Local Consultant/Evaluator

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 and builds on the work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system that focused 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 Georgia Country Office specifically provides technical support to state and non-state partners to achieve substantive gender equality in Georgia, focusing on policies, legislation, institutions, and grassroots initiatives. The office emphasizes gender mainstreaming in governance reforms, enhancing women's political participation, ending violence against women, and promoting women's economic empowerment. The organization is involved in various projects, including the recently launched “Gender Equality for Georgia” (GE4G) project, which aims to address gender equality gaps in the country.

Job Overview:
The Local Consultant/Evaluator will play a crucial role in the final evaluation of the GE4G project, which aims to advance Georgia's efforts in addressing gender equality gaps. The consultant will support the International Consultant/Evaluator in drafting inception reports, conducting interviews with key stakeholders, and analyzing data. The evaluation will assess the progress made towards achieving the project's targets, analyze results and challenges, and provide actionable recommendations. The consultant will be responsible for ensuring that the evaluation process is consultative, inclusive, and participatory, involving project beneficiaries and stakeholders. The evaluation will focus on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and human rights approach of the project, ensuring alignment with international agreements and conventions on gender equality and women's empowerment. The consultant will also contribute to building an evidence base on effective strategies for women's empowerment and ending violence against women and girls.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Local Consultant will be responsible for supporting the International Consultant in various tasks, including:

• Drafting inception reports that outline the scope, methodologies, evaluation questions, and work plans for the evaluation.
• Providing insights into the local context, including legislation and policy frameworks relevant to gender equality and women's empowerment.
• Conducting interviews with key stakeholders to collect and analyze data.
• Preparing and finalizing PowerPoint presentations of preliminary findings to share with the Management Group for feedback.
• Developing draft evaluation reports that incorporate feedback from the Management Group and ensure factual accuracy.
• Finalizing evaluation reports based on comments and feedback from UN Women and UNFPA, ensuring comprehensive coverage of findings, conclusions, lessons learned, and recommendations.
• Ensuring compliance with ethical guidelines and safeguarding the rights and confidentiality of information providers and stakeholders throughout the evaluation process.

Required Qualifications:
The position requires a higher university degree (at least a Master’s) in social sciences, gender studies, political science, health, development studies, or a related field. Alternatively, a Bachelor’s degree in these fields with at least two years of relevant work experience may be considered. The consultant should have at least five years of work experience in gender equality, violence against women/domestic violence, and women's empowerment in Georgia, along with experience in monitoring and evaluation of projects and programs. Experience in conducting similar evaluations is also required. The consultant should demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement, risk management, partnership building, resilience, and negotiation skills.

Educational Background:
Candidates must possess a higher university degree (Master’s) in relevant fields such as social sciences, gender studies, political science, health, or development studies. A Bachelor’s degree in these areas may be acceptable if accompanied by significant relevant work experience, specifically two years of experience for each year of education not completed. This educational background is essential to ensure the consultant has the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge to effectively evaluate the GE4G project.

Experience:
The position requires a minimum of five years of relevant work experience for candidates with a Master’s degree, or seven years for those with a Bachelor’s degree. This experience should be in the fields of gender equality, violence against women/domestic violence, and women's empowerment, specifically within the context of Georgia. Additionally, candidates should have substantial experience in monitoring and evaluation of projects and programs, as well as prior experience in conducting evaluations similar to the one required for the GE4G project.

Languages:
Fluency in English and Georgian is mandatory for this position. Proficiency in these languages is essential for effective communication with stakeholders, conducting interviews, and preparing evaluation reports. Knowledge of additional languages may be considered an asset but is not required.

Additional Notes:
The evaluation will be a consultative and participatory process, ensuring the involvement of project beneficiaries. The Local Consultant will work under the supervision of UN Women and UNFPA, collaborating closely with the Task Manager. The evaluation process will adhere to UNFPA’s Evaluation Policies and the United Nations Evaluation Group Ethical Guidelines. The consultant will be required to travel as part of the evaluation process, with travel costs covered separately according to UN Women’s travel policy. The deliverables include a desk review, inception report, interviews with stakeholders, preliminary findings presentation, draft evaluation report, and final evaluation report.