Evaluation Specialist, End of Project Evaluation for the ADVANCE Women Political Participation Project (WPP) in Nigeria- Home Based, Nigeria, National Consultant

Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.  UN Women supports the strengthening of women’s voice, agency, and leadership across sectors to advance their rights, provide space for their meaningful participation, and contribute to tangible differences in their lives. 

UN Women, under the overarching Strategic Note (SN) 2023-2027, focuses on four programmatic areas, namely, governance and public life, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women and girls, and women, peace and security and humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. UN Women’s work supports the Government’s national priorities which encompass the empowerment of women and girls, and their contribution to all areas of economic, political and social development. 

While Nigeria has ratified most international and regional instruments guaranteeing women’s equal rights, the government could further domesticate these instruments to promote women’s political participation. There has been limited political and public support for introducing gender progressive legislation and affirmative action principles to redress gender inequalities in politics in Nigeria. 

UN Women, placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts to build effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors. Further, in line with the UN General Assembly resolution on women’s political participation, UN Women promotes awareness and recognition of the importance of women’s participation in the political process at the state and national levels. It further addresses and counters the barriers faced by women in accessing and participating in politics and decision-making. UN Women works to promote representation of women in politics and positively portray women leaders.

Description of the Project

In partnership with the Government of Canada, UN Women implemented the “ADVANCE: WPP project (2022-2026)” aimed at achieving greater participation of women as political leaders. The project started in March 2022 and ends in April 2026 (evaluation year) with a budget of CAD $ 7,999,125/USD $ 6,348,512.

The project contributed to the achievement of UN Women SN 2023-2027 Impact Area 1: Governance and Participation in Public Life for women and is aligned with the global SP outcome 1. It contributes to the implementation of the UNSDCF (2023–2027) strategic priority area 4 that states that by 2027, more inclusive, participatory, transparent, and gender-sensitive governance, justice, and human rights systems are in place at all levels to promote acceleration in achievement of 2030 agenda and the SDGs for a peaceful, inclusive and cohesive society. Further, it is aligned with development priorities at global, regional and national levels specifically SDG 5 and 16; regional gender parity commitments of the African Union’s agenda 2063, the ECOWAS Supplementary Act on Equality of Rights between Women and Men for Sustainable Development; and the national goal of promoting women’s rights and gender equality which is central to the development agenda of Nigeria respectively.

UN Women works to make the vision of the SDGs a reality for women and girls, with one of its major priorities being women’s leadership and participation. This mandate is aligned with the Government of Canada’s priorities as demonstrated in its Feminist International Assistance Policy (2017). To address women’s low representation in political leadership and decision-making, UN Women implements interventions to mainstream gender equality in legislative reform processes and institutional arrangements. These interventions are targeted at spotlighting the achievements of Nigerian women leaders whilst strengthening their capacities for active political participation and leadership. Within this scope, UN Women works with women legislators, young women aspiring for political office, government institutions, including Federal and State Ministries of Women Affairs, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the National Institute for Democratic and Legislative Studies, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to promote representation of women in politics. UN Women also works closely with political parties and media to dismantle harmful stereotypes and party processes which have a negative impact on women political participation. In collaboration with women mediator groups and the women’s situation room, UN Women’s interventions further address violence against women in politics. Collectively, these interventions seek to shift public perception of women’s leadership and positively portray women leaders.

In cognizance of past and ongoing interventions in women political participation, UN Women works to respond to the issues identified to increase women political participation the ADVANCE WPP project built on the work of UN Women Nigeria to enhance women’s political participation through a combination of coordinated short- and long-term strategies. The short-term strategies sought to support legislative reforms and lift barriers that undermine women’s participation in decision-making and engaging male political leaders to champion gender-related issues and support more women leaders. In the long term, the project was designed to increase the capacities of women leaders, expand their resources and networks, and institutionalize gender-responsive policies and practices to create enabling environments for women leaders. Addressing both the short- and long-term priorities was expected to enhance women’s political participation. The four-year program (2022-2025) has carefully designed interventions according to the electoral cycle under three outcome areas of intervention:

• Legal Frameworks/Policies and Institutional Reform - with a view to influence gender-responsive legislations that will create an enabling environment for women aspiring for political offices.
• Women’s Participation and Leadership - through supporting capacity-building trainings for women candidates to boost their campaign strategies, including training and mentoring young women.
• Coordination among partners and engagement with key stakeholders - by building on the Working Group on Women’s Political Empowerment and engaging communities on advocacy for gender transformation as well as preventing violence among women in politics. 

Purpose and Use of the Evaluation

This is a decentralized xx project evaluation, commissioned by UN Women Nigeria and managed by the Country Office in line with the UN Women Evaluation Policy, Evaluation Handbook and UNEG Norms and Standards. It will assess the design, implementation and results of the ADVANCE WPP Project (March 2022 – April 2026) and generate evidence to inform future programming on women’s political participation in Nigeria.

This evaluation is a key component of project design and presents an opportunity to access the design of the project, its results and progress against objectives. The evaluation is expected to generate substantial evidence for informed future interventions informed by lessons learned and best practices. It should identify what worked, what needs to be improved, and what should be improved, including findings, challenges, lessons learnt, good practices, conclusions and recommendations that will support future programming and foster organizational learning, efficiency and accountability. It must employ relevant evaluation criteria including those of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, human rights, gender equality, connectedness, and sustainability.

The evaluation findings will be used to:

• Strategically plan and design a follow-on project to strengthen results of increasing women political participation.
• Sustain results and document learning in coordination with key stakeholders

Contribute to increased ownership and accountability of results. It will further inform the implementation of the Government National priorities, the United Nations Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), and refine the strategies towards the promotion of women in governance and public life. Ultimately, the results will be publicly available through the Global Accountability and tracking of Evaluation Use (GATE) system for learning.

Targeted Users of the Evaluation  

The main evaluation users include UN Women Country Office, Programme staff as well as the Government of Canada. Further, national stakeholders such as the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Federal and State Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Development, the National and State Houses of Assemblies, and key stakeholders including but not limited to Civil Society Organizations, media, donors, regional actors, and the UN system.

Scope of the Evaluation

The evaluation is expected to employ a transparent and participatory process involving relevant stakeholders and partners and will cover all aspects of the project implementation and the entire programme period from March 2022 to April 2026. It will apply a combination of portfolio analysis, desk reviews, online and onsite interviews, and surveys with relevant stakeholders, beneficiaries, partners, etc. in the 6 WPP States of Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Kaduna and Kwara and the FCT and will include field missions to these States. 

Objectives of the Evaluation 

The overall objective of the evaluation is to assess the extent to which the ADVANCE WPP project achieved the intended and/or unintended outcomes and provide an in-depth understanding of why certain intended or unintended outcomes were realized or not realized, analyze the challenges encountered, lessons learned, and document areas for future programming. It will consider the processes and nature of interventions to connect them with identified longer-term changes, to determine which elements work well and in which contexts, and which would be worth replicating or scaling up. In addition, it will assess the level of synergy and multiplying effect between the various activities implemented, and the extent of synergies and multiplier effects with other partners in the women political participation space. The evaluation will assess progress towards the achievement of results as specified in the logical framework of the project and the initial and potential impacts of the project. The evaluation will review the strategy and risks to sustainability as well as identify lessons learnt and best practices which could be applied to future and other on-going programmes. 

The evaluation will be guided by the standard OECD/DAC evaluation criteria as well as the UN Global Evaluation Reports Assessment and Analysis System (GERAAS) criteria of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, coherence/connectedness, and gender equality and human rights.

Expected Deliverables 

The Consultant is responsible for the following deliverables:

• Inception report: The consultant will present a refined scope and a detailed outline of the evaluation design and methodology, stakeholder mapping and stakeholder selection for data collection, a sampling strategy for more in-depth analysis of various aspects of the performance of the project as well as a strategy for collecting, analyzing and aggregating different sources of data. The report will include an evaluation matrix, finalization of the schedule for field visits and stakeholder interviews and detailed work plan. 
• Presentation of preliminary findings: A PowerPoint presentation detailing the emerging findings of the evaluation will be shared with the evaluation steering committee for feedback. The revised presentation will be delivered to the reference groups for comment and validation. The consultant will incorporate the feedback received into the draft report.
• Draft evaluation report: the first draft report which includes background, methodology, limitations, findings, conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations sections. 
• Final evaluation report: The final report will include a concise Executive Summary and annexes detailing the methodological approach/analytical products developed during the evaluation and a synthesis of findings from each field site visited. 
• All completed tools and datasets making up the different lines of evidence should be made available to the Regional Evaluation Specialists upon request (including field notes, transcribed highlights from interviews and focus group discussions, details from quantitative analysis).
• Evaluation communication products: A PowerPoint presentation of the final key evaluation findings and recommendations, and a 2-pager/infographic on the key findings, lessons learned and recommendations. 

Final evaluation report taking into consideration comments and feedback collected from UN Women. The report shall include the following chapters: executive summary, introduction and background, evaluation approach and methodology (including limitations), findings, conclusions, lessons learned, recommendations, and relevant annexes, including evaluation brief (3-4 pages). The final evaluation report will be considered finalized when it has taken into account all comments received from the management group and the reference group, and is aligned with the GERAAS parameters

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Sound expertise in gender equality and women’s empowerment, including women’s participation in public life.
• Relevant expertise in women’s political participation programming/evaluation.
• Broad knowledge of evaluation methodologies and tools.
• Good communication skills.
• Fluent in Microsoft word, excel, e-mail, web-based applications and databases. 
• Demonstrated leadership and personal examples of promoting knowledge management and a professional learning environment.
• Outstanding networking, team building, organizational and communication skills. 
• Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, donors and civil society. 
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds.
• Ability to produce well-written documents, demonstrating excellent interpersonal communication skills.

Education

Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Education-related fields, Political Science, Sociology, International Relations, or relevant field and/or equivalent practical experience.

Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment, as well as in projects/programme evaluations.
• Substantive knowledge of and experience in women’s participation in public life and women’s leadership generally. 
• Experience working and communicating in a multicultural environment.
• Demonstrated capacity to draft and produce well-written, clear reports for effective understanding.
• Experience with UN organizations and programmes, including those related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and gender equality is an asset.

Language

Fluency in oral and written English is required. 

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.