, subject to extension based on performance This vacancy post is open for Armenian Nationals.

1. Purpose of the Post:

1.1   To ensure that the UNICEF Country Office and national partners have useful, valid and reliable information on:

      the situation of children and women and on the progress in realizing their rights;

      the reduction of equity gaps within the country;

      the results of UNICEF-supported national public programmes including their evaluation; and

      the contribution of UNICEF to the achievement of the results;

1.2  To assist in the development of national capacities for child rights monitoring, evaluation and research, with special attention to the interest, concern and participation of government, community, and civil society stakeholders. 

1.3    To support Country Office’s efforts in knowledge management by identifying, documenting and sharing lessons learned and good practices related to child rights within the Country Office and in the country.

1.4    Where relevant, to assist in the establishment of monitoring and evaluation tools which enhance partnership between the UN Country Team, government and other key players to collectively track progress made by the country in meeting its international commitments for children. 

2. Key Accountabilities and Duties & Tasks

2.1         Strengthening child-rights system monitoring.

Strengthen monitoring and evaluation capacities of national, regional and local partners, from the government, the parliament and civil society as well as the independent child rights institutions and  mechanisms are enhanced and that stakeholders  have at their disposal disaggregated evidence to influence, develop, implement, monitor and evaluate international commitments, national, regional and local policies, allocations of resources and programme implementation models, focusing on child- related disparities and inequities.

Duties & Tasks

• Maintain and develop partnerships with relevant stakeholders, the parliament and civil society to establish and/or strengthen the existing independent monitoring and evaluation systems and processes so that reliable and disaggregated data and analysis on the situation of disadvantaged and excluded are available to, and used by, decision-makers in the development child-related policies and programmes.
• Systematically promote equity-based child rights indicators and monitoring systems in partnerships
• Actively seek partnerships with centres of excellence for the identification of capacity gaps (in terms of human resources, processes, indicators, etc.) to monitor and evaluation progressive realisation of child rights and reduction of equity gaps and the development of strategies to address them.

2.2        Situation Monitoring and Assessment 

Ensure that the Country Office and national partners have timely and accurate measurement of change in the conditions of disadvantaged and excluded children in the country or region, including monitoring of socio-economic trends and the country’s wider policy, economic or institutional context, to facilitate planning and to draw conclusions about the impact of programmes or policies on equity for children.

Duties & Tasks

• Support partners in the establishment and management of national statistical databases (e.g., DevInfo); and contribution to regional and international databases (e.g. TransMonEE), ensuring that key indicators are readily accessible by key stakeholders. Potential uses include the Situation Analysis, Common Country Assessment, Early Warning Monitoring Systems, and Mid-Term Reviews. 
• Develop a Situation Monitoring and Assessment  system owned by all key partners which supports the preparation of country level statistical and analytic reports on the status of children’s and women’s rights issues and of equity gaps; and which allow,  when opportunities emerge to influence developmental and social policies.  This is to include technical support to global reporting obligations including national reports on progress toward international commitments for children, and toward CRC and CEDAW fulfillment.
• In coordination with other stakeholders, where applicable support the collection of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and other nationally or internationally agreed key social development indicators (through MICS or other surveys) to improve national planning.
• In humanitarian response situations, provide professional support for one or more rapid assessments (inter-agency or independently if necessary) to be carried out within the first 48-72 hours, working in close collaboration with the humanitarian clusters partners.

2.3        Evaluation

Ensures that UNICEF-supported evaluations (such as joint evaluations of public policies and programmes or impact evaluations of pilots) are strategically selected and conducted in accordance with UN quality standards. Ensures that the results of these evaluations are disseminated in a timely fashion to internal and external stakeholders to inform public programme design and performance and contribute to national and corporate learning.

Duties & Tasks

• Technically support programme colleagues and national partners in identifying and designing strategic evaluations. This may include joint evaluation of public policies and programmes, impact evaluation of models and pilots and participation to strategic multi-country evaluations.
• Technically support programme colleagues and national partners to jointly formulate Terms of Reference and evaluation designs of high quality, when relevant drawing on the know-how of knowledge institutions, in compliance with the UNEG evaluation norms and standards.
• Monitor and ensure the quality of the field work and data management during the programme implementation phase, and the quality of the analysis and ease of understanding during the report writing phase as per UNICEF evaluation policy and guidelines.
• Disseminate evaluation findings and recommendations to the intended audiences in user-friendly methods.  In particular, to ensure that effective participatory feedback is provided to community and civil society stakeholders.
• Monitor and ensure that a management response to the findings and recommendations of the evaluation is jointly developed by all relevant stakeholders, recorded, and followed up for implementation.  Most specifically, ensure that evaluation recommendations are submitted to the Country Management Team and follow-up actions recorded in CMT minutes. Submit electronic copies of all evaluations to NYHQ via the Evaluation Data Base web portal, with full accompanying documentation.

2.4         Knowledge Management

Ensure that UNICEF contributes to national, regional and international learning on child rights by sharing knowledge, good practices and lessons and by supporting national partners and civil society to share the same with other countries.

Duties & Tasks

• Coordinates the CO efforts to support the government, the parliament and civil society in the identification of good practices in and support their dissemination within the country, regionally and internationally (as relevant) by partners themselves.
• Undertake lessons-learned reviews on M&E practices and experience at the national level, and ensure they are shared as appropriate.  Similarly, pay attention to M&E knowledge networks to identify innovations and lessons learned that may be relevant for the CO and partners to improve their M&E function.

2.5         Contribution to Networking and Advocacy  

Ensure that the UNICEF partnerships, networking and advocacy are effectively supported by relevant and evidence-based research and knowledge related to children in the country, focusing on the most vulnerable children.

Duties & Tasks

·         Strengthen the capacity of UNICEF colleagues and national partners, including the media, to generate and use reliable and disaggregated data and analysis on the situation of vulnerable children for their own interventions and advocacy for child rights.

·         Link UNICEF’s partnerships and advocacy strategies with the knowledge strategy to ensure that the CO has at its disposal the latest data and analysis on vulnerable children and their families, generated by UNICEF or partners.

2.6           Planning for Research, Impact Monitoring and Evaluation (PRIME) 

Ensure that the Country Office and national partners use a well-prioritised and realistic plan of research, impact monitoring and evaluation activities that will provide the most relevant and strategic information to manage the Country Programme, including tracking and assessing  UNICEF’s distinct contribution. 

Duties & Tasks

• Make professional contributions to and provide technical assistance for the planning and establishing the major research, impact monitoring and evaluation objectives, priorities, and activities in UNICEF’s multi-year and annual PRIMEs, in consultation with child-rights and implementing partners.
• Likewise, support the development of UNDAF M&E Plans from a sound results-based programming process.
• Collaborate with Regional M&E Advisers and HQ Evaluation Office for overall coordination of priority research, monitoring and evaluation activities, especially those of regional scope requiring the coordinated effort of multiple countries.
• Identify the M&E objectives, priorities, and activities required for effective CO and partner Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans.
• In humanitarian response situations, within the first month, draft and recommend a simple one-month data-collection plan to cover key data gaps as required for the initial emergency response, working in close collaboration with the humanitarian clusters partners.
• After the initial humanitarian response, support management of the medium-term response with a revised PRIME. 

3.  Minimum Requirements and Qualifications:

3.1 Advanced university degree in social sciences, statistics, planning development, planning.  

3.2 Fluency in English and Armenian is mandatory. Fluency in another UN language an asset.

4.  Experience:

4.1 Professional work experience in programme development and implementation including monitoring and evaluation activities as follows:

Five years of relevant professional work experience and field work experience.

5. Competency Profile (For details, please refer to UNICEF Professional Competency Profiles.

i)  Core Values (Required)

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

            ii) Core Competencies (Required)

• Communication [ II ]
• Working with People[ II ]
• Drive for Result  [ II ]

2. Functional Competencies (Required)

• Leading and Supervising [ II ]
• Formulating Strategies and Concepts [ II ]
• Analyzing [ II ]
• Applying Technical Expertise  [ II ]   
• Planning and Organizing [ III ] 

        iii)  Technical Knowledge    

           a) Specific Technical Knowledge & Competencies Required

• • Knowledge of Project and Programme Evaluation.
  • Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Evaluation Process Management, Follow-up on Recommendations and Dissemination of M&E results.
  • Emerging international good practice in monitoring and evaluation partnerships.

                 b) Common Technical Knowledge Required

• Professional technical knowledge/expertise in demography, statistics, and data management.
• Professional technical knowledge/expertise in methodology of M&E, including theories, standards and models, quantitative/qualitative/mixed methods, validity/reliability testing of data, data analysis and interpretation, and statistical inference methods.
• Professional technical knowledge/expertise in Activity Monitoring & Evaluation, Evaluation Design, data analysis, and reporting.
• Gender equality and diversity awareness.

Application Procedures: All qualified applicants are strongly encouraged to apply online, using the UNICEF E-Recruitment system.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Regret letters will only be sent to short listed candidates.