National Consultant - Monitoring, Evaluation, Research And Learning (Merl) Analyst

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. Placing women’s rights at the Centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates the United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts and builds effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

This position will support two economic empowerment programmes implemented within the UN Women Egypt Country Office.

“Women Economic Empowerment for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Egypt” – “Rabeha” which is a 5-year Joint Programme (2019-2025), funded by Global Affairs Canada, and aims to support women's empowerment for sustainable economic growth in Egypt. The project is implemented by a consortium made up of UN Women and UNIDO, with UN Women as the lead agency, and in partnership with the National Council for Women (NCW), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), and MSMEDA. The Programme is operational in seven Egyptian governorates: Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Fayoum, Minya, Beni Seuif, and Beheira.

The Joint Programme interventions willresult in a) Increased number of new businesses established by women entrepreneurs in the sectors of focus, b) Enhanced capacity of women led businesses to grow, attract and retain workers, c) Strengthened performance of productive clusters to employ more women, d) Enhanced employability of women in growth-oriented sectors, e) Increased abilities of businesses to implement gender-sensitive corporate policies, f) Strengthened individual and collective agency of women in the sectors of focus, g) enhanced capacity of Government to mainstream gender in public policies and programs, and h) Increased access of women entrepreneurs to tailored financial and non-financial services.

The “Socio-economic empowerment of women in Asyut & Sohag” project funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation aims to promote women’s socio-economic rights and improve their access to economic opportunities. The project supports national efforts to adapt an inclusive and sustainable development pathway to achieve agreed targets for inclusive, sustainable, resilient and job rich economic developments. The project will adopt an integrated approach to facilitate women’s socioeconomic empowerment and aims to address those multiple challenges through the implementation of a series of comprehensive and integrated activities. The project will partner with the Egyptian government and including the National Council for Women and its local branches as well as to rural women as agents of change in key governorates.

The overall objective of the project is to empower women socially and economically in the target areas in Assiut and Sohag, particularly rural women. The expected impact of the interventions in Assiut and Sohag is (a) Women have improved access to gender-responsive services and actively participate in public life; (b) Women are economically empowered through enhanced participation in MSMEs, productive clusters and market linkages.

Objective of the Assignment

Reporting to the Programme Specialist under the overall supervision of the Country Representative, the consultant is expected to systematically assess, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the JP in accordance with established goals and objectives. The consultant will be responsible for designing and implementing robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks, developing/updating data collection tools, processing and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, and providing actionable insights and recommendations to enhance project performance. Additionally, the consultant will collaborate with JP stakeholders to ensure that monitoring and evaluation activities align with organizational priorities, contribute to evidence-based decision-making, and facilitate learning for continuous improvement throughout the programmes lifecycle.

Duties and Responsibilities

Programme Monitoring and Evaluation data collection and analysis

• Support the team in keeping a results-based management approach to its M&E system through keeping a regularly updated and effective data collection system and set of reporting forms to monitor data collection and analysis.
• Ensure the Programme is sufficiently documented according to the requirements of its M&E system including timely data collection, administration of surveys/ interviews, collection of means of verification, and constant follow-up with Programme participants.
• Provide support to implementing partners whenever needed in the keeping of their M&E requirements.
• Review the M&E needs and plans of the project, and extract relevant indicators to monitor the project outcomes, outputs, and activities.
• Review and validate data entered in the database system.
• Support the collection of data and information from beneficiaries through surveys, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions according to monitoring and evaluation guidelines.
• Maintain and organize up-to-date hard and electronic filing system for all Programme related files.
• Establish a web-based recording tool that allows program staff and stakeholders to upload data collected to the internet and share it with each other.
• Closely work with Programme teams to facilitate the preparations and implementation of field activities, events, and assessments.

Reporting and Capacity Building

• Perform quantitative and qualitative data analysis and draft inputs for quarterly, bi-annual and annual reports.
• Prepare presentation material to communicate the Programme’s achievements and/ or findings for any meetings/workshops and keep all documents ready for meetings.
• Support the Programme team with reporting, following UN Women standards and regulations. 
• Carry-out quarterly data interpretation sessions with the programme team and selected stakeholders where relevant.
• As required, ongoing coaching in M&E approaches and methodologies for stakeholders.

Other tasks

• Update the Performance Management Framework (PMF) for the project ensuring alignment between the donor and UN Women frameworks including the study of the relevant project documents (including, but not limited to the project document, work plan), review and revise the log frame and result matrix, and revise the indicators, baselines, and targets, if necessary
• Perform other duties supporting the programme as deemed necessary.

Competencies

Core Values

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

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 Core Values and Competencies: 

Functional Competencies

• Good knowledge of monitoring and evaluation frameworks and best practices;
• Good knowledge of Programme management;
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills;
• Ability to create, edit, synthesize and present information in a clear manner;
• Ability to administer and execute administrative processes and transactions;
• Ability to manage data, documents, correspondence and reports information and workflow;
• Ability to draft and communicate high quality clear and concise outputs;
• Familiarity with statistical analysis and indicators, especially gender-related statistics and indicators;
• Proven excellent written skills;
• Field Competency: Ability to work in the field and communicate efficiently with the beneficiaries;
• Work in teams: Demonstrate the ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural background 
• Excellent administrative skills;
• Good financial skills;
• Good IT skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Political or Social Science, Economics, International Development Studies, Gender/Women's Studies is required;
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience

• At least 4 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in monitoring and reporting of development projects/ programmes, is required;
• Experience in the development and use of monitoring and evaluation and data collection tools, required;
• Working knowledge of results-based management (RBM) is required.
• Experience supporting development programming through administrative and financial support, required;
• Demonstrated knowledge of international best practices in gender equality and women’s empowerment, required;
• Field experience in direct working with development programming participants in different governorates, required;
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), required;
• Experience in women’s economic empowerment is an asset;
• Experience working in the UN System is an asset. 

Language Requirements

• Fluency (written & spoken) in English and Arabic is required;
• Knowledge of the other UN official working language is an asset.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 100% (100 points)

• Criteria 1: Relevant education (10 points).
• Criteria 2: At least 4 years of relevant work experience in the development sector in Egypt, including experience in international development, poverty reduction, and/or economic development, including providing support to development programming (40 points).
• Criteria 3: Experience in monitoring and evaluation and the administration of data collection tools (30 points).
• Criteria 4: Field experience in direct working with development programming participants in different governorates (10 points).
• Criteria 5: Experience working in the UN System (5 points).
• Criteria 6: Experience in women’s economic empowerment (5 points). 

Application:

Interested Individual Candidate must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11). UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from  make sure that you sign the form, and
• Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment, and
• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to portfolio of work.
• Personal CV; and financial proposal; Proposed inclusive monthly rate in EGP.

The above-mentioned documents MUST BE merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to uploading one file per application.

You can merge your documents by using Online resources. 

Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification. Make sure that you provide a valid email address for future communications.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

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.)