National Consultant

Background Since 2019 UNESCO has been implementing a project on Promoting Gender Equality and Girls’ Education in the Ethnic Minorities Areas of Viet Nam (called “We are ABLE” project), in partnership with the Department of Teachers and Educational Administrators in the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), the Ethnic Minority Policy Support Project Management Board in the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA), and provincial authorities, with funding from CJ Group (Republic of Korea) through the UNESCO Malala Fund for Girls' Right to Education. Objective of the project: The project aims to improve access and retention of ethnic minority children, especially girls in lower secondary schools, and to improve the employment opportunities among ethnic minority women and girls. Beneficiaries of the project: The project targets approximately 16,000 persons – namely ethnic minority secondary school students, teachers, principals and education officials, parents and community members in the three selected provinces. Over 9,000 of these individuals are female; including 6,000 girls aged 11-14 from 24 lower secondary schools. Project locations: The project targets three provinces of Ha Giang, Ninh Thuan and Soc Trang. Implementing partners: The key partners include the Department of Teachers and Educational Administrators (DTEA), MOET, and the Ethnic Minority Policy Support (EMPS) Project management board, CEMA at the central level and their provincial and district offices that contribute to the project design, plan, implementation, management, monitoring and evaluation.

Long Description

Final evaluation: UNESCO will conduct an external final evaluation that will include a formative assessment of pilot activities, progress and achievements. The evaluation will be structured and supplemented using relevant project documents such as the project document, detailed activity plan, progress reports, and completed deliverables. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the progress as well as achievements and challenges in order to generate evidence on the extent which the project has yielded results towards the intended and unintended outcomes. It should also help identify how the results have been achieved, such as through assessing the effectiveness and cross-fertilization of different working mechanisms, and will also include key recommendations from the final evaluation.

Long Description

Work assignments

Under the overall authority of the Head of UNESCO Ha Noi Office and under the technical supervision of the Education Programme Specialist, the Consultant will undertake the final evaluation with the following objectives, using mixed methods:

Assess the relevance and coherence of project activities to the project design in addressing the needs and priorities of beneficiaries and government partners;
Assess the effectiveness of project achievement to the project objectives, components, country needs, global priorities, among others;
Review the measures which were taken to ensure efficient use of the resources, expertise and time by implementing partners, UNESCO, and other UN agencies;
Assess the results and immediate signs of impacts of the project on targeted groups and indirect beneficiaries involved;
Assess the sustainability of the project’s outcomes in line with UN and Government’s strategic documents, and how it can be scaled up or taken forward by governments, civil society and other development partners independently;
Collect significant-change case studies or human interest stories about the impact of the project on project beneficiaries.

Long Description

Geographical coverage: The evaluation will focus on the assessment of project activities in three project provinces. Stakeholder coverage: The evaluation will reach out to two key implementing partners, three Departments of Education and Training and 24 project schools. Substantive scope: The evaluation will analyze the relevance, coherence, effectiveness and signs of impact, efficiency and sustainability of the project.

Key deliverables and estimated working days

No. 1: Inception report (Estimated working days: 7 days) No. 2: Development of data collection tools and questionnaires, data collection (Estimated working days: 18 days) No. 3: Draft evaluation report, presentation materials, stakeholder consultation (Estimated working days: 19 days) No. 4: Final evaluation (Estimated working days: 8 days) Total: 52 working days (Note: The deliverables will be produced in both Vietnamese and English.)

Duration of the assignments

The Consultant is expected to work intermittently during the period from April to October 2022.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

Results focus (C) Communication (C) Building partnerships (M) Planning and organizing (C)

For detailed information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Mandatory requirements

Education

- Advanced University Degree (Master or equivalent) in political science, social science, public administration, development studies, education, gender equality or other relevant field

Work experience

- At least ten (10) years of relevant professional experience; - Knowledge of the development context of Viet Nam; - Previous experience with evaluation of projects and programmes; - International experience and/or previous UN/UNESCO experience is an asset; - Professional experience in the field of gender equality and/or girls’ and women’s education is desired. Languages - Excellent written and spoken English - Excellent written and spoken Vietnamese

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

Technical competence in undertaking evaluations which involve use of mixed methods, such as surveys, record reviews, focus groups and case studies; - Good understanding of various sampling techniques and their applications; - Strong data collection and analysis skills; - Comprehensive understanding of the uses and limits of various methods available for quantitative and qualitative analysis; - Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills; - Excellent writing skills to conceptualize ideas and issues during the evaluation and reporting process; - Capacity to communicate, collaborate and positively engage with a range of partners and beneficiaries, including national/local authorities as well as key stakeholders; - Demonstrated personal sensitivity and commitment to the values and principles of equity, gender equality and cultural diversity; and - Excellent computing skills including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and related programmes.

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application and provide complete and accurate information. To apply, please visit the UNESCO careers website. No modifications can be made to the application submitted. Interested candidates are requested to submit (i) CV, (ii) a technical proposal with a proposed approach/ methodology and timeline (based on 52 working days) (A4, maximum 2 pages), assuming that the consultant will start to work on Friday, 1 April 2022 and end by 31 October 2022 at the latest, as well as (iii) a financial proposal (proposed daily rate in USD), in consideration of the maximum budget of USD10,000. If you have difficulty in attaching the proposals to an on-line application, please submit your proposals via e-mail to hanoi@unesco.org with subject ‘Education –Consultant for ‘We are ABLE’ project final evaluation’. The evaluation of candidates is based on the criteria in the vacancy notice, and may include tests and/or assessments, as well as a competency-based interview. UNESCO uses communication technologies such as video or teleconference, e-mail correspondence, etc. for the assessment and evaluation of candidates. Please note that only selected candidates will be further contacted and candidates in the final selection step will be subject to reference checks based on the information provided. APPLY HERE