Team member and Human Rights and Gender Equality Expert

Evaluation of the Development Account COVID-19 Short Term Joint Project 2023X: Transport and trade connectivity in the age of pandemics will have achieved the following results:

* Assessed results and established the link between achievements and activities of the intervention
* Assessed the response delivery and external coordination based on the OIOS COVID-19 response evaluation protocol, including the extent of gender, human rights and disability mainstreaming;
* Identified good practices and lessons learned from the project that could feed into and enhance the implementation of related interventions.

Home work

28.11.22 - 31.07.23

This Terms of Reference (TOR) is for a consultant who will participate as an Evaluation Team Member and as Human Rights and Gender Equality (HRGE) Expert in an independent evaluation of Development Account COVID-19 Short-Term Joint Project 2023X: Transport and trade connectivity in the age of pandemics, which is jointly implemented by UNCTAD and five UN regional commissions respectively for Africa (ECA), Europe (ECE), Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and Western Asia (ESCWA).

This evaluation will constitute a terminal evaluation of the Project which started in May 2020 and ended in June 2022, covering all phases, clusters and activities. Terminal evaluations are mandatory for all Development Account-funded projects with a value above $1 million. The primary intended users of the evaluation are the management of the implementing entities. The evaluation will also provide accountability to project beneficiaries and member States. Furthermore, the evaluation will form a key input to the programme-level evaluation of the Development Account’s response to COVID-19 whose results will be presented to the General Assembly, through the biennial progress report on the implementation of the Development Account.

The main purpose of the evaluation will be to support accountability for results and to enable learning. The evaluation is expected to address the evaluation questions in the Terms of Reference for the evaluation, which falls under the following eight criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, coherence, gender, human rights and disability. In addition to assessing the mainstreaming of gender, human rights and disability perspectives in the design, implementation and monitoring of the Project, the evaluation will integrate these perspectives in the management of the evaluation, data collection and analysis, as well as the development of the evaluation report.

The evaluation will be a transparent and participatory process involving the Project’s implementing entities and key stakeholders. It will be conducted based on gender and human rights principles and adhere to the United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards for Evaluation.

The evaluation will apply a mixed-method design, including a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis to inform findings. The tentative methodology for the evaluation includes but not limited to: (1) A desk review of project documents; (2) Questionnaires (in appropriate languages) to relevant stakeholders in countries participating in a sample of project activities; (3) Interviews (including telephone, online or in-person) with key stakeholders; and (4) case study/ies.

The independent final project evaluation will be managed and coordinated by UNCTAD’s Independent Evaluation Unit, with the support of an Evaluation Advisory Committee (EAC) that comprises a representative from each of the evaluation units of the partner entities (ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA) and the Evaluation Officer with the Capacity Development Programme Management Office/DESA. The EAC primarily serves a quality assurance function and facilitates support to the Evaluation Team as necessary.

An Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) consisting of a representative from each UN partner entity (e.g., the DA Focal Point for each entity) and the DA-PMT will review and contribute inputs to key steps in this evaluation such as the TOR and draft final report.

The Project Coordination Team will facilitate the Evaluation Team’s access to relevant Project documentation and stakeholders; and lead the preparation of a response to the recommendations directed to the participating entities, including an implementation plan.

Under the supervision of the Chief of the Independent Evaluation Unit, the Evaluation Team Member and HRGE Expert is expected to participate in briefing and debriefing meetings, discussions, mission travels if applicable, and will contribute to the evaluation with written inputs for the draft and final report. More specifically, the Evaluation Team Member and HRGE Expert will assume the following responsibilities:

• Initial review of key Project documents (preliminary document review), including identifying gender equality, human rights and disability inclusion dimensions and issues for consideration;
• Preparation of an inception report with a finalized evaluation scope and focus, evaluation questions and methodology, including information on data sources, sampling and key indicators, stakeholder mapping/analysis, selection of case studies (possibly one case study per cluster), as well as survey design (possibly one survey per cluster). Where applicable, gender equality, human rights and disability inclusion considerations will be integrated in the evaluation scope of analysis; evaluation criteria and questions design; methods and tools, and data analysis techniques;
• Desk review of remaining Project documents;
• Data collection and analysis based on the finalized methodology which would be gender sensitive;
• Preparation of an evidence matrix presenting a summary of evidence collected through each data collection method by evaluation question;
• Development of a draft evaluation report, based on the template presented in Annex I of the Terms of Reference for the evaluation, for review by the Evaluation Manager, Project Coordination Team, the EAC and the ERG. The analysis of gender equality, human rights and disability inclusion dimensions and issues should be integrated in the report as an independent section and to the extent possible, these issues should be mainstreamed throughout the report, including in the evaluation findings, conclusions and recommendations;
• Revision/finalization of the evaluation report, including all annexes, based on comments received;
• Preparation of a 3-page summary of the evaluation report and a presentation (PPT) on key findings, conclusions and recommendations;
• Presentation of evaluation report and discussions with relevant stakeholders such as Project Coordination Team, DA focal points of participating entities and DA-PMT.

Advanced university degree (Master) in economics, international development, evaluation, or related field.
At least 10 years of experience in conducting evaluations, preferably on interventions in the areas of trade-related technical assistance and capacity building. Solid understanding of the UN context and the Sustainable Development Goals, Experience in conducting public policy and/or development evaluations. Ability to develop clear, realistic, feasible recommendations. Demonstrated experience in gender mainstreaming an a human rights-based approach is required. Experience in evaluating COVID-19 response projects is an advantage.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.