UNICEF Evaluation Offices seeks an evaluation Team Leader with relevant professional experience to lead and undertake to support and execute the Evaluation for the second phase following the scoping phase that was undertaken during the first half of 2022.
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, evaluate:
The Evaluation Office (EO), at UNICEF HQ in New York provides global leadership and oversight for the evaluation function. The office is responsible for developing an agenda and work plan to evaluate UNICEF's programmes and processes. We conduct and/or manage independent corporate evaluations and evaluation syntheses, provide technical assistance and quality assurance for evaluations commissioned at the decentralized level (country and regional offices, as well as other divisions in HQ offices), and develop evaluation methods. EO is also responsible for publishing a global plan of evaluations that accompanies respective corporate strategies. the Evaluation Office (EO) has committed to undertake a cross-sectoral evaluation of UNICEF work on Disability Inclusion. Changing attitudes towards children with disabilities is a core UNICEF obligation. Protecting the rights of children with disabilities has been an integral part of UNICEF programming since the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – the first international treaty to explicitly recognize the rights of children with disabilities. To guide the organization's approach to the work on disability in both (i) programmatic sectors/areas and (ii) institutional systems and processes, the UNICEF Disability Section is developing a disability strategy and action plan, prepared to guide the 2022-2030 period (DIPAS). This document aims at describing an action plan outlining a disability inclusion priority agenda and a strategic framework for accelerating programming results based on evidence, lessons learned and good practices.
How can you make a difference?
There are two purposes for the Evaluation. The first is formative and seeks to better position UNICEF in delivering results for children with disabilities, by identifying and filling knowledge gaps by: (1) Identifying the existing barriers and enablers that hinder or enable UNICEF disability inclusive programming to address the needs of children with disabilities; (2) Identifying existing UNICEF disability inclusive programming approaches and models to reach out (with information and services), to create enabling environments, and to empower children with all types of disabilities. A secondary purpose from the accountability side, is to identify what results have been achieved so far, what are the key barriers and enablers UNICEF is facing to deliver and reach out to children with disabilities.
- The Evaluation will pursue the following objectives:
- To identify how effectively disability inclusion has been implemented, over the 2018-2022 period.
- To identify barriers and enabling factors affecting UNICEF disability-inclusive programming, ensuring the inclusion of children with disabilities in all of UNICEF programmatic work.
- To assess what results were achieved, so far, for children with disabilities
- To identify effective, innovative, and promising UNICEF disability-inclusive programming approaches ensuring the inclusion of children with disabilities in all its work and addressing the specific needs of children with all types of disabilities. To identify best practices that can be adjusted or transferred across development, humanitarian, or peacebuilding contexts.
- To identify lessons that can be learned from global, regional, and country level initiatives, as well as from various development and humanitarian contexts
The Evaluation will be global, focusing broadly on disability inclusive programming, across UNICEF result areas. Within this framework, the geographic, chronological, and thematic scope will be further refined under the inception phase. The Evaluation will adopt a phased approach, for which the first phase, a research phase, will be to further identify and understand the UNICEF approach to working with children with disabilities. A second phase, informed by the first phase, will be the evaluation phase, in which the Evaluation will focus on UNICEF and government partner performance in addressing the challenges faced by children with disabilities.
The Evaluation should use a mixed-methods approach to answer the evaluation questions. The qualitative methodology should include desk review and key informant interviews, while quantitative methodology should include analysis of survey data and administrative date.
Deliverables:
Inception report: The inception report should include a comprehensive background on the selected inclusive approaches; a finalized purpose, objective and scope; draft ToC’s for each inclusive intervention with UNICEF inputs; finalized evaluation questions; an evaluation matrix (including indicators through which the criteria will be assessed); a final list of data sources to be used; the methodology; finalized sampling strategy, data analysis plan and final data collection instruments and timelines for deliverables.
Main Synthesis evaluation report: The synthesis evaluation report is the main deliverable of the evaluation, and should synthesize findings, conclusions against each of the evaluation question and recommendations across evaluated inclusive intervention and approaches and countries. The report should be in line with UNICEF-adapted UNEG Evaluation Report Standards.
Country Evaluation Reports (4): Country Evaluation reports should complement the synthesis evaluation report. The reports should provide a high-level overview of the inclusive intervention/approach evaluated in the country and the scope of fieldwork and then focus on the findings, conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis of this particular inclusive approach.
Validation workshop: Prior to finalization of the summary report, the evaluation team needs to conduct a validation workshop to collect views on the findings from the Evaluation Office and the Reference Group.
Datasets The evaluation team should make available all data that has been collected, not limited to but including from survey, focus group and KII.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Team Leader – Responsible for the overall direction of the Evaluation in expected quality and timeliness, liaising with the UNICEF Evaluation Office.
- An advanced university degree (PhD or MA) in a related field or in one of the UNICEF programmes.
- A minimum of 10 years of evaluation experience, including leading evaluation teams. Preference will be given to team leaders with UNICEF evaluation experience and thematic experience on disability-inclusive approaches.
- Strong knowledge or experience in UNICEF programming.
- Have strong evaluation methodological expertise, experience in leading complex evaluation projects to meet the requirements of this TOR.
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset
Timeframe:
The Evaluation timeframe will be 10-months, beginning in November 2022 and ending in August 2023. Home-based, with potential travel to NYHQ and/or globally.
How to apply:
Interested candidates must submit the following documents:
- CV and cover letter.
- A short technical proposal on how the consultant (or team, if the application is made by a team) intends to conduct the evaluation work, including the expected level of effort (number of days per phase and per team member). The technical proposal should not be longer than 15 pages, concise and explain how the team understands the assignment, what needs to be done and how and when (key deliverable/timetable) they propose to do it, if different from the TORs.
- The daily rate should indicate the expected total budget with a breakdown cost for each stage of the work and by deliverables.
- The budget can include travel costs as a separate item but given the uncertainty about the feasibility of travel at this stage, UNICEF reserves the right to exclude the estimated travel amount from the prospective contract amount and may pay directly travel costs as needed.
- The application should be accompanied by short examples (through links provided or attached documents) of analyses that show direct and recent evaluation experience and competence to undertake this consultancy in line with the required qualifications described above.
- A test may be administered to shortlisted candidates/team.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
Remarks:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.
The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.