Vacancy Announcement Details

Consultant - Evaluator (Independent Evaluation) | UNITAR

OVERVIEW:

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a principal training arm of the United Nations, with the aim to increase the effectiveness of the United Nations in achieving its major objectives through training and research. UNITAR’s mission is to develop the individual, institutional, and organizational capacity of countries and other United Nations stakeholders through high-quality learning solutions and related knowledge products and services to enhance decision-making and to support country-level action for overcoming global challenges.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 20 January 2020, and later a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As of 5 April 2021, more than 131 million cases have been confirmed, with more than 2.85 million deaths attributed to COVID-19, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the world for more than a year, bringing about economic and social upheavals, without mentioning the health consequences, suffering and losses that so many people around the world have had to endure. The pandemic has not only led to illness and death, but also influenced the way of living, working and learning following many government preventive measures and lockdowns, amongst others. Like most organizations, COVID-19 affected UNITAR’s work in early 2020 since much of its programming is delivered in the field and particularly in developing countries. Moreover, the pandemic’s onset came just several months after the Board of Trustees adopted the Institute’s largest budget in history, at $88.28 million (an increase in 59 per cent over the previous biennium budget). By leveraging its virtual learning environment, mobile learning and other available information technology (IT) tools, UNITAR was able to maintain business continuity with a large number of planned in-person training activities converted to online delivery. In fact, in 2020, more than 70 per cent of the Institute’s 896 events were delivered online, as compared to 38 per cent in 2019.

In addition to ensuring business continuity of planned programming, UNITAR broadened its portfolio to increase awareness and develop knowledge on matters related to the COVID-19 crisis. During 2020, at least 59 unprogrammed training activities dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic in one dimension or another.

Simultaneously, in 2020, overall beneficiary outreach grew to 322,410 individuals, representing an increase by 142 per cent from the 2019 figure of 133,421. UNITAR significantly improved its outreach in 2020 to female learning-related beneficiaries and reversed the male-female gender ratio from previous years, with now 44 per cent male to 51 per cent female benefitting from UNITAR training and related services (and 5 per cent recorded as other genders) benefitting from UNITAR training and related services.

Over the past several months, many organizations around the world, including those in the United Nations system, have seized the COVID-19 context to better understand how the pandemic has affected activities and results and what measures can be adopted to “build back better.” UNITAR’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is relevant to the full set of the organization’s strategic objectives and results. It is particularly important for UNITAR’s ability to contribute to fulfilling its mission, both in the immediate and the longer term. As such, a corporate-level evaluation could provide much opportunity for insight and learning at this important crossroad.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE CONTRACT:

The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency and likelihood of impact and sustainability of UNITAR’s programming response to the COVID-19 pandemic; to identify any problems or challenges that programming has encountered; to issue recommendations, and to identify lessons to be learned on the programming design, implementation and management. Moreover, the evaluation should identify good practices and lessons that can be shared for preparedness and application in future emergencies, including a focus on innovation and scalable adaptive solutions. Apart from providing findings and conclusions in response to the key evaluation questions, the evaluation’s primary purpose is to provide and recommendations and lessons learned to contribute to the programming improvements and broader organization learning. The evaluation should not only assess how well UNITAR’s programming has adjusted and performed, but also seek to answer the ‘why ‘question by identifying factors contributing to (or inhibiting) successful delivery of the results. 

The evaluation will look at whether, how and/or to what extent UNITAR built on or departed from its previous (pre-COVID-19) activities and ways of delivery; assess whether a strategic/institutional shift has taken place; and, if so, what are the consequences for current and future work.

More information can be found in the terms of references (Annex 1).

RESPONSIBILITIES/DESCRIPTION OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:

The consultant shall undertake a desk review based on the related documents including analytical reports; collect data using appropriate tools, including surveys, interviews and focus groups; analyze data using quantitative and qualitative methods as appropriate to the evaluation questions; and submit deliverables in accordance with the below schedule.

MEASURABLE OUTPUTS/DELIVERABLES/INDICATIVE SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES:

• Initial data collection, including desk review, stakeholder analysis, synthesis evaluation
• Evaluation design/ question matrix
• Data collection and analysis, including survey(s), interviews, focus groups
• Zero draft evaluation including case studies
• Draft evaluation including case studies
• Final evaluation including case studies
• Presentation of findings

Deliverables:

1. Deliverable: Evaluation design/question matrix

    

   1. From: Evaluator
   2. To: Evaluation manager
   3. Deadline*: 14 June 2021
2. Deliverable: Comments on evaluation design/question matrix
   1. From: Evaluation manager
   2. To: Evaluator
   3. Deadline*: 28 June 2021
3. Deliverable: Zero draft report
   1. From: Evaluator
   2. To: Evaluation manager
   3. Deadline*: 1 October 2021
4. Deliverable: Comments on zero draft
   1. From: Evaluation manager
   2. To: Evaluator
   3. Deadline*: 8 October 2021
5. Deliverable: Draft report
   1. From: Evaluator
   2. To: Evaluation manager
   3. Deadline*: 15 October 2021
6. Deliverable: Comments on draft report
   1. From: Programme Management
   2. To: Evaluation manager
   3. Deadline*: 29 October 2021
7. Deliverable: Final report
   1. From: Evaluator
   2. To: Evaluation manager
   3. Deadline*: 6 November 2021
8. Deliverable: Presentation of the evaluation findings, recommendations and lessons learned
   1. From: Evaluator/evaluation manager
   2. To: Programme Management
   3. Deadline*: 6 November 2021

* To be adjusted depending on the contract signature and to be agreed upon with the Evaluation Manager.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF RESULTS:

The performance indicators for evaluation of results for this assignment are the following:

• Timely submission of deliverables;
• Satisfactory quality of the evaluation report.

REPORTING STRUCTURE:

The evaluation will be undertaken by an international consultant under the overall responsibility of the Manager, Planning, Performance Monitoring, and Evaluation Unit (PPME), UNITAR.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Qualifications:

• MA degree or equivalent in development or a related discipline. Knowledge and experience in evaluating training, including in areas related to broader development cooperation undertakings.
• At least 7 years of professional experience conducting evaluation in the field of training/capacity building and preferably experience undertaking COVID-19 response evaluations.
• Knowledge of the OECD DAC Criteria, the United Nations Norms and Standards for Evaluation and Ethical Guidelines for Evaluation.
• Knowledge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and awareness of other outcomes of 2015 international conferences.
• Field work experience in developing countries.
• Excellent research and analytical skills, including experience in a variety of evaluation methods and approaches. Experience in evaluation using Kirkpatrick/Phillips or similar method for evaluating training is an advantage.
• Excellent writing skills.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Cross-cultural awareness and flexibility.

Languages:

• Fluency in oral and written English.

REMARKS:

General conditions of contracts for the service of consultants apply. Before initiating the assignment, the consultant shall sign the Evaluation Consultant Code of Conduct and Agreement Form (part of Annex 1).

Interested applicants who have worked for any of the UNITAR projects or who may have a conflict of interest are not eligible for the assignment.

Due to the high number of expected applications, UNITAR will only contact shortlisted applicants.

HOW TO APPLY

Send a letter of motivation and Curriculum Vitae to evaluation@unitar.org with the following subject line: “Independent Evaluation of UNITAR programme response to COVID-19”.