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Vacancy Announcement: Consultant

Consultancy Title: Updating the Synthesis Report on the Inclusion of disability in UNICEF Evaluations (2026-2023)- Team leader

Section/Division/Duty Station: Evaluation , NYHQ

Duration: 1 October 2024 to 28 February 2025

Home/ Office Based: NYHQ / Remote

About UNICEF – DO NOT EDIT

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

The primary purpose of updating the synthesis report is to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of how disability inclusion is addressed in UNICEF evaluations. This update will serve as a critical tool for assessing progress, identifying best practices, and highlighting areas that require further attention and improvement.

Specific objectives of the updated synthesis report include:

1. Awareness Raising: To increase awareness among UNICEF staff, partners, and stakeholders about the importance of disability inclusion in evaluations and the current state of practice within the organization.

2. Foundation for Follow-up: To provide a solid foundation for subsequent follow-up actions, including the development of targeted capacity-building initiatives, refinement of evaluation guidelines, and improvement of disability-inclusive programming.

3. State of Play Description: To describe the “state of play” within UNICEF in terms of disability inclusion in evaluations, offering a clear picture of progress made since the previous synthesis and identifying trends, patterns, and gaps across different program areas and regions.

4. Best Practice Identification: To identify and showcase best practices in disability-inclusive evaluation within UNICEF, providing examples that can be replicated or adapted across the organization.

5. Gap Analysis: To conduct a thorough gap analysis, highlighting areas where disability inclusion in evaluations needs strengthening, and providing recommendations for improvement.

Synthesis Guiding Questions

• How has the inclusion of disability considerations in UNICEF evaluations evolved from 2021 to 2023, particularly in light of the newly developed guidance on disability inclusion in evaluation?
• What exemplary practices and innovative approaches have emerged in UNICEF evaluations that enhance disability inclusion across different organizational levels (headquarters, regional offices, and country programmes)?
• To what extent do UNICEF evaluations address the six key elements of disability inclusion as outlined in the assessment framework (ToR attention, team knowledge, evaluation questions, stakeholder involvement, findings and evidence, conclusions and recommendations)?
• How do evaluations reflect UNICEF’s shift towards a more transformative and intersectional approach to addressing inequality and discrimination, as outlined in the 2022-2025 Strategic Plan?
• How do evaluations integrate disability rights considerations across different UNICEF operations, including support for families, parents, and caregivers of children with disabilities in both development and humanitarian contexts?
• What gaps remain in UNICEF’s approach to disability-inclusive evaluations, and what recommendations can be made to address these gaps?

Scope of Work:

The updated synthesis report will cover UNICEF evaluations conducted between 2026 and 2023. This extended timeframe will allow for a comprehensive analysis of trends and developments in disability inclusion practices within UNICEF evaluations.

The scope of the synthesis will include:

• All types of evaluations conducted by UNICEF during the specified period, including program evaluations, thematic evaluations, country-level evaluations, and global evaluations.

• Evaluation of disability inclusion across all UNICEF program areas, including but not limited to health, education, child protection, WASH and social inclusion.

• Analysis of disability inclusion practices in evaluations across all UNICEF regions, allowing for comparative insights and identification of region-specific trends or challenges.

• Examination of both centralized and decentralized evaluations to provide a comprehensive picture of disability inclusion practices across different levels of the organization.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Inception Report / Approach Paper:

Detailed methodology for the synthesis, including data collection and analysis methods.

Draft assessment framework based on the six elements of disability inclusion.

– Proposed structure for the final report.

Study Inception report finalized  – 31 Nov 2024

Summary Note on Preliminary Findings:

– Brief overview of initial findings from the analysis of evaluation reports.

– Identification of key trends and patterns in disability inclusion

Data collection and Summary Note on Preliminary Findings  – 31 December 2024

PowerPoint Presentation of Preliminary Findings:

– Visual presentation of key findings, trends, and initial recommendations.

– To be presented to the Reference Group for feedback and discussion.

Power Presentation and Draft Report  – 31 January 2025

Full Updated Synthesis Report: o Comprehensive report detailing the findings of the synthesis, including:

 Executive summary

 Introduction and background

 Methodology

 Findings organized by the six elements of disability inclusion

 Analysis of trends and patterns

 Best practices and case studies

 Gaps and challenges

 Recommendations for improving disability inclusion in evaluations

 Conclusions

Final Report  – By 28 February 2025

Qualifications

Education: MASTERS

An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Evaluation, Public Policy, Social Policy, Economics, or a relevant field across the social sciences (PhD preferred);

 A minimum of eight years of professional experience in conducting or supporting the

synthesis of evaluation results, systematic reviews and/or rapid academic reviews or evidence gap maps related to development cooperation, humanitarian assistance, social sciences, or institutional effectiveness

Work experience:

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required *:

Experience synthesizing corporate evaluations, thematic evaluations, and/or impact evaluations, ideally related to development effectiveness and/or or child rights;

 Experience developing and executing methodologies for evaluation synthesis, including narrative or thematic synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data and the creation of criteria to select and sample evaluations or social research products;

 Previous experience related to UNICEF’s work is an asset;

In-depth knowledge of qualitative (and quantitative data collection and analytical methods;

 Access to, and experience in using Systematic Review software (e.g., EPPI-Reviewer, RevMa, Covidence) and quantitative (e.g., STATA) and qualitative (e.g., NVivo) analysis software ;

 Strong understanding of the UN system, UN reform processes, UN programming at a country level and the Sustainable Development Goals is preferred;

 Knowledge of UNEG Norms and Standards for Evaluation and the UNEG Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation is desirable;

 Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders from different backgrounds;

 Excellent report writing skills, being able to write clear and concise analytical reports to strict deadlines; and

 Fluency in English is required.

Responsibilities:

• Overall leadership of the synthesis process

• Development and refinement of the methodology

• Quality assurance of all deliverables

• Lead author of the synthesis report

• Presentation of findings to stakeholders

Requirements:

Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and

– Upload copy of academic credentials

– Financial proposal that will include/ reflect :

• • the costs per each deliverable and the total lump-sum for the whole assignment (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference.
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability

– Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.

– At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

– Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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: 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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.