Junior Research and Evaluation Expert - UN Women Mali Country Office Strategic Note 2020-2024 (International Consultant)

Background

Description of the country portfolio:

The strategic note of UN Women Mali Country Office (2020-2024) is the main planning tool for UN Women’s support to normative, coordination and operational work in Mali. It is grounded in the standards, principles, and obligations of the Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Concluding Observations of the Commission on the Status of Women, Sustainable Development Goals, and the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, among others. It is aligned to Mali’s national development plans, including the Cadre Strategies pour la Relance Économique et le Développement Durable (CREDD 2019 – 2023), the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Union Agenda 2063, and the Economic Community of the States of West Africa (ECOWAS) Vision 2050.

The Strategic Note is geared towards the implementation of its three integrated core mandates (normative, coordination and operational/programming) through two planning tools: the Development Results Framework (DRF) and an Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency Framework (OEEF) whose performance is measurable with performance indicators.

The Strategic Note implementation period covered by this evaluation is January 2020 – December 2024 in preparation for the development of a new Strategic Note which will start in February 2025. The Strategic Note is linked to the UN Women Global Strategic Plan and country-level United Nations Development Assistance Framework 2020-24. The Mali Country Office Strategic Note supports and contributes towards the following UN Women 2022-25 Strategic Plan Impact and Systemic outcomes:

Impact

Outcomes

Governance and participation in public life. Women’s economic empowerment. Ending Violence Against Women. Women, peace and security, humanitarian action, and disaster risk reduction

Strengthening of global normative frameworks, and gender-responsive laws, policies, and institutions. Financing for gender equality. Positive social norms including by engaging men & boys. Women's equitable access to services, goods, and resources. Women’s voice, leadership and agency. Production, analysis and use of gender statistics and sex-disaggregated data. UN System coordination for gender equality and women’s empowerment

UN Women contributes to strengthening the capacities of rights holders and duty bearers in the above areas, in close collaboration with the UN Country Team.

• Duty bearers: Government stakeholders across different ministries, including the National Gender Machinery.
• Right holders: Urban/peri-poor women, women leaders and gender advocates, civil society, religious and cultural leaders, and youth.

Description of the evaluation:

The Country Portfolio Evaluation (CPE) is a systematic assessment to validate the contributions made by UN Women Country Office’s portfolio of interventions to development results with respect to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the country level. It uses the Strategic Note (including the DRF and OEEF) as the main point of reference.

The UN Women Evaluation Policy and the UN Women Evaluation Strategic Plan 2022-25 are the main guiding documents that set forth the principles and organizational framework for evaluation planning, conduct and follow-up in UN Women. These principles are aligned with the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards for Evaluation in the UN System and Ethical Guidelines.

The CPE is tailored to the needs of the organization through a participatory approach from the inception through to the development of recommendations. It has five objectives:

1. Assess the relevance and coherence of UN Women intervention at national levels through an analysis of

• (a) its alignment with international agreements and conventions on gender equality and women’s empowerment
• (b) its strategic positioning and comparative advantage in relation with key players involved in Mali’s national development, including as part of the UN System.

1. Assess the Country Office’s effectiveness, sustainability, and organizational efficiency in delivering the planned results. 
2. Analyze how human rights approach and gender equality principles are integrated in the design and implementation of the Strategic Note.
3. Document lessons learned that can enable the Country Office to better support gender equality and human rights.
4. Formulate actionable recommendations to support the development of UN Women Mali’s Strategic Note 2025-2028.

Evaluation purpose		Primary target users	Secondary target users
Learning	Formative (forward-looking) on effective, promising, and innovative strategies and practices, to support improved decision-making	The UN Women Mali country office, the West and Central Africa regional office to inform the design of the new Strategic note, the Independent Evaluation and Audit Services	The UN Country Team and other stakeholders to derive learning on effective and promising practices.
Accountability	Summative (backward-looking) for UN Women’s contribution to gender equality and women’s empowerment.	UN Women HQ, regional and country offices, national partners, rights holders, and donors, to support accountability for development effectiveness.

Duties and Responsibilities

In consultation with the Team Lead,

1. Based on document review, elaborate the evaluation design and scoping and draft the inception report including data collection instruments and survey design.
2. conduct data collection through interviews, focus groups and survey(s).
3. analyze data to develop preliminary findings and drafting of final report.
4. Draft final 2-page brief outlining the evaluation process, conclusions, and recommendations.
5. Communicate with evaluation stakeholders, including attending exit briefs, validation meetings etc. 

Key Deliverables and Timeframe:

Initial data collection and preparation of inception report	10 days
Data collection and data collection preparation	14 days
Preliminary findings presentation	01 day
Preparation of draft report	12 days
Preparation of final report and brief	08 days
TOTAL	45 days

Evaluation Standards and principles:

The evaluation will apply in its process and analysis the key principles of a human rights-based approach, including gender-responsiveness. It will adhere to the UNEG Norms and Standards (2016), the UNEG Ethical Guidelines (2020) and UN Women Evaluation Policy and Handbook, observing the  principles of integrity, accountability, respect and beneficence.

Data collection and analysis:

The evaluation will assess the country portfolio using a theory-based approach in its contribution analysis of the Strategic Note 2020-2024. It’s mainly qualitative method will use various sources (document reviews, interviews, surveys,) to ascertain its findings through data triangulation.

The evaluation will employ the following data collection methods:

• Document reviews and analyses at the early stage of the evaluation to inform the evaluation approach.
• Evaluability assessment to identify data gaps related to outcome and output indicators, including an assessment of the conduciveness of the context to the evaluation undertaking.
• Contextual analysis of the key external influencing factors affecting the realization of women’s rights in the country
• Document review to analyze.
  • UN Women Mali’s portfolio, including its program documents, the Development Results Framework (DRF) and Organizational Effectiveness and Efficiency Framework (OEEF)
  • the management structure of the Country Office, its budget and expenditures using corporate systems to retrieve financial records and institutional information.
• Interviews and Focus Group Discussions with key informants identified through the stakeholder analysis. The evaluation is expected to apply a purposive sampling approach to take into account a diverse range of perspectives. A case study could be conducted for an in-depth assessment of contributions to outcomes.
• Surveys of UN Women personnel, UN agencies, government stakeholders and other partners, including Civil Society Organisations.

Management of the evaluation:

This evaluation will have the following management structures:

Oversight: The Director of the Independent Evaluation and Audit Services (IEAS) oversees all evaluation activities. The Chief of the Independent Evaluation Service (IES) is responsible for the evaluation of related activities. Both will examine key evaluation outputs. Evaluation products, including inception and final reports are cleared by IEAS.

Team Leader: The Regional Evaluation Specialist (RES) of IEAS will be responsible for the methodological approach, data collection and analysis and assure the quality of the report writing. He will coordinate the work of the evaluation team with the support of the Country Office M&E Officer for day-to-day logistics and contractual management.

Evaluation team: Evaluation team members will include a Senior Evaluation Expert to support the Team leader in designing and conducting the CPE and a Research & Evaluation Consultant to provide key contextual information and support data collection.  

Evaluation Reference Group (ERG):  The ERG plays a critical role in ensuring a high quality, transparent process, providing insights on the key questions and approach, providing context, and ensuring factual accuracy. The ERG will include UN colleagues, National government partners, Civil Society representatives, Development partners/donors to provide the stakeholder perspective. Feedback will be sought from the Country Office Senior Management, UN Women program leads and Country Office Evaluation focal persons.

Dissemination and uptake:

During the inception phase, the country M&E focal point will work with the evaluation team to develop a dissemination plan. The plan will identify approaches to support dissemination and uptake for the target primary and secondary users of the evaluation, along with how this will be tracked.  The evaluator will also be responsible for developing a short brief with key findings and recommendations that will be disseminated more widely.

The Country Representative will issue the management response to facilitate the use of the CPE report not later than 6 weeks counting from the date the report is signed off by IEAS management. 

Competencies

Core Values:

• respect for diversity,
• integrity,
• professionalism

Core Competencies:

• awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues,
• accountability,
• creative problem solving,
• effective communication,
• inclusive collaboration,
• stakeholder engagement,
• leading by example.

Functional Competencies

Results Based Management:

•  Substantive knowledge of results-based management tools such as logical frameworks, theory of change designs, etc…

Knowledge Management and Learning:

•       Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of UN Women;

Management and Flexibility:

•         Able to translate strategy into achievable plans, establish priorities, monitor and periodically adjust them as required;
•         Demonstrates openness to change and able to manage complexities

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• master’s degree in international development, sociology, gender/women studies, or related field.

Experience: 

1. At least 2-year practical experience participating in the design and conduct of gender-responsive evaluations of development strategies, policies, and programs. 
2. Knowledge of, and experience in applying qualitative evaluation methods. 
3. Proven knowledge of the role of UN Women and its programming, coordination, and normative roles at the regional and country levels. 
4. Professional experience in Africa will be considered a strong asset. 
5. Knowledge of a geographic mapping software will be considered a strong asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written French.
• English is considered an added advantage.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.