National Evaluation Consultant

Terms of Reference

Joint Evaluation of the EmPower Regional Project on Gender, Climate Change & Disaster Risk Reduction

I.   Purpose and Use of the Joint Evaluation

As the EmPower Project is approaching the end of the project timeframe, an independent final evaluation will be undertaken during the last year of the EmPower project, as per EmPower’s Project Document and Programme Cooperation Agreement. It will be a joint evaluation between UN Women and UNEP, in accordance with the guidance from UN Evaluation Group, and involve the evaluation units of both organizations following their evaluation policies. The purpose of the evaluation is to feed into learning about what worked well with respect to the joint approach to gender-responsive rights-based climate change resilience and DRR and what can be improved, and will serve accountability purposes, it will also feed into decision-making regarding a potential phase II of the project. The primary evaluation users (UN Women and UNEP Regional office for Asia and the Pacific) will use the evaluation to further strategize for gender-responsive climate actions. It will be also used by the EmPower team and stakeholders to design the possible Phase II of the project. Secondary users within the respective organizations and partners will use the information to learn about what works to integrate gender in climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR) approaches. The donor Sida may use the evaluation as input for decision-making purposes.

II. Objectives of the Joint Evaluation

The overall objective of the joint evaluation is to assess progress made over the project period towards the attainment of the intended outcome “countries in Asia and the Pacific are implementing gender-responsive climate change and DRR actions to address key drivers of gender-based vulnerabilities,” and the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, human rights, and gender equality, including a look into how the most vulnerable groups (focusing on women, including those living in remote disaster prone rural areas in the EmPower project’s context)were engaged in the project. It will also assess environmental safeguards taken by the project and contributions towards impact. It should also provide an assessment of how EmPower has integrated the recommendations and lessons learned from the Mid-term Review. It will also provide inputs and give guidance for the potential Phase II of the EmPower Project. The performance of the project will be assessed against the indicators presented in the results and reporting framework.  The joint evaluation will:

1.   Assess the relevance and UN system coherence with respect to programme design and implementation;
2.   Assess the effectiveness and organizational efficiency of the approaches implemented in attaining the intended results;
3.   Assess the contribution towards impact, unintended consequences, potential for sustainability, and integration of human rights and gender equality in design and implementation; and
4.   Produce lessons learned and issue actionable recommendations for the potential EmPower phase II or similar programming.

III.  Scope of the Joint Evaluation

The evaluation will cover all components of the programme, including those implemented by each participating UN Agency.

 Time Frame: the evaluation will cover the entire project life (from April 2018 up to quarter 2 of 2022 as the last year of the project).

 Geographical coverage: the evaluation will focus on activities implemented in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Viet Nam, as well as at the regional level.

 Stakeholder coverage: the evaluation will reach out to stakeholders, i.e. beneficiaries, participating governments, civil society partners, implementing partners at the national and regional levels, and partner agencies, as well as the project steering committee members and project partners.

 Limitations: there might be possible limitations on the travel to EmPower’s three countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Viet Nam, considering the dynamic situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Close collaboration between the Independent Evaluation Team Leader and the National Evaluation Consultant and the conduct of virtual interviews/meetings would be required. Triangulation of information received from different sources and synthesis of key findings across the different countries and components will feed into the overall findings, but generalizations will not be made.

IV.  Design of the Joint Evaluation

Methodological approach

The evaluation will be, in its nature, summative of the entire project period (up to Q1 2022) and include recommendations for the potential Phase II. The approach should also promote inclusion and participation by employing gender equality and human rights responsive approaches with a focus on utilisation[1], empowerment[2] or feminist approaches[3]. The evaluation will be gender-responsive, which applies mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and analytical approaches) to account for the complexity of gender relations and to ensure participatory and inclusive processes that are culturally appropriate. The design of the joint evaluation should be theory-based, and the Theory of Change of the EmPower Project should be used as the basis for the evaluation, which will be reconstructed through a theory of change workshop with the programme team. The evaluation methodology should enable achievement of the evaluation purpose, be aligned with the evaluation approach, and be designed to address the evaluation criteria and answer the key questions through credible techniques for data collection and analysis.

The suggested methods of data collection include desk review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and survey. A case study approach will be taken to allow for in-depth look at key issues or implementation modalities at country level, which will include stakeholder consultation, observation, and review and documentation analysis (e. g. progress and completion reports, workshop and mission reports, knowledge and advocacy products, and other appropriate documentation produced and related by UN Women and UNEP). The criteria for case study selection will be identified during the inception phase – it is likely that the case studies will be limited to two countries and national consultants in the selected countries will be engaged to lead the data collation. The evaluation must integrate gender and human rights approaches and perspectives throughout data collection and analysis. It is particularly important to understand and assess how the project addresses complex, intersectional discrimination and how this affects women’s rights.

Evaluators will conduct consultation with stakeholder groups, to the extent possible, using participatory tools and suggest a plan for inclusion of women and individuals and groups who are vulnerable and/or discriminated against in the consultation process and a plan for translation, as necessary. It would include women-led CSOs, indigenous community groups, LGBTIQ+ communities, persons with disabilities, and women entrepreneurs in the context of the EmPower Project. Based on consultations, the national consultants will visit selected project sites to validate the findings of the desk review and documentation analysis, and identify good practices and lessons learned. The evaluation may employ a participatory storytelling or most significant change approach through the country case study visits.

The entire evaluation will be undertaken as per UNEG guidelines and consider a human-rights-based and gender empowerment approach[4]. The evaluation experts and all their direct collaborators will follow UN Women’s Evaluation Handbook[5] UNEP guidance and UNEG Ethical guidelines.

Limitations

Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the use of participatory methods may be limited, and travel restrictions may limit the possibility of in-person data collection. UN Women and UNEP will monitor the situation and will determine the way forward during the inception phase. The evaluation team will rely on the accuracy and completeness of the provided documents by the offices, with independent verification of the information provided, where possible. To avoid biases raised, the information will be triangulated and validated with the offices and the Evaluation Management and Reference Groups.

V. Duties and Responsibilities

The National Evaluation Consultant is an integral member of the evaluation team and is expected to support the entire Joint Evaluation process under the direct supervision of the Regional Evaluation Specialist, the Regional Humanitarian/DRR specialist, Programme Analyst on Gender in DRR/CC, and the direction of the Independent Evaluation Team Leader of UN Women ROAP, and in consultation with the Evaluation Management Group. The consultant will need to connect with the team via online communication platforms. The national consultant is expected to work with the international consultant and other EMG, ERG members in different time zones. Some meetings would be held in off-normal working hours (earlier or later than 9am-6pm local or Asia Pacific time zones). UN Women will cover the travel related expenses within Viet Nam as per the UN Women standard guidelines, if the in-country travel is required. Payment will be made in two instalments upon satisfactory receipt and approval of the following deliverables:

Expected deliverables

NOTE:

•   Payment will be made upon submission of deliverables with an approval of the Regional Evaluation Specialist Asia, the Pacific and Regional Humanitarian/DRR specialist, and the Programme Analyst on Gender in DRR/CC

* Payment for the deliverable 1 and 2 will be made at once upon submission of both deliverables with an approval of the supervisors after 15 May 2022.

* Payment for the deliverable 3 will be made at once upon submission of all sub-deliverables with an approval of the supervisors after 10 June 2022

•       IMPORTANT: UN Women will cover the travel related expenses as per the UN Women standard guidelines, if the travel is required. The professional fee should NOT include travel costs.       
•   All deliverables should be in line with the United Nations Editorial Manual, the UN Women Editorial Style Guide, and the EmPower Visual Identity Guide for Publications.
•   All deliverables should be written and generated in English. Data collected is property of UN Women and UNEP[BL4] .
•   All data collected by the evaluation consultant must be submitted to the supervisor in Word, PowerPoint, or Excel format.  Proper storage of data is essential for ensuring confidentiality and should be in line with UN Women Policy on data management and security.

·   All deliverables submitted by the consultant are subject to quality review in line with the UN Women Evaluation Report Quality Assurance

VIII.  Qualifications, skills, and experiences

Academic qualifications:

•       Master’s degree in relevant discipline or Bachelor’s degree + 2 additional years of relevant work experience (e.g., social sciences, international development, gender studies, sustainable development and social studies, environmental governance/management and science, etc.);

Essential knowledge and experience:

•       A minimum of 5[BL23] years of experience undertaking evaluations, including evaluations of multi-stakeholder projects for multilateral organizations is required;
•       Strong experience conducting interviews and focus group discussions, including with vulnerable populations.
•       Strong experience in gender equality and environmental or climate change or disaster risk reduction or renewable energy work within development cooperation preferred.
•       Knowledge in results-based programming in support of gender justice and human rights in the context of climate change and DRR is highly desirable;
•       Proven work experience in data collection including interviews and/or focus group discussions and data analysis; 
•       Experience in contributing to gender-responsive evaluation or experience in gender analysis and human-rights based approaches is an asset;
•       Working experience in Viet Nam is required;
•       Excellent English writing and communication skills are required;
•       Excellent Vietnamese writing and communication skills are required.
•       Experience working with the UN system is a strong asset;

Corporate competencies:

•       Awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues;
•       Creative problem solving;
•       Effective communication;
•       Inclusive collaboration;
•       Stakeholder engagement;
•       Demonstrates integrity by modelling the United Nations' values and ethical standards;
•       Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of the UN and UN Women;
•       Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
•       Ability and willingness to work as part of a team to meet tight deadlines and produce high quality work.

Core values:

•       Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
•       Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

•       Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

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