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Re-advertisement: International Team Leader for final evaluation of the project Livelihoods Through Participation and Equal Access to Water

New York City

  • Organization: UNWOMEN - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
  • Location: New York City
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Development Cooperation and Sustainable Development Goals
    • Environment
    • Women's Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Civil Society and Local governance
    • Project and Programme Management
    • Food Security, Livestock and Livelihoods
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

The creation of UN Women in July 2010 came about as part of the UN reform agenda, consolidating the Organization’s resources and mandates on gender equality for greater impact. The mandate of UN-Women calls on UN Women to have universal coverage, strategic presence and ensure closer linkages between the norm-setting inter-governmental work and operations at the field level. UN Women is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to i) support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms, ii) to help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it and to forge effective partnerships with civil society, and iii) to hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress and mobilizing and convening key stakeholders to ensure greater coherence and gender mainstreaming across the UN. Since 2001 UN Women (previously as its predecessor entity UNIFEM) has implemented catalytic initiatives on promoting women’s economic, political and social rights. In 2012 a Country Office with Delegation of Authority (DOA) was established in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The political situation in Kyrgyzstan was fragile after its independence in 1991 followed by instability and change of Governments in 2005 and, in June 2010 amid political and social tensions, violence erupted in the southern regions which led to the violence between ethnic populations.

At the same time, disagreements over the borderline among Central Asian countries continue to lead to misunderstandings and distrust between neighbouring communities, exacerbating existing tensions over natural resources, and preventing the resolution of crucial developmental and societal challenges. Conflict drivers, such as competition over other natural resources (water, land and pasture), high levels of (youth) unemployment and out-migration are remaining high in Kyrgyzstan.

In long term climate change, with has already been linked to a 30 percent reduction of glaciers in the mountains, will lead to lower water availability. This is likely to cause economic shocks and strains on the rural population, especially women of targeted regions, in the long run further exacerbating conflicts over natural resources.

The efforts from the Government and the UN for the past years contributed to increased stability in the southern regions and in the country in general.

Given the above context, initiatives that support women’s and men resilience and mitigate the negative impact of climate change contribute to peacebuilding effect.

The UN Women Kyrgyzstan Country Office’s Women, Peace and Security portfolio has been working on peacebuilding and providing support at the policy level especially on the implementation of UNSCR1325 and at the national and community levels implementing a number of projects focused on empowering of women and their participation in peacebuilding, conflict management and equal access to natural resources for sustaining peace and development.

 One of its projects which is focusing on equal access to natural resources and effective management of water is being implemented the FinWaterWei II  Government of Finland-funded programme  implemented in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is called: ‘’Securing livelihoods for vulnerable women, men and children, through their participation in community governance of water resources, and enhanced ability to use water efficiently” with a short title “Livelihoods through participation and equal access to water”.

II. Description of the programme/project: Livelihoods through participation and equal access to water

Project strategy and expected results

The project Livelihoods Through Participation and Equal Access to Water aims at securing livelihoods for vulnerable women, men and children through efficient on-farm use of water and equitable community governance of water resources. The project strategy is to fairly, transparently and sustainably allocate scarce water resources at community level to enhance intra-community partnerships, community resilience and create opportunities for establishment of livelihoods that in the context of challenges increasingly associated with labour migration, present a credible alternative to such migration.

The theory of change of the project is: if excluded sectors of the rural population in particular women and girls are empowered to productively use limited on-farm water resources for starting to build livelihoods in an environment where communities appreciate inclusion and water conservation, then they will be healthier and more prosperous. The increased knowledge and economic opportunities will lead to increased participation of target groups in water management activities which will ultimately enhance the local power relationships in favour of the presently excluded, resulting in enhanced access to water resources to secure sustainable livelihoods.

The expected outcomes of the project are formulated as follows:

Outcome 1: People in target communities have started adopting measures for equitable and efficient water use in their households/gardens. It is expected that raising awareness of the secondary schools’ students, equipping them with practical skills of efficient agricultural production, and engaging them in advocacy campaigns, aimed at general public, religious and political leaders, municipal workers, members of the local councils and other decision makers in the communities, will have a multiplier effect on the communities as a whole. Simple tips related to efficient water use, water safety and sustainable agricultural practices will be communicated through various advocacy initiatives of the students. Students will have demonstrated application of sustainable agricultural production in their kitchen gardens and school demonstration plots in practice. As a result, it is expected that 70 percent of the survey respondents in target villages will confirm to have adopted one or more of the sanitary and efficient water use measures recommended through advocacy actions - Indicator 1.

Output 1.1: Secondary school students in selected areas have demonstrated safer and more efficient agricultural practice in their communities. This output will be measured through the following indicators.

Indicator 1.1a: As a result of enrolling in the ‘My Prosperous Farm’ course 1,000 secondary school students in 10 partner schools of the selected villages will have improved their knowledge and understanding of the agricultural production based on the productive, efficient and sustainable use of natural resources, as well as basics of marketing and business planning. Teachers of the course will conduct regular tests to determine whether the learning outcomes for the specific period of time have been achieved and flag any issues to address for the next trimester. Further, the need for equal access to water as well as issues of clean water and sanitation will be addressed.

Further, Indicator 1.1b will measure if no less than 500 of these students have applied the practical knowledge on their kitchen garden plots of 0.01 ha by growing profitable crops, using simple environmentally friendly agro-technology and with extension support throughout the vegetation period provided by RAS. Data for this indicator will be collected through regular site visits of the extension specialist to students’ plots and school demonstration plots. Students will keep diaries recording implementation of the recommended agro-technology. Regular site visits will ensure regular extension support at critical points of vegetation period, document progress of the students, and flag issues in a timely manner. Site visit reports and student dairies will provide disaggregated quantitative and qualitative data on the results achieved by each student.

Indicator 1.1c is intended to measure effectiveness of the recommended sustainable agro-technology. It is expected that the students will have received yields, which are at least 20 percent higher than the average yields in the given area, and have participated in the market and received income from sale of their produce. The data will be collected from the extension specialists’ site visit reports and student diaries.

Output 1.2: Students have acquired advocacy and communication for change skills to influence attitude change in their communities in favour of more equitable and efficient use of natural resources will be achieved through integration of the ‘My Safe and Peaceful School’ component into the curriculum of the selected schools. As part of this course the students will be supported to carry out a number of advocacy and communication for change activities covering the wider population of their communities to raise awareness of the general public about the sustainable use of natural resources, communicate importance of equal access and equitable use for resources by all population groups, as well as simple easy-to-use tips on how to improve water and land use in daily life in their households and gardens. Students showing superior aptitude will be involved in a multitude of activities conducted by UN Women beyond and outside the scope of this project to further consolidate their skills on influencing attitudes.

Indicator 1.2 is put forth to measure the number of people reached by the various advocacy actions of the students. It is expected to cover no less than 30,000 people in all target communities. The data on the reach-out will be collected from student reports supported with evidence (photos, print run, etc.).

Outcome 2: Capacitated local self-government and Water Users Associations in target areas provide equal access to resources and enhanced services to the population. Local self-governments in the selected municipalities will be offered to be trained on the use of the database management system ‘Berkut’, which will automatize the most popular functions of municipal staff, such as preparation of certificates, disaggregated reports and compilation of statistical analysis for the reporting purposes on the basis of household information. This however requires intensive work of inputting household data from paper-based documents into the database. Simultaneously the social worker of the municipality will carry out social passportization, review the household data of the existing recipients of state allowances to evaluate their eligibility and carry out household surveys to identify new families eligible for the allowances but not receiving them currently. Both exercises will require intensive work during the first 4-6 months and will serve as a commitment test and pre-requisite for further interventions in the municipality. ‘Berkut’ will be updated with a module on social passportization and Water Users Association. The latter will derive data from the general database of household data and is intended to create a comprehensive list of users in order to ensure all eligible are included in water users lists, and fee collection is systematized and transparent. The project will advocate for a system where water fees ensure full cost recovery with exceptions for those unable to pay, as per the law. However, as the project focusses in enabling the vulnerable to enhance livelihoods through the effective use of water, everyone in time should be able to pay for water use based on the additional income generated by such use of water. A graduated scheme, whereby the first small quantity of water is either free or subsidized with these subsidies recovered from heavy water users (who either derive a high profit from this use or are using water inefficiently and as such to the disadvantage of the community) will be advocated where legally possible. On such matters, the role of the project will be to try to build consensus between all local stakeholders. Further, the project will facilitate the establishment of feedback mechanisms on the performance of the WUA. Households in the catchment area and WUA clients will be interviewed to assess WUA performance and level of participation and inclusiveness. While the project will oversee this process, it will facilitate the local self-government and the WUA to conduct such assessments in the longer term. Findings will be collated, analysed and reported back to both the local kenesh as well as informal institutes such as the Kurultai, the local people’s assembly. Data will be disaggregated according to gender and other site-specific factors of interest.

‘Berkut’ is a stand-alone computer-based MIS system that can be programmed to allow for online data exchange. Given unreliable and slow internet access in villages in Kyrgyzstan, data put on USB sticks can also be aggregated by offline uploading centrally. ‘Berkut’ is to be fully integrated into the local self-government administration where access to data is given on a need-to-know basis ensuring data security and privacy. The WUA module is maintained by local WUA staff, drawing on base data which specifies households in the WUA catchment area. Data can then be uploaded to the local self-government administration ‘Berkut’ database for monitoring of compliance with legal provisions such as those relating to equal access to the public good water. Select data, such as that of water users having fully met water payments and thus being entitled to water can be posted in the local administration for public access. Other data is kept confidential, and WUA will only have access to data they have a right to as per the law.

Use of ‘Berkut’ in a municipality is a prerequisite for participation of this community in the second component. Municipalities and communities failing to realize their formal commitment made prior to the project commencing in a community can still participate in MPF related activities of the first component described above but will not be eligible for investment and grants under the second component.

As a result it is expected that the level of satisfaction of the population with service delivery relating to water management increases. Achievement of this outcome will be measured through the following two indicators:

Indicator 2a: Percentage of people satisfied with the services of LSG in relation to ensuring equal access to water resources. It is expected that the level of satisfaction will increase by 50 percent over baseline. The survey of a sample group of respondents will be carried out at the municipal administration exit at the start and the end of the project.

Indicator 2b: Percentage increase in the number of newly identified water users by WUAs (covering potentially excluded groups, such as female headed households, disabled people, etc.). The number of newly identified water users is expected to increase the number of users by at least 10 percent over baseline at the end of the project. The number of users before project intervention will be recorded during start-up stage from the official records of the WUAs.

Output 2.1: Local self-governments have started using electronic database management information system ‘Berkut’ with updated list of people eligible for social allowances. Introduction of ‘Berkut’ will improve the quality of service provision of the partner local self-governments, one of which is better targeting of the state allowances to the most vulnerable. This is required by the Law of KR On social passportization and in line with the established methodology and instructions of the Ministry of social development of KR. Local self-government’s relevant officials will be trained on the use of ‘Berkut’ and the methodology of social passportization and backstopped on a regular basis in the process to address the challenges which may be faced. As a result it is envisaged that the number of newly identified people eligible for state allowances will reach at least 15 percent of the total number of the initial number of recipients - Indicator 2.1. The relevant disaggregated data will be retrieved from the official list of the recipients of state allowances from the municipal records or local Social fund offices. ‘Berkut’ has been in use since 2005. It has been used by interested LSG. Use has been welcome by the state but not mandated. GTZ, EU and USAID have all implemented projects where ‘Berkut’ has been pursued by LSG participating in these projects. The Secretary of the LSG administration as well as the Social Worker are the primary beneficiaries of ‘Berkut’ in that they save much time in conducting their work using ‘Berkut’. Therefore, it is them who first upload information on households from the paper based Khos Kniga that currently records such information. Data entry is very simple and conducted in Kyrgyz, with an explanatory menu on the ACCESS database in both Kyrgyz and Russian.

Output 2.2: WUAs have increased water fee collection as a result of improved user accounting and billing incorporated into ‘Berkut’. The database management system ‘Berkut’ is intended to serve as a tool to improve the quality of user lists, which is a pre-requisite for transparent and equitable allocation of water resources. The potentially excluded population groups, such as female headed households, disabled, and others will be included into the overall database platform from the household records of the municipality, from which the WUA module derives the data. Improved lists of users will also result in a more transparent billing and fee collection. It is envisaged that water fee collection will improve by at least 10 percent over baseline - Indicator 2.2. Data for this indicator can be reliably collected from the accounting records of the WUA on a regular basis and progress tracked throughout project duration.

Project beneficiaries and stakeholders

The target groups of the project are:

  • Those deemed vulnerable (muktash) according to social passportisation data;

Note: given the nature of activities it is likely that a larger proportion of beneficiaries will be women rather than men. However, there is equal access to anyone meeting criteria;

  • Persons with disabilities;
  • Interested girls and boys enrolled in the 9th through 11th grade of local secondary schools, their teachers and parents;
  • Single-headed households;
  • Key functionaries of local self-government;
  • Water Users’ Association.

Government counterparts in the project are the Gender Unit at Ministry of Labour and Social Development, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Melioration and various district administrations and municipalities involved in the project. Responsible party is the Rural Advisory Service Jalalabad (RAS JA).

Budget and geographical scope and timeframe

The project is implemented in 3 provinces, 5 districts and 7 municipalities of the Kyrgyz Republic (Provinces: Chui, Batken, Osh Districts: Sokuluk, Kadam-Jai, Leilek, Aravan, Nookat, Uzgen Municipalities: Asyl-Bash, Halmion, Uch-Korgon, Kulundu, Naiman, Check-Abad, Don-Bulak)  selected based on analysis of the following criteria:

  • Agro-ecological suitability;
  • Current status and predictable change of seasonal water resource availability;
  • Commitment to assume ownership, including financial contribution at local self-government, community and target group/beneficiary level;
  • Readiness of Social Worker to carry out functions as relates to social passportisation;
  • Local WUA confirming equal access to water resources in their charter for anyone in their catchment area;
  • Established willingness of the community to practice minimum standards of sanitation, or, in case these are not presently practiced assessed interest in amending behaviour based on being taught practicable and realistic methods as taught in the My Prosperous Farm (MPF) course and subsequently advocated at community level by participating student.

Total project budget is 900’000 Euro comprising of 890’000 Euro funding from the Government of Finland and UN Women contribution of 10,000 Euro for the period of 30 months (01.10.2015-31.03.2018).

Project management

The project is managed by UN Women who as the executive agency bears the responsibility for the overall project outcome. The responsible party is jointly responsible with UN Women for the achievement of the outputs. The day-to-day implementation of the project is managed by a project manager with the support of the project team within UN Women and the responsible party. Oversight and strategic steering is provided by the Coordination Council with representatives from the government counterparts, local NGOs, UN Women, the Donor and the responsible party.

Purpose (and use of the evaluation)

As indicated in Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Plan of the Strategic Note 2018-2022 of the UN Women Country Office in the Kyrgyz Republic, a final evaluation with a special focus on lessons learnt will be conducted towards the end of implementation period of the project Livelihoods through participation and equal access to water. The main purpose of this final evaluation is to assess in more detail the programmatic progress and performance of the above described intervention from the point of view of relevance, effectiveness, organizational efficiency and sustainability.

The findings of the evaluation will contribute to effective programming, refining the CO approaches to women, peace and security, organizational learning and accountability, and to inform the overall implementation of the Strategic Note of the UN Women Country Office in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2018-2022. The information generated by the evaluation will moreover be used to engage policy makers and other stakeholders at local, national and regional levels in evidence-based dialogues and to advocate for gender-responsive strategies to sustain peace and conflict-prevention with a particular focus on engaging adolescents and women in dialogues on gender equality, human rights, and peace and security at local, national and regional levels.

Targeted users of the evaluation are the UN Women staff at the Kyrgyzstan Country Office, the responsible party and the government counterparts at local and national levels, CSOs, and other UN agencies, donor community and development partners present in Kyrgyzstan and the ECA region and the project beneficiaries.

Objectives

The objectives of this evaluation are to:

  • Analyse the relevance of the project strategy and approach at local and national levels on gender equality and women’s empowerment, peacebuilding agenda, and adaptation to climate change.
  • Assess effectiveness and organizational efficiency in progressing towards the achievement of the project results, including the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment results as defined in the intervention.
  • Assess the sustainability of the results and the intervention in advancing gender equality through the target group.
  • Analyze how human rights based approach and gender equality principles are integrated in the project implementation.
  • Asses how the intervention and its results relate and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Identify and document lessons learned, good practices and innovations, success stories and challenges within the project, to inform future work of UN Women in the frameworks of Women, Peace and Security agenda and beyond.
  • Identify strategies for replication and up-scaling of the project’s best practices.
  • Provide actionable recommendations with respect to UN Women’s work on women, peace and security in Kyrgyzstan, youth, peacebuilding and beyond.

Key evaluation questions

Considering the mandates to incorporate human rights and gender equality in all UN work and the UN Women Evaluation Policy, which promotes the integration of women’s rights and gender equality principles, these dimensions will have a special attention in this evaluation and will be considered under each evaluation criterion.

Relevance

  • To what extent was the design of the intervention and its results relevant to the needs and priorities of the beneficiaries? How appropriate was the chosen focus on vulnerable groups in addressing the needs and priorities of the beneficiaries?
  • To what extent is the intervention consistent with the national development strategies, and specifically National Strategy on Achievement of Gender Equality till 2020, its National Action Plans, National priorities in climate change adaption, National Strategy on Sustainable Development, and other key national strategies and programmes in the area of advancing gender equality and water governance?
  • To what extent has gender and human rights principles and strategies been integrated into the programme design and implementation?
  • To what extent has the project been catalytic in addressing some of the root causes of inequalitie in participation and equal access to water?
  • To what extent is the intervention aligned with international agreements and conventions on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the context of water governance?
  • What is UN Women’s current comparative advantage in this area of work compared with other UN entities and key partners in the Kyrgyz Republic?

Effectiveness

  • To what extent have the expected results of the project been achieved on both outcome and output levels?
  • What are the reasons for the achievement or non-achievement of the project results? Has a project achieved any unforseen results, either positive or negative? What are the good practices and the obstacles or shortcomings encountered? How were they overcome?
  • How appropriate is the project strategy of empowering and engaging youth and local self-governments as advocates for gender equality and human rights making a contribution to community level stability through inclusion?
  • How well did the intervention succeed in involving and building the capacities of rights-holders, duty-bearers, as well as the project partners?
  • To what extent are the monitoring mechanisms in place effective for measuring and informing management of project performance and progress towards targets? To what extent was the monitoring data objectively used for management action and decision making? 

Efficiency

  • Have resources (financial, human, technical support, etc.) been allocated strategically to achieve the project outcomes?
  • To what extent does the management structure of the intervention support efficiency for programme implementation and achievement of results?
  • Have the outputs been delivered in a timely manner?

Sustainability

  • What is the likelihood that the benefits from the project will be maintained for a reasonably long period of time after the project phase out? 
  • How effectively has the project generated national ownership of the results achieved, the establishment of partnerships with relevant stakeholders and the development of national capacities to ensure sustainability of efforts and benefits?
  • To what extent the intervention succeeded in building individual and institutional capacities of rights-holders and duty-bearers to ensure sustainability of benefits and more inclusive practices to local development and water governance?
  • To what extent has the project been able to promote replication and/or up-scaling of successful practices?
  • To what extent has the exit strategy been well planned and successfully implemented?

Considering the mandates to incorporate human rights and gender equality in all UN works and the UN Women Evaluation Policy, which promotes the integration of women's rights and gender equality principles into evaluation, these dimensions will require special attention for this evalution and will be considered under each evaluation criterion.

It is expected that the evaluation team will develop an evaluation matrix, which will relate to the above questions (and refine them as needed), the areas they refer to, the criteria for evaluating them, the indicators and the means for verification as a tool for the evaluation. Final evaluation matrix will be approved in the evaluation inception report.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of the evaluation

The final evaluation of the project Livelihoods Through Participation and Equal Access to Water will be conducted at the end of project implementation and will cover the entire duration of the project 01-10-2015-31.03.2018. The evaluation is scheduled between January and April 2018.

The evaluation includes a data collection mission in Bishkek and three selected project sites in Kyrgyzstan, covering both its southern and northern parts.

The evaluation shall cover all aspects of the project, and broadly allocate resources (time) in relation to the relative expenditure between the various project components.

The Livelihoods Through Participation and Equal Access of Water project has been included in the Country Programme  Evaluation conducted in 2017 as part of the project portfolio of UN Women Country Office in Kyrgyzstan. Some of the approaches and strategies employed in the project have been implemented within the previous PBF-funded Building the Constituency for Peac and EU-funded Promoting Gender Justice and Empowerment of Young Women projects. These evaluation and lessons learnt reports with findings and recommendations will be made available to the evaluation team to inform the evaluation design, methodologies, and final evaluation report.

Evaluation design (process and methods)

Methodology

The evaluation will be a transparent and participatory process involving relevant UN Women stakeholders and partners in Kyrgyzstan. The evaluation will be based on gender and human rights principles and adhere to the UNEG Norms and Standards and Ethical Code of Conduct and UN Women Evaluation Policy and guidelines. (Please see section XI References below)

The evaluation is a final programme evaluation and both a summative approach focusing on capturing the lessons learned during the implementation and assessing the achievement of the results at output and outcome levels, as well as a formative, forward-looking approach assessing the applicability of the results  will be employed. The evaluation methodology will furthermore follow a ToC approach and employ mixed methods including quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and analytical approaches to account for complexity of gender relations and to ensure participatory and inclusive processes that are culturally appropriate. Methods may include but are not limited to:

  • Desk review of relevant documents such as project and programme documents, progress reports, financial records, meeting minutes and monitoring reports, and secondary data or studies relating to the country context and situation.
  • Online consultations and discussions with UN Women Country Office senior management, programme and project staff.
  • Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, surveys with direct and indirect beneficiaries, implementing partners, government partners, donor and other stakeholders
  • Field visits to and observation at selected project sites.

Data from different research sources will be triangulated to increase its validity. The proposed approach and methodology has to be considered as flexible guidelines rather than final requirements, and the evaluators will have an opportunity to make their inputs and propose changes in the evaluation design. The methodology and approach should, however, incorporate human rights and gender equality perspectives. It is expected that the Evaluation Team will further refine the approach and methodology and submit a detailed description in the inception report.

Comments provided by the evaluation reference and management groups are aimed at methodological rigor, factual errors, errors of interpretation, or omission of information and must be considered by the evaluators to ensure a high-quality product. The final evaluation report should reflect the evaluator’s consideration of the comments and acknowledge any substantive disagreements.

Evaluation Process

The evaluation process has five phases:

1) Preparation: gathering and analysing programme data, conceptualizing the evaluation approach, internal consultations on the approach, preparing the TOR, establishment of the Evaluation Management Group (EMG) and the Evaluation Reference Group (ERG), stakeholders mapping and selection of evaluation team.  

2) Inception: consultations between the evaluation team and the EMG, programme portfolio review, finalization of stakeholder mapping, inception meetings with the ERG, review of the result logics, analysis of information relevant to the initiative, finalization of evaluation methodology and preparation and validation of inception report.

3) Data collection and analysis: in depth desk research, in-depth review of the project documents and monitoring frameworks, in online interviews as necessary, staff and partner survey/s, and field visits. 

4) Analysis and synthesis stage: analysis of data and interpretation of findings, and drafting and validation of an evaluation report and other communication products.

5) Dissemination and follow-up: once the evaluation is completed UN Women is responsible for the development of a Management Response, publishing of the evaluation report, uploading the published report on the GATE website, and the dissemination of evaluation findings.

UN Women is entirely responsible for phases 1 and 5 outlined above which will not foreseen the involvement of the independent evaluation team.

Stakeholder participation and evaluation management

The UN Women Kyrgyzstan Programme Manager of Joint Programme on Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment will serve as the evaluation task manager responsible for the day-to-day management of the evaluation and ensures that the evaluation is conducted in accordance with the UN Women Evaluation Policy, United Nations Evaluation Group Ethical Guidelines and Code of Conduct for Evaluation in the United Nations system and other key guidance documents. Moreover, an evaluation management group comprising of UN Women senior management and key programme staff will be established to oversee the evaluation process, make key decisions and quality assure the different deliverables.

The establishment of an evaluation reference group facilitates participation of the key stakeholders in the evaluation process and will help to ensure that the evaluation approach is robust and relevant to staff and stakeholders. Furthermore, it will make certain that factual errors or errors of omission or interpretation are identified in evaluation products. The reference group will provide input and relevant information at key stages of the evaluation: terms of reference, inception report, draft and final reports and dissemination of the results.

Timeframe and expected outputs (Since this evaluation will be conducted by an international and a national evaluator the distribution of the days amongst them are indicative and based on preliminar distribution of responsibilities)

Task                                                                                       Tentative Timeframe      Estimated # of Working Days

Inception phase                                                                April 2018

Desk review of background documentation          April 2 - 5, 2018                                 2

Inception meetings with CO and ERG                       April 5 – 6, 2018                                1

Inception report (including two rounds of revision)        By April 12, 2018                               4

Data collection phase                                                     April 2018                           

Documents review, interviews                                   April 9 – 13, 2018                              2

Visit to proect sites                                                         April 16 – 23, 2018                           5

Analysis and reporting phase                                      April – May 2018

Drafting and presentation of preliminary findings                April 23 – 27, 2018                                  3

(including one round of revision)

Draft Report (including two rounds of revision)                    April 30 and May 15, 2018                     9

Final  report                                                                            May 25, 2018                                          2

Evalution communication products (brief PPT, two pager)

Expected deliverables

The evaluation team is expected to deliver:

  • An inception report: The evaluation team will present a refined scope, a detailed outline of the evaluation design and methodology, evaluation questions, and criteria for the approach for in-depth desk review and field work to be conducted in the data collection phase. The report will include an evaluation matrix and detailed work plan.  A first draft report will be shared with the evaluation management group and, based upon the comments received the evaluation team will revise the draft.  The revised draft will be shared with the evaluation reference group for feedback. The evaluation team will maintain an audit trail of the comments received and provide a response on how the comments were addressed in the final inception report. 
  • Presentation of preliminary findings: A PowerPoint presentation detailing the emerging findings of the evaluation will be shared with the evaluation management group for feedback. The revised presentation will be delivered to the reference group for comments and validation. The evaluation team will incorporate the feedback received into the draft inception report.
  • A draft evaluation report: A first draft report will be shared with the evaluation management group for initial feedback. The second draft report will incorporate evaluation management group feedback and will be shared with the evaluation reference group for identification of factual errors, errors of omission and/or misinterpretation of information. The third draft report will incorporate this feedback and then be shared with the reference group for final validation. The evaluation team will maintain an audit trail of the comments received and provide a response on how the comments were addressed in the revised drafts.
  • The final evaluation report: The final report will include a concise Executive Summary and annexes detailing the methodological approach and any analytical products developed during the course of the evaluation. The structure of the report will be defined in the inception report.
  • Evaluation communication products: Presentation of the preliminary findings at the closing event of the project in May 2018 (date TBD), 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 in a format preferably adjustable for individual project sites both in English and Russian.

Payment will be issued in three instalments upon the satisfactory submission of the deliverables cleared by the evaluation task manager to certify that the services have been satisfactorily performed: 15% upon the signing of the contract, 40% upon approval of evaluation inception report and submission of the draft report, 45% upon the validation of the final evaluation report and communication products

Competencies

Evaluation of applicants

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combition of the applicants' technical qualificatons and experience, and their Financial Proposal. Candidates meting the mandatory requirements in the Terms of Reference as per the P11 submitted will be longlisted and passed on for further technical evaluation. The technical evaluation of the longlisted candidates comprises a desk review of the submitted documents, including the mandatory P-11, and an interview for candidates clearing the threshold in the desk review.  Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70%  (28 point of 40) in the desk review, which accounts for 40% of total assessment marks, will be shortlisted and invited for an interview. Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points of 70) from the aggregated marks for desk review and the interview will be further considered for financial evaluation. The interview thus accounts for 30% of total marks, and the Financial Proposal for 30% also.

The contract will thus be awarded to the individual consultant whose application documents including the Financial Proposal, and performance in an interview have been evaluated and determined as:

  • Technically responsive/compliant/acceptable to the requirements of the ToR, and
  • Having received the highest cumulative (technical evaluation and interview, and financial evaluation) score against the below defined criteria.

Applications without the documents indicated as required are incomplete and will NOT be considered for further assessment. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Technical Criteria for Team Leader - 70% of total evaluation - max. 70 points

Criteria                                                                          Mandatory requirement used for longlisting

At master’s degree or its equivalent in one or more of the

Following: economics, social sciences, development

studies, water management, gender or youth studies.                 X                      YES/NO

Relevant experience of conducting evaluation over

At least five years in the area of gender equality and

Women empowerment; or natural resource management;

Or community level development intervention, this including

Substantive involvement in at least three evaluations of

Strategies, policies and/or development programmes/projects     X                      YES/NO

Proficiency in English                                                                X                      YES/NO

Technical Evaluation                             Points in desk review 40            Points in interview 30

Knowledge and experience of gender

Responsive and human rights based

Approaches to evaluation                                                                                   Up to 10

Experience of designing and leading

Participating in gender-responsive

Evaluations and/or applied research utilizing

A wide range of approaches and methods          Up to 10                                    Up to 10

Ability to produce well written reports                  Up to 20

Demonstrated facilitation and communications

Skills, experience in participatory approaches

And ability to negotiate amongst a wide range

Of stakeholders                                                                                                 Up to 10

Experience within the United Nations system

Will be considered an asset                               Up to 5

Knowledge of Russian or Kyrgyz will be

Considered an asset                                          Up to 5

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation - 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)

Where:

p - points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ - price of the lowest priced proposal

z - price of the proposal being evaluated

XI References

Evaluation Policy of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNW/2012/8): www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=UNW/2012/12&Lang=E

How to Manage Gender Responsive Evaluation. Evaluation Handbook: www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/4/un-women-evaluation-handbook-how-to-manage-gender-responsive-evaluation

UN Women Global Evaluation Reports Assessment and Analysis System (GERAAS): www.unwomen.org/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/evaluation/evaluation-geraasmethodology-en.pdf

Standards for Evaluation in the UN System: www.uneval.org/document/detail/22

Norms for Evaluation in the UN System: www.uneval.org/document/detail/21

Integrating Human Rights and Gender Equality in Evaluation – towards UNEG Guidance: www.uneval.org/document/detail/980

UNEG Guidance Integrating Human Rights and Gender into Evaluation: www.uneval.org/document/detail/1616

UN SWAP Evaluation Performance Indicator: www.uneval.org/document/detail/1452

UNEG Quality Checklist for Evaluation Reports: www.uneval.org/document/detail/607

UNEG Ethical Guidelines: www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/102

UNEG Code of Conduct for Evaluation in the UN: www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/100

Required Skills and Experience

Evaluation team composition and requirements

An evaluation team consisting of an international team leader and a national team member will conduct the evaluation. Both have some experience of each of the following: conducting evaluations, gender equality, youth, and natural resources management. The team leader is responsible for coordination during all phases of the evaluation process, ensuring the quality of outputs and application of methodology as well as timely delivery of all evaluation products in close collaboration with the evaluation task manager and the evaluation management group. The team member will provide support to the team leader in all the aspects of conducting the evaluation, including translation and interpretation where necessary.

In further detail, the duties and responsibilities of the Team Leader are as follows:

  • Leading the inception phase and developing an inception report outlining design, approach and methodology of the evaluation and an indicative workplan of the evaluation team within the framework of this ToR.
  • Directing and supervising the team member in carrying out collection, research and analysis of relevant documentation and other data, and reporting.
  • Overseeing and assuring quality of data collection and leading the analysis of the evaluation evidence.
  • Preparing for meetings with the evaluation management group, evaluation reference group and other stakeholders to review findings, conclusions and recommendations.
  • Leading the preparation of the evaluation communication products.

Required skills and expertise of the Team Leader

  • A master’s degree or its equivalent in one or more of the following: economics, social sciences, development studies, water management, gender or youth studies;
  • Relevant experience of conducting evaluation over at least five years in the area of gender equality and women empowerment; or natural resource management; or community level development intervention, this including substantive involvement in at least three evaluations of strategies, policies and/or development programmes/projects;
  • Knowledge and experience of gender-responsive and human rights based approaches to evaluation;
  • Experience of designing and leading/participating in gender-responsive evaluations and/or applied research utilizing a wide range of approaches and methods;
  • Ability to produce well written reports;
  • Demonstrated facilitation and communications skills, experience in participatory approaches and ability to negotiate amongst a wide range of stakeholders;
  • Experience within the United Nations system will be considered an asset;
  • Proficiency in English;
  • Knowledge of Russian or Kyrgyz is an asset.

Required skills and expertise of the team member:

  • A master’s degree or its equivalent in economics, social sciences, international relations, peace and conflict studies, gender or youth studies or related area;
  • Minimum 5 years of professional experience on issues of inclusive and sustainable development including knowledge on GEEW issues with substantive involvement in several evaluation processes;
  • Experience/knowldedge of  youth, interventions in the area of gender equality and women's empowerment and managment of natural resources at the country level;
  • Demonstrated analytical and presentation skills and ability to collect data and structure information;
  • Previous knowledge of the UN system will be an asset;
  • Excellent knowledge of English and Russian, working knowledge of Kyrgyz. Knowledge of Uzbek or Tajik will be considered an asset.

Application procedure

Applications should include

  • Offeror's letter to UN Women confirming interest and availability for the assignment, including financial proposal, indicating a total lump sum to include all costs relating to the delivery of outputs as per above description;
  • P11 form including past experience in similar assignments. This form can be downloaded at www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
  • Copies of previous evaluation reports submitted separately by email to hr.kyrgyzstan@unwomen.org.

All online application must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women, UNDP or UN Personal History form (P11) in English accessible via the following link: www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, which must be the P11. Please upload the P11 form combined with other application documents, including the financial proposal and a possible CV, as one (1) single PDF document. Copies of the previous evaluation reports should be sent to: hr.kyrgyzstan@unwomen.org.

Please carefully respond to the requirements of the Terms of Reference in the P11 that you submit.

Please note that the financial proposal should all-inclusive and take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant during the contract period itemizing the following: fee rate per working day, daily subsistence allowance rate for every day in field for the purposes of the assignment, necessary local travel expenses by the most appropriate means of transportation and the most direct economy class practicable route and any other relevant expenses required for the purposes of the assignment. The financial proposal should be provided in USD; if the proposal is provided in any other currency it would be converted as per UN exchange rate on the date of post closure.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Candidates can only be shortlisted if they profess to meet all the mandatory requirements in the Terms of Reference.  Applications without the completed P11 form are incomplete and will NOT be considered for further assessment.

The Consultant shall promote a client-oriented approach consistent with UN Women rules and regulations and commits to high standards of quality, productivity and timeliness in the delivery of tasks. The Consultant will meet and apply the highest standards of integrity and impartiality.

The Consultant must be fully dedicated to the mandate and the values of UN Women, particularly to promoting Gender Equality as a strategy to reduce conflict, improve livelihoods and ensure fairness and justice; to Women Empowerment underpinning Gender Equality promotion efforts; to inter-ethnic tolerance and concord; and to respect for diversity.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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