Evaluation Consultant

Job Posting Organization:
UN Women, established in July 2010, is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. It was created as part of the UN reform agenda to consolidate resources and mandates for greater impact on gender equality and women's empowerment. UN Women merges the work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, focusing exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment. The organization operates globally, with a mission to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, empower women, and achieve equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #007bff !important;">security. UN Women has a significant presence in Sudan, working closely with the local women's movement and various stakeholders to promote women's rights and gender equality, particularly in the context of the ongoing socio-political changes in the country.

Job Overview:
The position of Evaluation Consultant involves assessing the overall performance and results of the Sida-supported programme implemented by UN Women Sudan Country Office from 2019 to date. The consultant will evaluate the programme's relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, impact, and sustainability. This role is crucial in generating evidence-based findings that will inform accountability, learning, and future programming. The evaluation aims to identify strengths, gaps, lessons learned, and good practices while providing actionable recommendations to enhance programme implementation and strategic positioning. The consultant will engage with key stakeholders, including implementing partners, beneficiaries, government institutions, and relevant UN agencies, ensuring a participatory and inclusive evaluation process. The evaluation will cover various components of the programme, focusing on its contributions to advancing gender equality, women's empowerment, and peacebuilding in Sudan, particularly in light of the evolving socio-political context.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Evaluation Consultant will be responsible for conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the Sida-supported programme. Key duties include:

• Inception Phase: Conducting a desk review of relevant programme and contextual documents, developing an inception report outlining the evaluation methodology, evaluation matrix, data collection tools, stakeholder mapping, and work plan.
• Data Collection: Engaging in key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), document reviews, and field visits where feasible. The consultant will gather data from various stakeholders, including programme beneficiaries, implementing partners, government counterparts, civil society organizations, donors, and UN agencies.
• Data Analysis and Reporting: Analyzing and triangulating collected data to assess programme performance and results. The consultant will identify key findings, lessons learned, and evidence-based recommendations, preparing draft and final evaluation reports in line with UN Women GERAAS standards.
• Validation and Dissemination: Facilitating validation workshops to present preliminary findings and gather stakeholder feedback. The consultant will also prepare a dissemination package summarizing key findings, lessons learned, and recommendations.
• Ethical Standards: Ensuring that the evaluation adheres to strict ethical standards, including informed consent, confidentiality, and the principle of 'do no harm,' particularly concerning vulnerable groups.

Required Qualifications:
The position requires a Master's degree in gender studies, sociology, international development, statistics, welfare economics, economics, or related fields in social science with formal research skills. Candidates should have at least seven years of progressive experience in conducting evaluations as team leaders internationally and designing evaluation frameworks. Professional training in Monitoring and Evaluation and Result-Based Management is considered an asset. High proficiency in English and Arabic is mandatory, along with extensive knowledge of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods. Proven knowledge of UN Women's role and programming at the regional and country level is essential, and country or regional experience in Sudan will be considered a strong asset. Any relevant thematic expertise in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment will also be viewed favorably.

Educational Background:
Candidates must possess a Master's degree in gender studies, sociology, international development, statistics, welfare economics, economics, or related fields in social science. This educational background should include formal research skills that are essential for conducting evaluations effectively.

Experience:
The position requires at least seven years of progressive experience in conducting evaluations as team leaders internationally. Candidates should have a strong background in designing evaluation frameworks and methodologies, with a proven track record of delivering high-quality evaluation reports.

Languages:
High proficiency in English and Arabic is mandatory for this position. Knowledge of additional languages may be considered an asset but is not explicitly required.

Additional Notes:
The evaluation will be conducted over 45 working days within a four-month period from the signing of the consultancy contract. The evaluation process will be structured into five phases: preparation, inception, data collection, data analysis and reporting, and dissemination and follow-up. The evaluation will adopt a formative, gender-responsive approach using a mixed-methods design, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of programme performance in a complex and evolving context. The evaluation will be consultative, inclusive, and participatory, involving key stakeholders throughout the process. The final evaluation report will be publicly disclosed on the UN Women Global Accountability and Tracking of Evaluation Use (GATE) System.