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International Evaluation Specialist for final External Evaluation of the Joint IOM / UN Women/ ILO project (Leader)

Home Based - May require travel

  • Organization: UNWOMEN - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
  • Location: Home Based - May require travel
  • Grade: Consultancy - International Consultant - Internationally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Women's Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
    • Monitoring and Evaluation
    • Project and Programme Management
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

When elaborating the joint proposal, IOM, UN Women and ILO took into consideration the results of the 2016 UN-led nationwide Gender in Society Perception Study on Women and Labor Migration?(GSPS) with over 350 respondents to ensure that the proposed joint intervention is fully aligned and will address the main recommendations of the GSPS Study, related to the (i) provision of greater state support and advice to potential migrant workers and returnees to ensure they know their rights and can access services including health care, social insurance, civil documentation (such as birth registration) and legal aid; (ii) awareness-raising campaigns on the feminization of migration and the positive contributions that migration can make to the development-rights nexus to address popular negative perceptions of women working abroad; and (iii) support for mentoring schemes and networks between successful women migrants and women who are considering working abroad; support women’s self-help groups to be able to claim their rights and improve their access to empowerment opportunities. The below description of the problem statement and analysis derive mainly from the results of GSPS report but also additional data from national consultations and few other sources.

According to the Conflict and Peace Analysis (CPA, 2019), 59.6% of all labour migrants from Kyrgyzstan are women. Most of them come from less privileged social backgrounds and originate from Southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. The main drivers of migration among women and men are the same: poverty, unemployment and community tensions over resources and power, favourable labour market conditions in destination countries, and environmental considerations. However, women become more vulnerable to be in a way ‘forced’?or coerced by their families to migrate constituting a negative driver of women’s migration. This is evidenced by GSPS findings which found that women and girls are perceived different in terms of family and community stereotypes. Often, the migration decisions of women and girls is not made fully voluntarily, as they may be strongly coerced or even financially exploited by their parents, as they are perceived as more enduring, hardworking and willing to make sacrifices for their family. Women, girls, and their family members perceive migration for their families’ well-being as a last resort solution, due to economic and financial necessity, rather than the expression of their fully personal free and independent will. Families also perceive migration for their daughters as the only way to escape from gendered risks and vulnerabilities at home, including kidnapping for the purpose of forced marriage (bride kidnapping) or post-divorce stigmatization, not seeing any other options including employment opportunities at the local level.

The GSPS also highlights that ‘migration of women and girls is connected to the level of gender-based discrimination and violence against women and girls, which is why besides the overall drivers of migration across the country (poverty, unemployment, etc.) the increase of migration among women is observed in southern regions of Kyrgyzstan where traditional patriarchal views of women’s role dominate as well as conflict tensions lead to gender-based violence. For instance, the GSPS found that respondents, “in packaging their migration aspirations as familial duties and forced choices, de-accentuated any hopes for personal gain, liberation and individual development.” The role of women and girls both at the community and family levels, in particular in southern regions of Kyrgyzstan because of stronger influence of religion, is often limited to obedient wife, housemaker or caring mother, women are considered the property of male family members – with young women and girls at risk of kidnapping for the purpose of marriage or being burdened with disproportionate chores in their households. Women’s opinions on public matters are generally valued less, with men taking responsibility for decision-making and community leadership roles. These harmful gender norms are being imposed on women and girls affected by migration as well. Thus, because of entrenched gender roles and perceptions in society of what women can do and what women can decide on, women migrants are limited in decision making including on migration choices, they are being sent for migration by their families. Further, for the same reason, they are also unable to access resources throughout the whole migration circle.

The GSPS study also confirms women are not allowed to decide how to spend their remittances, this decision to be made by family members, particularly by male family members, which means that women migrants do not gain ownership over their earning during migration. Upon return home from migration, women and girls do not receive recognition for their hard-earned money from families either. Even though the government and migrant communities recognize the importance of remittances as crucial source of income for the families and development of the country, women migrants, who make up majority of labour migrants, are still not recognized for their contribution even after remittances gender gap has been closed. Similarly, communities do not recognize women’s ability and rights to participate in decision-making, gaining no recognition from family members and community, stigmatized and eventually forced to leave back to the country of destination, women migrants and girls forced to migrate seem to be completely removed from community life.

Therefore, the dynamics of migration in and out of area where dynamics of inclusion and marginalization prevail creates particular vulnerabilities for two specific groups of women and girls affected by migration: a) girls who have less control over the decision to migrate than men and so become forced to migrate – the decision to migrate is often made by their families; and b) women returning from migration back to the communities of origin, including those who return as a result of divorce or family break-up who later become victims of post-divorce stigmatization from family members, unlike those women who return with their partners constituting “full” family, and are forced by them to re-migrate. As a result, girls and women forced to migrate face a highly uncertain future during migration or face risks of becoming victims of potential conflict or violence if they stay. Women, those returning from labour migration due to divorce or other reasons, become stigmatized by their communities and even some family members for so called “immoral behaviour” and psychologically and economically isolated in households where they resided. Consequently, the desire of families to avoid stigma and social isolation forces women to ‘settle’ in the country of destination for permanent residence. In other words, the reasons which give rise to the migration of women and girls from their communities turn into causes for their systematic exclusion upon their return back home.

Gender-based discrimination of women and girls resulting in increased migration outflows can exacerbate conflicts at community level. According to CPA (2019), there is a strong correlation between increased return migration and spread of conflicts in communities. Communities with increased return migration became more prone to conflicts due to social disbalance characterized by youth and women leaving communities affected by migration leads to non-inclusive decision making, pervasive marginalization or underrepresented groups, non-representative power structures and increased incidents of discriminatory practices which can give a rise to community tensions and inter-community conflict including the examples of multi-ethnic communities in Osh and Jalal-Abad or cross-border communities in Batken, where women peacekeepers were not allowed to participate in mediation process.

Such communities are characterized by lack of women’s inclusion in conflict prevention due to increased migration outflows among women and girls, and unequal distribution of power and economic resources towards male domination. They are more vulnerable to conflicts over resources or power and further escalation of community tensions since women can act as agents of peace in conflict resolution as well as in preventing conflicts. On the other hand, conflict risks include tensions between home communities and returning migrants, including women and girls, over scarce economic resources, including employment opportunities, and frustration with lack of prospects to support their livelihood can also undermine peacebuilding efforts in the country.

Given the country’s multiple political challenges (political turbulence leading to political instability including constant change in the Government structures, failure to comply with government programs and policies) and economic challenges (high rates of unemployment leading to increasing migration outflows, dependence of remittances, which account for almost 33% of country’s GDP), the significant impact of women’s leadership and participation in ensuring sustainable peacebuilding and conflict prevention and resolution has been proven by the review of the National Action Plan (NAP) on United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 implementation (2018).

Given the fact that increased ?migration flows among women has grown rapidly for the past 5 years, there was an identified need to work on different levels including a) community level by working with community members to change public perception and social norms to build community environment conducive to women migrants’ engagement in peacebuilding; b) policy level to introduce gender-responsive policies to recognize the role of women migrants and their contributions; and c) women and girls migrants to be empowered to participate in community development, decision making and peacebuilding initiatives at the local level.

2. Description of the project

IOM, ILO and UN Women are jointly implementing a project funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund within the Gender Promotion Initiative (GPI) pillar of the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) Portfolio: “Empowering women and girls affected by migration for inclusive and peaceful community development”. Total project budget is USD 1,450,000 with the implementation period of November 2019 to August 2021 (18 months).

This joint project proposes a comprehensive approach to promote a community and policy environment favourable to women’s and girls’ empowerment and their active involvement in peacebuilding as well as inclusive community development in six communities affected by migration and prone to conflict in the Kyrgyz Republic, and particularly in Osh, Jalalabad, Batken and Talas provinces. ??

The overall goal of the project is to make a tangible contribution to peacebuilding in target provinces of Kyrgyz Republic by promoting the full recognition of the role of women and girl migrants in inclusive community development and peacebuilding.

Given the fact that rapid growth in migration flows among women has been observed for the past 5 years, the project aims to work at different levels, including:

a) The community level, by working with community members to change public perception and social norms and build a community environment favourable to women migrants’ engagement in peacebuilding

b) The policy level to introduce gender responsive policies recognizing the role of women migrants and their contributions and

c) With women and girls migrants to empower their participation in community development, decision-making and peacebuilding initiatives at the local level.

The underpinning logic of the project is based on the consideration, based on GSPS results, that migration of women and girls constitutes a destabilizing factor for social cohesion and creates visible barriers to women’s engagement in peacebuilding in the country as whole.

2.1. Project strategy and key objectives

The project proposes a comprehensive approach to creating a conducive environment for women migrants’ empowerment in communities affected by migration and prone to conflict, their safe return to their communities from migration and their engagement in community life and peacebuilding processes both at the institutional and community levels. It introduces innovative, social and behaviour change methodologies to create an enabling environment for women to be involved in economic initiatives, to have more informed choices and to reach their potential as peacebuilders and leaders in their communities. It will facilitate local positive social practices in support of gender norms that were identified to empower women and girls, played by the various forms of interaction based at the community level and social integration.

Project works both at the institutional and community levels by collaborating with key stakeholders, including State Migration Service to promote gender-sensitive state migration policy, the forum of women Members of Parliament (MP), responsible ministries, and agencies for implementation of NAP on Gender Equality and the UNSR 1325, local self-governments (LSGs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and community leaders and women and girls affected by migration.

To reinforce women and girl migrants’ role in peacebuilding and community development, the project focuses on empowerment of women and girl migrants through promoting positive gender norms towards recognition of women’s contribution to community development, strengthening their agency in decision-making and supporting their activism in economic activities. The project also works on increasing the recognition of their contributions and strengthening their agency in promoting women-led economic activities.

The project aims to make a tangible contribution to peacebuilding in Jalal-Abad, Osh, Batken and Talas provinces of Kyrgyzstan by promoting the full recognition of the role of women and girls affected by migration in inclusive community development and peacebuilding.

The project’s expected results are in line with project’s Theory of Change:

IF communities affected by migration and risks of violence positively perceive the role of women and girls to participate in community development and peacebuilding;

IF women and girls living in communities affected by migration are empowered and equipped with knowledge and skills to protect their political, economic and civic rights, and provided with access to resources, decent work and sustainable livelihood opportunities and IF women and girls returning to their home communities are provided with opportunities for better inclusion and livelihoods;

IF national and local authorities are equipped to apply socially inclusive approaches in policymaking and implement gender-responsive peacebuilding at the local level in target communities;

THEN women and girls in communities that are affected by migration and risk of violence can meaningfully be included in the political, economic and social life of their societies, take part in in inclusive community development and peacebuilding, which will help mitigate the challenges for women and girls at highest risk

BECAUSE community members will break down/change existing harmful gender norms and recognize girls and women’s role in community development and peacebuilding;

BECAUSE national and local authorities will better understand challenges that migrant women and girls face and the role and contributions that migrant women and girls can have in the peacebuilding process;

BECAUSE national and local authorities will be more inclined and able to design and implement national policies and legislation that are more inclusive and gender-sensitive;

BECAUSE women and girls will be economically and socially empowered and have agency/be enabled to make informed decisions and participate in decision-making at community level.

Project is designed around the following three outcomes: (i) target communities recognize and support women and girls’ role and contribution to peacebuilding and community development; (ii) women and girls in communities affected by migration are empowered? economically and socially to protect their rights and participate in peaceful community development; and (iii) national and local authorities apply socially inclusive approaches in policy making and implement gender-responsive peacebuilding at the local level in communities affected by migration.?

Target communities recognize and support women and girls’ role and contribution to peacebuilding and community development.

The project facilitates the knowledge sharing to light the local positive social practice to empower women migrants and to create a positive perception within the target communities and wider networks about the role of women and girls affected by migration to participate in community development and peacebuilding and show how gender relations change over the time.

The first step in ensuring women’s inclusion and empowerment in six target communities (Kyzyl-Tuu municipality in Jalalabad province, Kara-Buura municipality in Talas province, Ak-Turpak and Orozbekov municipalities in Batken province, Bel and Toolos municipalities in Osh province) was to ensure the potential and positive contributions of women as change agents are recognized by their communities. To address the gap in gendered analysis and research in peacebuilding highlighted in the context analysis, the project conducted an assessment to identify existing attitudes towards women migrants and their role in community development and peacebuilding. Also, public information campaigns and outreach activities were conducted to demonstrate the positive potential and contribution of women and girls migrants to community development and peacebuilding.

In order to foster a positive change ?in attitude and transform social perception within the target communities related to gender equality and women’s empowerment, the project included activities to identify and engage positive gender norm holders in target communities and implement GALS (Gender Action ?Learning System) in the pilot communities to address harmful gender norms and attitudes towards women and girls affected by migration, which envisaged working with men and boys, as well as other family and community members.

  • Women and girls in communities affected by migration are empowered economically and socially to protect their rights and participate in peaceful community development.

The project ensured that women and girls affected by migration in target communities are equipped with knowledge and skills to effectively advocate for their basic rights and have an improved access to economic opportunities to strengthen their financial capabilities through capacity building and specific skills development scheme. Being involved in self-help groups created and reinforced new positive values in gender relations. This enhanced meaningful participation of women and girls affected by migration in the community development and peacebuilding through access economic opportunities, participating in joint community initiatives, decision making processes.

In order to empower and increase the capacities of women and girls migrants, IOM, UN Women and ILO focused on awareness raising and skill development for targeted groups of women and girls, by organizing self-help groups for women and girls, conducting thematic trainings to strengthen their capacities, and awareness-raising campaigns on gender equality and organize joint peacebuilding initiative in support of Local Action Plans. To ensure that communities have an improved access to economic opportunities, Recipient UN Agencies (RUNOs) conducted a participatory gap analysis and then adapting and contextualizing ILO tools such as Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead) and Do-No-Harm approach and complemented it with information on business continuity management in the event of shocks, including violence. Financial capabilities of women migrants were ensured through providing them with necessary financial literacy through conducting gender-based assessment to assess the financial services available. In addition, ILO strengthened the capacities of currently available financial service providers in target municipalities and nearest city centers offering adapted gender sensitive financial products to women, adapting ILO training material on financial education to the needs of women migrants and conducting a training of trainers on financial education.?

  • Enabling Policy Environment

To ensure that key national and local processes and mechanisms are favourable and opportun for participation of women and girls affected by migration in peacebuilding and community development, RUNOs put specific focus on supporting drafting gender-responsive state migration policy, which is aligned to respective national strategies[7] around peacebuilding and Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE). This included informing development of the concept of migration policy through community engagement and dialogues with local migrant communities and diaspora representatives, as well as establishing Analytical Center for migration data to ensure gender-sensitive migration data and creating Migrants Network to inform future policy documents.

In order to address the needs of women and girls on a level of local authorities in pilot communities and their participation in community peacebuilding, the project organized local security councils to localize WPS (Women, Peace and Security) agenda in pilot communities, developed roadmaps on the implementation of Local Action Plans (LAPs), developed policy recommendations to inform NAP on UNSCR 1325 on outcomes of community engagement and efforts aimed at behavior and social norm change etc.

2.2. Project beneficiaries and stakeholders

The project targeted women and girls in communities affected by migration and prone to conflict, in particular: 1) girls and women vulnerable to forced migration or willing/plan to migrate (unemployed, girls and divorced women vulnerable to forced migration/potential future migrants); 2) returning migrant women and girls (who may be potentially forced to re-migrate). Women and girls affected by migration were provided with trainings to strengthen their advocacy abilities to stand for their rights and to increase their knowledge on WPS agenda as well, which encourages them to participate in peacebuilding activities on local level.

The project also targeted the following beneficiaries:

  • Men and boys in targeted communities which were engaged in awareness-raising activities, including GALS activities targeting family members of women and girls affected by migration to promote gender norms in support of women and girls affected by migration to participate in inclusive community development and peacebuilding.
  • Community population engaged during whole project cycle including needs assessment, awareness raising activities and joint implementation of peacebuilding activities which enable participation of women and girls affected by migration
  • Local stakeholders (local government and authorities) were engaged from the very beginning of the project, but most importantly when developing LAPs on WPS agenda and implementation of joint peacebuilding initiatives
  • National stakeholders engaged when developing draft of the concept of State Migration Policy with gender-sensitive approaches

Government counterparts in the project are State Migration Service, State Agency for Inter-Ethnic Relations and Local Self-Governance, the Gender and Decent Employment Units at Ministry of Labour and Social Development, National Parliament, Forum of Women MPs of the Kyrgyz Republic, local self-government authorities in six target municipalities. Responsible parties are the NGO Community Development Alliance, NGO Rosa Otunbayeva’s Initiative Public Fund, JIA Business Association, Public Fund “Alliance of Trainers and Consultants” (BDS-ILO-SIYB).

2.3. Project management

Operational Management of the programme

GPI project programme team, represented by the Project Managers/Coordinators from each participating UN Agency (IOM, UN Women and ILO), is responsible for day-to-day management, implementation and monitoring of the project. To ensure ownership of government stakeholders, RUNOs established Technical Group on project coordination and implementation, which consisted of RUNOs, representatives of State Migration Service, Ministry of Labour and Social Development and State Agency on Inter-Ethnic Relations and Local Self-Governance. This Technical Group was responsible for the coordination of project’s activities, identifying target groups and reviewing the progress on the implementation of project activities and, adapting project to challenges and current circumstances.

IOM served as the lead agency for the coordination of the project. Regular meetings were organized to coordinate actions, share progress, challenges and discuss adaptive approaches between IOM, ILO and UN Women under the lead of IOM.

Joint Steering Committee

The Joint Steering Committee (JSC), established by President’s order, oversees overall project implementation and provide guidance. The JSC is co-chaired by the Head of the Department for Monitoring Humanitarian Development and Interaction with Civil Society Institutions and the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) to ensure project implementation was timely and coherent.

3. Evaluation scope, purpose, and objectives

3.1 Evaluation scope

The final evaluation of the Empowering women and girls affected by migration for inclusive and peaceful community development and peacebuilding project will be conducted at the end of project implementation and will cover the entire duration of the project 25 December 2019 to 21 November 2021. The evaluation is scheduled between June and September 2021.

The results of baseline and endline assessments, and project monitoring results will be available to the evaluation team in order to inform the evaluation process.

The evaluation includes a data collection offline or online, depending on the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in the country, in six project sites (target municipalities) in Kyrgyzstan. The project will hire two consultants for conducting the evaluation process:

  • International Evaluation Consultant (Team Leader): one International consultant to lead, coordinate the process and division of labour (with the Team Member), conduct desk review of background documentation, produce inception report, develop the methodology and instruments, prepare workplan, collect data, prepare analytical framework and draft and final evaluation reports

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.

3.2. Evaluation purpose, users and intended use

A final external evaluation of the Empowering women and girls affected by migration for inclusive and peaceful community development and peacebuilding project is conducted with a special focus on lessons learnt both from programmatic and coordination perspectives. The main purpose of this final evaluation is to assess the programmatic progress and performance of the above described intervention, including from the point of view of relevance of the programme objectives, strategy and approach at the local and national levels for empowerment of girls and women affected by migration towards achieving project results; coherence with international agreements and conventions as well as synergies and coordination with other initiatives; effectiveness of the project in achieving its objectives; organizational efficiency and coordination mechanisms in progressing towards the achievement of the project results;, and sustainability of the results and the impact of the intervention in advancing GEWE and participation in community development and peacebuilding initiatives in the target group. The evaluation will also integrate attention to the use of a human rights based approach and gender equality principles. In addition, evaluation will contribute to overall accountability and learning processes.?

Targeted users of the evaluation are the personnel of the participating UN agencies in Kyrgyzstan, UN Peacebuilding Fund and responsible parties, and the government counterparts at local and national levels, CSOs, and other UN agencies, donor community and development partners present in Kyrgyzstan, and the programme beneficiaries.

The evaluation should identify and document lessons learned, good practices and innovations, success stories, and challenges within the project (what worked, and also what didn’t work and why), as well as strategies for replication and up-scaling of the project's best practices.

The evaluation should also provide specific and actionable recommendations as to the priority areas that should be considered in further Peacebuilding Portfolio, including interventions that require continued support, successful interventions for expansion, and recommendations on prioritizing interventions to maximize impact. It should also include actionable recommendations on how to improve project management and maximize ownership by national partners, as well as to inform the future work of participating UN agencies on empowering women affected by migration and their contributing role in peacebuilding and community development.? ?

The findings of the evaluation will contribute to effective programming, refining the approaches of participating UN agencies to women and girls affected by migration, empowerment, learning, capacity building and ability to participate in community development and peacebuilding.? It will also be a key input to knowledge management on joint programmes and programmes for gender equality and women’s empowerment.?The findings of 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 promote the role and contribution of girls and women affected by migration for inclusive local development with a particular focus on peacebuilding.?

Duties and Responsibilities

4. Evaluation methodology and key evaluation questions

4.1 Evaluation methodology

The evaluation will be a transparent and participatory process involving relevant RUNOs’ stakeholders and partners in Kyrgyzstan. The evaluation will be based on gender and human rights principles, including the Do-No-Harm approach and adhere to the UNEG Norms and Standards and Ethical Code of Conduct and IOM, ILO and UN Women Evaluation Policy and guidelines?and following safety protocols of WHO COVID-19 transmission measures

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 and data such as project and programme documents, progress reports, financial records, meeting minutes and monitoring reports, results of the baseline assessment, and secondary data or studies relating to the country context and situation
  • Online or offline consultations and discussions with the senior management, programme and project management staff of the three participating agencies
  • Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and surveys with direct and indirect beneficiaries, implementing partners, donor and other stakeholders
  • Offline (field visits) or online session for observation at selected project sites

Data from different research sources will be triangulated to increase its validity. The proposed approach and methodology have 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.?

4.2. Evaluation criteria and key evaluation questions

The evaluation will be guided by the six OECD-DAC evaluation criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact, with attention to human rights and gender equality integrated throughout. Preliminary evaluation questions under each of criterion include the following:

Relevance

  1. To what extent was the design of the project relevant to the needs and priorities of the beneficiaries, and the choice of interventions relevant to the situation of the target group
  2. To what extent is the project consistent with relevant government priorities and national development strategies
  3. To what extent is the intervention consistent with the national development strategies in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment, participation in community development and peacebuilding, and reflect national priorities and commitments on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE), Peacebuilding Priority Plan (2017-2020) and the related UNDAF outcomes
  4. To what extent does the intervention and its results relate and contribute to the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals
  5. To what extent have gender and human rights principles and strategies been integrated into the programme design and implementation?
  6. To what extent were key national partners involved in the project’s conceptualization and design process

Coherence

7. To what extent is the intervention aligned with international agreements and conventions on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the context of inclusive community development and peacebuilding

8. To what extent has the implementation ensured synergies and coordination with the government and other key partners, including both national and international, in relation to addressing the role of women affected by migration in peacebuilding and community development and gender equality norms, while avoiding duplications

9. To what extent and in what way did the participating agencies possess a comparative advantage in the project’s area of work in comparison with other UN entities and key partners in the Kyrgyz Republic

10.To what extent is the project achieving synergies with the work of the UN Country Team

Effectiveness

11.To what extent have the expected results (outcomes and outputs) been achieved

12. What are the reasons for the achievement or non-achievement of expected results

How effective have the selected programme strategies and approaches been in achieving programme resultsTo what extent and how has the project adapted to COVID 19 pandemicWhat are the good practices in overcoming obstacles, including in the context of COVID-19 and socio-political situation or other shortcomings encountered13.How well did the intervention succeed in involving and building the capacities of rights-holders (women and girls affected by migration and community members) , duty-bearers (representatives of Local Self-Governments), as well as the project partners?

14.To what extent are the programme approaches and strategies innovative for achieving empowerment of women and girls affected by migration for inclusive community development and peacebuilding? What -if any- types of innovative good practices have been introduced by the project for achievement of GEWE results?

15.To what extent did the project’s design process include a collaborative process, shared vision for delivering results, strategies for joint delivery and sharing of risks among implementing UN entities

16.To what extent the joint programme modality led to improved communication, coordination and information exchange within the United Nations family in Kyrgyzstan

Impact

17. Have any unintended results been delivered, either positive or negative For whom

18. Does any evidence exist that the joint project has contributed to longer term results

19. Is there a potential measurable impact of the project intervention on the target group across economic and social dimensions of empowerment for inclusive community development and peacebuilding?18. To what extent has the project been catalytic in bringing gender transformative changes that address some of the root causes of gender inequalities, including prevailing social norms, attitudes and behaviours, discrimination and social systems, related to women affected by migration empowerment and participation in community development and peacebuilding

20. What contribution are participating UN agencies making to implementing global norms and standards for gender equality and empowerment of women and girls affected by migration for inclusive community development and peacebuilding

Efficiency

21.Have the outputs been delivered in a timely manner

22. How, if at all, has the joint nature of the project affected efficiency of delivery

  • Have resources (financial, human, technical support, etc.) been allocated and split between the UN participating agencies strategically to achieve outcomes?
  • Has there been any reduced duplication and increased cost-sharing, reduced or transferred burdens and transaction costs? What factors have influenced this?
  • Do established levels or mechanism of “jointness” lead to better GEWE results?

23.Has tracking financing in support of GEWE allocation within the project led to improved efficiency in the management of resources and how financial tracking, following results-based budgeting approach, was efficient to achieve greater GEWE results

24.Has there been effective leadership and management of the project including the structuring of management and administration roles to maximize results? Where does accountability lie

25.To what extent did the project’s M&E actions facilitate a) timely tracking of the progress towards its objectives, b) well-informed management decisions, and c) learning and accountability to project stakeholders

Sustainability

26.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

27.To what extent the intervention succeeded in building individual and institutional capacities of rights-holders (women and girls affected by migration and community members,) , duty-bearers (representatives of Local Self-Governments)to ensure sustainability of benefits and more inclusive practices to local development and peacebuilding

  1. 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
  2. To what extent has the project been able to promote replication and/or up-scaling of successful practices

Considering the mandates to incorporate human rights and gender equality in all UN work and the IOM, ILO and 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 evaluation 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.

5. Evaluation process and management structure

5.1. 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/or 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. This will include a draft report and final evaluation report, and communication products.

5) Dissemination and follow-up: once the evaluation is completed IOM, ILO and UN Women are responsible for the development of a Management Response, publishing of the evaluation report, uploading the published report on the GATE (UN Women) website as well as respectively by IOM and ILO on their websites, and the dissemination of evaluation findings.

In additional to oversight by the EMG and ERG, the donor will also be involved in review and approval of deliverables, including PBF local representatives and the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) in New York. Details are outlined in the next section below.

5.2 Evaluation timeframe and expected outputs

The evaluation team is expected to produce the following deliverables:

  • An inception report: The evaluation team will present a refined scope, a detailed outline of the evaluation design and methodology, evaluation questions and indicators, 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 EMG and, based upon the comments received the evaluation team will revise the draft.? The revised draft will be shared with the ERG 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. The Inception report will also need to be reviewed and approved by PBSO.
  • Presentation of preliminary findings: A PowerPoint presentation detailing the emerging findings of the evaluation will be shared with the EMG for feedback. The revised presentation will be delivered to the ERG for comments and validation. The evaluation team will incorporate the feedback received into the draft report.
  • A draft evaluation report: A first draft report will be shared with the EMG and PBF for initial feedback. The second draft report will incorporate EMG feedback and will be shared with the ERG 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 ERG 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 draft report will need to be reviewed and approved by PBSO.
  • The final evaluation report: The final report will be shared with the EMG and PBF for their review. 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 team is also responsible for translating final evaluation report to Russian/or Kyrgyz. The final report will need to be reviewed and approved by PBSO.
  • Evaluation communication products: Online presentation of the preliminary findings at the closing event of the project in August 2021 (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: 25% upon the signing of the contract, 30% upon approval of evaluation inception report, 45% upon the submission of the draft report and the validation of the final evaluation report and communication products.

5.3. Evaluation timeframe and outputs

The final evaluation will be conducted between July and September 2021. The preliminary calendar for the process is detailed in the table below.

Task

Tentative timeframe

Est no days* international consultant

Est no of days

national consultant

Inception phase May-June 2021

Desk review of background documentation

TBD

2

2

Inception meeting with EMG and ERG

TBD1

1

Inception report (including two rounds of revision)

TBD

6

2

Data collection phase July-August 2021

Documents review, (online) interviews, interviews, visits to project sites (online/offline)

TBD

12

14

Analysis and reporting phase August-September 2021

Drafting and presentation of preliminary findings (including one round of revision)

TBD

3

1

Preparation and submission of draft report (including two rounds of revision)

TBD

10

2

Review and submission of final report and communication products (PPT and a brief)

TBD

 3

1

* - estimated number of days for each task

5.4 Management structure for the joint evaluation

An Evaluation Management Group (EMG)?comprising of senior management of the participating UN agencies and their delegated programme staff will be established to oversee the evaluation process, make key decisions, quality assure and jointly approve the different deliverables.

The evaluation process will be supported by regional representatives from each participating agency. This will include IOM’s Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and the UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Evaluation Specialist who is a staff member of the UN Women Independent Evaluation Office, both of whom are members of the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG). The IOM’s Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Officer who was providing overall programmatic support for the overall coordination process, but was not involved in direct management of the programme, 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 Evaluation Policy of the different UN entities, United Nations Evaluation Group Ethical Guidelines and Code of Conduct for Evaluation in the United Nations system and other key guidance documents.

The establishment of an Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) that will include key national stakeholders key national stakeholders from government, civil society organizations and relevant programme partners will be an integral part of the evaluation management structure. The purpose of the ERG will be 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.

6. Evaluation team composition and requirements

An evaluation team will consist of an international consultant as a Team Leader and a national consultant as a Team Member supporting all substantive aspects of the evaluation. The international consultant as 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 Team Leader and the EMG. The national consultant will provide support to the international consultant in all the aspects of conducting the evaluation, including translation and interpretation, and analysis of collected data, and drafting the reports.?

In further detail, the duties and responsibilities of the international consultant 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, including conducting desk review of background materials.
  • Directing and supervising the national consultant 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 members of the EMG, ERG and other stakeholders to review findings, conclusions and recommendations.
  • Lead the preparation of reports, with contribution of national consultant and submission of all evaluation products
  • Finalizing all evaluation documents by ensuring all feedback is integrated
  • Leading the preparation of the evaluation communication products.

 

Competencies

Competencies

  • Sensitivity and adaptability to culture, gender, religion, nationality and age
  • Strong analytical, writing and reporting abilities
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills, ability to lead a team and negotiate amongst a wide range of stakeholders
  • Commitment to quality products and deadlines
  • Demonstrated facilitation and communications skills, experience in participatory approaches and ability to negotiate amongst a wide range of stakeholders
  • Ability to produce well-written analytical reports

Required Skills and Experience

  • At least a master’s degree in peacebuilding, social sciences, international relations, migration studies, gender studies or a related area
  • At least 7 years of relevant experience conducting evaluations of strategies, policies and/or development programmes and projects
  • Proven experience of designing and leading or participating in gender-responsive and human rights-based evaluations utilising participatory approaches and methodologies
  • Knowledge and experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming in migration, women’ participation in peacebuilding and development, gender analysis
  • Previous work experience of countries in transition. Previous experience working in Central Asia and/or in particular in Kyrgyzstan will be considered a strong asset
  • Experience with the United Nations system will be considered an asset
  • Fluency in English. Knowledge of Russian or Kyrgyz will be considered an asset

Submission of application/expression of interest

Documents to submit as a part of the application should include:

  • P11 ;
  • Expression of interest (motivation letter);
  • The proposal outlining:
    • the proposed methodology for the evaluation including data collection and analysis techniques, and quality control measures;
  • The detailed budget proposal (all-inclusive, including consultancy fees, travel, accommodation, subsistence, data collection and analysis costs, etc.)
  • A sample of previous work.

Evaluation process

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:

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

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

International Consultant

 

Evaluation Criteria

Max points

TECHNICAL EVALUATION (70%)

 

Education

Master’s degree in peacebuilding, social sciences, international relations, migration studies, gender studies or a related area

10

0: without relevant advanced degree

10: relevant advanced degree

Experience?

Relevant experience (at least 7 years) conducting evaluations of strategies, policies and/or development programmes and projects

20

0: without 5 years of relevant experience

0-10:5 years of relevant experience

10-20:more than 5 years of relevant experience

Proven experience of designing and leading or participating in gender-responsive and human rights-based evaluations utilising participatory approaches and methodologies

 

10

0: without 3 years of experience

10:3 or more years of experience

Knowledge and experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming in migration, women’ participation in peacebuilding and development, gender analysis

 

10

0: without 3 years of experience

10: 3 or more years of experience

 

 

 

 

Previous work experience of countries in transition. Previous experience working in Central Asia and/or in particular in Kyrgyzstan will be considered a strong asset

10

0: without 3 years of experience

10:3 or more years of experience

 

Experience with the United Nations system will be considered an asset

5

Knowledge of languages?

Fluency in English. Knowledge of Russian or Kyrgyz will be considered an asset

5

Total technical?

 

70

Financial Evaluation:

Evaluation of submitted financial offers will be done based on the following formula:

B = T +?Clow / C x 30

where,

– is the total technical score awarded to the evaluated proposal (only to those proposals that pass 70% of technical evaluation);

– is the price of the evaluated proposal; and

– is the lowest of all evaluated proposal prices among responsive proposals.

Maximum obtainable financial point obtainable is 30.The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

Attention:

All online applications must include (as an attachment) the completed?Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment.

Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

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