Organization: UN Children's Fund
Country: Senegal
Closing date:
10 Sep 2019UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, a Hope
Objectives
The main objective of this assignment is to support the UNICEF Regional Office for West and Central Africa (WCARO) and the Country Office (CO) M&E Officers in strengthening the quality and timeliness of evaluations in the region. In particular, this consultancy assignment would fulfill three main objectives. First, to assist WCARO’s Regional Evaluation Adviser in providing dedicated technical assistance and capacity development to CO in the region during the planning and management of their evaluations. Second, to contribute to the delivery of field work support towards the successful conduct of multi-country and regional evaluations. Third, to assist the Regional Office to establish and/or strengthen the mechanisms and processes in place to ensure the quality and use and evaluations across the region. Besides raising quality and usefulness of evaluations both at the regional and global levels, this consultancy assignment is expected to strengthen the collaboration between the RO and CO within the scope of evaluation processes which, by their own nature, are relational and political – not only technical -processes.
Given the two-fold increase in the number of evaluation planned and conducted in the region between 2018 and 2019, WCARO’s role in providing quality assurance, technical oversight and, above all, evaluation capacity development, is particularly needed. Hence, a senior evaluation consultant with a specific focus on institutional strengthening is urgently needed that could support WCARO in this important endeavor. The envisaged evaluation technical support consultant that WCARO intends to recruit will assist the Regional Evaluation Adviser in handling all the above-mentioned activities in a timely and effective manner and, as a result, will contribute to the set-up of a capacity development strategy aimed at strengthening RO and CO staff evaluation capacity. This would eventually translate into a more successful operationalization of the regional evaluation work centered around the Key Results for Children (KRC).
How can you make a difference?
Activities:
The activities envisaged as part of this consultancy assignment would include the following:
Develop a list of specialized evaluation firms/institutions with recognized experience in UNICEF domains of intervention (sector by sector as well as multisectoral), especially those based in the West and Central Africa region (this list would need to include firms operating in as many languages as possible, including English, French, Portuguese and Spanish)Develop, under the supervision of the Regional Evaluation Adviser, a Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for the provision of evaluation services (by sector/KRC of interest as well as multisectoral)Develop a system, supplementing the UNICEF tracking system, to better monitor the implementation status of evaluation recommendations (this would involve continued follow-up with CO to address any challenge that they face to complete the recommended activities)Write a compendium of the good practices put in place by CO to ensure timely implementation of evaluation recommendations as well as of the challenges faced by countries in the monitoring and oversight of implementation of evaluation recommendations and of the strategies adopted to overcome them;Provide dedicated support to CO in need of technical assistance for the successful conduct of a selected number of evaluations, with a special focus on multi-country evaluations;Participate in a selected number of evaluation assignments in CO that will require dedicated technical assistance in the course of the planning, data collection or recommendations validation;Review and provide comment on Inception and Final reports submitted by CO using UNICEF/UNEG norms and standards whenever the other human resources available within RO and CO will not be available.
Background:
The UNICEF Regional Office for West and Central Africa (WCARO) has recently emphasized the strategic relevance of evaluation and, in line with the Organization’s Revised Evaluation Policy (June 2018), is committed to strengthening the coverage and quality as well as the use of evaluation conducted by both the Regional Office and the Country Offices in the region. As a result, WCARO has engaged in a series of evaluations and technical assistance activities aimed at M&E officers and sectoral staff both in UNICEF Country Offices (CO) and the Regional Office (RO). All these endeavours have the clear objective of enhancing the capacity of both UNICEF staff and contractors, and, as a result of that, of strengthening the generation and use of robust and credible evaluative evidence towards more impactful, holistic and equity-oriented programming for children in the 24 countries that fall under WCARO’s responsibility.
Given the two-fold increase in the number of evaluations planned in the region (both the Regional Office and the 24 CO in the region) and in an effort to strengthen the overall evaluation capacity of staff in the region, a technical support consultant will greatly benefit the strengthening of the evaluation function at the regional level, especially at a time when the Regional Office aims to foster a rather close collaboration with the different CO staff in the region in order to make evaluations become more strategic and intentional. However, for that to happen, some additional efforts (and human resources) are needed.
Scope of Work:
Working under the supervision of the Regional Evaluation Adviser, the Consultant will carry out the following tasks:
Help with the development of an evaluation capacity development strategy and programme aimed at evaluation managers in both CO and RO;Help with the development of an evaluation virtual induction program aimed at UNICEF evaluation contractors in both CO and RO;Help with the strengthening of the procurement of evaluation services (conduct of evaluations on the ground) in both CO and RO;Help with the systematization of the RO and CO tracking of evaluation recommendations uptake;Help with the consolidation and dissemination of evaluation-related knowledge both within RO and among CO;Assist with the smooth implementation of evaluation assignments in a selected number of CO that request dedicated technical assistance during the whole duration of the evaluation process (not only during the technical review of their evaluation products);Assist WCARO in ensuring full compliance of evaluation outputs with UNICEF Ethical standards and GEROS guidelines whenever internal evaluation resources will not be available.Deliverables and Schedules:
September 2019:
A DRAFT list of specialized evaluation firms/institutions (including email addressed and websites) with recognized experience in UNICEF domains of intervention (sector by sector as well as multisectoral), especially those based in the West and Central Africa region (this list would need to include firms operating in as many languages as possible, including English, French, Portuguese and Spanish);DRAFT Call for Expression of Interest aimed at qualified evaluation firms/institutions;Review of at least 6 WCAR Draft Evaluation Reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on Quality Evaluation Reports and the GEROS Quality Review Checklist (within 4 days from the submission of the DRAFT report submission to WCARO)October 2019:
A FINAL revised list of specialized evaluation firms/institutions (including email addressed and websites) with recognized experience in UNICEF domains of intervention (sector by sector as well as multisectoral);FINAL Call for Expression of Interest aimed at qualified evaluation firms/institutions;Review of at least 6 WCAR Draft Evaluation Reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on Quality Evaluation Reports and the GEROS Quality Review Checklist (within 4 days from the submission of the DRAFT report submission to WCARO);Survey conducted on how CO recommendations are currently tracked at the Regional Office and at CO level, and analysis of results producedNovember 2019:
1 Regional LTA established for the provision of evaluation services (conduct of multi-country evaluation) established (by sector/KRC of interest as well as multisectoral);Guidance note on how to ensure the timely tracking and uptake of CO evaluation recommendations both at the Regional Office and CO levelDecember 2019:
Webinar aimed at RO and CO explaining how the newly established LTA works;Webinar aimed at RO and CO explaining how to better track and uptake evaluation recommendations;At least 5 WCAR Draft or Final Evaluation Reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on Quality Evaluation Reports and the GEROS Quality Review Checklist (within 4 days from the submission of the Final report submission to WCARO)January 2020:
At least 10 WCAR Final Evaluation Reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on Quality Evaluation Reports and the GEROS Quality Review Checklist (within 4 days from the submission of the Final report submission to WCARO);Technical assistance provided to CO and RO sections asking for additional oversight over the inception of their 2020 evaluationsFebruary 2020:
A workflow and methodology produced to better track the implementation status of evaluation recommendations (this would involve continued follow-up with CO to address any challenge that they face to complete the recommended activities)Technical assistance provided to CO and RO section asking for additional oversight over the inception of their 2020 evaluationsMarch 2020:
Revised system activated to better track the implementation status of evaluation recommendations (this would involve continued follow-up with CO to address any challenge that they face to complete the recommended activities)April 2020:
A compendium of good practices put in place by CO to implement evaluation recommendations (this deliverable would include a list of both the challenges faced by the RO and CO in tracking recommendations and the strategies that have been adopted to overcome them);1 meeting organized with the other UN M&E Focal Points of Regional Offices located in Dakar to discuss joint evaluation opportunitiesMay 2020:
At least 6 WCAR evaluation Terms of Reference (ToR) reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on how to Write Quality Evaluation ToR (within 3 days from the submission of the ToR submission to WCARO);1 meeting organized with the other UN M&E Focal Points of Regional Offices located in DakarJune 2020:
At least 10 WCAR evaluation Inception reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on how to Write Quality Evaluation Inception reports (within 4 days from the submission of the Inception Report submission to WCARO)July 2020:
At least 5-10 WCAR Draft or Final Evaluation Reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on Quality Evaluation Reports and the GEROS Quality Review Checklist (within 4 days from the submission of the Final report submission to WCARO);Technical assistance provided to the CO, RO sections and contractors in the field in at least 5 evaluations undertaken in the regionJuly 2020:
At least 5-10 WCAR Draft or Final Evaluation Reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on Quality Evaluation Reports and the GEROS Quality Review Checklist (within 4 days from the submission of the Final report submission to WCARO);Technical assistance provided to the CO, RO sections and contractors in the field in at least 5 evaluations undertaken in the region;Survey on the timeliness and quality of the newly established LTA use and level of satisfactionAugust 2020:
At least 5-10 WCAR Draft or Final Evaluation Reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on Quality Evaluation Reports and the GEROS Quality Review Checklist (within 4 days from the submission of the Final report submission to WCARO);Technical assistance provided to the CO, RO sections and contractors in the field in at least 5 evaluations undertaken in the region;At least 5-10 WCAR Draft or Final Evaluation Reports reviewed against the UNICEF/UNEG standards on Quality Evaluation Reports and the GEROS Quality Review Checklist (within 4 days from the submission of the Final report submission to WCARO)Additional deliverables due by end August 2020
8 country missions conducted to support CO during the management of one of the evaluations included in the 2019-2020 Regional Evaluation Plan;Monthly reports covering the technical capacity support provided to CO that asked for dedicated technical assistance in the course of an evaluation (e.g. from the development of a ToR; the definition of the scope and utilization of the evaluation, from the technical review of evaluation reports to the organization of a recommendation validation of evaluation workshop
Timing:
The total duration of the contract is 11.5 months over the period from September 15, 2019 to August 30, 2020.
Reporting Requirements:
The Consultant will report to the WCAR Regional Evaluation Adviser.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
Education and experience:
Masters or Ph.D. in evaluation, public health, social sciences, child development, humanitarian assistance, international development or related field;At least 8 years of experience in the management and/or conduct of Evaluation is required;Experience in the development of evaluation capacity development programs aimed at both UNICEF staff and national authorities would be an advantage;Strong experience with UNICEF Evaluation Processes, especially in the West and Central African Region.Required languages for this assignment are:
English and French.Working knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese would be an asset.DesiredExperience:
Experience in the review of UNICEF evaluation products will be considered an advantage;Development and/or management of monitoring and evaluation systems and processes in country, regional or global level, spanning a range of policies and programme initiatives;Management of evaluation team(s) and/or supervise monitoring/assessment staff and processes;Prior work in a multi-cultural environment;Prior work/travel experience in the region.Administrative Issues:
The consultant’s recruitment conditions:
She/he will report directly to the Regional Evaluation Adviser;She/he will be required to sign the Health statement for consultants/Individual contractor prior to taking up the assignment;The contract may not commence unless signed by both UNICEF and the consultant;The Consultant will be sent the forms and the links to the learning portal after they have been selected.The consultant will be in charge of paying her/his own travels from her/his home country to Dakar at the beginning of the assignment and from Dakar to her/his home country at the end of the assignment. The consultant will not receive daily subsistence allowances (DSA) in Dakar but she/he will receive such an allowance during the country missions agreed upon with the Regional Evaluation Adviser. WCARO will cover the travels costs and DSA associated with such missions.
Payments will be made on a monthly basis, upon receipt of deliverables that meet the time and quality requirements. Payments will be withheld in case of unsatisfactory performance.
The Evaluation Technical Support Consultant working conditions:
She/he will travel to countries in the region as necessary and as determined in consultation with the WCARO Regional Evaluation Adviser. Other travels within and outside region could happen if appropriate;During missions, UNICEF COs will provide working space for the consultant,Interested individuals with the required profile are invited to submit an offer bySeptember 10, 2019.
The offer should contain:
Cover Letter including the proposed daily fee in USDCVP11 form (which can be downloaded athttp://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc)Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Please not that requests for services under an individual contract shall require the consultant/individual contractor to indicate their all-inclusive fees ( including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable) for the service to be provided ( art 5.3, 2018 DHR Procedure on Consultants and Individual Consultant)
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.
The competencies required for this post are….
Skills and capabilities:
Ability to engage diverse internal and external stakeholders proactively;Ability to work in and manage teams, conflicts and solve problems;Ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and seek their participation/ engagement;View our competency framework at
http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
Remarks:
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
How to apply:UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=525974