ABOUT THE COMPANY:

UN Women is the global champion for gender equality, working to develop and uphold standards and create an environment in which every woman and girl can exercise her human rights and live up to her full potential. We are trusted partners for advocates and decision-makers from all walks of life, and a leader in the effort to achieve gender equality.

JOB SUMMARY

Is the implementation approach of activities relevant to the context in Lebanon? Has the relevance of the implementation approach of activities changed after the armed conflict in South Lebanon and its spillover effect across the country?

How so?

• What were the criteria for targeting, prioritizing, inclusion? How were intended beneficiaries selected? Were target groups excluded? Why? What was the process for engaging with the intervention? Were these methods relevant to the context? What percentage of the target population was engaged in the program?
• How does program implementation vary across groups paying attention to the needs of target groups living with disability and/or implementation sites?
• What needs to be changed to respond to the changing conflict and peace dynamics?

What worked well and is recommended to continue?

Efficiency (How well were the resources used?)

• What are the characteristics of the entities or organizations implementing a program?

What was their existing capacity? How were they selected? How were they prepared for implementation?

• What services were offered? Over what time period? Were these offered in parallel or in sequence? Was there a core package of services or a customized offering?
• Were there optional services for some participants? Did these services change over time?
• Were services adapted to the needs/changing needs of beneficiaries and/or to the developing context (for example, increase in reported community tensions, GBV cases, armed conflicts, etc.)
• How much was invested (financial as well as Human Resources) under output 2?

What it adequate to address the desired results?

Was the progamme providing value for money?

• How effective was the monitoring and learning systems? Did the monitoring and learning system allow for reflection on and extraction of good practices and lessons throughout implementation?

Effectiveness (Did the intervention achieve its objectives?)

• Did the program deliver as intended (fidelity)? What did not work well in terms of implementation, and why?
• Were there significant dropouts among beneficiaries? If yes, what were the conditions for the dropouts and/or challenges for sustained participation?
• Has been an improvement in the situation of women’s meaningful engagement in community peacebuilding?
• Did the implementation approach contribute to community tension alleviation and gender equality in the implementation sites?
• Did the implementation approach contribute to engaging youth and promoting intergenerational dialogue?
• Were risks identified in the risk analysis matrix monitored, managed, and mitigated?
• What are the essential elements needed to make this new intervention work?

What are the barriers to implementing and scaling up a successful pilot, and how might these be overcome?

Gender Equality

• To what extent the interventions are contributing towards gender transformative changes to advance and sustain gender equality and women’s empowerment?
• To what extent the programme interventions are adhering to the principles and standards of Leaving no one behind and targeting and benefitting traditionally excluded women and girls?

Sustainability

• Does the programme have an exit or transition strategy?

To what extent were capacity and systems developed to facilitate the programme transition and to ensure sustainability of the programme efforts and results?

At inception stage, the evaluation expert is expected to develop an evaluation matrix summarizing key questions, indicators, sources of information and above to guide the analysis and triangulation.

Final evaluation matrix will be validated by the evaluation management group. The below questions will be refined by the consultant in the evaluation matrix.

Evaluation management
The consultant will report to the Programme Management Specialist, and will be supported by the WPS Programme Coordinator, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

The evaluation will be a consultative, inclusive, and participatory process and will include a management structure consisting of an Evaluation Reference Group (ERG), which UN Women will be set up to support the Evaluation Task Manager (ETM) and to provide expert advice on the evaluation process, facilitate a comprehensive review of the evaluation products and to ensure the participation of key stakeholders in the evaluation, and ensure quality control and assurance of the evaluation report.

The ERG will comprise of staff members of UN Women in regional and country offices and the donor.

A detailed terms of reference for the ERG will be developed. The ETM will lead the day-to-day management of the process. Under the overall guidance of the Regional Evaluation Specialist (RES), who will review and approve all evaluation deliverables, the ETM will oversee the evaluation management, make key decisions and quality assure the different deliverables. Under the overall guidance of the ETM, the evaluation will be carried out by an external consultant recruited by UN women for this specific evaluation.

The consultant will be responsible for all logistics (office space, administrative and secretarial support, telecommunications, printing documentation, travel, etc.) and the development and dissemination of methodological tools.

The phases of the evaluation will be as follow:

• Inception phase: Develop the methodology in consultation with WPS team and the ETM.
• Data collection and analysis: Desk review of relevant documents.

Interviews with the stakeholders, including UN Women staff and partners (government, UN, civil society, academic), beneficiaries and donors. Learning sessions for the UN Women office.

• Reporting phase: Analyze data, draft evaluation and learning report, host closing learning session (open to externals outside of UN Women, as identified by UN Women).

Evaluation Ethics and Norms
The evaluation is to be conducted in line with UNEG Norms and Standards for evaluation, the UNEG Code of Conduct for Evaluations in the UN System, UN Women evaluation guidelines including Evaluation Policy, GERAAS evaluation report quality checklist, and the UN Women “How To Manage Gender-Responsive Evaluation” handbook.

Duties and Responsibilities

The evaluation will be conducted between September and December 2024 in the geographic locations targeted by the project in Lebanon (Tripoli, Akkar, Beirut, Hasbaya, Zahrani, Chouf, and Aley).

It will cover the programme period from September 2021 to December 2024.

The evaluation will be a Theory-based, non-experimental gender responsive evaluation that will apply a mixed method approach.
The evaluation will have a strong formative element (learning how to improve). It will be based on the principles of participation and will engage all project stakeholders – women leaders, benefitting community members, implementing partners, consultants, UN Women personnel, donors, and other actors. The evaluation will focus on the results framework agreed upon with the donor and the partners.

Key Deliverables:
The following key deliverables are expected to be delivered by the successful applicant:

• Inception report:

o The inception report should detail the applicant’s understanding of the evaluation objectives; present a conceptual framework inclusive of the theory of change for the evaluation, detailed methodology including sampling strategy, data collection and analysis plan.

The inception report should also include a detailed work plan with clear timelines, stating key deliverables and a comprehensive evaluation matrix with a detailed list of key questions, sub questions related to the evaluation criteria; indicators, data sources; methods of data collection, and data analysis.
o The proposal should demonstrate that the proposed methodology is within the scope of work laid out in this call for proposal, while ensuring appropriateness of the approach to the local conditions of Lebanon and the operating environment of the peacebuilding activities.
o The inception report will be drafted in line with the UN Women guidelines, following and based on preliminary discussions with UN Women after the desk review and should be produced before the evaluation starts.

• Draft report and a PowerPoint presentation:
o The first draft will be in English and will contain summary of key findings, risk management and recommendations, which will be presented in UN Women office in Beirut, Lebanon (or online if needed).

Feedback from the presentation and reviews by key stakeholders will be shared with the evaluator for finalization of the report.
o Validation workshop and debriefing on preliminary results: A half-day meeting/workshop to discuss the evaluation results with key stakeholders will be convened in UN Women office in Beirut, Lebanon.

This will be conducted immediately after the completion of the draft report. Upon validation of the draft evaluation report UN Women will review the draft evaluation report and provide an amalgamated set of comments to the service provider within an agreed period, addressing the content required (as agreed in the TOR and inception report) and agreed quality criteria.

• Final evaluation report:

After incorporating feedback received on the draft report, the evaluator will submit a final report in English as per the agreed timelines with clear set of findings, conclusions, and recommendations, based on an agreed reporting outline; (this will include the abridged and detailed versions of the reports).

The service provider will also attach the following annexes to the final report, data collection tools and guidelines, datasets, analysis plans, collation and aggregation tables, risk matrix, etc.

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This is a home-based consultancy with expected progress update meetings in UN Women premises in Beirut, Lebanon.

As part of this assignment, there will be field trips to the project sites (Tripoli, Akkar, Beirut, Hasbaya, Zahrani, Chouf, and Aley).

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

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Excellent understanding of UNEG norms and standards for evaluation and methodologies.
• Demonstrated skills in research and conflict and social analysis.
• Demonstrated skills in using evidence-based communications and advocacy to influence stakeholders.
• Respect for diversity, cultural sensitivity, and ability to work in multi-cultural environments.
• Excellent use of participatory and consultative approaches.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in political science, social sciences, humanities, and/or peace and conflict or related field.;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• Formal training or credential in evaluation is an added advantage.

Experience:

• At least five years of experience in conducting evaluation with a proven track record of conducting gender-responsive evaluation is required.
• Out of which at least two years of progressively responsible experience in reconciliation and peacebuilding programming.
• Experience in leading or conducting evaluations of the same nature is an added advantage.
• Experience in gender, peace and conflict dynamics in the Lebanese context is required.
• Experience in engaging with a diversity of stakeholders is required (i.e., local community members, representatives of the UN and the international community in Lebanon)
• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
• Excellent English and Arabic communication and writing skills (Samples of previous work will be required for shortlisted applicants.)

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.
• Knowledge of French is an asset.

Application:

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application.

Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

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.)

How to Apply
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Good luck!