The Position:

How you can make a difference:

UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.

In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.

UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.

Purpose of consultancy:

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Its mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. Within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), UNFPA is working towards three transformative results: (I) zero preventable maternal deaths; (ii) zero unmet need for family planning; and (iii) zero gender-based violence and harmful practices, including female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage.

The UNFPA South Africa Country Office (SACO) is currently implementing the 5th Country Programme (CP) (2020-2025) with the Government of South Africa and other partners. The goal of the CP is to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights and accelerate the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, to improve the lives of women, adolescents and youth. In pursuit of this goal, the UNFPA South Africa CO seeks to achieve results in the following thematic areas of programming under the CP: (I) adolescents and youth ii) gender and social norms (iii) population change and data.

The CO is seeking services of a local consultant to work alongside of the Team Leader (International) to fulfil the objectives of the CPE. The Local Consultant should have demonstrable experience of the ICPD agenda, and population policy premised from the South Africa ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) as well as the ICPD commitment made by the SA government in Nairobi. This is the umbrella framework for the UNFPA Country Programme which recognizes that sexual reproductive health and rights, as well as women’s empowerment and gender equality, are cornerstones of population and development programmes. The local consultant should be familiar with the South African policy environment and programmatic context with regards to population and development as well as the priorities of governments (MTSF) aligned to the National Development Plan, Regional Frameworks as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Familiarity with the regional landscape is desirable.

Scope of work:

The local consultant will support the CPE process in relation to the overall design and implementation of a methodologically robust evaluation and cover programmatic areas of the Country Programme i.e., Adolescence and Youth, Gender and Social Norms as well as Population Change and Data.

The local consultant will provide expertise in all three thematic areas of the CP, which are implemented across three UNFPA supported provinces namely Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, during the 5th country programme’s implementation period. The thematic areas are described in section 3 of the terms of reference. In addition, the evaluation will also cover cross-cutting issues, such as cross-cutting issues: human rights, gender equality, disability, displacement and migration status, etc., and transversal functions, such as coordination, monitoring and evaluation, innovation, resource mobilisation, strategic partnerships, etc.

S/he will contribute to the methodological design of the evaluation and take part in the data collection and analysis work, with overall responsibility of contributions to the evaluation process. S/he will provide substantive inputs throughout the evaluation process by contributing to the development of the evaluation methodology, evaluation work plan and agenda for the field phase, participating in meetings with the CPE manager, UNFPA SACO staff and the ERG. S/he will undertake a document review and conduct interviews and group discussions with stakeholders, as agreed with the evaluation Team Leader.

Duration and working schedule:

The consultancy will have a duration of maximum 6 months (June – November 2024)

Place where services are to be delivered:

The consultancy will be primarily home-based working in close collaboration with the Team Leader, with field visits to the implementation sites departments, institutions, partners, facilities and organisations as needed. UNFPA will arrange the logistics for this work.

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):

Most products will be delivered via electronic means (email).

The consultancy will be for 38-48 days between 01 June and 29th of November 2024 and is expected to deliver the following key products.

• Product 1: Design report – 28th June
• Product 2: PowerPoint presentation of the design report- 10th July
• Product 3: PowerPoint presentation for debriefing meeting with the CO and the ERG- 31st July
• Product 4: Draft evaluation report- 14th September
• Product 5: Recommendations worksheet- 12th October
• Product 6: Final evaluation report- 31st October
• Product 7: PowerPoint presentation of the evaluation results- 16th November

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:

Bi-weekly meetings will be held between the consultant and UNFPA team to provide feedback on progress, get guidance from UNFPA on the conduction of activity, as well as to address any questions that may arise during the conduction of the work. It is the responsibility of the consultant to proactively document the discussions and recommendations for follow-up. The products will be reviewed and appraised by UNFPA for approval and payment. The edits and inputs provided need to be considered in the final revisions and generation of final versions of the products. The consultant must submit the products in Word version (.doc or .docx) within the stipulated timelines.

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:

The National consultants should demonstrate the qualifications, experience and skills required.

• Master’s Degree in Social Sciences, Statistics, Public Health, Development, Gender, or other relevant fields;
• At least seven years of relevant experience;
• Experience of UNFPA similar work on SRHR, HIV, and GBV;
• Experience in assessments, systems strengthening, and capacity building evidence/knowledge-based creation on SRHR, HIV, and GBV Integration;
• Excellent analytical skills
• Familiarity with the UN in South Africa will be an added advantage.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g. support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:

UNFPA will provide all relevant background documents to help inform the CPE. Consultants will be provided space to work from the Country Office.

Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:

• Refer to section 12.1 of the terms of reference. National consultants who should demonstrate the qualifications, experience and skills required to serve as technical expert in at least one of the thematic areas.

UNFPA Work Environment:

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA’s workforce – click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements.

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.