Closing date: Tuesday, 15 August 2023

National Consultant to support the Final Evaluation of the Project Safeguarding Women and Girls in Serbia (SWGS)

Location : Belgrade, SERBIA

Application Deadline : 15-Aug-23 (Midnight New York, USA)

Type of Contract : Individual Contract

Post Level : National Consultant

Languages Required : English

Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)

01-Sep-2023

Duration of Initial Contract : Up to 30 working days over the period 1 September 2023 – 20 December 2023

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

I. Background of the project

UN Women is the lead agency within the UN system on gender equality and women’s empowerment, mandated to promote, and coordinate efforts to advance the full realization of women’s rights and opportunities. UN Women brings global technical expertise in gender equality and women’s empowerment, and links local and regional interventions with global best practices, including work on the Sustainable Development Goals. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, the UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action globally. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The Republic of Serbia is a signatory to a number of important international treaties, which guarantee the equality of men and women and prohibit gender-based discrimination, most notably the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Istanbul Convention. National commitments on gender equality are in place, such as the National Strategy and Action Plan for Gender Equality and the Gender Equality Law. Despite the existing legal and policy framework, gender inequalities are prominent in Serbia and present in all spheres of life, in access to resources, in participation to decision-making processes and in interpersonal relations.

Through its programmes and projects, UN Women is providing technical assistance to national partners (governmental and non-governmental) in the implementation of existing international and national commitments to women’s rights and gender equality, it facilitates networking and exchange of good practices and advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in all areas of life.

UN Women Programme Office in Serbia works towards selected development results in the framework of several projects to effectively coordinate and promote accountability for the implementation of gender equality commitments and advancing protection of women from gender-based violence in Serbia. UN Women places a special focus on the position of vulnerable groups of women and is investing efforts in advocacy for their rights. Many great results have been achieved related to gender responsive budgeting, combating violence against women and strengthening mechanisms for gender equality and gendered urban planing.

UN Women in Serbia is implementing a Project “Safeguarding Women and Girls in Serbia” (abbreviated – SWGS), started in October 2021, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Dev.Off. The Project supports transformation of practices of both national and local-level authorities and stakeholders to be more responsive to violence against women and girls, including in public spaces, and to apply internationally validated tools and practices to better address violence against women and girls. UN Women Serbia is implementing the Project, in close cooperation with the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, local self-governments and other partner institutions and women’s organizations’.

2. Description of the programme/project

2.1. Project strategy and key objectives

The project is based on an understanding that the lack of public illumination manifestly expressing it-self in streets, parks, alleys, and elevators (and to which violence in public spaces may, inter alia, be largely attributed to), goes hand in hand with one and the same lack of the metaphorical ‘public illumination’ at homes. The project aims to address several issues: violence in public spaces and response of public authorities, understanding of violence in public spaces against women as form of gender-based violence; and also to improve performance of shelters as specialized service provided to women in situation of violence.

Overall objective of the project is to support the Government of Republic of Serbia to comply with national and international gender equality commitments and EU Gender Equality Acquis.

The specific objective is to transform national and local-level authorities and stakeholders to be more responsive to violence against women and girls, including in public spaces, and to apply internationally validated tools and practices to better address violence against women and girls.

The project will focus on the following key outcomes: Outcome 1: National-level authorities adopt measures to prevent and respond to gender-based violence against women and girls, in public and private space

Outcome 2: Local-level authorities and stakeholders use this action to apply internationally validated tools and practices to better address violence against women and girls, including in public spaces

Outcome 3: Shelters for survivors of domestic and GBV equal accessibility to all women and girls exposed to violence, improved performance and work with increased capacity is facilitated

Under the Outcome 1, to enable National-level authorities to adopt measures to prevent and respond to gender-based violence against women and girls in public and private space a national survey on violence against women and girls in public spaces has been prepared. National survey shined light on the fact that women feel unsafe both during the day and at night, but this feeling is especially pronounced at night with 30.1% more women feeling unsafe at night. Rape is the most common form of criminality feared by women with 45.5% of women being either afraid of very afraid of rape, closely followed by fear of attempt of rape 43,2%, fear of sexual harassment 42,9% and fear of attack by weapons. Unlit and remote streets are considered unsafe the most by as much as 71,7% of women and girls, parks and densely wooded parts of the city/village are second most unsafe places accessed by 46,8% of women, followed by places around clubs/bars/ places selling alcohol/narcotics (28,7%), walkways/joggings paths (17.4%) and public transport stops (13.1%). As many as 9.2% of women in the sample experienced attempted rape or rape. Survey showed that women do not trust either the state or the local institutions, as much as 71% of women who experienced violence in a public space did not report the violence to the police.

Based on the recommendations from the National survey and identified areas of concern five future search workshops encompassing all relevant stakeholders are being planned to develop plan of action for evidence-based responsiveness measures development and adoption. These workshops will bring together diverse stakeholders from relevant fields including but not limited to line ministries, local self-government, police, urban planners, communal utility companies, academia, and local civil society organizations. By conveying the “whole system” in the room the full endorsement and ownership by the stakeholders of the proposed interventions will be ensured.

Under the Outcome 2: as a crucial segment for the project intervention on local level was Women’s Safety Audit (WSAT) tool that was developed and tailored for the concrete Serbian conditions. WSAT tool consists of several elements: Guide to assessment of safety women in public space and selection of improvement, Manual for strengthening capacities of local self- government units and women CSOs on adaptation of WSAT, detailed checklist and recommendations needed for the successful planning of women safety walk. Based on the mapping exercise five cities were selected to take part in the project activities namely Sombor, Kragujevac, Krusevac, Novi Pazar and Nis. Two-day training was organized and 30 officials from the selected cities were enabled to understand the importance of gendered approach to urban planing and overall approach to public safety with consideration for the different need of the women and girls. During September 2022 a series of five Women Safety Walks have been organized in selected municipalities with 50 participants from diverse sectors including representatives of local mechanisms for gender equality, departments for economic development, urban planning, health and social protection institutions, police, non- governmental organizations, labor inspection, national employment service, local communal companies in charge of maintaining public areas, as well as the media.

Based on the findings of the Women Safety Walks overall report with recommendations on the ways to improve safety on women and girls in public spaces both generally and in regards of locations that were surveyed in the Women Safety Walks was developed and presented to the public and participants of the walks providing each participating city with clear guidelines how to improve the overall safety of women.

To implement some of the activities identified as critical for safety of women and girls in public spaces in cities that underwent through women safety audit these participating cities and five CSO were awarded grants.

Under the Outcome 3, to enable implementation of GREVIO recommendations and CoE standards on the funding, licensing and standardization of practices within the shelters in Serbia, the project developed analytical study on needs, capacities and funds for stable, long-term and continuous functioning of specialized service of Safe houses in Serbia. Recommendations of the study provide guidance on how to set up a model shelter that fulfils necessary quality standards.

Main finding of the study indicates lack insufficient accommodation capacities of Safe Houses in Serbia that are 74% lower than the Council of Europe’s standard, lack of geographically adequate distribution and lack of accessibility for women with disabilities. Local self-governments do not allocate adequate funds to finance services intended for women victims of gender-based violence, which affects the sustainability and availability of services, as well as the achievement of appropriate quality standards. Possibility for several municipalities to form Safe House is not utilized even though this is a possible method for enhancement of sustainability by pooling resources. Further to this there is lack of competent staff trained to work with victims of GBV working in Safe Houses.

To further enable implementation of GREVIO recommendations and CoE standards for the work of Safe Hoses two CSOs have been awarded grant on behalf of all eleven functioning safe houses. Project is providing Safe Houses with opportunity to increase their capacities through detailed assessment of needs among shelters, followed by technical assistance for preparation of missing rulebooks, development plans, specialized programs, security standards and organization of trainings for service providers. Small scale purchase of necessary materials to facilitate implementation of programs and improvement of qualitative standards of services is provided as well as small-scale local visibility campaign.

Thirty professional specialized social service providers from safe houses, CSWs, and CSOs increased their knowledge and professional capabilities on the issues of adequate response to the stalking, sexual harassment, and other VAGW forms outside of ‘typical’ domestic violence both in context of labor and public spaces.

2.2. Project beneficiaries and stakeholders

Direct beneficiaries include the following: (Outcome 1) The Coordination Body for Gender Equality as the permanent Government body mandated to ensure the coordination of Government actions in gender equality. Ministry of labor, employment, veteran and social affairs as line ministry in charge of strategical and normative framework for social services.

(Outcome 2) Five local self-government units (Kragujevac, Krusevac, Nis, Novi Pazar and Sombor) who are beneficiaries of both granting scheme and capacity building activities. Civil society organizations participating in roll-out of WSAT and recipients of granting scheme.

(Outcome 3) All eleven functioning Safe Houses in Serbia who will receive support through grants implemented by two women’s civil society organizations.

Indirect beneficiaries include women benefiting from the actions of the cities and women’s civil society organizations on public safety; Women and girls victims of GBV who benefit from increased capacities of safe houses; women and men reached with campaigns on public safety of women and girls;

2.3. Project budget, geographical scope and timeframe

The SGWG project is two-year project implemented in the Republic of Serbia from 21 of October 2021 until 21 January 2024. Total project budget is GBP 593,901 contributed by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the United Kingdom.

2.4. Project Management

Operational Management

UN Women implement the project in close cooperation with the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, local self-governments and other partner institutions and women’s organizations.

UN Women have the overall responsibility for managing the implementation of the project. The project is managed by the project team and supported by the technical experts in various areas. The SWGS Team members includes: Project Manager, Programme Management Specialist/ Head of Office, Assistant for providing financial support, Project Assistant and Communication Officer.

3. Evaluation Purpose and Use

3.1. Evaluation scope

The final evaluation of the project will be conducted at the end of project implementation and will cover the entire duration of the project from 21 October 2021 until 21 January 2024. The evaluation is scheduled between September and December 2023.

The evaluation includes a data collection mission to Belgrade.

The evaluation shall cover all aspects of the project, and broadly allocate resources (time) in relation to the relative expenditure between the various project components.

3.2. Evaluation purpose

A final project evaluation will be conducted with a special focus on lessons learnt both from programmatic and coordination perspectives. The main purpose of this final evaluation is to assess the programmatic progress and performance of the above-described intervention from the point of view of relevance, effectiveness, impact, organizational efficiency and sustainability. The evaluation will not be able to fully assess the project performance, as some activities are still ongoing; however, it will address the following questions with the results and evidence that is available to date.

The findings of the evaluation will contribute to effective programming, organizational learning and accountability. The findings of the evaluation will moreover be used to engage policy makers and other stakeholders at national and local levels in evidence-based dialogues and to advocate for gender-responsive urban planing on national and local level and to influence change in operational models of Safe Houses. The evaluation should also provide specific recommendations as to the priority areas that should be considered in next projects implemented by UN Women Serbia office, including interventions that require continued support, successful interventions for expansion, and recommendations on prioritizing interventions to maximize impact. It should also define recommendations to improve project management structure.

The evaluation will follow a participatory approach that will include a twofold management structure were all key partners will be represented and additional consultation with key stakeholders, governmental representatives from relevant ministries and national institutions, with civil society representatives and active women’s groups as well as key donor partners.

3.3. Evaluation objectives

The specific evaluation objectives include:

Analyze the relevance of the project objectives, strategy and approach at the local and national levels including increased responsiveness to the violence against women and girls in public spaces and capacity development of the functioning safe houses in Serbia.
Assess effectiveness and a potential measurable impact of the project intervention on the target group across all three outcomes.
Assess the sustainability of the results and the intervention in ensuring prevention and protection from violence against women and girls in the target group.
Analyze how human rights-based approach and gender equality principles are integrated in the project implementation.
Asses how the intervention and its results relate and contribute to the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals.
Identify and document lessons learned, good practices and innovations, success stories and challenges within the project.
Identify strategies for replication and up-scaling of the project’s best practices.

4. Evaluation Management Structure

Evaluation Management Group

An Evaluation Management Group (EMG) will be conformed and will be the main decision- making body for the evaluation and is composed of UN Women project team members, UN Women Serbia Head of Office, and UN Women ECA RO Evaluation Specialist. The EMG will be responsible for the overall management of the evaluation and will oversee the day to day business of the evaluation and communication with the Evaluation Team. UN Women Serbia representative will be responsible for day-to-day management of the evaluation and the coordination for the field visits, including logistical support.

Evaluation Reference Group

An Evaluation Reference Group (ERG) will be established to ensure that the evaluation approach is relevant to stakeholders, and to make certain that factual errors or errors of omission or interpretation are identified in evaluation products. The reference group will provide input at key stages of the evaluation: inception report; draft and final reports. The ERG will be composed of Coordination Body for Gender Equality, Ministry of Labor, Employment Social and Veteran Affairs, British Embassy in Belgrade, and women CSOs representative. The ERG will be consulted on key aspects of the evaluation process. The group will be composed to ensure that all relevant stakeholders’ groups and perspectives are represented, including from CSOs.

Duties and Responsibilities

5. Evaluation Approach, Methodology Criteria and Questions

The evaluation will assess progress and challenges for each of the three outcomes, with measurement of the specific results achievements and gaps and how and to what extent these have affected overall progress. It will consist of a desk review, in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, such as the Coordination Body for Gender Equality, Ministry of Labor, Employment Social and Veteran Affairs and women`s CSOs involved in project implementation or addressing the needs and representing the interests of specific groups of women, such as Roma women, rural women, women with disabilities etc.

The evaluation will be a transparent and participatory process involving relevant stakeholders and partners in Serbia. The evaluation will follow gender equality and human rights principles, as defined in the UN Women Evaluation Policy1 and adhere to the United Nations norms and standards for evaluation in the United Nations system2. The evaluation methodology will employ mixed methods. A more detailed evaluation methodology will be proposed and agreed with the evaluation team and will be presented in the evaluation inception report.

The evaluation is a final project evaluation and both a summative approach focusing on capturing the lessons learned during the implementation and assessing the achievement of the results at output and outcome levels, as well as a formative, forward-looking approach assessing the applicability of the results will be employed. The evaluation methodology will furthermore follow a ToC approach and employ mixed methods including quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and analytical approaches to account for complexity of gender relations and to ensure participatory and inclusive processes that are culturally appropriate. Methods may include but are not limited to:

Desk review of relevant documents such as project documents, progress reports, financial records, meeting minutes and monitoring reports, and secondary data or studies relating to the country context and situation analysis.
Online consultations and discussions with the senior management and project management staff.
Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, surveys with direct and indirect beneficiaries, implementing partners, donor and other stakeholders.
Field visits to and observation at selected project sites.

Data from different research sources will be triangulated to increase its validity. The proposed approach and methodology have to be considered as flexible guidelines rather than final requirements, and the evaluators will have an opportunity to make their inputs and propose changes in the evaluation design. The methodology and approach should, however, incorporate human rights and gender equality perspectives. It is expected that the Evaluation Team will further refine the approach and methodology and submit a detailed description in the inception report.

The evaluation will include Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Sustainability and Impact criteria. More specifically, the evaluation will address the following evaluation questions that will be further refined once the evaluation team is recruited3: Relevance:

To what extent was the design of the intervention and its results relevant to the needs and priorities of the beneficiaries? Was the choice of interventions relevant to the situation of the target group?
To what extent key national partners were involved in programme’s conceptualization and design process?
To what extent has gender and human rights principles and strategies been integrated into the project design and implementation?
To what extent is the intervention aligned with international agreements and conventions on gender equality and combating violence against women and girls?
To what extent was the design of the intervention relevant to gender equality and EVAW priorities in the country?
What are the needs and priorities of the women in Serbia?
To what extent project contributed to achieving nationalized Sustainable Development Goals?

Coherence: Internal coherence:

To what extent does the project fit within UN Women’s Strategic Plan and interrelated threefold mandate?
Are there any synergies and inter-linkages between the project and other interventions of UN Women?

External coherence:

To what extent is the intervention consistent with the national development strategies in the area of gender equality, elimination of violence against women and girls, urban planing and development in context of gendered and reflect national priorities and commitments on GE and EVAW?
How does project reflect and align with national strategic plans and normative frameworks and Serbia` international obligations and commitments in the field of gender equality and elimination of violence against women and girls?
To what extent the project is in complementarity, harmonized and coordinated with the interventions of other actors’ interventions in the same context?
To what extend the implementation of the project ensures synergies and coordination with the key partners relevant efforts while avoiding duplications?
To what extent are the interventions achieving synergies with the work of the UN Country Team?
What is UN Women’s comparative advantage in Serbia to implement this project?
To what extent is project aligned with the UN Development Partnership Frameworks and nationalized SDGs?

Effectiveness:

To what extent have the expected results of the project been achieved on both outcome and output levels?
What are the reasons for the achievement or non-achievement of the project results? Has project achieved any unforeseen results, either positive or negative? For whom? What are the good practices and the obstacles or shortcomings encountered? How were they overcome?
How effective have the selected programme strategies and approaches been in achieving programme results?
How well did the intervention succeed in involving and building the capacities of the project partners and beneficiaries?
To what extent are the programme approaches and strategies are innovative for achieving EVAW in Serbia? What -if any- types of innovative good practices have been introduced in the programme for the achievement of EVAW results?
To what extent the project improved communication, coordination and information exchange within Community of practice of Safe Houses in Serbia?
Is there a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities by all parties involved?

Efficiency:

Have resources (financial, human, technical support, etc.) been allocated strategically to achieve the project outcomes?
Has there been effective leadership and management of the project including the structuring of management and administration roles to maximize results? Where does accountability lie?
Have the outputs been delivered in a timely manner?
To what extent are the project monitoring mechanisms in place effective for measuring and informing management of project performance and progress towards targets? To what extent was the monitoring data objectively used for management action and decision making?
Were there any constraints (e.g. political, practical, bureaucratic) identified in the implementation of the different actions and what level of effort was made to overcome these challenges?

Sustainability:

What is the likelihood that the benefits from the project will be maintained for a reasonably long period of time after the project phase out?
To what extent the intervention succeeded in building individual and institutional capacities of rights-holders and duty-bearers to ensure sustainability of benefits and more inclusive practices to local urban development and stable capacities of safe houses?
How effectively has the project generated national ownership of the results achieved, the establishment of partnerships with relevant stakeholders and the development of national capacities to ensure sustainability of efforts and benefits?
What steps were taken to develop and/or reinforce the operating capacities of national partners during the implementation of the programme?
To what extent has the project been able to promote replication and/or up-scaling of successful practices?
To what extent has the exit strategy been well planned and successfully implemented?
How effectively has project contributed to the establishment of effective partnerships and development of national capacities?

Considering the mandates to incorporate human rights and gender equality in all UN work and the UN Women Evaluation Policy, which promotes the integration of women’s rights and gender equality principles into evaluation, these dimensions will require special attention for this evaluation and will be considered under each evaluation criterion.

It is expected that the evaluation team will develop an evaluation matrix, which will relate to the above questions (and refine them as needed), the areas they refer to, the criteria for evaluating them, the indicators and the means for verification as a tool for the evaluation. Final evaluation matrix will be approved in the evaluation inception report.

6. Evaluation Process, duties and responsibilities of the Evaluation Team

6.1. Evaluation process

The evaluation process is divided in five phases:

Preparation, mainly devoted to structuring the evaluation approach, preparing the TOR, compiling programme documentation, and hiring the evaluation company;
Inception, which will involve consultations between the evaluation team and the EMG, programme portfolio review, finalization of stakeholder mapping, inception meetings with the ERG, review of the result logics, analysis of information relevant to the initiative, finalization of evaluation methodology and preparation and validation of inception report;
Data collection and analysis, including in-depth desk research, in-depth review of the project documents and monitoring frameworks, online interviews as necessary, staff and partner survey/s, and field visits;
Data analysis and reporting stage, focusing on data analyzed, interpretation of findings and drafting and validation of an evaluation report; and
Dissemination, follow-up and use, once the evaluation is completed UN Women is responsible for the development of a Management Response, publishing of the evaluation report, uploading the published report on the GATE website, and the dissemination of evaluation findings.

The outline above corresponds to the entire evaluation process from preparation, to conduct, reporting and follow up and use. The evaluation team will only be responsible for the inception, data collection and data analysis and reporting phase. Evaluation preparation and dissemination, follow up and use will be responsibility of EMG.

6.2. Evaluation team requirements

Corresponding with the inception, data collection, data analysis and reporting stages of the evaluation process, the duties and responsibilities of the evaluation team will be as follows:

Leading the inception phase and developing an inception report outlining design, approach and methodology of the evaluation and an indicative workplan of the evaluation team within the framework of this ToR.
Directing and carrying out collection, research and analysis of relevant documentation and other data, and reporting.
Overseeing and assuring quality of data collection and leading the analysis of the evaluation evidence.
Preparing for meetings with the evaluation management group, evaluation reference group and other stakeholders to review findings, conclusions and recommendations.
Leading the preparation of the evaluation communication products.
To conduct a data collection field mission with the support of the EMG which will include individual interviews with the relevant stakeholder;
To prepare a Power Point Presentation and an outline on preliminary findings and present to EMG and to ERG;
To produce and submit a draft and a final evaluation reports in English to be validated by EMG and ERG;
To produce an evaluation brief in English.

7. Evaluation team composition

The evaluation team will consist of a national consultant in charge of all substantive aspects of the evaluation.

National consultant has some experience in each of the following: conducting evaluations, gender equality and elimination of violence against women and girls. The national consultant is responsible for coordination during all phases of the evaluation process, ensuring the quality of outputs and application of methodology as well as timely delivery of all evaluation products in close collaboration with the evaluation task manager and the evaluation management group.

8. Evaluation timeframe and expected outputs

8.1. Expected deliverables

The evaluation team is expected to deliver:

An inception report: The evaluation team will present a refined scope, a detailed outline of the evaluation design and methodology, evaluation questions, and criteria for the approach for in-depth desk review and field work to be conducted in the data collection phase. The report will include an evaluation matrix and detailed work plan. A first draft report will be shared with the evaluation management group and, based upon the comments received the evaluation team will revise the draft. The revised draft will be shared with the evaluation reference group for feedback. The evaluation team will maintain an audit trail of the comments received and provide a response on how the comments were addressed in the final inception report.
Presentation of preliminary findings: A PowerPoint presentation detailing the emerging findings of the evaluation will be shared with the evaluation management group for feedback. The revised presentation will be delivered to the reference group for comment and validation. The evaluation team will incorporate the feedback received into the draft report.
A draft evaluation report: A first draft report will be shared with the evaluation management group for initial feedback. The second draft report will incorporate evaluation management group feedback and will be shared with the evaluation reference group for identification of factual errors, errors of omission and/or misinterpretation of information. The third draft report will incorporate this feedback and then be shared with the reference group for final validation. The evaluation team will maintain an audit trail of the comments received and provide a response on how the comments were addressed in the revised drafts.
The final evaluation report: The final report will include a concise Executive Summary and annexes detailing the methodological approach and any analytical products developed during the course of the evaluation. The structure of the report will be defined in the inception report.
Evaluation communication products: Online presentation of the preliminary findings (date TBD), a PowerPoint/Prezi presentation of the final key evaluation findings and recommendations, and a 2-pager/infographics on the final key findings, lessons learned and recommendations in a format preferably adjustable for individual project sites both in English and Serbian.

Payment will be issued in three instalments upon the satisfactory submission of the deliverables cleared by the evaluation task manager to certify that the services have been satisfactorily performed: 30% upon approval of evaluation inception report;

30% upon the submission of the draft report; and

40% upon the validation of the final evaluation report and communication products.

8.2. Evaluation time frame

The project evaluation will be conducted between September and December 2023. The preliminary calendar for the process is detailed in the table below.

Task

Tentative timeframe deadline

Est no of days national consultant

Inception phase September 2023

Desk review of background

documentation

10 September 2023

Inception meeting with EMG

15 September 2023

Inception report (including two rounds of

revision)

30 September 2023

Data collection phase October 2023

Documents review, (online) interviews

10 October 2023

Visit to project sites4

25 October 2023

Analysis and reporting phase November – December 2023

Drafting and

presentation of preliminary

findings (including one

round of revision)

10 November 2023

Preparation and submission of report (including two rounds of

Revision

25 November 2023

Review and submission of final report and communication products (PPT and a brief)

10 December 2023

Total

1 UN Women, Evaluation policy of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNW/2012/12), http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2012/10/evaluation-policy-of-the-united-nations-entity-for-gender-equality-and-the- empowerment-of-women

2 United Nations Evaluation Group, Norms and Standards for evaluation in the United Nations system, access at: http://www.uneval.org/normsandstandards/index.jsp?doc_cat_source_id=4

3 The final evaluation matrix will be included and validated in the evaluation inception report.

4 Onsite data collection might be replaced by online data collection. This will be revisited and agreed with UN Women during the inception phase of the evaluation.

Competencies

Core Values: Integrity – Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism – Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and respect for diversity – Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Additionally, the individual should have an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity

Competencies:

Sensitivity and adaptability to culture, gender, religion, nationality and age
Strong analytical, writing and reporting abilities
Strong interpersonal and communication skills, ability to lead a team and negotiate amongst a wide range of stakeholders
Commitment to quality products and deadlines

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20 Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

At least a bachelor’s degree in economics, social sciences, international relations, gender studies or a related area.

Qualification and experience:

At least 3 years of relevant experience and involvement in evaluations of development projects.
Experience/knowledge of gender equality and elimination of violence against women at the country level.
Strong analytical skills and ability to quickly grasp and synthesize information.
Demonstrated facilitation and communications skills, experience in participatory approaches and ability to negotiate amongst a wide range of stakeholders.
Knowledge of human rights issues, the human rights-based approach to programming, human rights analysis and related mandates within the UN system is considered an asset.

Language:

Proficiency in written and spoken Serbian and English

Application procedure: The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

P11 with past experience in similar assignments; can be downloaded at https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%2 0Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc , a signed copy should be submitted.
Financial Proposal Specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this Terms of Reference. Can be downloaded from the following link: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-07/confirmation.docx . The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (daily rate and number of anticipated working days) and any other possible costs indicating all necessary costs to complete this assignment, including the travel related costs for the field mission to be conducted for applicants outside of Belgrade. In order to apply please merge your P11 and the financial proposal into a single PDF file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.

Any request for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the e-mail info.serbia@unwomen.org

Evaluation of applicants: Consultants will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
Having received the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

TECHNICAL EVALUATION (70%)

Language Requirements

Fluency in written and spoken English and Serbian

REQUIRED

Education

At least a bachelor’s degree in economics, social sciences, international relations, gender studies

or a related area.

0: without relevant bachelor’s degree 20: Bachelor’s degree

Professional experience

Relevant experience and involvement in evaluations of development projects

0: without 3 years of experience

15: 3 years of experience

20: more than 3 years of experience

Experience/knowledge of gender

equality and elimination of violence against women at the country level

0: without relevant experience 10: relevant experience

Strong analytical skills and ability to quickly grasp and synthesize information;

0: without relevant experience 10: relevant experience

Demonstrated facilitation and communications skills, experience in participatory approaches and ability to negotiate amongst a wide range of stakeholders.

0: without relevant experience 10: relevant experience

Total technical

Financial Evaluation (30%) – max. 30 points: The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows: p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values: p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

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Evaluation TOR Annexes

UNEG Code of Conduct for Evaluations 5
UNEG Ethical Guidelines6
UNEG Norms for Evaluation in the UN System7
UNEG Standards for Evaluation in the UN System8
UNEG Guidance Integrating Human Rights and Gender in the UN System9
UN Women Evaluation Handbook10
UNSWAP Technical Note and Scorecard 11
National Strategy for the prevention and fight against gender-based violence against women and domestic violence for the period 2021-2025. years12

5 http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/100 6 http://www.unevaluation.org/document/detail/102 7 http://www.uneval.org/document/detail/21

8 http://www.uneval.org/document/detail/22

9 http://www.uneval.org/document/detail/1616

10 http://genderevaluation.unwomen.org/en/evaluation-handbook

11 http://www.uneval.org/document/detail/1452

12 https://www.pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs/SlGlasnikPortal/eli/rep/sgrs/vlada/strategija/2021/47/1/reg

National Consultant to support the Final Evaluation of the Project Safeguarding Women and Girls in Serbia (SWGS), Belgrade, Serbia At UN Women – United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

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