Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Division develops and implements UN Women’s programme of work across its normative, coordination, and operational triple mandate and provides policy advice and guidance and technical support to intergovernmental processes, UN system, and UN Women regional and country offices, among other partners and stakeholders. The Division is organized in thematic sections, which undertake policy research; analyze data on country, regional and global trends; and propose evidence-based options for global policy, norms and standards as well as for UN Women’s policy advocacy and global programme strategies, including flagship programme initiatives. With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Women is supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) towards achieving gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by 2030 to benefit all women and girls.

Economic empowerment is one of the priority areas of UN Women. UN Women works with governments and partners to promote women’s economic empowerment and increase their access to economic opportunities and outcomes, especially for those who are most excluded. The recent Economic Empowerment strategy outlines three of the 10 UN Women’s Gender Equality Accelerators (GEAs). The GEA on Transforming the care economy is hosted in the Care and Macroeconomic team within the Economic Empowerment section. To implement the GEA, the TransformCare initiative was created, aimed at transforming the undervaluing and gendered division of care and improve the lives of women and girls across 30 countries and six regions. It will do this by supporting inclusive and equitable comprehensive care systems that have the potential to benefit 300 million women and girls in all their diversity, release one billion hours of women and girls’ time, and create 40 million low-carbon decent jobs that benefit women. This ambitious initiative complements existing successful UN Women programmes and will work with partners, including UN Agencies, national and local governments, civil society, unions, academia, private sector, and the media, to support a whole-of-society approach to addressing care inequalities.

TransformCare will support three high-level outcomes at sub-national, national, regional and global levels:

• OUTCOME 1: Increased quality and low-carbon care-supporting services, basic infrastructure and energy-saving equipment, especially benefitting women and girls in low-income and rural households.
• OUTCOME 2: Creation of decent jobs in the purple economy and increased access to jobs in the green and digital economies, especially benefitting women informal workers and domestic workers, including women migrant workers.
• OUTCOME 3: Shift in economic and social norms that consider care work (unpaid and paid) as valuable and skilled work, and as a shared responsibility within households and between households, the state, businesses, and communities.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The overall purpose of this consultancy is to support UN Women in building a robust impact narrative using meaningful indicators and evidence. This will be done by reviewing the proposed set of indicators, conducting a baseline study for them and developing a monitoring strategy to systematically track them during the implementation of the TransformCare Initiative, for effectively measuring the impact of this intervention. The baseline study should establish a situation analysis of care work and care systems in 40 countries, selected based on their interest in being part of the Transform Care Global Initiative, with a focus on UN Women past and current interventions results and impact. Baseline data and findings should guide the development of a complete monitoring strategy including a monitoring framework, plan and tools for data collection for impact tracking.

The consultant will be reporting to the Policy Advisor, Macroeconomics and Global Lead on Care and will be coordinating with the Care and Macroeconomics team.

The consultant will be expected to perform the following tasks:

Stage 1.  Desk review, revision of data sources and Inception Report 

• Conduct a desk review of key documents relevant for the TransformCare Initiative, including the Theory of Change and the results framework
• Conduct a desk review of relevant reports, studies, surveys and national, regional and country data on care work and care systems, based on key indicators
• Conduct a desk review of key documents of UN Women past and current care initiatives, projects and programmes carried out in the selected countries
• Review potential data sources available at country, regional and global level to track indicators at impact and outcome level
• Hold bilateral contact with selected UN Women country offices for clarifications and questions on data gathered
• Develop an Inception Report with preliminary findings from the desk review, the revision of data sources and detailed methodology for the baseline study, including sources of data, proposed data collection tools and, if applicable, recommendations for adjustments in the theory of change, results framework and list of key indicators.

Stage 2. Draft Monitoring Strategy, data collection, analysis and recommendations and Baseline study

• Based on feedback on the Inception Report, develop a draft Monitoring Strategy including a monitoring framework, plan and tools for data collection (surveys, consultations, interviews, among others), aligned with UN Women corporate tools and guidelines
• Facilitate a validation exercise with the UN Women Team on the Draft Monitoring Strategy
• Apply data collection tools. Primary data should complement secondary data available, already mapped during the desk review stage
• Analyze data and provide a draft Baseline Study Report with baseline data, key findings, gaps, recommendations and an impact and results narrative for the TransformCare Initiative
• Facilitate a validation exercise on the Baseline Study Report with UN Women Team
• Submit a final Baseline Study Report, incorporating feedback from the validation exercise.

Stage 3. Final Monitoring Strategy 

• Based on the final Baseline Study Report, submit a final Monitoring Strategy.

Deliverables

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This consultancy is expected to start in December 2024 and end by July 2025. The consultancy is home-based. No travel is expected for this assignment.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent knowledge of results-based management and its application with monitoring and reporting and understanding of baseline data collection and monitoring methodologies
• Substantive knowledge on gender-responsive M&E strategies
• Ability to design and manage data collection exercises, gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions and present findings and recommendations
• Strong knowledge and understanding of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment
• Excellent research and analytical skills
• Ability to work with diverse stakeholders and different audiences
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines
• Proven analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong writing and communication skills

Required Qualifications

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in international development, gender studies, social work, public administration, policy, programme/project management, evaluation, social sciences or another related field is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A certification in Monitoring and reporting and/or in project management would be an asset.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation of development programmes, of which a minimum of 4 years should include programmes related to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Specific experience in the field of care work will be an asset.
• Knowledge and experience in gender-responsive and human rights-based approaches to monitoring and evaluation.
• Demonstrated experience undertaking baseline studies in the fields of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Demonstrated experience in data management and the use of gender statistics.
• Experience in data collection and analysis, including questionnaire design and conducting interviews is required.
• Prior experience producing UN reports and knowledge products for different audiences is desirable.

Languages:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of Arabic, French or Spanish or any other UN official language is an asset.

 How to Apply 

• Samples of relevant previous work (e.g., baseline studies, M&E strategies, reports) produced by the candidate will be an asset.
• As part of the selection process, shortlisted candidates may be invited to submit a technical proposal (template will be provided), outlining their methodology, approach and workplan for the assignment, and may also be invited for an interview.

Statements :

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.)

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements