International Consultant for the Country Program Evaluation 2020, Banjul, The Gambia

Duration and working schedule :

The provisional allocation of workdays will be the following :

• Design phase: 7 days,
• Field phase:  17 days,
• Reporting phase: 15 days,
• Facilitation of use and dissemination phase: 1 day,
• Total:40 days.

The exact number of workdays and distribution of the workload will be proposed by the evaluation team in the design report, subject to approval by the UNFPA Evaluation Manager.

Place where services are to be delivered :

The Country Programme mainly targeted highly vulnerable women and youth in the Lower River, North Bank, Central, and Upper River regions. However, sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, was supported in all regions. The CPE will cover all the programmatic geographic areas.

Purpose of consultancy :

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the lead United Nations agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. The strategic goal of UNFPA is to “achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health, realize reproductive rights, and reduce maternal mortality to accelerate progress on the agenda of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), to improve the lives of women, adolescents, and youth, enabled by population dynamics, human rights, and gender equality”. In pursuit of this goal, UNFPA works towards three transformative and people-centered results: (i) end preventable maternal deaths; (ii) end the unmet need for family planning; and (iii) end gender-based violence and all harmful practices, including female genital mutilation and, early and forced marriage. In line with the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UNFPA seeks to ensure that no one will be left behind and that the furthest behind will be reached first.

The cooperation between UNFPA and The Gambia commenced in 1972 with the first program cycle. Successive Country Programmes have been aligned to national priorities as articulated in national development plans and related development plan documents. The eight CP priorities were aligned to those of the National development plan (2017-2021), vision 2020, the UNDAF (2017-2021), the Sahel Regional Response plan, and the UNFPA Strategic Plan (2018-2021)

The 2019 UNFPA Evaluation Policy requires CPs to be evaluated at least once every two-program cycles. The last CPE for The Gambia was in 2010. The 2020 CPE will provide an independent assessment of the relevance and performance of the UNFPA 8th CP (2017-2021) in The Gambia and offer an analysis of various facilitating and constraining factors influencing program delivery and the achievement of intended results. The CPE will also draw key lessons and provide a set of actionable recommendations for the next program cycle.

The objectives of this CPE are :

1. Provide an independent assessment of the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of UNFPA support and progress towards the expected outputs and outcomes set forth in the results framework of the country program.
2. Provide an assessment of the role played by the UNFPA country office in the coordination mechanisms of the UNCT with a view to enhancing the United Nations collective contribution to national development results.
3. Draw key lessons from past and current cooperation and provide a set of clear and forward-looking options leading to strategic and actionable recommendations for the next program cycle.

Scope of work (Description of services, activities, or outputs)  : 

The evaluation team leader will hold the overall responsibility for the methodological design and implementation of the evaluation. She/he will be responsible for the production and timely submission of all expected deliverables in line with the ToR. She/he will lead and coordinate the work of the evaluation team and ensure the quality of all deliverables at all stages of the evaluation process. The Evaluation Manager will provide methodological guidance to the evaluation team in developing the design report, in particular, but not limited to, the evaluation approach, methodology, work plan and agenda for the field phase, the draft and final evaluation reports, and the PowerPoint presentation of the evaluation results.

• Desk review of initial background information and documents on the country context and CP, as well as other relevant documentation;
• Review and refinement of the theory of change underlying the CP;
• Formulation of a final set of evaluation questions based on the preliminary evaluation questions provided in the ToR;
• Development of a comprehensive stakeholder map and sampling strategy to select sites to be visited and stakeholders to be consulted in the Gambia through interviews and group discussions;
• Development of a data collection and analysis strategy, as well as a concrete work plan for the field and reporting phases;
• Development of data collection methods and tools, assessment of limitations to data collection, and development of mitigation measures;
• Development of the evaluation matrix (evaluation criteria, evaluation questions, assumptions, indicators, data collection methods, and sources of information).

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy, etc.) :

The evaluation team is expected to produce the following deliverables:

• Design report. The design report should translate the requirements of the ToR into a practical and feasible evaluation approach, methodology, and work plan. It should include (at a minimum): (i) a stakeholders’ map; (ii) an evaluation matrix (incl. the final set of evaluation questions, indicators, data sources, and data collection methods); (iii) the evaluation approach and methodology, with a detailed description of the agenda for the field phase; (iv) and data collection tools and techniques
• PowerPoint presentation of the design report. The presentation will be delivered at an ERG meeting to present the contents of the design report and the agenda for the field phase.
• PowerPoint presentation for debriefing meeting with the CO. The presentation provides an overview of key preliminary findings and emerging conclusions of the evaluation.
• Draft and final evaluation reports. The final evaluation report will include evidence-based findings and conclusions, as well as a full set of practical and actionable recommendations to inform the next program cycle.
• PowerPoint presentation of the evaluation results. The presentation will provide an overview of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations to be used for dissemination purposes.

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format, and deadline :

The Consultant performance will be evaluated against the following criteria: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, and quality of the products delivered.

Supervisory arrangements :

The Consultant will work under the supervision of the country office’s Representative and in close collaboration with the evaluation manager, WCARO M&E adviser, and stakeholders.

Expected travel :

Given the challenges with COVID, the international consultant will be working virtually and manage a local team on the ground however, if the situation improves the international consultant can be on the ground.

Required expertise, qualifications, and competencies, including language requirements :

The competencies, skills, and experience of the evaluation team leader should include :

• Master’s degree in Evaluation, Women/Gender Studies, Human Rights Law, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or a related field.
• 10 years of experience in conducting or managing evaluations in the field of international development.
• Extensive experience in leading complex evaluations commissioned by United Nations organizations and/or other international organizations and NGOs.
• Substantive knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
• Substantive knowledge on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, gender-based violence, and other harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation, early, child and forced marriage, and issues surrounding masculinity, gender relationships, and sexuality.
• In-depth knowledge of theory-based evaluation approaches and the ability to apply both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and to uphold standards for quality evaluation as defined by UNFPA and UNEG.
• Ability to ensure ethics and integrity of the evaluation process, including confidentiality and prevention of harm to evaluation subjects.
• Ability to consistently integrate human rights and gender perspectives in all phases of the evaluation process.
• Excellent management and leadership skills to coordinate and supervise the work of the evaluation team.
• Ability and commitment to provide ongoing capacity building, support, and guidance to a young or emerging evaluator and to create an enabling environment for meaningful participation.
• Experience working with a multidisciplinary team of experts, including young or emerging evaluators.
• Excellent analytical skills and demonstrated ability to formulate evidence-based conclusions and realistic and actionable recommendations.
• Excellent communication (written and spoken), facilitation, and knowledge-sharing skills.
• Good knowledge of the national development context of Gambia.
• Fluent in written and spoken English.

How to apply :

• Applicants with the required qualifications and experience stated above (Required expertise, qualifications, and competencies, including language requirements) should submit soft copies of their proposals to vacancy.gambia@unfpa.org no later than the 19th October 2020 at 5 pm (Banjul time).
• Only those candidates who meet all qualifications and experience will be contacted for further consideration. Incomplete applications will be automatically disqualified. 

Disclaimer: 

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