Job Description
Hiring Office: Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme Coordination Unit
Purpose of consultancy:
The purpose of this consultancy is to conduct a rigorous outcome-harvesting to identify and document the most significant impacts of the Spotlight Initiative African Regional Program. The consultant will work with relevant directorates of the African Union Commission, European Union, RUNOs, implementing partners, Civil Society Regional Reference Group (CSRRG), beneficiaries, and other stakeholders to collect outcomes, stories, and data that illustrate the transformative potential of the initiative. The final report will be a valuable resource for the program and its partners, providing insights into the program's successes and challenges, and helping to inform future programming.
Background & Context
The Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme is a tripartite partnership among the United Nations, European Union, and African Union, with an overarching aim to eradicate violence against women and girls, sexual and gender-based violence, and harmful practices on a continental scale. This initiative seeks to amplify and fortify existing strategies, notably the African Union (AU) Gender Strategy 2017–2027, Agenda 2030, Agenda 2063, and the Maputo Plan of Action. The first phase of the regional programme has been implemented starting from July 2020 by four Recipient United Nation Organizations (RUNOs), African Union Commission, and more than 30 regional/national implementing partners. The first phase of the programme is expected to be completed in December 2023.
Why Outcome Harvesting / Most significant change for the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme
Outcome Harvesting is an innovative and participatory evaluation approach that focuses on the changes that a project or programme has contributed to, rather than the activities it has implemented. It is especially useful for complex and dynamic contexts, where the outcomes are often unpredictable and emergent.
The Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Africa aims to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, with a focus on ending female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage. The programme works at the regional, national, and local levels, engaging a wide range of stakeholders, such as regional and national authorities, civil society organisations, traditional and religious leaders, women’s rights activists, youth groups, media, academia and communities.
Using the Outcome Harvesting approach will enable the project team to:
- Identify and capture the changes in the behaviour and actions of the policy actors, community gatekeepers, project managers and other stakeholders involved in the project, such as their participation, leadership, empowerment, collaboration, influence, and impact.
- Provide evidence of how SIARP contributed to these changes, such as by providing capacity building, networking, use of data for evidence-informed decision-making, strengthening civil society, research, policy analysis, or advocacy support.
- Identify the factors that influenced the changes and the project’s contribution, such as the context, the partnership, the opportunities, challenges, risks, assumptions, or unintended effects.
- Support learning and adaptation by highlighting the achievements, gaps, lessons learned, and recommendations for the project and its partners.
Outcome Harvesting will help the project team capture the complexity and diversity of the Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Africa. It will also provide valuable insights into how the programme has contributed to ending violence against women and girls in Africa.
By Carrying out the most significant change evaluation for the project, we will be able to:
- Understand the impact of the project on the lives of women and girls who are affected by violence and harmful practices, such as FGM and child marriage, in different contexts and countries.
- Learn from the stories of change that reflect the diverse experiences, perspectives, and voices of the women and girls, as well as other stakeholders, such as policy makers, community leaders, project staff, and partners.
- Identify the best practices, challenges, and lessons learned from the project implementation, as well as the factors that enabled or hindered the changes and the project’s contribution.
- Communicate and disseminate the results and achievements of the project to various audiences, such as donors, decision-makers, media, and civil society, using compelling and evidence-based narratives.
- Improve and adapt the project design, strategies, and activities based on the feedback
and recommendations from the most significant change process.
The most significant change activity will also align with the principles and values of the Spotlight Initiative, such as human rights, gender equality, participation, innovation, and learning. It will also complement other evaluation methods that the project may use.
Scope of work:
The individual consultant will be required to undertake the following tasks:
- Inception report that outlines the design to implement a rigorous outcome harvesting methodology based on the result framework and theory of change.
- Collecting data from a variety of sources, including interviews, surveys, focus groups, and document reviews.
- Identifying and documenting the most significant impacts of the program
- Writing a comprehensive final report that synthesizes the findings of the outcome harvesting exercise.
Dissemination of the final report to the program partners and stakeholders.
Methodology/ Approach:
Below is the methodology for the outcome harvesting and final reporting process that will be further enriched by the consultant
- Review of documentation and draft outcome descriptions: The Consultant will review the data that SIARP makes available (Monitoring data, logical framework, midterm assessment, and annual reports) on the project outputs and outcomes and identify preliminary outcomes and descriptions. This will inform the areas to be investigated further through the additional data collection and will inform the question guides for the FGDs with informants (target populations of the benefiting organizations).
- Data collection and substantiation: The Consultant will select the outcomes to be verified in order to increase the accuracy and credibility of these outcomes. The Consultant will obtain additional data to verify the data and to collect additional outcome by engaging directly with stakeholders and target populations of the SIARP through FGDs and IDIs. The data collection will also help to expand on the identified outcomes, contextualize, and analyse their significance, and discuss how they contributed to achieving the project objectives (as applicable)
The outcome harvesting and data collection methods should be described in more detail in the Inception report, clearly outlining how they will be used in practice during the outcome harvesting and final reporting process.
Duration and working schedule:
The consultancy shall not exceed a maximum of 30 days.
Start / Commencement Date: 13th October 2023.
Place where services are to be delivered:
The Consultancy will be conducted virtually (online).
Delivery dates and how work will be delivered:
Work will be delivered electronically. Delivery dates will be agreed with the consultant upon the contract starting date.
The Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:
Regular meetings will be organized with the SIARP Programme Coordinator to provide an update on progress, address inquiries, and provide further information as needed.
Supervisory arrangements:
The consultant will report to the SIARP Regional Programme Coordinator,
Expected travel:
There is no expected travel under this consultancy.
Required expertise, qualifications, and competencies, including language requirements:
The consultant is expected to bring the following expertise, qualifications, and competencies:
- Master's degree in development studies, monitoring and Evaluation, social sciences, or a related field.
- At least seven (7) years of experience in outcome harvesting and most significant change analysis.
- Strong critical analysis and demonstrated excellence in preparing reports in a clear and
- concise manner
- Excellent analytical and writing skills.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Experience working with international development organizations.
- Fluent in EnglishThe consultant is expected to bring the following expertise, qualifications, and competencies:
What to submit with the application:
SIARP Coordination Unit invites applications from consultants with the required skills and experience. The Application should comprise:
- A cover letter outlining relevant experience, and suitability for the consultancy (maximum 1 page)
- An outline of the methodology proposed for the assignment (maximum 2 pages)
- CV/company profile, including contact details for two referees/references
Deadline for applications is 30 September 2023
Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:
SIARP will provide all the required documents pertaining the outcome harvesting and final reporting. This will include:
- The SIARP Programme Document
- The SIARP Mid Term Assessment Report
- The SIARP 2020 and 2021 Annual reports
- Quarterly reports
- Annual review and learning workshop reports
- Result framework
Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:
- The consultant is expected to create and share with the SIARP Programme Coordination Unit and maintain a Google Drive folder with all relevant documents and materials prepared for this assignment.
- The assignment shall commence on the day of the contract signature and end as outlined in the contract.
- The consultant is expected to complete the assignment within the set deadlines as indicated in the terms of reference.
Disclaimer:
UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. Fraudulent notices, letters or offers may be submitted to the UNFPA fraud hotline http://www.unfpa.org/help/hotline.cfm.